Unmatched Wisdom: After giving Turkey leave to move into territory controlled by US-backed Kurdish forces near the Syrian border, President Trump threatened to destroy the Turkish economy if they go too far. He tweeted, “As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!).”

  He warned that Turkey must take care of the 1,000 ISIS fighters and their families now in the custody of Kurdish fighters. “They must, with Europe and others, watch over the captured ISIS fighters and families.” He signed off, “THE USA IS GREAT!”

  Trump is turning against one ally in favor of another in order to disentangle America from the conflict. The Syrian Democratic Forces supported by the US are considered terrorists by the Turkish government even though they have been fighting the Islamic State with US help. A White House statement wasn’t clear about the fate of the Kurdish SDF.

  The statement from the White House Sunday night said, “Turkey will soon be moving forward with its long-planned operation into Northern Syria.” 

  The administration announcement that the US would pull out of northern Syria threw new doubt into American policy and relations with European allies, and whether the US can be a trusted friend to anyone.  

  Members of Congress from both parties Republican expressed dismay. Sen. Lindsey Graham called it “a disaster,” while Syria’s Kurds accused the US of turning its back on allies. 

Taxing Issue: A federal appeals court in New York has blocked a lower court ruling that the Manhattan district attorney may go ahead and subpoena eight years of President Trump’s New York and federal tax returns. The Manhattan DA is at least temporarily stalled in his quest to determine whether Trump broke the law paying off the porn actress Stormy Daniels.

  Trump’s lawyers have argued that a sitting president is immune to criminal prosecution. In his 75-page ruling, District Court Judge Victor Marrero called the president’s argument “repugnant to the nation’s governmental structure and constitutional values.”

  The President tweeted, “The Radical Left Democrats have failed on all fronts, so now they are pushing local New York City and State Democrat prosecutors to go get President Trump.” 

Personal Foul: The National Basketball Association is under fire for cravenly bowing to China after the general manager of the Houston Rockets tweeted his support for Hong Kong protesters. A mealy-mouthed statement from the NBA said, “”We have great respect for the history and culture of China and hope that sports and the NBA can be used as a unifying force to bridge cultural divides and bring people together.”

  The NBA and in particular the Rockets are very popular in China. Daryl Morey set off a firestorm over the weekend when he posted an image on Twitter that read, “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong.”  The Rockets’ partnerships in China were immediately thrown into doubt. CCTV 5, the sports channel of China’s top state broadcaster, announced that it would suspend airing Houston Rockets events on television.

  The protesters in Hong Kong have been fighting to preserve their democracy under the heavy hand of the mainland’s control. China’s reaction to Morey’s tweet shows how far they will go to control the message.

  A Washington Post editorial this morning says, “China is attempting to enforce its version of the truth all around the world — bullying Chinese-language newspapers in Canada and the United States, patrolling the speech of its students abroad, demanding that foreign airlines and hotel chains wipe Taiwan off their maps. Some of its targets don’t have the wherewithal to stand up to this assault — which is why the NBA’s cravenness is so damaging.”

The Bulletin Board: Britain is in an uproar after the wife of a US diplomat who killed a 19-year-old Brit on his motorcycle then skipped the country. Anne Sacoolas was reported to be driving on the wrong side of the road when she hit Harry Dunn. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked the US to waive diplomatic immunity and return Sacoolas, but that is rarely ever done. — Amid accusations that she had an affair with a married man, Illinois Rep. Ilhan Omar, one of the freshman upstarts in Congress, has filed for divorce from her husband. 

DOA: The House expanded its impeachment inquiry, sending subpoenas to the Defense Department and the Office of Management and Budget in an effort to nail down whether President Trump held up military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation of Joe and Hunter Biden.

  With Democrats mustering the evidence and the courage to attempt to impeach President Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a video signaling how he intends this to end, and by the way, could you send money.

  McConnell says in the 17-second clip, “Nancy Pelosi’s in the clutches of a left wing mob. They finally convinced her to impeach the President.” Looking directly into the camera he says, “All of you know your Constitution. The way that impeachment stops is a Senate majority with me as majority leader.”

  “But I need your help,” he adds, standing in front of a picture of an elephant. “Please contribute before the deadline.”

Follow that Taxi: Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was notorious for putting private detectives onto women who complained about him and reporters investigating his sexual misdeeds.

  One of the journalists to crack open the Weinstein story is Ronan Farrow. An excerpt of his new book, “Catch and Kill,” describes being tailed by two private eyes employed by the Israeli-owned Black Cube security company. One was Ukrainian, the other Russian.

  It’s a good read, but to make a long story short, the immigrant Russian investigator eventually calls Farrow and tells him what’s going on. The investigator, Roman Khaykin, tells Farrow, “I like to be able to read the news and not think somebody’s holding a gun to a reporter’s head, deciding what he writes.” Farrow says that Khaykin told him, “Coming from a society where the news was controlled by those in power, I never, ever want to allow this to happen to the country that gave me and my wife and my son a chance.”

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