I won’t say the Trump presidency is beginning to unravel because that would require congressional Republicans to put country over party, and I’m not ready to make that bet.
This is despite the fact that, the day after firing the guy in charge of the investigation of Trump’s potential collusion with Russian interference in the election, Trump was welcoming the Russian Foreign Minister into the Oval Office (along with Sergey Kislyak, the spymaster Russian ambassador to the U.S.) at Putin’s request. The Russians brought along a photographer, while all U.S. media was kept out. When the Russians released photos of the meeting (including Kislyak who the White House was not acknowledging as part of the visiting delegation), the Trumpters whined about the tricksy Russians and how they lie.
However, that was quickly overshadowed by Trump’s interview with NBC’s Lester Holt today saw him contradict all of the messaging his administration has put out on why FBI Director James Comey was fired, making the phrase of the day “Obstruction of Justice.”
This may be the most extreme case of Trump incriminating himself, and it may even stick this time. If so, we’ll soon be hearing a lot of Trump’s associates seeking their protections under the Fifth Amendment. As Josh Marshall noted in Talking Points Memo today, Trumps contradiction has caught a lot of people helping to spread lies.
While you sit back and watch, it might be a good time for a 5th Amendment cocktail. The recipe via Kindred Cocktails is:
1.75 oz bourbon
.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse
.25 oz Fernet Branca
.5 oz Velvet Falernum
2 dashes Hawaii Bitters Lilikoi Bitters (see note below)
Lemon peel
Stir over ice and strain over a large rock
A couple of notes on variations and additional Trumpian elements: It is a pleasant easy drinking bourbon cocktail, the Fernet was somewhat pronounced, but that may be because I followed one of the suggestions and cut down the Falernum to .25 oz. Also, I’m not sure of the original flavor intent here because WTF are lilikoi bitters?
A bit of research tells me lilikoi is a Hawaiian variant of passionfruit. To compensate, Similar one of the commenters on Kindred Cocktails used a dash each of orange and peach bitters. I used a dash of orange bitters, too, but I went with 18:21 Hibiscus Bitters since I kept seeing those passion flowers and had nothing else citrusy, so I went floral instead.
The drink originated in Hawaii, the actual birthplace of Barack Obama, despite what Trump says. The other Trump similarity is that I couldn’t get details on the lilikoi bitters because the company seems to have disappeared in 2013 leaving a lot of paid orders unfilled. Sounds almost presidential.
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 