TRUMP'S MARCHING ORDERS FROM PUTIN: CONTINUE BREAKING UP THE WEST, RESTORE THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

Now we know. After an interview with Tucker Carlson, it's pretty clear what transpired during Donald Trump's two hour meeting with Vladimir Putin. It was made clear to Trump that Putin wants a free path to recreating a Russian empire, and he wants the west out of his way. 

Trump's marching orders from Putin include: (1) Continue breaking up the western alliance (2) by weakening NATO over geo-strategic pawn Montenegro, which (3) gives Putin another puzzle piece in the reconstruction of the former Soviet empire. Throw in (4) reckless and gratuitous talk about WW III for dramatic effect, and you get what we see playing out on the world stage: (5) America's foreign policy has been contracted out to Russia.

How much clearer does Trump's subservience to Putin have to be? There is nothing in America's recent, or long-term, foreign policy goals that suggest we need to break up the western alliance and give Eastern Europe back to Russia. Putin wants to recreate an empire, and Trump's going to make it easier for him by getting out of the way. 

There is almost no distinction between what Putin wants and what Trump appears ready to hand over to him. When it comes to foreign policy, it's as if the two are the same people, as Time's cover this week suggests.

What a disaster. The fact that all of this is unfolding in real time as the Republican Party sits idly by and watches it happen makes it clear that the GOP is complicit, and should be held accountable when the chickens come home to roost. 

- Mark