The Manchurian Candidate.

The links between the Trump election campaign, members of Trump's family and the Russians have continued to grow, prompting speculation that Trump himself may have been involved in a plot to influence the election in November 2016. So far, by telling lies, drip feeding his admissions of guilt, calling all such reports "fake news" and with the help of a supine House of Congress, Trump has managed to dodge impeachment. Despite this impeachment remains a distinct possibility if Congress and the people who voted for this fake President finally wake up and smell the coffee. The latest revelations about Trump's secret meeting with Vladimir Putin with only a Russian interpreter in attendance has raised eyebrows but not as much as his decision to remove all support for the moderate rebels fighting against Assad in Syria. This is nothing more or less than handing over the future of Syria to the Russians, infuriating two of the USA's closest allies - Turkey and Saudi Arabia - in the process. The secret meeting between Putin and Trump now looks for all the world as if Trump is a Russian intelligence asset with Putin acting as his KGB handler. The CIA are now openly calling Trump "The Manchurian Candidate" while the other 16 intelligence agencies in the USA are telling the American people that Russia is now in charge of US foreign policy. If so this would be a breathtaking intelligence coup for the Russians and Putin, a former head of the KGB, in particular. But surely Putin, with his experience, wouldn't be so daft as to demonstrate to the world that Trump is his lapdog? He might, if he thought that burning this asset was worth it. Such a high profile asset could not be expected to last long before being found out and rubbing America's nose in it might just be his end game. After all what would the result be? The American public could never be sure again that their political elite had not been fatally suborned because of their business interests which are all too often linked to Russian oligarchs. Putin would show that he is the master of intelligence while the Americans, hampered by their tortuous legal systems, could never hope to match his ability to act without restraint. The USA has been crowing for years about the defeat of Communism. How ironic if they were now defeated by a tinpot dictatorship shorn of its former might with Putin playing what appears to be a weak hand with all the consummate skills gained as the former head of the KGB.

NRA Sense A Business Opportunity.

You have to hand it to the National Rifle Association (NRA) they don't miss a trick. In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre they have come out fighting today and are eager to sell the line that the solution of too many guns is - more guns. Knowing, as a any good salesman does, that an objection is merely an opportunity to sell, they have sought to overturn the objections of parents who don't like to see their children gunned down and turn it into an opportunity to sell even more guns. Better yet they see it as an opportunity to expand their role in American society and cash in by offering their expertise for a scheme to have armed guards at every school in the country. "The only protection against bad guys with guns is good guys with guns," they told the nation in all seriousness, without outlining how they would differentiate between the two. "The only way to protect our dear, innocent children," they suggested, "is to incarcerate them in a bunker bristling with weapons." What do they want, schools that look more like the Maginot Line than centres of learning and excellence? Well yes, actually. That, apparently, is the only way to protect children against those who play violent computer games (usually other children) and those who see the gun as the answer to everything (such as the NRA). Sensitive as ever, they timed their press conference to coincide with the two-minute silence for the victims of the Sandy Hook massacre. Like I say, you have to hand it to them.......

And We Are Here As On A Darkling Plain. Swept With Confused Alarms Of Struggle And Flight, Where Ignorant Armies Clash By Night.