Swamp things
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It seemed odd when Trump decided to intervene on behalf of a questionable Chinese tech giant, particularly given the company's flouting of Iran sanctions, and even more particularly given that his new National Security Advisor John Bolton was suggesting thatSwamp things
It seemed odd when Trump decided to intervene on behalf of a questionable Chinese tech giant, particularly given the company's flouting of Iran sanctions, and even more particularly given that his new National Security Advisor John Bolton was suggesting that Europe might be sanctioned if they didn't join Trump in violating the Iran deal. But nothing is odd with Trump. The normal would be odd. The rational would be odd. The ethical would be odd. Defending the national and public interests would be odd. Proving a hypocrite on Iran is not odd. Pissing off important traditional allies is not odd. This is Trump. But still people wondered why Trump would step up to protect a Chinese conglomerate. And it didn't take long for an obvious answer to appear. And with Trump it was the most obvious of obvious answers. Because Trump cares not only first and foremost but exclusively about Trump. If there's a quo, there must be a quid. A very big quid: A mere 72 hours after the Chinese government agreed to put a half-billion dollars into an Indonesian project that will personally enrich Donald Trump, the president ordered a bailout for a Chinese-government-owned cellphone maker. “President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast,” Trump announced on Twitter Sunday morning. “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!” Trump did not mention in that tweet or its follow-ups that on Thursday, the developer of a theme park resort outside of Jakarta had signed a deal to receive as much as $500 million in Chinese government loans, as well as another $500 million from Chinese banks, according to Agence France-Presse. Trump’s family business, the Trump Organization, has a deal to license the Trump name to the resort, which includes a golf course and hotels. In any other administration that would have been a political bombshell. In any other administration, that would have dominated the news not only for days, but for the rest of what likely would have been its political death spiral. Had a president Hillary Clinton or President Barack Obama so obviously violated not only the emoluments clause of the Constitution but such basic standards of ethics, the Republican Congress would have immediately begun impeachment hearings. But with Trump, it's just another shrug. Because the Republican Congress has no basic standards of ethics. The Republican Congress doesn't care a whit about the Constitution. Read more