The Company You Keep

Let's be clear, Manaforts client, Yanukovich, tried to steal election in 2004, ordered snipers to kill protestors in 2014 & was very corrupt

— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) August 16, 2016

A former ambassador to Russia.  I'm thinking this is a guy who knows a little something.  

Today's Today

Happy Bad Poetry Day, everybody!

TOAST --Joseph V. Viray, ©1995
this is your mind.
this is your mind on TOAST.
this is your TOAST.
This is your TOAST on my mind.

THE SONG ABOUT THE SONG --Bryan Higgins, ©2000

This is the song about the show!
And it's a show with a song about
The Songs we're gonna sing
We'll sing you the songs about
The song about the show!
Songs about the singing we'll do!
Songs about the songs about
The song about the show!
Songs that we'll be singing to you!
You'll hear us singing songs about
The songs about the songs,
The songs about the songs about the songs--
Songs about the songs about
The songs about the songs,
The songs about the songs about the show!

So, that's a good 40 seconds of your life you will never ever get back.*

*your wastage may vary - depending on your reading speed, where you fall on the OCD spectrum, how long it took you to figure how to make this shit big enough to see it clearly, etc. And now you've wasted even more of your valuable time.

You're welcome.

About Today's Trump Thing

Just by way of introduction, here's a bit from TPM: 

Call it a match made in right-wing heaven.

Donald Trump’s hiring of Breitbart chairman Steve Bannon on Wednesday to be his campaign CEO marks the consummation of a months-long courtship with the conservative news and commentary site, which, under Bannon’s leadership, became Trump’s strongest media ally. Bannon will step down from his role at Breitbart to work with Trump, according to the campaign.

Trump sidelining Paul Manafort, who injected the campaign with a dose of seasoned professionalism, in favor of Bannon, once called the “most dangerous political operative in America,” also shows the real estate mogul firmly embracing the right-wing, establishment-hating fever swamps that fueled his candidacy since the beginning.

While the late Andrew Breitbart perhaps prophetically warned that Trump isn’t a conservative, his news site's love affair with the New York real estate mogul started years before Trump was a candidate. The site feverishly covered Trump’s relentless self-promotion and zest for stirring up speculation he might run for office.

So, I'm thinking this isn't some kind of "shakeup of a troubled campaign".  It's a corporate merger.

Trump needs an Information Division, and it turns out Fox isn't available - and Fox is pretty much old-hat now anyway - so Breitbart fits pretty well.

This seems like it's simply the latest development in the story of Trump Campaign Inc, and maybe we just got a new clue as to where all the campaign's money has been going - since it's obviously not getting spent on field operations or advertising. 

Sure would love to get a peek at the details of that artful little deal.

Today's Fellow Travelers

There's gotta be a Poe's Law probability here, but I can't find it.

Here's a bit from the website of Jayme Liardi (the guy in the video):

Ragnarök Now
Ragnarök
The Twilight of the Gods
The End of Times
Or perhaps
Just the beginning
It was prophesied by the ancestors, by our ancestors
That our world would indeed end;
But
What they also have said, is that our world would indeed be reborn
Better than before
This is Ragnarök Now
Mother Europe stands at her darkest hour
Sons of Odin
Warriors of Christ
This is indeed your battle
You can embrace your destiny
And become a part of the greatest battle the world has ever seen
We must become that which our enemies hate
We must become united
We must become clean
We must become strong
And formidable
That is your duty

It goes on, but it doesn't get any better, which is to say it doesn't get any less Nazi-ish.

And here's a nice retweet from this guy:

White Children Deserve A Future Free From #WhiteGenocide. #WhiteMothersAreMagic #MothersDay #MothersDayWeekend pic.twitter.com/9EbEIPPdgC

— Ann Kelly (@LadyAodh) May 8, 2016

I won't call that one typical, but it ain't exactly rare either.

Questions?

hat tip = Mock Paper Scissors

Today's Tweet

In a rare move @sciam takes a stand against Donald Trump's "lack of respect for science": https://t.co/62g50BpGBx pic.twitter.com/GyUq75s1R5

— Media Matters (@mmfa) August 17, 2016

Stay Focused

Big Fish

Gotta remember that sometimes the big fish gets away just because it's a big fish.

Kathleen Kane (D-Pennsylvania AG) was boated nicely and will prob'ly spend some quality time in prison - pending appeal, of course.  Cuz even when it works well enough to convict somebody in a fairly lofty position, our "justice" system works a little differently for people who're rich and/or powerful (see Big Fish above).

From Philly.com:

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane was convicted Monday of perjury, obstruction, and other crimes, after squandering her once-bright political future on an illegal vendetta against an enemy.

What bugs me the most is that this is another great example of a political system that seems to run (at least in part) according to some kinda High-School-Fuck-Around set of rules.

Rudy Needs Work

So, Rudy Giuliani went off again, peddling his new and improved 9/11 crap about how there were no Extreme Islamic Terrorism Attacks in the 8 years before Obama and Hillary.

BTW, here's not-a-picture of Rudy as he's not walking around lower Manhattan not on 9-11-2001 as he's not trying to reassure New Yorkers about what horrible things have not happened during a GOP president's administration because, of course, history won't actually begin until Jan 20, 2009.

Can't believe anybody hasta do this.  What the fuck is wrong with these people?

And Now, This

We should keep in mind that Trump is not just priming his supporters to rebel if he loses in Pennsylvania because of "cheating" - he's also priming those supporters to defend the results if he "wins" because of cheating.

And we've already seen lots of priming for 'the 2nd amendment" appeals.

Today's Tweet(s)

@KeithOlbermann @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/SJZBToaIUN

— joyce hawkins (@ladywelder44) August 15, 2016

Found this archival photo of Manafort and Lewandowski in happier times. pic.twitter.com/ryaHeX7hjq

— Tom Watson (@tomwatson) August 15, 2016

Random Thought

Anyone else notice how Paul Manafort looks like one of those old Soviet guys from back in the 80s who was always trying really hard not to look like a Soviet guy? Maybe it's the haircut. I dunno.

Just wonderin'.

via Little Green Footballs:

Government investigators examining secret records have found his name, as well as companies he sought business with, as they try to untangle a corrupt network they say was used to loot Ukrainian assets and influence elections during the administration of Mr. Manafort’s main client, former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

Handwritten ledgers show $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments designated for Mr. Manafort from Mr. Yanukovych’s pro-Russian political party from 2007 to 2012, according to Ukraine’s newly formed National Anti-Corruption Bureau. Investigators assert that the disbursements were part of an illegal off-the-books system whose recipients also included election officials.

In addition, criminal prosecutors are investigating a group of offshore shell companies that helped members of Mr. Yanukovych’s inner circle finance their lavish lifestyles, including a palatial presidential residence with a private zoo, golf course and tennis court. Among the hundreds of murky transactions these companies engaged in was an $18 million deal to sell Ukrainian cable television assets to a partnership put together by Mr. Manafort and a Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a close ally of President Vladimir V. Putin.

This Just In

So, the Radical Right keeps pissin' and moanin' about how everything's all skewed in Hillary's favor, and they never get an even break (in spite of Mr Barnum's admonishing us never to give them one), and how Trump can't lose in a place like Pennsylvania unless it's rigged and on and on and on.

Well, Breitbart being the stand-up kinda joint they are, decided to spend some money and put a poll of their own in the field, and - oh golly - turns out their hand-picked sample came back with Hillary up by 5 points.

Oops

hat tip = Twitter @taniel

Dang, America

Out of 45 possible medals, US shooters have managed only 3.

We have more guns per capita than anybody.

We spend lotsa time and money on it - we shoot a lot.

Three lousy medals, and the only gold is BB guns?  Seriously - what's the fucking point??

Of course, ya gotta figure the US team's at a particular disadvantage, since the competitors aren't allowed to shoot at each other. 

Today's Quote

"Be ashamed to die before you have won some victory for humanity." -- Horace Mann

And BTW, Horace Mann was a Republican (Whig actually - but a Repub nonetheless); back when Republicans stood for some pretty cool things - like Secular Public Schools, and Fairness, and making sure Government Power was a force to protect the little guy from the excesses of an unaccountable Oligarchy, and a lot of other Progressive Values.  

I wonder what happened.

Today's Cheap Shot