© Jabin Botsford/The
Washington Post Photo
“Master of
Manipulating Opinion by Manipulating Information”
Trump’s 2020
tactics win and stay in office coming focus. Case in point as seem in excellent
article from
the Washington Post by Phil Rucker, et al is this professional’s
evaluation of Trump in the summary (my emphasis added).
Introduction: The U.S. intelligence community long
ago produced evidence of Russia’s illegal interference in the 2016 presidential
election to try to boost Trump’s candidacy. Then the special counsel investigating
the matter detailed myriad ways President Trump sought to stymie the probe. Then
Special Counsel Robert Mueller testified to Congress about Trump’s conduct —
and warned of Russia’s continued interest in thwarting U.S. elections.
But it is Trump who is
trying to have the last word. Seven months
after Mueller’s marathon testimony brought finality to the Russia
investigation, Trump is actively seeking to rewrite the narrative that had been
meticulously documented by federal law enforcement and intelligence officials,
both for immediate political gain and for history.
Turbocharged by his
acquittal in the Senate’s impeachment trial and confident that he has acquired
the fealty of nearly every Republican in Congress, Trump is claiming vindication and
exoneration not only over his conduct with Ukraine — for which the House voted
to impeach him — but also from the other investigations that have dogged his
presidency.
Now, some views and evidence and opinions from expert
scholars, legal prosecutors, intelligence and counter-intelligence officials,
and investigators:
From Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a history
professor at NYU and a scholar of authoritarianism, says she sees dark motives in Trump’s
actions while giving him credit Trump with his foresight and skill
thusly stated:
“It’s all about manipulating information and recasting the narrative to be what you need it to be. Even more than censoring, which is old-school, rulers like Trump – and Vladimir Putin is a master at this — manipulating opinion by manipulating information.”
“While Trump is impulsive and there’s always the question of, is he a chess-master or is he just moving blindly out of emotion, this strategy of manipulating information and creating a false narrative are the actions of someone who thinks long-term, who thinks about his legacy.”
“He’s a builder. He thinks about the future. And this is a story about someone building an alternate history for the future.”
“It’s all about manipulating information and recasting the narrative to be what you need it to be. Even more than censoring, which is old-school, rulers like Trump – and Vladimir Putin is a master at this — manipulating opinion by manipulating information.”
“While Trump is impulsive and there’s always the question of, is he a chess-master or is he just moving blindly out of emotion, this strategy of manipulating information and creating a false narrative are the actions of someone who thinks long-term, who thinks about his legacy.”
“He’s a builder. He thinks about the future. And this is a story about someone building an alternate history for the future.”
From Chuck Rosenberg, a
former U.S. attorney and former counsel to the FBI:
“As Bob Mueller said — and the entire intelligence community confirmed — Russia is still coming at us. Not only is the president offering a false narrative to the American people about that threat, but there is no leadership from him on this incredibly important issue. We are still being attacked. It is as if the Russians invaded Alaska and the president either said they are not actually there or that they are there but it does not really matter because we have 49 other marvelous states.”
“As Bob Mueller said — and the entire intelligence community confirmed — Russia is still coming at us. Not only is the president offering a false narrative to the American people about that threat, but there is no leadership from him on this incredibly important issue. We are still being attacked. It is as if the Russians invaded Alaska and the president either said they are not actually there or that they are there but it does not really matter because we have 49 other marvelous states.”
From Frank Figliuzzi, a
former senior FBI official:
“Trump’s efforts to spin a new history of the Russia investigation are cause for alarm. What Trump is doing is canceling what we all have proven, what the courts have proven, as in Roger Stone, as in Manafort, as in Flynn, in a form of jury nullification at a presidential level,” (re: Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn). The president is doing it on steroids because of the power of his office. People have to see the danger in that.”
“Trump’s efforts to spin a new history of the Russia investigation are cause for alarm. What Trump is doing is canceling what we all have proven, what the courts have proven, as in Roger Stone, as in Manafort, as in Flynn, in a form of jury nullification at a presidential level,” (re: Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn). The president is doing it on steroids because of the power of his office. People have to see the danger in that.”
Main article continues: Absent from the president’s many
public comments about the Russia investigation, however, was a warning to
Russia not to interfere in the next election, or even an acknowledgment that
U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking
to do so.
Still,
Russia is foremost on Trump’s mind. Since even before he was sworn in as
president, Trump has viewed the FBI’s Russia investigation as a dark cloud over
his administration that threatened to delegitimize his claim on the office. And
more than three years in, Trump remains haunted by all things Russia, according
to advisers and allies, and continues to nurse a profound and unabiding sense
of persecution.
As his
reelection campaign intensifies, Trump is using the powers of his office to
manipulate the facts and settle the score. Advisers say the president is
determined to protect his associates ensnared in the expansive Russia
investigation, punish the prosecutors and investigators he believes betrayed
him, and convince the public that the probe was exactly as he sees it: An illegal witch
hunt.
My 2 cents: Entire
full article is here, enjoy, it is truly excellent and a
must-read.
Now the blog title with
Trump waving reminded me of Bob Dylan’s classic song: “American Pie” (YouTube) and the deep meaning in that song as many had speculated for years – McLean
said in an early interview, as the
Guardian reported in an interview just before he sold his original lyrics
at auction:
“People ask me
if I left the lyrics open to ambiguity. Of course I did. I wanted to make a
whole series of complex statements. The lyrics had to do with the state of
society at the time.”
But what state was that? It seemed like the song’s
cast of characters — which include a jester, a king, a queen, good ol’ boys
drinking whiskey and rye as well as “Miss American Pie” herself — were
meant to represent real people. The song includes references to Karl Marx;
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (or, more likely, John Lennon); the Fab Four; the Byrds;
James Dean; Charles Manson; the Rolling Stones; the “widowed bride, Jackie
Kennedy; and the Vietnam War.”
“What does it all mean? Just what a song about
the day the music died seems like it might be about: the end of the American
Dream.”
That is relevant at this time under this Trump
administration I strongly believe in song and now, actually all around us.
Thanks for stropping by.
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