The Helsinki Fiasco

Calling the performance of Donald J. Trump on the world stage at the combined Helsinki press conference with Putin a fiasco is being more than kind. I was watching it in real time. I was so floored, shocked, utterly appalled, ashamed, and any other negative adjective you can think of at that moment. It was so surrealistic, I thought I might just be having a nightmare. I have been watching various news channels day and night since this happened.  I didn’t post this blog entry at the time it happened.  I really thought that this was the one that would topple Trump’s presidency.  Especially with some of the comments coming from Republicans, former administration officials, and even Fox News blasted him.  I should have known better.

“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors,’” tweeted former CIA Director John Brennan. “It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???”

Of course, Trump’s synchophants went into overdrive trying to find a way to spin this.  It couldn’t be fake news, because we saw it ourselves.  This one the President was going to have to dig himself out of.  The summit was on July 16th.  Trump’s unofficial rollback didn’t come until two days later.  It started with Trump saying there was one word he got wrong, and that was all he saw wrong with the incident. When you changed the word, it became a double negative sort of thing, which made no sense at all.  Donald started singing his favorite refrain of “The fake news.”

We are on day three. Watching the news for the facts and the late-night comedians for a thoughtful analysis. It is hard to conclude anything beyond what has already been said. I drew the parallel to Trump’s handling of the Charlottesville Unite The Right rally and this press conference. His penchant for blaming both sides was apparent. “There were good people on both sides” versus his Helsinki comment of “Yes, I do. I hold both countries responsible. I think the United States has been foolish. I think we have all been foolish.” 

It is hard to say anything that hasn’t already been said or to analyze this incident from any viewpoint that hasn’t already been beaten to death.  I was looking through my blog entries and found this to be in the “draft” column, so I figured I might as well add my voice to the cacophony.  For a moment at least most Republicans grew the most minute beginnings of a spine.  I thought for a moment that they might live up to their constitutional duties.  But other than a little lip service, they never acted upon it.  Not even something as non-confrontational as passing a bill to protect Mueller’s investigation.