A blogger who identifies as “democracy” posted this comment, with which I agree.


The bottom line is that Trump has lots and lots of Russian “mob” money, in Russia, the mob and the state are one and the same.

Trump has tapped tons of Russian moola, which is one reason he’s refused to release his tax returns, and in all likelihood, why Republicans in Congress refuse to force their release. Those returns would prove definitively the financial ties. But even without them, the ties have been well-established. The Financial Times did a deep look into the building of the Trump Tower in Toronto:

“Legal documents, signed statements and two dozen interviews with people with knowledge of the project and the money that flowed through it reveal that the venture connects the US president with a shadowy post-Soviet world where politics and personal enrichment merge…”

“it has become increasingly clear that many of the oligarchs who made their riches amid the downfall of the Soviet Union have protected their fortunes by advancing the interests of the ruling cliques at home. This wealth has been coursing through western markets, often disguised by shell companies. Trump’s sector, real estate, has long been susceptible to infusions of incognito money. A large proportion of sales of high-end US property takes place through companies whose true owners are hidden. A US Treasury investigation last year found that one in three cash buyers of top-end property was suspicious…”

“Trump has broken with presidential tradition by refusing to divest his holdings in the dozens of companies that comprise the Trump Organization or to release tax returns that might shine more light on what appear to be multitudinous conflicts of interest. In May last year, his decision to fire James Comey as head of the FBI triggered the appointment of Robert Mueller, himself a former FBI chief, as special counsel to investigate links between the Russian government and the Trump campaign.”

https://www.ft.com/trumptoronto

Look, it’s clear. This is not hard to figure out. There was a very genuine royal screwing of the American Republic in November of 2016. Trump and the Trump campaign engaged in behavior that has to be called what it really is: treason. There’s no way around it. And while Trump and his tops dogs are directly responsible, there’s lots of blame to pass around. Charlie Pierce at Esquire calls it perfectly:

“Goddamn them all.”

“Goddamn the hackers. Goddamn the journalists who laundered the pilfered material. Goddamn any of them who treated Roger Stone as a source, or as a cute prankster, instead of the nasty vandal he’s always been. Goddamn the pundits who chortled over the pilfered material. Goddamn the politicians who profited from the hacking. Goddamn the politicians who minimized the hacking. Goddamn the politicians who still stonewall about the hacking. Goddamn the ‘activists’ who ranted about ‘McCarthyism’ when anybody pointed out that the 2016 presidential election had been poisoned from afar. Goddamn them all as traitors, if not to the American nation, then to everything that ever made that nation worth the bother.”

“They conspired, wittingly or unwittingly. They colluded, wittingly or unwittingly. They are accessories, before and after the fact, to the hijacking of a democratic election. So, yes, goddamn them all.”

And you know what? There are still people out there – hell, there are still commenters on this bog – who pretend to be unaware of just how serious this is, or worse, who purposefully turn a blind eye to it.

It’s going to get worse – and much weirder – before it gets better.

Gee. Maybe we should give some serous thought – when this is mostly over, if it ever really is – to the notion that public education in a democratic republic ought to teach and model the core values and principles on which the republic is based.

Goddamn us if we don’t.