Is The "Pee Tape" Real? Putin Did NOT Deny It!

(Cartoon image is by Daryl Cagle at cagle.com.)

In one of the most embarrassing displays of weakness and/or gullibility ever by an an American leader, Donald Trump turned his back on his country and figuratively kissed Vladimir Putin butt. The shocking moment brings to mind a question many have been asking for months -- What dark secret is Putin holding over Trump? Is the "pee tape" real? Does Russia have even darker evidence -- like evidence of criminal activity?

One reporter had the guts to ask Putin the question -- Does the Russian government have any compromising material on Donald Trump or his family? Here is Putin's answer:

I did hear these rumors that we allegedly collected compromising material on Mr. Trump when he was visiting Moscow. Now, distinguished colleague, let me tell you this, when President Trump visited Moscow back then I didn't even know that he was in Moscow. I treat President Trump with utmost respect, but back then, when he was a private individual, a businessman, nobody informed me that he was in Moscow.

But let's take St. Petersburg economic forum, for instance. There were over 500 American businessmen, high-ranking, high-level ones. I don't even remember the last names of each and every one of them. Look, do you think that we tried to collect compromising material on each and every single one of them? Well, it's difficult to imagine, and utter nonsense of a bigger scale than this. Well, please, just disregard these issues and don't think about this anymore.

It was a simple question, and it could have been answered with a "yes" or "no". Putin did neither. His answer was that of a skillful politician avoiding the question.

Why didn't he say yes? Because the press would have wanted to know more, and the world would know that Trump is being blackmailed by Russia.

Why didn't he say no? Because Putin didn't want to let Trump off the hook. It was his roundabout way of reminding Trump that the secret is real and could be released if Trump doesn't cooperate.

I am now convinced that the Russians do have compromising material on Trump. I'm just not sure whether it's just the "pee tape" (which I believe is real), or whether there is more.

Trump Tries To Blackmail MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Show

(This image of Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough on "Morning Joe" is from msnbc.com.)

The mainstream media (and social media) have been full of news about Donald Trump's personal attack on Mike Brzezinski. It was not just unpresidential, but grossly misogynistic -- and it has been condemned by members of both political parties. It's as though Donald Trump is determined to put the American presidency down into the gutter -- simply because he is unhappy with the media reporting the truth about his failing presidency.

But we now learn Trump has done more than make nasty and bigoted remarks about the hosts of "Morning Joe". CNN is reporting that Trump actually tried to blackmail and bully Joe and Mika into calling him to make a personal apology for broadcasting the truth. He threatened to have an unflattering article about them printed in the National Inquirer if they didn't personally apologize.

But he picked on the wrong people. Instead of knuckling under to Trump's outrageous threats, they have just gone public with his threats and bullying -- and it looks like they have evidence to back up their claims. Here is how Political Wire reported the story:

Joe Scarborough said that “three people at the very top of the administration” threatened him with a bad story in the National Enquirer unless he apologized to President Trump, CNN reports.

Said Scarborough: “We got a call that, ‘Hey, the National Enquirer is going to run a negative story against you guys…’ And they said, ‘If you call the president up, and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike this story.”

He added: “The calls kept coming and kept coming, and they were like ‘Call. You need to call. Please call. Come on, Joe. Just pick up the phone and call him.'”

When Trump denied it on Twitter, Scarborough responded: “Yet another lie. I have texts from your top aides and phone records. Also, those records show I haven’t spoken with you in many months.”

(Cartoon image is by Bill Day at cagle.com.)

Perpetual Blackmail By House Republicans ?

Under the guise of protecting the country from a growing deficit and national debt, the newly-enfranchised House Republicans have taken to blackmail like a fish to swimming or a bird to flying -- like it's a natural thing for them. They started with the budget for this year, threatening to shut down the government if their demands for slashing of social programs, the EPA, and education were not met.

The president was able to negotiate an end to that crises without too much hurt for ordinary Americans, but only because the Republicans recognized an even better opportunity for blackmail was just down the road -- a vote on whether to raise the debt ceiling established by Congress. And the time for that is now fast approaching.

The government will reach the debt ceiling around the middle of May, and unless that ceiling is raised by Congress the government might have to default on the debt it owes. If that were to happen it could not only throw this country into a depression, but could have negative worldwide reprecussions. The House Republicans don't seem to care about that. They simply see an opportunity to use this crises to get rid of social programs they never liked (like Medicare and Medicaid) and cut many others (Social Security, food stamps, unemployment insurance, etc.), while giving more tax cuts to the corporations and the mega-rich.

They are currently in the process of throwing a tantrum and threatening to vote "no" on raising the debt ceiling if their mean-spirited and hurtful demands are not met. They even have business scared, and many corporate and business representatives have been trying to get these House Republicans to pick another battle because the reprecussions of this one are too serious. But so far they have not been able to talk the Republicans out of their blackmail scheme.

In fact, some of these House Republicans are devising a scheme to turn the blackmail over raising the debt ceiling into a perpetual and permanent thing. They have been discussing among themselves a plan to raise the debt ceiling only for a couple of months each time. And they would want some of their demands met each time a new vote was scheduled. This way they could keep slashing programs they don't like and cutting taxes for their rich buddies without end, since they would get more every couple of months. And some Republicans, especially some of the new teabaggers in Congress, are already signing on to this scheme.

It goes without saying that this new blackmail scheme would be disastrous for the country's economy. Not only would it do nothing to create jobs and encourage growth, but it would keep both the government and the country in a never-ending state of turmoil -- destabilizing the economy and hurting all Americans. But they don't seem to care about that as long as they can get what they want.

It is time for the president and the Democrats to put their foot down. A continuance of the debt ceiling for only a couple of months is unacceptable, and giving in to the onerous Republican demands is just as bad. It's time to call their bluff. They have already gone too far by voting to abolish Medicare (so they can give corporations new tax breaks) and the people are angry. If they refuse to raise the debt ceiling and throw this country into turmoil, they will make the majority of Americans even angrier -- and they will pay for it at the polls in 2012.

Republican leaders know this and I don't believe they'll let the congressional teabaggers do anything else to further hurt the party. If the Democrats will just have enough backbone to stand firm, the Republicans will give in and vote to raise the debt ceiling. Democrats just need to make sure it is not a short-term (two month) solution. They must not allow the Republicans to engage in perpetual blackmail.