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June 18, 2020

Secrets and Lies: Bolton's book 'revelations' ring phony to conservatives and enrage the lefties

By Monica Showalter

Embittered former national security adviser John Bolton's big tell-all book, released just in time for elections, isn't impressing the right or even the left.

For conservatives, it's a petty, vindictive list of claims about President Trump that are very likely untrue, based on what we know of the man and his policies.

And for lefties, who are lapping up every Bolton word as God's gospel truth, the infuriated reaction is, "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

There's also a phony argument being raised in the press that the White House's bid to stop publication based on disclosure of classified information naturally contradicts the right's claim that Bolton is publishing lies.  If the White House is trying to stop publication, it all would have to be true, right?  Except that most of us know that long-form books can be a mixture of things.

Bolton's wild claims about Trump stand out as unusually obnoxious.  Here's Bloomberg News's list:

So we're supposed to believe that Trump pleaded with China's leader to help him win?  Given the harsh things Trump has done to China, wouldn't it be logical that the Chicoms themselves would bring this up to damage Trump?  It's hard to believe that Trump would want China's help in getting re-elected.  Knowing Trump as we the people do, Trump would enjoy China's rage as a means of getting re-elected.  Advantage: Trump.

Trump was uninterested in defending Hong Kong's protesters?  What, exactly, was Trump supposed to do?  The whole crisis, if you understand it, and apparently Bolton does not, is that the enclave is helpless, the protest conflict there was a sovereign state matter based on the fact that China doesn't honor its treaties.  Unless the U.S. wants to do an Iraq-style invasion of China, which wouldn't be surprising to hear of coming from Bolton, pinning a lack of interest on Trump is nonsense.  As for Taiwan, probably even harder to believe that Trump had no interest in defending the island.  Wasn't Trump the one who made one of his first phone calls as president to Taiwan's leaders, something the foreign policy establishment, as well as China itself, screeched about?  We all know how Trump feels about Taiwan.  We expect he won't be broadcasting whatever he does to help the island isn't going to be something he broadcasts to China.  Apparently, Bolton wanted that, which raises questions about his strategic acumen.

Then there's the Uighur camp claim.  No signs of this kind of thinking in any of Trump's public statements.  But we do know what Trump thinks about the Chicoms, based on the harsh measures he's enacted against them.  China's bad acts against the Uighurs have left it a pariah state looking for allies.  So if Trump said it, wouldn't it make sense for the Chicoms to broadcast that little fact?  They didn't.  Advantage: Trump.

Then there are Bolton's claims that Trump's every decision was motivated by re-election considerations.  Seriously?  Trump took on America's biggest Asian trade partner and made it mad, triggering retaliatory moves against Trump's best political voting base, rural America and its farmers, and Bolton claims that was motivated by re-election concerns?  He doesn't know much about elections.  He could easily make that argument for the Obama administration, but dumping it onto Trump rings hollow and false.  Advantage: Trump.

There are also Bolton's claim about Democrats' "impeachment malpractice," claiming they should have looked into Trump's Turkey contacts or China ZTE.  Does he think the Dems, given their Schiffian motivation to take Trump down, really think they would have ignored that if they thought they had the goods?  It sounds as though they didn't.  In any case, Bolton had his opportunity to testify, refused to do it based on his book deal considerations, and squandered his chance.  Advantage: Trump.

Lastly, Bolton tries to make Trump out as stupid, making phony claims about Trump not knowing about Finland.  This is a guy who offered to buy Greenland from Denmark, suggesting that he very much pays attention to the region.  He's also been around and knows about assorted Helsinki accords and other foreign dealings where Finland came into the picture.  He's got business holdings all over northern Europe.  Why wouldn't he know about Finland?  It sounds like nonsense, given that Trump has never blundered on his geography the way President Obama often did.  File under bee ess.  Even if Trump were as shallow and ignorant as Obama, what kind of person would publish that so as to make the president distrust any question he asks of his advisers out of fear of a tell-all book?  If it were true, and it's not, it shows an amazing absence of class.

The whole thing overshadows the controversy over classified information disclosures and the Trump administration's bid to halt publication because it looks so full of lies. If any of this were true, why didn't he resign on principle. Why didn't he say something earlier? Somehow he didn't. We're now supposed to think he was saving it all for the book and its profits. Does this smell bad? Yes indeed.

A smart reader emails us these comments:

He went into the admin knowing they disagreed on some things. That was his choice. To be this vindictive that you bring the whole country down (which is what will happen if we lose the WH and Senate) with your personal vendetta goes to how small you are as a person. 

And there really should be a rule that tell all’s cannot be published until the end of a presidency. That’s not a first amendment violation. And it’s contractual.

Not surprisingly, Bolton failed to impress the lefties with his big spectacular revelations:

Here's one, speaking in a typical leftist vernacular:

The hypocrisy is pretty obvious, too - after all, didn't the left vilify Bolton until recently?

If Bolton thought he was going to be making friends and winning praise from the leftiest in his bid to bite back at Trump, he's got another thing coming. The lefties, who believe every word, are hopping mad. This was their glorious ammunition to Get Trump and now they're only getting it now.

They'll get him for this, it won't be pretty.

And as for the rest of us, we'll be just as disgusted. Maybe Max Boot and Bill Kristol will make it better for him in their shriveled little universe, that's about all he has left.

Image credit: Wikipedia, official photo, public domain.

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