SPECIAL COUNSELS AND THE RENEWAL OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

Much as American politicians try, through their venality and greed, to bring down the status of our nation, the existence of our peculiar office of a Special or Independent Counsel will renew our standing, among nations.  More than our nuclear bombs and supersonic aircraft; more than our missile submarines and our rapid deployment capabilities, it is our ability to, somehow, repair our institutions that make our country an island of stability in an unstable world.

I think that there is hope that one day, when we are cleansed of today's aberrations, we will regain our standing among nations.

DIVING FROM THE FRYING PAN DIRECTLY INTO THE FIRE

I believe that Donald Trump will forever rue the day that he fired James Comey, who was charged with finding any collusion with Russians in the election, which lead to the appointment of a Special Counsel, who is authorized to investigate anything and everything.

When one considers the target rich environment of Trump's life, with thousands of lawsuits, many settled with sealed agreements, others still pending; tax returns which Trump does not want exposed; possible illegal business dealings; it may have been most imprudent to fire the FBI Director even if we remove the possible   "obstruction of justice" charge from consideration.

Personally, I think that the really serious charges, that will make Donald, Jr.'s meeting,  with a Russian lawyer, pale by comparison, are yet to come. 

  

APPROVAL FIRST, THEN NOMINATION

Trump has unloaded on the Democrats, for not having approved people for Government positions, despite the fact that he has not nominated anyone for them.  Apparently, he wants to have pre-approval, so as not to waste his time with objections from Congress.

NARCISSISM AS VIEWED BY A CHILD

I divided my mother's siblings into two groups, the angelic souls who were generous to a fault, and those who I called "shrivelled souls".  I later learned that the "shrivelled souls" suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Things that I learned early about the "shrivelled souls" is that sometimes they would recall a slight that had occurred more than a decade before and would work themselves into a frenzy over it as if it had occurred the day before.  They never forgot the slight.  Another of the things was the futility of holding a meaningful discussion as to the merits of an argument.  Any disagreement with a given point was viewed as a personal attack and responded to with an ad hominem attack.

"Shrivelled souls" lacked generosity and had a need for a proscribed environment where they did not have to confront new things; they would withdraw from the unfamiliar. 

IS OBAMA OUR LAST ELECTED PRESIDENT?

Since there are doubts, as to the legitimacy of the 2016 election, that have only deepened by the recent meeting between Trump and Putin, will future events turn out to confirm the possibility that the Obama election of 2012 was the last in which the President was not appointed by a foreign power?

THE SLIPPERY SLOPE FOR AN EX-HEGEMON

China, once the hyperpower of the globe suffered indignities and abuse, including loss of sovereignty over its own territory when it lost hegemony of the world.  It has been a centuries-long process to even regain a fraction of their standing in the world.

Now that Donald Trump has ceded leadership to other countries, how far down the pike is it to lose the status of the U.S Dollar as a reserve currency thereby making our deficits unsustainable, and causing us to be unable to sustain our military because other countries will no longer finance our armed forces?  What indignities will the U.S. have in its future?

WHO BETTER TO CONSULT?

Of course, we should work with Putin on cyber security as Trump wants.  Who better to consult with, on keeping the fox out of the henhouse, than a coyote?