In Which Mitch McConnell Shows (Slightly) More Cojones Than Donald Trump
Mitch McConnell, in an interview with Jake Tapper this morning, called Vladimir Putin a “thug,” contradicting President Trump’s apologia for Vladimir Putin’s murderous regime:
JAKE TAPPER: Let’s start right there. Are you comfortable with the President of the United States seeming to equate U.S. actions with those of Putin’s authoritarian regime?
McCONNELL: Well, look: Putin’s a former KGB agent. He’s a thug. He was not elected in a way that most people would consider a credible election. The Russians annexed Crimea, invaded Ukraine, and messed around in our elections. No, I don’t think there’s any equivalency between the way that the Russians conduct themselves and the way the United States does.
This is quite a different attitude than that shown by President Trump in his interview with Bill O’Reilly, set to air today. Jay Caruso mentioned that interview here (and Marco Rubio’s criticism of it here), but I don’t think we’ve shown you the video yet — so here is the relevant portion of Trump’s interview, taken from the clip of Tapper’s interview with McConnell:
TRUMP: I say it’s better to get along with Russia than not, and if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, which is a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world —
O’REILLY: Right.
TRUMP: — major fight, that’s a good thing. Will I get along with him? I have no idea. It’s very possible —
O’REILLY: But he’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer.
TRUMP: A lot of killers. You got a lot of killers. What, you think our country’s so innocent?
Let’s put aside the screaming hypocrisy of every person who pissed and moaned about Obama’s apology tour, but defends Trump on this. It’s said that money is the mother’s milk of politics, but I submit that’s wrong: the real mother’s milk is the willingness to engage in absurd, laughable hypocrisy. If Obama had said something like this, the right would have lost its collective you-know-what over it. But as I said, let’s put that aside.
This is an outrageous and unacceptable comment coming from the President of the United States. Some will no doubt argue that a comment like this is necessary for diplomacy. That is hogwash. Not only is it unnecessary, it’s counterproductive. In his book Winter Is Coming, Garry Kasparov made the following observation:
Totalitarian regimes everywhere love to tell their citizens that for all their professed interest in democracy and human rights, Americans and Western Europeans are just as corrupt as their own leaders.
Donald Trump is confirming that exact false claim — and he is doing so as President of the United States. This is not the tradition of American presidents. As Kasparov observes:
Ronald Reagan would talk with his Soviet counterparts but, as Václav Havel once told me, Reagan would also toss the list of political prisoners on the table first!
So. It’s nice to see McConnell telling the truth about Putin, while Trump is doing nothing but justifying Putin’s murderous dictatorship.
Why, then, do I say McConnell shows only “slightly” more cojones than Trump? Because he still won’t criticize Trump:
TAPPER: Does it trouble you that he said this? I mean, I’m trying to imagine your response if President Obama had defended the murderous regime of Putin by saying: “You think our country’s so innocent?”
McCONNELL: Well, look. I’m not going to critique the President’s every utterance, but I do think America’s exceptional, America is different. We don’t operate in any way the way the Russians do. I think there’s a clear distinction here that all Americans understand, and no, I would not have characterized it that way.
McConnell says there’s “a clear distinction here that all Americans understand” — and Tapper wonders whether that is true of our President . . . to which McConnell gives the same bland sort of answer.
It’s not enough for Mitch McConnell to call Putin a thug. He should be calling out Trump, too.
Finally, a word about the possibility of a strategic alliance with Putin to fight terrorism. Is that a good idea? It’s not impossible. We need partners to fight terror. As the right constantly points out, we allied with Stalin in World War II. Nixon reached out to Mao, the greatest mass murderer in human history.
But any such cooperation has to be done with open eyes. A responsible president has to consider more than simply how to achieve the immediate goal in front of his face. He also has to consider how his cooperation with bad people in that effort will strengthen those bad people. America’s persistent engagement in what Thomas Sowell called “Stage One thinking” has caused it to arm Islamic terrorists, and to create and strengthen new enemies, for decades.
In determining whether to engage in a cooperative effort with Putin, we must assess the entire expected result of the cooperative effort — including the extra legitimacy and power it gives Putin.
But any way you slice it, Trump’s comments are a huge and unnecessary propaganda bonanza for Putin and every other state killer across the globe.
[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]
When you’re right, you’re right…
Dave (711345) — 2/5/2017 @ 2:54 pm“What, our country is so innocent?”
First, our President would be wise to consider that his words have import. A bit more gravita would be most appreciated. It is true, had Obama uttered these words, I would indeed have been outraged, especially if they were mouthed to defend our alignment with an evil, murderous thug. And I stand outraged at Mr. Trump today. If I wished to hear my country disparaged, I’d go to any university campus.
Estarcarus (01805d) — 2/5/2017 @ 3:02 pmWow.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/5/2017 @ 3:03 pmOnly in the West is thuggishness not the norm among heads of state. The political leadership in countries around the world is chock a block with thugs – this is precisely the reason that Trump has suggested we need to rethink our participation in the UN. A desire to distance the U.S. from this parliament of thugs sets Trump apart from the political norm.
For a variety of reasons, our country has a long history or turning a blind eye to thuggish behavior by heads of state, especially ones we have trading relationships with or need for some geopolitical reason. The Chinese, one of our biggest trading partners, is led by a thug in Xi Jinping. Over the past year, Turkey’s President Erdogan has distinguished quite a thug – and he’s an ally. The list is very long.
With McConnell taking the high road, why haven’t we heard him calling Xi Jinping or Erdogan a thug? Or any of the other thugs who run countries big and small? So why does McConnell deem Putin a thug, but not these others? Why, too, wasn’t McConnell calling Putin a thug when Bush Jr. looked into Putin’s soul and saw only good things. And, come to think of it, I don’t seem to recall McConnell suggesting we curtail our participation in the U.N. and I’m wondering “Why?” It’s a mystery!
ThOR (c9324e) — 2/5/2017 @ 3:18 pmBy Trump’s reasoning, I guess Israel is no better than Hamas, either.
Dave (711345) — 2/5/2017 @ 3:45 pmPutin’s crimes multiplied and became more obvious after 2001, when Bush met him for the first time. By Bush’s second term, he was under no illusions, and openly criticized Putin.
Bush tells the story of their 2005 meeting where Putin tried to use a Trump-style moral equivalence:
Dave (711345) — 2/5/2017 @ 4:05 pmIt’s not enough for Mitch McConnell to call Putin a thug. He should be calling out Trump, too.
In Washington, the Senate Majority Leader has to maintain open lines of communications with leaders of both parties, with the White House, and with certain members of the media since he’s expected to appear on their shows on a regular basis.
Leader McConnell already made the point, so I don’t think it would be constructive to “call out” the President and thereby risk hard feelings when they’re trying to collaborate on getting some things done together. After all, many people have remarked that President Mr Donald holds grudges.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 2/5/2017 @ 4:10 pmLeader McConnell might strategically choose to have a private conversation with the President about Putin’s resume as an evil thug, but calling out President Mr Donald on national television would probably be counterproductive.
Seems like most of these Trump gaffes come when the interviewer jumps in as he’s getting rolling on his answer and he veers off into gaffe land while trying to return to his rif with a good dose of never admit you’re wrong BS – it doesn’t excuse it, but might explain it. In Trump’s World he’s probably not used to being interrupted, challenged, or corrected when he’s pontificating. It’s gonna be a long 4 years if he doesn’t get smart or at least get better.
crazy (d3b449) — 2/5/2017 @ 4:24 pmWho is a political prisoner over there now, mister berezovsky is dead, (the late Gerald devilliers had a clue by who) navalny perhaps who is the only likely alternative but Ben judah doesn’t like him
narciso (d1f714) — 2/5/2017 @ 4:44 pmAlong with haditha, this was part of the black legend about Iraq
https://www.sofx.com/2017/01/30/government-lawyers-acknowledge-enemy-fired-first-blackwater-case-circa-news/
Backwater is even used as a cudgel against devos
narciso (d1f714) — 2/5/2017 @ 6:27 pmI don’t think it wanders into hypocrisy to not ignore the fact that post-WWII the US has a long and well-established record of meddling in the affairs of other countries when we deemed it in our national interest to do so, including in ways that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. And I’m not talking about post-9/11.
I don’t think its a question of conferring moral equivalency to the benefit of Putin to not be blind to our own affairs — Bay of Pigs, Allende, Contras, FARC, Shining Path, etc.
You write:
Why do you conclude this calculus isn’t being factored into the policy? Didn’t Niki Haley’s first speech before the UN task the Russians? Do you think Mattis is not sensitive to the very factors you think are important?
Frankly, Russia isn’t the primary threat to US interest on a global scale — China is, and there isn’t even a country in second place.
In fact, I expect a confrontation between China and Russia in the future more than a confrontation between the US and Russia. Forging nominal ties between the US and Russia now might pay off significantly over the next decade as China seeks to exert more and more influence over Japan, Korean Penisula, the Phillipines, and the Southeast Asia.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 2/5/2017 @ 7:14 pmProbably like one rising power, Meiji Japan confronted czarist Russia in the last century.
narciso (d1f714) — 2/5/2017 @ 7:28 pm“If Obama had said something like this, the right would have lost its collective you-know-what over it.”
I think the same could be said if Obama had disrespectfully referred to a Federal Judge as a “so-called judge,” as our so-called President did recently.
Tillman (a95660) — 2/5/2017 @ 8:35 pmTillman, your fake outrage is entertaining.
A couple days ago you were applauding the scumbag arsonists and vandals in Berzerkeley, yet now your world of civility and sense of fair play has been upended because the President referred to a judge as a “so-called judge.”
At least when President Mr Donald called him a “so-called judge,” the fire department, SWAT team, and paramedics weren’t necessary.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 2/5/2017 @ 9:16 pmAccusing gitmo of being a recruiting tool for Al queda and Islamic state, is a much more deliberate provocation
narciso (d1f714) — 2/5/2017 @ 9:23 pmCruz Supporter, thanks to people like Dylann Roof, the far left’s activism looks far more civil than the far right’s. You lie, I approve of neither one.
Tillman (a95660) — 2/6/2017 @ 5:56 amSo why is that so, I wonder:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/trump-wants-to-push-back-against-iran-but-iran-is-now-more-powerful-than-ever/2017/02/05/9a7629ac-e960-11e6-903d-9b11ed7d8d2a_story.html
narciso (d1f714) — 2/6/2017 @ 6:54 amTillman, you’re embarrassing yourself again.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 2/6/2017 @ 7:33 amEveryone called you out the other day when you applauded the rioting, the violence, and the arsons in Berzerkeley.
And to play on what you said in that particular thread, you’re asking for more snarky insults in the future.
So can this “so-called” Judge Robart, since he ruled on Trump’s own Executive Order and Trump is so disparaging about his ruling, put Trump in jail for Contempt of Court? Wouldn’t that be a hoot!
Tillman (a95660) — 2/6/2017 @ 7:42 amThe pentagon shooter, the IRS flier as well the one at the holocaust museum were all far left types
narciso (d1f714) — 2/6/2017 @ 7:49 amIt would be a hoot if Tillman had the mental capacity to think back to Obama dissing SCOTUS in one of his State of the Disunion sermons…
Colonel Haiku (13f927) — 2/6/2017 @ 7:54 amSo-called Tillman…
Colonel Haiku (13f927) — 2/6/2017 @ 7:56 amWho enforces court orders? You can have three guesses.
nk (dbc370) — 2/6/2017 @ 8:24 amAnd if you’re not part of this case, you can stand outside the courthouse that says “Judge Soandso is a f***wad”, and there’s nothing the judge could do about it. Not even sue you for slander, because it is mere invective.
nk (dbc370) — 2/6/2017 @ 8:28 amIndeed. But hey, Team R.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 2/6/2017 @ 8:30 amIt is an important fact that Mitch McConnell,was independently elected. He can more of less support Trump, but he doesn’t have to endorse any stupidities.
Mitch McConnell might give Mike Pence lessons, although Mike Pence is in a different position.
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 2/6/2017 @ 2:06 pmcrazy (d3b449) — 2/5/2017 @ 4:24
That’s what Congressman Peter King diagnosed as Trump’s problem, when asked about it this morning on WOR radio 710 AM
Sammy Finkelman (6f9f42) — 2/6/2017 @ 2:08 pm