An amusing bit of political manipulation — by former President Obama — as interpreted by former CIA officer, John Kiriakou

© 2017 Peter Free

 

12 December 2017

 

 

Cool?

 

I'm too straightforward to be even a lousy Machiavellian, but I respect those who have the skills to pull those stunts off. To wit, former President Obama, a Democrat. Whom John Kiriakou thinks used incoming Republican President Trump's defiance-based momentum against him in a display of political judo:

 

 

The linchpin to this whole “Russiagate” case is Mike Flynn. The former three-star general and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) was a loose cannon whom Obama had to fire in 2014.

 

After Flynn had proven himself a thorn . . . he jumped into the Trump campaign with both feet, famously leading a chant of “Lock her up!” in reference to Hillary Clinton, at the 2016 Republican National Convention.

 

Obama gave Trump one piece of unsolicited advice: Don’t hire Mike Flynn.

 

I think Obama knew that Trump would do exactly the opposite of what he wanted.

 

© 2017 John Kiriakou, Barack Obama's Parting Gift to Donald Trump Was Mike Flynn, The Smirking Chimp (11 December 2017)

 

 

As a result of this political martial arts throw, President Trump is in the uncomfortable position that he is with special counsel Robert Mueller.

 

Of course, neither Kiriakou nor I think that the Russian meddling thing amounts to anything substantial. Nevertheless, this contrived obfuscation grew Deep State legs and now poses a nuisance for the Trump Administration.

 

And isn't that the maximum that American politics aspires to in this substance-avoiding century?

 

 

The moral? — Machiavellian skill, worthlessly used

 

If he did as John Kiriakou suspects, I do not see how President Obama gained anything substantively worthwhile. He certainly did the nation no favors. But that depressing outcome is in keeping with every other recent presidential administration. All of which have been exclusively about keeping wealth entrenched and climbing.

 

We "rabble" are (thus) left to amuse ourselves by admiring the devious skill with which President Obama accomplished nothing of value. Not, of course, to hold President Trump blameless in this battle of misused wits.