Trump And Putin. The Manchurian Candidate?

I wrote this a while back, intended as one of my newspaper columns. Other needs to rant have pushed it back, and if Hillary wins, I'll probably not publish it. Plus, with the release of this latest report in Newsweek (read it!) it needs serious updating. But here it is, anyway: 

So what’s the deal with Trump and Putin? At this point it’s certainly fair to ask; and, not to be too conspiratorial, to wonder whether Donald Trump is an unwitting tool or a greedy deceiver out to enrich himself no matter the cost to America. To Trumpists it probably makes no difference. But, really: dealing with a geopolitical enemy for one’s own enrichment, monetary or otherwise! You’d think that’d be too much for all but his most blinded (by the usual list of deplorable stuff) supporters. 

At debate number two, wherein Trump announced his dictatorial intentions vis a vis imprisoning political opponents (he’s already promised to fill Guantanamo with “the worst” and submit them to torture, even though it doesn’t work, just because “they deserve it”), he said he has no idea if Russia is hacking emails and trying to influence the election. This he claimed after receiving a security briefing in which the specific involvement of Russia, and possibly Putin himself, was spelled out in detail. Dismissing facts is, of course, modus operandi primo for Trumpists and their progenitors. Still, I’d tend to take seriously information I received in a national security briefing by the CI-fricking-A. At the very least, I wouldn’t lie about it. 

The day after that debate, Trump addressed a crowd. Reiterating, to delirious approbation, his intention to lock Hillary up after he’s elected (when he’d first said it, some in his campaign suggested he wasn’t serious), he referred to a leaked email, a copy of which he waved around like Joe McCarthy with his “list” of commies back in the Fifties. The story of that email is a little complex, but sincerely worth a read. Suffice it to say it was released from Russia with certain details changed to make it appear to be something it wasn’t. 

Of greater interest is that Trump allegedly had access to it before it was leaked. Think about that. Russia. Giving to Donald Trump advanced copies of an email deceptively edited to influence favor toward Donald Trump. And Trump repeating it. How and why did he get it? Is he being used, or is he the user? Clearly, an international antagonist is meddling with our election and Trump is abetting it. That’s not in question. The only question is why? 

As usual, in the debates Donald piled lie upon lie, covering the entire spectrum of his campaign arguments: his tax plan, economic growth, crime statistics, Hillary Clinton laughing at a rape victim, Obamacare, birtherism, his support for the Iraq war, and so much more. Among them was the claim that he doesn’t know Vladimir Putin and has no dealings of any kind with Russia. But we know he’s bragged on many occasions to have met directly with Putin and that he has a great relationship with him. So which is the lie? Investigations by the Washington Post, Newsweek, and others have discovered financial connections to and receiving of money from Russia in many instances. So why the lies? What is he hiding? And why don’t his supporters care? 

Sure, Trump lies about everything. I’ve assumed it’s due to some combination of bravado, narcissism, sociopathy, and pathological lying. But what if it’s more sinister? What if he lies ceaselessly about such obvious and debunkable things so people will stop paying attention? Why? Well, how about this: in order to bury under a mountain of lies his true intentions; namely, getting into office on the promise of helping Russia in return for cold cash, and lots of it. It’s obvious Russia is attempting to get him there. Are we seeing an actual flipside of insane right-wing conspiracy theories, this one involving one of their own? (Maybe those claims of UN/Kenyan tanks were a deliberate diversion, too. Alex Jones is in on it!) 

Or has Vladimir Putin, in his dealings with Donald, recognized the man’s extreme narcissism and determined he’s the perfect stooge, needing only ego massage and greasing of his palm to be manipulated. Trump has already questioned the value of NATO, and now he’s saying the US has been too tough on Putin! (tinyurl.com/putrump) I’m starting to think the Donald is the Manchurian Candidate who didn’t even require brainwashing. 

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Two Of A Kind

Garry Kasparov's comparison of Trump to Putin is a worthy read, the last two paragraphs of which are below:

... It is painful to admit, but Putin was elected in a relatively fair election in 2000. He steadily dismantled Russia’s fragile democracy and succeeded in turning Russians against each other and against the world. It turns out you can go quite far in a democracy by convincing a majority that they are threatened by a minority, and that only you can protect them.  

The final and most worrying similarity between Putin and Trump is that so many are unwilling to believe that someone like Trump could ever become the leader of the most powerful nation in the world. In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed to great jubilation, we never would have believed that a former KGB agent would become the president of Russia just nine years later. The moral: Be careful whom you vote for, it could be the last election you ever have.

Well, we might say, even if he were elected, the Constitution, with its separation of powers, makes it impossible for him to become a strongman like Putin or those other tyrants he's praised.

I'm not so sure. Trump is a vengeful bully, so unable to take criticism, so unable and unwilling to think beyond the simplistic, that he's gone after any and all who disagree with him. In his recent meeting with R senators he overtly threatened a senator who'd not endorsed him. He's promised to use the IRS as a weapon as well, exactly the transgression of which the RWS™ falsely accused President Obama. I'm waiting to hear any of them speak out against what Trump actually promised. 

And what of the press, the Fourth Estate, charged with keeping our leaders honest? Trump has it covered: he's announced his intention to loosen libel laws, so he can sue reporters more easily. I suppose it's better than having them murdered, like Putin. But give him time, if he gets the power.

How many in Congress, especially on the right, have shown the courage to resist threats (or munificent favors)? With the power of the presidency, a nasty megalomaniac like Trump could easily cow, with threats and actions, those most able to stand up to him; i.e., elected representatives and, eventually, voters. Would they resist? I don't care to find out, because I'm pretty the answer is no. If nothing else, the Republican convention showed us that.

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