Week #9 kicked off on St. Patrick’s Day with Trump being treated to a lecture on immigration from the Irish Prime Minister, reminding us that St. Patrick was an immigrant and that 35 million Americans claim Irish heritage. Later, at a press Conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump not only repeated his humiliating lie about Obama wiretapping him, but claimed Chancellor Merkel was also wiretapped by Obama, which was obviously news to her. Then he claimed Germany owed the USA money for NATO, which is not true at all, so former NATO Ambassador Ivo Daalder briefed the president on how NATO works in the only way he was sure to get the president’s attention, on his Twitter page. Trump then made what passes for a policy statement for him, addressing a serious and complex international crisis over North Korea with an angry Tweet. In the predawn hours of Monday morning Trump went postal on Twitter, attacking the FBI, Congress, the DNC and his go-to whipping boy, the media, saying basically, “I’m right, they’re all wrong!” Monday was stormy for the entire Trump Administration, when both FBI Director Comey and NSA Director Admiral Rogers testified before Congress that President Trump lied when he said Obama wiretapped him, and confirmed they are conducting criminals investigations since (!) last July of both Russia hacking our election, and members of his administration being complicit in this attack on our sovereignty. Speaking for the entire Justice Department and the intelligence-gathering community, both directors confirmed that Russia definitely hacked our election with the clear intention of getting Trump elected. Global news media calls this a Watergate-sized bombshell. While these hearings were still in progress, Trump Tweeted the opposite of what they both were saying on live TV, falsely claiming the FBI and CIA have exonerated his team, at least showing consistency. Tuesday, Trump threatened Congress with their jobs if they don’t pass the replacement health care bill, then gave his daughter Top Secret clearance and her own office in the West Wing, giving the Trump Administration an asset no other president has enjoyed, a Fashion Police Commissioner. In another stunning display of madness, Trump said he just might be be the “Greatest president ever,” claiming to have accomplished more in 2 months than any American president. What he did manage to accomplish this week is the removal of our personal privacy protections on the internet via executive order, reversing Obama’s privacy protection order. Meanwhile, the health care vote was postponed, in deep trouble, and being hastily amended to please those Republicans who felt the new plan was not cruel enough, taking things like (!) maternity care and emergency room visits away. Then, to cap off the week, Congressman Devin Nunes, part of Trump’s transition team, and who just so happens to be in charge of the Congressional investigation of the same Trump team for criminal activities in regards to Russia, shared new evidence he obtained with the White House (the target of the investigation) instead of his investigative team, giving several conflicting answers for why he acted like a cop on the take who was caught tipping off the mob. Wanted for questioning over his troubling service to murderous dictators and his close ties to the Kremlin, Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort seems to be on the lam. When asked to explain what this all means, Presidential Press Secretary Sean Spicer simply said “Nyet!”
In Trumpspeak. Week #9 has been a rousing alternative success.