There are several important political stories today and I’m sure that as soon as I write this up and publish it, there will be at least three more breaking-news stories. We’re still dealing with the damage done by Rex Tillerson’s tenure at the State Department, not to mention the damage of Rex Tillerson’s sudden firing. There’s also some special election news and more. Some highlights.
Rex Tillerson was fired by tweet. That’s not hyperbole. It’s not fake news. The White House claimed that Tillerson was told about his dismissal last Friday. Tillerson’s people say he wasn’t told and that he found out he was being fired when Trump tweeted about it yesterday morning. Trump didn’t even call Tillerson before or after the tweet. Tillerson’s people were confirming that on the record. Tillerson was so pissed that in his post-firing speech, he didn’t thank Trump. Tillerson gutted State and he didn’t believe in diplomacy. But the new guy, Mike Pompeo, is worse.
The Pennsylvania 18th. The 18th was a district that Trump won by 20 points. In a nail-biter special election for the Congressional seat, the Democrat Conor Lamb squeaked out a narrow victory, although at this moment, Republican Rick Saccone has not conceded, and I would imagine there will be some kind of recount. This is a huge blow to Trump, who personally campaigned for Saccone last weekend.
Paul Manafort’s hard time. If Paul Manafort is found guilty of all the charges he’s facing, he could go away for 305 YEARS. His trial in Virginia starts in July. It should be good.
Photos courtesy of Getty, NY Post.
Such an awful president and person.
What else can you say? We feel so badly for you here in Canada. But then our PM has his issues too …
Don’t feel too bad for us…we’re a democracy. Of course the electoral college screwed us but we have deplorable voter turn out….Uneducated voters who get their information from Facebook. We’re f*cking idiots. That goes for all the asshats WE voted for in Congress. I’m so depressed. I do have faith in the next generation though. My daughter participated in the school walk out today and we talk about politics all the time. She’ll be voting in two years!!
Facebook news… ugh! An acquaintance that is also a huge Trump supporter is facebook news educated. They told me the other day Cadbury eggs are tainted with HIV this season. That some guy got his blood in the sugar filling. And they believed it. I asked where they got their news. Facebook. It’s pretty frightening what a person will accept as truth with a source so manipulated.
@Rachel As a fellow Canadian I’ve got to say, with the federal conservatives headed by a dude who wants to relax gun control and the Ontario conservatives headed by Trump-lite Doug Ford, we have MUCH bigger storms brewing on the horizon. The national let down from Trudeau mania is understandable but in no way equivalent to what’s happening in the States or the danger of Canadian conservative politicians courting the same ugly populist elements here.
@Ellec, ITAWY. People think Canada is terrible under Trudeau? I just have to SMH in amazement. I’d take Trudeau any day over any conservative. Trudeau has made his mistakes but in comparison to racist bigot, homophobic, xenophobic, misagyonist (list is endless) Trump? Trudeau is a saint. And please don’t get me started on that man S. Harper and his goons.
I too feel bad for decent American people, it’s like they are in a never waking nightmare, but I will take Trudeau and his issues over Trump any day. Personally, I think most of the planet would take Trudeau over Trump.
I believe that Americans needed this to see real faces of fasicm and racism. I also believe that voting system is not working, as in it’s not democracy since it’s not based on majority’s voice.
Apart from Obama, usa presidents for the past two decades were clowns. While it’s hard now, if you look at the big picture, things will be better. Cos people are awake and aware that this cannot happen again
Milla
I’m not so sure. People do forget. This stuff gets lost with each generation. We repeat our mistakes. And who knows how history will remember these events.
Yes. Each day since Trump was elected feels worse and more unreal than the day before. There are some things a sane person can never get used to.
My thoughts exactly, Lahdidahbaby. Before this election my simple pervasive thought was, “what if the Hokey pokey really is, what’s it’s really All About?”.
Also, the aide who confirmed that Tillerson didn’t know about the firing until he saw the Tweet…got fired himself! trump is trying to consolidate power and only wants people who are blindly loyal. Tillerson sucked, but the fact that he called trump a f**king moron showed some semblance of understanding. So sad that is my criteria for a modicum of sense: do you think the president is an idiot? Okay, then you’re not the absolute worst anymore.
ETA: The NY Post does have the best headlines, though. My Dad used to call that paper “chewing gum for the mind.”
The aide didn’t really get fired. They moved him over to Dump’s 2020 campaign team.
To me, this means that he knows a lot and they do not want to risk him running to Mueller.
I am not sure why I thought of this but this makes me wonder what happened to Rhona Graff, Dump’s longtime employee. I wonder if she has spoken to Mueller yet. Probably so.
@Aiobhan, I think you are conflating 2 different firings: One was the sub secretary, who was immediately fired when he sated that Rex was blindsided by the firing, which was totally unexpected. The other firing was of Trump’s personal aide, who was escorted out of the WH wit no time to even get his coat, after his security clearance background check came up with major red flags. So, he had to leave the WH… but was immediately moved onto the re-electin team. He has worked for Trump for a long time and was apparently in the toddler’s good graces – after all, the guy brought him pens to sign stuff like a bigly boy.
Are you talking about John McEntree, trump’s body man? He was moved to the campaign. But Tillerson’s top aide Steven Goldstein was fired after he contradicted the WH claim that Tillerson knew of the firing on Friday and not yesterday via a Tweet.
https://apnews.com/6b3fe76623e24c33ba17305a0e08c505?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP
no, it was 45’s personal assistant that was moved to the campaign. he was escorted out of the WH and couldn’t even get his coat after failing a background check. dude is being looked at by Homeland Security for financial crimes. which means it ain’t your run of the mill fraud. If HS is involved, it means he was dealing with international (read: RUSSIAN) business partners. and, of course, someone under investigation by DOH is being hired by the Drumpf campaign because that’s apparently a prerequisite. and this is EXTREMELY interesting. that guy’s been with Drumpf since 2015, which means he knows a LOT. I think he was given a job on the campaign to keep him happy and “quiet”…that is, keep him on the payroll so he doesn’t go to Mueller.
the aide that was fired was a State Dept. aide who contradicted the WH story of Tillerson knowing last Friday that he was axed.
Pretty sure that was a different aide. State Dept aide was fired for blabbing, and also just cause he was Tillerson’s guy. Trump’s White House aide was removed by Secret Service for serious financial crimes but immediately hired at 2020 campaign HQ. Two different dudes, although it sure is hard to keep up when multiple administration workers leave every day.
Aiobhan- that’s a diff aide that got transferred. He was Trump’s personal aide and was escorted from the WH without getting his things. But he’ll work for Trump’s 2020 campaign. That happened the night before Tillerson’s firing.
Tillerson’s aide is who KNY was talking about. He was fired yesterday. Worked for State, not the WH. And he was not reassigned, afaik.
You’re confusing aides. You’re thinking of White House aide John McEntee, who was fired from the White House for financial crimes and was promptly hired by the Trump campaign. Tillerson’s aide at the State Department, Steve Goldstein, was also fired from the State Department yesterday for confirming that Tillerson learned about being fired from Trump’s tweet.
In fairness, how are we all not getting confused? Every week or day there is some one fired, investigated, leaves, or whatever. Now we have people being fired via Twitter. Granted I wasn’t a Tillerson fan, but come on via Twitter. Truly a classless moment just to add to all of the others. There aren’t adequate words that describe how f()*() up this is now.
I hope when Mueller comes to arrest the dotard and his entire crime family they will be as surprised as how Tillerson was 😲. I’m not a fan of Tillerson, but common curtesy should be shown to everyone. Btw, the dotard says he wants to hear from Teresa May about that poisoning of the father and daughter in Britain then he will know how to respond, let’s see if he ever put a sanction on Russia. I bet he will ignore, ignore, and ignore some more.
Yeah, I thought to was interesting how he was equivocating about the poisoning thing. He said something like “IF Russia did it, we’ll see…”
Esmom- they’ll be no repercussions. Sanctions were approved a year ago and he’s flagrantly disregarding his constitutional duty to enact them. It won’t happen now.
Lol at the cult45ers who really think HRC was the one in Russia’s pocket.
Tillerson was kicked to the curb the day after he stated that attack was Russian. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
He wants to hear from Teresa May? If only there were official channels for MI6 to share intelligence with our CIA officers that would get to the front desk of our President before the British Prime Minister announces anything to the public…or wait. Drumpf has already been shown the evidence and what Teresa Maybwas going to say.
See how soon we forget that our allies communicate with us, share intelligence, get our President’s input all behind the scenes as the regular order? Just like people forget that the FBI and CIA heads have daily briefings. Trump has been in office for only 15months, let’s not loose our memory Animal Farm style!!! He is a conman and a pathological liar.
I believe Nicky Haley said “something” but will this white house do “anything”?
The re-election campaign will also be run by criminals. No surprise there.
It’s Nixon all over again – but with Russia holding the puppet strings. It bewilders me that so many of the educated people I know who still manage to support trump ALL talk so fondly of Ronald Reagan. It’s like the Cold War never happened.
I’m sorry, but I think that is an insult to Nixon, and I am one who still believes Nixon was a crook. Still there are degrees, and Trump takes it further.
It is truly amazing that practices that would be frowned upon in the real world, like firing via twitter, is some how common practice at the White House. Trump has really lowered the bar in so many, many ways.
Somehow I’m skeptical of Manafort going away for 305 years
He will turn for a reduced sentence. It might not be 305, but he will see some time at Camp Cupcake.
He will negotiate a plea deal, but like Tiffany said, he will get some time at Club Fed.
That is so wrong and humiliating,there should really be a clause or something in top government officials contracts about how they get terminated should be told to them first.
I bet Jeff Sessions is frantically refreshing his Twitter feed.
LOL too funny
Jeff has been pretty steady about refusing to resign in response to Trump’s bullying. I hope he continues. With him recused from the Russia investigation, we have a better chance of seeing it go to completion than if Trump was allowed to inflict us with someone else as Attorney General. Whomever he chose would be worse than what we have now, just as we see with the Secretary of State.
However the Elf did do Orangino’s bidding by trying to fire Andrew McCabe 72 hours before he retires. Only for the fact to deny him his hard earned pension. I read McCabe had a meeting with higher ups to plead his case. Seriously if this goes through I hope McCabe sues the govt. How is this right?
I was asked by Swack what I thought about Tillerson’s firing.
It’s important to note that Rex spoke out against Russia regarding the Novichok attack in Salisbury. It’s also important to note, as Kaiser states, that Rex was fired by tweet on Monday morning. The WH is trying to spin it that Rex knew Friday about his demise. Not true. Kelly texted/called Rex saying The Dotard wanted to speak to him only.
The most important thing is that when a state dept official contradicted Emperor Zero’s claims of timing, he himself was fired on the spot. I believe he is an undersecretary in the state dept (4th under Tillerson?).
Facts matter and the WH/EZ don’t want you to know any of them.
And by the way:
Lambda! Lambda! Lambda!
Eric — my sense is that by the end of this week, Mueller is going to release a slew of endictments. Also, McMaster and possibly Sessions will be gone by the end of this month, if not sooner. What say you?
Observation: It seems as if (to me) the more imminent and salacious material (pee pee tapes/Stormy) reveals seem to be, the more reactionary Cheeto becomes. My guess is that he has a humiliation fetish, which would play into his need to humiliate others publicly, a la Tillerson.
Yes, McMaster is supposed to be next, Sessions if he can get away with it. But because of Sessions’ Senate ties and the revolt that will happen if the Mueller investigation is dismantled, unclear if he will pull the trigger there. Would be very risky. Kelly would surely advise against it fwtw.
He might want to slow it down on firing Sesh and Mueller. He’s been shown to be albatross as far as reelection for his minions, and he might find the rats jumping ship and making a show of their independence.
He can’t stop the investigations anyway. Waaay past that point and New York state awaits him and his grifter spawn with glee.
I also think Sesh will spill it all. 45 is all ego and too stupid to realize he’s got the most to lose but he still he is petty and vengeful. He’s always been that way.
Punky:
McMaster would be a big blow for EZ. As NSA, he has a ton of info that is important to national security. I’m no fan, but he serves a critical role in the WH.
Sessions is important because he’s the gateway to Rosenstein (and eventually Mueller). His replacement would likely fire Rosenstein and then try to shut down the Mueller investigation, which would trigger two major events:
1) marches in state capitals
2) NYAG Schneiderman unleashing a shload of state charges against Kushner, Jr, and perhaps Ivanka.
Mueller has been coy about gathering evidence and holding on to it. He currently has enough to file Obstruction charges against EZ, but is sitting on it as he and his team search records about conspiracy (money-laundering, bank fraud, tax charges, computer crimes, etc.).
Very wise by Mueller not to trigger the Dotard.
Don’t forget he fired Comey when he was away from DC at a conference. I read he was angry that Comey was allowed to fly back to DC on the Gov plain. He wanted to humiliate him by having him taking commercial flight back to DC. The man is a a very sick individual who likes to humiliate. I hope Stormy tells her story and humiliaties the hell out of him.
Eric — I agree Mueller I sitting on the obstruction case. My sense is that he’s going to make one, and only one move that will take down not only all those involved in obstruction of justice, but all those involved in the money laundering/collusion w/Russia (think Prince/Nunes/Rhorbacher/Wilbur Ross/etc.). But based upon the frantic behavior of Cheeto already this week, along with my belief that the UK poisoning’s were a warning from Putin to his “comrades” stateside, perhaps Mueller acts sooner rather than later.
I also believe Mueller has conducted his investigation (and built his team) with the assumption that he would eventually be fired by Cheeto or one of his minions. I have to believe that one of the first actions Mueller took was to install a “kill switch” (if you will) into his investigation.
Punky
Agree about the “kill switch;”
Mueller has contingency plans for his contingency plans. Also agree whole-heartedly that mueller will drop a massive one-time bombing run on co-conspirators to isolate, once and for all, Emperor Zero.
Greetings Swack.
Take care
First I think McMasters is quitting by the end of the month, and Sessions is going to be there for a while, but I wouldn’t be completely surprised if he was gone. I also think VA chief is out end of this week, Perry is supposed to go there, and wouldn’t be surprised if Ben Carson doesn’t get boot soon too.
My understanding is Kelly wasn’t clear about how he told Tillerson. Apparently, Trump has been doing these kind of calls for a while, and Kelly probably wasn’t sure he was going to fire him. Also, Kelly had to convince Trump to talk to him around noon after the tweet went out early morning. Very classy.
@Eric – as always, thanks for your well informed opinions.
@PunkyMomma – have also read that Kelly is on the chopping block.
I also think Muller is making sure he has enough state-level (instead of just Federal) charges that Trump can’t use his Executive Privilege to get out of or reduce his sentence. My understanding is that the President has way more wiggle room at the Federal jurisdiction but cannot be excused from state-jurisdiction crimes/charges.
Not surprised- Trump is not a man of the people as he presents but he IS low class
DJ Khaled voice “And another one;”
I would feel sorry for him if I did not know who he was. Finding out you got fired in such a cowardly way has got to hurt his huge Texas pride. Well he’ll get over it. And if he doesn’t, who cares? I wonder if Putin is going to pay for a bonus for decimating the State Department for so damn long. He should consider giving that friendship necklace back if Putin hasn’t asked for it back yet.
Good for Connor Lamb. Don’t let anyone say your vote won’t count. I had a feeling he would win-especially after Dump showed up and made that rally for sad Saccone and made it all about him. Dump is the kiss of death, always has been and always will be.
Paul Manafort should have been sent to prison by now for all the violations he has made. Manafort is in a hard spot: either flip and get killed by Poody Poo or die in prison. I should feel sorry for him but I don’t. He is getting exactly what he deserves.
@Aiobhan Targaryen:
I read a Guardian article that speculated that one of the possible reasons for the poisoning of Skripal is to send a message to potential defectors……here’s an excerpt:
“The Skripal attack also appears to have been calculated for its domestic impact. It sends a chilling message to anyone from inside Russia’s spy agencies and bureaucracy thinking of cooperating with western intelligence. The message: that the state can mete out punishment at its own pleasure and in the most barbaric way. Oh, and your family might suffer too.
Moscow’s covert operation to support Trump during the 2016 US election was a large enterprise. It involved career intelligence officers, cyber-criminals and professional trolls. Only Putin and a few top officials know its full scope. But a wider group of individuals understand parts.
Anyone thinking of cooperating with Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating collusion, will think twice”
Chilling stuff.
Remember that string of Russian bureaucrats/diplomats that all died under mysterious circumstances right after Trump was elected? Pretty sure that was Putin taking out any and all that could have possibly been sources for the Steele dossier. It really is scary stuff.
That’s exactly what I thought – and that there will be more mysterious killings coming down the pipe as Mueller’s investigation gets closer to the big boyz..
It is only the beginning. But I think this also means Vlad is going to cut 45 loose and I would not be surprised if he is bold enough to hit a family member. I think he might have told 45 to fire Tillerson, but I would not be surprised if it were not in retaliation but to get him out of the way and off the ship.
I think Tillerson’s inept performance was on purpose. He was keeping the department empty for Vlad so we would be weak and he could engineer the oil windfall for the oligarchs.
Cohn bolted because he saw it was time to scatter. Tillerson goes home and trades jokes about 45 via Skype with Vlad.
I can’t help feeling something is coming.
Vlad will still want to deal with the US after so what better way than to make 45 keep Mueller and let Mueller take him down. I wouldn’t be surprised if he weren’t leaking too and toying with 45 so we are off kilter.
Just a theory. Why not. It is beyond outlandish now, so anything is possible.
It is patently clear that Putin has Trump’s nuts in a vice…….my guess is as a result of either financial entrapments or more likely by virtue of the infamous Kompromat.
We have played into Putin’s hands by naively weakening the western alliance by 1) the Brexit train-wreck 2) electing his orange, compromised puppet.
Is it any wonder now that Trump was staunchly behind Brexit before the fact and now can’t be persuaded to lift a finger in solidarity in the UK’s time of greatest need?
Putin’s long term goal has been to exacerbate Western divisions to allow him more of a free hand in absorbing the former Soviet territories into a greater Russia and then re-positioning the region as a new mega super power, with its enemies in an aggressively weakened position. (I think it’s interesting that his most effective slight of hand has been the use of racial and religious tensions to trigger both Brexit and Trump).
It looks like most of his chess pieces are now almost in place. Let’s see what his next play is.
All these firings make 45’s joke about China’s allowing its current leader to stay for life more worrisome…
The Donald, ever classy.
Another example of how classless Trump is. This isn’t a reality show where “you’re fired!” is the way your time on the show ends while everyone watches on TV. This is as cold and classless as when Comey overhead on TV that he was fired, while working on the other side of the country. These things should be done face to face in person, but the pussy grabber is too mean and rude to do it correctly
it’s not because he’s mean and rude. it’s because he’s a coward of the first class, like most bullies are.
Agreed. Almost everything Trump does is rooted in cowardice.
Five times Trump cowered behind his father’s money when he had a chance to fight for his country. Now he cowers behind his aides when it comes to firing those who displease him and impotently follows Putin’s every order.
Then again, this is a man who couldn’t even leave his wives, just cheated so blatantly they could no longer ignore it.
Not a fan of Tillerson, but he calls the President a “f**king moron” (after which, my opinion of him went up a few notches) and nothing happens. He publicly blames Russia for the attack on an ex-spy and gets fired the next day.
My thoughts exactly.
Lie down with dogs. Get fired via Twitter. No tears for these double-crossed clowns.
+1 Clearly his MO. See Comey.
+2. All these people are there to profit rather than serve. No sympathy from me.
Yeah, in fact Tillerson’s only real regret is that he failed to get Russia sanctions lifted and thereby ensure billions in oil money profit for his evil cabal.
Me neither. Wah. That is all I got. I can’t cry for them, in fact, my eyes get drier when one of these fools gets burned. *running away to find eye drops*
I’m not upset for Tillerson personally. The guy is crazy wealthy, and he decimated the state department, but he wasn’t all bad he called Trump a moron and spoke the truth about the Russians. Still now firing via Twitter is a thing. This is where we are at. Not to invoke from religion, but by the grace of God goes I. This is upsetting as now it is legitimatized and it really shouldn’t be.
Let’s give it up for the blue tsunami coming, y’all. Lamb’s victory is a sign of doom for the Repubs. Midterms are coming and the flipping begins!
I certainly hope you are correct. This entire group of classless, brainless, liars is a disgrace to the world. There are some days I wonder if this entire govt. has slipped down a rabbit hole. Trump and his idiots make “Tricky Dick” Nixon look like honest, decent hard working citizens. We owe Nixon an apology. Now, there’s something I never thought I’d say.
I hope so – I went to school out near there, and honestly I’m almost as stunned by that particularly area going Democrat as I was with Doug Jones winning in Alabama. I hope it’s a very good sign, but we can’t get complacent – VOTE!!!
VOTE y’all!! Although I’m less excited about Lamb (apparently) winning than I was about Jones in Alabama. He has no shot at re-election, the seat he just won won’t exist in a few months. The PA courts are ordering districts be redrawn due to excessive gerrymandering by the GOP, and this district will be split apart and reapportioned to neighboring ones.
Ture, but the redistricting is a good thing and Lamb will be able to run again in another district. He’s clearly a strong Dem candidate for that part of PA
Trump tweets often about NAFTA too. Systemic corruption.
And how disgusting were Trump’s racist tweets yesterday, re: The wall? I felt dirty just knowing he was in my state yesterday (CA).
*passes the bleach* He’s from my state.
hey paul: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
One correction: Trump didn’t actually campaign for Saccone in Pennsylvania. Trump campaigned for Trump. His speech was all about himself and his usual slams against the media and individuals. He barely mentioned Saccone although he let him briefly wave to the crowd. But it was a Trump in 2020 rally for sure by the duck rule (walks like a duck, talks like a duck – it’s a duck).
Let us hope that the Recount Gods are with us and Saccone really has lost, adding to the evidence that Trump’s support is the kiss of death.
Yes. It’s always about Trump, including the “Marine Core.” He even covered himself in case Saccone lost, saying he thought he was a weak candidate.
Hey now, it wasn’t all about him yesterday. Some of it was about the “Space Force” we need to build. Snickers. What an idiot he is.
@jwoolman — yes those are not campaign appearances meant to support the local candidate. These appearances are meant to boost the fragile ego of Cheeto, and no one else.
Unfortunately for Cheeto, his “campaign” appearances have taken on the depressed and panicked air of a third-rate vaudevillian aware that his act is dying—he can see the hook coming.
Yeah, I live in PA, and my friend’s husband came home the other day looking completely baffled. “There’s…Trump ads on the radio.” “Yeah, the Saccone/Lamb vote is next week.” “No honey, the ads are FOR TRUMP.” *cue shocked silence*
He was fired via Twitter.
So.
I am not going to muster any sympathy for how he was fired. Garbage attracts garbage and he deserved to go out like this.
Be careful what you wish for. Trump’s preferred replacement is much more lock step with Trump on all the issues. Tillerson at least promoted negotiations and keeping promises in key areas, the new guy (if confirmed) won’t.
You have to remember that if Trump doesn’t like the current person in the position, it’s because that person keeps bringing up inconvenient realities that contradict Trump’s druthers. So he is planning to replace with someone who will do things Trump’s way. Sometimes you just have to hope we get the lesser of two evils.
As awful as Tillerson is, he did call Russia out on their BS. My main concern is that he got fired right afterwards. Russia wasn’t happy with Tillerson’s words so they got trump to fire him. That is a tremendous amount of power another country holds over our government.
No he didn’t. No one does. We have to stop letting Trump lower OUR standards. We are better than that. Just remember Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high.” It may not have worked for the Presidential election, but I hope it will be a blip in the road and will work in the long run.
Tillerson might have been shady but he publically pushed back on war drums. Both in North Korea and Iran. His replacement is especially anti-Iran nuclear deal and wants the US to buy out and possibly start a war on that front along with North Korea. After he was fired, he spoke to the press strongly pushing back on Russian and raising the alarm.
Tillerson gutted the state Department of which I will never forgive him for and he failed to communicate with the public or seek advice from even Connie Rice. But with his replacement, chaos is coming to the global world community. Things are going to be much worse.
I agree. Pompeo is terrifying. I do wonder how all the evangelicals DT brings in justify their loyalty to a boss with such flexible moral boundaries. I see hypocrisy.
Typical of Trump, really.
So professional.
Not that anybody cares anymore, but is this legal? I mean if my boss, would not talk to me, or officially send me a letter, but instead blasted all over the internet, that I am fired, I would question the legality of this.
Of course it’s legal. It’s also rude & unprofessional but when has that ever stopped DT?
One other layer to the Till firing by tweet: His father had passed away little over a week prior to that (late February).
So, even if Kelly talked to him last Friday, it’s still quite cold to terminate someone less than two weeks after their parent passed away. Particularly when no solid cause has been floated (other than we have a firing-happy, d-list reality show host running the country).
And he dared to criticize Russia.