Bearing Witness to Trump Month 40 May 3-9

Week of May 3-9, 2020

Read about the Trump administration’s performance this week in combating the COVID-19 pandemic including: the failure in testing and why he thinks it is no longer needed, his upward expectations for the final American death count, a shameless but so predictable Fox Newsless interview in front of the Lincoln Monument that would have made Lincoln weep, the White House prohibiting Dr. Fauci from appearing before the House, turning off then back on the Pandemic Task Force, what he is now blaming China for and what the Communist Chinese Party has right about Trump, his trip to a mask manufacturer where he refused to wear a mask, the removal of the nation’s leading NIH vaccine researcher at the time we need him the most, his dispute on national TV with a nurse who visited the White House, where did he send the CDC and why during a national health crisis is it largely MIA, and what former President Obama had to say about Trump’s handling of the crisis. So much to share that it is all here on a separate post Bearing Witness to the Pandemic May 3-9. To learn what else the President and his administration inflicted upon America this month read on here.

In the first White House press briefing by a press secretary in over a year, the new secretary Kayliegh McEnany promises she will not lie to the gathered press corps. This is obviously her first lie as how does she possibly believe she can ever keep that promise knowing full well her boss cannot open his mouth without misleading or lying? Her best of intentions did not last very long as during the same briefing she misquoted and misled reporters about the handling of Michael Flynn’s criminal case who was Trump’s first national security adviser.

Trump’s nomination for his next (but likely not his last the way he goes through advisers) national intelligence director, John Ratcliffe, is grilled by Democrats in the Senate. They worry with good cause that he does not have it in him to stand up to Trump on matters of national security nor make his loyalty to the country instead of to the President. Like most of Trump’s other picks for important roles, Ratcliffe has little experience in the function he is to lead, other than being a Republican loyalist.

In another warning that the Trump administration is not giving serious consideration to an urgent matter, the FBI and DHS is reported to have warned that Russia may utilize up to eight different tactics to interfere with and influence this year’s presidential elections.  We begin the year with a health crisis,  and we may end it with an equally distressing election crisis, both because we did not act when we had the time to prevent it.

A New York Times analysis reveals that the Trump administration is or already has rolled back nearly 100 environmental rules. Most of the rollbacks have been undertaken by the EPA and involve weakening air pollution and emissions that contribute to climate change. The irony that the very next crisis that the world will face and is likely to make the human and economic cost due to the coronavirus pandemic look pale by comparison. Trump even has the EPA lying like he does when they now claim that the EPA is “returning to its core mission of providing cleaner air, water and land for the American people.” Yeah, right.

Trump demonstrates how unhinged he is when he was reported to have flipped out at an article describing how he watches TV throughout the workday and spends his late nights tweeting out a barrage of rants, insults and hate; some even directed at the spouses of his own administration staffers like that of Kellyanne Conway. I don’t know why he is reacting to this now, something most Americans have taken for granted since his day 1.

A former Green Beret was captured by Venezuela this week along with another American as they were alleged to be planning the kidnapping and ouster of President Maduro. The President was ever so quick to say it was not a U.S. Government run operation. That denial means nothing coming from the mouth of this serial liar. Of course, it could have been a U.S. funded or encouraged coup as we have undertaken across Latin America for over a century.

Trump vetoed a bipartisan resolution which would have required him to obtain Congressional approval before engaging in military action with Iran. Finally, Congress starts to exercise its Constitutional role in war-making. However, the Republican-led senate was unable to come up with the two-thirds votes to override the presidential veto.

In an alarming political abuse of the U.S. justice system, Trump loyalist William Barr’s Dept. of Justice announced it was dropping the criminal case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Flynn was convicted last year of lying to the FBI to hide his dealings with Russia, an act he admitted to. Trump has previously said the prosecution of Flynn was “treasonous.” But we all know now that whatever he says the truth is the exact opposite as in this case when Flynn’s actions with the Russians, as well as the President’s, are treasonous. Barr is later quoted on network news defending his actions by saying that “history is written by the winners.” Yes, he said that. This administration has no shame and proves that bearing witness now and publicly to their actions for the record is necessary.

The above news items have been taken from a number of international, national, regional, and local news media sources of print, digital, and broadcast. Additional editorial opinions and comments about these news items are those of this author.