DAY 107: FLYNN - The gift that keeps on giving!

Welcome to SPLINKERNEWSMAX! SPECIAL EDITION!!!  SplinkerNewsMax is not owned by any major media corporation, although we are willing to entertain offers. 

DAY 107!: Trump still has not released his tax returns. The president and his family continue to be entangled in ethical violations and conflicts of interest on a daily basis. 

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED. 

Treason or Incompetence? Both paths should lead to impeachment.  Now, when I say  treason, I don't want to suggest that the president will ever be convicted, or even accused (in a legal document) of treason.  I simply mean that President Trump and his campaign team engaged in collusion with the Russian government during the 2016 election. Maybe it was the result of bargain struck - Criticizing NATO and lifting sanctions, in exchange for releasing Podesta's emails and trolling social media while promoting fake news.

Or maybe it was incompetence on a level that is stunning, even for government. 

We now know that the Trump transition team actually warned Flynn and Trump that his cozy pillow talk with the Russians was a problem. Apparently, however, Trump didn't even pause in bobbing his head before naming Flynn his national security adviser. 

Two things to think about and remember.  

First, the "Transition Team" and the "Trump campaign" are two different  groups of people, with some overlapping.  The transition team is tripping all over themselves to get out of the way of the Flynn trainwreck.  "WE WARNED HIM!" they shout.  And it looks like they did.  But that doesn't mean Flynn was as high as the RussiaGate goes.  

Second, VP Pence was the HEAD OF THE TRANSITION TEAM. This presents an interesting logic problem for two-year olds:

If Pence was the head of the Transition Team, and 

If the Transition Team warned Flynn about his talks with Russia before Jan. 21; 

and if Pence told us in January that Flynn did not talk with Russia about lifting sanctions...

and if Pence told is in February that he didn't know about the conversations and Flynn lied to him,

Then Pence is:

a. Lying to us. 

b. Incompetent as the transition team leader

c. Advised Trump that Flynn was a problem, and had his advice ignored; or 

d. ALL OF THE ABOVE.

  Listen. Trump hired a guy who was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014. In Dec. 2015 he is paid to participate in the 10th Anniversary party for Russian Television.  In 2016, Flynn is the Trump campaign's biggest cheerleader.  Literally.

Maybe Trump wasn't purposely colluding with Russia (He was).  Maybe he didn't know anything about it (He did).  But there is no 'maybe' about the fact that he knew Flynn was a national security risk and that it didn't stop him from making Flynn his national security adviser.  

Here's another thing to think about.  I know, I said there were only two things.  But as Sean Spicer would say, "What SplinkerNewsMax meant, and I think it's an important to remember, no, no, no, no. I understand, but let me, just let me. There are clearly two things he wants you to remember. Saying there are three things isn't not incorrect because you can't have three without two.  In other, there are definitely two things to remember, or else we wouldn't be talking about this third thing."

Trump's incompetence and the White House's "don't give a shit attitude" didn't stop at Flynn. 

Look at some of his failed nominations:

Phillip Bilden was Trump's pick for Sec. of Navy.  He withdrew, saying  he was unable to  "... satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my family's private financial interests.”

Vincent Viola dropped out from becoming Army secretary for pretty much the same reason. 

So Trump nominated Mark Green for the Army Sec. position.  Now he has also withdrawn.  Green is such a dick, that Sen. McCain, the head of the nomination committee, said "no way" would he vote for him. And he wasn't alone.  Aside from the democratic senators, 41 civil rights groups and 10 retired officers urged Green to withdraw or be rejected by the Senate.  Mean Mark Green has made nasty comments regarding the LGBT community, Muslims, Latinos, birth control, evolution, the Second Amendment, and (probably) brown M&Ms.

Why would Trump nominate such an idiot in the first place?  Because he doesn't care and he's incompetent.  

Flynn, Bilden, Viola and Green.  These are the guys who withdrew voluntarily.  What about all the nominations Trump that made the cut, though?  Do you trust that the president took any time to vet them, or that the Republicans weren't willing to rubber stamp a bad egg or ten?  

MAGA!

That's it! Maybe I'll say a few words about healthcare, the surprising amount of republicans who voted for their bill without knowing what it was, the Russian hacking of the French election and the fact that the western world poised to be pushed off a cliff by Putin, depending on tomorrow's election.  

That's really it!

It's 9:46 a.m.

Good Morning!