Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Trump Reportedly Had A Meltdown In Anticipation Of Indictments In The Russian Probe

The first indictment from Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election was made on Monday. As the probe intensifies, Donald Trump continues to downplay the criminal charges, insist there was no collusion between his campaign and Moscow and trying to redirect attention to Hillary Clinton's emails.

This Is Happening Because Donald Trump Fired James Comey

The Morning Blow panel discusses the latest information in Monday's revelation that resident Trump's former top campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates were told to surrender to the FBI.


3 Key Trump Campaign Officials Arrested - Donald Trump Defends Via Tweets!

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses the first round of indictments as a result of Robert Mueller's investigation of Donald Trump and his residential campaign.

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Puerto Rico utility cancels controversial $300 million contract with Montana firm hired to repair electrical grid

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello has called for the immediate cancellation of a $300 million contract with Montana-based Whitefish Energy Holdings, a tiny company based in the hometown of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/puerto-rico-governor-says-contract-to-whitefish-company-should-be-canceled/2017/10/29/e5336cda-bcb8-11e7-97d9-bdab5a0ab381_story.html 

Trump Still Hasn’t Released His Tax Returns, What’s He Hiding?

It has been nearly a year since Donald Trump won the electoral vote to become resident, and he is still refusing to release his tax returns. The only logical explanation is that he’s hiding information that he doesn’t want us to see. We have to demand better from our elected officials, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.

Ivanka Trump Says American Workers Are The “Best”, Still Has Her Products Made Overseas

During an interview on Fox News, Ivanka Trump claimed that both her and her father believe that American workers are the absolute “best” in the world.

If that’s the case, why do both Ivanka and Donald have the products for their clothing lines made overseas?

It has nothing to do with tax codes, as Ivanka claims, and has everything to do with paying slave wages to workers. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.



https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ivanka-trump-us-workers-best-hypocrite-president-daughter-donald-business-organisation-fashion-brand-a8016556.html

NFL Owner On Protests: "We Can’t Have The Inmates Running The Prison"

During a meeting to address the NFL players protesting during the national anthem, the owner of the Houston Texans said something that really upset players. Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, Francesca Fiorentini, and Judah Friedlander, the hosts of The Young Turks, explain the fallout from his comments.

HOUSTON -- Some Texans players considered staging a walkout following a comment by team owner Bob McNair that compared NFL players to "inmates," a source told ESPN.

About 10 players, including Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, left the facility Friday, the source said. Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Hopkins' absence from practice was directly related to McNair's comment. Running back D'Onta Foreman also did not practice over the quote, sources told ESPN.

Most of the players who left returned to the facility, the source said, and the remaining players were talked out of their protest by the coaching staff. "When it happened, there's a thousand emotions going through your mind," left tackle Duane Brown said. "Obviously, one of the emotions is to leave the building immediately. [But] we decided to go to work. The situation's not over. It's something that we'll reconvene and talk about again, but we had practice today."

Texans coach Bill O'Brien said Hopkins had taken a "personal day." "I'm 100 percent with these players," O'Brien said. "I love these players, I love this coaching staff. We will show up in Seattle and play. We will play very hard. Seattle is a great football team with a great coaching staff. But we will be there when the ball is kicked off in Seattle."



http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21185499/houston-texans-players-considered-walkout-bob-mcnair-comment

Impeachment Ad Triggers Fox News Fans

Fox & Friends viewers were livid over an ad that ran during the show. Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, Francesca Fiorentini, and Judah Friedlander, the hosts of The Young Turks, show you the impeachment ad.



"Billionaire Democratic mega-donor Tom Steyer is spending over $10 million to run a national advertisement calling for Trump's impeachment. Steyer made his fortune as a hedge fund manager. In 2016, he spent $65 million supporting Democrats and environmental causes, including Martin O'Malley.

Steyer is considering challenging Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in California, he's also mulling a 2020 presidential run.

In the ad, Steyer calls Trump "a clear and present danger" who is "mentally unstable" and armed with nuclear weapons. Friday morning Trump attacked Steyer on Twitter calling him "wacky and totally unhinged."

http://www.businessinsider.com/billionaire-tom-steyer-releases-ad-video-donald-trump-impeachment-2017-10

COLLUSION


Friday, October 27, 2017

First charges filed in Mueller investigation

Updated 8:57 PM ET, Fri October 27, 2017

Washington (CNN) 

A federal grand jury in Washington, DC, on Friday approved the first charges in the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to sources briefed on the matter.
 
The charges are still sealed under orders from a federal judge. Plans were prepared Friday for anyone charged to be taken into custody as soon as Monday, the sources said. It is unclear what the charges are.
A spokesman for the special counsel's office declined to comment.
 
Mueller was appointed in May to lead the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
 
Under the regulations governing special counsel investigations, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who has oversight over the Russia investigation, would have been made aware of any charges before they were taken before the grand jury for approval, according to people familiar with the matter.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/27/politics/first-charges-mueller-investigation/index.html

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Crazed Republican Congressman Runs From CNN Reporter Yelling “You’re Fake News!”

Republican Congressman Paul Gosar has been pushing some wild conspiracy theories recently, and when a CNN reporter finally got the chance to question Gosar about his claims, he decided to yell at the reporter saying “You’re fake news” before running away down the hallway.

This is the kind of behavior that Trump has normalized since becoming resident, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins points out.



https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/youre-fake-news-conspiracy-theorist-gop-congressman-runs-away-from-cnn-when-interview-goes-off-the-rails/

Trump's Cabinet Crony Gave $300 Million No-Bid Contract To Friends At Whitefish Energy.

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses Whitefish Energy, which is the TWO-PERSON company that was awarded a NO-BID 1/3rd of a BILLION DOLLAR contract to restore power in Puerto Rico, seemingly because they're pals with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and gave his son a job.

Stop Praising Horrible Republicans Just Because They Don't Like Trump

Many Republicans have come forward recently to admonish or outright reject the presidency of Donald Trump.

And while the media is heaping praise on men like George W. Bush and Jeff Flake, they completely ignore the fact that the agendas of the dissenters are no different than those of Trump.

We have to stop forgiving these Republicans of their past sins just because they don’t like Donald Trump, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



https://www.thedailybeast.com/senate-republicans-increasingly-see-trump-as-a-threat-then-give-him-a-standing-o-at-lunch

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Barack Obama Speaks On Trump

Here are some comments on the monster that American society has created.

John Kelly And Sarah Huckabee Sanders Must Resign

To defend Trump and to criticize a widow, they lied—and lost all credibility.

Ricky Gervais Questions Sanity Of Trump Voters: “Why Are They Falling For Drain The Swamp?”

Comedian Ricky Gervais wants to know why Trump supporters are so dull that they fell for his promise to “drain the swamp.” And that’s a fair question. From everything we’ve seen from this administration, he’s not only failed on that promise, but he’s made the government far worse than we’ve seen in recent years. Gervais also offered some not-so-subtle advice to the Democratic elites during a recent interview, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/comedian-ricky-gervais-blames-authoritarian-liberals-for-trump-why-are-there-nazis-suddenly/

McCain Calls Out Trump's Draft Dodging

John McCain recently discussed people getting out of Vietnam by getting doctors to write letters saying that they have bone spurs. Guess who did that? Cenk Uygur, the host of The Young Turks, shows you McCain calling out Trump’s draft dodging.

Regarding Senators Corker And Flake: So Fucking What?

Posted by Rude One

People on the sensible-shoes left, the lying-to-themselves center, and the semi-rational right are praising two Republican senators today for speaking honestly about the threat that resident Donald Trump poses to the nation and the world. In and of itself, in a vacuum, it's pretty cool to see Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee and Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona go all in on calling out Trump for being dumb, divisive, and dangerous.

Corker, who previously had said that Trump is "crazier than a shit fight in a monkey house" (or words to that effect), was on several morning news programs today to say that Trump is a fucking liar who's gonna get us all killed. More precisely, on CNN, he said, "But I think at the end of the day, when his term is over, I think the debasing of our nation, the constant non-truth telling, and the - just the name calling, the things that I think the debasement of our nation will be what he'll be remembered most for." It barely needs to be mentioned that Corker doesn't think that Trump is a good role model for children, unless, you know, that child wants to grow up to be an asshole. Corker, by the way, has already announced he's not running for reelection in 2018.

Then, this afternoon, Flake got up on the Senate floor to announce he won't seek a second term basically because Trump's a dick and his voters are a bunch of goddamn nutzoids: "There is an undeniable potency to a populist appeal – but mischaracterizing or misunderstanding our problems and giving in to the impulse to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking people." To put that in non-Senate-floor-ese, Trump's a lying douche who doesn't give a shit about ripping the country apart for his amusement, and a bunch of yahoos love him for the lulz.

In fact, Flake asserted that Republicans should stop being such dumb asses about Trump: "With respect and humility, I must say that we have fooled ourselves for long enough that a pivot to governing is right around the corner, a return to civility and stability right behind it. We know better than that. By now, we all know better than that." Of course, it would have been more potent a speech had Flake had the balls to say Trump's name.

So, yeah, relative to the silent complicity of most Republicans, it's refreshing to see two well-respected and pretty damn conservative senators state the obvious.

But so fucking what? They're both leaving. Neither is willing to get into the trenches and fight. One can imagine they're sick of getting Pepe the Frog death threats. Still, they're bailing. Other than Corker making a vague promise that "we're going to be doing some hearings on some of the things that he purposely is breaking down, relationships we have around the world that have been useful to our nation," they aren't pledging to do a goddamn thing to stop Trump, even though, according to them, he's a potential despot who stokes fear and anger, a lying ignoramus who has no desire to understand issues that involve the life and death of millions of people.

What could they do?

If they were really brave, they'd say, "Yeah, you know what? Fuck the Republican Party." And they'd bail, offer to caucus with the Democrats for the rest of their terms, even if it defies their core ideology (as if supporting Trump didn't), and get Susan Collins or Lisa Murkowski to do the same. Thus that changes the leadership of the Senate and puts a halt to Trump's agenda and a mighty big fucking check on his power.

Obviously, Republicans aren't gonna do anything about Trump. Otherwise, senator after senator would have risen after Flake to say they agree. If Republicans are the cowardly shitheels that Flake described, why stick with them?

Or they could have called for impeachment proceedings to begin. They could have said that the president has committed many high crimes and misdemeanors, and, c'mon, people, we fuckin' impeached Clinton for lying about a blow job. What the fuck is wrong with us now?

Not only are Corker and Flake moral cowards on this count, but, fer fuck's sake, they both eagerly support every effort by Trump, having both voted for gutting the Affordable Care Act, for the cruel budget agreement, and for every shitty administrator and judge Trump has nominated. Perhaps we should hold off on the hosannas until they fucking do something to prove they hold the beliefs they speak of. Maybe we can stop giving them rhetorical hand jobs because they said shit that we like.

Because right now, it's just words. And, sorry, that's as good as nothing, as good as a series of tweets into the abyss.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

This Amazing Pic Of Trump And Mitch McConnell Having Russian Flags Thrown At Them Is Priceless

By Jason Easley

A picture captures the precise moment when Trump and Mitch McConnell had Russian flags thrown at them as they arrived for the Republican Senate lunch.


A picture captures the precise moment when Trump and Mitch McConnell had Russian flags thrown at them as they arrived for the Republican Senate lunch.

The picture was taken by Roll Call photographer Bill Clark.

Pictures are capable of capturing the mood of a nation better than words ever could. This is one of those moments as a smiling Mitch McConnell, and thumbs up Trump are reminded of what they did to win an election as Russian flags fly toward them.

McConnell has been one of the cover-up artists for Trump in the Russia campaign. Going back to the 2016 campaign, McConnell refused to work with President Obama and issue a joint statement condemning Russian interference in the presidential election.

McConnell also allowed Russia to attack the election by expressing skepticism about the intelligence that Russia was interfering in the US presidential election.

Mitch McConnell is still working hard to cover-up Trump's crimes.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, or in this case, one stolen presidential election.

State Of Denial


Monday, October 23, 2017

John McCain Brutally Mocks Trump For Being A Draft Dodging Coward

By





Sen. McCain (R-AZ) said, “One aspect of the conflict by the way that I will never ever countenance is that we drafted the lowest income level of America and the highest income level found a doctor that would say that they had a bone spur. That is wrong. That is wrong. If we are going to ask every American to serve, every American should serve.”

Donald Trump has been insulting and threatening Sen. McCain even after his brain cancer diagnosis, but McCain has been through way worse than anything Trump can dish out on Twitter. Sen. McCain was right on one critical point. Trump is a man who wrapped himself in the flag but used his family’s wealth to avoid serving his country. A resident who is under federal investigation for collaborating with a hostile foreign power to undermine democracy and win a presidential election is no patriot.

The prognosis may not be good for John McCain, but if he is in the final act of his life, he is using it to defend his country against the threat that is Donald Trump.

12 Days of Silence On Niger Tragedy Exposes Donald Trump As A Fake Patriot

By

Donald Trump’s handling of the aftermath of the Niger tragedy, which claimed the lives of four American servicemen, has caused considerable outrage and raised troubling questions. But what it didn’t do, was reveal anything about Trump that we didn’t already know. Contrarily, it only reinforced perceptions that were previously witnessed, but somehow ignored by his voters. For twelve days Donald Trump publicly ignored the deaths of four men who he claims to hold so dearly.

Twelve days of silence proved him yet again, to be a malignant political fraud.

During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly showed a disgusting lack of empathy and respect for members of the military. He derided Gold Star parents and proclaimed himself more astute in military strategy than battle tested generals. He accepted a veterans Purple Heart medal, famously declaring that “was much easier” than serving in combat. He held a fundraiser for veterans but didn’t disperse the funds until he was prodded by the media about monies raised. He also dodged the draft with five deferments, including one instance in which he claimed to suffer from bone spurs in his foot. But when questioned, Trump couldn’t remember which of his feet were afflicted. Later his campaign released a statement, which said both of his feet suffered from the condition. He insulted the record of former P.O.W. John McCain.

Does any of this sound like a man who has the utmost respect for our armed forces?

Four American lives were lost in Niger on October 4th. Donald Trump, self-proclaimed patriot, didn’t bother to mention their deaths until October 16th. Twelve days passed before Donald Trump, resident of the United States and supposed champion of our great military, bothered to mention their names. He only did so after being questioned by a reporter. It’s been reported that the attack was carried out by members of ISIS, the same terrorist group that Trump has claimed victory against, without any proof whatsoever. If this is true, then Trump allowed his hubris to impede good judgment and protocol. What transpired next, can only be described as normal within an administration wrought with incompetence and stupidity.

Donald Trump made a mockery of a call of condolence to the family of fallen soldier La David Johnson, lied about it and his deplorable minions covered for him with more lies. For a self-professed patriot, this was an unforgivable sin. Trump lied about the content of his call, lied about calling the families of other slain servicemen and doubled down, impugning the reputations of past presidents and stating that they didn’t do as much as him in this regard.

The controversy over his call could have easily been diffused, with real compassion and common sense, neither of which Donald Trump has. Trump could’ve apologized for any misunderstanding and redoubled efforts to show proper respect with a heartfelt display of empathy. However, it’s not in his nature. His is the nature of a rebellious child, who’s been told to stand in the corner and draws on the wall. Ego and ignorance led Trump to lie, and cowardice led his enablers to empower his lies and stupidity.

In the ensuing twelve days between the time of the demise of our fallen soldiers and his public acknowledgment, Trump continued his attack on the NFL calling their patriotism in question. What must be understood is that his position has nothing to do with his fraudulent love of the flag. His attack is fueled by greed and bigotry.

Trump attempted to buy the Buffalo Bills in 2014 and was denied entrance into the exclusive boys club. This is after famously making a fool of himself, while simultaneously bankrupting the league when he led the now-defunct USFL, into a court battle against the NFL and was summarily crushed.

The USFL was a fairly successful venture until the idiocy of Donald Trump came into play.

The other stunningly obvious reason for his war on football is his unmitigated bigotry and that of his supporters. Trump is playing the race card by inflaming the emotions of his bigoted base, who are wholly threatened by the concept of wealthy men of color fighting for change. Trump went as far to initiate a fake protest by his despicable underling, Mike Pence. He cost taxpayers over $250,000 for a hoax designed to further divide the nation. For twelve days Trump also continued golfing and his dimwitted use of social media.


Trump’s narcissism is being enabled by everyone around him. His con game is moved forward by his sad sack administration. Once respected, John Kelly, has proven that he is not in the White House to keep Trump in line, but rather to fall in line with the Trump vision. Kelly forever tarnished his legacy by committing classic Trumpisms of dishonesty and distortions. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, has repeatedly proven there was never a lie or fabrication that she wouldn’t bestow upon American citizens. The entire White House staff colluded in Trump’s deception when they scrambled to form a list of soldiers killed in action, so Trump could contact them, after saying he had already done so. Where exactly is his profound patriotism in any of this? You won’t find it because it doesn’t exist.

Donald Trump is a shameless liar, a conniving con artist, an emotional wreck who is intellectually deficient and historically incompetent. But make no mistake. Donald Trump is not now or ever was a patriot. #RESIST…

Sunday, October 22, 2017

Andy Borowitz: The End of Trump | The New Yorker

New Yorker contributor Andy Borowitz discusses Nazis, Donald Trump and impeachment, and starting his own movement, élitism.

Trump Says The “Piss Tape” Dossier Is A Conspiracy Funded By The FBI, Democrats, And Russia

Donald Trump is not happy about the resurgence of the “piss tape dossier” that claimed that Trump paid prostitutes to piss on him in a Russian hotel.

While there were far more explosive claims in the report, the “Golden Shower” claim has gained the most attention due to the overall creepiness of that assertion.

But Trump is fighting back, and he now says that this entire dossier was the result of the FBI, the Democratic Party, and Russia coming together to smear him. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.



https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/trump-floats-conspiracy-by-democrats-fbi-and-russia-to-pay-for-pee-pee-tape-dossier/

Trump Rates His Puerto Rican Response A Perfect 10 As Residents Continue To Suffer

Donald Trump says that he would rate his handling of the dire situation in Puerto Rico a perfect 10, even though 28% of people on the island still don’t have access to clean water.

Trump has bungled the situation in Puerto Rico just as bad, or possibly even worse, than George W. Bush with Katrina, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/356227-trump-on-puerto-rico-id-give-myself-a-10

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/trump-gives-his-response-to-puerto-rico-a-ten-even-as-28-of-residents-still-lack-drinking-water/

Friday, October 20, 2017

Oh, Just Fuck Off, John Kelly

Posted by Rude One

Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: No matter where the fighting is and no matter the cause, most soldiers will act bravely, sometimes even heroically, to support their fellow soldiers. In every bullshit war, there are men and women who fight, get wounded, and die, and their sacrifice should be honored and respected. They went to war because the leaders we elected made them go there.

But let's also get another thing straight: We have not fought a war that wasn't bullshit since World War II. And every death and every wound has been for nothing (beyond the soldiers protecting each other.) Korea was bullshit. Vietnam was bullshit. The Persian Gulf was bullshit. Iraq was bullshit. Afghanistan is bullshit. They are all built on lies. Sometimes we allow ourselves to believe they weren't lies. But each and every one was based on lies to advance some policy or ideology that no Americans should have had to die for.

Which gets us to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a retired Marine general. Yesterday, Kelly appeared at the White House press briefing to set the record straight or some fucking thing about President Trump's callous phone call to the widow of Sgt. La David Johnson, killed in Niger earlier in this month.

In doing so, Kelly took his career and any respectability he had, which he had already handed over to Trump when he agreed to work for him in the first place, and he allowed Trump to fuck it in the ass while he cheered Trump on.

You can read about the many ways in which Kelly lied about Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. You can get confused at Kelly's statement that Wilson "listened in" on a conversation that was on a fucking speakerphone in the car she was riding in and therefore she had no fucking choice but to listen in. You can roll your eyes at Kelly calling Donald Trump "brave" for reaching out to the family of a fallen soldier, as if Donald Trump has ever done anything braver than eat one too many Big Macs in a single sitting. You can even shake your head at Kelly's beyond ignorant invocation of the past when "Women were sacred, looked upon with great honor."

But I'm saying, "Oh, just fuck off" to John Kelly for a couple of reasons.

First, he should fuck off for talking about how Gold Star families (those who lost someone in battle) are no longer sacred because "I think that left in the convention over the summer." He is probably invoking the Khan family, who criticized Trump at the Democratic Convention, and not Patricia Smith, who lost her son in the Benghazi attack and called Hillary a murderer, more or less, at the Republican Convention.

And Kelly should fuck off because in the rest of his fucked-up appearance he completely politicized Gold Star families - who, it should be noted, often politicize themselves in honor of their lost loved ones. He ignored that the president didn't treat those families as sacred when he attacked the Khans. That didn't fucking crop up in his obsequious fluffing of Trump. As if to make his point clear about who he values, Kelly took a couple of questions but only from reporters who are in Gold Star families or are related to them.

Then he pretty much said that you're an asshole if you don't serve in the military: "We don't look down upon those of you who that haven't served. In fact, in a way we're a little bit sorry because you'll have never have experienced the wonderful joy you get in your heart when you do the kinds of things our service men and women do - not for any other reason than they love this country. So just think of that."

To which one can only say, "Fuck off. There are so many ways to serve your country and your community that don't involve the military and how fucking dare you diminish those."

Even more, John Kelly can fuck off because of what I started with here. Kelly said he was so upset that Rep. Wilson said mean things about Donald Trump (by, you know, quoting Donald Trump) that he had to take a walk. So, as one does, he went to Arlington National Cemetery, and "I went over there for an hour-and-a-half, walked among the stones, some of whom I put there because they were doing what I told them to do when they were killed."

What were they doing under his orders? Fighting in a bullshit war in Iraq, where Kelly had various commands, up to being in charge of the whole damn show in 2008. Yeah, Kelly led men to die for nothing. And so many in the military know that they were it was a war for nothing. Oh, he could have retired, but he didn't. Which means he believed in the bullshit war and sent soldiers to die for bullshit. I'm pretty fucking sure they didn't sign up for that.

But let's go even further here because, you know, if you're gonna tell someone to "Fuck off," you may as well go all the way. One of Kelly's sons died in combat. He usually doesn't talk about it because it's horrific and personal and why should he. But Trump dragged the corpse of Kelly's son into this shitpool. And Kelly brought him up yesterday. Kelly's son died in Afghanistan in 2010 in a war that should never have been started and was fucked up from the start by President Bush and it wasn't even unfucked by President Obama. Like every other soldier in this war, he died for nothing because he shouldn't have been there in the first place. Kelly's younger son is now on his fifth tour of duty in Afghanistan.

Yeah, John Kelly walked out in front of the world yesterday to announce that he is just another piss whore in Trump's bed, and he'll willingly degrade himself and his family in order to stay there.

(Note: I support the troops so much that I don't want them to have to fight because some politician needs to prove that a think-tank's position on democracy or terrorism is correct. I want them to defend us and defend our allies. And, yes, I have family in the military. I don't want them to die for bullshit.)

'Stunned' By John Kelly's Attack On Rep. Frederica Wilson

While defending resident Donald Trump's "brave" condolence call to a Gold Star family, Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly attacked Rep. Frederica Wilson, calling her an "empty barrel." Lawrence O'Donnell explains why Kelly was noble and cruel all at once.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

The Opposite Of Empathy
























What Sgt. La David Johnson Didn't Sign Up For

Posted by Rude One

It's practically a saying from the old country: If you elect a raging sociopath with a dead soul, don't be surprised when he acts like a raging sociopath with a dead soul.

So, frankly, what would have been shocking is if President Donald Trump had expressed remorse, sorrow, and sympathy to the widow of Sgt. La David T. Johnson, killed on a mission in Niger along with three of his fellow soldiers. Did anyone think that he wouldn't screw it up?

Of course, every time you think that Trump has cleared some incompetence bar, he sets it lower and still manages to flatten his gelatinous body to squeeze under it.

Talking to Myeshia Johnson while she was in a car with Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson on her way to the airport to greet the casket holding her husband and the father of her two children and one on the way, Trump referred to Sgt. Johnson only as "your guy." This is according to Wilson and Johnson's mother, who heard the call on speakerphone. And Trump's words of comfort were "He knew what he was signing up for, but I guess it hurts anyway."

The first part of that sentence has gotten the most attention, but, really, the second part is just as callous and malignantly narcissistic. "I guess it hurts anyway" makes it seem like Trump thought the death shouldn't have hurt as badly because Johnson had joined the military. Even more, it's that he doesn't comprehend what the pain of loss is like because it's not about him.

Let us pause here to recognize that the deaths of four soldiers in Niger on October 4th weren't acknowledged by Trump until Tuesday. The "fake news" had reported on it shortly after the ambush that also wounded two others. And Johnson's body was found two days after the assault by Nigerians, not by the U.S. Special Forces there. American soldiers are in the African nation to train the local military on dealing with al-Qaeda, although history has shown that the mission creep from this kind of activity often plunges more troops into danger (see Vietnam, El Salvador, and on and on).

Let us also recognize that had this attack and these KIA's had occurred when Barack Obama was President and Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, it would have been a scandal that would have stoked impeachment talk, if not criminal charged. The silence from the administration and the president would have been an indicator to Republicans of some massive cover-up, perhaps even the willingness of the administration to allow soldiers to die.

It would be a shame if, say, not only did the American forces lack enough medical support in Niger, but that "the military’s Africa Command asked lawmakers broadly for more help months before the attack in Niger, a West African nation nearly twice the size of Texas." Oh, right, they did. On March 9, 2017. To the Senate Armed Services Committee.

General Thomas D. Waldhauser, the head of the U.S. Africa Command, testified, "[Our] African partners lack the capability and capacity to assist with personnel recovery missions. Integrating personnel recovery and surgical stabilization/medical sustainment capabilities are a moral obligation and essential for the proper care of U.S. service members who risk their lives to protect our nation."

Committee Chair Sen. John McCain pledged at that hearing, "We owe our witnesses, and the men and women they lead, unambiguous national security priorities, clarity in our strategic thinking, and an unwavering commitment to provide them the resources required to support the necessary courses of action."

Except just under seven months later, those resources weren't there in a way that might have been able to help the soldiers killed in Niger. There are reasonable discussions to be made about distribution of forces and the use of resources. But had this been Obama and Clinton, we would be hearing how incompetent they are and how they abandoned our troops.

Certainly, we should now at least be saying that Republicans and Trump were warned and did nothing about it (just as they did nothing when Clinton asked for more funding to shore up defenses at embassies and consulates overseas).

So when Trump told Myeshia Johnson that her husband "knew what he signed up for," well, that's bullshit. What he signed up for didn't involve the nation not putting out the resources needed to make any medical attention quickly available. What he signed up for didn't involve being left to rot for a couple of days because of inadequate ability to search for his corpse.

What he didn't sign up for was that his family would be treated like their grief should be muted because his Commander-in-Chief cannot handle human feelings and doesn't understand that his incompetence contributed to their pain.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Trump Won't Stop Lying About Fallen Soldiers And Past Presidents

Donald Trump believes that the only way to get out of a hole is to keep digging, and that’s exactly what he’s doing right now while trying to downplay his lack of concern over the American soldiers who died after being ambushed during an attack in Niger. Trump claims that he’s done more than past presidents have, but that’s not even close to being the truth. Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins discusses this.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/10/17/disrespectful-lie-anger-grows-over-trumps-claims-that-past-presidents-didnt-honor-fallen-troops/

http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-spicer-interview-with-robert-mueller-trump-russia-investigation-2017-10

Trump Drops 92 Spots On Forbes Rich List After Losing $600 Million This Year

Donald Trump, and the few people who still support him, love to tell us that he is one of the best businessmen the world has ever known. If that were the case, then how did he manage to lose $600 million in the last year, causing him to drop 92 spots on Forbes list of 400 richest Americans?

Trump is about as good as running businesses as he is at running the country, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/17/news/trump-billionaires-forbes-richest-americans/index.html

Sean Spicer Meets With Investigators In Trump Probe

Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer met with investigators from Robert Mueller’s team on Tuesday to discuss resident Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey. Considering the content of the meeting, it seems incredibly likely that Mueller is looking into potential obstruction of justice charges against Donald Trump, as Ring of Fire’s Farron Cousins explains.



http://www.businessinsider.com/sean-spicer-interview-with-robert-mueller-trump-russia-investigation-2017-10

Donald Trump Is Fucking Crazy

Let’s be honest here, Donald Trump's brain does not work correctly.

Televangelist: God Will Punish Those Who Mock Me!

Jim Bakker wants you to know that if you make fun of him God will punish you. Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian, the hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.

“You remember Jim Bakker? He’s the guy who hosted the televangelist program The PTL Club in the 1980's until it was revealed he paid off Jessica Hahn over rape allegations. Bakker would end up serving five years in prison for mail and wire fraud and has since gone back to his televangelist ways, hosting a show in which he pitches survivalist goods to those prepping for the end of days.

 Last week, during his program’s broadcast, Bakker took aim at those who have ridiculed him over the years by telling them that eventually, they will have to answer to God for doing so.

 Defending his past prophecies that haven’t come true yet, Bakker and his wife claimed that he had accurately predicted 9/11 while noting that “when God says something to you, you don’t always know the exact time it’s going to happen.”

He added that his critics need to stop “beating up on prophets” because the lord proclaims “woe unto you when you beat up on the prophets.” After labeling those who aren’t speaking to God as “mean people” and “anti-Christ,” he then railed at those who have made fun of him over the years.”



https://www.mediaite.com/weird/televangelist-jim-bakker-warns-critics-god-will-punish-you-for-making-fun-of-me/

Donald Trump Callously Tells Widow of Fallen Soldier, "He Knew What He Signed Up For."

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses the comment, reportedly made to the wife of a fallen army Green Beret, Sgt. La David Johnson, "He knew what he signed up for."

Senate Intelligence Committee comes for the stupidest man in the Trump–Russia investigation

Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has a son who is also named Michael Flynn.

Flynn the younger is best known for his outlandish statements in support of every possible conspiracy theory, such as a Russian bribery scandal involving President Obama, a secret group behind the Las Vegas shooting, and a fresh set of accusations against Hillary Clinton.

And all that is just today.

Which makes this a fairly typical day in the life of blowhard racist golf bro, Michael Flynn—whose biggest accomplishment in life is spreading the insane “Pizzagate” story.

But the scruffier, pudgier Flynn—whose only military experience is dodging duck hooks on the golf course—was employed for a bit packing his father’s briefcase, accompanying him on overseas trips, and possibly little things like helping poppa plan to kidnap people and hand them over to foreign dictators.

Which has earned him some time with Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and has now brought him to the attention of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/17/1707474/-Senate-Intelligence-Committee-comes-for-the-stupidest-man-in-the-Trump-Russia-investigation

Trump told soldier's widow 'he knew what he signed up for'

resident Trump called the families of troops who lost their lives in the Niger raid. Congresswoman Frederica Wilson says he told the widow of Sergeant La David Johnson, "He knew what he signed up for." She talks to CNN's Don Lemon about the call.



Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Joe Biden Reveals Dems Losing Strategy For 2020


Miami politician says aliens took her on a spaceship - Now she’s running for Congress

“I went in. There were some round seats that were there, and some quartz rocks that controlled the ship — not like airplanes.”



Source:
http://mysteriousuniverse.org by ​Paul Seaburn

Read here:
https://helenastales.weebly.com/blogue/miami-politician-says-aliens-took-her-on-a-spaceship-now-shes-running-for-congress

DNC Appoints Anti- $15 Minimum Wage Stooge To Finance Committee

Elections have consequences, and the consequence of Tom Perez winning the DNC chair is that we now get anti-progressive, pro-corporate, anti-worker millionaires appointed to important positions inside the DNC.

Donald Trump Ignores Fallen Soldiers In Niger - Lies About Obama As Cover!

In this ‘Dollemore Daily’ Jesse addresses Donald Trump's remarks in a press conference at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Trump obfuscated and made excuses for not mentioning the loss of four Green Berets in Niger 13 days ago.



Trump has written letters to the families of the fallen. Or he will. They’ll go out tonight. Probably. Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.

"So given how vocal Trump was about his support for the military, his silence after the Oct. 4 ambush in southwestern Niger in which four U.S. Special Forces soldiers were killed was noticeable. He finally commented on the incident Monday — 12 days after it happened. Asked by a reporter about his delayed response, Trump said he had written letters over the weekend and would “at some point” call the families of the fallen soldiers.

He also said of Obama and other previous presidents that “a lot of them didn't make calls,” an assertion former Obama aides forcefully denied. He did not explain why it had taken so long to publicly acknowledge the incident.

CNN reported over the weekend that Trump was golfing while the remains of La David Johnson, one of the four killed in the attack, were returned to Dover Air Force Base, a juxtaposition critics pounced on.”



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/10/16/why-was-trump-so-quiet-after-the-deaths-of-four-u-s-soldiers-in-niger/

During a Monday news conference, resident Trump was asked about the killing of four Green Berets in an ambush in Niger and why he hadn't addressed their deaths. The panel criticizes Trump's response.

Trump can't hold President Obama's jock strap

Trump, Chieftain of Spite

Millions of high-security crypto keys crippled by newly discovered flaw

A crippling flaw in a widely used code library has fatally undermined the security of millions of encryption keys used in some of the highest-stakes settings, including national identity cards, software and application signing, and trusted platform modules protecting government and corporate computers.

The weakness allows attackers to calculate the private portion of any vulnerable key using nothing more than the corresponding public portion. Hackers can then use the private key to impersonate key owners, decrypt sensitive data, sneak malicious code into digitally signed software, and bypass protections that prevent accessing or tampering with stolen PC's.

The 5 year old flaw is also troubling because it's located in code that complies with two internationally recognized security certification standards that are binding on many governments, contractors, and companies around the world.

The code library was developed by German chipmaker Infineon, and has been generating weak keys since 2012 at the latest.

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/10/crypto-failure-cripples-millions-of-high-security-keys-750k-estonian-ids/

Monday, October 16, 2017

The Man From The Past


Rebekah Mercer And Kellyanne Conway Need To Compete In A Who Looks More Like A Skeleton Contest

We need to stop talking about Bannon and start talking about the REAL source of all this.

Steve Bannon is a just another tool of the Mercers.

He is. Conway is, and Trump is. They're tools. To make all of this about him or them is to allow the source of their power to remain largely unknown. Between the perpetual campaigning and Citizens United, we need to shine bright spotlights on the money sources that influence - CONTROL - our government.

After the Russians, this reclusive father-daughter team exercised massive control of the last election. THEY need to be outted widely. Can you say Cambridge Analytica? Can you say Breitbart?

Robert Mercer - father/patriarch
Diane Mercer - mother
Rebekah Mercer - daughter/on-the-ground-face-of-the-family







After bankrolling the Trump campaign's dirty tricks squad, the Mercer's started enjoying what they bought. Big Bux Bob, the dad, put his 42 year old little girl, Rebekah-Friend-Of-Czarina-And-Secretary-Of-Everything, on the Presidential Transition team.



Even the god-fearing set get this:

Know Thy Enemy: Ephesians 6:11-12

So yeah, use their names whenever you want to speak of Bannon, their current field general.
 
By Stinky The Clown

Trump accuser subpoenas campaign for documents on other allegations

A woman who has accused resident Trump of groping her in 2007 is subpoenaing his campaign for any documents on "any woman alleging that Donald J. Trump touched her inappropriately," BuzzFeed News reported Sunday.

The woman, Summer Zervos, is a former contestant on Trump's reality show, "The Apprentice."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-accuser-subpoenas-campaign-for-documents-on-other-allegations-report/ar-AAtut5m

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Republicans stand by as the nation goes to hell

By Kerry Eleveld

After GOP Sen. Bob Corker raised the prospect last week that Donald Trump could propel us into World War III, House Speaker Paul Ryan responded to the horrific prospect this week with the fierce urgency of whatever.

They should just "talk it out" among themselves, Ryan told reporters Wednesday.

It was a revelation of sorts in the sense that it was hard to imagine Ryan carving out an even more useless space for himself in Washington than he has already been occupying. Conservative columnist Michael Gerson wrote:
So how does Ryan imagine a Corker/Trump conversation might unfold? Over dinner, Corker accuses the resident of being a chaotic, directionless, shallow liar who could start a nuclear war. Trump passes the peas and attacks Corker for being short. This is, after all, the way gentlemen resolve their differences.
Trump, who has consistently fumed over the nettlesome nature of being resident, appears to have reached a perpetual boiling point.

Angry at Congress's inability to dismantle his predecessor's signature achievement, health care, Trump is taking it upon himself to scrap the government subsidies millions of Americans depend on to pay for their coverage. Trump, who clearly believes this was a master stroke that will force Democrats to the bargaining table, has now placed the squeeze on Republicans to fix the subsidies fast lest millions of Americans see their premiums skyrocket 20 to 25 percent by 2020

After all, the first spike in coverage will come at the beginning of next year—becoming the GOP's de facto opening bid in a midterm election year that will ultimately be a referendum on their turn at one-party governance.

But hey, for a guy who often can't even remember why he stepped into a room, so goes his negotiating prowess. The White House is less about “strategy” these days than simply scrambling to keep Trump from blowing up the world.

Defense Secretary James Mattis and national security adviser H.R. McMaster reportedly toiled to find a way for Trump to shake his fist at Iran without totally sinking the Iran nuclear deal with which U.N. investigators say the country has complied. When Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had originally advised Trump to stay in the deal, he apparently "threw a fit." So Trump's national security team spent months formulating a compromise between Trump's need for cathartic juvenile expression and our country's imperative to keep another regime from becoming the next unsolvable nuclear problem, à la North Korea.

In short, alongside Trump's governing incompetence, his bouts of rage have emerged as the most consistent and predominant feature of his residency. He “gets angry” when he realizes what his proposed policies will do; he's mad at Congress about health care, the Iran deal, taxes, ad infinitum; he seethes over his abysmal media coverage and wants “equal time” in the so-called ‘fake’ news; he's irate that a Puerto Rican mayor dare question his leadership as the death toll rises around her; he chafes at being called a “moron”; he's furious with Rex Tillerson and before him, Bob Corker, and before him, Jeff Sessions, and before him, James Comey, and... and... and.

And yet, in the face of what has become a crystal clear and present danger to the existence of our country, Ryan and his Senate counterpart Mitch McConnell have emerged as some of the most feckless, immoral, and negligent leaders of our time. More simply put—these guys might well be the biggest couple of tools to ever "lead" Congress.

While Ryan wants Trump and Corker to go to couples therapy (as if that'll solve our WW III dilemma), McConnell was busily covering his right flank this week with an offering of red meat to the GOP's starved base. In a Weekly Standard interview, McConnell tried to ease activists’ calls for his ouster by suggesting that Republicans would no longer honor the Senate's "blue slip" tradition. 

The practice allows any senator to effectively block consideration of a judicial nominee from her or his own state, which gives the minority party considerable power to slow down the judicial appointment process (a power that Republicans abused during President Obama's last two years in office). It remains to be seen if Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley will follow McConnell's lead, but McConnell had to dangle something to distract conservative activists from his year of missed opportunities. Why not actively work to give Trump more power since he's been comporting himself so admirably? 

McConnell and Ryan are currently duking it out as the most reviled politicians in the land—detested almost equally as much by Trump's rabid supporters as Democratic voters. They lead a Republican Congress that, in the words of the Senate GOP's campaign arm, "has replaced President Obama as the bogeyman for conservative GOP primary voters."

They couldn't be a more deserving pair as they continue to empower the man-child in chief who is now bitterly destroying everything he can get his stubby little paws on.

Larry Flynt offers $10 million for info to help impeach Trump



Hustler Magazine founder Larry Flynt is reportedly offering a $10 million reward for information that could lead to the impeachment of resident Trump.
 
Fox Business anchor Liz Claman tweeted an image of a full page advertisement from Flynt that offered the reward. Flynt later retweeted it on his own account.

In the ad, Flynt calls Trump an “illegitimate” resident who “was installed only by the quirks of our antiquated Electoral College.”

Flynt cites several reasons he believes Trump should be impeached in the ad, including Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey and his withdrawal of the United States from the Paris climate change agreement.
 The adult magazine founder also ripped Trump for his “unconscionable defense of the KKK and neo-Nazis after the Charlottesville riots,” and argued that Trump’s “worrisome” ability to “trigger a nuclear world war” is one of the more “horrifying” reasons Trump should be impeached.

“Impeachment would be a messy, contentious affair, but the alternative - three more years of destabilizing dysfunction - is worse,” Flynt writes in the ad. “Both good Democrats and good Republicans who put country over party did it before with Watergate.”

Flynt writes that impeachment would require “unimpeachable evidence” and said that’s why he is offering a $10 million reward.

“We need to flush everything out into the open,” Flynt wrote.

Flynt has made similar offers in the past, offering up to $1 million in October 2016 for audio or video recordings of Trump “engaging in illegal activity or acting in a sexually demeaning or derogatory manner.”

Flynt also made a similar offer of $1 million in 1998 during former President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial and again in 2007, when he offered to pay for “documented evidence of illicit sexual liaisons with a prominent member of public office.”

This is a serious cash reward from a man with a history of paying his debts (unlike Trump). Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Former Wharton Professor: 'Trump Was the Dumbest Goddamn Student I Ever Had'

Surprise, surprise. The resident came to business school thinking he knew it all.

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/former-wharton-professor-trump-was-dumbest-gdamm-student-i-ever-had

Trump Doesn't Know What He's President Of

Trump said he met with the President of The Virgin Islands…which would be…himself.

Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, and Mark Thompson, the hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.



“Washington (CNN) resident Donald Trump accidentally referred to the Virgin Islands' governor as their President during a speech Friday - even though he is technically their resident. "I will tell you I left Texas and I left Florida and I left Louisiana and I went to Puerto Rico and I met with the President of the Virgin Islands," he told the audience of the Values Voter Summit in Washington. "We are one nation and we all hurt together, we hope together and we heal together," he said, later adding, "The Virgin Islands and the President of the Virgin Islands, these are people that are incredible people, they suffered gravely and we're be there, we're going to be there, we have really, it is not even a question of a choice."

Trump appeared to be referring to Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp, instead of the "resident" who is Trump himself.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/13/politics/virgin-islands-president-donald-trump/index.html

The Virgin Islands is a US territory. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment. But in the official White House transcript after the speech, his reference to Mapp as President was corrected to "governor." He was referring to how the Virgin Islands was hit first by Hurricane Irma, then Hurricane Maria, which ravaged the island.”

Democrats Aim To Strip Mentally Unstable Trump Of His Ability To Launch Nuclear Weapons

With Donald Trump’s mental instability becoming a major issue in American politics, and the threat of an altercation with North Korea or possibly even Iran looming, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has begun conversations about passing legislation that would prevent Trump from being able to unilaterally launch nuclear weapons.

As it stands right now, Trump can launch any weapon at any time that he wants, and Democrats (and even some Republicans) understand how dangerous that is for the planet. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins discusses this.



https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/pelosi-passing-no-first-use-law-nuclear-weapons-urgent

Maxine Waters Grills Ben Carson On Trump's Puerto Rico Tweets

Rep. Maxine Waters questions Housing and Urban Development Secretary, Ben Carson, on Donald Trump's tweets regarding abandoning hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Trump 'hypocrite-in-chief' for signing 50 executive orders

CNN anchor Erin Burnett labeled President Trump the "hypocrite-in-chief" on Thursday after the resident signed his 50th executive order in office.

"Hypocrite-in-chief – resident Trump doing something today he harshly criticized President Obama for doing. Trump signed his 50th executive order today," Burnett said on her show "Out Front."

Burnett noted that on the campaign trail Trump frequently took to criticizing Obama for signing executive orders when he was in office.

"We have a president that can't get anything done so he just keeps signing executive orders all over the place," Trump said in January 2016, according to The Washington Post.

http://thehill.com/media/355253-cnn-anchor-labels-trump-hypocrite-in-chief-for-signing-50-executive-orders



Thursday, October 12, 2017

“I Hate Everyone In The White House!”: Trump Seethes As Advisers Fear The Resident Is “Unraveling”