As has been discussed ad nauseam, this is not really a meaningful data point. To a very considerable extent, in modern American politics, identifying oneself as a member of a party is to declare allegiance to the president of that party. When Republicans cease to support Donald Trump, they very often cease to self-identify as Republicans.
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He will bluster his way through it. Those of us who donāt believe him will continue not to believe him. The others will continue to believe him. And McConnell will do everything he can to make Obama a one term presidentāsimply erase as much of those years as possible. Thatās why McConnell covers for the current one sitting in the Presidentās office.
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The question is why?
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Nadler and Schiff are going to be taking all of this into their very competent hands. There will be lies and obfuscation to wade through, but we have the House and just in time.
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Hereās a fun brain teaser: Name one fact that in any way tends to exonerate him, that in any way complicates the issue, militates against his being some kind of asset, anything that argues in the other direction. Iām reasonably honest with myself and I canāt think of one.
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Hereās an attempt, which is the weakest of weak sauce: he hasnāt totally spilled the beans all over the carpet. I mean, to some extent, heās demonstrated some self-control on this subject. And more than self-control, consistency. Heās not really able to hold together a coherent narrative on any other subject (i.e., his wall/fence/barrier/steel/concrete blather).
I guess if you posit that Russia is more core to his being than even his racism or his fear of the Other, this isnāt inconsistent. Iām not sure Iāve crossed that bridge yet.
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I know what weād all like to think about this, but with Trump itās difficult to tell how much of his behavior is is just continuing his normal way of doing things from before he was elected. In a business meeting, it might be normal (for him) not to want a paper trail on some things. Itās a reflex habit, like tearing up documents on his desk that the staff has to reassemble, to comply with the records act. To this day, he has never adapted to the norms of the Presidency because he still thinks heās running a business.
Anyway, not trying to exculpate, because it probably is just as nefarious as we think it is. Just an observation. Tillerson was in that same meeting, so the House could subpoena him and get him to testify about what he remembers. Iāll bet thatās already in motion.
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he NEVER says a bad word about Putin
The easiest way to damp down rumors that he is a Russian asset would be to robustly criticize Mr. Putin, but Mr. Trump simply refuses to do it. Given his tendency to criticize any major foreign leader that he views as non-supportive of any aspect of his agenda, Mr. Trumpās total absence of criticism of Mr. Putin is really astounding.
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If our current situation were to be likened to the frog in boiling water Iād say the frog is completely cooked by now. There can be no doubt in the minds of sane, rational people that Donald Trump is actively and obviously working at the behest of a hostile foreign power. The overarching problem we have, of course, is that a very large section of the American electorate is most decidedly NOT sane or rational.
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The world really has gone mad. I am, right now, watching Ted Cruz on Meet the Press sporting a closely trimmed beard and mustache, looking every bit like someone trying out for the role of Mephistopheles. In his comments, he is actually saying, in his best debating tone, that the Democrats, and only the Democrats, are playing politics in regard to the shutdown.
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I think of this in the Hollywood pitch meeting:
OK, what if the president of the United States was a Russian Spy?
Hmmmā¦canāt you make it some Arab country? Not China -thatās our market and we canāt have Chinese bad guys - what about Afganistan or something?
No, Russia - old school enemy.
So heās educated and trained in Russia and is a hard core fighter with a brilliant mind who will infiltrate the country.
Uhā¦no, heās a complete idiot who nobody has ever liked in his life.
That canāt happen - Americans wonāt elect someone unlikable and mean. Unless he covers it up.
No, he doesnāt cover it up. Heās really mean and stupid and it shows.
Itāll never fly - how are you going to get him elected?
Well, the Russians use 2 mega-corporations to skew public opinion in a kinda disinformation campaignā¦
Oh! - I get it! And two tough hard-working journalists bring him down when all the dirty tricks he pulled are found out. Thatās a good angle.
No, the press reports all the silly stuff he says and then hammers on his opponent who is a womanā¦an-
A hot young woman who is going to take Washington by storm! yeahā¦
No, sheās not hot.
Get out of my office
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This doesnāt mean what they think it means.
āThe White House spokesperson, speaking anonymously, told the Post that Tillerson āgave a fulsome readout of the meeting immediately afterward to other U.S. officials in a private setting, as well as a readout to the press.āā
From being a proofreader the word āfulsomeā is always on my radar.
People use it frequently to mean an abundant account but thatās not the precise meaning.
It actually has a mainly negative connotation.
Thereās even a usage note on it in a lot of dictionaries.
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Baby, we are going to Impeach the motherfucker.
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I would only question the term asset. He is phenomenally stupid, so I think the better term for him is useful idiot ā though of course that still does make him an asset. It just gets rid of any semantic connection with competence.
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The Washington Post is lying. Trump says so.
Who to believe? Decisions, decisions ā¦
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The beard and moustache would ordinarily make me think of the evil mirror universe of Star Trek, except that Cruz is vile and evil with and without the facial hair 
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