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Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn

Clete Wetli is a liberal political activist living in Huntsville and a regular contributor to AL.com. Email Clete at decaturclete@gmail.com or visit cletewetli.com.

One day, scholars may question whether it was National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, or certifiable traitor, Benedict Arnold, who said, "Let me die in this old uniform in which I fought my battles. May God forgive me for ever having put on another."

Amidst all the chaotic cacophony of childish, vengeful tweets and haphazardly written executive orders, there has been one consequential and compelling story that the Trump administration has tried fervently, yet impotently to banish, much like a bastard's claim to the monarchy, the uneasy and cathartic realization that Trump has sold America's soul to the Russians.

The brilliance of Russian "kompromat" is that there is no simplistic calculus embraced by any mainstream consensus to measure its legitimate impact, nor any easily digestible practical way to correlate its non-linear cause and effect without conjuring up images of an inebriated Oliver Stone ghost-writing rejected conspiracy theory plots for a low-budget version of the X-Files.

We know the Russians maliciously interfered with our election and that they have inordinate sway over Trump, but because it takes more than an average sound-bite to explain, they've already succeeded. In fact, Trump has done everything to bury the story, but belatedly the truth seems to be slowly and damningly emerging.

It's now evident that out National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, lied to the American people. More importantly, it's evident that Trump also lied when he claimed that he knew nothing of the matter even as it's come to light that his administration was warned by the outgoing Justice Department many weeks ago.

It may be inferred, as well, that Trump's irrational refusal to release his tax returns may provide some obvious and damning evidence of apparent Russian influence on his decisions and allegiances. Add all that to Paul Manafort, Carter Paige, Cozy Bear, and Trump's own sycophantic statements about Putin and blend it with a leaked dossier that details salacious allegations of sex-games in a Russian hotel and maybe there is an actual fire underneath all that suffocating smoke.

Pathetically, Flynn's resignation is nothing more than the poorly-drawn cartoon version of a sacrificial lamb as America impatiently waits for more inevitably forthcoming evidence to surface that proves Trump has been Putin's willing puppet all along. Perhaps, Trump's Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, is better versed at hiding his conflicts of interest in plain sight; like a veteran carnie working a magic show whose wink doesn't hide that marked card in his sleeve.

So, what's it going to take for Republicans to put country before party? Will this be the moment where Republicans realize that they're being played or will they keep marching in lockstep until they realize that they're choking on baklava while attempting to read Stalin in Mother Russia's native tongue?

Let's be clear, the Russians are great people and any slights against baklava are certainly misguided, but Trump's unabashed love of the murderous and despotic Putin is simply beyond logic and sober rationality.

The resignation of Flynn is not the end of a chapter, but simply the beginning of an intense inquiry that should have began a year ago to determine who knew what and when.

Ironically, it was Michael Flynn who once said, "You cannot defeat an enemy you do not admit exists." Of course, the Trump administration has been consistent in naming every enemy, real or perceived, but has always declined to name Putin's Russia as an adversary.

So, which traitor said it best when one of them said, "My message to you is very clear: Wake up, America!" Well, to be fair, Benedict Arnold preferred hard tack over baklava.