Jenny1

Hi intexas. On Gorsuch I think Trump just meant that Democrats may oppose his appointment, and Republicans may then change the rules of that appointment to get Gorsuch into the job anyway. Trump has encouraged them do this, the so-called 'nuclear option'. There's a NYT article about that here. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-senate-hearing.html?_r=0

Yes - the uranium bit is a corker. Hi jaywalker. I did read the LRB article - it's really interesting. I particularly liked the thoughts on how the current structure of Russian society, business and government appeals to Trump. The part about the worrying creep of the 'national security state' sounds highly plausible, certainly in the wake of the measures George W took post 9/11. And of course such an apparatus is more dangerous in some hands than others. But I still think that the main concern right now is the Presidency - and how the other arms of government exert 'checks and balances' on it....or indeed fail to do so. Trump may be in post for some time. And even if he were impeached tomorrow the fallout would be considerable.

Interesting article JohnL. The historical context is really useful. I agree intexas. That comment about Trump liking the relationship between money and power in Russia is a great one. It gets to the root of how he sees the world, doesn't it? I fear Pence too. But sitting in Europe I think we have more to fear from Trump. I may be wrong but Pence looks less likely to start a war - by accident anyway.

Hi intexas. I had a read of your Kos articles. They're interesting. But I would see them as adding to the general somewhat confused picture of what Russia/Putin/White House links might exist - and which of those might be of concern. I think that's why we need a proper Congressional inquiry. It seems that that looks more possible as the days go on - as this Boston Globe article suggests. http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/02/15/something-rotten-white-house/cQe5866sEqGmR55RzOGzPI/story.html?event=event25?event=event25 And please see the same article jaywalker and rahrahrah for why I think the 'leaks' aren't the story. The intelligence community monitor ambassadors calls (that's why they knew Flynn had spoken to the Russian ambassador). They told the justice department what they'd heard (not a worry as far as I'm concerned). This then led the acting attorney general to raise concerns with the White House that Flynn, having broken the law, could be vulnerable to blackmail by the Russians. Not a sequence of events that I regard as sinister.

Hi jaywalker. Thanks for the lrb link - I'll have a read when I get a chance later. I disagree with your concerns about the 'secret state' though. The 'intelligence community' isn't perfect and requires oversight and regulation - but given the way the world functions it is needed. I should think both the FBI and CIA are deeply concerned about Trump's own lax approach to security - as demonstrated by his antics at Mar-a-Lago at the weekend. The way he does business makes him a considerable risk to national security.

They're now talking about deploying ground forces in Syria. It looks horribly like that classic tactic of sending troops into combat to provide a distraction from your own mess up.

Hi intexasatthemoment. I think that's just his standard response to most questions - no matter what the subject matter. I won. I'm great. Everything used to be bad. Now everything will be great. There seems to be a strong push among American activists to get Congressional Republicans to step up to do some real oversight ....but as discussed previously most are happy with the status quo. It'll need a powerful movement indeed to change their minds.

I think there are lots of confusing and tangled threads in the whole 'too close to Putin' story. I would say the point now is to get Congress to properly investigate the things we already know about. Any thorough investigation into the Flynn affair might well start to turn up other links. I'll have a thorough read of the articles you've linked to a bit later intexas. Thanks for keeping a thought provoking conversation going!

The Telegraph article is fun! And I think the humour is an important part of the story, because so much that should be considered and responsible is being turned into farce.

They love a peculiar name, don't they, these Americans?

This is very funny http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/02/nighttime-voice-mails-from-the-white-house.html

...although I suppose it might be a defensive move in the face of a possible ethics inquiry.

I think Reince Priebus may be next for the chop (for different reasons of course). This really creepy recent tweet from the eye-popping Kellyanne suggests she's positioning herself for the Chief of Staff job 'I serve at the pleasure of @POTUS. His message is my message. His goals are my goals. Uninformed chatter doesn't matter'.

I see. That's an interesting article. So all connected with the Christoper Steele dossier. I wonder how he's getting on these days!

As to the Republicans in Congress. I imagine they feel they can work around Trump and advance their legislative agenda. I suspect shame doesn't come into it!

Hi intexasatthemoment I don't know if there was a specific Flynn visit to Russia which Trump denied, but Flynn's close contacts in Russia have been public knowledge for a while. His downfall was due to the phone conversations* he had with the Russian Ambassador about sanctions while Obama was still in office. I think that's because of a law which prevents private citizens from engaging in diplomacy. This left him open to blackmail by the Russians. I imagine there's a hope in the White House that all the 'too close to Putin' baggage that's been weighing them down can be loaded onto Flynn's shoulders now, and will disappear out of the door now he's left. - Editing to add - *and of course lying about those conversations.

I love the way that the phrase 'full confidence' is such a reliable kiss of death.

... I also have reason to believe that this was common practice prior to my birth.

All my life (51 years) dogs have been tied up outside shops to wait for their owners. This is normal.

I think this is interesting on the way that congressional Republicans view Trump. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/12/us/politics/trump-gop-lawmakers.html

A good, brief analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of Mike Flynn, written back in December. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/12/making-sense-of-mike-flynn/510059/

nxjen Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Though why US > immigration think anyone who has posted rabid anti > American messages on Facebook is going to meekly > complete a form with details of their online alter > egos is a bit strange. That's a key criticism I've heard of this too. It's another one of these policies that's not actually designed to achieve anything.

It's clearly a full schedule.

At the risk of veering miles off thread topic....I suspect this was less about the release of long suppressed passions, and more a 'gotcha' moment.

I don't imagine he's had a minute to think about it. He's been far too busy sorting out the Suez Crisis and the Vietnam War.