Cover And QOTD

The cover of weekly German news magazine "Der Spiegel":

(click on image to enlarge)



Der Spiegel's editor-in-chief Klaus Brinkbaumer:

... The West as we once knew it no longer exists. Our relationship to the United States cannot currently be called a friendship and can hardly be referred to as a partnership. President Trump has adopted a tone that ignores 70 years of trust. He wants punitive tariffs and demands obedience. It is no longer a question as to whether Germany and Europe will take part in foreign military interventions in Afghanistan or Iraq. It is now about whether trans-Atlantic cooperation on economic, foreign and security policy even exists anymore.

It seems the only job malignant Putin poodle Donald "Rump" Trump excels at is advancing Russian interests at the expense of America and her allies.  The damage after just 16 months of this malignant traitor's regime will take years or more to repair, if we're very lucky.

(h/t Balloon Juice)

BONUS:  Martin Longman has a good read about Trump's affinity for doing what is in Russia's best interests.

Cyber Action Against Trump's Russian Allies?

News item:

The Obama administration is contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election, U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. 

Current and former officials with direct knowledge of the situation say the CIA has been asked to deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging "clandestine" cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership.

We hope they do decide to go after neo- fascist venomous charlatan Donald "Rump" Trump's mentor and handler Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin and his oligarchy for their unprecedented attempts to influence our elections.  If it's going to happen, it should happen in a measured way before the election, and should be accompanied by a warning that far more serious actions would be on the way should Russia continue its cyber meddling in the service of Trump.

Trump and Putin are two sides of the same anti- Western democratic coin.  Standing up to Putin now is the same as standing up to Trump:  it's completely justified and morally satisfying.

Putin's American BFF

One of the lightly covered aspects of neo-fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump is his affinity for foreign dictators and despots, from Kim Jong-Un to Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin. In particular, he's stated his admiration for Putin on several occasions, using such descriptions as "strong leader" who's "doing a great job" rebuilding Russia (i.e., annexing the Crimea and invading eastern Ukraine). To no one's surprise, the feeling is reciprocated by Putin, but for different reasons than the clueless narcissist Rump might comprehend.

In his article in Slate, Franklin Foer explains how Putin sees Rump as a useful tool in his ambitions for a Greater Russia that would expand to boarders similar to those of the former Soviet Union (the collapse of which Putin sees as a "genuine tragedy"). Key to that strategy is undermining European economic and security structures in order to pave the way for Russia's expansion back into eastern Europe and, perhaps, beyond.  Rump has voiced the opinions that NATO may be obsolete and that the U.S. needs to pull back on its commitments (that goes for our Asian allies, too). Rump's support of the destructive "Brexit" vote also signals to Putin that he is unconcerned with the breakup of the European Union, much to Putin's delight.

With Putin also throwing Russia's support behind right-wing factions in France (Le Pen) and Italy (Berlusconi) among others, it's clear that he sees xenophobic nationalism in his European neighbors not as a threat (after all, he's the one with the nukes), but as an opportunity for strengthening Russia's position against a fractured and backbiting Europe. He'd like nothing better from his new best friend in America than to help him with that.