\n
Author note: I wrote this early this past week, while our imperial city started spinning out of control. It was so disorienting that I searched the past for some context. What I discovered were portents.<\/p>\n
——<\/p>\n
Three months ago to this very day, we were twittering about the new President\u2019s relationships with the nation\u2019s Intelligence Community. All of the following occurred during a single 24 hour period:<\/p>\n
President Trump was complaining about its leaks and unmasking. Deservedly so.<\/p>\n
A Wall Street Journal story trumpeted that the Intelligence Community wasn\u2019t sharing the good stuff with the new guy. This was really bad, if true. Sort of a return to the old days where the White House was kept in the dark on many sources, methods and detailed reporting.<\/p>\n
A counter punch article in response was based on the Director of National Intelligence statement saying the WSJ story wasn\u2019t so.<\/p>\n
During an impromptu press conference, the President referred to a Russian intelligence collection ship operating off the east coast:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump claimed that the American people would think it was \u201cso great\u201d if he ordered an attack on the Russian spy ship reportedly loitering off the coast of Connecticut but that he wouldn\u2019t because he wanted to try to preserve U.S.-Russian relations.<\/p>\n
February 16 2017 seems oh so long ago. Today the earth is standing still.<\/p>\n
America once had the world\u2019s preeminent intelligence organization. We now have in its place a train wreck bordering on constitutional crisis. We now seem to have a beltway full of leakers both authorized and unauthorized, elected and unelected, career and appointed, all doing what they conceive is their duty or at least their agenda. It sure looks and smells like a stinky dumpster fire.<\/p>\n
![\"051617-1LIT\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/051617-1LIT.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
North Korea missile tests, mom of all bombs, laptop bombs,
\nStreaming murders, Facebook Live, Trump vs. the FBI
\nLeaking lips sink ships, get more stock . . . large blue chips,
\nTravel ban, germ-a-phobe, good God, there’s another probe
\nRepeal, replace, discount trips to outer space
\nWanna Cry, Ransomware thieves can’t spend bitcoin currency
\nOnion rings, endless Game of Thrones inside the West Wing,
\nClinton whining, finger pointing, Billy Joel song bastardized!
\nCodeward leaking, Israelis queasy, internet hoaxes drive policy<\/p>\n
We didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nShould have seen it coming when Trump started tweeting
\nWe didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nNo one can believe it, we\u2019re doomed to repeat it<\/p>\n
Wikileaks, Comey this, Comey that, lock ’em up, ratta tat tat
\nRussian probe, Supreme Court justice, grinding ISIS, still no market crisis
\nThey go low, we go high, Is America is \u201cgreat again?\u201d
\nMike Flynn, mortal sin,
\nZika virus, Al Qaeda ‘s back, Russian hacks
\nStock market rise, 400 ppm, France got a new PM
\nHashtag obsessed, news cycles and our minds compressed<\/p>\n
We didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nShould have seen it coming when Trump started tweeting
\nWe didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nNo one can believe it, we\u2019re doomed to repeat it<\/p>\n
Drain the swamp, build a wall, Brangelina\u2019s tragic fall,
\nImmigrants matter, ACA fail, nothing happens, country’s in the pail
\nTrump didn’t win the Nobel Prize, supporters wonder why
\nTrigger warnings, free speech is dead, Trump’s scary big head
\nEpic superbowl, no more birth control<\/p>\n
We didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nShould have seen it coming when Trump started tweeting
\nWe didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nNo one can believe it, we\u2019re doomed to repeat it<\/p>\n
Taping system, memos for the record
\nLook at the mess they’re both in
\nWhere the hell is old Mike Flynn
\nCrumbling credibility, kiss tax cuts goodbye<\/p>\n
We didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nShould have seen it coming when Trump started tweeting
\nWe didn’t start this dumpster fire
\nNo one can believe it, we\u2019re doomed to repeat it<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t start this dumpster fire
\nIt was always burning
\nSince the world\u2019s been turning
\nWe didn\u2019t start this dumpster fire
\nNo, we didn\u2019t light it
\nBut we tried to fight it<\/p>\n
What else do I have to say?
\nSummer’s here so I’m out the door
\nI can\u2019t take it anymore!<\/p>\n
We didn\u2019t start the fire
\nIt was always burning
\nSince the world\u2019s been turning
\nWe didn\u2019t start the fire
\nBut when we are gone
\nIt will still burn on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on, and on
\nWe didn\u2019t start the fire
\nIt was always burning
\nSince the world\u2019s been turning
\nWe didn\u2019t start the fire
\nNo, we didn\u2019t light it
\nBut we tried to fight it
\nWe didn\u2019t start the fire
\nIt was always burning
\nSince the world\u2019s been turning
\nWe didn\u2019t start the fire
\nNo, we didn\u2019t light it
\nBut we tried to fight it
\nWe didn\u2019t start the fire<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2017 From My Isle Seat\/Billy Joel
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Editor’s Note: Marlow calls them the way he sees them this morning. I confess, I have never seen anything like this in my life. -Vic Intel. Dumpster Fire Author note: I wrote this early this past week, while our imperial city started spinning out of control. It was so disorienting that I searched the past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-island-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15953"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15957,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15953\/revisions\/15957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}