Cagle World

After railing against the FBI, the intelligence community, and the Department of Justice, the character of Rep. Devin Nunes (R., Calif.), Chair of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, is increasingly being called into question. In fact, when character counts, the sum of the man just doesn’t add up.

A new set of potential improprieties by Nunes has emerged as a result of reporting by McClatchy’s Kate Irby. Irby details possible unethical use of campaign funds by Nunes’ political action committee, New Pac. Funds used to pay for private jet transportation, tickets to sporting events, meals in high-end restaurants and hotels in Las Vegas, and $15,000 for a single day of winery tours, including a limo and beachfront hotel accommodations.

Not to worry. There’s still plenty of cash in his campaign coffers. Nearly $7.4 million dollars in fact. All to mount a re-election campaign in a district in which he’s held sway since 2003.

That’s a remarkably odd amount of money given that, in previous campaigns, Nunes typically raised between $1.5 – $2 million dollars. There are roughly 348,000 registered voters in Nunes’ 22nd Congressional District, which translates to about $20.11 per vote, or roughly four times the amount he spent in elections past.

So why has Nunes felt compelled to fill his campaign war chest with that much money while defending a “safe seat” in a historically red bastion of the Republican party?

Maybe Nunes is just a generous, likable guy who likes to spread the wealth around.

So generous and likable that in March and June of 2017, he transferred $300,000 to the National Republican Congressional Campaign for contributions to various races around the country. Guess it pays to have friends. And lots of them. Especially when being investigated by an Ethics Committee dominated by fellow Republicans and having your Republican colleagues remain mum when others in government are questioning your actions.

Since taking on the “Deep State” and becoming Mr. Trump’s prat boy, Nunes is now a darling among far-right conservatives throughout the country, receiving an impressive amount of small individual contributions. That’s in addition to the $63,000 he’s gotten from the Koch Brothers; $71,000 from the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America Association (guess Devin likes wine, remember the $15,000 tour?) and many others. And, of course, the $74,500 he garnered from California Dairies, Inc.

Dairy is an important product in Nunes’ agriculture-reliant district. And yet, while riding off into the sunset, leaving his district behind on a quixotic mission to restore law and order throughout the land, his clueless leader has been imposing tariffs that will have a severe negative impact on farmers – almond, pistachio, walnut, and dairy farmers among them. Even Nunes’ father and brother’s dairy operation in Iowa will be affected.

The president has called Nunes “a man of tremendous courage and grit,” who may someday be recognized as a “Great American Hero.” That comment is probably making a lot of Americans grit their teeth, among them the almond, pistachio, and walnut growers who have consistently helped return Nunes to office.

According to bakersfield.com, almond growers will see tariffs on exports to China rise from 10 to 25 percent. Many of those farmers and growers might like to voice their concerns to their congressman. Good luck. Nunes reportedly hasn’t held a town hall meeting in the district in seven years. Probably because he’s been spending more time in the Deep State rather than the State of California.

That dairy farm in Iowa? That’s where the Nunes Campaign Committee’s Treasurer, Toni Dian Nunes – the candidate’s mom – lives. As Treasurer for the campaign, she received a notification, earlier this year, from the Federal Election Commission requesting “information essential to full public disclosure” about three potentially illegal campaign contributions, one of which was made by a pistachio grower from a district bordering Nunes’ own. While that pistachio grower’s contribution was peanuts in comparison to that of California Dairies, it’s probably safe to assume he made it in hopes that his neighbor would stand up for him and others in his industry. Nutty thought.

Devin Nunes is as wanton, wasteful, and potentially as unethical as any other swamp dweller Donald J. Trump swore to throw out of Washington. Nunes was not elected to forsake constituents for the national stage, launch inexplicable and confounding witch hunts, or stand shoulder-to-shoulder with leaders who impose tariffs that are harmful to those at home, while simultaneously putting the national security of our country at risk.

Recent polls indicate Nunes is no longer meeting the expectations of his constituents. For good reason. Nunes willingly chose to lie down in the swamp, as have a significant number of his Republican colleagues in Congress. Clawing their way out may prove to be a very sticky proposition for many of them come Election Day.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

Every time Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg opens his mouth he somehow manages to stick his foot in it. It’s not so much what he says that is harmful to both himself and his company, it’s how he says it.

Last week, Zuckerberg managed to infuriate a large segment of the population by defending Facebook’s policy to permit blatantly anti-Semitic posts on the site. His rationale for allowing hate speak to continue unfettered was a veritable cornucopia of double-speak; the kind that is both acceptable to and tolerated by an ever-increasing number of Americans.

During an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher which alluded to Sandy Hook conspiracy theorists – a group that includes Infowars host Alex Jones – Zuckerberg seemed to liken those who push alternative realities (i.e. that the massacre of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School never happened) to Holocaust deniers.

While Zuckerberg pointed out that he is Jewish and that he finds those who propagate lies regarding the Holocaust offensive, he also said that he didn’t believe they were “intentionally getting it wrong” by misleading readers, nor that those who disseminated this type of misinformation should be taken off his platform “if they get things wrong, even multiple times.”

Like many public figures prone to confounding or deliberately misleading statements, Zuckerberg found himself under fire for his comments and attempted to walk them back. He even resorted to having his sister, Randi, come to his defense as his surrogate.

Randi Zuckerberg is active in Jewish organizations so she lends credibility to her brother’s position when she says “those bent on lying, sowing misunderstanding, and breeding hate will never be truly silenced.” She went on to say that, “Unfortunately, when we give a voice to everyone, we give it to people who use that voice for good and to people who abuse that voice.”

Fair enough. But again, it’s not so much what was said, rather how it was said; and in Zuckerberg’s case, stated somewhat cavalierly.

One of the things that has always made America great (always, not “again”) has been the freedom its citizens and its press have possessed to voice their opinions and observations, to report the news, keep us informed, and share ideas. Sadly, the very thing that makes us great can sometimes contribute to our vulnerability as well.

The First Amendment and our open, uncensored channels of expression are part of the reason Vladimir Putin’s regime was so easily able to meddle into the 2016 presidential election. They provided Russia’s security services and intelligence apparatchiks access to the hearts and minds of the American people through the deployment of highly effective disinformation, or dezinformatsiya as the Kremlin calls it.And they did so through outlets like Facebook.

While Russian stage-management of public opinion is not the sole reason for Mr. Trump’s current occupation of the White House, it certainly contributed to the American people’s opinion of him and his opponent which, in turn, may or may not have led to a favorable outcome for Vlad’s favorite marionette. More significantly, the propaganda and disinformation promulgated by Russian intelligence was highly effective in re-opening festering cultural wounds and in manipulating the emotions and reason of the American people.

As evidence continues to mount that Russian dezinformatsiya played a significant role in influencing public opinion leading up to the 2016 election, we are faced with a larger dilemma: namely, can we combat future intrusions into the American psyche without sacrificing a cornerstone of our democracy? The answer – fortunately – is no.

The First Amendment sets us free, but it also leaves us susceptible to those who wish to manipulate the beliefs and values that have long set this nation apart. At a time when the current administration is disseminating “alternative facts,” and while they continue to accuse the mainstream media of spreading “fake news,” it’s up to all of us individually to dig deep and verify what we read and see online and on-air rather than blindly accept that which is placed before us.

And while it is not Mark Zuckerberg’s obligation to protect us from the ills of the world, it is his responsibility to be more introspective when assessing the impact his creation has on the nearly 2.2 billion active monthly Facebook users around the globe.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

I was never a fan of the children’s show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” when I was a kid. My eyes were usually focused on the town of Bedrock. There was a lot more going on there than in the sleepy place where Mr. Rogers lived. If I wasn’t hanging out with “The Flintstones,” I might be found immersed in the hyperkinetic world of Warner Brothers’ “Looney Toons.”

Mr. Rogers’ hometown was slow and boring. But “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” a new documentary about his show, now in theaters nationwide, has caused me to re-evaluate my opinion.

Television in the 1950’s and 1960’s was (especially when it came to children’s programming) often inane and consumer-centric, pitching foods that were high in sugar and low in substance, household products we didn’t necessarily need,and toys like Barbie that defined feminine beauty. There were also the toys that not-so-subtly hinted at what it meant to be a man, like G.I. Joe action figures, which promoted the sale of plastic weapons of war.

I didn’t have the patience for someone as dull as Mr. Rogers. I couldn’t appreciate his subtle, nuanced message extolling the specialness in all of us. Tackling issues like race relations, death, divorce, love, loneliness, anxiety, hatred, and violence was clearly over my head back then. Even though I and many other kids were forced to confront them in our own lives.

Fred Rogers was an ordained minister with training in child psychology; a man who wrote, composed and played music, designed, produced, and performed nearly everything viewers saw and heard on his show. He was also the pre-eminent spokesperson for both children’s programming and the value of public broadcasting.

Funding for public television was then, as now, a target of conservative leaders in Washington. Some considered it a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money at a time when President Richard Nixon was demanding increased funding for the Vietnam War. Despite this, the soft-spoken Rogers managed to convince Rhode Island Sen. John Pastore, the gruff tight-fisted Democratic Chairman of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Communications at the time, of the value of programming that spoke to the need for the social and emotional education of children that public broadcasting provided.

After listening to him, a visibly moved Pastore said Rogers’ words gave him “goose bumps.” His gentle advocacy helped convince the committee to more than double public television’s budget the following year.Rogers’ appearance before Pastore’s committee, in 1969, is a stark contrast to the overwhelming number of congressional hearings currently gracing our television screens today, and a testament to those who still believe that differences in political and fiscal ideologies, as well as the truth, need not reek of partisanship and hostility.

Not everyone, however, subscribed to Rogers’ philosophy. After his death from cancer, in 2003, a Fox News commentator took to the air stating “this man, this evil, evil man ruined a generation of kids.”She was followed up by another member of the panel who said that Rogers’ message that everyone is special filled kids with a “with a sense of entitlement.”

That idea was also floated several years back by The Wall Street Journal, whose editorial staff (not its reporters) often acts as though they’re publishing the house organ of the Republican Party rather than a newspaper. It was re-iterated in a Journal column by Jeffrey Zaslow this past week. He quotes Don Chance, a Louisiana State University finance professor, who arrived at the highly original conclusion just last spring that Mr. Rogers is, indeed, to blame for the sense of entitlement displayed by many young people today.

Conservative finger-pointing is often obtuse and extreme. I think most parents would agree that their children are, in some way, special. Whether they’re kids in cages or the progeny of those who espouse hate and anger. Being special is not about entitlement, it’s about what makes us unique individuals and valued members of society. Just as being at opposite ends of the political spectrum makes us unique, though not always valued.

This is a nation of neighborhoods, though it often seems we’ve drifted far afield from the “kinder, gentler” one former President George H.W. Bush spoke of nearly three decades ago; the kind espoused by Fred Rogers. Too bad. The neighborhood where he once resided seems like a pretty darn good place to live.

Maybe we can all buy a home there someday.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

Will Nancy Pelosi continue to make the House her home for much longer? Two recent events give one pause for thought.

During a press conference in June, Pelosi assailed the president’s policy of separating children from their undocumented parents at the border. She said matter-of-factly, “I just don’t even know why there aren’t uprisings all over the country, and maybe there will be when people realize that this is a policy that they [Republicans] defend.”

Uprising is an extremely potent word. Even for those who don’t support the president’s stance on immigration. Protests would have been more appropriate. Indeed, civilized marches in opposition to the president’s policies have been going on throughout the country for weeks.But to use language so inflammatory only further fuels the right and does a disservice to us all.

Pelosi has been called the Republican Party’s greatest fundraiser because of her stridency and the positions she’s taken over the years. Most are critical to maintaining the well-being of the middle and working class; on affordable healthcare, women’s health and reproductive rights, a living wage, fighting tax policies favorable to the rich and big business, supporting regulations that protect the American people from abuses by banks and Wall Street, as well as legislation to combat environmental hazards. She argues her case vigorously and clings to beliefs she feels are just.

Pelosi has long been vilified by the right. She’s a tough political infighter who knows how to keep members of her party in line and push her legislative agenda through – alternating between finesse and intimidation of fellow House members. And there’s the rub. Many of those who have long supported Pelosi are coming to the realization that her time has passed; that she is a relic of another era. An era when politics was more collegial and House members from both parties were inclined to work collaboratively despite ideological differences; and when it came to Pelosi, there were many.

As liberal as Nancy Pelosi is, however, there are an increasing number of Democrats who don’t believe she is left-leaning enough. That she has taken positions far more moderate than most Republicans would have the American public believe. It’s been argued that she and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), in their desire to cut deals, have turned their backs on the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party and those who affiliate with it, including Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Rep. Ruben Gallegos (D-AZ), who is Vice Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Imagine that. Nancy Pelosi. Too moderate?

Which brings us to the second event. A shift more seismic than Pelosi’s verbal misstep: the stunning defeat of Pelosi protege and presumptive successor Rep. Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent from New York. Crowley, the fourth highest ranking Democrat in the House, was overwhelmingly trounced by 28-year-old neophyte Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, whose only previous exposure to politics was as an organizer for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign. Crowley is a product of old-school Democratic Party machine politics. Ocasio-Cortez ran as a Democratic Socialist.

Ocasio-Cortez ran a grassroots campaign on bread and butter issues in her largely Latino district: putting people to work, Medicare and higher education for all, affordable housing, tax reform to help middle and low-income families, and the abolition of ICE (not even Pelosi has called for that). Crowley spent more time in D.C. than his district and spent significantly more money on his campaign. Ocasio-Cortez, who relied on social media to get her message out, lives in the district and is one of the faces of its changing demographics.

Clearly, an increasing number of Democrats want something more than the establishment is offering, perhaps something more radical. That’s not necessarily a winning strategy in the short-term if they hope to win back Congress come November. Then again, moderation doesn’t appear to be working for them either.

For the Democratic Party to thrive, it needs to commit to its core beliefs and principles, roll the dice, and take the chance that it may take a decade before the electorate at large is ready to embrace their message. Under the party’s present leadership, the odds of that happening sooner than later are almost nil. And given the direction the current administration is heading the country in, a decade’s wait may be too late.

One thing’s for certain. For the Democratic Party to rediscover itself, Nancy Pelosi must go. And that’s something an increasing number of Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

This is us, America. This is who we are at this precise moment in time. A nation that separates families. A nation that interns children and infants in detention camps far from their parents, farther still from those the Trump administration perceives to be his meddlesome enemies; those whose prying eyes, brimming with empathy, and voices of reason are a threat to his regime.

This is us, America. This is who we are – or have become – in the eyes of the world.

This is exactly what other autocrats – among them, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and Turkey’s Recep Erdogan – would like their own people to believe. For them, this is the perfect “I told you so” moment. A time when they can accurately point to America and say “They are no better than us. They are not who they claim to be.”

The president’s immigration policy is a disaster. To those true believers, those who continue to ride the Trumpian Trolley to hell, the president is a man of his word. In their eyes, he is fulfilling the promises he made while campaigning for office. He tells them what he wants them to hear and believe.

President Trump and his apostle, Jeff Sessions, are, in the minds of their followers, guiding Americans toward security and salvation. Yet, the path these two men and others in the administration are forging leads us further into the wilderness, isolating us from those who remain free to speak the truth and true to their values.

As in previous authoritarian regimes throughout history, the president and his minions have sought and found a scapegoat. For the Romans, it was the Christians; for the Czars, it was the downtrodden who threatened their autocratic reign and personal fortunes; for the Third Reich, it was the Jews, Roma, homosexuals, and political opponents.

The president claims those being detained are criminals, murderers, rapists, and members of roving gangs from whom only he, the great and powerful Trump, can save us. Save us from infants and children being removed from the loving arms of their parents?

This distorted outlook on immigration is not about safeguarding jobs. It is not about protecting the vast number of Americans from criminals. The president continually points to the “animals” of the MS-13 gang as one rationale for his immigration initiatives. What he doesn’t tell his followers is that, according to FBI statistics, the grand total of MS-13 members currently residing – legally or not – in the U.S. accounts for approximately .00323 percent of the population; a number that has remained stable for the last dozen years.

The president’s immigration strategy – if there is one – is not about border security or making America great again through ludicrous trade tariffs. It’s about separating “us” from “them.” It is a page ripped from a scrapbook of atrocities perpetrated by others; torn by “advisers” and “experts” whose lack of decency and ignorance of history are causing this presidency to become increasingly dangerous.

The Trump immigration policy – and it is the president’s policy, not that of his Democrat or Republican predecessors, no matter what he proclaims – is an abject failure. Rather than protecting the American people, he is currently in the process of creating a new generation of terrorists whose separation from their parents at a tender age is causing them incalculable psychological and physical harm; harm that may come back to haunt us at some point in the future in a manner more violent than the president could ever imagine.

President Trump’s legacy may well lead to the radicalization of children and infants whose memories of America and its people may rival the perception of Palestinian children held hostage beyond the walls and fences of the Gaza Strip; those whose dire circumstances have led them to participate in violent assaults upon Israel.

Today, the Department of Defense is readying military bases – inaccessible and off-limits to the press and public – capable of holding 20,000 people. Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Andrews told reporters it is for the internment of “unaccompanied alien children.” Innocent children who truly are being treated as though they were “animals.” So much for President Trump’s recent executive order to keep undocumented families together.

Americans must bear witness. We cannot turn our backs on reality. Right now, activists, the clergy, journalists, righteous citizens, and an increasing number of true public servants from both parties are attempting to expose and condemn the tragedy currently unfolding on our southern border. In so doing, they are struggling to reclaim the ever-diminishing reputations of us all and rekindle the beacon of hope for the marginalized and oppressed that was once the U.S.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

Instead of being saddled with the sycophantic Donald J. Trump, Jr., who currently finds himself the subject of intense legal scrutiny, President Trump might have been better served by siring someone like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

After all, the Prime Minister and Junior, both in their 40’s, share some things in common. Some. Both are the children of highly-visible fathers with varying levels of success.

Junior’s dad was formerly-known for being a television reality star, in addition to being a well-heeled promoter of real estate, vodka, steaks, neckties, universities, far-fetched political conspiracy theories and questionable foreign and international trade policies.

Justin Trudeau is the son of a formidable intellectual and statesman, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. The younger Mr. Trudeau assumed the mantle his late father once held in leading his nation.

Don Jr. – when not testifying before Congress regarding his formerly-secret meetings with questionable Russian oligarchs and alleged agents – is theoretically co-head of his father’s “Organization.”

Both men have effectively joined their respective family businesses.

The similarities – and probably some not mentioned – end there.

Prime Minister Trudeau is an elected official, head of his party and the leader of his country. He legitimately negotiates foreign policy and trade deals on behalf of the Canadian people. He holds a prominent place on the world stage, as evidenced by his recent hosting of the G7 (or G6+1 or eventual G6) Summit.

While Don Jr. admirably (though not necessarily honorably) served as his father’s surrogate and pit bull during the presidential election, his subsequent not-quite-arms-length meetings with foreign business leaders and supposedly unofficial interactions with foreign government officials have raised eyebrows over potential conflicts of interest.

Let’s see… one was elected. The other… entitled.

Prime Minister Trudeau’s father passed away nearly two decades ago. Like most children, the younger Mr. Trudeau probably misses his dad and might have valued any insights, advice, and encouragement the senior PM might have offered regarding how best to serve the Canadian people and interact with its allies and the world community.

Junior’s dad is still accessible. Even when he’s 40,000 feet aloft aboard Air Force One, homeward-bound from a foreign visit to the Middle East that left him feeling quite pleased.

Quite pleased, until he had to take an encrypted phone call from Junior, who needed his dad’s immediate attention and input in writing a response to The New York Times report that he – along with brother-in-law Jared Kushner and then Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort – had held previously-unacknowledged meetings with suspected “friends of Vlad.”

It was as though Junior had devolved from international executive into a naughty schoolboy seeking a parental letter from home, acknowledging – or making excuses for – his misdeeds. Either that or a get-out-of-jail card.

One can only imagine what President Trump was thinking while seated next to Canada’s Prime Minister at the G7. Perhaps there was the occasional fleeting glance toward the younger Mr. Trudeau, the president’s thoughts drifting to his own son, wondering, “Where did I go wrong?”

Probably not. The president never experiences remorse or regret, nor does he appear to like anyone possessing independent thoughts or a difference of opinion. He clearly doesn’t like Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Maybe none of these things consciously affects President Trump’s relationship with the Prime Minister. The president was most likely thinking about himself and how America’s long-standing friends have wronged him personally rather than making comparisons between Junior and the PM, both of whom he clearly relishes terrorizing.

Maybe slapping irrational tariffs on Canada, China, the EU, Mexico, and other nations is as familiar to the president as planting a parental slap on a child’s face.

Yet, if his words are to be taken seriously, Prime Minister Trudeau is – unlike Don Jr. – willing to stand up to this tyrannical despot of a dad and make abundantly clear that he’s not going to take it anymore. And it would appear neither are the rest of America’s family of historic allies.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

During WWII, when the communist government of Joseph Stalin joined the United States and Great Britain in their battle against Nazi Germany, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill observed, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

Somehow the interpretation of this message has been lost in translation for President Trump. He’s turned friends into enemies and enemies into friends. The gnawing question continues to be why?

The Russians meddled into our elections. Our intelligence agencies have made this abundantly clear. They present ever-increasing evidence that the Putin regime did so to favor one candidate over another. This does not mean, however, the Russian government alone was responsible for President Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.

The former Secretary of State blew her chances of occupying the White House in any number of ways. A President Clinton II would, by now, most likely have been juggling more china-laden plates than even President Trump and, under this Republican Congress, might well be on her way to impeachment proceedings.

Vladimir Putin and his regime are the beneficiaries of a type of turmoil that would have occurred regardless of who had won the 2016 presidential election. Since then, disagreements and differences of opinion have devolved into a national sickness, viciously pitting those with one set of political beliefs against those with another.

The Russians have fomented a level of chaos and distrust that has opened the door for the desecration of civil American society; a democracy that, until now, has been a form of government that has been more successful than any other in history and the envy of all. All except Vladimir Putin, who now watches with glee as the alliances of which the U.S. has long been a leader develop fissures so deep it will take decades to mend.

And yet, the president – on impulse, though he says it’s strategy – is willing to embrace the leader of an oppressive regime and suggest he and his corrupt government be brought back from the economic dead and invited to rejoin the G7 nations (or the G6+1; or, quite possibly, just the G6 the way things are going).

This is not strategy. This is ignorance of the very reason why Putin was absent during the summit held in Canada this past weekend and from previous meetings: a response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

This ignorance of history should come as no surprise. During the presidential campaign, candidate Trump displayed a total lack of knowledge regarding Putin’s invasion of Crimea. In an interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, he said he might recognize Russia’s claim to land that was an undisputed part of Ukraine, a sovereign nation. Trump said “the people of Crimea, from what I’ve heard, would rather be with Russia than where they are.”

That wasn’t exactly true. While some people of Russian heritage living in Crimea may have welcomed the candidate’s remarks as much as they did Russia’s invasion, most Ukrainians did not.

Trump’s opinions would be tantamount to saying that some Americans would rather be with Russia than where they are. Most likely, Americans whose ancestral home may once have been Smolensk. Or those who favor foods like borscht, caviar, kotlety, and Beef Stroganoff.

Or Americans like President Trump for that matter.

The president appears to enjoy spending quality time with Vladimir Putin more so than Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister Angela Merkel of Germany, Prime Minister Theresa May of the U.K., French President Emmanuel Macron, Italy’s new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conti; as well as his favorite golfing buddy, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. You know, those G7 members who counted on us and we counted on as allies.

But hey, let’s be fair. The president had a lot on his plate this past weekend, so he decided to skip dinner and get out of Dodge – or Quebec – as quickly as he could. Before the G7 summit ended. Trade wars be damned.

The president had more important things to do, places to go, people to see. Like North Korean Dictator and fratricidal crown prince Kim Jong Un, whose reputation for dispatching political rivals and relatives (some, one and the same) is known the world over. But, like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un is, in the president’s words, “very honorable.”

And while the president has yet to look into “Little Rocket Man’s” eyes to get a sense of his soul, he’ll probably appreciate what he sees; perhaps a mirror-reflection of himself.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

Last year, as the tightly wound spool of scandal surrounding his administration started to unravel, President Trump reportedly asked a roomful of White House officials rhetorically, “Where’s my Roy Cohn?”

In addition to serving as the president’s mentor, attorney, and fixer, the late Mr. Cohn is an ignominious footnote in our nation’s history for the persecutorial role he played during Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy’s investigations into communist activity during the 1950’s.

Every passing day brings further evidence that the president has found his Roy Cohn redux. His name is Rudy Giuliani.

Heralded as “America’s Mayor” in the wake of 9/11, Mr. Giuliani has reemerged ,’ demonically, phoenix-like, eyeglasses often crazily askew ,’ from the political netherworld into which he slithered upon leaving the New York City Mayor’s office and failed bids for the U.S. Senate and the presidency.

Without question, during Mr. Giuliani’s first few years as Mayor, he enforced arcane laws and statutes to clean up New York City. In that, he proved to be an unabashed success. Unfortunately for Mr. Giuliani, he was unable to sustain the popularity, good-will and achievements of his first term throughout the entirety of his reign.

And then came the fall of the Twin Towers, after which Mayor Giuliani was catapulted onto the national stage. It was a public redemption that even the most callous of politicians could appreciate. Giuliani stood amidst the rubble of Wall Street almost godlike. He was a hero for our time.

What happened to that guy? The answer: that guy never existed.

Rudolph Giuliani was and is a figment of his own imagination. To many, however, he was and is one nasty son-of-a-gun. Granted, those who share those feelings most might include his two (soon-to-be three) ex-wives; discarded advisors and confidantes; former colleagues; political opponents; mob bosses; and white collar criminals.

While not inventing the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute, as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudy Giuliani used it in an innovative and highly-effective manner against New York’s Mafia families, drug traffickers, wayward politicians, and Wall Street manipulators alike; who, as Mayor, punished scofflaws to the fullest-extent possible.

This former standard-bearer for law and order now believes, however, the president of the United States can get away with murder – of fired FBI Director James Comey, one of Mr. Giuliani’s former subordinates – without facing the same consequences that we mere mortals could expect to face. Like arrest, incarceration, prosecution, conviction and, in some instances, execution. He doesn’t believe the president can be subpoenaed. Or indicted.

President Trump may sound a bit crazy when he voices opinions such as this. But he’s crazy like a fox; his are Machiavellian efforts to retain power.

Rudy Giuliani, on the other hand, appears to be as crazy as a loon.

Giuliani has vilified Mr. Comey. He’s launched attacks on the FBI and the Justice Department, institutions he claims to have once respected. Not anymore. As early as 2016, Mr. Giuliani told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he was “so ashamed of the Justice Department.”

Shamelessness, however, was clearly his Modus operandi when he served in that very same Justice Department.

As reported in The New York Times on July 11, 1989, Walter S. Mack Jr., once a senior prosecutor and chief of the organized crime unit in the Southern District until he was relieved by Mr. Giuliani said, “The overwhelming perception was that what was good for him was what was going to be done. If it was going to put him in the most positive light and give him the image he wanted, it was going to be done.”

That point was reiterated 29 years later in Comey’s book “A Higher Loyalty,” when Comey noted there was an unwritten code among those working for Mr. Giuliani back then that “Rudy was the star at the top and the successes of the office flowed in his direction.”

Now, he is a man in search of relevance and, once again, the limelight.

In another era, Rudy Giuliani might have used the RICO statute against Donald Trump and his “Organization” much as he did when combating organized crime, Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, and the Wall Street firm of Drexel Burnham Lambert. Instead, he is a man who appears to be hellbent on taking down the institutions he once served and the Constitution he once swore to uphold by propagating the lies and obfuscations of the Trump administration to whoever will listen.

So much for truth, justice, and the American Way.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

President Trump’s latest assault on undocumented aliens reached a new low last week when he said, “These aren’t people, these are animals.”

Essentially, the president believes undocumented aliens are subhuman, or “Untermensch,” which was part of the justification used by leaders of Nazi-Germany to herd “undesirable” groups into death camps. These undesirables included Jews, Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, political opponents of the Nazi hierarchy, and anyone else Adolf Hitler and his cronies didn’t like.

Whatever most normal people’s opinion of undocumented aliens is – positive or negative – it’s unlikely that the majority of Americans view them as “animals.” The exception to that statement, of course, is if they concur with the opinion of the president. Or Adolf Hitler.

But why resort to sticks, stones, and names that never hurt you? That would merely put those of us who disagree with the president’s perception of humanity – or inhumanity – on his level. Which is a place on earth most Americans have indicated they would rather not be.

Note to the president: you lost the popular vote and, according to numerous polls, less than half of all Americans approve of you or your regime.

It’s mind-boggling that this president has called many of the supporters of the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville last year “very fine people.” Clearly, in his worldview, undocumented aliens are not. Because they “aren’t people,” they’re “animals.” And while the president subsequently back-peddled a bit, saying he was referring to the violent, pre-dominantly Latinx gang MS-13, he fails to recognize that gang members are people as well.

In the president’s mind and in the minds of many around him, including John Kelly, his Chief-of-Staff, it’s perfectly acceptable to separate children from their undocumented parents should they all be rounded up at the border and routed to immigrant detention facilities; or, as Kelly said, “foster care or whatever.”

Attorney General Jeff Sessions summed up the administration’s policy on undocumented migrants succinctly, “If you’re smuggling a child, then we’re going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you. If you don’t want your child separated, then don’t bring them across the border illegally.”

The terminus – literally and figuratively – for many of those arriving at Nazi concentration camps was frequently the scene of children being separated from parents. Infants didn’t fare as well. On more occasions than not, they were immediately eliminated. That’s a tame euphemism for what actually happened.

What the attorney general fails to recognize is that he is referring to human beings. They are not smuggled contraband; not animals. Then again, Sessions isn’t exactly known for his sensitivity regarding race, culture, or sexual preference.

The president’s attempts to muster compassion and emotion at a so-called “immigration round-table” last week devolved, yet again, into an opportunity to play politics. As usual, his failings as a leader, policymaker, and as a human being were – according to him – the fault of the Democrats, a majority of whom do not agree with most of the president’s immigration decrees.

Our beneficent leader had this to say to those attempting to cross the border without proper documentation, “I know what you’re going through right now with families is very tough, but those are the bad laws the Democrats gave us. We have to break up families. The Democrats gave us that law.”

No. They did not. The president and his administration did.

The president doesn’t have a clue about the plight of undocumented aliens. He should. According to published accounts in The Guardian and on CNN, historian Roland Paul notes that President Trump’s grandfather, Friedrich, left Germany, the president’s ancestral homeland, illegally; failing to notify authorities of his intention to emigrate. And escape the draft. Apparently, Friedrich Trump – unlike his grandson – didn’t have bone spurs on the heels of his feet.

A document Paul found in local archives in Bavaria notes that Friedrich Trump, having already become an American citizen, should leave the area by “1 May… or else expect to be deported.”

Imagine that, the Trump family was punished for leaving a country illegally rather than arriving in one.

Perhaps if this nation hadn’t welcomed the Trump family to America, we wouldn’t have the leader we have in office today. Well, as the president told the knights of his round-table, the U.S. has “the dumbest laws on immigration in the world.”

Touche.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].

It may seem hard to believe that a thrice-married, serial philanderer like Donald J. Trump could prove himself to be more effective than couples therapy but, in the case of my wife and I, it’s true.

Donald Trump saved my marriage.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, there were many stories reported about friendships, relationships and, yes, even marriages destroyed by volatile clashes arising from Donald Trump’s primary bid and his eventual nomination as Republican party candidate. Not so for us. Candidate and eventual-President Trump brought my wife and I together, helping us grow closer than we’d been in years.

Like many couples, the day-to-day toll of work and raising a family can often come between husbands and wives. Donald Trump re-invigorated our relationship.

The president has given us something to get excited about. Not in a romantic sense, of course, although the level of heat and excitement his never-ending shenanigans has generated often causes both of our hearts to race, get red in the face, and break into a sweat. One daily dose of Donald J. Trump is like ingesting a human version of Viagra. He can keep you up all night.

I’m sure many others who didn’t elect to be part of our present national nightmare feel the same as we do. Maybe they’re just too embarrassed to talk about it. I understand. It’s often difficult to discuss some of the most important things in life. Like politics, religion, finances, family, and sex.

But how can we not talk about sex with this philanderer-in-chief in office? How can all men not emulate President Trump’s smooth, straightforward approach to women? After all, when you’re a star (or president) all you need do is reach out and grab them somewhere south of the border. No walls or barriers necessary when you’re the “leader of the free world.” Not even North Korea would put up a fight.

And how could any woman resist a man whose suave and debonair style has conquered the hearts and, well, whatevers, of Playboy Playmates and adult entertainment stars? And, probably, untold numbers of other women as well. But let’s not focus on President Trump’s sexual prowess. Let’s get back to matters more important than the size of his hands.

Before President Trump took office, before he allegedly witnessed Russian, Ukrainian, and Slavic women bouncing belligerently upon a bed once shared by the current president’s predecessor and his wife. Before golden showers rained down upon our everyday lexicon, we were subjected to leaders who were boring. Leaders whose peccadillos were secondary to the policies they preached. Well, except of course in the case of Bill Clinton. He was almost as much fun to watch as President Trump. But way too serious about the job.

No longer do my wife and I spend time arguing over busted budgets, replacing rolls of toilet paper, physical aches and pains, migraine headaches, long-overdue car repairs, sex, refinancing the house, our latest attempts at dieting, lack of vacation time, lack of exercise, where to eat, sex, what movie to watch, ailing parents, our kids. You know, humdrum things that take up far too much time, energy, and effort in any couple’s lives. The normal stuff. But these are abnormal times.

Now, instead of yelling at each other, we scream at the television. Sometimes the volume level approaches something akin to shrieks of ecstasy. Except neither of us is ecstatic about the things we see or hear emanating from the White House or Capitol Hill.

Before Donald Trump came along, my wife expressed little interest in what was going on in the world. I’d often chide her for this. Not anymore. Now, we stay up on current events together. We eagerly switch the remote control to watch what often seems like a bad Spanish-language telenovela.

We just can’t wait for the latest episode of “The Mueller Investigation”; “Michael Cohen For The Defense”; “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming”; or “Conflict of Interest.” Ratings for those shows are killer.

So, if you want to liven things up in your marriage, I wholeheartedly recommend tuning in to your favorite cable news channel each and every night. Better yet, tune in to news channels that you wouldn’t ordinarily watch. That’s even more fun. Maybe even slightly kinky. I get excited just thinking about it.

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Copyright 2018 Blair Bess distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Blair Bess is a Los Angeles-based television writer, producer, and columnist. He edits the online blog Soaggragated.com, and can be reached at [email protected].