My Search For A Deeper Truth

Last Tuesday, Trump called a meeting of Democrats and Republicans to talk about immigration. Surprising to most of the attendees, the first 55 minutes of the meeting were televised. It appeared that the true purpose of the meeting was to refute reports that Trump is suffering from dementia and does not have the emotional or mental capacity to continue as president.

Trump apparently thinks the meeting was a roaring success. (Has he ever thought anything else about any of his endeavors?) While it is true that he didn’t rant like a loon or soil himself, he also didn’t do much to reassure the American people. (I exempt from this statement the lickspittles on Fox “News”, who raved about his “presidential” performance.)

At one point during the meeting, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said: “Why don’t we go first with a clean DACA bill and then move to a bill that deals with border security.” Trump said this was great and just what he wanted to do. Representative Kevin McCarthy had to jump in to remind the president that this was not his policy and that a DACA fix was not acceptable to Trump unless it also included border security measures and funding for Trump’s Wall.

After some back and forth that showed that Trump didn’t have much of an understanding of immigration issues or of his own position, Trump said it was up to the legislators in attendance to decide what should be in the DACA bill and that he would sign whatever they come up with:

“I will be signing it. I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, gee, I want this or I want that.’ I’ll be signing it.”

Two days later, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Sen. Dick Durbin asked to meet with the president to advise him that, as the president had requested, a bipartisan group of senators had reached a compromise deal to fix DACA. When they arrived at the White House to present the terms of the deal, however, they were ambushed by the presence of several immigration hardline Republicans, whose attendance White House Advisor, Stephen Miller, had orchestrated. (You remember Stephen Miller, don’t you? He’s the Himmler look-alike, who wants immigration to America to be limited to members of the master race.)

The other surprise attendees were Homeland Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, Rep. Mario Diaz-Bailart (R-Fla), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark), Sen. David Perdue (R-Georgia), Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA.)

Sen. Durbin explained that as part of the deal that had been reached, a lottery for visas that has benefited immigrants from Africa would be ended, although there could be another way for them to apply. Another component of the deal would provide that people who would be allowed to stay in the U.S. included not just the Dreamers, but also those who had fled here after disasters hit their homes in places such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti.

During the discussion that followed, President Trump said:

“Why do we want all these people from Africa here? They’re shithole countries … We should have more people from countries like Norway.”

The president also singled out Haiti, saying:

“Why do we need more Haitians? Take them out.”

(Trump has previously asserted that all Haitians have AIDS.)

At the meeting, Sen. Graham objected to the president’s language.

Sen. Durbin’s account of the president’s statements was reported in the Washington Post Thursday evening. Before this report, people who had been present at the meeting told Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), one of the Republican members of the bipartisan group that had reached the compromise deal, about the president’s comments. The reports he received substantiated Sen. Durbin’s account. Sen. Graham also confirmed the Durbin account.

Initially, neither the White House nor any other people present at the meeting denied Sen. Durbin’s account. Indeed, Trump called friends Thursday evening to brag about his use of the “shitholes” language and telling supporters that he thinks this will help him politically with the immigration debate.

But then, as the negative reaction to the president’s comments grew, Trump tweeted a vague denial:

“The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this [apparently referring to “shitholes”] was not the language used.”

Senators Cotton and Perdue then released a joint written statement that:

“We do not recall the president saying these comments specifically . . ..”

This appeared to be the Republican party-line for a day or so. Homeland Secretary Nielsen appeared on Fox Sunday and tried to run the mealy-mouthed “I do not recall” talking point past Chris Wallace, who questioned the credibility of her failure to remember whether or not the president had used the word “shitholes” three days earlier. Her lame response was:

“I understand the question [the implication of which is that Nielsen was lying], it was an impassioned conversation, I don’t recall that specific phrase being used. That’s all I can say about that.”

Her instructions from her masters to stick with the talking points dictated by the White House must have been very clear.

Also appearing on the Sunday morning shows were Senators Cotton and Perdue, who had revised their earlier written position. They no longer claimed inability to remember. Their Sunday morning positions were: (Sen. Perdue) “Trump did not use that word” and (Sen. Cotton) “I did not hear the president use that language.” Both had apparently been provided with the latest revision to the White House talking points on the issue, i.e. that “Senator Durbin has a history of mischaracterizing what was said at White House meetings.”

We all know that the president is a racist and a liar and that he has surrounded himself with liars and toadies. I’ve been trying, however, to find a deeper truth in the willingness of people like Cotton, Perdue and Nielsen to sell their souls to protect a creep like Trump. If Trump did not describe African countries as “shitholes”, it wouldn’t have taken Cotton, Perdue and Nielsen three days to refute Durbin’s account. They would have spoken up immediately. And what about the other attendees at the meeting, who still haven’t decided on what lie they will tell?

In Cotton’s case, the motivation is obvious: He has been kissing up to Trump for weeks because he wants to head the CIA after Rex Tillerson leaves the State Department and Mike Pompeo replaces him, leaving the CIA post vacant. He is also a dangerous authoritarian at heart, who would have made an excellent SS officer in Hitler’s Wehrmacht. Keep an eye on this guy.

Nielsen seemed more like a child lying to her parents, knowing that they know she’s lying, but having committed to sticking with the lie. As for Perdue, he’s just a liar.

What is especially troubling is the limited horizon of the lies concocted by the White House and adopted by Cotton, et al. Their only goal appears to have been to please Trump and try to turn this issue into a “he said, she said” difference of opinion. But it is much more important than that.

The rest of the world now knows Trump called black and brown countries “shitholes” and that he doesn’t want immigrants from those countries. He wants immigrants to America to come from countries like Norway, i.e., white countries. They know our president is a racist and that his approach to immigration policy is motivated by his racist views. The stench of this will hang around a lot longer than the next news cycle, irrespective of the spin delivered by Laura Ingraham and Fox and Friends. There will be consequences. Among other things, now that he’s called fellow senators Durbin and Graham liars, Tom Cotton’s confirmation hearing when Trump nominates him to be head of the CIA will – at a minimum – be rocky.