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When do you take a stand?


Well, I've been missing in action off and on for weeks now. A visit from my old roomie, and the grandkids just went home yesterday. And Politics? Well, geez, it could hardly be more disconcerting, could it?

Donnie Jr. not only stepped into it big time, he's starting to reach Big Donnie's level of incompetence and foolishness. Not just the meeting with a Russian minion, but then being caught red-handed in lying about it.  Maybe it's time for a little lesson about Freedom of the Press.

We all have been conditioned somewhat by the sometimes silliness that occurs in the press. Yesterday we delighted with pictures of Slime Eels that were dumped on cars in a wreck on Hwy 101 here in Oregon. Silly, gawking, and got our attention for sure. We see lots of that in the Press, and silly and stupid is what helps them pay the bills. (Access Hollywood, anybody?)

We tend to see the Press as a bunch of folks screaming "Look what I just found", but the Donnie  Jr. story shows why we need Freedom of the Press, and how news professionals get to the real truth.

1) The Times casts it's line into the political waters, and the fish bites.

 The New York Times on Sunday, July 9, broke the story that Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort met over a year ago with "a Russian lawyer who has connections to the Kremlin" identified as Natalia Veselnitskaya and then detailed some connections. When asked for a statement, Donald Jr. said the following: 
It was a short introductory meeting. I asked Jared and Paul to stop by. We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago and was since ended by the Russian government, but it was not a campaign issue at the time and there was no follow up.
2) The hook is set.

The next day, on July10 the Times story headline is " Trump’s Son Met With Russian Lawyer After Being Promised Damaging Information on Clinton". In this story the Times let Jr. know that they knew the the origins of the meeting and the intent was based on gathering information damaging to Cinton. They identified one Rob Goldstone who was a business associate and person who worked with Trump and the Russians on the Miss Universe Pageant. Donald Jr. then responded that a friend had asked him to take the meeting and said this: 
After pleasantries were exchanged,” he said, “the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs. Clinton. Her statements were vague, ambiguous and made no sense. No details or supporting information was provided or even offered. It quickly became clear that she had no meaningful information.
Donald Jr. now has changed the story, because he realizes that the Times knows the truth. We now have the admission that the intent of the meeting was to collude with a Russian representative to gather information to influence the campaign.

3) The fish is reeled in.

On July 11/12 (posted the night of the 11th), the Times publishes that they have emails with the headline "Russian Dirt on Clinton? ‘I Love It,’ Donald Trump Jr. Said" and said this in their story quoting from the emails:
The documents “would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” read the email, written by a trusted intermediary, who added, “This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.
Donald Jr. replied with:
If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.
The Times also reports:
As Air Force One jetted back from Europe on Saturday, a small cadre of Mr. Trump’s advisers huddled in a cabin helping to craft a statement for the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to give to The New York Times explaining why he met last summer with a lawyer connected to the Russian government. Participants on the plane and back in the United States debated how transparent to be in the statement, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Ultimately, the people said, the president signed off on a statement from Donald Trump Jr. for The Times that was so incomplete that it required day after day of follow-up statements, each more revealing than the last. It culminated on Tuesday with a release of emails making clear that Mr. Trump’s son believed the Russian lawyer was seeking to meet with him to provide incriminating information about Hillary Clinton as “part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump.

4) NBC reports "Former Soviet Counterintelligence Officer at Meeting With Donald Trump Jr. and Russian Lawyer" and identifies the person as one brought by Veselnitskaya and identified as Rinat Akhmetshin who is described as:
...a former Soviet counterintelligence officer who is suspected by some U.S. officials of having ongoing ties to Russian intelligence, NBC News has learned.
 5) When do you take a stand?

So Republican Party, this is YOUR FAULT. You nominated Trump. You got him elected, with Russian help of course. You participate in hearings but outside of Lindsay Graham and a couple of others are remarkably silent.

I guess you're waiting for the next State of the Union:

Steve Benson, The Arizona Republic.

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