It seems that this weekend President Donald Trump will busy wagging many dogs in an attempt to distract the American public from news of his administration’s mounting scandals. He trotted out one of those dogs super early on Saturday morning when he took to Twitter to accuse former President Barack Obama of tapping his phones in his New York Trump Tower office.
Trump went on a bizarre rant, accusing Obama of “McCarthyism” and calling him a “bad (or sick) guy.”
Of Course, leave it to Trump’s #1 propaganda peddler, Fox News, to find a way to make Trump’s 5 am Saturday morning rant on Twitter seem more “presidential” and less like something pulled straight out of “One Flew Over The Coo Coos Nest.” Watching the jabbering heads on Fox & Friends, automatically loan Trump’s crazy and unsubstantiated accusations against Obama instant credibility was both dazzling and more than a bit sickening. It’s almost impressive how they could find a way to spin Trump’s unhinged rant into an almost coherent and rationally deliberate argument by a thoughtful and intelligent president.
They went on to spread the manure on thick, as they eagerly suggested that Obama’s wiretapping of Trump would somehow cancel out Trump’s Russian scandal or “jack it up” as they so eloquently put it. In fact, multiple hosts made sure to emphasize the phrase “jacks it up” as though they world hosting an episode of Sesame Street and wanted their impressionable audience to learn the new phrase of the day.
The Trump puppets go on to throw out red herrings and strawman arguments like beads on a Mardi Gras float to their Kool-Aid thirsty audience. But let’s try to take a look at Trump’s Tweets and analyze them minus the sycophantic flair that Fox News is so famous for.
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
I'd bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
There’s just so much crazy to chose from here; it’s hard to know where to start.
We could start with Trump accusing Obama of “McCarthyism,” this coming from a man who regularly demonizes and implements policy targeting religious and ethnic minorities. Trump’s also launched “witch hunts” against the Media, his political opponents, and anyone else who triggers his snowflake sensibilities.
Ironically, one could argue that he started his political career by launching the “birther movement,” a racially motivated political witch hunt against President Obama by suggesting the former president was illegitimate because he was born outside the U.S. Eventually, of course, Trump’s assertion was proven false (much like virtually everything else that comes out of his mouth).
There’s also the claim that “a good lawyer” would be able to demonstrate that Obama tapped his phones. Given the fact that he hasn’t presented a shred of evidence other than his orange bloated “gut feeling,” the odds of a lawyer proving that in court are less likely than convincing any federal court that his ill-fated “Muslim ban” is lawful.
And doesn’t he have lawyers who can tell him if it’s “legal” for a sitting president to be “wire tapping” a presidential candidate? Why the hell would he pose the question to Twitter? Then again, this is Donald Trump we’re talking about, most of his “information” comes from Fox News and right-wing online media. Therefore it probably seems perfectly logical in his mind to ask Twitter for legal advice.
But the “sacred election” bit killed me. No, really.
I’m convinced that I’m writing this from the afterlife after reading about his newfound reverence for the electoral process. This is coming from a guy who’s campaign has seen more Russian contacts than an eye doctor in Moscow. By now, we all know that Russian President Vladimir Putin conducted cyber attacks against American political institutions and individuals to tilt the election in Trump’s favor.
Yet the Trump administration continues to fight allowing an independent investigation to move forward tooth and nail. He also casually cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election that he won, by alleging millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally.
One journalist quickly threw cold water on Trump’s latest Alex Jones inspired conspiracy fantasy. NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly notes:
“That is an extraordinary thing to hear from a sitting president about his predecessor. Tapping his phones would require a warrant from the foreign intelligence surveillance court.”
And as for his “Nixon/Watergate” reference, that one’s just way too easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odMebRCRZ4E&t=161s
Featured image via YouTube.
