Trump doesn’t apologize

Two columns with insights on why Trump doesn’t apologize.

Axios:

“I asked a senior administration official about the phenomenon this morning. Here’s how he explained it:

“Not apologizing is a core operating principle for Trump. The basic belief is that you never actually get ‘credit’ — from the Left, the media, political opponents, etc. — for apologizing, so why do it? Even the Access Hollywood response video included a defiant Trump going after the ‘actions’ of Bill Clinton and ‘bullying of victims’ by Hillary, and ended with ‘See you at the debate!'”

CNN:

“Trump is aware of the concept of the apology. He has tweeted about apologies during his time as president and a candidate — he’s demanded them from other people repeatedly. From Cruz to Hillary Clinton.
His frequently injured ego and demands for apologies were noticed by The Atlantic last year and they guessed apologies are like a contest for him. Getting an apology is like winning. Issuing an apology is like losing. Trump does not view himself as a loser.”

DACA

Most Americans support DACA.  The most recent poll I could find shows 83% approval.  Even 67% of Republicans support it.

However, Trump created a crisis by trying to end the program and Republican congressional leadership is not willing to let the House vote on bills to decide the fate of DACA. 

Conservative Republicans don’t want a vote – they only care about politics.  From this article:

“McCarthy had a blunter message, according to two members present who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private meeting and as first reported by Politico: Signing the discharge petition and paving the way for passage of a moderate immigration bill could hurt Republicans in November’s elections by depressing conservative turnout and upending leadership’s plans to focus on tax cuts and other GOP successes.”

This is a pathetic effort to avoid doing what the public wants.  Sad!

The NRA, Russia and the Trump campaign

This article states: “The Senate Judiciary Committee said Wednesday that the Russian government apparently used the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.”

Sad!

update 12/10/18

WikiLeaks and Trump, Jr.

The Atlantic has uncovered direct communications between Trump, Jr. and WikiLeaks.

The Atlantic article states: “The messages show WikiLeaks, a radical transparency organization that the American intelligence community believes was chosen by the Russian government to disseminate the information it had hacked, actively soliciting Trump Jr.’s cooperation.”

This column states: “It was no secret at the time that WikiLeaks was affiliated with the Russians and has long been hostile to the interests of the US government. The Trumps were so interested in winning that they were willing to engage enemies of the state to do it.”

I think we have lies, coverups and cooperation. I don’t know if this constitutes collusion.  Trump, Jr. should have notified the FBI instead of working with Russian stooges.

Sad!

Covers: Sing Me Back Home

“Sing Me Back Home” was written and recorded by Merle Haggard.  It was released in 1967.  It has been covered in versions not released at the time in 1969 by the Byrds and the Flying Burrito Brothers.  There’s a version from the 1990s (not on YouTube) by the Jayhawks which appears to be inspired by the Flying Burrito Brothers versions.

Merle Haggard

The Byrds (live)

The Flying Burrito Brothers

The Flying Burrito Brothers (faster version)

Trump is upset about how long the Mueller investigation has lasted

Giuliani said Trump and his legal team will increase the pressure on Mueller to wrap up his investigation.

Let’s look at this in light of prior similar investigations:

Sad!