A number of crackpot conspiracies play out in Lew Rockwell's blog. And the familiar reader to my blog knows I've not been happy with the weird libertarian almost sympathetic treatment of Trump, which I've never understood.: the enemy of my enemy is my friend? There is nothing conservative or libertarian about Trump. I think some of them wanted to see Trump as an "America First" non-interventionist, opposed at every turn by the nefarious unelected Deep State. There is nothing redeeming about a man who added to the cumulative national debt by a third, criticized Biden's conflict of interest over son Hunter while fully embracing nepotism in business and government, who wanted the Fed to match the EU on negative interest rates in a blatant attempt to boost the economy to win the election, who was guilty of dereliction of duty on Jan. 6, who attempted to extort the Ukraine government into opening a politically damaging investigation of his chief political rival, Joe Biden.... I could go on.
I am sufficiently annoyed at disingenuous "libertarian" defenses in general and some of Woods' strident opinions on politics that when he sent out a recent email reprinting (Darryl Cooper) MartyrMade's Twitter streamthread trying to sum up the Trumpkin world view. (I don't watch Tucker Carlson's show, but apparently he recited the thread on his show.) I am not familiar with Cooper's content, but he seems to be perhaps a new version of Ken Burns, a documenter of historical events/stories, not necessarily a Trumpkin ideologue.
I don't agree with a lot of the thread for obvious reasons. I'm not going into a lot of the thread, which would require probably multiple posts. And keep in mind he's not really arguing in favor of the details but summarizing his take on Trumpkins. He may be correct in summarizing fundamentally flawed ideas.
I'm going to cite his pithy dismissal of Trump's first impeachment (referenced at the end of my third paragraph above). But let me briefly disagree with his characterization of Trumpkins as Baby Boomer Tea Party types. I'm about as Baby Boomer Tea Partier as you can get, and Trump repulsed me as a political candidate.
Here's Cooper's pithy reference to the first impeachment:
Re: "fake impeachment", we now know that Trump's request for Ukraine to cooperate w/the DOJ regarding Biden's $ activities in Ukraine was in support of an active investigation being pursued by the FBI and Ukraine AG at the time, and so a completely legitimate request. 21/x
This is totally false. For an exhaustive discussion of the timeframe and details, see here. Let me simply point out a brief summary; Mykola Zlochevskiy, a Ukraine oligarch and principal owner of Burisma, a natural gas company, had been a part of the pro-Russia Ukraine government under Presidents Leonid Kuchma and Yanukovych. There was a 2013 rebellion after the latter, with the government falling in early 2014 and a subsequent Russian invasion and occupation of Crimea.. Zlochevskiy came under scrutiny for allegedly stealing millions, with some funds reportedly in British banks, eventually frozen and lifted when Ukrainian prosecutors proved uncooperative. Related investigations happened in the US and the EU. Around the same time of the Russian invasion, Hunter Biden joins the board of privately-held Burisma. (Note that the oligarch's allegations deal with funding around 2002-3, not during Biden's tenure.) Some members of the Obama Administration pointed out the conflict of interest between Joe Biden being the point man on Ukraine and his son's appointment.(Obviously you don't want the optics of Zlochevskiy paying Hunter off to stave off a US prosecution. To this day, I argue Biden was morally wrong not to insist Hunter resign his position.) Shokin becomes Prosecutor General, the latest in a string of suspected corrupt officials in Feb. 2015. In Sept., the US Ambassador Pyatt blasts Shokin and the Ukraine government for doing nothing on Burisma and other cases. Contrary to any allegations by Trump and his cronies, Joe Biden and other US officials pressed on prosecution of corruption, including Burisma, even at the expense of Hunter's own position. Biden pushed for Shokin's replacement by Dec. 2015. By the late winter, Biden was threatening US aid to Ukraine. The Ukraine parliament finally fires Shokin in March 2016. Shokin later would disingenuously argue that he was fired as he was getting ready to go after Burisma, the implication being Biden was motivated by protecting his son's cushy job. But in fact, Shokin's office had exonerated the oligarch in British courts, unfreezing his assets.
In Sept 2016, Ukraine drops the case against Burisma, citing no evidence. Payments to Manafort relevant to the last pro-Russian government get revealed, which Trump sees as a Clinton attempt to undermine his campaign. In mid-2017, Trump is lashing out against the Manafort expose. In late 2017, the Trump Administration approves Ukraine military aid.
By late July 2018 Trump is concerned about a Biden candidacy with Biden showing a 7-point lead in an early poll. In September, Trump signs a bill including $250M in Ukraine military aid. By late 2018, Giuliani, now Trump's lawyer, gets in contact with Shokin. Nunes meets with Shokin in Dec, reportedly looking for dirt on Joe or Hunter Biden. By the holidays, Trump is already trying to pressure the Ukraine government into going after the Bidens. Ambassador Yovanovitch comes under Trump scrutiny as allegedly disloyal.
Ukraine Prosecutor General Lutsenko, after meeting with Giuliani, opens up investigations into the 2016 Manafort and the Burisma/Bidens by Match 2019. By April, Zelensky replaces Poroshenko as Ukraine President running on anti-corruption. Trump fires Yovanovitch . Biden announces for POTUS.
In May, the Pentagon certifies Ukraine progress in corruption handling. Trump is starting to apply the screws to Ukraine. Parnas suggests if no Biden investigation, no Ukraine aid. They start using meetings with POTUS or VP as tied to Ukraine cooperation on investigations. Giuliani is getting pushback by Ukraine officials, not wanting to meddle in American politics. By mid-May, Trump is saying no POTUS or VP meeting if Ukraine doesn't cooperate. By mid-May Lutsenko clears Burisma and the Bidens.
By mid-June, Trump tells ABC's Stephanopoulos that he would accept dirt of his opponents from other governments. DoD is getting funding questions from the White House on Ukraine aid. By June 20 or so, OMB had put the aid on hold. By July, the White House is already trying to reverse the Lutsenko finding exonerating the Bidens. By mid-July Trump orders suspension and review of Ukraine aid.
On July 25 is the second, more notorious call with Zelensky, infamously the knowledge of which results in a whistleblower complaint and an eventual transcript showing a clear quid pro quo with Biden the target.
Now the above is a general paraphrase, and I encourage the reader to review the details in full. But Cooper's pithy summary of a "fake impeachment" is factually false and misleading. By any objective review of the facts, Trump's extortion was an abuse of the President's foreign policy powers for personal political gain, a Constitutional crime. His hold on aid was itself criminal and unconstitutional.
