It's Just Another Manic Monday

Here's an article that nicely explains how hard it is to get a wiretap. How hard is it? Pretty fuckin' hard!

"Both criminal and foreign intelligence wiretaps have onerous and strict processes of approval that require not only multiple levels of internal Justice Department review, but also require court review and approval," said Matthew Waxman, an expert on national security law at Columbia University.

And a nice column by E.J. Dionne. 

This saga also reminds us that a crowd claiming to place "America First" does not really believe its own slogan. They place only about half of America first, the part that opposed Obama and supported Trump. When it comes to the other half, they feel only contempt.

This is why Russian interference in our democracy appears to matter far less to Trump than saving his own skin. It's also why he could compare Obama unfavorably to a foreign autocrat during the 2016 campaign.

And Margaret Sullivan pointing out that it has gone from first we kill all the lawyers to first we kill all the journalists. Here she is on Trump and his idol Vlad. 

Trump’s admiration for Putin becomes even more troubling when paired with his own moves to stamp out independent journalism through disparagement, denial of access, favoritism and blacklisting.

“For Putin, there has been no greater obsession in controlling the culture than in controlling the media,” Simon said.

For America under Trump, that’s a cautionary tale.

Josh Marshall provides a laugh from Kellyanne:

Conway was asked during an appearance on "Fox and Friends" how Trump knew that his phones had been tapped by President Barack Obama. Trump made the explosive, unsubstantiated claim in a series of tweets Saturday.

"Let me answer that globally," she said. "He is the President of the United States. He has information and intelligence that the rest of us do not. And that's the way it should be for Presidents."

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