No More Games

No more games

FIFA awarded the Russian's the privilege of hosting the 2018 World Cup eight years ago (2010) which was 2 years after Russia invaded Georgia and 4 years before Russia's annexation of Crimea and none of those actions (or anything else Russia is accused of doing) had any impact on International Football organized out of neutral Switzerland. It's not easy to host the World Cup and once a country sets itself to the task of building stadiums, hotels, transportation hubs and the like - not to mention the logistics of moving this circus around - the games must be played. Hardly anyone in America cares about soccer at the international level but that's American exceptionalism for you because everyone else in the world is obsessed with the spectacle. As it happens, I watched a lot of soccer over the past month and found myself enjoying the games more than I did 4 years ago even though some of the top talent got knocked out of the competition in the early rounds - What the hell happened to Germany and Argentina? Spain? In the end it came down to France vs. Croatia and being a right-wing francophile I naturally aligned myself with the team of North African immigrants who found themselves outplayed by the Croatians but very lucky (as is often the case with winning soccer teams) to be on the happy side of deflected set piece shots and accidental hand balls. All in all it was a very successful showcase for Russia and stood in stark contrast to the constant, irrational and (mostly) slanderous accusations the media, government "leaders" and the intelligence community were leveling at Russia and Vlad Putin every night on TV after the games were played. So it was only natural that Trump should congratulate Putin on hosting a successful World Cup the day after it ended when they met in Helsinki and held a joint press conference.

As one might expect, the Russian president responded with a gift of a soccer ball and handed it to POTUS as I token of appreciation and good luck for when the USA hosts the World Cup in 2026 (by which time Donald J. Trump will be out of office and relaxing at Mara Lago) which Trump graciously accepted and admired while soaking in the words "Mr. President, I'll give this ball to you and now the ball is in your court" (this comment was in reference to Syria - not football). Trump rested the ball on the podium for the obligatory 5 seconds and then tossed it to his wife sitting in the audience and, in that action, said "no more games" to his Russian counterpart. You have to watch the video closely but just after tossing Melania the soccer ball Trump looks at Putin and the Russian gives a nod of understanding that the USA doesn't give a shit what side of the pitch the ball is on because we're not playing around anymore.

How'd you like that toss?

It was after this lighthearted exchange that the AP asked the planted question (everyone knew it was coming) about Russian hacking of the election and weather Trump would publicly denounce Putin for meddling in the US election? Answer: No. No he would not publicly blame Putin for the Witch Hunt even though he certainly could have and as Putin acknowledges in his answer, being a former intelligence officer, he knows all about compiling a dossiers on political opponents. In fact, Christopher Steele, a former head of the Russia Desk for British intelligence (MI6), was certainly well known to Putin and his comrades who came up the the material contained in the infamous Steele Dossier that got the whole counter intelligence investigation going. This might come as surprise to some readers but the SVR, M16 and CIA spies all know each other and work operations both against each other at times and with each other at times - like when a guy as "unknown" as DJT has a chance of becoming POTUS. The reason the TV talking heads, politicians of all stripes (Dem and GOP), the "intelligence community" and pretty much everyone with a voice flipped out over this answer is because Trump AND Putin gave away the game and made it explicit that the whole Russian collusion investigation was a JOINT intelligence operation created as a hedge in the event of a Trump presidency and, based on Trump's performance over the past 18 months and the 4 hour meeting  that afternoon, that Putin was now comfortable with America's leadership and he's going to pull out of the conspiracy. For everyone capable of reading between the lines, say, Chuck Schumer or John McCain or the CIA plants over a CNN, the message was clear (from Putin) that they're gonna be living with Trump for the next 6 years and they better come to terms with it. This clear message kicked off a uniparty demand that Trump "clarify" HIS statements and so, the next day, he did:

There have been many moments in the Trump presidency that have given me a hearty chuckle and more than a few that have had me laughing out loud with satisfied shock but this was one of those times that found me hitting replay on my smart phone and crying tears of joy and mirth. This Trump "clarification" will go down in history as one of the greatest acts of revenge ever conceived and executed by a political figure and if you have trouble seeing it, in the same way I do, then take the time to read my annotations and highlights of Trump's comments - yes, all of them, and see if you get it.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: My meeting with President Putin was really interesting in so many different ways because we haven't had relationships with Russia for a long time. And we started. Let me begin by saying that once again full faith and support for America's intelligence agencies, I have a full faith in our intelligence agencies. {Kelly-Ann Conway dims the lights on cue} Oops, they just turned off the lights. That must be the intelligence agencies. There it goes, okay. Are you guys okay? Good. That was strange. But that's okay. So I'll begin by stating that I have full faith and support for America's great intelligence agencies, always have. 

I have felt very strongly that while Russia's actions had no impact at all on the outcome of the election, let me be totally clear in saying that -- and I've said this many times -- I accept our intelligence community's conclusion that Russia's meddling in the 2016 election took place. It could be other people also. There's a lot of people out there. (Like M16 and our own people in Langley)

There was no collusion at all, and people have seen that and they've seen that strongly. The House has already come out very strongly on that. A lot of people have come out strongly on that. I thought that I made myself very clear by having just reviewed the transcript. Now, I have to say, I came back and I said, what is going on? What's the big deal? (what's the big deal?)

So I got a transcript. I reviewed it. I actually went out and reviewed a clip of an answer that I gave and I realized that there is a need for some clarification. It should have been obvious, I thought it would be obvious but I would like to clarify just in case it wasn't. In a key sentence in my remarks, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't.' 

The sentence should have been, 'I don't see any reason why I wouldn't or why it wouldn't be Russia.' (is that clear enough for ya'?)

So, just to repeat it, I said the word 'would' instead of 'wouldn't,' and the sentence should have been and I thought I would be maybe a little bit unclear on the transcript or unclear on the actual video. The sentence should have been I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia. Sort of a double negative. (Using two negatives turns the thought or sentence into a positive one)

So you can put that in and I think that probably clarifies things pretty good by itself. (if this sentence, such as it is, doesn't have you bucked over on the floor bellowing then you, my friend, don't have a sense of humor)

I have on numerous occasions noted our intelligence findings that Russians attempted to interfere in our elections. Unlike previous administrations, my administration has and will continue to move aggressively to repeal any efforts and repel, we will stop it and we will repel it, any efforts to interfere in our elections. We're doing everything in our power to prevent Russian interference in 2018. 

We have a lot of power. 

As you know, President Obama was given information just prior to the election, last election, 2016, and they decided (not HE but THEY)not to do anything about it. The reason they decided that was pretty obvious (Clear) to all. They thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election. And they didn't think it was a big deal. (what's the big deal?) When I won the election they thought it was a very big deal. And all of a sudden they went into action but it was a little bit late. So he (back to HE) was given that in sharp contrast to the way it should be. 

President Obama along with [Former CIA director John] Brennan and [Former DNI James] Clapper and the whole group that you see on television now probably getting paid a lot of money by your networks, they knew about Russia's attempt to interfere in the election in September and they totally buried it. As I said, they buried it because they thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win. Turned out it didn't happen that way. By contrast, my administration has taken a very firm stance.

For those readers still unclear on what president Trump was trying to "clarify" in his statement to the "intelligence community" let me put it through the KOTCB Trump Translator and see what pops out:

"FUCK YOU!"

Is that clear? "I thought it would be obvious but I would like to clarify just in case it wasn't." And if you still don't get it then president Trump clarified it one more time today.

JUST IN: President Trump said "no" when asked by reporters if Russia is still meddling in U.S. elections.

Watch more analysis from @kwelkernbc. pic.twitter.com/Z3i8lF7FJg

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 18, 2018

 No more games and that comes straight from Putin.