by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
There are two big stories in the news this morning, and they are intertwined. Our Dear Leader, Donald John Trump and his entourage of relatives and mindless sycophants, are in Vietnam for a summit with North Korea's Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un. And meanwhile, back in the United States of America, Trump's former personal lawyer and "fixer," Michael Cohen is spending three days giving testimony - under oath - to Congress. Some skeptics, noting Trump's past use of distraction as a tool in fighting his foes, are suggesting that the Vietnam summit was planned to draw attention away from what many expect will be testimony of a sensational nature by Cohen.
This is actually the second day of testimony for Cohen. Yesterday he spoke to members of the Republican controlled Senate in a closed hearing. Today he is appearing in an open hearing in the Democratic controlled House. White House spokesman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a known liar, is telling all who still listen to her that Michael Cohen is a known liar, and that what he says about her boss, Trump - also a known liar - will be lies.
Cohen's prepared testimony which he will present to members of a House investigative committee was leaked to the New York Times yesterday. It includes a statement in which he refers to Trump as "a racist, a cheat, and a conman," epithets that are likely to be under appreciated by Trump and his inner-circle of racists, cheats, and conmen. But there is plenty of delicious stuff in what Cohen plans to tell Congress, and sharp questioning by committee members may unearth even more.
I'm not familiar with Michael Cohen's prepared remarks - except for the much ballyhooed line about Trump being "a racist, a cheat, and a conman" - and none of that is much of a news bulletin, but I did come across one more nugget from the statement that I found intriguing.
VoteVets.org, a left-of-center political lobbying group composed primarily of military veterans, put out an email this morning in which Cohen quotes Trump as saying (apparently of his youth) "You think I'm stupid, I wasn't going to Vietnam." The VoteVets email is also critical of Trump over his derogatory remarks about the late Senator John McCain, a war hero of sorts, as well of Trump's raging desire to have a grandiose - and expensive - military parade to honor himself.
So Trump wasn't stupid back in the sixties, but now, safely out of harm's way, he is headed to Nam, not as a muddied and bloodied foot soldier, but as a royal potentate wrapped in the golden aura of his power and superiority over almost every man, woman, and child on the entire earth.
All hail Donald Augustus!
My life has a couple of parallels to that of Trump. I am a little younger than he is, and I also managed to avoid going to Vietnam. I did, however, serve four years in uniform, in the Army, back when Vietnam was in the process of winding down, and many years later I worked an entire decade in direct service to the U.S. military as a civilian social worker.
Like Trump, I also got around to seeing Vietnam many years after the war had ended. A friend and I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on Christmas Eve in 2011 and spent more than a week working our way north while absorbing the sights of the country. Our trip ended in Hanoi where we attended an enormous street party on New Year's Eve - one that hosted several thousand celebrants - and we flew out of the country on New Year's Day.
Juxtaposing our trip over Trump's current big adventure a couple of thoughts come to mind. Hanoi, especially Old Hanoi, is an interesting city and well worthy of visits by tourists, but Hanoi in general still lacks the commercial vibrancy of Ho Chi Minh City. I suspect that Trump and his group would have felt far more comfortable in the glitzy and noisy hubbub of the former Saigon.
Hanoi does offer some compelling curiosities, but they are ones that Donald John would be well advised to ignore. The prison - or what is left of it - where John McCain spent several years of his young life is located in downtown Hanoi and open to the public. There is a memorial of sorts to McCain inside of the building, and the aging senator even returned there for a visit, but Trump, a vociferous McCain critic, would have no conceivable justification for visiting there.
Another Hanoi site that would be a difficult view for American government officials would be the military museum in Hanoi, a sprawling collection of hardware and mementos of the Vietnamese wars with France and the United States. One of those exhibits is the actual tank that knocked down the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon on the day that South Vietnam finally fell. A photo of Trump admiring the big military tank would not sit well with many of the folks back home, particularly those whose loved ones were dragged into that foreign war.
Another place in Hanoi where most tourists go - and Trump likely will not - is Ho Chi Minh's modest home on the lake with the adjacent mausoleum that houses his stuffed remains. The body of Ho is on display under glass just as the stuffed remains of V.I. Lenin are displayed beneath the reviewing stand at Red Square. And while a visit to the memorial of the person whose military defeated the French and ultimately the Americans would on its face be inappropriate, it would also be a stretch to imagine Donald Trump paying respects to anyone other than himself.
So, one must suppose that Donald Trump - when he is not busy being outfoxed by Kim Jung Un in their summit meetings - will be spending a lot of time in his hotel room. It is doubtful that Vietnamese cuisine will satiate his hunger, and special arrangements will likely be made (on the taxpayer's dime) to fly in crates of American fast food. One must also suppose that he will be trolling the internet with a vengeance keeping up with events back home - and banging out enraged and misspelled tweets as challenges to Michael Cohen's testimony.
Wouldn't it be great to have them both - Cohen and Trump - testifying under oath!
Trump has finally made it to Vietnam. Perhaps one day he will also be hauled before Congress or a judge to answer for his illegal and abhorrent behavior toward others.
Come on Mueller - make America great again!
Citizen Journalist
There are two big stories in the news this morning, and they are intertwined. Our Dear Leader, Donald John Trump and his entourage of relatives and mindless sycophants, are in Vietnam for a summit with North Korea's Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un. And meanwhile, back in the United States of America, Trump's former personal lawyer and "fixer," Michael Cohen is spending three days giving testimony - under oath - to Congress. Some skeptics, noting Trump's past use of distraction as a tool in fighting his foes, are suggesting that the Vietnam summit was planned to draw attention away from what many expect will be testimony of a sensational nature by Cohen.
This is actually the second day of testimony for Cohen. Yesterday he spoke to members of the Republican controlled Senate in a closed hearing. Today he is appearing in an open hearing in the Democratic controlled House. White House spokesman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a known liar, is telling all who still listen to her that Michael Cohen is a known liar, and that what he says about her boss, Trump - also a known liar - will be lies.
Cohen's prepared testimony which he will present to members of a House investigative committee was leaked to the New York Times yesterday. It includes a statement in which he refers to Trump as "a racist, a cheat, and a conman," epithets that are likely to be under appreciated by Trump and his inner-circle of racists, cheats, and conmen. But there is plenty of delicious stuff in what Cohen plans to tell Congress, and sharp questioning by committee members may unearth even more.
I'm not familiar with Michael Cohen's prepared remarks - except for the much ballyhooed line about Trump being "a racist, a cheat, and a conman" - and none of that is much of a news bulletin, but I did come across one more nugget from the statement that I found intriguing.
VoteVets.org, a left-of-center political lobbying group composed primarily of military veterans, put out an email this morning in which Cohen quotes Trump as saying (apparently of his youth) "You think I'm stupid, I wasn't going to Vietnam." The VoteVets email is also critical of Trump over his derogatory remarks about the late Senator John McCain, a war hero of sorts, as well of Trump's raging desire to have a grandiose - and expensive - military parade to honor himself.
So Trump wasn't stupid back in the sixties, but now, safely out of harm's way, he is headed to Nam, not as a muddied and bloodied foot soldier, but as a royal potentate wrapped in the golden aura of his power and superiority over almost every man, woman, and child on the entire earth.
All hail Donald Augustus!
My life has a couple of parallels to that of Trump. I am a little younger than he is, and I also managed to avoid going to Vietnam. I did, however, serve four years in uniform, in the Army, back when Vietnam was in the process of winding down, and many years later I worked an entire decade in direct service to the U.S. military as a civilian social worker.
Like Trump, I also got around to seeing Vietnam many years after the war had ended. A friend and I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) on Christmas Eve in 2011 and spent more than a week working our way north while absorbing the sights of the country. Our trip ended in Hanoi where we attended an enormous street party on New Year's Eve - one that hosted several thousand celebrants - and we flew out of the country on New Year's Day.
Juxtaposing our trip over Trump's current big adventure a couple of thoughts come to mind. Hanoi, especially Old Hanoi, is an interesting city and well worthy of visits by tourists, but Hanoi in general still lacks the commercial vibrancy of Ho Chi Minh City. I suspect that Trump and his group would have felt far more comfortable in the glitzy and noisy hubbub of the former Saigon.
Hanoi does offer some compelling curiosities, but they are ones that Donald John would be well advised to ignore. The prison - or what is left of it - where John McCain spent several years of his young life is located in downtown Hanoi and open to the public. There is a memorial of sorts to McCain inside of the building, and the aging senator even returned there for a visit, but Trump, a vociferous McCain critic, would have no conceivable justification for visiting there.
Another Hanoi site that would be a difficult view for American government officials would be the military museum in Hanoi, a sprawling collection of hardware and mementos of the Vietnamese wars with France and the United States. One of those exhibits is the actual tank that knocked down the gates of the presidential palace in Saigon on the day that South Vietnam finally fell. A photo of Trump admiring the big military tank would not sit well with many of the folks back home, particularly those whose loved ones were dragged into that foreign war.
Another place in Hanoi where most tourists go - and Trump likely will not - is Ho Chi Minh's modest home on the lake with the adjacent mausoleum that houses his stuffed remains. The body of Ho is on display under glass just as the stuffed remains of V.I. Lenin are displayed beneath the reviewing stand at Red Square. And while a visit to the memorial of the person whose military defeated the French and ultimately the Americans would on its face be inappropriate, it would also be a stretch to imagine Donald Trump paying respects to anyone other than himself.
So, one must suppose that Donald Trump - when he is not busy being outfoxed by Kim Jung Un in their summit meetings - will be spending a lot of time in his hotel room. It is doubtful that Vietnamese cuisine will satiate his hunger, and special arrangements will likely be made (on the taxpayer's dime) to fly in crates of American fast food. One must also suppose that he will be trolling the internet with a vengeance keeping up with events back home - and banging out enraged and misspelled tweets as challenges to Michael Cohen's testimony.
Wouldn't it be great to have them both - Cohen and Trump - testifying under oath!
Trump has finally made it to Vietnam. Perhaps one day he will also be hauled before Congress or a judge to answer for his illegal and abhorrent behavior toward others.
Come on Mueller - make America great again!
1 comment:
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a new member of the House Committees on Financial Services (Pay Day Lenders Beware!) and Oversight and Reform. I was interested in how she would use her very junior position to question Michael Cohen. I was impressed.
AOC did not grandstand, she did not orate sound bites for future use in ads and fundraisers, she did not waste her time. Instead, in business like fashion she picked up the threads of unanswered questions from her colleagues, asked specific questions, and got the names of persons for the committee to question further.
If this were baseball AOC was the clean up hitter and she cleared the bases. Those who underestimate this Representative do so at their own peril.
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