Flynn Resigns

Last night, during the last two minutes of prime-time television programming, it was announced that Michael Flynn, the National Security Adviser of the United States had resigned his post amid controversy over his discussions with a Russian delegate over the sanctions imposed on Russia by President Obama over Russia’s interference in our election.

I find it appalling that we have been talking about this for days with the emphasis on whether-or-not he lied to Mike Pence and Reince Priebus about it. Aren’t we missing the point here? At a time when Flynn, a not-yet-appointed cabinet member of the not-yet-president of the United States, took it upon himself to call a Russian delegate several times on the day that sanctions were imposed on Russia, it just seemed like there was a better than average chance that one of the points of discussion would be the future of those sanctions.

Several people wanted to know. Flynn denied any mention of the sanctions.  Pence believed him. Priebus believed him. The entire republican leadership in congress defended him. It was a childish and obvious lie at the time, one that was confronted by Sally Yates shortly before she was fired. If Pence and Priebus chose to endorse this lie, they are complicit in it.

The big point is that Russian interference in our election is a factor in having Donald Trump elected as our president and he seems to be unnaturally fond of Vladimir Putin. Paul Manafort and Carter Paige, both heavily involved in Trump’s campaign have had to resign because of their questionable connections to Russia. There is enough suspicion around all of this Russian love fest to worry me.

We need to demand a robust and immediate investigation and it should include all the cabinet members that have ties to Russia. There seem to be far too many Russian enthusiasts making decisions about how our country is going to be run.