Here’s Why The Right Shouldn’t Excuse Trump’s Performance At Helsinki

[corbe]

Here’s Why The Right Shouldn’t Excuse Trump’s Performance At Helsinki
 
Republicans aren’t abandoning their party or surrendering to the Democrats. But neither should they feel compelled to defend the indefensible on Russia.
 
By Jonathan S. Tobin   
July 20, 2018
 
Never have President Donald Trump’s loyalists been put to a sterner test than they were in the wake of his Helsinki press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin. His comments, which put as much faith in Putin’s protestations of innocence in meddling in the 2016 election as the verdict of U.S. intelligence agencies, set off a storm of protest that seemed to dwarf the many previous instances in which the president had outraged his opponents.

The spectacle of a U.S. president taking sides against his own government while standing alongside a hostile foreign leader abroad was too much, even for many congressional Republicans. Yet while they struggled to come up with a stance that would make clear the party’s willingness to stop Russia — even if their president wouldn’t — much of the Trump base remained loyal, especially the crucial contingent of Fox News prime time hosts.

Following the lead of the devoted Trump followers on social media, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham did their best in the days following the Helsinki debacle to rally the troops and reassure them that what Trump had done was not so bad. Nor were those efforts lessened by Trump’s halting and ultimately self-contradictory efforts to walk back his gaffe by saying that he trusted the verdict of the U.S. intelligence community — a mere matter of a grammar slip up, he tried to argue.

<..snip..>

http://thefederalist.com/2018/07/20/heres-right-shouldnt-excuse-trumps-performance-helsinki/

[corbe]

   Though a bit discombobulated, I found it an interesting read though to suggest that #Nevers are now going to vote dem is preposterous. 

[dfwgator]

A lot of similar articles were written after Reagan went to Reykjavik.   The Hawks were pissed.

[skeeter]

I don't accept Tobin's premise, the basis for the rest of the article.

Trump handled the presser poorly, to say the least. But "egregious" better describes the reaction to it.

[TomSea]

Russia is still subjected to heavy sanctions which are quite damaging, probably most to the common man.

If Russia like North Korea and maybe Iran too, were swept up into the modern world, leaving the past behind, even by a little it might be worth it. Though, I'm still studying it. There was no reason to treat a nation like Montenegro in a sort of manner that held them up to ridicule.

[TomSea]

Good article by Tobin, covers about all of the bases....for example, the author does go into how previous administrations interfered in foreign elections, not just what Obama did but the Bushes and Clinton too. This guy is a real foreign policy wonk.

[andy58-in-nh]

The Republican Party isn’t on the verge of schism, with Never Trumpers going one way and the Trump base going another. There are too few of the former to make a real difference, and most of those who identify with the GOP have made their peace with the president, because he has governed like a conservative.

I think this is correct. Trump erred in his comments, but Republicans ought to be more concerned with his Administration's policy and the actions taken in support of it.

[Concerned]

The Republican Party isn’t on the verge of schism, with Never Trumpers going one way and the Trump base going another. There are too few of the former to make a real difference, and most of those who identify with the GOP have made their peace with the president, because he has governed like a conservative.

I think this is correct. Trump erred in his comments, but Republicans ought to be more concerned with his Administration's policy and the actions taken in support of it.

Sadly, I think this is correct also.  The fact that this President is adding trillions to the national debt is somehow largely ignored by supposed "conservatives".  I (like so many other conservatives) criticized Bush and Obama when they added trillions to the national debt yet supposed "conservatives" give this guy a pass when he does it.    

I'm a "real" fiscal conservative......................and consistent.   

[TomSea]

Sadly, I think this is correct also.  The fact that this President is adding trillions to the national debt is somehow largely ignored by supposed "conservatives".  I (like so many other conservatives) criticized Bush and Obama when they added trillions to the national debt yet supposed "conservatives" give this guy a pass when he does it.    

I'm a "real" fiscal conservative......................and consistent.   

I missed his speeches on fiscal conservatism because they don't exist.

[truth_seeker]

I heard a good source, that said Trump went easy on Putin, for he sees Putin as key, to issues involving N. Korea,, Iran Syria etc.

To grasp that, would require an individual looking at big pictures and importance results. Like nuclear disarmament, instead of the daily drumbeat of "Gotcha this time" anti-Trump stories.

Sites tailored for anti-Trump postings are the last place to find big pictures, important issues.

Most of "the Right" support the GOP President elected by voters, that don't abandon him every other day.

Trump is trying to do things, that Flake, George Will, Romney, and others don' t have the courage to do.   

Peacock feathers, for Flakey costimes

[Silver Pines]

   Though a bit discombobulated, I found it an interesting read though to suggest that #Nevers are now going to vote dem is preposterous.

@corbe

Yes, it was interesting.  Key paragraph:

"It’s true that any president should be willing to meet with an important adversary, and that Russia and the U.S. can cooperate on issues like terrorism and getting Iran out of Syria. But that doesn’t absolve Trump from abasing himself in front of Putin, giving the Russians a pass for criminal activity, or for undermining the credibility of NATO deterrence and America’s treaty obligations."

Isn't George Will the only Republican who says he'll vote Democrat?  Or am I forgetting somebody?  Jennifer Rubin probably would, but she's pretty much a Dem to begin with.

[corbe]

    I admitted last night, in the since closed @LegalAmerican Thread, that I was still deciding between Bernie and Liz @CatherineofAragon so it's obvious some of that element lives here, be it intoxicated.

[Silver Pines]

    I admitted last night, in the since closed @LegalAmerican Thread, that I was still deciding between Bernie and Liz @CatherineofAragon so it's obvious some of that element lives here, be it intoxicated.

@corbe, please for the love of God don't cast a vote for Screeching Owl.  I can't listen to her voice for four years.  If you get that drunk, tear up your voter card.

[Concerned]

I missed his speeches on fiscal conservatism because they don't exist.

Well, on April 2, 2016, he did say he could eliminate the debt in 8 years.  So far, all he's done is add to it.  Perhaps he'll eliminate the debt right after he "locks her up", gets Mexico to pay for the wall, "repeals and replaces on day one", proposes a Constitutional Amendment for term limits within the first 100 days, and "drains the swamp".   

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2016/04/02/trumps-nonsensical-claim-he-can-eliminate-19-trillion-in-debt-in-eight-years/?utm_term=.06b59fcb8b0b