Blaming America First - the New York Times Editorial Board

[DonViejo]

By THE EDITORIAL BOARDFEB. 7, 2017

The bromance between President Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, long a source of puzzlement and alarm in the West, has gotten even more disturbing. This weekend, Mr. Trump dismissed a question about why he respected “a killer” like Mr. Putin by drawing a moral equivalency between the United States and Russia.

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But no American president has done what Mr. Putin has done in silencing nearly all independent media, crushing dissent, snuffing out Russia’s once-incipient democracy, invading Ukraine, interfering in the American election — apparently on Mr. Trump’s behalf — and trying to destabilize Europe. At least in recent decades, American presidents who took military action have been driven by the desire to promote freedom and democracy, sometimes with extraordinary results, as when Germany and Japan evolved after World War II from vanquished enemies into trusted, prosperous allies.

Since taking office, Mr. Trump has shown little support for America’s traditional roles as a champion of universal values like freedom of the press and tolerance. In fact, as he has worked to cut Mr. Putin slack, Mr. Trump has bashed allies and laid the groundwork for an aggressive campaign that could lead to conflict with Iran, which the Pentagon has ranked behind Russia as a threat.

Mr. Trump’s willingness to kowtow to Mr. Putin in the Fox interview was too much even for the Republican Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who rebuked Mr. Trump, called Mr. Putin “a thug” and rejected any equivalence between America and Russia. The House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, urged the F.B.I. to investigate Mr. Trump’s finances and personal ties to find out if the Russian government was blackmailing him.

Mr. Trump’s obsequiousness toward the Russian leader and his administration’s confusing policy is emboldening both sides in Ukraine. Last week, the conflict between the Ukrainian military and Russian-backed separatists reignited. The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, blamed Russia for escalating the fighting. She had previously said sanctions imposed on Russia because of its 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion into eastern Ukraine would stay in place.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/07/opinion/blaming-america-first.html?emc=edit_th_20170207&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284

[Lint Head]

1. I think the word murderer holds more weight. Putin

is a murderer. If the question by O'Reilly had been stated as 'Putin is a murderer' I think Trump saying we are murderers too would have been even more inflammatory.
I don't think the word killer is a legal term. As in being convicted of killing. Putin hasn't been convicted of anything because he is a controlling murdering authoritarian thug.
O'Reilly is a buddy of Trumps and I think he chose that word intentionally.