Conspiracy is in the air.
The threads are as convoluted as the weave of president-elect Donald Trump’s hair but all it takes is one tug before the whole rotten structure comes tumbling down.
The fun began in July 2016 when the U.K. against all reasonable expectations, voted to remove itself from the European Union in a move nicknamed Brexit. Then GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump praised the decision describing himself as Mr. Brexit and applauding the British people for having given themselves the economic equivalent of a kick in the dick.
The instigators of Brexit were mostly unfamiliar to American onlookers in part because the campaign to leave was spearheaded by two distinct camps. One was led by human Toby Jug Nigel Farage, a man associated with vile antisemitism and scaremongering.
The second faction was dominated by two men, former London Mayor Boris Johnson and former Education Secretary Michael Gove. Both men would launch failed attempts to seize the office of Prime Minister in the days that followed the referendum.
Trump Up The Jam
Cut to November, where the U.S., against all reasonable expectation, chose as their next President a man so uniquely unqualified for the role that many people assumed somebody had put something in the water.
Like, all of the water.
As the national trauma gave way to the realization that this was actually happening, Trump could be seen cavorting about with Farage like two long lost lovers trying to ignore the fact that their beauty had faded. Trump even went so far as to suggest that Farage be made ambassador so that they could play out together in Washington D.C.
The British government politely declined.
As rumors of Russian hacking gained momentum, Trump responded by ridiculing his own intelligence agencies and continuing to insist that he didn’t even know Putin.
Despite the existence of video evidence of him saying the exact opposite back in 2013.
Last week, French Fascist Marine Le Penn was seen dining at Trump Towers. Le Penn, the current front-runner in the French presidential elections is best known for her overt racism and opposition to the European Union.
Well, that and the fact that she is bankrolled by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
There’s a connection here.
Because let’s face it, Putin’s geopolitical goals are not hard to figure out. He favors a weak Europe.
That the exit of the U.K. — the continent’s second largest economy — has weakened the union is not in question. Whether it can survive the withdrawal of the third largest economy on the back of a Le Penn victory? That’s another matter.
Hand In Gove
Still, European strength is not limited to the EU project alone; many other institutions help to protect its interests and chief among them is NATO. One wonders why Putin isn’t trying to dismantle that too.
If only he had an inside man.
In an interview posted in the London Times earlier today, Trump made it clear that he was that inside man. Part of Putin’s master plan to win the Cold War some 26 years after it officially ended.
And the interviewer? Why it was none other than Michael Gove of Brexit fame.
It was an eye-opener to be sure.
Putin The Facts Straight
Having been asked the question ‘Can you understand why Eastern Europeans are afraid of Putin and Russi,’ Trump responded in a typically ramshackle way:
“Oh sure, I know that. I mean, I understand what’s going on, I said a long time ago — that Nato had problems. Number one it was obsolete, because it was, you know, designed many, many years ago. Number two — the countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to pay. I took such heat, when I said Nato was obsolete. It’s obsolete because it wasn’t taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right — and now — it was on the front page of The Wall Street Journal, they have a whole division devoted now to terror, which is good.”
He continued:
“The other thing is the countries aren’t paying their fair share so we’re supposed to protect countries but a lot of these countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States. With that being said, Nato is very important to me.”
Even more disturbing was his attitude towards the sanctions imposed on Russia by Obama in response to its military occupation of Ukraine. He said:
“Well, I think you know — people have to get together and people have to do what they have to do in terms of being fair. OK? They have sanctions on Russia — let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. But you do have sanctions and Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit.”
Mos Kowtow
Yes, I think we do know.
Because there was more. Much more.
But whichever way you turn it, however carefully you sift through the non-sequitur self-congratulations, the contradictions, and backtracking, one thing remained clear.
All the things Trump talked about were music to Putin’s ears.
And that’s bad.
Because the enmity between the U.S. and Russia is not one born from some petty misunderstanding or some cultural clash of ideas. It’s born from a simple fact of international politics.
Both countries have wildly disparate and at times diametrically opposed policy goals. Co-operation is to be applauded. But to hand Russia a wet dream on a silver platter without so much as a whimper? That’s weird.
Fucked-up weird.
And it can mean only one of two things; either Trump is an unwitting dupe of Putin’s.
Or he’s straight up working for him.
Watch Trump’s admission that he has a relationship with Putin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk8Odm3GkLU
Featured image from Guardian video.
