Even GOP Doesn't Buy Trump's Reasons for Killing Soleimani, DT Less Trusted & RBG is Cancer-Free
Despite launching missiles at two US bases in Iraq, Iran bought themselves some good will yesterday by taking their revenge while allowing Donald Trump a face-saving way to back down from his earlier threats to escalate the conflict further. The assassination of Gen Qassem Suleimani was seen as an unnecessary and mindless provocation in much of the world, so Iran's measured response was applauded globally. It's pretty telling when Iran's generally brutish leaders are seen as the adults in the room.
As calm settled over Washington, even the President's defenders in Congress had some questions about Trump's rationale for killing Suleimani. President Trump claimed that the attack was based on intelligence showing that the General was planning imminent attacks on US forces in the Middle East. Administration officials wouldn't share their intelligence with the public but held a confidential briefing for key congressional leaders yesterday. It didn't go well.
Twitter, CNN: "Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, who just emerged from a briefing on Iran from top Trump administrations officials, called it “sophomoric and utterly unconvincing” adding that he remained “utterly unpersuaded” that the strike on Qasem Soleimani was justified."
And several GOP senators were even less complementary.
CNN: "The sharpest of the criticism came from two of President Donald Trump's Senate allies: Republican Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky. Lee said after the briefing that it was the "worst briefing I've had on a military issue" during his nine years in the Senate."
"In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" on Wednesday, Paul said the briefing was "an insult to the Constitution."
The problem is that the Trump Administration has asked Congress and the American people to trust its reasoning for the attack. And that's the rub, isn't it. Trust is earned through experience, by telling the unvarnished truth, even if it's not helpful to your cause or interests. No one, not even his most ardent supporters, believe that Donald Trump has earned that level of trust.
Trump is the Least Trusted Global Leader: Speaking of trust, Americans aren't the only folks who don't trust Donald Trump.
Surveys done by Pew Research in 32 nations across the globe found that President Trump is seen as untrustworthy by 64% of respondents, with only 29% saying that they have confidence that he will do the right thing in world affairs. The percentage was even lower among many of our closest allies.
Pew: "Anti-Trump sentiment was strongest in Mexico (89% "no confidence") and Western Europe. Just 13% expressed confidence in him in Germany, 18% in Sweden, 20% in France, 21% in Spain and 25% in the Netherlands."
And, Trump was viewed as less trustworthy than the other world leaders included in the survey; German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Just to repeat, Donald Trump is now seen as less trustworthy than Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping globally.
In contrast, at the end of his second term, in 2017, 64% of respondents in a similar global survey expressed confidence in President Barack Obama.
And, Some Good News Today: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told CNN that she no longer has cancer.
CNN: "Sounding energized and speaking animatedly, she told CNN on Tuesday that her year was off to a fine start: "I'm cancer free. That's good."
That is very, very good news!
By: Don Lam & Curated Content
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