(The above title is borrowed from part of a great article by Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, which I will reference at the end of this oped)

trumpbankruptcyDo we need a repeated draft-deferring con artist telling us that our country will only be ‘great again’ because of him?

Do we stand for this repeated draft deferring con artist going on and on for baited applause to his words, saying that our Navy is great and that he ‘will never let them down’ after he began his campaign going out of his way to castigate a tortured Navy prisoner of war, that being Senator John McCain, scoffing with disgust at his heroic sacrifice, and saying he isn’t a hero, ‘I like soldiers who don’t get caught’?

mccainwarheroSenator John McCain was a Navy pilot. shot down in his fighter jet over Vietnam, tortured for years by the Vietcong…had opportunities to be released but refused to say what they were trying to force him to say in order to be released, and barely made it back alive after being a prisoner of war for approx. 7 years!

Insert disgraceful Donald Trump, telling us how he and only he can make our country GREAT again (when we know it is already great because of heroes like McCain and many others) who shortly after he began his campaign for President, sought to tear down Senator McCain, specifically stating that he was not any kind of hero, because he ‘got caught’.

Are we going to stand by and allow this draft-deferring perversion of the highest office of our country who sought to never serve in the military, to hypocritically boast that he is now Commander-in-Chief and ‘will never let our Navy down’ as he shows us how to make this country ‘great’, after not only his cowardly attacks on Senator McCain, but also just days ago, his refusing to take responsibility for the death of a Navy Seal, going out of his way under criticism of his decision to green light that Seal operation, saying that it was entirely the “generals’ fault” for that death?

SealWifeAre we going to tolerate this draft-deferring hypocrite then using the wife of that Navy Seal as a ‘prop’ in his recent address to Congress, exploiting her grief and the shared grief of the nation on her behalf, to make the resulting standing ovation and clapping into a ‘contest’, claiming that at least the slain Navy Seal can take consolation that ‘they had just set a record’? (Again, Trump implying praise for himself for that as well)

JeffSessionsAdd to this today’s news that has revealed that not just General Flynn, (Trump’s pick for National Security Adviser) but now a SECOND top Trump cabinet official, Attorney General Sessions, was not truthful under oath in his Senate confirmation hearings when asked if he had EVER had any contact with Russian officials during his time as a key member of the Trump campaign.

trumpunivHow do honorable Americans ignore the MOUNTAIN of indications of Trump’s hypocritical, unethical and corrupt character throughout his life: Huge Trump University fraud investigation, well reported and documented ties to organized crime in the building of his casino in New York and New Jersey(Google it), adamant refusal to release his taxes after promising to do so, Trump housing discrimination against Black applicants in a housing project he owned…

trumpivankaHis repeating during two different interviews that if he wasn’t her father, he would want to DATE his daughter Ivanka, and of course his bragging in another well known interview now, that because of his star status, he routinely gets away with grabbing women by their p*ssy with impunity, and in other documented interviews, saying that many women need to be treated ‘roughly’, etc, just to name but only a few…

putintrumpbabyAnd choosing to irresponsibly and unconscionably ignore those things, how do we continue to ignore the growing second mountain of indications of his connections and collusion with Russia and Vladimir Putin, and two of his top cabinet officials now caught being out and out dishonest in order to cover up their contacts with the Russian Ambassador during his campaign?

And let me say this…It is beyond ignorant to respond to this revelation about Atty General Sessions by saying, “Well it isn’t unusual at all for a Senator to have communications with the Russian Ambassador in the course of his duties.” That is going out of your way to ignore the 300 pound hairpiece in the room…

Yes a Senator can have reason to contact the Russian Ambassador. But if you are Jeff Sessions, going through Senate confirmation, WELL AWARE OF THE SH#TSTORM in the press about the growing reports of Russia’s interference in the election…Are you not going to get out in front of that problem IMMEDIATELY if you are honest and ethical?

FrankenSessionsIn other words, prepping for those confirmation hearings, what is the number one question your prep team is going to ‘prep’ you about primarily? JUST THAT VERY QUESTION!

Prep team: “Uh, Senator, you can set your watch to the fact that they are going to want to ask you about any contact you may have had with the Russians, specifically the Russian ambassador…So you need to get out in front of that and admit that you did so not just once, but on two occasions, and you need to tell them what the nature of those conversations were about sir.”

But see, that is of course the ethical, honest thing one would know they had an obligation and responsibility to do…However, if you have something to hide you would be motivated to try to hide those contacts period. And that is what happened during Sessions’ confirmation hearing.

And what made it even more obvious was the fact that the question Senator Al Franken asked him was not even specifically DIRECTED AT SESSIONS! Senator Franken asked Sessions if he was confirmed as Attorney General, and ultimately discovered that members of the Trump campaign had contact with the Russians, WHAT WOULD HE DO as Atty General?

In response to that broad querry, Sessions chose on his own volition to make it about him personally…He never answered what he would do if he discovered another member of Trump’s campaign involved with communications with Russia…Instead, he leaps over that question, and chooses to go on record to Franken in those hearings, admitting that while he has often been referred to as a ‘surrogate’ for the Trump campaign, he himself had NEVER had ANY contact with Russian officials…oddly adding the words ‘about the Trump campaign’ at the end.

RussianAmbassadorUnfortunately for Atty General Sessions, last week the breaking news reported by the Washington Post was that he DID in fact have contact with the Russian ambassador during Trump’s campaign in which Sessions was a key part…That he did so not just once, but TWICE…And wait for it…The first of those meetings was actually AT THE TRUMP REPUBLICAN CONVENTION RALLY.

And one other important point to shoot down here, for those pitiful individuals who want to keep ignoring this dangerous and corrupt trail of smoke…It very well could be true that what he discussed with the Russian ambassador technically had nothing specifically to do with Trump’s campaign…What they discussed could have easily just been about what Trump’s administration would be willing to do if elected, specifically regarding the U.S. sanctions against Russia, just like Flynn had discussed with that same Russian ambassador and LIED ABOUT ALSO.

The bottom line is, Sessions sought to hide the truth in his under oath testimony when asked about whether he had any contact with Russian officials. Senator Patrick Leahy also asked Sessions about that specifically in a formal written letter he sent to Sessions during that same time frame in January…In that letter he asked:

“Several of the president-elect’s nominees or senior advisers have Russian ties. Have you been in contact with anyone connected to any part of the Russian government about the 2016 election, either before or after election day?”

Sessions response to that written request was “No”.

The other damning truth that cannot be denied in all of this is the fact that if you were Sessions, knowing the severity of all the news and reporting on this disturbing Russia connection, you would have plenty of time since those confirmation hearings to on your own, have come forward to set the record straight, and correct what you had said on the record, and explain the nature of those meetings with the Russian ambassador. But to instead use the answer as he has done, that ‘you don’t recall’…That is not going to fly.

Such a completely unbelievable response to this revelation points to nothing but guilt, especially when you have not just Sessions, but Flynn having lied about the very SAME thing as well, around the same time frame. Then add to that Trump not being out front of all of this, demanding an investigation. Instead, Trump is trying to call all of these Russian concerns “FAKE NEWS”.

trumpalwysregrtpicAny ethical President who was not corrupt and had nothing to hide would be just as concerned about all of this as the rest of the country, and at his own direction would be demanding a special prosecutor and intensive investigation to expose those involved.

Trump’s unwillingness to do that is a dangerous dark plume of smoke unto itself. Here’s a very well put quote in an article by Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post:

“In short: Where there’s smoke and smoke and smoke and smoke and smoke, most reasonable people will assume there is fire — or that there should be an independent investigation to determine whether there is fire. Arguing that “there’s nothing to see here” is simply not a tenable position for Republicans at this point.”

Connie Bryan

ConnieHdshtSmallFile1(Connie Bryan is a writer in Sacramento, CA…Check out all of her material on her website and blog at www.conniebryan.com)