In the most basic sense of the words, I am so over our President-elect.
For months now, I have tried convincing myself that our soon to be POTUS deserved the benefit of the doubt. I tried believing that we at least needed to let the man take office and see what he does. But the continued poor cabinet choices, conflict of interest, and media bashing (alone) have just pushed me to the point of no return. Enter the most recent fiasco for President-elect Trump, a recent intelligence briefing possibly suggesting that Russian operatives have information on Mr. Trump that would further compromise his already questionable image.
And that is a big, big deal. First, let's go ahead and make something clear. Since CNN went live with this story, Trump and Co. flew off the handle. The phrase "fake news story" was thrown around in an interview Anderson Cooper had with Kellyanne Conway more times than I can remember. The soon-to-be Trump adviser made an active effort to refer to this story as "fake." And it's no secret that Trump himself has difficulty remembering what he says and does when it comes to the media - but everyone with half a brain plainly sees he simply cannot accept any type of criticism. However, if this was an intelligence briefing that indicated the exact same thing about Hillary Clinton, Trump and company would be all on it like white on rice, demanding that "justice be served" or some other complete nonsense.
Now that we have made that clear, let us move on to the much bigger issue here. Vice President Biden today confirmed that both he and President Obama received the intelligence briefings that said Russian operatives could have information that could prove detrimental to the PEOTUS. Now, keep in mind, that, as of now, these claims regarding the compromising information are unsubstantiated - which means it hasn't been confirmed whether or not the information is both compromising and real. However, the fact that the PEOTUS continues to proliferate his unusual affection for Russia and has had the potential knowledge of this compromising information is just a really, really strange move.
It begs, well, lots of questions. If the claims are indeed true, then we will anxiously await additional details (if any are released) - but the question of what that information is, exactly, will continue to plague us in the coming days and weeks. Should the information then prove to be detrimental, how will the PEOTUS react and, more importantly, how will it affect his presidency? Lastly, should the information not pan out and the operatives, in fact, have no substantiated evidence, will that further affect the relations between the United States and Russia?
I simply cannot understate my profound concerns regarding the future of our political system, the integrity of our democracy. And as Mr. Trump's inauguration looms closer and closer, I struggle to find any hope that this man has the capacity or the actual desire to govern this country as a whole. The plot of "Draining The Swamp" thickens evermore.
