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 [ LOS ANGELES ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=312)

#  Putin Puppet: Will Helsinki Sink Him?

GELFAND’S WORLD--This is the month in which everyone who is not a dyed in the wool Trump defender has been asking what Putin has on Trump.

Written by Bob Gelfand.

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July 23 2018

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GELFAND’S WORLD--This is the month in which everyone who is not a dyed in the wool Trump defender has been asking what Putin has on Trump.

People are no longer questioning the fact that Trump is owned. Even some of the traditional defenders have either made anemic comments or kept their mouths shut.

Putin owns Trump. What else could explain Trump's behavior?

**Are we experiencing the turning point?**

And little by little, Republican traditionalists have been peeling away from the Republican Party. There are a lot of layers left to go, and some will never come away, but it would only take a few percent of the total to put the Republican Party into minority status for at least several years.

Still, Republican traditionalists and their allies in radio and television are trying to hold the fort, as detailed in a recent Washington Post article. The Post runs a column called [The Daily 202.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/07/23/daily-202-carter-page-fisa-warrants-underscore-the-difficulty-of-disproving-presidential-falsehoods/5b5541e71b326b1e646954c3/?wpisrc=nl_daily202&wpmm=1&noredirect=on) Presumably this number refers to the Washington D.C. telephone area code.

The 202 is often the best example of what journalism ought to be, because it combines facts with the reasonable conclusions one should draw. In other words, it takes a more scientific approach than the usual mush we see in so-called "balanced journalism."

Put it this way: The standard practice is to quote a document or source such as the FISA warrant which allowed surveillance on one-time Trump campaign aid Carter Page. Then, in "balanced journalism," the reporter quotes the opposing source such as a member of Trump's staff or Trump himself. What the reader gets is two sides in opposition, adding up to zero.

What is so often left missing is the rest of the story, which in this case is the logical conclusion that one of the two sides is lying. In this case, the Daily 202 provides a detailed analysis of why Trump is lying and how the pro-Republican apparatus is supporting Trump's lies. This particular version of The 202 is a long read, but it is worth it.

**In addition, the July 23 Daily 202 points out in detail how California Congressman Devin Nunes has been dishonest in claiming that the FISA warrant was improper. The story goes on to support Congressman Adam Schiff, who represents the Democratic Party's opposition memorandum.**

One thing remains curious. The number of individuals who were on the Trump campaign and who are suspected of having ties to the Russians is too high to be of mere coincidence. Paul Manafort may be the most dramatic example, but this week's revelations about Carter Page add to the total. Something was going on in the summer of 2016 that resulted in a dramatic swing in Republican doctrine to being supportive of Russian demands. Out of all the political professionals in the U.S., why were Boris and Natasha chosen to run the show?

The bitter irony of it all is that the conservative wing of American politics has prospered for many decades by accusing liberals of being tied to socialism, communism, Soviet Totalitarianism, and every other nasty ism. Now that we are faced with the grim reality of the Siberian candidate, all those flag wavers are suddenly suffering from sore shoulders this week.

The question is whether the Helsinki debacle will be enough to return one or both houses of congress to the Democrats for the next four years. What's also curious is that a few Republican professionals (and a few weird leftists) are still talking about Trump being reelected in 2020. Anybody want to quote an over/under bet on whether Trump is even on the ticket in 2020?

\* \* \*

**Join me at the Neighborhood Council Congress in September**

Let's question the underlying assumptions of our governmental structure. Why should we do this? Because governmental misfunction affects the way we live, the level of important city services, and the security we feel in our future.

The organizers of September's congress have graciously allowed us a separate track to talk about what is broken in city government, what we might do to fix things, and how we might redesign the neighborhood council system.

We will have a session on redesigning the City Council so as to minimize one current problem -- that each Councilmember is given quasi-dictatorial powers in his/her own district. My councilman has already told us that he (i.e.: he alone) will decide where the homeless shelter is going to be sited. This monopoly power is not exactly a secret, mind you, but the idea that we could somehow repair the problem has not been discussed seriously in the halls of government.

We will have a session in which we, the public, will get a chance to talk among ourselves about the changes to the neighborhood council system proposed by Councilman Ryu. We're hoping that Ryu will attend the earlier opening session to introduce his proposals (the big meeting of all participants that comes first thing in the morning); then we can adjourn to a breakout room to consider the proposals at length. We will also take up the ever-weighty question of what is a stakeholder.

The congress will have 32 breakout sessions spread over 8 rooms and 4 meeting times. You may have some difficult choices in deciding which of 8 sessions to visit in any of the time slots.

\* \* \*

Dana Rohrabacher represents a pretty conservative Orange County congressional district. Why do they put up with his open and overt Russo-philia? Is this the year that things will change? What would/wouldn't his supporters say about this?

*(Bob Gelfand writes on science, culture, and politics for CityWatch. He can be reached at <amrep535@sbcglobal.net>)*

*-cw*

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