Beltway Insider: Trump’s First 100 Days; France Elections; Marine Le Pen, Tennessee Teacher; LA Riots at 25

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President Donald Trump marked his first 100 days in office this week, a milestone that is met with ranks and ratings as the former business leader continues to struggle with Hillary backlash and persistent and alleged election fraud.

According to Gallup, President Trump's job approval, over the past week, increased two percentage point to 40% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness as President decreased three percentage points to 53%. 

Donald Trump's First 100 Days

Donald Trump assumed the office of the President January 20, 2017. A rainy, cold, winter day in Washington, D.C.. The crowd for the 45th President was smaller than in recent elections, with only 160,000 showing up to see Trump assume the office.

Watching the events, it seemed surreal, that a nation as intelligent and advanced as the United States would lose sight of the future, and elect this man who clearly care nothing for the principals of this nation.

The people who voted for him seem to be locked into the belief that he will not only make life better, which translated means ease financial burdens to allow for the common man to have more disposable income to disperse as he chooses.

Alleged Election Cyber Fraud

Alleged cyber election fraud, the most dominant theme of President Trump's first 100 days, became known early as his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has remained under scrutiny with the love fest cooling somewhat in the last week.

Former President Obama had cautioned the Russian leader several times throughout the campaign regarding his attempt to influence or interfere with the election process.

AS the belief of a nation-state cyber-attack, was dismissed as brouhaha and an exaggeration of the actualities, cyber influence along with the skill and deftness of a politician who could easily con voters into believing that with a wave of pixie dust over America, the ills of the world would suddenly be healed. And of course, as he promised the Mom's and Pop's in middle America, they would also experience a boost in income, as not so much would be pulled by taxes, and rising costs of daily needs and necessities.

The Cyber theory had continued to hold throughout the first 100 days and is expected to remain a back burner issues for every newsroom waiting until the evidence that connects either the president or a member of his family to a Russian official who agreed to secure the election victory for Mr. Trump.

Transition Team Failures; Backlash; Nepotism Begins at White House

The First 100 days also saw a backlash in faith with polls dropping as only 37% of Americans believed the President was doing a good job.

Mr. Trump claimed expertise in hiring and then fell into the good old boy payback club managing to have nearly every member of his first-round cabinet picks replaced some lasting only days for failing to disclose relationships with the Kremlin.

The former reality show star picked Jarad Kushner, his son-in-law to be his senior advisor, the move infuriated West Wing Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. The relationship between the two has remained so strained that the President stepped in and explained the need for the two men to work it out.

Trump also appointed Ivanka Trump, his daughter, to an official West Wing position. The former businesswomen is now an assistant to the President handling issues directly to females. One can assume that she will provide cautionary guidance on a wide range of issues.

The only member of the Trump family who is auspiciously absent from the White House is his wife, Melania Trump, who has chosen to remain in New York City with her son, Baron, so to ensure some normalcy. Trump who lives in a Penthouse in Manhattan, and her son who attends and exclusive private school may find the 1600 Pennsylvania digs a bit of a drag with no views and limited freedom.

The relationship between the two has appeared to ossify and apparently has since the inauguration when the President elect left his wife behind and has refused to show her courtesy or even gentlemanly manners befitting the leader of the free world.

Beltway Insider: Trump/Afghanistan; Pope's Message; U.S./Russia; Mass Refugees Murder; North Korea; Pence; NY Judge

International Image Overshadowed

The campaign rhetoric and exposure of Mr. Trump's previously bad boy celebrity image that included self-entitled snatch and grabs at whim or will has carried over to his image abroad. While the free world has become absorbed in their own national problems and issue the initial protests during these first 100 days was noted.

Most notably, the United Kingdom where people in mass protested the invitation by the Queen, delivered by Prime Minister May during one of the first state visits hosted at the White House, for a summer 2017 visit.

Trump has continued to fight poor job performance rating which may have been the motivation behind the choice to send Vice President Mike Pence to convey the policies and positions of the government.  

Policy Failures

President Trump moved quickly in his first 100 days to set the tone for his presidency, reinventing a New America, the backlash of his questionable victory also carried over as he initiated his first major campaign promise.

Throughout the Presidential campaign, candidate Trump played on fearmongering, inciting within the profiling of certain nations, banning all peoples from those seven nations from entering the country based on the premise they were more likely to promote terrorism, hate rhetoric or have Islamic State leanings.

His attempts were challenged in court and the ban was found to be unconstitutional. A milder version was presented and it also was found to be unconstitutional. He has since moved to find a way around the sticking points of the courts to create resurrect a travel ban of some sort.

A March 6, 2017 Executive Order does just that and has initiate da Travel Ban that has inclusions and exclusions, allowing some foreign national to enter and to stop others from entering.

The Executive Order Protecting The Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into The United States can be viewed here.

France Elections

Paris Police Officer Killed

The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a lone wolf attack on the Champs Elysees, arguably one of the most famous streets in the world, which killed a police officer and seriously wounded two others.

The attacker was shot dead at the scene while attempting to escape on foot. The Islamic States was quick to claim the attack, unusually so many have said.

Le Pen Benefits from Pre-Election Terrorist Attack

It appears as if Russian President Vladimir Putin is up to his old ways as he attempts now to influence the French elections by using the understandable terrorism fears of a city on the edge to create the appearance of an attack on the night before the runoff election that would determine the two candidates that will face off in the general election.

Emmanuel Macron, and his En Marche! (Forward!) Party and Marine Le Pen were the candidates who emerged with the majority of the votes. While neither received a 50% majority the top two candidates will face each other on May 7, 2017.

Marcon, who leads the polls with a double digit, over Le Pen's National Front Party is expected to carry that strength through to the run off. Le Pen is making her position and loyalties know and has spoken early of her support of President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen is no stranger to Putin or his ways. Having met the Russian leader on three separate occasions a fact that was recently exposed contradicting her previous statements of only meeting Putin, once just recently.

"Her meeting with Putin was a political masterstroke. It showcased her idea of putting France at the centre of a nationalist Washington-Paris-Moscow axis if she was elected. Putin used it to send a political message to Europe. The high-profile event at his Kremlin palace, held just one month before the first round of the French election on Sunday (23 April), was designed to show that he still backed her despite her party, the National Front's (FN), failure to win anything in French regional elections in 2015." [EUObserver]

The National Front (FN) was founded by Le Pen and her father, Jean Marie Le Pen. The FN, like any campaign is seeking funding and has secured a € 2million in April 2014 with "the help of a Russian oligarch." Le Pen also obtained a € 9million loan for FN from the First Czech Russian Bank later that same year. In June 2016, she was approved for another loan from another Russian leader for an additional € 3million. [EUObserver]

Le Canard Enchaine states Mike Turner, a US senator, said in a letter to James Clapper, a US intelligence chief, that the FN asked to borrow €28.7 million from Russia in January 2016. Le Pen and other party officials denied it. But a declassified US intelligence report said Putin planned "future influence efforts worldwide, including against US allies and their election processes" after his meddling in the US last year. Richard Burr, the head of the Senate intelligence committee, which is looking into US election rigging, also said in March that "the Russians are actively involved in the French elections." [Le Canard Enchaine/EUObserver]

Putin remains motivated in election influencing as his attempts to influence the U.S. vote may have been successful and the persuasive power Mr. Trump was expected to exercise among nations has been almost muted due to the backlash. Putin would need another leader, another G7 nation to assist in presenting the case to the G7 leaders and the United Nations to end the sectorial sanctions the nation of still faces.

Putin may have found his newest pawn in Marine Le Pen.

Tennessee Teacher Caught; Victim Returned Home

The Tennessee teacher who abducted his former 15-year-old student was caught and captured this week in a remote cabin in the mountains of California, near the Oregon border, some 2500 miles from where this tragedy unfolded.

Tad Cummins, 50, was arrested after a six-week nationwide manhunt, with his victim, Elizabeth Thomas, 15, who appeared physically unharmed.

The caretaker of the cabin, Griffin Barry, where the two were staying became suspicious after Cummins approached him indicting he needed money for food, gas, and a place to stay. His actions toward Elizabeth concerned him.

Apparently, the caretaker did some research and saw an Amber Alert poster, could make the connection, and called the tip line.

Elizabeth Thomas has been reunited with her family. Tad Cummins has been taken into custody and faces charges of aggravated kidnapping and sexual conduct with a minor as well as federal charges.  

LA Riots at 25

This week marks the 25th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots sparked by the Rodney King verdict which four white LA police officers were acquitted for the alleged excessive force of a black motorist which was videotaped.

There are four definitive documentaries on the three days in which angry South Central African American took to the streets with one purpose and that was to kill as many whites as possible. What followed was a shocking display of anarchy and savage violence.

The violence escalated during the afternoon of April 29, minutes after the verdict was reached. Police in Simi Valley were in lock down as opposing factions had gathered on the day of the verdict each expecting justice to prevail.

People were gathered to watch the televised verdict and the perception of injustice became the catalyst that jolted the predominately black community of South Central. There was an electrical shortage, a skip that allowed for poor choices and bad decisions to take over, to rule and the mentality became infused with a perceived sense of racial injustice not simply for Rodney King, but for every injustice.

The shock waves became the trigger and with the powder keg already simmering due to the recent death of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old, who had been shot in the back of the head by a Korean shop owner over the perceived shoplifting of Orange juice and worse the life of this honor roll student was negated when the sentenced was pronounced. There was no justice for Ms. Harlins or her family and by extension her community.

The Rodney King verdict was the breaking point in this community. The complete breakdown of society exposed the worst in humanity and it some cases, as some documentaries show, some civility, some decency, even in the midst of the most vicious, most heated violent exchanges.

These Documentaries will be playing throughout the week as history has come full circle. We as a people are here again wondering if certain lives actuality matter and how far do we go to press home the point that we, every one of us, each member of humanity, of every race, is valuable and all our lives matter?

For more information on President Donald Trump: www.whitehouse.gov

Sources: Whiteouse.gov, Wikipedia.com,