Russia, 2017: Greed, Money And Murder

"They chained him to a bed and 8 riot guards with rubber batons beat him to death... That's what they do in Russia."

Putin, the richest man on earth, is a murderous thug, who has his political opponents killed-- including journalists. So when he turned to the moron who he helped get into the White House and said, pointing menacingly to members of the press, "These are the ones who insulted you?" it shouldn't necessarily be taken as a joke. Trumpanzee, of course loved it.

Nick Kristof this morning: "It’s particularly problematic that Trump is continuing his crusade against the news media while abroad. All presidents think that they are covered unfairly, but Trump is venturing into new territory with his campaign against journalists."

The Richard Engel special about Putin's Russia (above)-- first aired last night on Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show. She was right to give up her time-slot (#1 on cable) to Engel... and you'd be smart to watch it. Unless you don't want to understand who Putin is, what Russia is and why they helped install Trump.

In a column for CNBC last night, John Harwood wrote that foreign policy experts had urged the contemptible Trump "to sternly confront Putin over the negative thing that happened last year, when Russia conducted a cyber-attack on Democratic targets to help elect him. But diplomats from both countries made clear afterward that Trump had not."

Trump's history in business and politics suggests the simplest of explanations: Russia helped him. And that reality outweighs more abstract notions about U.S. institutions and security interests that veterans of past administrations fault him for not defending.

Trump has explained his transactional philosophy in both the positive and the negative. If someone hits him, he likes to say, he hits back "10 times harder."

He reciprocates assistance just the same. As he remarked of Putin last year, "If he says great things about me, I'm going to say great things about him."

He praised television executive Jeff Zucker, who gave him a national platform with "The Apprentice," then blasted him as a failure over CNN's coverage. He ripped 2016 primary opponents Ted Cruz, Ben Carson and Marco Rubio in excruciatingly personal terms, then praised them after they endorsed him.

He called Paul Ryan "weak and ineffective" in response to criticism, then likened him to "fine wine" as they embarked on a shared agenda. Desperate for a victory on major legislation, Trump is now pressing for enactment of a health-care bill that would impose hardship on the white working class voters who powered his campaign.

That history foreshadowed the disappointment of those who wanted Trump to challenge Putin with assertions of wrongdoing and potential consequences. "It is not enough to agree to disagree," said Richard Haass, a foreign policy aide in both Bush administrations.

"He does not have grand theories or ideas," explained Danielle Pletka, a foreign policy specialist at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. "Insofar as someone is useful to him they are fine. Insofar as they interfere, they are bad."

Whether Trump's stance stems from a deeper source than surface-level back-scratching is the subject of investigations by Congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller. They are examining both financial transactions and contacts involving Russians and Trump associates.

But the administration's actions, like Trump's warm words for Putin on Friday, give no reason to expect a shift in tone. The administration has declined to embrace Senate-passed legislation stiffening sanctions on Russia, and is discussing the possibility of returning Russian facilities seized by the Obama administration as punishment for interfering in the election.

"With Trump doing nothing, he's enabling Putin," said Juliette Kayyem, a former Obama administration security official who teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School. "Trump wants Putin's help in 2020. Just say it directly. It's so obvious."

Below is the whole Maddow show which is embedded here not for her superfluous intro but for one of the scariest parts of the report-- the part about Christian right Trumpists in America and their adherence to Russia-- at around the 38 minute mark. These are traitors to the U.S.-- a fifth column-- and should be dealt with appropriately... and quickly. For real.