Welcome to the banana republic of the United States

[timelets]

To win the elections, the president's personal lawyer (Cohen) was paying hush money to porn stars, so that they kept quiet about the then candidate's affairs. After the elections, the lawyer was selling information on his boss to gullible foreign corporate clients. And by the way, the president's election campaign chair (Manafort) was selling his information and influence to another group of moneyed foreign crooks.

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that the Iran deal got canned because some oil executives found a way to whisper in the president's ear through one of his fraudster confidants.

On the subject of corruption by design: A typical Law and Economics course covers the structure of laws that are susceptible to corrupt influences. When we see government rules that allow for "negotiable" outcomes, multiple exceptions, arbitrary decision-making and selective enforcement, we should expect fraud. Like bacteria in nutritional agar, crooks grow around bad laws. So far, the trade rules and tariffs set up by this administration carry the hallmarks of such bad laws. They invite corruption and fraud.

Comments

[tijd]

some oil executives found a way to whisper in the president's ear

...bring him "компромат" collected by a private intelligence firm.

The e-mail appears to be part of an undercover campaign by an Israeli private-intelligence firm to discredit Obama officials who had been leading proponents of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. The campaign was first reported, on Saturday, by the British newspaper the Observer. However, sources familiar with the effort and pages of documents obtained by The New Yorker reveal that there is more to understand. Two of those sources told me on Sunday that the operation was carried out by Black Cube—a firm that was also employed by Harvey Weinstein and that offers its clients access to operatives from “Israel’s élite military and governmental intelligence units,” including the Mossad.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/israeli-operatives-who-aided-harvey-weinstein-collected-information-on-former-obama-administration-officials

[timelets]

I'm a bit skeptical of such claims, but who knows. There's a much simpler and more believable story about Kushner being "in the pocket" for the Saudi Crown Prince. The Saudis are going to benefit enormously both from the rise in oil prices/volume and added pressure on Iran. All of that on top of Bolton and domestic oil interests.

[tijd]

The Black Cube operation to dig dirt on Obama's officials involved in the Iran deal is a fact. The only mystery is who paid for it.

Kushner is in bed with Saudis and other special interests but he is even closer with Netanyahu's circle. Trump is not the only asshole who is willing to start a war to consolidate votes and keep himself out of jail.

Trump did promise to break the deal in his cringe-worthy speech to AIPAC in March 2016:

My number-one priority is to dismantle the disastrous deal with Iran.
I have been in business a long time. I know deal-making. And let me tell you, this deal is catastrophic for America, for Israel and for the whole of the Middle East.
The problem here is fundamental. We’ve rewarded the world’s leading state sponsor of terror with $150 billion, and we received absolutely nothing in return.
I’ve studied this issue in great detail, I would say actually greater by far than anybody else.
Believe me. Oh, believe me. And it’s a bad deal.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/donald-trumps-full-speech-to-aipac/

[timelets]

What a clown. I'm ready to barf every time I read his claims that "I know deal-making." So far, the only deal he's made as the president is to set up a meeting with Kim.

[tijd]

Two clowns found each other.

[timelets]

They've found a large audience that is buying their act.