Trump sucks up to Putin, embarrassing us again (Paul Waldman,WaPo)

[MBS]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/28/trump-sucks-up-putin-embarrassing-us-yet-again/?

Whenever he gets in a room with Russian President Vladimir Putin, something comes over President Trump, his long and bizarre fanboy admiration bubbling to the surface. It’s almost as though he wants to convince Putin that he’ll do whatever is necessary to please him, the interests of the United States notwithstanding.

Which we’re seeing again today. . . You have to watch the video to appreciate how Trump took the question of Russia’s potential efforts to “meddle” in the 2020 election, which actually means “Take steps to help Trump get reelected.”The little smile on his face as he says “Don’t meddle in the election,” as though the fact that he would say that is a joke the two are sharing, one they’ve laughed about before and will again, tells you all you need to know. . . So this is what we just witnessed: The president of the United States, joking with a murderous dictator about the fact that the dictator helped him get elected in 2016 and will almost certainly help him in his reelection campaign in 2020, and appearing to joke with the dictator about the fact that he has critical journalists killed.

What’s the right word to describe all this? Were we talking about a Democratic president, Trump would no doubt call it “treason,” a word of which he is rather fond. By one count he has made the treason accusation 24 times, tossing it at the FBI (for conducting a counterintelligence investigation of Russian efforts to help him become president), at The Washington Post and the New York Times (for writing stories that do not reflect well on his administration), and at Democrats (for not applauding enough at his State of the Union), among others.

I’d prefer not to use that word. But whatever one we’d choose, there is no doubt that the Oval Office is now occupied by a man who has contempt for not only the interests of the United States but also every principle that is supposed to make us what we are. If you can watch him yukking it up with Putin and not feel sick to your stomach, you might want to take a good hard look at your own commitment to American values.

[Karadeniz]

1. Yep!

[Botany]

2. Treason

End of story

[MBS]

3. You bet it is. N/t