Day 126: NATO Disasters

Hoo boy. Strap your seatbelts in, because this top one is a doozy.

• Trump met with NATO leaders today. He was somewhat ostracized for taking the opportunity to condemn the military spending of other NATO nations (despite having no idea how NATO works), and refusing to unequivocally state that the US would live up to its obligations. There was a photo op, and he was filmed shoving his way to the front of the crowd of world leaders. Foreign policy experts highlight the disaster of his speech, and point out how the US and EU no longer have a common stance on Russia. (Note: Article 5 is the guts of NATO, which calls all members to arms in the case of an attack. It has only been invoked once - after 9/11 - and Trump is refusing to uphold the US commitment to it.)
• A Federal appeals court upheld the hold on Trump's Muslim ban, and the Department of Justice has vowed Supreme Court action. The judgement was very pointed in its criticism of the administration. The opening paragraph of the judgement is a thing of beauty: The executive order "in text speaks with vague words of national security, but in context drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination".
• Confirmation that Kushner is now a focus of the FBI investigation. I eagerly await the final straw in this investigation.
• Remember Manafort? Apparently he was helping out with the Trump transition team months after resigning from the campaign. This guy never ceases being shady.
• Apparently Reince Priebus is worried about what could come out in Comey's memos. This strongly suggests that he was involved in borderline illegal activities too, probably something along the lines of attempting to pressure Comey in some way regarding the FBI investigation. More obstruction of justice. This whole administration needs to go.
• In a truly mindblowing exchange, Betsy deVos couldn't name a single situation in which she thought students should be protected from discrimination. This is your education secretary.
• Sessions is in hot water again for not disclosing meetings with foreign officials to the DoJ for his security clearance.
• Senate Republicans are looking to change the rules again. After using a technique to block Obama appointments, they're hoping to invalidate the technique so that Democrats can't use it. Disgusting.