Рубио

Donald J. Trump (один из четырех сегодняшних твитов на данную тему):

Looking more & more like the Trump Campaign for President was illegally being spied upon (surveillance) for the political gain of Crooked Hillary Clinton and the DNC. Ask her how that worked out - she did better with Crazy Bernie. Republicans must get tough now. An illegal Scam!

Marco Rubio:

The @FBI had many reasons to look into this guy. And looking into him is not “spying” on Trump campaign, because as the White House made clear last year, he was “not an ‘advisor’ to Mr. Trump in any sense of the word.”

В твите Рубио интересно то, что он решил сейчас об этом четко сказать. Не только в твите, он сегодня и в телевизоре то же самое говорил.

(Часть про "because as the White House made clear last year, he was “not an ‘advisor’ to Mr. Trump in any sense of the word" -- это очевидный троллинг Трампа.)

Возможно, часть республиканцев, которые не намертво связаны с Трампом, начинает понимать, что защита Трампа is not sustainable.

А возможно, это очередной эпизод, после которого республиканцы смыкают ряды в защите Трампа.

P.S. Смотрю сегодняшнее интервью Рубио (ниже). В общем, very weak, мягко говоря.

Walking back the walk back

После would/wouldn't, когда Трамп kind of, sort of согласился с тем, что спецслужбы правы, Россия вмешалась в выборы, республиканские политики с облегчением сказали "ну вот, Трамп разъяснил свою позицию, слава богу, moving on".

Конечно, многие сразу же говорили о том, что мы же знаем Трампа -- его вынудили покаяться, но он скоро повторит то же самое, за что каялся, мы же видели это уже в прошлом.

Например, Noah Rothman:

Everyone's desperate for an exit ramp here, and Rs will think the news cycle is over. But if past is prologue, Trump will double down on his original claims in a few hours. And Rs will be left holding the bag. Again.

И, конечно, так и случилось. Трамп сегодня:

So President Obama knew about Russia before the Election. Why didn’t he do something about it? Why didn’t he tell our campaign? Because it is all a big hoax, that’s why, and he thought Crooked Hillary was going to win!!!

Конечно, то, что республиканцы сделали вид, что удовлетворены would/wouldn't -- это... не знаю, смешно, грустно, но что эти политики скажут теперь?

Опять же, если исходит из прошлого опыта, то республиканские политики просто проигнорируют то, как Трамп walked back the walk back.

Приведу объяснение Benjy Sarlin, он отвечает на первую цитату (Noah Rothman) несколько дней назад:

There’s an important element that makes this trick work: While they can’t ignore behavior at a world important event, they’re very skilled at ignoring tweets and rallies. See how many comment on the next 50 “DNC SERVER!” and “WITCH HUNT!” tweets that undermine this clarification.

“I don’t comment on tweets, I’m just trying to focus on policy, I’m not sure what the president meant there, the important thing is what he DOES and there I see...”

И я думаю, что "they can’t ignore behavior at a world important event" -- это только потому, что world important events происходят достаточно редко, и республиканцы просто еще не выработали навыки игнорирования поведения Трампа на мероприятиях уровня встречи с Путиным.

Трамп/России vs. Обама/Иран

Очень хорошее объяснение того, почему ответ "а вот Обама же заключил договор с Ираном" на претензии к позиции Трампа в отношении России лишен смысла, даже в том случае, если вы совершенно не согласны с политикой Обамы в отношении Ирана.

Первый комментатор отвечает на твит ведущего CNN, Brian Stelter. Я приведу его, чтобы был понятен контекст.

"What does Putin have on Trump?" "Has he been compromised?" When historians look back on the Trump presidency, they'll say THIS was the week when those uncomfortable Q's moved into the mainstream...

А теперь сам разговор:

(((AG))): However anyone feels about Trump, this is irresponsible conspiracy-mongering. It is certainly not journalism.

Obama admin took action after action to appease Iran. You would have never considered running stories about whether he was compromised by Khomeini or a secret Muslim.

Tom Nichols: Not the same. And I think my feelings on the Iran deal were pretty clear.

(((AG))): Sorry Tom, but it's absolutely the same. You can rightly point out that Trump tries to appease Putin, you can't suggest he is compromised without direct evidence. And Obama's appeasement of Iran goes far beyond the deal itself.

In Obama's case, the simple explanation for some of the ridiculous actions he took (from Hezbollah to Syria) was that he was desperate for a deal. In trump's case, there is a simple explanation too (he likes/admires Putin and wants him to like him).

Of course it's completely valid to point out a pattern of irresponsible behavior from Trump toward Putin, but it's irresponsible for the media to then jump to the next step and dismiss the simple explanations in favor of conspiracies of him being compromised (w/o direct evidence)

Tom Nichols: You're wrong, AG. If you'll bear with me, I will tell you, with respect, why.

First, Obama's policy was terrible, but it was a policy. It had roots in a coherent (and wrong) vision. It was planned, not freelanced. It was kept secret, but for political, not personal reasons.

Second, it was milled through the policy and planning agencies that report to Obama. They knew what he was doing. Most of them knew why, in the broadest sense. This was not some surprise popped on the rest of the natsec infrastructure. (The public, more so.)

Finally, it was not the result of some personal deal between Obama and an Iranian leader about which we knew nothing. This was Obama leading a group of people in a shared vision of a policy that had actual coherence. (Wrong, but coherent.)

I understand Obama's reasoning perfectly well, and I reject it. But I know where it comes from. Everything about Trump and Russia revolves around one thing: Trump's personal fears and insecurity. There is no policy here. No one knows what's going on.

Even his own natsec guys are flummoxed. They have no idea what's going on, why, or what Putin and Trump talked about. Trump himself in utterly incoherent on this and is clearly, imo, terrified of Putin personally. That wasn't Obama and Iran.

Это не весь разговор, он продолжается по ссылке.

Fire and Fury

Президенту США не спится:

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

С одной стороны, понятно, что Trump is desperate.

С другой стороны, пиздец какой-то.

С третьей стороны, "бачили очi що купували".

Если вы интересуетесь, о чем это Трамп -- Daniel Dale:

What did Rouhani actually do? 1) He referred to Trump directly: "Mr Trump, don't play with the lion's tail, this would only lead to regret." 2) He said this: "America should know that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace, and war with Iran is the mother of all wars."