Since there is no limit to what the ruling class will do to “get” Trump, there is no telling what person, agency or group actually wrote the “anonymous” New York Times article.
Donald Trump presents many contradictions. He is the both the embodiment of white American nationalism and the mortal enemy of one wing of the ruling elite. He is a racist and therefore a threat to black people. But he is also hated by forces who are the enemies of all humanity.
It is extraordinary that the New York Times would publish an anonymous opinion editorial allegedly written by a high ranking administration official. The editorial attacks Trump for “amorality” but supports conservative public policy, neoliberalism, and imperialism. It is a rehash of press reports and books which all say the same thing. Trump is erratic, impulsive, stupid, incompetent, and volatile. His staff limit his access to information and work to undermine him. All of the subterfuge is said to be in service to the republic and for the good of the people.
The public don’t know the identity of the author or if a person or person at the New York Timeswrote it themselves. Even if the Timesis being truthful about authorship of the commentary its decision to publish must be questioned. It is suspicious in the extreme that Bob Woodward’s new Trump administration exposéentitled “Fear,” was published the same week and that Barack Obama returned to the public spotlight repeating charges of “cozying up to Russia.”
Nor should other countries be exempt from suspicion in the plot. The Woodward book and New York Times op-ed coincided with British government’s dubious announcement that the would be assassins of former spy Sergei Skripal were identified. The anti-Russian drumbeat is an essential part of the tale being spun.
Trump has been subjected to treatment never before directed at a sitting president. Special prosecutor Robert Mueller announced indictments in the case against Trump as a summit with the Russian president was about to take place. That summit ended with Trump being called a traitor because he denied the collusion allegations lodged against him.
Trump is indeed dangerous but not for the reasons we are told. He is dangerous for being an unquestioning supporter of Israel who cuts off life saving aide to Palestinians. He is dangerous for accelerating every racist impulse seen in U.S. public policy decisions. He is dangerous for separating immigrant children from their parents in his zeal to keep America as white as possible.
The attacks from elite media and foreign governments will not stop because the charges of collusion with the Russian government have so far come up empty. Robert Mueller has identified Russians who will never face charges in an American court as the colluders but hasn’t connected them with any Trump campaign or administration officials.
Associates like Paul Manafort are guilty of being common criminals and former lawyer Michael Cohen paid off women who had relationships with Trump. George Papadopoulos, said to be a lynchpin in the Russiagate investigation, was sentenced to just 14 days in jail for lying to federal agents about having met non-Russians.
A Russian woman is charged with the minor offense of failing to register as a foreign agent and yet is being held without bail. The lack of smoking gun verdicts means that Mueller must always muddy the water with phony revelations. If not, independent assessments may emerge and ruin the trope that evil Trump and evil Putin are in league together.
The aggressive anti-Trump propaganda war is not being waged because of any concern for black American human rights. The Democrats who ginned up Russiagate had every opportunity to support the needs of their most loyal constituency. Instead they peacefully co-exist with Republicans as part of the permanent government.
If Trump cheated in the 2016 election he did so the old fashioned way, by stealing black votes without complaint or protest from Democrats. No Russians are needed to thwart the tiny bit of democracy we have left.
Black people cannot align themselves with Trump but would be extremely foolish to choose the neoliberal imperialists and their friends in the media. The enemy of one’s enemy is not necessarily a friend. Sometimes that force is an enemy too. United States intelligence agencies are never friends, even if former CIA and NSA directors put their weight behind a Trump take down. Prosecutors like Mueller practice some of the worst injustices in this country and must always be kept on our own adversary list.
The anonymous New York Times commentary is part of a much larger effort to keep Trump on a short leash. He was never trusted because he spoke of thwarting the trade deals and regime change plots which every American president supports. Should he balk at attacking Syria he risks being impeached. Of course one never knows what Trump really wants or thinks but his presidency now depends on toeing the establishment party line. Likewise the establishment depends on depriving him of legitimacy. It is a cynical ploy which has nothing to do with the needs of the average person in the United States.
But we the people are never the issue when the rulers hatch their plots and their plans. Anonymous whispering campaigns against presidents, even ones we don’t support, aren’t in our interests. There can be no mistake. The coup plotters in Washington and New York are not and can never be considered our allies, even if Trump is their target.
Margaret Kimberley is Black Agenda Report’s editor and senior columnist. Her Freedom Rider column
appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as
well at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com . Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached
via email at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com
