Something changed. And I think it's a very safe bet that 45* literally sold the Kurds to Erdogan.
Trump vs. Trump: Kurds Edition pic.twitter.com/eqMMwNWtlg— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) October 17, 2019
Oct 18, 2019
Today's Tweet
Something changed. And I think it's a very safe bet that 45* literally sold the Kurds to Erdogan.
Civics 200
Justin King - Beau Of The Fifth Column
Facts are stubborn things
- vs -
The US Constitution has an obvious liberal slant
The Right To Fuck Us Over
An appropriately named publication - Business Insider:
The trade war has consistently sent markets moving in the past year. And according to a new Vanity Fair report, some traders may have been forerunning new developments.
The magazine reported on Wednesday that some traders were suspiciously well positioned ahead of huge swings in the trade war by buying or selling hundreds of thousands of electronically traded futures contracts called "e-minis" on the S&P 500.
The magazine said that on September 10, a trader or group of traders bought 82,000 e-minis in the last 10 minutes of trading in New York, when it was almost 4 a.m. the next day in Beijing. A few hours later, the Chinese government announced it would lift tariffs on a range of American products. Markets surged, and the e-minis buyer made about $190 million, Vanity Fair found.
"There is definite hanky-panky going on, to the world's financial markets' detriment," a source described as a longtime Chicago Mercantile Exchange trader said. "This is abysmal."
Bloomberg was quick to rebut the notion of shenanigans and skullduggery - because of course they have to. They can't can't afford to let the plebs know how fucked we are at the hands of the Rent-Seekers.
And by-the-fuckin'-way, wouldn't that kind of Market Manipulation be a right handy way to launder big piles of Russian mob money?
A side note on some relevant numbers:
Tell me again - what the fuck are billionaires good for anyway?
A side note on some relevant numbers:
- I start with $1,000,000,000
- I collect no interest on that billion dollars
- I spend $27,000 every day for 100 years
- I have $87,000,000 left
Tell me again - what the fuck are billionaires good for anyway?
Contradictions
Contradictions exist, but they cannot prevail.
One of the weirdly persistent contradictions in our current state of affairs popped up in Admiral McRaven's Op-Ed piece and it remains somehow under the radar.
(summarized in Business Insider):
McRaven said that despite the apolitical nature of various military branches, intelligence agencies, and public-service organizations, the people employed by these groups had witnessed "the assaults on our institutions" under the Trump administration.
Here's the bit I'm talking about:
"They have seen our leaders stand beside despots and strongmen, preferring their government narrative to our own," McRaven wrote. "They have seen us abandon our allies and have heard the shouts of betrayal from the battlefield. As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, 'I don't like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!'"
"Those words echoed with me throughout the week," McRaven added.
McRaven pointed out what he said were examples of the US neglecting its duty to be the "the protectors of the less fortunate" — including Trump's recent decision to withdraw troops from Syria as Turkish-backed militants wage assaults against the once US-backed Kurdish militia.
When you hear "protectors of the less fortunate", it's not possible for you to convince me that what springs immediately into your mind is The Republican Party. C'mon now.
There are people in our government working diligently to consolidate power in the Executive, and to make POTUS into what would be effectively a Daddy State emperor. Those people are almost exclusively Republicans.
There are people in our government working just as diligently to revitalize the system of Checks & Balances so we can be a little more sure that power will be held to account. Those people are almost exclusively Democrats.
When the guys in the brass hats are speaking the language of the Democratic Party Platform, we know the GOP has gone completely 'round the bend.
One of the weirdly persistent contradictions in our current state of affairs popped up in Admiral McRaven's Op-Ed piece and it remains somehow under the radar.
(summarized in Business Insider):
McRaven said that despite the apolitical nature of various military branches, intelligence agencies, and public-service organizations, the people employed by these groups had witnessed "the assaults on our institutions" under the Trump administration.
Here's the bit I'm talking about:
"They have seen our leaders stand beside despots and strongmen, preferring their government narrative to our own," McRaven wrote. "They have seen us abandon our allies and have heard the shouts of betrayal from the battlefield. As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, 'I don't like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!'"
"Those words echoed with me throughout the week," McRaven added.
McRaven pointed out what he said were examples of the US neglecting its duty to be the "the protectors of the less fortunate" — including Trump's recent decision to withdraw troops from Syria as Turkish-backed militants wage assaults against the once US-backed Kurdish militia.
When you hear "protectors of the less fortunate", it's not possible for you to convince me that what springs immediately into your mind is The Republican Party. C'mon now.
There are people in our government working diligently to consolidate power in the Executive, and to make POTUS into what would be effectively a Daddy State emperor. Those people are almost exclusively Republicans.
There are people in our government working just as diligently to revitalize the system of Checks & Balances so we can be a little more sure that power will be held to account. Those people are almost exclusively Democrats.
When the guys in the brass hats are speaking the language of the Democratic Party Platform, we know the GOP has gone completely 'round the bend.
Scorecard
WaPo:
As of Oct. 9, his 993rd day in office, he had made 13,435 false or misleading claims, according to the Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement he has uttered. That’s an average of almost 22 claims a day since our last update 65 days ago.
In fact, Trump earned his fastest Bottomless Pinocchio ever with his repeated false statement that the whistleblower compliant about the call was inaccurate. The report accurately captured the content of Trump’s call and many other details have been confirmed, yet Trump has repeated this Four Pinocchio claim 29 times. (It takes 20 repeats of a Three or Four Pinocchio claim to merit a Bottomless Pinocchio, and there are now 27 entries.)
Another false claim — that Biden forced the resignation of a Ukrainian prosecutor because he was investigating his son Hunter — just barely missed the cutoff for inclusion. (Trump has said it 18 times.) We presume the falsehood will earn a spot on the Bottomless Pinocchio page in the next update.
Oct 17, 2019
Today's Tweet
Important - write this down.
Saying Donald Trump ruined the Republican Party is like saying spoiled mayonnaise ruined a pickle and shit sandwich.— Middle Age Riot (@middleageriot) October 16, 2019
Elijah Cummings
“He worked until his last breath because he believed our democracy was the highest and best expression of our collective humanity, and that our nation’s diversity was our promise, not our problem.”
Elijah Eugene Cummings (January 18, 1951 – October 17, 2019) was an American politician and the member of the U.S. House of Representativesfor Maryland's 7th congressional district. The district includes just over half of Baltimore City, most of the majority-black precincts of Baltimore County, as well as most of Howard County. He previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates. He was a member of the Democratic Party and chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Cummings was born on January 18, 1951 in Baltimore, the son of Ruth Elma (née Cochran) and Robert Cummings. His parents were sharecroppers. He was the third child of seven. Cummings graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College high school in 1969.
He later attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he served in the student government as sophomore class president, student government treasurer and later student government president. He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science.
Cummings graduated from law school at the University of Maryland School of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1976, and was admitted to the Maryland Bar later that year. He practiced law for 19 years before first being elected to the House in the 1996 elections.
Cummings received 12 honorary doctoral degrees from universities across America, most recently an honorary doctorate of public service from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2017.
For 14 years, Cummings served in the Maryland House of Delegates. His predecessor, Lena King Lee, raised funds and campaigned for him; years later, Cummings credited her with launching his political career. In the Maryland General Assembly, he served as Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tempore, the second highest position in the House of Delegates.
Cummings also served on several boards and commissions, both in and out of Baltimore. Those include SEED Schools of Maryland Board of Directors and the University of Maryland Law School Board of Advisors. He served on numerous Maryland boards and commissions including the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy and the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel. He was an honorary member of the Baltimore Zoo Board of Trustees.
In addition to his many speaking engagements, he wrote a biweekly column for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper.
Cummings underwent surgery to repair his aortic valve in May 2017 and was absent from Capitol Hill for two months. In July 2017, he developed a surgery-related infection but returned to work. On October 17, 2019, Cummings died at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 68 from, his spokeswoman stated, "complications concerning longstanding health challenges".
- Maya Cummings
Elijah Eugene Cummings (January 18, 1951 – October 17, 2019) was an American politician and the member of the U.S. House of Representativesfor Maryland's 7th congressional district. The district includes just over half of Baltimore City, most of the majority-black precincts of Baltimore County, as well as most of Howard County. He previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates. He was a member of the Democratic Party and chair of the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Cummings was born on January 18, 1951 in Baltimore, the son of Ruth Elma (née Cochran) and Robert Cummings. His parents were sharecroppers. He was the third child of seven. Cummings graduated with honors from the Baltimore City College high school in 1969.
He later attended Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he served in the student government as sophomore class president, student government treasurer and later student government president. He became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society and graduated in 1973 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science.
Cummings graduated from law school at the University of Maryland School of Law, receiving his J.D. in 1976, and was admitted to the Maryland Bar later that year. He practiced law for 19 years before first being elected to the House in the 1996 elections.
Cummings received 12 honorary doctoral degrees from universities across America, most recently an honorary doctorate of public service from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2017.
For 14 years, Cummings served in the Maryland House of Delegates. His predecessor, Lena King Lee, raised funds and campaigned for him; years later, Cummings credited her with launching his political career. In the Maryland General Assembly, he served as Chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland and was the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tempore, the second highest position in the House of Delegates.
Cummings also served on several boards and commissions, both in and out of Baltimore. Those include SEED Schools of Maryland Board of Directors and the University of Maryland Law School Board of Advisors. He served on numerous Maryland boards and commissions including the Board of Visitors to the United States Naval Academy and the Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel. He was an honorary member of the Baltimore Zoo Board of Trustees.
In addition to his many speaking engagements, he wrote a biweekly column for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper.
About That Letter
Jeremy Bowen, BBC News:
In the letter dated 9 October, and sent after US troops were pulled out of Syria, Mr Trump told Mr Erdogan: "Don't be a tough guy. Don't be a fool!"
President Trump was urging Turkey not to launch a military offensive against Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria, but Mr Erdogan ignored this request.
US Vice President Mike Pence is now in Ankara to push for a ceasefire.
The US has faced intense criticism for the withdrawal of troops, which critics say gave Turkey the green light to launch the military attack.
It is hard to imagine language like it in many letters between presidents.
Donald Trump's mixture of threats and locker-room banter infuriated Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. His staff told the BBC that he threw the letter into the bin and launched the Syrian operation the same day. That could be proof there was no Trumpian green light.
That letter is not what you need from a world leader - it's total shit. It's what you might expect to see from The Onion or in a sketch on late night TV.
I think it's reasonable to conclude that Erdogan saw that letter and knew he'd have no problem with 45*, which makes it a de facto green light.
And even though the timing might indicate there was no "green lighting" of the invasion from 45* (CYA is way more likely), there's a mountain of indication that he's impotent at best, and unfortunately, we can only sit and wait for him to dig down to some new low every fucking day so as to show us what he is "at worst".
BTW - take a good look at the map, and tell me this isn't about Putin making moves to secure a warm water port.
Oct 16, 2019
Today's Beau
Justin King, aka: Beau Of The Fifth Column
Cult45 devotees in Congress, and dimwitted red-hat voters will not be forgiven.
The Press Poodles who gave him a billion dollars in free air time will not be forgiven.
There's a right good bit of assumption and speculation in Justin's piece, but none of it is beyond the realm of real probability.
This is pretty fuckin' bad right now.
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