The killing of Qasem Suliemani has as much to do with escalating events in Iraq as it does with new revelations about Trump’s role in directing the withholding of Congressional funds in Arms for Dirt scandal. This distraction is a feature of Trumpian policy where IMPOTUS chooses the greatest diversion of attention from revealing his criminality. And then there’s golf.
Trump is back at his gold club this morning.
According to CNN's tally, he has spent 256 days at a Trump golf club and 337 days at a Trump property as President — and more than one out of every five days in 2019.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) January 4, 2020
Russian things that happen when Trump’s in Mar-a-Lago:
17. Before I go back to the pool let me just say the obvious: No one’s trying to downplay Suleimani’s crimes. The question is why now? His whereabouts have been known before. His resume of killing-by-proxy is not a secret. Hard to decouple his killing from the impeachment saga.
— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) January 4, 2020
Iraqi security official tells @nbcnews there has been anther US airstrike, this one north of Baghdad targeting Shiite militia leaders. Reports of 6 killed.
This right BEFORE a big Shiite protest tomorrow in Baghdad. It seems certain to provoke an escalation.— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) January 3, 2020
If Russian reports are correct and this is the personal jet of Herman Gref, the CEO of Russia's biggest bank just flew into Ft. Lauderdale in the dead of night. https://t.co/3NBCoyVBJR
— Scott Stedman (@ScottMStedman) January 4, 2020
And then there’s history:
8/ The relationship between Putin, Trump, Paul Manafort & the TV producer Mark Burnett—written about this week by @blakesmustache & years ago by the prescient @lincolnsbible—is, even if legal, damning to the narrative that Trump is not a Russian puppet.https://t.co/l3g3uf9qRN
— Greg Olear (@gregolear) January 4, 2020
Wow, this thread. Given the manifold absurdities and glaring lack of rigor involved in the process of Trump's decision, one wonders if we'll be hearing from another whistleblower or two. https://t.co/WvMwaf8exf
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 4, 2020
Reuters reporting massive explosions in Baghdad.
Al Arabiya & BBC report rockets landed in Green Zone near US embassy.#Iran #Soleimani— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) January 4, 2020
Not long after word got out that Iranian general Qasem Soleimani had been killed in a US airstrike, Trump's Twitter account began receiving a high volume of replies containing #HardRevenge. We found 4477 replies/mentions using the hashtag from 2544 accounts.
cc: @ZellaQuixote pic.twitter.com/UxIlOGLItA
— Conspirador Norteño (@conspirator0) January 4, 2020
The accounts tweeting #HardRevenge are disproportionately recent creations: 1285 of 2544 (50.5%) were created since the beginning of 2019, and 91 were created in the 18 hours following Soleimani's death. pic.twitter.com/b0NBAid3kf
— Conspirador Norteño (@conspirator0) January 4, 2020
Trump + Graham = Creep State https://t.co/eJGcc7zZy9
— Elizabeth de la Vega (@Delavegalaw) January 4, 2020
​Even stranger is this bit of disinformation from Pence.
Per NYT: "This lacks evidence. How Mr. Pence arrived at this number and this account is unclear … The notion that General Suleimani abetted the attackers at all also appears dubious." https://t.co/uXdzoKVrnz https://t.co/EdGxCuz2Gl
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 4, 2020
Then there’s this bit of cult behavior:
In a poll, Republican voters chose Don Jr. and Ivanka as two of the top four picks for president in 2024. https://t.co/IRAu7gbojN
— Vicky Ward (@VickyPJWard) January 4, 2020
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