(This cartoon image is by Ed Wexler at cagle.com.)Even before he was accused of colluding with Russia to win the 2016 election, Donald Trump was seen as being soft on Russia. He expressed his admiration of Russia's Putin as being a strong leader.
He has not changed. Although all U.S. intelligence agencies have said they have proof of Russian interference in the 2016 election (through hacking and the creation and spreading of fake stories), and the American people no longer doubt this happened, Trump is still refusing to accept it. Instead, he is accepting the denials given him by Putin.
After chatting with Putin during his current Asian trip, Trump had this to say:
"He said he didn't meddle. He said he didn't meddle. I asked him again. You can only ask so many times." "Every time he sees me, he says, 'I didn't do that,'. And I believe, I really believe, that when he tells me that, he means it." "I think he is very insulted by it." That is a shameful statement for a U.S. President to make. What he is saying is that he trusts the word of an enemy leader more than he trusts his own intelligence agencies.. How can he now be trusted to protect America from Russia? And how can he be trusted to conduct any foreign policy when he doesn't believe the intelligence he is given.
It's bad enough that Trump lies at the drop of a hat (telling over 1,000 lies in his first 9 months in office), but this pandering to the Russian leader (and denigration of our own government workers) is beyond the pale. It cannot be accepted. It is time to seriously consider whether Trump is a good American or whether he has sold out to the Russians -- and with his behavior showing the latter may well be true, it's time to consider impeachment.
