Amerika du hast es besser

[Yadgar]

Hi(gh)!

Im 19. Jhd. gab es die Kartoffelfäule in Irland. England sah sich nicht genötigt, gegen Marktgesetze zu verstoßen und die faulen Iren auf seine Kosten durchzufüttern:

The new Whig administration, influenced by the doctrine of laissez-faire,[71] believed that the market would provide the food needed, and they refused to intervene against food exports to England, then halted the previous government's food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without any work, money, or food.[72]
[...]
Charles Trevelyan, who was in charge of the administration of government relief, limited the Government's food aid programme because of a firm belief in laissez-faire.[74] He thought that "the judgement of God sent the calamity to teach the Irish a lesson". The Public Works were "strictly ordered" to be unproductive—that is, they would create no fund to repay their own expenses. Many hundreds of thousands of "feeble and starving men", according to Mitchel, were kept digging holes and breaking up roads, which was doing no service.[75]

Das war gewissermaßen ein erster Prolocaust - weitere werden folgen! Auch in Deutschland! Die Partei, die - sobald an der Macht - ein solches Menschheitsverbrechen in die Wege leiten könnte, sitzt bereits im Bundestag...

"Hartzer vergasen, Hartzer vergasen, Unterschichtkinder brennen gut..." (Arbeitslied der SSS (Standortsicherungsstaffel), zur Melodie "Bergvagabunden" zu singen)

Bis bald im Khyberspace!

Yadgar

[ErpelderNacht]

Corker-Episode

Hmmm....warum fühlt sich Corker so angegriffen? 
Spiegel.de - Trump legt sich mit republikanischem Senator an

Zuerst die Grundlagen:
Iran_nuclear_deal_framework

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known commonly as the Iran deal or Iran nuclear deal, is an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany),[a] and the European Union.
.
.
Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. For the next 15 years, Iran will only enrich uranium up to 3.67%. Iran also agreed not to build any new heavy-water facilities for the same period of time. Uranium-enrichment activities will be limited to a single facility using first-generation centrifuges for 10 years. Other facilities will be converted to avoid proliferation risks. To monitor and verify Iran's compliance with the agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have regular access to all Iranian nuclear facilities. The agreement provides that in return for verifiably abiding by its commitments, Iran will receive relief from U.S., European Union, and United Nations Security Council nuclear-related economic sanctions.

Und was hat Corker damit zu tun?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran_Nuclear_Agreement_Review_Act_of_2015

The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (H.R. 1191, Pub.L. 114–17) is a bill that was passed by the US Congress in May 2015, giving Congress the right to review any agreement reached in the P5+1 talks with Iran aiming to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The bill passed in the Senate by 98 to 1 (only Tom Cotton voted against), and then passed in the House by a vote of 400 to 25 on May 14.President Barack Obama had threatened to veto the bill, but eventually a version was arrived at that had enough support to override any veto and Obama did not try to veto it.

Das Gesetz zwingt den amtierenden Präsidenten der USA, dem Iran alle drei Monate einen Persilschein für die Einhaltung des Atomdeals auszustellen. Das ist natürlich unangenehm für Trump, dessen Enkel großteils jüdisch sind. Iran erkennt Israel nicht an und nennt es offiziell nur "das zionistische Regime".

Corker war der Autor des Gesetzes.

https://www.corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/iran-nuclear-agreement-review-act

On May 22, 2015, the president signed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 into law. The bill was authored by Senator Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and requires congressional review of any final nuclear agreement with Iran before the president can waive sanctions imposed by Congress. The bill passed the Senate 98 to 1 and the House of Representatives 400 to 25.

Kein Wunder, wenn Corker so wütend ist. Er ist beleidigt, weil Trump ihm sein Spielzeug wegnahm.

[Peiresc]

Er ist beleidigt, weil Trump ihm sein Spielzeug wegnahm.

Derartige Sprüche sind ganz offenbar ein Halo-Effekt der Normalisierung Trumps. Aber wenn der Präsident infantil ist, dann lässt sich daraus nicht ableiten, dass andere es auch sind.

-------

Bisher wurde ja von vielen die Ansicht vertreten, dass Trump irgendwelche beleidigenden, vorzugsweise latent rassistisch/sexistische, auf jeden Fall aber egomanische, Tweets zu völligen Nebensächlichkeiten ablässt, um von seiner malignen Agenda abzulenken. Inzwischen scheint sich die Auffassung durchzusetzen, dass das so nicht stimmen kann: es ist stärker als er. Er lenkt auch von seiner Agenda ab, wenn er ununterbrochen über sie krähen sollte.

Die GOP ist darüber verzweifelt und geht allmählich in einen Zustand der Zersetzung über, scheint es. Die Ryan-Getreuen verlassen den Kongress und suchen sich lieber was in der freien Wirtschaft,

Ryan's friends flee as frustration with Trump grows

und Ryan selber traut sich inzwischen, Witze über den Präsidenten zu machen:

"Every morning, I wake up in my office and scroll Twitter to see which tweets I will have to pretend that I didn't see later"

D. h. er hat die Hoffnung aufgegeben, noch irgendwas anderes als Witze zu reißen. Stephen von Clairveaux ruft zum Heiligen Kreuzzug gegen den Sumpf, d. h. die republikanische Führung, auf (hier). Und die edelsten Recken des Weißen Hauses blamieren sich, so gut sie irgend können.

In criticizing Wilson, however, Kelly made incorrect statements about another incident: the 2015 dedication of an FBI field office in Miami, where he suggested Wilson had inappropriately sought credit for obtaining funding for the building in remarks that followed speeches from survivors of a 1986 firefight between bureau agents and drug traffickers.

But Wilson wasn't in Congress when the funding was approved. And a video of the event, unearthed Friday by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, shows that Wilson said nothing about funding. She did, however, mention using her influence to get the Obama administration to name the building after two FBI agents.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/20/frederica-wilson-john-kelly-feud-243987

Ein peinlicher Freuscher Chyron.

[ErpelderNacht]

Auf US-Seiten blubbern grad Geschichten über eine Russia-Collusion Story: 

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/355749-fbi-uncovered-russian-bribery-plot-before-obama-administration?

FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow

Before the Obama administration approved a controversial deal in 2010 giving Moscow control of a large swath of American uranium, the FBI had gathered substantial evidence that Russian nuclear industry officials were engaged in bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering designed to grow Vladimir Putin's atomic energy business inside the United States, according to government documents and interviews.

Die Obama-Regierung genehmigte ein umstrittenes Geschäft, der Moskau die Kontrolle über einen großen Teil amerikanischen Urans gab, nachdem das FBI herausgefunden hatte, dass russische "Nuclear Industry Officials" an Bestechungen, unzulässigen Zahlungen, Erpressungen und Geldwäsche beteiligt waren, um Putins Atomenergiegeschäfte innerhalb der Staaten zu begünstigen. 

Fängt ja interessant an....

They also obtained an eyewitness account — backed by documents — indicating Russian nuclear officials had routed millions of dollars to the U.S. designed to benefit former President Bill Clinton's charitable foundation during the time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served on a government body that provided a favorable decision to Moscow, sources told The Hill.

Das FBI hatte einen Zeugen, durch Belege unterstützt, der darauf hindeutete, dass russische Nuklear-Officials Millionen Dollar in die USA zur Clinton-Foundation leiteten, in der Zeit, als Hillary Clinton in just der US-Regierung arbeitete die den Deal zugunsten Moskau genehmigte. 

"The Russians were compromising American contractors in the nuclear industry with kickbacks and extortion threats, all of which raised legitimate national security concerns. And none of that evidence got aired before the Obama administration made those decisions," a person who worked on the case told The Hill, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution by U.S. or Russian officials.

Alles blieb unter der Decke. Erstmal. 

The Obama administration's decision to approve Rosatom's purchase of Uranium One has been a source of political controversy since 2015.That's when conservative author Peter Schweitzer and The New York Times documented how Bill Clinton collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in Russian speaking fees and his charitable foundation collected millions in donations from parties interested in the deal while Hillary Clinton presided on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.

Da floss richtig Kohle. 

The Obama administration and the Clintons defended their actions at the time, insisting there was no evidence that any Russians or donors engaged in wrongdoing and there was no national security reason for any member of the committee to oppose the Uranium One deal.

Ist das glaubhaft? 

But FBI, Energy Department and court documents reviewed by The Hill show the FBI in fact had gathered substantial evidence well before the committee's decision that Vadim Mikerin — the main Russian overseeing Putin's nuclear expansion inside the United States — was engaged in wrongdoing starting in 2009.

Vadim Mikerin. Wer ist das? 

Mikerin was a director of Rosatom's Tenex in Moscow since the early 2000s, where he oversaw Rosatom's nuclear collaboration with the United States under the Megatons to Megwatts program and its commercial uranium sales to other countries. In 2010, Mikerin was dispatched to the U.S. on a work visa approved by the Obama administration to open Rosatom's new American arm called Tenam.Between 2009 and January 2012, Mikerin "did knowingly and willfully combine, conspire confederate and agree with other persons ... to obstruct, delay and affect commerce and the movement of an article and commodity (enriched uranium) in commerce by extortion," a November 2014 indictment stated.

His illegal conduct was captured with the help of a confidential witness, an American businessman, who began making kickback payments at Mikerin's direction and with the permission of the FBI. The first kickback payment recorded by the FBI through its informant was dated Nov. 27, 2009, the records show.

Man hat diesen Bösewicht überführt. 

The investigation was ultimately supervised by then-U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein, an Obama appointee who now serves as President Trump's deputy attorney general, and then-Assistant FBI Director Andrew McCabe, now the deputy FBI director under Trump, Justice Department documents show.

Rosenstein...der Rosenstein, an den Jeff Sessions die Trump-Russland Geschichte delegiert hatte, der daraufhin Mueller als Investigator installierte...? 

Both men now play a key role in the current investigation into possible, but still unproven, collusion between Russia and Donald Trump's campaign during the 2016 election cycle.

Ja. Für die Zukunft im Hinterkopf behalten. 

The connections to the current Russia case are many. The Mikerin probe began in 2009 when Robert Mueller, now the special counsel in charge of the Trump case, was still FBI director. And it ended in late 2015 under the direction of then-FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired earlier this year.Its many twist and turns aside, the FBI nuclear industry case proved a gold mine, in part because it uncovered a new Russian money laundering apparatus that routed bribe and kickback payments through financial instruments in Cyprus, Latvia and Seychelles. A Russian financier in New Jersey was among those arrested for the money laundering, court records show.

Russland, Uran, Rosatom, Putin...Bestechung, Erpressung, das alles auf internationaler Ebene, und der damalige FBI-Chef Mueller hatte davon nichts dem damals amtierenden Präsidenten gesagt? Und genau dieser Mueller soll jetzt irgendwelche trumpschen Russia-Collusions aufdecken, im Auftrag Rosensteins. 

Bringing down a major Russian nuclear corruption scheme that had both compromised a sensitive uranium transportation asset inside the U.S. and facilitated international money laundering would seem a major feather in any law enforcement agency's cap.

Aufmerksamkeit ist da sicher. Aus diesem Stoff werden sonst James Bond Filme gemacht. 

But the Justice Department and FBI took little credit in 2014 when Mikerin, the Russian financier and the trucking firm executives were arrested and charged.

Wohl doch nicht. 

The lack of fanfare left many key players in Washington with no inkling that a major Russian nuclear corruption scheme with serious national security implications had been uncovered.On Dec. 15, 2015, the Justice Department put out a release stating that Mikerin, "a former Russian official residing in Maryland was sentenced today to 48 months in prison" and ordered to forfeit more than $2.1 million.

Mehr sagte man nicht. Das war alles. 

[Typee]

Seine Konten bei Facebook und sein Twitter-Account seien ,,enorme Plattformen". ,,Wenn jemand etwas über mich sagt, kann ich – Bing, Bing, Bing – mich darum kümmern", sagte der US-Präsident.

http://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/international/wie-trump-twitter-nutzt-bing-bing-bing/20486534.html

Das bringt das Leitthema der 45. Präsidentschaft auf den Punkt.

[Peiresc]

Fängt ja interessant an....

Ein wenig misstrauisch macht ja, dass da öfter mal Meinungen bei TheHill auftauchen, die Mueller ans Leder wollen. Der Stil ist umso düsterer, je weniger Substanz drin ist (z. B. hier). Und Trump ist definitiv nervös deswegen (z. B. hier).

Einfach mal ,,uranium one deal" googeln.

Allegations of a "quid pro quo" deal giving Russia ownership of one-fifth of U.S. uranium deposits in exchange for $145 million in donations to the Clinton Foundation are unsubstantiated.
https://www.snopes.com/hillary-clinton-uranium-russia-deal/

Frisch upgedatet nach dem Hill-Artikel.

Auch die WaPo ist da nicht ganz so aus dem Häuschen wie Hannity, Breitbart &Co:

But the latest developments, as they relate to Clinton, are not as explosive as certain news outlets — eager to draw attention away from reporting on President Trump and Russia — would have you believe.

Let's break it down: [...]
But there is reason to doubt that Clinton would have been in the know. The FBI investigation was still four years from completion at the time that the uranium deal was approved. (One Russian official, Vadim Mikerin, was indicted in 2014 and later sentenced to four years in prison.)
[...] It is virtually impossible to view these donations as anything other than an attempt to curry favor with Clinton. [...] Similarly, it is virtually impossible to view foreign dignitaries' habit of lodging at Trump's Washington hotel as anything other than an attempt to curry favor with the president.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/19/making-sense-of-russia-uranium-and-hillary-clinton/

[ErpelderNacht]

Kleines Update zur Kid Rock Sideshow: 

Kleine Sideshow: Der US-Rockstar Kid Rock hat seine Kandidatur zum US-Senat für Michigan bekanntgegeben. Und wie er das gemacht hat, ist bemerkenswert: 
https://vimeo.com/232845595

Er hat wohl doch keine Lust dazu. 

Kid Rock: 'F--- no, I'm not running for Senate'?

Kid Rock said that people in his circle who were "in on the joke" were beginning to take the Senate talks seriously.
He said he would tell them that "no, we're not doing it, but let's roll with it for a while."

Schade. Wäre lustig geworden. 

[Typee]

Kleines Update zur Kid Rock Sideshow:

Kleine Sideshow: Der US-Rockstar Kid Rock hat seine Kandidatur zum US-Senat für Michigan bekanntgegeben. Und wie er das gemacht hat, ist bemerkenswert:
https://vimeo.com/232845595

Er hat wohl doch keine Lust dazu.

Kid Rock: 'F--- no, I'm not running for Senate'?

Kid Rock said that people in his circle who were "in on the joke" were beginning to take the Senate talks seriously.
He said he would tell them that "no, we're not doing it, but let's roll with it for a while."

Schade. Wäre lustig geworden.

Ja, hätten Pappnasen wie Trump, Johnson,  Farage und der jüngste im Bunde, dieser Putschdämon oder so ähnlich,  sich das rechtzeitig auch gesagt - bevor sie sich an ihrem eigenen Junk besoffen!

[Peiresc]

Trump kennt mal wieder Worte, sag ich Euch, die besten Worte:

"You know, people don't understand. I went to an Ivy League college," said Trump, who graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. "I was a nice student. I did very well. I'm a very intelligent person. You know, the fact is, I think, I really believe, I think the press creates a different image of Donald Trump than the real person."

Verhalten merkt Politico an:

Trump did not elaborate on the apparent correlation between education and civility.

(Das mit den besten Worten konnten die sich aber auch nicht verkneifen, sie bringen das am Schluss). Bei dieser intellektuellen Armseligkeit kriegt man ja schon Beißhemmung.

[Tezcatlipoca]

Trump kennt mal wieder Worte, sag ich Euch, die besten Worte:

"You know, people don't understand. I went to an Ivy League college," said Trump, who graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968. "I was a nice student. I did very well. I'm a very intelligent person. You know, the fact is, I think, I really believe, I think the press creates a different image of Donald Trump than the real person."

Verhalten merkt Politico an:

Trump did not elaborate on the apparent correlation between education and civility.

(Das mit den besten Worten konnten die sich aber auch nicht verkneifen, sie bringen das am Schluss). Bei dieser intellektuellen Armseligkeit kriegt man ja schon Beißhemmung.

Ja, wenn er doch selbst sagt, dass er eine sehr intelligente Person ist, dann muss das doch stimmen. Ein Dummer würde ja sowas nicht behaupten. Oder ein notorischer Aufschneider oder Lügner.

[celsus]

Ja, wenn er doch selbst sagt, dass er eine sehr intelligente Person ist, dann muss das doch stimmen. Ein Dummer würde ja sowas nicht behaupten. Oder ein notorischer Aufschneider oder Lügner.

Außerdem hat er das ja jetzt schon ganz oft gesagt. So langsam müssten die Leute das doch mal kapieren.

[ErpelderNacht]

In der US-Sphäre geht es grad bezüglich des Steele-Dossiers rund.
Die Washington Post schrieb, dass dieses "Dossier" vom DNC und der Clinton-Kampagne finanziert worden war: 

http://archive.is/O6hyH?

Clinton campaign, DNC paid for research that led to Russia dossier

The Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee helped fund research that resulted in a now-famous dossier containing allegations about President Trump's connections to Russia and possible coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin, people familiar with the matter said.

Spannend.

Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research.After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Die Clinton-Kampagne und die Demokraten beauftragten über eine Anwaltskanzlei Fusion GPS, eine Art Detektei, nach Kompromat gegen Trump zu suchen. Diese Firma beauftragte dann den Autor des Pissgate-Dossiers Christopher Steele, einen früheren britischen Geheimdienstlers. 

Elias and his law firm, Perkins Coie, retained the company in April 2016 on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC. Before that agreement, Fusion GPS's research into Trump was funded by an unknown Republican client during the GOP primary.

Wer das wohl war? Und wusste die Clinton Campaign von dem vorherigen Auftraggeber, und wenn ja, warum? 

Fusion GPS gave Steele's reports and other research documents to Elias, the people familiar with the matter said. It is unclear how or how much of that information was shared with the campaign and the DNC and who in those organizations was aware of the roles of Fusion GPS and Steele.

Man ließ den Kreis der Mitwisser möglichst klein. 

When the Republican donor stopped paying for the research, Elias, acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign and the DNC, agreed to pay for the work to continue. The Democrats paid for research, including by Fusion GPS, because of concerns that little was known about Trump and his business interests, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Das hört sich so an, als wenn der ungenannte Republikaner, der DNC und die Clinton Campaign voneinander wussten. 

Those people said that it is standard practice for political campaigns to use law firms to hire outside researchers to ensure their work is protected by attorney-client and work-product privileges.

Interessantes Detail. 

The Clinton campaign paid Perkins Coie $5.6 million in legal fees from June 2015 to December 2016, according to campaign finance records, and the DNC paid the firm $3.6 million in "legal and compliance consulting'' since November 2015 — though it's impossible to tell from the filings how much of that work was for other legal matters and how much of it related to Fusion GPS.

Das "impossible" würde ich als ein Feature bezeichnen. 

Some of Steele's allegations began circulating in Washington in the summer of 2016 as the FBI launched its counterintelligence investigation into possible connections between Trump associates and the Kremlin.

So ein Zufall. 

Around that time, Steele shared some of his findings with the FBI.After the election, the FBI agreed to pay Steele to continue gathering intelligence about Trump and Russia, but the bureau pulled out of the arrangement after Steele was publicly identified in news reports.

Noch mehr Geldregen für Steele in Aussicht. Aber dann traute sich das FBI doch nicht. 

[Peiresc]

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. (AP) — An evangelical Christian college in Missouri is now requiring freshman to take a class aimed at encouraging patriotism.

The College of the Ozarks has unveiled a military science class called Patriotic Education and Fitness. The course aims to educate students on modern military customs, U.S. politics and flag protocol and procedures. It will also teach rifle marksmanship, map reading, land navigation and rope knotting.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/private-missouri-college-creates-mandatory-patriotism-class-162517368.html

Vielleicht kann ihnen ja Sarah Wagenknecht aus ihrem reichen Erfahrungsschatz mitteilen, wie das am besten geht:

Ein Teil der Oberschüler (EOS) war Mitglied der GST. Das Gleiche galt für Lehrlinge in Großbetrieben. Sie zahlten einen geringen Mitgliedsbeitrag (0,25 Mark für Schüler).
Neben der allgemeinen vormilitärischen Ausbildung wurden
Wehrlager (für Jungen zwei Wochen am Ende der 9. Klasse) und ein Marsch der Bewährung für ca. fünf Tage im Jahr während der Berufsausbildung (an der EOS einmalig am Ende der 11. Klasse) und
Wettkämpfe (Wehrspartakiaden) durchgeführt.
[...]
Ab 1969 wurde die vormilitärische Ausbildung von Lehrlingen und Abiturienten durch die GST dann obligatorisch.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesellschaft_f%C3%BCr_Sport_und_Technik

[Peiresc]

Spannend.

Nein,  . Spannend ist allein, wie sehr die Demokraten, und die seriöse Presse, sich wieder das Gesetz des Handelns aus der Hand nehmen lassen. Denen fehlt einfach die Unverschämtheit, ,,Fake" zu brüllen. Vielleicht hatte RPS recht, dass Pelosi insgeheim Trump behalten wollte, weil das Sponsorengelder einbringt.

Edward Gibbon meinte einst, das Christentum habe sich in der Spätantike gegen die heidnischen Religionen durchgesetzt, weil es einfach mehr Glut hatte.

Der republikanische Kongress ist gerade dabei, achselzuckend über Flake/Corker/McCain/Bush hinwegzugehen, während die Trumpisten schreien, die sollen zurücktreten – andernfalls werden sie nämlich von Bannon zerquetscht, und McConnell und Co gleich mit. So wie Trump einst begeistert von sich feststellen konnte, dass er auf der 5th Avenue einen erschießen könnte, so kann er heute beruhigt feststellen, dass es kein Vergehen gibt, für das ihn diese Republikaner impeachen würden.

[Peiresc]

Der republikanische Kongress ist gerade dabei, achselzuckend über Flake/Corker/McCain/Bush hinwegzugehen

Das war deutlich zu euphemistisch, ich hatte denen einfach zu viel Restanstand unterstellt. Den muss man sich nämlich leisten können.

Jeff Flake is about to find out what it means to be a political orphan.

I know because I've been there and I can give Flake a sense of what he can expect, now that he has left the safe confines of the tribe. His conservative credentials will be attacked and his motives questioned; he'll be filleted as a sell-out, a RINO, a Judas, and even as a closet liberal. Even though he and Senator Bob Corker gave voice to what many of their colleagues say in private, they will become pariahs among many of the groups that had once been allies. And they will lose friends.
[...]
Flake also should not expect #NeverTrumpers to rush to his side. Frequent Trump critic Ben Shapiro scorched Flake in a twitter storm, in which he called Flake's speech "sheer BS" and said that "Blaming Trump and Trump voters is a way of playing hero while quitting because he was going to lose." Erick Erickson tweeted: "Jeff Flake is not retiring because of Trumpism. He's retiring because he's a fraud and liar." This from a man who has said that "we . . . know President Trump lies regularly."
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/26/charles-sykes-on-jeff-flake-215750?lo=ap_b1

Ist in voller Länge empfehlenswert:

But we should never underestimate the powers of rationalization, especially among those Vichy Republicans who have cast their lot with Trump. Indeed, the worse things get, the more likely they are to lash out at the critics, whose words gnaw at their guilty sense that they may have made a bad bargain. They will never forgive McCain, Corker or Flake for reminding them of the choice they have made.