What is it that really worries Donald Trump about the investigation into his ties with Russia? And why is he forever speaking favorably of Russia and of Putin? Does some sort of back-channel “understanding” exist?

Could Donald’s driving concern be a subject that has been pretty much ignored—that U. S. intelligence agencies in January revealed the existence of a dossier of allegations claiming he had been recorded engaged in illicit sex acts in a Moscow hotel during a 2013 Miss Universe event?

Yes, I know. So far just allegations, and they refer to a time before he was in public office—but one must wonder what inspired them. I’m also told that Moscow “has a long history of exploiting ‘kompromate’—compromising material used to blackmail key diplomatic, government, business and military personnel.”

This could be pretty heavy stuff. Meanwhile, the allegations themselves are real and reference to them therefore is not “fake news.” Promoting them as fact without documentation, however, would make the matter something else again. But it all does sound so in character for the female-body snatcher Donald Trump we have come know and abhor.

And who’d’ve ever thought we’d end up with a guy heading our justice department who’d recused himself from matters involving investigation into Russian meddling in our 2016 election? This generally-viewed- as-racist presidential lap dog recused himself after having lied under oath at his confirmation hearing about previous meets with Russian officials. 

Deputy attorney general Caroline Yates was sworn in as acting attorney general—but was soon fired by Trump for not supporting his executive order with regard to Muslim immigrants (an order since shot down in two versions by federal appeals courts). 

So Rod Rosenstein became deputy attorney general and soon became a Trump scapegoat—but before he could be fired, he appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the matter of possible collusion with Russia by Trump forces with regard to influencing the election.

FBI director James Comey also was fired along the way for not “fixing” his organization’s investigation into the Russian election-meddling affair.

Donald continues to lie, sputter, threaten and boast—but the special prosecutor is beyond his reach . . . cannot be fired as were Comey and Yates. The Justice Department—as does, supposedly, the FBI— serves independently and not as a house servant to the President. But Donald is making every effort to change our checks-and-balances democratic system into a combination kingdom and dictatorship. I found it interesting the other day when he spoke of American “sovereignty.”

And so it goes, day after day: Presidential lip-service to the audience of the moment, attempted degradation of the news media, a deaf ear to critics and the suffering. Misogynists, racists, xenophobes, bankers, industrialists, the disgruntled and paranoid sticking with him enough to keep his approval rating close to 40%—and that itself is a sad testimony to our society.

MEANWHILE, if we successfully impeach and replace Donald Trump, what’ve we got? Vice President Mike Pence moving up to the Oval Office. His main qualification is the he was chosen by Trump as his running mate. That’s pretty discouraging. I see Pence also as a sorry excuse for President, but I’d certainly start out with an open and hopeful mind if he took office. I believe the country as a whole would sleep better nights with him in the White House. Some polite diplomacy would do wonders for our foreign relations—and he might even look at the rest of us as deserving human beings.

No way would we want the presidential line of succession to proceed any further—to Paul Ryan, speaker of the House of Representatives. Of course, we could dismiss that fearful possibility by turning the House Democratic during the 2018 mid-term elections.

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