Start quoting your Vladimir now! Brush up your Russian, and the Trumpenproles you will wow!*
Yes, folks, I could be wrong, but it would appear that behind all that smoke there is a major fire about to break out in our earthly house. It will start in Washington and quickly spark to life in London-based WikiLeaks, and then engulf the Putinites in Moscow. If you’ve read the newspaper the last few months, you know of the Russian pro-Trump interference in our last national election; you also know of the suspected collusion of Trump and Putin in fixing the surprise outcome, and of our new president favoring policies agreeable to Russia. (By the way, why hasn’t he denounced Russia for its latest dump via WikiLeaks of CIA secrets on a waiting world?)
For months now you’ve heard Trump and his cronies deny there was any hanky-panky; no, they never even met with any Russians, they claim. Now we know differently: General Michael J. Flynn, once the president’s closest advisor and a foreign agent working for Turkey, had to resign for lying about his conversations with the Russian ambassador on the day then-President Obama levied additional sanctions on Russia; Attorney General Jeff Sessions committed perjury when he denied before the United States Senate any meetings with that same ambassador (there were two); Paul Manafort, Trump’s second Campaign Manager and former fixer for the deposed pro-Russian president of Ukraine, is up to his ears in ill-gotten gains; then there’s the American investment banker Carter Page, former policy advisor to Trump who is now doing business in Russia; and, of course, the master liar himself, President Trump, who denied as recently as last month any contact with Russians during his presidential run.
Expect more dirt to come soon; prepare to be shocked. And while you’re brushing up on you Russian, do the same for your Swedish, German and Ukrainian as well. You’re going hear more names trickle out, some of them hard to spell. Keep a note pad handy so you can keep track of the players during the House and Senate hearings to begin shortly. Also, be on watch for revelations of a companion conspiracy involving Trump, Putin and a few of their shady minions to conclude a Ukrainian peace deal...favorable to Putin, naturally. Bigger than Watergate? Bet on it.
We should all make our voices heard, firmly and loudly and now: GOP congressmen must choose an independent prosecutor, and not allow Republicans (those hatchers of such past scandalous entertainments as Teapot Dome, Watergate and Iran Contra) to investigate themselves. You know where that leads.
We must resist! Let’s make sure Pacifica survives any intended Russian coup to carry forward that ever-fragile idea of democracy. We may be its last hope. Those of you who don’t know what and where that is can find the first two chapters of my Pacifica manuscript here. Courage, mon brave!
*Apologies to Cole Porter for mangling his lyrics from "Brush Up Your Shakespeare,” in Kiss Me Kate.