A NEW COMMENTARY EACH WEDNESDAY — A PUBLICATION  OF THE ANONYMOUS ANYTHING SOCIETY

Russian Reprise

    On May 17th, 2017, former FBI Director Robert Mueller was appointed a Special Counsel with a directive from U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to "Oversee the previously-confirmed FBI investigation of Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters."  

    That is a verbatim quote. I took special pains to underline that addendum because it gives Mueller extraordinary powers. A lot of pundits, journalists and the President of the United States are second guessing what some of those powers might eventually include. A Federal Grand Jury is a singularly effective tool when all else fails.

    A suggestion that Mueller may wish to require some yet undisclosed financial records from D.J. Trump, Sr. was met with an outburst of exasperation; a veritable tweet-storm, so great that some reporters were piqued enough to repeat their unmet demands on the president for a full disclosure of income-tax returns. What keeps the "fake news" bureaus plodding on with that request is Trump's obstinate avoidance (Sorry, showing up with a truckload of paper onstage, did little to throw the news-hounds off the trail) and veiled threats of retaliation on Rosenstein and Mueller.

    Shakespeare's admonition in Hamlet, "Something's rotten in Denmark," immediately comes to mind to this old "fake news" reporter.

    Few westerners know more about the king-makers of the Russian Federation than does Donald Trump, many of them holdovers from the USSR, some  "capitalist" raiders who seized the assets of the Communist regime and "disrupted" billions of rubles to companies they founded, for the benefit of themselves, their families and friends. If one follows the line of dots from the new oligarchs of the new Russia, most all converge on the image of Vladimir Putin, with whom a strong bond of mutual admiration our President shares.

    Who are we to say that this not a good thing? Trump may persuade Putin to quit bombing the people of Syria...or get some of Putin's rich buddies to build a new hotel on some acreage in Crimea, and give Donald naming rights.

    It has been nine months since Time magazine estimated that Putin was worth $70-billion. International News pointed out this week that his wealth now exceeds $200-billion, making him richer than Bill Gates ($65-billion), although Bill and Linda have been giving their money away at a fabulous rate.

   Mikhail Gorbechev, the elder (86 year-old) Russian statesman who oversaw the dissolution of the USSR, recently told the noted British news magazine "The  Guardian" that Putin should step-down. This was due to the tens of thousands of Russians who have taken to the streets of Moscow, protesting the growing corruption. That and the fact that journalists and opponents of the Russian President-for-life have regularly been imprisoned, their assets confiscated and whose murders have been left unsolved.

     Trump is telling the truth when he says he doesn't own anything in Russia. Actually, it's the other way around. According to Reuters News Service, 63 of the Russian elite have paid $98.4-million for Trump luxury apartments in south Florida and 703 persons who bought 2044 units in seven Trump buildings owned by American "Limited Liability Corporations" have Russian passports. Ask any attorney about the protection an LLC affords,

Still, some stubborn detractors will not believe that Trump is truly great for business! His business.

Phil Richardson, Observer of the human condition and storyteller. "He goes doddering on into his old age, making a public nuisance of himself." - Joseph L. Mencken

  k7os@comcast.net

Our unending thanks to Jim Bromley, who programs our Archive of Prior Commentaries

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Water Dream Taliban Terrorists bring an atomic bomb to Mexico and smuggle it onto the Tohono O'odham Reservation just as the first monsoon of the season strikes the Sonoran desert. Thinking them to be narcotics smugglers, Shadow Wolves—expert trackers who are real-life members of various Native American Tribes and Officers with ICE—the investigative arm of Homeland Security, set off to chase them down. Enter "Water Dream-Richardson" in the search window for Amazon Kindle Books, above, (or click here) Sample several chapters, free.  Price of the entire book, for a limited time, $0.99

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