Newsweek Exposes Trump’s Shady Foreign Ties, Hillary Pounces With Tweets About His Security Risks

The international web spun by Donald Trump’s businesses appear to be testing the limits of personal/political conflicts of interest. Kurt Eichenwald of Newsweek published an article today that reveals the depths of Trump’s involvement with foreign businesses and governments. The extensive detail in the story makes it impossible to ignore the national security implications were Trump to become president.

Donald Trump Newsweek

In the opening paragraphs Eichenwald lays out the central theme of the article that questions whether it would be possible for Trump to govern unless he, and his family, completely severed ties with The Trump Organization:

If Donald Trump is elected president, will he and his family permanently sever all connections to the Trump Organization, a sprawling business empire that has spread a secretive financial web across the world? Or will Trump instead choose to be the most conflicted president in American history, one whose business interests will constantly jeopardize the security of the United States?

A close examination by Newsweek of the Trump Organization, including confidential interviews with business executives and some of its international partners, reveals an enterprise with deep ties to global financiers, foreign politicians and even criminals, although there is no evidence the Trump Organization has engaged in any illegal activities.

The questions raised in the Newsweek piece didn’t escape the view of Hillary Clinton. She posted a series of tweets (twenty, in fact) challenging Trump to respond to the allegations. She began in tweet #1 by asking “Will you sever ties with your company linked to foreign leaders, questionable organizations, and criminals if you become president?” And she concluded with tweet #20 saying “It’s pretty clear: Trump’s spent his life unscrupulously looking out for his own wallet above all. Why would that change as president?” And all the questions in between pose distinct dilemmas for Trump were he to try to answer them. Which, knowing the weakness of his character, he will certainly avoid.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Here are Clinton’s compiled tweets:

He’s Baaaaack: Keith Olbermann Returns With Devastating Smack Down Of Donald Trump

This campaign season has been notably missing something that in the past has made tolerating electoral absurdities a bit easier. There are fewer of the strong voices on the left that are capable of encapsulating the outrage many Americans feel. Conservatives have Fox News and talk radio to comfort themselves with the factless pablum they crave. But for reality-based liberals the pickings are scarce. MSNBC has taken a turn to the center, and CNN seems to be striving to emulate Fox.

Olbermann

Consequently, the return of Keith Olbermann to the world of pundits is welcome and long overdue. GQ just announced that Olbermann will be assuming the role of Special Correspondent. In that capacity he will present regular videos addressing the state of the campaign and, in particular, taking on Donald Trump. The first in the series is an epic production that tallies up “176 Reasons Donald Trump Shouldn’t Be President.” In the opening Olbermann sets the stage for his righteous renunciation of Trump:

Every few generations, we Americans are called upon to defend our country. To defend it not so much from foreign dictators or war or terrorism, but from those here who have no commitment to progress or democracy or representative government—no commitment to anything except their own out-of-control minds and the bottomless pits of their egos.

Our society has thrown up these people before: Joseph McCarthy. George Wallace. Father Coughlin. Jefferson Davis. Aaron Burr. The Know-Nothings. The Blacklisters. The America-Firsters. And we have always thrown them out.

And now our generation has its own: the most dangerous individual ever nominated by a major party for the highest office in this country.

His base wants few details and fewer facts; they just want to burn it down and blame their failures on the collective other. And Donald John Trump is their demonic messiah in Oompa Loompa’s clothing.

We must stop him.

That’s a great start. What follows is an extensively researched panoply of Donald Trump’s ignorant and bigoted pronouncements of the past fifteen months. Any one of these outrageous Trumpisms might have ended the career of any other politician in the past. Combined they represent a whole that Olbermann calls a horrifying. For example, Olbermann lambastes Republicans for having nominated for president a man who…

“…attacked President Obama and implied he was a traitor. Who attacked him as having been complicit in the Orlando terrorist attack. Who attacked him for having lower approval ratings than Vladimir Putin, as if Putin’s could be trusted. Who attacked him as being born in another country. Who attacked him as the founder of ISIS, then said it was sarcasm, then said it wasn’t sarcasm, then attacked him again as the founder of ISIS.

And…

“…attacked Mexicans as rapists, bringing drugs and crime; who attacked African-Americans and claimed they were all living in poverty with no jobs and schools that were no good; who attacked Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as a “war zone” and attacked the United States of America and claimed it is in a ‘death spiral.'”

And…

“…lied about thousands of Syrian refugee terrorists being secretly admitted to this country; who lied about the Chicago police urging him to cancel a rally; who lied about the Chicago police saying they could solve crime there with ‘tough police tactics’; who lied about how there was no drought in California, how he never said Japan should have nuclear weapons, how he opposed the ouster of Egyptian president Mubarak, how the unemployment rate is 42 percent.”

And that doesn’t even begin to cover it. Olbermann continues with dozens more examples of Trump’s unfitness for office. It’s a litany of shame, corruption, dishonesty, and hate. Watch the video below to get the full effect. And bookmark this link for the transcript. If this is representative of the quality of work Olbermann is going to put into this new project, he will be making a critical contribution to election coverage and analysis. Thanks Keith, and welcome back.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Colin Powell’s LEAKED EMAILS Reveal What He Really Thinks Of Donald Trump

For several weeks the media has fixated on emails associated with Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Some of them were obtained by anti-Democratic organizations and Republicans in Congress. Others were stolen by hackers affiliated with Russian intelligence operations. Now, if the story reported by BuzzFeed pans out, the GOP may get a taste of their own medicine.

Powell/Trump

Personal emails from former Secretary of State Colin Powell have been obtained by BuzzFeed News. Among the revelations in them is his assessment of Donald Trump as “a national disgrace” and an “international pariah.” BuzzFeed writes that:

“The remarks came in a June 17, 2016, email to Emily Miller, a journalist who was once Powell’s aide. In that same email Powell also said Trump ‘is in the process of destroying himself, no need for Dems to attack him.'”

Powell is not just a former Secretary of State. he is also a retired four-star general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was National Security Adviser to President Ronald Reagan. His reputation took a hit when he shilled for George Bush’s invasion of Iraq, but as a Republican icon of international diplomacy he is without peer. For him to dismiss Trump in such potent terms could have a significant impact on right-leaning Republicans and independents.

Additionally, Powell’s emails revealed his disgust for the Birther movement which he described as racist. In fact, he said that “the whole birther movement was racist.” With respect to Trump’s leading role in it, Powell wrote “When Trump couldn’t keep that up he said he also wanted to see if the certificate noted that he was a Muslim.”

Powell even commented on Trump bringing disgraced former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes into his campaign. Ailes, you recall, was ousted from the network he founded after numerous women came forward with complaints of sexual harassment. Powell made the cogent observation that “Ailes as an advisor wont heal women.” And he criticized the overall press coverage of Trump saying “You guys are playing his game, you are his oxygen.”

[UPDATE] Additional reporting has revealed another fascinating email from Powell. In this one he says that “Benghazi is a stupid witch hunt.”

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

Colin Powell continues to be a respected figure in the Republican Party and more broadly across a swath of independents. Until the release of these emails his opinions of Trump were not publicly known. Trump will surely renounce Powell as a dummy and loser, and his supporters won’t be moved by these criticisms. But Powell is expressing the views of many conservatives who are troubled by Trump’s ignorance and repulsed by his bigotry. Only time will tell if enough of them are dissuaded to prevent a Trump victory from bringing shame to our nation.