6 Thoughts on Mike Flynn's Resignation

1. Tip of the Iceberg: It was October when the FBI was able to obtain warrants to wiretap certain members of The Emperor's staff who were communicating with Russia. That story hadn't been published until January, but it hinted that a lot more evidence of ties between The Emperor's team and Russia existed. The question is, is the evidence pointing to The Emperor, Mike Flynn, or someone else within the circle, as the central figure in all this? (See #6 for more)
2. A Split Party: The GOP is starting to fracture. Jason Chaffetz stated that things will take care of themselves, so no need to investigate. Devin Nunes said that he accepts the White House's story and will take up The Emperor's suggestion of investigating the leaks that led to Flynn's departure, instead. Rand Paul thinks it's a waste of time for Republicans to investigate Republicans. OTOH, A growing chorus of Republicans in the Senate is saying that investigations will be forthcoming and that Flynn will be called to testify -- if he starts claiming 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination, that might get Republicans riled up further. 
3. Russia in Panic Mode: The first tweet out of Russia -- via RT (otherwise known as Russia Today, a Kremlin-owned news agency) -- was to label Flynn's resignation as a "retirement". After some mockery, they quickly deleted the tweet, then reported that the Kremlin deemed this as an internal matter for the US. Russian lawmakers are going off the rails, creating all sorts of narratives about what's going on. Essentially, they're now throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks.
4. The Timeline You'll Want to Pay Attention to: There are inconsistencies in details, and the timeline presents some critical waypoints showing that perhaps the WH knew but actively lied:
   
   • January 13: AP says a top Trump official reported that Mike Flynn had multiple contacts with Russian official Sergey Kislyak, on December 29, initiated by a text message the day before.
   • January 15: Mike Pence goes on Face the Nation and states unequivocally that  Flynn told him the day before that there was no talk regarding sanctions and that it was done via text message.
   • January 20 ~ January 23: FBI interviews Mike Flynn.
   • January 23: Sean Spicer says he spoke to Flynn the night before and that he made one phone call regarding four subjects, (1) the plane crash, (2) Christmas, (3) conference over Syria, (4) direct phone call with Trump.
   • January 23: WaPo breaks a story that says FBI investigated and cleared Flynn's phone calls.
   • January 26: Sally Yates informs Trump Administration of Flynn's lies.
   • January 28: Trump uses an Executive Memo to put Stephen Bannon on NSC, on equal footing with Flynn.
   • January 30: Sally Yates fired.
   • February 8: WaPo reports multiple sources confirm Flynn did talk about sanctions with Russia's Kislyak, Flynn flat out denies this.
   • February 9: Flynn walks back his statement by suggesting that he doesn't remember whether sanctions were discussed, calls Mike Pence to explain and apologize.
   • February 9: Mike Pence first learns about Flynn's lies to him.
   • February 10: The Emperor demurs about WH being told weeks ago about Flynn, saying, "I don't know about that. I haven't seen it. What report is that? I haven't seen that. I'll look into that."
   • February 13: Flynn resigns.
   • February 14: Sean Spicer faulted the DoJ, saying that they did nothing between January 13 and 26 to inform them.
5. The Emperor's Team is Still Lying to America and to Itself: Notice in that timeline that Bannon was placed on the NSC just two days after Sally Yates told The Emperor's team that Flynn had lied -- did they do this to keep Flynn in check? The first response from The Emperor was to tweet out an attack on the leaks that led to Flynn's departure -- that fits into the narrative that The Emperor's team saw a national security risk as nothing more than an HR shuffling. But to not tell VP Mike Pence? Imagine the chaos, if it turns out Pence was the last to know in the White House. Also, notice how The Emperor's own words continue to betray him.
6. Gross Incompetence or Treasonous?: This is increasingly the choice we're being presented. Was The Emperor grossly incompetent, such that despite knowing the national security risks Flynn's presence created, he nonetheless chose to keep Flynn within the top intelligence circle? Or is The Emperor using Flynn as a fall guy to cover up his own Treason? Given his actions these past three weeks, it's starting to look more like The Emperor's guilty of gross incompetence, at which point, it's plausible that he's not the central figure.