Understanding Goldstone.

On Tucker Carlson's show last night, Mark Steyn laughs and laughs at this Goldstone character at the center of the Don-Jr-gate story. Go over there and watch the clip of Steyn's sustained comic riff:



One approach to getting President Trump away from this problem is to portray it as too absurd to mean anything. And yet the Goldstone-is-a-clown defense will not work on anyone who's inside the mindset that the entire Donald Trump phenomenon is a giant clown show. In that view, the arrival of another clown makes it more of a clown show. That's the problem. It's a nightmare!

And The NYT has its effort to soberly process Mr. Goldstone. Excerpt:

He is currently on what he has termed a “gap year,” during which he is traveling around the world. So far, according to his Facebook page, Mr. Goldstone has made stops in Venice; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and Montenegro, among other places, and posted images of himself with young men — “muppets,” as he calls them — in each one. The last item he posted on Facebook was a photo of a sign for the Bathhouse of the Winds in Athens on Sunday....

That article reveals that Goldstone — among many other things — wrote an essay that was published in The New York Times. Here it is, from 2010: "The Tricks and Trials of Traveling While Fat." Excerpt:

In China, traveling while fat turned farcical. I had been in Beijing less than 48 hours when I started to notice small children running up to me and touching my stomach before scurrying away in fits of laughter. Day and night they continued to approach me, poking and prodding at my belly.

On a walk through the Forbidden City, a local guide explained to me what was happening. “The kids think you are Buddha,” he said, “and they are rubbing your belly for good luck. You are Happy Buddha.”

Tip: Do not rub Rob Goldstone's belly for good luck. It doesn't work.

That doesn't mean you should attempt to pop that belly. You know what I'm talking about? Watch the man sitting between Trump and Goldstone:



ADDED: Does that excerpt from the NYT article have a homophobic whiff? I had to look up the Bathhouse of the Winds in Athens. It's a public bath dating back to the first period of Turkish rule (1453 – 1669). It "functioned as a bathhouse until 1956" and is now run by The Museum of Greek Folk Art as a tourist attraction. And I had to look up "muppet" in the Urban Dictionary. It means "A person who is ignorant and generally has no idea about anything."

"Sir Ivan said he never heard Goldstone say anything political, but 'it would surprise me if he was a strong Trump advocate."

"He reiterated that, 'I think he strictly did it for social purposes, and to do somebody a favor.' Goldstone ― who once posted a photo of himself wearing a gold hat emblazoned with the word 'CUNTY,' which he promised is 'very me' ― did seem to celebrate Trump’s victory in November. He posted hourly updates on state-by-state results to Facebook throughout the evening of Election Day, then posted a link to a 2013 music video in which Trump appeared with Emin Agalarov.... Shortly after Trump’s win, Goldstone ― who once said graffiti declaring 'pussy not war' represents 'My sentiments entirely !!!' ― posted a photo of himself in a 'Russia' T-shirt with the caption, 'hedging bets'...."

From "The Guy Who Set Up The Trump Jr.-Russia Meeting Is The Best New Character In ‘2017’/In April, Rob Goldstone declared himself 'in a serious relationship with Bread'" in HuffPo.

"That must mean that Don Jr. has the email, and he ought to be able to produce the text."

"The NYT knew that when it wrote about what the email 'indicates.' So I'd like to see Don Jr. produce the text. That would answer all these questions."

I said earlier this morning. And here we go:

Here's my statement and the full email chain pic.twitter.com/x050r5n5LQ

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 11, 2017

And here's the 4th page, which really is where to begin to read chronologically (click to enlarge):


ADDED: Here's the NYT article on this. The email (from Goldstone) says:

The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father

The Times explains that confusing title, "Crown prosecutor":

There is no such title as crown prosecutor in Russia — the Crown Prosecution Service is a British term — but the equivalent in Russia is the prosecutor general of Russia.

Later, Goldstone writes:

Don Hope all is well Emin asked that I schedule a meeting with you and The Russian government attorney who is flying over from Moscow for this Thursday. I believe you are aware of this meeting — and so wondered if 3pm or later on Thursday works for you?

AND: Most damaging is this line from Goldstone: "This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump." To which Don Jr. responded: "If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer."

This is the smoking gun of collusion, right?

Right.

Wrong.

I can't figure it all out yet. I withhold my judgment and wait for more analysis.

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