{"id":299,"date":"2018-07-12T14:46:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-12T21:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebigweasel.wordpress.com\/?p=299"},"modified":"2018-07-12T14:46:19","modified_gmt":"2018-07-12T21:46:19","slug":"stormy-weather-trumping-the-elements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeppscommentaries.online\/?p=299","title":{"rendered":"Stormy Weather \u2014 Trumping the Elements"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
By Zepp<\/a> <\/span> on Monday, April 16, 2018<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

April 16th<\/sup> 2018<\/p>\n

We got through a weekend that I had been awaiting with a fair old bit of dread. Yes, we attacked Syria, but apparently managed to do so in a way that didn\u2019t spark a general regional war, let alone a thermonuclear war with Russia. Tactically, at least, the missile strikes apparently hit the intended targets, resulted in no casualties, and of America propaganda is to be believed, set the Syrian chemical production of such weapons back by months.<\/p>\n

That the US exercised such restraint is down to a fellow named Mad Dog Mattis. If that alone doesn\u2019t illuminate what lunatic times we live in, I don\u2019t know what would. The Hunter S. Thompson Memorial Temperance Society, perhaps?<\/p>\n

Trump, like far too many Americans, believes the way to earn respect and cooperation from people is by bombing the shit out of them. History has endless examples of how well this worked: Britain\u2019s surrender to Germany in 1941, North Vietnam\u2019s surrender to the US in 1967, and Iraq\u2019s decision to abhor and abjure any fanatical Islamic groups in 2005.<\/p>\n

We managed to get through the week without the world\u2019s two main nuclear powers deciding to show us their love and concern by incinerating us. We aren\u2019t out of the woods, of course, but we managed to step past a land mine in an awfully big mine field.<\/p>\n

But as Kathleen Parker over at the Washington Post noted, \u201cThe Dogs of War are Howling.\u201d Trump is still frantically searching for a way out of his scandals and know Americans go all glassy-eyed and subservient if there is a good-sized war to distract them. Israel and Saudi Arabia still want the US to come in and destroy countries they don\u2019t like so they don\u2019t look like the bad guys. And Putin is still playing his long game, backing Assad and Iran and very much aware that his puppet president in Washington is imploding.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of people who are skeptical that Assad conducted the gas attacks earlier this month, and they make a good case. Assad simply has nothing to gain from such attacks, and a fair bit to lose. There\u2019s no sensible set of events that could result in a positive outcome for him.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, we know the attacks did occur. The most obvious evidence is the victims themselves; 43 dead and several hundred hospitalized. Because it is easy to detect and can be done so with ammonia, we know for sure that chlorine gas was used. We suspect Sarin as well, but UN and other western agencies have been blocked from testing by Assad and the Russians.<\/p>\n

Why the Russians? They have nothing to gain other than weakening an ally who was already a political liability (Assad) and strengthening the hand of their other ally in the area, Iran. And we know Putin doesn\u2019t hesitate to use chemical weapons to further his aims. While making pro forma<\/i> denials, Putin is usually pretty cavalier about such use, because while he doesn\u2019t want to take responsibility for such ploys, he doesn\u2019t mind reminding Putin\u2019s enemies that Russia will be coming for them one day. Wipe your door knob before turning, beware people in London with umbrellas, and don\u2019t drink the tea.<\/p>\n

I think Putin was behind the attacks. He stands to gain, and it matches his MO. He needs to be careful, though: despite what American and Israeli propaganda claim, Iran is steadfastly opposed to the use of such weapons and he needs Iran.<\/p>\n

On the home front, things were equally chaotic, although with the redeeming feature of being a whole lot loonier.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a helluva note when you have one scandal in which a presidential candidate\u2019s fixer paid off a porn star to keep her mouth shut and that\u2019s just kind of a sideshow. Another scandal has the president in a public pissing match with the FBI director that he fired for refusing to obstruct justice on his behalf, and each are calling the other morally unfit and stopping just short of calling one another traitors to their country. In today\u2019s America, that\u2019s a side show, too. The two, combined, sound like a bad 1950s torch song by some night club knock-off: \u201cStormy Daniels\u201d by James Comey. Thank you, folks, I\u2019ll be here all week.<\/p>\n

In the background, the Mueller investigation is ticking away quietly. Think of the scene in \u201cA Quiet Place\u201d where the egg timer begins ticking. That\u2019s what it feels like, and you just know something interesting is going to happen when the ticking stops.<\/p>\n

The main event this week is the Michael Cohen saga. Cohen is described as Trump\u2019s \u2018personal lawyer\u2019 although he matches the description in much the same way as Godzilla is a Formula One racer. He\u2019s often described as Trump\u2019s \u2018fixer\u2019, and he fixes things in much the same way that the Vet fixed your cat.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s other lawyers, many of whom are actual lawyers, are fighting like hell to keep Cohen\u2019s records (including, supposedly, tape recordings) out of the hands of investigators.<\/p>\n

The court overseeing this had some reservations about whether Cohen was acting in the capacity of a real, actual lawyer, or that of a Mafia torpedo, so they asked him if, since he was a lawyer and presumably had a client list, he might produce it.<\/p>\n

Consternation ensued.<\/p>\n

Cohen\u2019s lawyers admitted he had three clients. Three. Just three. One was Donald Trump, a client he shelled out $130,000 for, mortgaging his house in the process, in order to shut Stormy Daniels up. I don\u2019t think they taught that in law school. They sure don\u2019t teach it in business school. Mike, the client is supposed to give you the money for your services, and not the other way around.<\/p>\n

Another client was Elliott Broidy, a real jewel who had an affair with a Playboy Bunny, knocked her up, and gave her $1.6 million to take care of the matter as she saw fit. Oh, and to shut her up. Guess who the money funneled through.<\/p>\n

The third client didn\u2019t want to be identified, but the Judge in the case promised Cohen a lollipop if he showed the District Attorney where the third client touched him, and he fessed up. It was Sean Hannity, Moral Oligarch of Faux News.<\/p>\n

If they ever make a movie about Cohen\u2019s life (with an abridged, \u201cR\u201d rated version for commercial sales) they are going to have to call it \u201cDances with Douchebags\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, it\u2019s believed that the State of NY, as a result of the Cohen raid, now has, among other things, Trump\u2019s tax returns. And his nuts, assuming he has any.<\/p>\n

Yes, we survived this week. But swirling chaos continues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Zepp on Monday, April 16, 2018 April 16th 2018 We got through a weekend that I had been awaiting with a fair old bit of dread. Yes, we attacked Syria, but apparently managed to do so in a way that didn\u2019t spark a general regional war, let alone a thermonuclear war with Russia. Tactically, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Stormy Weather \u2014 Trumping the Elements”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,2,60,1],"tags":[365,349,335,366,367],"class_list":["post-299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-psyche","category-humor","category-politics","category-uncategorized","tag-north-korea","tag-putin","tag-russia","tag-stormey-weather","tag-syria"],"yoast_head":"\nStormy Weather \u2014 Trumping the Elements · Zepp's Commentaries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/zeppscommentaries.online\/?p=299\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stormy Weather \u2014 Trumping the Elements · Zepp's Commentaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Zepp on Monday, April 16, 2018 April 16th 2018 We got through a weekend that I had been awaiting with a fair old bit of dread. 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