Monday was a historic day in America, for reasons that are seemingly either incomprehensible or no big deal to Republicans. It was the end of the rule of law.
That seems like hyperbole, so let me back up and explain:
Monday was the deadline for implementation of the sanctions on Russia that were passed into law over their interference in the 2016 presidential election. When I say “passed into law,” what I mean is that the bill containing those sanctions was passed 419-3 in the House of Representatives and 98-2 in the Senate — an overwhelmingly bipartisan 517-5 in total, with only 13 members of Congress either voting “present” or not voting at all — and signed into law by Donald Trump himself on August 3 of last year. A full 97 percent of Congress voted for it, and the president signed it. It’s a law.
On Monday, Donald Trump chose to ignore that law. To just go ahead and not do it.
The implications of this are staggering, and understandably depressing for the average citizen who opposes Trump or just the idea of being influenced by a hostile foreign power and doing nothing about it. And while we’re thinking about that, let’s go ahead and imagine what the Russian kingmakers and money-men think about the fact that they successfully installed a puppet like Trump, and then even more successfully avoided literally any consequences whatsoever for it.
Oh, there were about to be consequences. But Trump just ignored them yesterday. And never mind about imagining what the Russians might think, because it’s already all over their State Television network, the VGTRK. Called the “All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company,” it is the source for all news and information that is broadcast in Russia. Here’s today’s episode of “Russia 24,” the VGTRK version of “60 Minutes,” via YouTube:
In case you don’t speak Russian, or any of the fifty-three languages that show was broadcast in, let me give you a recap. In the first two minutes of the airing, the hosts say “sanctions” twice and “Trump” five times, and then we get to the meat of what they’re discussing:
#Russia‘s state TV:
Female host: “Seemingly, Trump is ours again. So far, he’s being quiet and not supporting the sanctions.”
Male host: “Well, it seems that way.” pic.twitter.com/R9Wu5kYwkR— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) January 30, 2018
In Russia, they are celebrating Trump’s inaction on the sanctions, because they know that they got away with it, and that sanctions would be devastating.
If you have friends or family who still support Donald Trump or deny that Russia has any interest in his actions, please show them this article, because this is outright treason. When Trump delivers the State of the Union Tuesday night, if he’s not telling you that everything has gone sideways, he is lying.
Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images
