Which Side is Trump On?

(Below: My opinion from nearly two years ago, February 22, 2017, published in the Cape May County Herald. The President's suspect Russia ties have been clear for years.)

Which side is President Donald Trump on?

That's the singular, simple, burning question we fellow Americans should be concerned with.

America's or Russia's?

That's it.

You can forget about Trump mouthpiece Kellyanne Conway's insipid plug of Ivanka's fashion line, or Trump's delusional talk about inaugural crowd sizes, or his absolutely baseless claim of illegal aliens voting in the last presidential election, or his comments with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Feb. 15 about whether a two-state, or one-state solution with Palestinians was best.

It was like he was deciding whether to get mustard or ketchup on his hamburger. "I could live with either one," said Trump.

Be careful of scrutinizing any one of our president's endless list of blatant lies he has regurgitated during his tyrannical, turbulent first month in the White House.

You can forget all that cooked up garbage - which in many respects is actually designed to distract from the one monumental question that we all should be asking.

Which side is he on?

And you, me, we the people, need to insist that Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, expediently investigate Trump's Russia ties now.

The writing has been on the wall in glaring, dark letters for months since we started learning about Russia's meddling in the elections and Trump's odd defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump's relationship with Russia goes back decades.

We know of Trump's desire to build a Trump Tower in Moscow in the 1990's. We know of his son, Don Jr.'s repeated trips to Moscow.

"We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia," said the younger Trump in a 2008 real estate conference speech in Moscow. He told investors that the Trump Organization had trademarked the Donald Trump name in Russia and had big plans to build in Moscow.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

How can Trump claim to be a champion of American Democracy, while repeatedly, bizarrely, inexplicably, exhaustively, unrepentantly and exuberantly defending Putin at every turn?

How can Trump consistently, unapologetically stand up for the murderous Russian oligarch at the slightest hint of criticism, in the same way he impulsively attacks anyone who remotely challenges his own twisted, hateful, divisive policy tweets.

Indeed, what incriminating evidence might Putin have on Trump?

General Michael Flynn's resignation as National Security Advisor recently, makes all the more urgent an investigation of Trump.

Flynn apparently lied to Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with a Russian ambassador prior to Trump's presidency.

But who put Flynn up to discussing those Russian sanctions?

The plot thickens. Flynn's ouster should ultimately be the ticket to Trump's own. But that's only if we get some answers.