But can't escape Russian intrigue
A scandal a day?
Even Putin would say
He's suffering bad Trump fatigue
George Takei
George Takei
Jul 20, 2017
Deep And Dirty
Nico Hines, Daily Beast:
Members of the team of Russians who secured a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner also attempted to stage a show trial of anti-Putin campaigner Bill Browder on Capitol Hill.
The trial, which would have come in the form of a congressional hearing, was scheduled for mid-June 2016 by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a long-standing Russia ally who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe. During the hearing, Rohrabacher had planned to confront Browder with a feature-length pro-Kremlin propaganda movie that viciously attacks him—as well as at least two witnesses linked to the Russian authorities, including lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Rosie Gray, The Atlantic:
Paul Behrends, a top aide to Representative Dana Rohrabacher, has been ousted from his role as staff director for the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that Rohrabacher chairs, after stories appeared in the press highlighting his relationships with pro-Russia lobbyists.
“Paul Behrends no longer works at the committee,” a House Foreign Affairs Committee spokesperson said on Wednesday evening.
Behrends accompanied Rohrabacher on a 2016 trip to Moscow in which Rohrabacher said he received anti-Magnitsky Act materials from prosecutors. The Magnitsky Act is a 2012 bill that imposes sanctions on Russian officials associated with the 2009 death in prison of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had been investigating tax fraud. Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian attorney and lobbyist who met with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower last year, reportedly brought up the Magintsky Act during the meeting.
Members of the team of Russians who secured a June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Donald Trump Jr. and Jared Kushner also attempted to stage a show trial of anti-Putin campaigner Bill Browder on Capitol Hill.
The trial, which would have come in the form of a congressional hearing, was scheduled for mid-June 2016 by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a long-standing Russia ally who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe. During the hearing, Rohrabacher had planned to confront Browder with a feature-length pro-Kremlin propaganda movie that viciously attacks him—as well as at least two witnesses linked to the Russian authorities, including lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya.
Rosie Gray, The Atlantic:
Paul Behrends, a top aide to Representative Dana Rohrabacher, has been ousted from his role as staff director for the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that Rohrabacher chairs, after stories appeared in the press highlighting his relationships with pro-Russia lobbyists.
“Paul Behrends no longer works at the committee,” a House Foreign Affairs Committee spokesperson said on Wednesday evening.
Behrends accompanied Rohrabacher on a 2016 trip to Moscow in which Rohrabacher said he received anti-Magnitsky Act materials from prosecutors. The Magnitsky Act is a 2012 bill that imposes sanctions on Russian officials associated with the 2009 death in prison of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who had been investigating tax fraud. Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian attorney and lobbyist who met with Donald Trump Jr. at Trump Tower last year, reportedly brought up the Magintsky Act during the meeting.
Seems like Russian fuckery via Congress Critter fuckery just gets wider and deeper at every turn.
Today's Tweet
Good question, but like with everything else, we don't know what he's talking about because he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Does anyone understand what Trump is talking about here on pre-existing conditions? pic.twitter.com/hVgfzhwm9J— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) July 20, 2017
Jul 19, 2017
Keith
Every time we plug a new thing into the timeline, part of this mess gets a little clearer, while others just get weirder and scarier.
A sense of urgency is in order here, though we need to remember what Coach Wooden always said: Go quickly but don't hurry.
First is the solid evidentiary connection between Cult45 and Russian money laundering.
Second is a better look at just how wide and how deep the Circle of Fuckery is.
And the really big one: Just how fucked up have we allowed our election systems to get thanks to this giant bag of thieving lying Daddy State dicks?
Olbermann at GQ
Jul 18, 2017
Approaching Overload
Here at the end of another long fucking day.
Trump had undisclosed hour-long meeting with Putin at G-20 summit
Donald Trump Jr. Met Russian Accused of Laundering $1.4 Billion
Present at the Destruction: How Rex Tillerson Is Wrecking the State Department
Republicans divided on debt ceiling strategy
House GOP aims to shut down federal election agency
Trump had undisclosed hour-long meeting with Putin at G-20 summit
(this is from a coupla weeks ago - watch Rachel's last segment from last night if you want that knot in your stomach to get worse)
Quick Survey
We now know Ms Veselnitskaya handed off some kind of file at the meeting in Trump Tower last year. What was in that file?
a) Kompromat on Hillary
b) Kompromat on Trump(s)
c) both
d) Dammit - I shoulda built that survival bunker when I had the chance
One thing - overload is what these assholes are trying to achieve. They need to shock the system and get us back on our heels.
Get some ideas of what you've been in favor of recently - why you voted for Bernie or Hillary or whoever. Make a list, and bullet-point those ideas so you can rebut the recent bullshit narrative that Liberals are only about blocking Trump and they don't have anything to propose and blah blah blah (Daddy State Rule 1: every accusation is a confession, and sometimes they take the shit they've been guilty of for years and project it onto their opponents)
- Voting Rights and Campaign Finance Reform
- $15 minimum wage
- College tuition help
- Move towards single payer healthcare
- Infrastructure
- Renewable energy and Climate Change
Don't get nuts - keep it to 3 or 4 and always ALWAYS ALWAYS lead with your strongest point, and weave it into a statement of your values.
"I think every adult has the right and the duty to vote. We don't keep our democracy without free and fair elections, and we have to level the playing field so everybody has the same opportunity, and nobody gets to buy the means of making his voice count for more than anybody else's."
No Way Out
No good way anyway.
If the Repubs continue to go it alone (against the polling) on a variety of issues they've decided they need to pursue based on their arrogant assumption they can continue bamboozling the rubes, then they lose the broader popular support they have to have. Especially if they keep fuckin' up the Healthcare thing.
If they decide to negotiate with the Dems, then they're in danger of the hardcore base assuming they've caved, and they'll lose primaries to more radical candidates, who're more likely to lose in the general.
Which makes me think they were really counting on not having to pay a political price for all their fuckery, which makes me think we have to keep pushing back hard against GOP Voter Suppression efforts in the next 15 months or so.
If the Repubs continue to go it alone (against the polling) on a variety of issues they've decided they need to pursue based on their arrogant assumption they can continue bamboozling the rubes, then they lose the broader popular support they have to have. Especially if they keep fuckin' up the Healthcare thing.
If they decide to negotiate with the Dems, then they're in danger of the hardcore base assuming they've caved, and they'll lose primaries to more radical candidates, who're more likely to lose in the general.
Which makes me think they were really counting on not having to pay a political price for all their fuckery, which makes me think we have to keep pushing back hard against GOP Voter Suppression efforts in the next 15 months or so.
Daddy State Illustrated
WeDon'tFuckin'Care 4.0 crapped out last night, partly because John McCain was conveniently unavailable for the scheduled vote, which made it easier for other Repubs to get their balls temporarily outa hock and acknowledge that the folks back home are close to being in open revolt.
But we ain't done, kids.
Why does McConnell now say he intends to go through with a stripped down version that does nothing but kill healthcare coverage, replacing it with (maybe) something else down the road?
Daddy State rule 3:
Every warning about impending disaster, is a statement of intent.
They warned us that Obamacare is failing (or has failed), which is ridiculous knowing the Repubs have been working very hard to pour sugar in the gas tank for 7 years.
Imagine how well the thing would be working if the GOP would just listen to their constituents and help out a little.
Anyway, 45* all but said it straight out - when people really feel the pain, they'll come running to Daddy, begging him to do whatever it takes to make it stop hurting.
That's how the Daddy State works.
- Create the disaster (or do nothing to prevent it)
- Exploit the disaster
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)