Rachel Maddow has been pilloried over the past 15 hours for revealing two innocuous pages of the 2005 tax return of Donald J. Trump. The comparisons to the April 21st 1986, Geraldo Rivera, ‘Mystery of Al Capone’s Vault’ opening has been grist for the meal of every conservative pulp blog online. What they do not tell you is the obvious, Donald Trump was behind the leaked tax return. The copy delivered to Ms. Maddow courtesy of David Cay Johnston was marked, ‘client copy’ https://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/david-cay-johnston-speculates-trump-emailed-him-the-tax-documents-as-a-distraction/. The speculation has been, that this was another White House diversion tactic because FBI Director James Comey is testifying soon about any connection or collusion with the Trump campaign and the Russians.
I think it was a two-fold attack, one to distract from the Trump/Putin connection but more importantly to minimize Rachel Maddow, who is coming perilously close to uncovering the truth, follow the money. In a series of reports that have spanned a little over two weeks, the Alfa Bank and Trump computer servers contacts being exposed http://www.businessinsider.com/fbi-alfa-bank-trump-organization-servers-2017-3, Russian oligarchs purchasing Trump property at vastly inflated premiums http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/07/donald-trump-2016-russian-ties-214116 and a secret meeting with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/02/us/politics/kushner-flynn-sessions-russia.html?_r=0. As the list of ties grows, so does the need to politically diminish Maddow.
This is not beyond the insidious nature of chief White House strategist Steve Bannon. Amid the current GOP healthcare debacle, suddenly the audio from a transcript of House Speaker Paul Ryan, pledging his non-support of Trump during the campaign was released by Breitbart News. Shortly after the Donald Trump molestation instructional video was aired around the world, Ryan threw Trump under the bus he rode on with former NBC personality Billy Bush. Ryan is now in a running battle with his own party to come up with an Affordable Care Act replacement. The more Ryan tries to link it to the administration the more Trump has worked to unmoor his name from a sinking ship. Dirty tricks are part and parcel of the Trump strategy. When trouble arises smear your opponents or at minimum burn a strawman[ Obama] in the town square.
Rachel Maddow is now the latest burn victim. Having watched Maddow and admired her ethics, I am sure she weighed the pros and cons of airing the tax story. Ultimately, she was morally forced into it. Although it was not significant, the clamor for Mr. Trump’s taxes has been such a topic of discussion ignoring, an albeit planted story, would have been journalistic malpractice. She made the attempt, with the help of Trump hunter Johnston, to focus on the what was between the lines, but the big headline was 150 million in profits, 38 million in taxes. Shortly thereafter Donald Jr. tweeted “Thanks Rachel Maddow…” https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/841833345604583424.
As always, the press is chasing the shiny ball while the real destruction of America continues. A week ago, it became easier for the mentally disturbed to purchase firearms, despite the fact Republicans blame mass shootings on mental disability and not guns. Gun silencers or suppressors have been largely illegal to own without express permission in this country since 1934. Two Republican Congressman have introduced legislation called the “hearing protection act” to overturn the silencer law http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/01/14/gun-silencer-law-introduced-blackwell-dnt.cnn. I guess wearing noise reduction headgear is just too bothersome. Much easier to shoot Bambi comfortably; I guess? Coal mining residue dumping has been eased although the intermittent dumping has been in effect since 1983 http://www.snopes.com/2017/02/06/dump-coal-waste-into-streams/. The EPA, under new Director Scott Pruitt is moving to reflect his views denying human participation in climate change http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/10/fact-check-scott-pruitt-climate-change-epa/99003010/. So while we fume over the trivial the Steve Bannon described “deconstruction” of the government is in full gear https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/bannons-dangerous-deconstruction/2017/02/26/0d1aab0e-fad2-11e6-be05-1a3817ac21a5_story.html?utm_term=.fa98a301cd53.
’18 and Change’