We here at the shebeen would like to welcome U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to our Frequent Suckers Club. Membership is reserved for those people who put their names and reputations in the hands of the current president*, only to have him sell them out, cheaply. First drink is on the house, ma’am.

On Sunday, Haley laid down the law on The Sunday Showz. The government of the United States was prepared to bring the hammer down on Russia for its complicity in chemical attacks on the civilian population of Syria. There would be new sanctions, and they would be tough ones. The government of the United States had had all it could stand, and it couldn’t stands no more. From CNN:

"You will see that Russian sanctions will be coming down," said Haley, reiterating what she said earlier on Fox News. "Secretary Mnuchin will be announcing those on Monday, if he hasn't already." A source familiar with the matter told CNN more than a dozen entities, including banks and equipment suppliers, are being looked at, and at least several are expected to be sanctioned. Also under consideration are Russian companies that sell helicopters and helicopter parts to Syria, sources familiar with the matter said.

That sounds serious. It sounded serious for almost two entire days. Also from CNN:

"No," Kudlow said when pressed by CNN's Jeff Zeleny about Haley's comments. "I think the issue here is we have a set of sanctions, and additional sanctions are under discussion but haven't been determined." Asked about Haley's statement, Kudlow said she may have been confused. "She got ahead of the curve. She's done a great job, she's a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that," he said. "But if you talk with Steve Mnuchin at Treasury and so forth, he will tell you the same thing—they're in charge of this—we have had sanctions. Additional sanctions are under consideration but not implemented."

Not for nothing but, back on April 6, the management of the shebeen, on the strength of a recommendation from the invaluable Sarah Kendizor and a story from NBC News, cautioned all patrons to the effect that “announcing” sanctions, and “imposing sanctions,” and “enforcing” sanctions are all different activities. This is especially true under this president*, whose mind swirls with foul breezes only he can feel.



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I don’t think he deliberately sells the most loyal of his people out. I don’t think his mind works that way. I think he sees everyone close to him as fungible assets, like his casinos and his estates. They are also useful when the law and the math close in on him, so he sells them off. There’s never enough room through the loopholes for him and them, so they’re out of luck. He sells people off, not out. Nikki Haley is merely the most recent transaction.

And, of course, this whole mess is another demonstration, as if we needed another one, of the unavoidable truth that the president* will do anything to keep from getting truly serious with Vladimir Putin and the government of Russia. James Comey is unassailably correct about that.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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