crooksandliars--2020-01-11--Mike's Blog Round Up

Mike's Blog Round Up

SCOTUS Blog : What will Chief Justice John Roberts actually do during the Senate trial of Donald Trump ?
Towle @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration want the Supreme Court to hold off on ruling on the Obamacare lawsuit @ @ @ @ @ ?
Blue Virginia : Virginia lawmakers ban guns from the state capitol in Richmond .
@ @ @ @ @ slows even as America ’ s average monthly job gains hit lowest level since 2011 @ @ @ @ @ your quote of the day : `` We have the greatest economy in the history @ @ @ @ @ ( Donald Trump , July 16 , 2018 . )
Guest blogging Mike 's Blog @ @ @ @ @ Jon Perr from Perrspectives .
Send your tips , recommendations , comments and angst to @ @ @ @ @ .

SCOTUS Blog: What will Chief Justice John Roberts actually do during the Senate trial of Donald Trump?
Towle Road: Why does the Trump administration want the Supreme Court to hold off on ruling on the Obamacare lawsuit until after the 2020 election?
Blue Virginia: Virginia lawmakers ban guns from the state capitol in Richmond.
EPI Blog: Wage growth slows even as America’s average monthly job gains hit lowest level since 2011.
Speaking of which, your quote of the day:
"We have the greatest economy in the history of our country." (Donald Trump, July 16, 2018.)
Guest blogging Mike's Blog Round Up this week is Jon Perr from Perrspectives. Send your tips, recommendations, comments and angst to mbru AT crooksandliars DOT com.


crooksandliars--2020-01-11--On Impeachment, Time Is On Nancy Pelosi's Side

We ’ ve maintained that Pelosi ’ s waiting to turn over the Articles of Impeachment has been a 2020 tactical decision , and this Pelosi quote in Time Magazine supports our theory : “ Somebody said to me today that he may not even take up what we send .
[ But ] then [ President Trump ] will never be vindicated , ” Pelosi told top caucus members , according to the aide in the room .
“ He will be impeached forever .
Forever .
No matter what the Senate does.
” All of the Villagers are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McConnell has won , just get it over with ( “ I ’ m on a deadline ” ) , conventional wisdom , blah-blah-blah .
The thing I ’ ve learned from watching Pelosi over the years is that anyone who goes up against her regrets it .
Even her own caucus : Pelosi ’ s secret sauce , I think , is that she sees the passage of time as a weapon .
Everyone gets buggy when she waits .
We got buggy when she wouldn ’ t start the impeachment hearings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time .
Now also note that while she has been waiting , more emails became public showing more complicity from Prznint Stupid to illegally without aid from Ukraine , Rudy Giuliani continues to flap his gums and confess more , and now John Bolton is willing to testify .
None of this things were known when the hearings concluded .
Yet even as the trial feels imminent , Republicans are cranking up the heat on Pelosi for withholding the articles and have been quietly exploring ways to force her hand — though there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than apply public pressure .
Both Rep. Bradley Byrne and Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced resolutions condemning Pelosi , while Rep. Morgan Griffith raised a series of parliamentary inquiries on the floor over the issue .
And Rep. Chip Roy even trolled the speaker by of how easy it is to walk from the House to the Senate .
The dispatch from your Huddle host : .
Related reads : “ Ten Republicans sign onto Josh Hawley ’ s proposal to dismiss Trump ’ s impeachment , ” by Bryan Lowry for the Kansas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Soon , ’ Pelosi promises , as some Democrats grow restless over delay in Trump ’ s impeachment trial , ” from WaPo ’ s Mike DeBonis and Rachael Bade : .
The proposal to dismiss is patently un-Constitutional , and it certainly is going to backfire .
It ’ s more obvious by the day that amply be-chinned # MoscowMitch is fixing the trial and defiling the Constitution , and his low-IQ catchfarts are not impartial jurors .
That ’ s going to backfire too , in some way .
I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end , but again , I know that going up against Nancy Pelosi is a fool ’ s errand .

We’ve maintained that Pelosi’s waiting to turn over the Articles of Impeachment has been a 2020 tactical decision, and this Pelosi quote in Time Magazine supports our theory:
“Somebody said to me today that he may not even take up what we send. [But] then [President Trump] will never be vindicated,” Pelosi told top caucus members, according to the aide in the room. “He will be impeached forever. Forever. No matter what the Senate does.”
All of the Villagers are reporting that she has no leverage, McConnell has won, just get it over with (“I’m on a deadline”), conventional wisdom, blah-blah-blah. The thing I’ve learned from watching Pelosi over the years is that anyone who goes up against her regrets it. Even her own caucus:
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith quickly reversed himself Thursday after saying Speaker Nancy Pelosi should send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate.
Smith had said that “I think it is time to send the impeachment to the Senate and let Mitch McConnell be responsible for the fairness of the trial.”
But he later tweeted: “I misspoke this morning, I do believe we should do everything we can to force the Senate to have a fair trial.”
Pelosi’s secret sauce, I think, is that she sees the passage of time as a weapon. Everyone gets buggy when she waits. We got buggy when she wouldn’t start the impeachment hearings, too, but she bides her time. Now also note that while she has been waiting, more emails became public showing more complicity from Prznint Stupid to illegally without aid from Ukraine, Rudy Giuliani continues to flap his gums and confess more, and now John Bolton is willing to testify. None of this things were known when the hearings concluded.
Politico’s morning email thingie shows us how it’s working:
Yet even as the trial feels imminent, Republicans are cranking up the heat on Pelosi for withholding the articles and have been quietly exploring ways to force her hand — though there is little the GOP can do other than apply public pressure. Both Rep. Bradley Byrne and Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced resolutions condemning Pelosi, while Rep. Morgan Griffith raised a series of parliamentary inquiries on the floor over the issue. And Rep. Chip Roy even trolled the speaker by posting a video of how easy it is to walk from the House to the Senate. The dispatch from your Huddle host: https://politi.co/39VLrH1 . Related reads: “Ten Republicans sign onto Josh Hawley’s proposal to dismiss Trump’s impeachment,” by Bryan Lowry for the Kansas City Star: http://bit.ly/2tP9Duc ; and “‘Soon,’ Pelosi promises, as some Democrats grow restless over delay in Trump’s impeachment trial,” from WaPo’s Mike DeBonis and Rachael Bade: https://wapo.st/36BRaj7 .
The proposal to dismiss is patently un-Constitutional, and it certainly is going to backfire. It’s more obvious by the day that amply be-chinned #MoscowMitch is fixing the trial and defiling the Constitution, and his low-IQ catchfarts are not impartial jurors. That’s going to backfire too, in some way.
I have no idea how this is going to end, but again, I know that going up against Nancy Pelosi is a fool’s errand.
Republished with permission from Mock Paper Scissors


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Trump Demands Roberts Dismiss Impeachment Trial Because It 'Should Not Be Allowed To Proceed'

President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that Justice John Roberts should declare that impeachment charges against him are unconstitutional .
@ @ @ @ @ News over the weekend , Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani first made the suggestion that Roberts @ @ @ @ @ 's impeachment trial by dismissing it .
`` Great idea , '' Trump wrote Sunday @ @ @ @ @ video of Giuliani 's appearance .
`` This phony Impeachment Hoax should not even be @ @ @ @ @ NOTHING wrong .
Just a partisan vote .
Zero Republicans .
Never happened before !
@

President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that Justice John Roberts should declare that impeachment charges against him are unconstitutional.
In an appearance on Fox News over the weekend, Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani first made the suggestion that Roberts could kick off the president's impeachment trial by dismissing it.
"Great idea," Trump wrote Sunday morning as he tweeted out video of Giuliani's appearance. "This phony Impeachment Hoax should not even be allowed to proceed. Did NOTHING wrong. Just a partisan vote. Zero Republicans. Never happened before!"


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--White House Schedules Trump Announcement On 'Constitutional Prayer' In Public Schools

President Donald Trump plans to introduce new guidance for expanding `` constitutional prayer '' in public schools .
According to @ @ @ @ @ , Trump 's schedule for Thursday includes an announcement about “ guidance on constitutional prayer @ @ @ @ @ details of Trump 's guidance were not immediately available but the president is on record @ @ @ @ @ expand prayer in public schools under the guise of First Amendment rights .
On Saturday @ @ @ @ @ condemned schools for practicing `` Buddhist Meditation , '' which he said was different than @ @ @ @ @

President Donald Trump plans to introduce new guidance for expanding "constitutional prayer" in public schools.
According to CBS News broadcaster Steven Portnoy, Trump's schedule for Thursday includes an announcement about “guidance on constitutional prayer in public schools.”
In addition to China trade deal signing on Wednesday, WH says Trump’s week will include announcing “guidance on constitutional prayer in public schools” on Thursday. — Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) January 12, 2020
The details of Trump's guidance were not immediately available but the president is on record suggesting that he wants to expand prayer in public schools under the guise of First Amendment rights.
On Saturday, Trump attorney Jay Sekulow condemned schools for practicing "Buddhist Meditation," which he said was different than "Christian meditation."


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Rick Santorum: Trump's Paranoid Conspiracy Theories Are 'A Lot More Important' Than Impeachment

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum asserted on Sunday that President Donald Trump 's conspiracy theory about FISA abuses in the Obama administration will have a larger impact on the election than impeachment .
`` I think in the end , it 's a loser for the Democrats , '' Santorum insisted on CNN 's State of the Union program .
`` The way that Nancy Pelosi has handled this has been -- showed that it 's overtly political . ''
`` The point that was just made by [ Mia Love ] is accurate , '' he continued , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about hurting Donald Trump before the election .
There was no chance that Donald Trump was going to be removed from president .
It 's clear that it 's a purely political operation . ''
`` And I think people will view it in that lens , '' Santorum said .
`` And I think by the time that the November election comes around , I think the issues with the FBI and what happened with FISA and what happened with the original [ Russia ] investigation are going to be a lot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than impeachment . ''

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum asserted on Sunday that President Donald Trump's conspiracy theory about FISA abuses in the Obama administration will have a larger impact on the election than impeachment.
"I think in the end, it's a loser for the Democrats," Santorum insisted on CNN's State of the Union program. "The way that Nancy Pelosi has handled this has been -- showed that it's overtly political."
"The point that was just made by [Mia Love] is accurate," he continued, "which is, this is all about hurting Donald Trump before the election. There was no chance that Donald Trump was going to be removed from president. It's clear that it's a purely political operation."
"And I think people will view it in that lens," Santorum said. "And I think by the time that the November election comes around, I think the issues with the FBI and what happened with FISA and what happened with the original [Russia] investigation are going to be a lot more important issue for the American public than impeachment."


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Trump Blasted For Bragging About 'Selling' American Troops To Saudi Arabia And S. Korea

Attacking Nancy Pelosi and making up more threats to our embassies out of whole cloth were n't the only crazy things to come out of Trump 's mouth during his softball interview with Fox 's Laura Ingraham Friday night .
Trump also told Ingraham that both Saudi Arabia and South Korea have deposited money into a `` bank account '' in exchange for more U.S. troops .
Who this supposed `` bank account '' belongs to , he did not say .
Trump was rightfully taken to task on Twitter for the exchange by former Republican Rep. Justin Amash and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ treating our troops like mercenaries , and would like to know , as I would , just where this money he 's talking about was deposited .
Conservative Rep. Justin Amash ( I-Mich. ) accused Donald Trump Saturday of “ selling ” American troops to Saudi Arabia after the president boasted that the nation has deposited $ 1 billion into a bank he did not identify for “ more troops.
” Other critics erupted on Twitter over a possible future in which U.S. soldiers could be sent as mercenaries to any high-bidding country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a nation ’ s ideology or rationale for fighting .
Others argued the country doesn ’ t deserve American support because of Saudi Arabia ’ s link to the vicious dismemberment and murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi , who was writing at the time for The Washington Post .
Some pointed out that most of the hijackers in the 9/11 attack were Saudis .
And some wondered exactly where the Saudi $ 1 billion is .
Trump clearly saw nothing wrong with the idea .
“ Listen , you ’ re a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Saudi officials , Trump recounted on Fox News .
“ You want more troops ?
I ’ m going to send them to you , but you ’ ve got to pay us .
They ’ re paying us .
They ’ ve already deposited $ 1 billion in the bank.
” Here 's more with the reaction on Twitter from their post and others :

Attacking Nancy Pelosi and making up more threats to our embassies out of whole cloth weren't the only crazy things to come out of Trump's mouth during his softball interview with Fox's Laura Ingraham Friday night. Trump also told Ingraham that both Saudi Arabia and South Korea have deposited money into a "bank account" in exchange for more U.S. troops. Who this supposed "bank account" belongs to, he did not say.
Trump was rightfully taken to task on Twitter for the exchange by former Republican Rep. Justin Amash and others, who went after Trump for treating our troops like mercenaries, and would like to know, as I would, just where this money he's talking about was deposited.
Rep. Justin Amash Blasts Trump For ‘Selling’ American Troops To Saudis:
Conservative Rep. Justin Amash (I-Mich.) accused Donald Trump Saturday of “selling” American troops to Saudi Arabia after the president boasted that the nation has deposited $1 billion into a bank he did not identify for “more troops.” “He sells troops,” Amash tersely noted in a tweet. Other critics erupted on Twitter over a possible future in which U.S. soldiers could be sent as mercenaries to any high-bidding country to risk their lives, regardless of a nation’s ideology or rationale for fighting. Others argued the country doesn’t deserve American support because of Saudi Arabia’s link to the vicious dismemberment and murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was writing at the time for The Washington Post. Some pointed out that most of the hijackers in the 9/11 attack were Saudis. And some wondered exactly where the Saudi $1 billion is. Trump clearly saw nothing wrong with the idea. “Listen, you’re a very rich country,” he told Saudi officials, Trump recounted on Fox News. “You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1 billion in the bank.”
Here's more with the reaction on Twitter from their post and others:
He sells troops.
“We have a very good relationship with Saudi Arabia—I said, listen, you’re a very rich country. You want more troops? I’m going to send them to you, but you’ve got to pay us. They’re paying us. They’ve already deposited $1B in the bank.” pic.twitter.com/rc1f7heyCP — Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 11, 2020
The US military is now a mercenary army for the country that sent the majority of hijackers to do 9/11. — Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) January 11, 2020
And sells morals. Don’t forget SA butchered a journalist, our intelligence agencies said it MBS, and trump ignored them. — Nathaniel #CountryOverParty (@NewGopforUSA) January 11, 2020
He can’t sell what he doesn’t own. And he wouldn’t own our military if the co-equal congress demonstrated any ability or desire to hold him accountable. Elected and appointed GOP continue to enable and abet this man. They fail their oath of office. — (((Howard Forman))) (@thehowie) January 11, 2020
How much of that $1B has been transferred into the bank accounts of Trump or his family? This is why we need to see ALL of their tax returns. — JohnRJohnson (@JohnRJohnson) January 11, 2020
Yes. He treats our military like paid mercenaries, which in addition to being completely unAmerican, is also illegal. And who’s “bank account” is he talking about? Sounds like his own. All this guy does is break the law. https://t.co/RMjSZAxCyA — Andrew Wortman (@AmoneyResists) January 11, 2020
If Saudi Arabia has paid US $1 billion for use of US military as mercenaries, that $$$ should go directly to the American people - healthcare, education, environmental cleanup & combatting climate change, infrastructure, etc. Where has it gone? Straight to Trump I’m sure. — Empire Storm (@empirestatemind) January 11, 2020
Wonder if Saudi Arabia had a role in Trump breaking the Iran agreement and whose bank account that money would have ended in https://t.co/LaU0t8TVLP — Olga Lautman (@olgaNYC1211) January 11, 2020
Trump bragged openly last night in a Fox News interview about taking oil from Syria that is not ours, and sending US troops as mercenaries to S Korea and Saudi Arabia, along with a series of lies. And it barely gets noticed. We are so far down the rabbit hole of authoritarianism. — Amy Siskind 🏳🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) January 11, 2020
Trump offers up our US military as mercenaries for hire to the world's richest autocrats: “I said to Saudi Arabia...you're a very rich country. You want more troops? I'll send them to you, but you have to pay us. They've already deposited $1B 'in the bank.'”
Whose bank?? https://t.co/MSyFDYjNk3 — Polly Sigh (@dcpoll) January 11, 2020


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Sen. Mike Lee Twists Himself In Knots To Avoid Calling Pompeo A Liar

Utah Sen. Mike Lee told CNN host Jake Tapper that it was `` news to him '' that there was a direct threat to four of our embassies , as Trump falsely claimed on Fox this Friday , when asked about the classified briefing they received last week on the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani .
LEE : I did n't hear anything about that and several of my colleagues have said the same .
That was news to me and it certainly was n't something that I recall being raised in the classified briefing .
But Lee literally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sec .
of State Mike Pompeo a liar after Tapper played a portion of the press conference last week , where Pompeo claimed that `` All of the intelligence that we have briefed that you 've heard today , I assure you in an unclassified setting , we provide in the classified setting as well . ''
LEE : I 'm not sure exactly what he 's trying to say there .
I do n't recall being told , look , there were four embassies .
I 'm sure there was a mention @ @ @ @ @ @ @ briefing , because there had been an attack on one of our embassies in the days leading up to Gen. Soleimani 's killing .
We may have some fleeting moments of truth telling from these Republicans , but do n't expect any of them to ever be profiles in courage , or to really stand up to this administration or their party leaders .

Utah Sen. Mike Lee told CNN host Jake Tapper that it was "news to him" that there was a direct threat to four of our embassies, as Trump falsely claimed on Fox this Friday, when asked about the classified briefing they received last week on the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani.
LEE: I didn't hear anything about that and several of my colleagues have said the same. That was news to me and it certainly wasn't something that I recall being raised in the classified briefing.
But Lee literally twisted himself in knots to avoid calling Sec. of State Mike Pompeo a liar after Tapper played a portion of the press conference last week, where Pompeo claimed that "All of the intelligence that we have briefed that you've heard today, I assure you in an unclassified setting, we provide in the classified setting as well."
LEE: I'm not sure exactly what he's trying to say there. I don't recall being told, look, there were four embassies. I'm sure there was a mention of at lease one embassy in that briefing, because there had been an attack on one of our embassies in the days leading up to Gen. Soleimani's killing.
We may have some fleeting moments of truth telling from these Republicans, but don't expect any of them to ever be profiles in courage, or to really stand up to this administration or their party leaders.


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Pelosi Nails Trump For 'Projection': 'When He Calls Somebody Crazy, He Knows That He Is'

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) on Sunday explained that President Donald Trump has a habit of projecting his insecurities about himself onto other people .
Pelosi made the remarks during an appearance on ABC with host George Stephanopoulos .
`` I would like to talk about some subjects other than the erratic nature of the president of the United States , '' Pelosi lamented .
`` But he has to know that every knock from him is a boost .
He 's the president who said I should have impeached George Bush because of the war in Iraq @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obsessed [ with impeachment ] . ''
`` Frankly , I said , Donald Trump is not worth impeaching , '' she continued .
`` But when he crossed that line on Ukraine , he violated the Constitution in such a way that could not be ignored . ''
Pelosi concluded : `` I do n't like to spend too much time on his crazy tweets because everything he says is a projection .
When he calls somebody crazy , he knows that he is .
Everything he says , you can just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Sunday explained that President Donald Trump has a habit of projecting his insecurities about himself onto other people.
Pelosi made the remarks during an appearance on ABC with host George Stephanopoulos.
"I would like to talk about some subjects other than the erratic nature of the president of the United States," Pelosi lamented. "But he has to know that every knock from him is a boost. He's the president who said I should have impeached George Bush because of the war in Iraq and now he's saying I'm obsessed [with impeachment]."
"Frankly, I said, Donald Trump is not worth impeaching," she continued. "But when he crossed that line on Ukraine, he violated the Constitution in such a way that could not be ignored."
Pelosi concluded: "I don't like to spend too much time on his crazy tweets because everything he says is a projection. When he calls somebody crazy, he knows that he is. Everything he says, you can just translate it back to who he is."


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Desperate Trump Calls Pelosi ‘Crazed Lunatic,’ Pretends He’d Love Witnesses He’s Blocking To Testify

Just like Donald Trump claimed he “ would love ” to release his tax returns if only he weren ’ t being audited ( and is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to bar their release ) , he told a 100 % credulous Laura Ingraham that he “ would love ” impeachment testimony from all the witnesses he ’ s blocking from testifying if only he didn ’ t care so much about executive privilege .
During his softball interview with Laura Ingraham Friday night , Trump said this , without a peep of challenge from Ingraham : TRUMP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I like Mick [ Mulvaney ] to testify , I like Mike Pompeo to testify , I like Rick Perry to testify , I want everybody -- but there are things that you can ’ t do from the standpoint of executive privilege .
You have to maintain that .
So , we 'll see where it all goes .
But especially , a national security advisor [ John Bolton ] -- you can ’ t have him explaining all of your statements about national security concerning Russia , China , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can ’ t do that .
There ’ s a lot you can say about Laura Ingraham but stupid she ain ’ t .
And it ’ s hard to believe she bought this BS .
Yet she sat silent during this latest load of Trump manure .
Apparently , she loves the smell .
She also had no problem with Trump attacking Pelosi with another load of BS .
TRUMP : I think for the good of the others .
Look , Nancy Pelosi will go down as probably the least successful @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our nation .
She has done nothing , the only thing she ’ s done is she finally got done one of the best trade deals our country has ever made to USMCA , that ’ s with Mexico and Canada -- but I did that .
She doesn ’ t even know what it says -- she has no idea what it says .
She was forced to do that -- you know why ?
She wouldn ’ t have done it , but she did nothing .
So now she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is obsessed with impeachment , she has done nothing .
She is going to go down as one of the worst speakers in the history of our country .
Now , in all fairness , she ’ s hurting our country .
She ’ s very bad for our country .
And she ’ s become a crazed lunatic .
But she will go down as I think maybe the worst speaker in the history of our country .
And she will be overthrown pretty soon because she ’ s doing very little @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And she ’ s controlled by the radical left .
She ’ s controlled by AOC , she ’ s controlled by this Tlaib -- that 's another great one -- and she ’ s controlled by Omar .
Whatever else you think of Pelosi , she is one of the most powerful speakers in history .
Furthermore , House Democrats have passed many significant bills stalled in the Senate .
In May , when Trump also whined about Democrats getting nothing done , the House had already passed 49 bills .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the size of Trump ( who looked like he was spilling out of his seat ) , didn ’ t think it necessary to tell viewers the truth .
In fact , Trump lied repeatedly through this interview , calling the Ukraine whistleblower “ a fraud , ” for example , when the key allegations have already been proven true .
But Fox News , helped validate that particular lie with its lower-third banner : And despite Trump ’ s claim to be happy in his job , he sounded anxious and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ massed helped him feel better .
You can sense anxiety oozing out of Trump above , from the January 10 , 2020 The Ingraham Angle .

Just like Donald Trump claimed he “would love” to release his tax returns if only he weren’t being audited (and is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to bar their release), he told a 100% credulous Laura Ingraham that he “would love” impeachment testimony from all the witnesses he’s blocking from testifying if only he didn’t care so much about executive privilege.
During his softball interview with Laura Ingraham Friday night, Trump said this, without a peep of challenge from Ingraham:
TRUMP: I would love everybody to testify. I like Mick [Mulvaney] to testify, I like Mike Pompeo to testify, I like Rick Perry to testify, I want everybody -- but there are things that you can’t do from the standpoint of executive privilege. You have to maintain that. So, we'll see where it all goes. But especially, a national security advisor [John Bolton] -- you can’t have him explaining all of your statements about national security concerning Russia, China, and North Korea -- everything -- we just can’t do that.
There’s a lot you can say about Laura Ingraham but stupid she ain’t. And it’s hard to believe she bought this BS. Yet she sat silent during this latest load of Trump manure. Apparently, she loves the smell.
She also had no problem with Trump attacking Pelosi with another load of BS.
TRUMP: I think for the good of the others. Look, Nancy Pelosi will go down as probably the least successful speaker of the House in the history of our nation. She has done nothing, the only thing she’s done is she finally got done one of the best trade deals our country has ever made to USMCA, that’s with Mexico and Canada -- but I did that. She doesn’t even know what it says -- she has no idea what it says. She was forced to do that -- you know why? She wouldn’t have done it, but she did nothing. So now she can say I signed something. She is obsessed with impeachment, she has done nothing. She is going to go down as one of the worst speakers in the history of our country. Now, in all fairness, she’s hurting our country. She’s very bad for our country. And she’s become a crazed lunatic. But she will go down as I think maybe the worst speaker in the history of our country. … And she will be overthrown pretty soon because she’s doing very little and the people are tired of it. And she’s controlled by the radical left. She’s controlled by AOC, she’s controlled by this Tlaib -- that's another great one -- and she’s controlled by Omar.
Whatever else you think of Pelosi, she is one of the most powerful speakers in history. Furthermore, House Democrats have passed many significant bills stalled in the Senate. In May, when Trump also whined about Democrats getting nothing done, the House had already passed 49 bills.
But Ingraham, who looked a third of the size of Trump (who looked like he was spilling out of his seat), didn’t think it necessary to tell viewers the truth.
In fact, Trump lied repeatedly through this interview, calling the Ukraine whistleblower “a fraud,” for example, when the key allegations have already been proven true. But Fox News, helped validate that particular lie with its lower-third banner:
And despite Trump’s claim to be happy in his job, he sounded anxious and anguished. Surely, Fox's ego massed helped him feel better.
You can sense anxiety oozing out of Trump above, from the January 10, 2020 The Ingraham Angle.
Published with permission from News Hounds.


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Giuliani Argues Impeachment Trial Is 'Better Politically' For Trump

Sadly , no one on State-Run TV , a.k.a .
Fox `` news '' is ever going to ask Trump lawyer about the fact that Republicans in Congress really wish he 'd just go away and quit offering to `` help '' Trump by offering to testify during impeachment hearings .
Giuliani made yet another appearance on Fox this Saturday , and could n't seem to make up his mind whether it would be better for Trump if Judge Roberts just dismissed the impeachment trial before it began ( ignoring the fact that Roberts does n't have the power to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or whether it would be better to actually have a trial , because , of course , he 's hoping they 'll be able to make it all about the Bidens , rather than Trump 's criminality : Giuliani began arguing his case against the Senate impeachment trial by telling Fox News host Jeanine Pirro that “ there are no rules for a trial in the Supreme Court ” and that “ all it says in the Senate is there shall be a trial.
” “ The Chief Justice presides .
What happens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The defense lawyer says I move to dismiss the indictment because it fails to state a crime , ” Giuliani said , before likening it to indicting him in New York for “ not looking nice tonight ” and bringing him on trial before the New York Supreme Court .
Pirro then asked Giuliani if the same case applies to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R-KY ) .
“ Mitch sets the rules , ” Giuliani said .
“ This should be done as if it were a trial in the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to confusingly argue that despite how President Trump will be acquitted , “ politically it would be better to go to trial ” because “ they ’ ll find out about Biden.
” “ If we do go to trial he will get acquitted and they ’ ll make fools out of themselves .
I can even argue that politically it would be better to go to trial !
” Giuliani said , before baselessly claiming that former Vice President Joe Biden made money in countries like Iraq .
“ They ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll find out what a big crook Biden is.
” Pretty rich coming from someone who is in as much legal jeopardy as Giuliani .
Adam Parkhomenko summed up nicely what we 're watching here : Giuliani had better be careful what he wishes for .
If they do call witnesses , he 's one who should be on the list .

Sadly, no one on State-Run TV, a.k.a. Fox "news" is ever going to ask Trump lawyer about the fact that Republicans in Congress really wish he'd just go away and quit offering to "help" Trump by offering to testify during impeachment hearings.
Giuliani made yet another appearance on Fox this Saturday, and couldn't seem to make up his mind whether it would be better for Trump if Judge Roberts just dismissed the impeachment trial before it began (ignoring the fact that Roberts doesn't have the power to do that on his own), or whether it would be better to actually have a trial, because, of course, he's hoping they'll be able to make it all about the Bidens, rather than Trump's criminality:
Giuliani began arguing his case against the Senate impeachment trial by telling Fox News host Jeanine Pirro that “there are no rules for a trial in the Supreme Court” and that “all it says in the Senate is there shall be a trial.” “The Chief Justice presides. What happens at the beginning of the trial? The defense lawyer says I move to dismiss the indictment because it fails to state a crime,” Giuliani said, before likening it to indicting him in New York for “not looking nice tonight” and bringing him on trial before the New York Supreme Court. Pirro then asked Giuliani if the same case applies to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). “Mitch sets the rules,” Giuliani said. “This should be done as if it were a trial in the United States district court.” Giuliani went on to confusingly argue that despite how President Trump will be acquitted, “politically it would be better to go to trial” because “they’ll find out about Biden.” “If we do go to trial he will get acquitted and they’ll make fools out of themselves. I can even argue that politically it would be better to go to trial!” Giuliani said, before baselessly claiming that former Vice President Joe Biden made money in countries like Iraq. “They’ll find out about Biden, they’ll find out what a big crook Biden is.”
Pretty rich coming from someone who is in as much legal jeopardy as Giuliani.
Adam Parkhomenko summed up nicely what we're watching here:
To understand Giuliani is to understand every single claim he makes about Biden is in fact a crime Rudy Giuliani has committed. He uses conspiracy theories to cover his own criminal conspiracies. It’s as simple as that https://t.co/t1V0SRyCsa — Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) January 12, 2020
Giuliani had better be careful what he wishes for. If they do call witnesses, he's one who should be on the list.


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Mark Esper: Trump's 'Four Embassies' Claim Based On Belief, Not Intel

Jake Tapper put Donald Trump 's claim that Qasem Soleimani was assassinated because he was targeting four specific embassies under the light , where it wilted rapidly .
Defense Secretary Mark Esper is making the rounds to deal with the claim Trump made on Laura Ingraham 's show on Friday that four embassies were being targeted for attack by Soleimani .
After spouting canned talking points praising the units carrying out the attack , Tapper pushed him on whether there was specific intelligence that supported Trump 's claim .
`` There was intelligence that they — there was an attempt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' Esper replied .
This is something we all knew because the protests at and subsequent attempt to besiege the embassy in Iraq were carried out by Iranian militiamen .
That 's no surprise , and you did n't even need a security clearance to know that .
They had also left the embassy at the time Soleimani was attacked .
But wait !
There 's more .
`` What the president said with regard to the four embassies is what I believe as well , '' Esper explained .
`` He said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been targeting the embassies in the regional .
I believe that as well , as did other national security team members , and that is why I deployed thousands of additional paratroopers in the region to reinforce our embassy in Baghdad and other embassies in the region . ''
The word `` believe '' is carrying a lot of weight in that answer , and so it 's probably good to point out that there are a lot of things people believe that have no facts as a foundation for that belief .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ was any intelligence to back up the action , Esper replied , `` What the president said is that he believed and said he could have been targeting , all of those things that I believe as well.
” He then went on to repeat the same claims he opened with about what a bad man Soleimani is .
We all know that Trump just invented something to say to Fox News viewers that had no basis in fact , but having the Secretary of Defense ( acting or otherwise ) bolster the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says can be believed .
Nothing .

Jake Tapper put Donald Trump's claim that Qasem Soleimani was assassinated because he was targeting four specific embassies under the light, where it wilted rapidly. Defense Secretary Mark Esper is making the rounds to deal with the claim Trump made on Laura Ingraham's show on Friday that four embassies were being targeted for attack by Soleimani.
After spouting canned talking points praising the units carrying out the attack, Tapper pushed him on whether there was specific intelligence that supported Trump's claim.
"There was intelligence that they — there was an attempt to target the embassy in Baghdad," Esper replied. This is something we all knew because the protests at and subsequent attempt to besiege the embassy in Iraq were carried out by Iranian militiamen. That's no surprise, and you didn't even need a security clearance to know that. They had also left the embassy at the time Soleimani was attacked.
But wait! There's more. "What the president said with regard to the four embassies is what I believe as well," Esper explained. "He said he believed that they probably… could have been targeting the embassies in the regional. I believe that as well, as did other national security team members, and that is why I deployed thousands of additional paratroopers in the region to reinforce our embassy in Baghdad and other embassies in the region."
The word "believe" is carrying a lot of weight in that answer, and so it's probably good to point out that there are a lot of things people believe that have no facts as a foundation for that belief.
When Tapper pushed Esper on whether there was any intelligence to back up the action, Esper replied, "What the president said is that he believed and said he could have been targeting, all of those things that I believe as well.”
He then went on to repeat the same claims he opened with about what a bad man Soleimani is.
We all know that Trump just invented something to say to Fox News viewers that had no basis in fact, but having the Secretary of Defense (acting or otherwise) bolster the lie just confirms that nothing this administration says can be believed. Nothing.


crooksandliars--2020-01-12--Dean Cain Pats Lisa Boothe's Knee While Co-hosting Fox & Friends

Fox News guest host Dean Cain was caught on Sunday patting his co-host 's knee on live TV .
The @ @ @ @ @ segueing from a segment about Iran to news about Britain 's royal family .
As @ @ @ @ @ he patted Lisa Marie Boothe on the knee .
`` Let 's us pivot , @ @ @ @ @ looked down at Boothe 's legs .
`` You pivot , '' he added , @ @ @ @ @ Do n't judge me , '' Boothe said of her interest in the royal family @ @ @ @ @ interesting to me . ''
Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson alleged that she was @ @ @ @ @ the Fox & Friends program .

Fox News guest host Dean Cain was caught on Sunday patting his co-host's knee on live TV.
The incident occurred as Cain was segueing from a segment about Iran to news about Britain's royal family.
As Dean introduced the segment, he patted Lisa Marie Boothe on the knee.
"Let's us pivot," Dean said as he looked down at Boothe's legs.
"You pivot," he added, patting her knee.
"Don't judge me," Boothe said of her interest in the royal family. "This is very interesting to me."
Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson alleged that she was sexually also harassed while anchoring the Fox & Friends program.


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--10 GOP Senators Are Considering Support For Limiting Trump's War Power

According to The Hill , as many as 10 Republican senators may back Sen. Tim Kaine 's resolution that would limit Trump 's ability to take military action against Iran without Congressional approval after the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani : Sen. Tim Kaine ( D-Va. ) is circulating a bipartisan resolution that would direct Trump to remove U.S. forces from any hostilities against Iran within 30 days of its enactment .
GOP Sens .
Mike Lee ( Utah ) and Rand Paul ( Ky. ) have already voiced their support for the measure , and Kaine says about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Susan Collins ( Maine ) , Lisa Murkowski ( Alaska ) , Todd Young ( Ind . )
and Mitt Romney ( Utah ) , are reviewing it .
“ Probably about 10 , ” Kaine said when asked about the number of Republicans who could vote to rein in Trump ’ s powers .
“ There ’ s good discussion going on.
” Lee said several Republicans are carefully weighing whether to back the measure , adding that it “ would not be unreasonable to say that there might be a group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidates to vote for it .
”

According to The Hill, as many as 10 Republican senators may back Sen. Tim Kaine's resolution that would limit Trump's ability to take military action against Iran without Congressional approval after the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani:
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is circulating a bipartisan resolution that would direct Trump to remove U.S. forces from any hostilities against Iran within 30 days of its enactment.
GOP Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.) have already voiced their support for the measure, and Kaine says about eight more Republicans, including Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Todd Young (Ind.) and Mitt Romney (Utah), are reviewing it.
“Probably about 10,” Kaine said when asked about the number of Republicans who could vote to rein in Trump’s powers. “There’s good discussion going on.”
Lee said several Republicans are carefully weighing whether to back the measure, adding that it “would not be unreasonable to say that there might be a group of 10 who should be considered potential candidates to vote for it.”


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--PREVIEW: What To Expect In Tonight's CNN Democratic Debate

CNN 's New Day invited Karen Finney , Joe Lockhart , and Paul Bagala on this morning to discuss what we expect to see in tonight 's Democratic presidential debate .
Karen Finney said she expected an `` interesting dynamic '' play out between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren , but she said what she thought most voters were looking for : who 's the most presidential .
She said people will want to see a president on the stage , someone who can pass the commander in chief test , `` given what 's been happening in Iran , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people are still very concerned .
They 'll be saying is this someone that can take on Iran , do they have a plan ?
How do we revive America 's relationships around the world ? ''
Paul Begala said candidates should not try to reinvent their Iraq war vote .
He said aides should tell Biden not to look in the rear view mirror , but to look forward .
`` The most important way to conclude every answer is , 'And that 's why I can beat Donald Trump . '
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ wins the debate will be the one who rises above and sees the real fight is about keeping Obamacare and protecting Social Security .
`` The real fight is Trump . ''
Tune in tonight at 9 pm EST on CNN .

CNN's New Day invited Karen Finney, Joe Lockhart, and Paul Begala on this morning to discuss what we expect to see in tonight's Democratic presidential debate.
Karen Finney said she expected an "interesting dynamic" play out between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, but she said what she thought most voters were looking for: who's the most presidential.
She said people will want to see a president on the stage, someone who can pass the commander in chief test, "given what's been happening in Iran, given the polls we've seen, people are still very concerned. They'll be saying is this someone that can take on Iran, do they have a plan? How do we revive America's relationships around the world?"
Paul Begala said candidates should not try to reinvent their Iraq war vote. He said aides should tell Biden not to look in the rear view mirror, but to look forward. "The most important way to conclude every answer is, 'And that's why I can beat Donald Trump.'"
Joe Lockhart said the person who wins the debate will be the one who rises above and sees the real fight is about keeping Obamacare and protecting Social Security. "The real fight is Trump."
Tune in tonight at 9 pm EST on CNN.


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--Racists Are Hijacking Mainstream Symbolism To Market Hate

The gun that Donald Trump Jr. , the president ’ s eldest son , showed off on Instagram this week was intended to grab people ’ s attention : An AR-15 semiautomatic rifle adorned with dubious Christian “ Crusader ” decorations , sold by a Florida gunmaker who assures buyers that they are “ inspired by some of the most fierce warriors who fought in nearly 200 years of epic conflicts known as the Crusades.
” In addition to the pseudo-medieval decorations , the gun ( called “ The Crusader ” ) featured a magazine decorated with a caricature image @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump Jr. spokesperson told The Hill : “ The Instagram post was strictly about him using a famous meme to mock Hillary Clinton , as he and many others have done on numerous occasions and will surely do again in the future , so long as it continues triggering humorless liberals.
” However , the gun itself and its decorations were what caught a lot of people ’ s attention , since the Crusades and medieval mythology are yet another field of mainstream culture that has been appropriated by the racist alt-right in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deploy such symbology—ironically , with full awareness of its mainstream meaning , behind which the people wielding them cynically hide by claiming that the people offended or disturbed by their use are simply oversensitive liberals—is similar to the alt-right ’ s similar appropriation of such mainstream symbols as the “ OK ” hand signal , or the cartoon Pepe the Frog and its permutations .
As with all these ploys , it ’ s frequently difficult to discern the user ’ s motives .
Is it an innocent display intended to invoke its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a surreptitious ( and cynical ) expression of affiliation with racist ideology ?
The ensuing confusion has a twin effect : It simultaneously creates chaos within the realm of mainstream discourse , while it provides cover for the spread of that racist ideology and its organizing .
`` The adoption of these symbols is meant largely as a way of signaling anti-Muslim sentiment in particular , but also this notion that Christianity needs to retake western civilization , '' Howard Graves , a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told CNN there was no connection , saying that “ Symbols on firearms depicting various historical warriors are extremely common within the 2nd Amendment community.
” Donald Trump Jr. ’ s Instagram post included this image of his AR-15 .
Donald Trump Jr. ’ s Instagram post included this image of his AR-15 .
[ /image ] The gunmaker , Rare Breed Firearms , responded angrily : “ It 's objectively silly and dishonest for leftwing groups , like the SPLC , to claim that this symbol on our Crusader model has anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ideology , ” said CEO Cole Lelux .
“ In other words , these people have no idea what they 're talking about and should apologize for their outrageous smears.
” When Rare Breed first began making the gun , it explained the religious connotations of its decorations to the Orlando Sentinel in xenophobic terms : “ They believe America and much of the world is threatened by Islamic terrorism and the Crusader is a symbol of shared Christian values and the right to defend themselves , he said .
The safety selector @ @ @ @ @ @ @ three settings : Peace , War and God Wills It.
” Trump ’ s gun featured an etching of a Bible verse as well as the Latin phrase `` Deus Vult , '' another medieval term meaning `` God wills it '' —a phrase with an ominous quality , since the alt-right ideologues latching onto Crusader mythology have adopted it as their personal battle cry .
It appeared on the streets of Charlottesville in 2017 , and still crops up regularly in far-right demonstrations involving such hate groups as the Proud Boys .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the attempted firebombing of a Planned Parenthood women ’ s health clinic in Newark , Delaware .
An 18-year-old man named Samuel Gulick spray-painted “ Deus Vult ” on an exterior wall before he threw a lit incendiary device into the building , police said .
Police investigators were able to identify Gulick through a combination of video evidence and his social media posts , in which he frequently used “ Deus Vult ” and ranted against abortion .
More broadly , Gulick eagerly participated in alt-right ideology , using a Pepe-esque @ @ @ @ @ @ @ avatar and posting viciously anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT sentiments .
One post featured a link to an article about transgender girl , on which he commented : “ Hans , get the flamethrower.
” '' The Nazis said killing millions of Jews was a national health issue .
Democrats are using the same excuse to kill American children , '' Gulick wrote in another post .
`` When will we start shooting ?
Its about time we kill these genocidal demons . ''
His social media posts were filled with references to the Crusaders @ @ @ @ @ @ @ charged last August in a strikingly similar case .
Justin Olsen , an 18-year-old Ohio man , was charged with threatening federal officers for posts fantasizing about the murders of FBI agents after the 1993 tragedy involving the Branch Davidian compound near Waco , Texas .
Olsen operated an iFunny page titled “ Army of Christ ” adorned with images of Christian Crusade knights .
White nationalist fanboys ’ love affair with the Crusades dates primarily back to 2011 , when Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik published a manifesto titled “ 2083—A European Declaration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imagery and demanding a “ Second Crusade ” in which Muslims would be driven out of European nations—just before setting off a truck bomb in downtown Oslo that killed eight people , and then murdering 69 teenage campers at a socialist youth camp .
At his trial , it emerged that Breivik claimed to be a member of a modern-day group of “ Knights Templar , ” the 12th-century military order .
According to Breivik , an April 2002 meeting of the “ Knights ” in London featured pseudonyms for the participants such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Sigurd the Crusader.
” More recently , the Christchurch shooter claimed a similar kind of affiliation in his manifesto , and the weapons he used to murder 51 people in March 2019 were scrawled with references to crusading knights .
Fittingly , he also notoriously flashed the “ OK ” white-power symbol with his hands .
The Crusades have also been adopted by a broad range of alt-right activists , notably at neo-Nazi websites such as The Daily Stormer , where pro-Trump memes featuring Crusade imagery have been common .
The debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As Joseph Livingstone explained in The New Republic , all of these reinterpretations are travesties of history—and the internet has played a critical role in producing them .
Hijacking vaguely understood religious belief systems for their own ends is nothing new for the American radical right .
In the early 1980s , a number of neo-Nazis—choosing to reject the racist “ Christian Identity ” movement popular among their ranks at the time , on the grounds that Jesus was Jewish and therefore tainted—instead decided to adopt certain ancient Nordic religions as their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Odinist religion Asatru .
That trend has intensified in recent years , thanks in no small part to the increasing reach of far-right ideologies on the Internet .
It ’ s also spread globally , and racists deploy it as a kind of cynical shield in much the same way as other appropriations from the mainstream .
Asatru recently turned up in news stories about a couple of Army National Guardsmen in Georgia who were given the boot after their activities as neo-Nazis were uncovered .
Active in a local chapter of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ SPLC as “ perhaps this country 's largest neo-Völkisch hate group , ” the men complained that they were being persecuted for their faith .
Ex-Guardsman Trent East told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he is not a racist—rather , he ’ s simply interested in his ancestry and worshiping as his forebears did .
“ The whole race thing started with me finding Asatru or Odinism or whatever you want to call it and seeing that as a better option than Christianity as a spirituality , ” he said .
“ I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Christianity , and so seeing a faith that was about my ethnic roots was something I could get into a little more.
” However , as the AJC noted , East ’ s social media profile—much of it deleted after he was exposed—told a very different story .
It included “ numerous memes and slogans popular among white supremacists , and his contacts include neo-Nazis and other extremists .
After his doxxing , East opened an account on VK.com , a Russian social media platform popular among the racist far right.
” He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Richard Spencer in 2017 , toting a sign bearing white nationalist slogans .
For white nationalists , disguising the vile bigotry inherent in their ideology is critical to their ongoing project to normalize their belief systems within the mainstream of society—which is why so many of them go to such lengths to deny their involvement or the existence of the innate racism in their movement .
As social media ’ s wide-open global distribution of ideas has taken hold , the work of camouflaging their beliefs has become increasingly sophisticated—particularly the way it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the use of ironic language as both vehicles for ideas as well as means of intimidating and threatening their critics .
This is central to the alt-right ’ s appeal to its targeted core demographic—namely , young white males between the ages of 12 and 30 .
Talia Lavin at GQ acutely observes that Donald Trump Jr. ’ s exercise in indulging this mindset on his Instagram account—intentional , accidental , or otherwise—fits in neatly with the White House ’ s current push to war in the Middle East , one in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war is holy ” : “ It ’ s a Knight Templar with an AR-15 ; it ’ s Arabic script as a signal of enmity .
That ’ s the signal Donald Trump Jr. was sending , with his snug Crusader gun-helmet .
And it may be ensconced even deeper in the halls of power , with those formally entrusted with our nation ’ s security under the Trump regime.
” The machinery of hate thus encompasses both the individual nebbishes—hiding in the dark corners of the Internet , ever-fearful about revealing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as they revel in it as trolls—and their willing , if not always conscious , enablers who walk the world ’ s halls of power , as well as everyone in between .
Mainstream observers , particularly those working in media , often feel confused by the resulting crossfire—unsure about the meanings of the wielded symbology , most likely feeling “ left out ” —and so dismiss the talk as functionally meaningless .
It ’ s not , particularly for the racist ideologues who organize and spread their hatefulness behind the resulting fog @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rest of us .
Donald Trump Jr. may not have intended to send an encouraging , approving signal to white nationalists—it ’ s likely it never crossed his less-than-a-steel-trap mind—but intentions matter little in this arena .
That ’ s not how things work in the world of white nationalists .
Just as with his father , these kinds of signals are received rapturously as proof that the Trumps are on their side , and that their values are shared by people at the very apex of the social ladder : thus , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ denials are laughed at and excused as “ what he has to do.
” The key to the game , no matter who ’ s playing , is plausible deniability for everybody involved .
The alt-right has mastered its use as a way to market and spread the movement ’ s hate .

The gun that Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, showed off on Instagram this week was intended to grab people’s attention: An AR-15 semiautomatic rifle adorned with dubious Christian “Crusader” decorations, sold by a Florida gunmaker who assures buyers that they are “inspired by some of the most fierce warriors who fought in nearly 200 years of epic conflicts known as the Crusades.”
In addition to the pseudo-medieval decorations, the gun (called “The Crusader”) featured a magazine decorated with a caricature image of Hillary Clinton behind bars.
A Trump Jr. spokesperson told The Hill: “The Instagram post was strictly about him using a famous meme to mock Hillary Clinton, as he and many others have done on numerous occasions and will surely do again in the future, so long as it continues triggering humorless liberals.”
However, the gun itself and its decorations were what caught a lot of people’s attention, since the Crusades and medieval mythology are yet another field of mainstream culture that has been appropriated by the racist alt-right in recent years. The way alt-right activists deploy such symbology—ironically, with full awareness of its mainstream meaning, behind which the people wielding them cynically hide by claiming that the people offended or disturbed by their use are simply oversensitive liberals—is similar to the alt-right’s similar appropriation of such mainstream symbols as the “OK” hand signal, or the cartoon Pepe the Frog and its permutations.
As with all these ploys, it’s frequently difficult to discern the user’s motives. Is it an innocent display intended to invoke its established mainstream meaning? Or is it a surreptitious (and cynical) expression of affiliation with racist ideology?
The ensuing confusion has a twin effect: It simultaneously creates chaos within the realm of mainstream discourse, while it provides cover for the spread of that racist ideology and its organizing.
"The adoption of these symbols is meant largely as a way of signaling anti-Muslim sentiment in particular, but also this notion that Christianity needs to retake western civilization," Howard Graves, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, told CNN.
Trump’s spokesman told CNN there was no connection, saying that “Symbols on firearms depicting various historical warriors are extremely common within the 2nd Amendment community.”
Donald Trump Jr.’s Instagram post included this image of his AR-15. Donald Trump Jr.’s Instagram post included this image of his AR-15.[/image]The gunmaker, Rare Breed Firearms, responded angrily: “It's objectively silly and dishonest for leftwing groups, like the SPLC, to claim that this symbol on our Crusader model has anything to do with hate or an extremist ideology,” said CEO Cole Lelux. “In other words, these people have no idea what they're talking about and should apologize for their outrageous smears.”
When Rare Breed first began making the gun, it explained the religious connotations of its decorations to the Orlando Sentinel in xenophobic terms: “They believe America and much of the world is threatened by Islamic terrorism and the Crusader is a symbol of shared Christian values and the right to defend themselves, he said. The safety selector that controls the Crusader's trigger has three settings: Peace, War and God Wills It.”
Trump’s gun featured an etching of a Bible verse as well as the Latin phrase "Deus Vult," another medieval term meaning "God wills it"—a phrase with an ominous quality, since the alt-right ideologues latching onto Crusader mythology have adopted it as their personal battle cry. It appeared on the streets of Charlottesville in 2017, and still crops up regularly in far-right demonstrations involving such hate groups as the Proud Boys.
It turned up recently at the scene of the attempted firebombing of a Planned Parenthood women’s health clinic in Newark, Delaware. An 18-year-old man named Samuel Gulick spray-painted “Deus Vult” on an exterior wall before he threw a lit incendiary device into the building, police said.
Credit: cached Instagram account Police investigators were able to identify Gulick through a combination of video evidence and his social media posts, in which he frequently used “Deus Vult” and ranted against abortion. More broadly, Gulick eagerly participated in alt-right ideology, using a Pepe-esque “Groyper” cartoon as his online avatar and posting viciously anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT sentiments.
One post featured a link to an article about transgender girl, on which he commented: “Hans, get the flamethrower.”
"The Nazis said killing millions of Jews was a national health issue. Democrats are using the same excuse to kill American children," Gulick wrote in another post. "When will we start shooting? Its about time we kill these genocidal demons."
His social media posts were filled with references to the Crusaders, as were those of another teenager charged last August in a strikingly similar case. Justin Olsen, an 18-year-old Ohio man, was charged with threatening federal officers for posts fantasizing about the murders of FBI agents after the 1993 tragedy involving the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas. Olsen operated an iFunny page titled “Army of Christ” adorned with images of Christian Crusade knights.
White nationalist fanboys’ love affair with the Crusades dates primarily back to 2011, when Norwegian terrorist Anders Breivik published a manifesto titled “2083—A European Declaration of Independence,” adorned with Crusader imagery and demanding a “Second Crusade” in which Muslims would be driven out of European nations—just before setting off a truck bomb in downtown Oslo that killed eight people, and then murdering 69 teenage campers at a socialist youth camp.
At his trial, it emerged that Breivik claimed to be a member of a modern-day group of “Knights Templar,” the 12th-century military order. According to Breivik, an April 2002 meeting of the “Knights” in London featured pseudonyms for the participants such as “Richard the Lionheart” and “Sigurd the Crusader.”
More recently, the Christchurch shooter claimed a similar kind of affiliation in his manifesto, and the weapons he used to murder 51 people in March 2019 were scrawled with references to crusading knights. Fittingly, he also notoriously flashed the “OK” white-power symbol with his hands.
Credit: Deleted image from Daily Stormer The Crusades have also been adopted by a broad range of alt-right activists, notably at neo-Nazi websites such as The Daily Stormer, where pro-Trump memes featuring Crusade imagery have been common. The debate has even made its way into academia. As Joseph Livingstone explained in The New Republic, all of these reinterpretations are travesties of history—and the internet has played a critical role in producing them.
Hijacking vaguely understood religious belief systems for their own ends is nothing new for the American radical right. In the early 1980s, a number of neo-Nazis—choosing to reject the racist “Christian Identity” movement popular among their ranks at the time, on the grounds that Jesus was Jewish and therefore tainted—instead decided to adopt certain ancient Nordic religions as their “true faith,” most notably the Odinist religion Asatru.
That trend has intensified in recent years, thanks in no small part to the increasing reach of far-right ideologies on the Internet. It’s also spread globally, and racists deploy it as a kind of cynical shield in much the same way as other appropriations from the mainstream.
Asatru recently turned up in news stories about a couple of Army National Guardsmen in Georgia who were given the boot after their activities as neo-Nazis were uncovered. Active in a local chapter of Asatru Folk Assembly, described by the SPLC as “perhaps this country's largest neo-Völkisch hate group,” the men complained that they were being persecuted for their faith.
Ex-Guardsman Trent East told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he is not a racist—rather, he’s simply interested in his ancestry and worshiping as his forebears did.
“The whole race thing started with me finding Asatru or Odinism or whatever you want to call it and seeing that as a better option than Christianity as a spirituality,” he said. “I’ve just never been a fan of Christianity, and so seeing a faith that was about my ethnic roots was something I could get into a little more.”
However, as the AJC noted, East’s social media profile—much of it deleted after he was exposed—told a very different story. It included “numerous memes and slogans popular among white supremacists, and his contacts include neo-Nazis and other extremists. After his doxxing, East opened an account on VK.com, a Russian social media platform popular among the racist far right.” He also attended a speech by alt-right godfather Richard Spencer in 2017, toting a sign bearing white nationalist slogans.
For white nationalists, disguising the vile bigotry inherent in their ideology is critical to their ongoing project to normalize their belief systems within the mainstream of society—which is why so many of them go to such lengths to deny their involvement or the existence of the innate racism in their movement.
As social media’s wide-open global distribution of ideas has taken hold, the work of camouflaging their beliefs has become increasingly sophisticated—particularly the way it hijacks popular internet behaviors such as trolling and the use of ironic language as both vehicles for ideas as well as means of intimidating and threatening their critics. This is central to the alt-right’s appeal to its targeted core demographic—namely, young white males between the ages of 12 and 30.
Talia Lavin at GQ acutely observes that Donald Trump Jr.’s exercise in indulging this mindset on his Instagram account—intentional, accidental, or otherwise—fits in neatly with the White House’s current push to war in the Middle East, one in which the underlying premise is that “war is holy”: “It’s a Knight Templar with an AR-15; it’s Arabic script as a signal of enmity. That’s the signal Donald Trump Jr. was sending, with his snug Crusader gun-helmet. And it may be ensconced even deeper in the halls of power, with those formally entrusted with our nation’s security under the Trump regime.”
The machinery of hate thus encompasses both the individual nebbishes—hiding in the dark corners of the Internet, ever-fearful about revealing themselves as the face of hate even as they revel in it as trolls—and their willing, if not always conscious, enablers who walk the world’s halls of power, as well as everyone in between. Mainstream observers, particularly those working in media, often feel confused by the resulting crossfire—unsure about the meanings of the wielded symbology, most likely feeling “left out”—and so dismiss the talk as functionally meaningless.
It’s not, particularly for the racist ideologues who organize and spread their hatefulness behind the resulting fog and smoke they throw up for the rest of us. Donald Trump Jr. may not have intended to send an encouraging, approving signal to white nationalists—it’s likely it never crossed his less-than-a-steel-trap mind—but intentions matter little in this arena.
That’s not how things work in the world of white nationalists. Just as with his father, these kinds of signals are received rapturously as proof that the Trumps are on their side, and that their values are shared by people at the very apex of the social ladder: thus, they feel deeply empowered. Any later denials are laughed at and excused as “what he has to do.”
The key to the game, no matter who’s playing, is plausible deniability for everybody involved. The alt-right has mastered its use as a way to market and spread the movement’s hate.
Published with permission of Daily Kos


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--Russians Hacked Into...Wait For It...Burisma

Well , well , well .
Russian hackers certainly are busy during our election seasons , are n't they ?
The New York Times is reporting that Trump 's favorite computer whizzes from a certain Communist country have hacked into the Ukrainian gas company , Burisma .
Yes , THAT Burisma .
The one on whose board Hunter Biden sat , and the one on which Trump wanted dirt from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky .
When , you ask ?
Oh , no significance to the timing , really .
Just back in November , when talk of impeachment got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It is not yet clear what the hackers found , or precisely what they were searching for .
But the experts say the timing and scale of the attacks suggest that the Russians could be searching for potentially embarrassing material on the Bidens — the same kind of information that Mr. Trump wanted from Ukraine when he pressed for an investigation of the Bidens and Burisma , setting off a chain of events that led to his impeachment .
My guess is they found bupkis .
Otherwise , we 'd have heard about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the smarties on Twitter , though — and history , really — that does n't mean they wo n't manufacture something .

Well, well, well.
Russian hackers certainly are busy during our election seasons, aren't they? The New York Times is reporting that Trump's favorite computer whizzes from a certain Communist country have hacked into the Ukrainian gas company, Burisma.
Yes, THAT Burisma. The one on whose board Hunter Biden sat, and the one on which Trump wanted dirt from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinsky.
When, you ask? Oh, no significance to the timing, really. Just back in November, when talk of impeachment got real.
According to The NYT,
It is not yet clear what the hackers found, or precisely what they were searching for. But the experts say the timing and scale of the attacks suggest that the Russians could be searching for potentially embarrassing material on the Bidens — the same kind of information that Mr. Trump wanted from Ukraine when he pressed for an investigation of the Bidens and Burisma, setting off a chain of events that led to his impeachment.
My guess is they found bupkis. Otherwise, we'd have heard about it immediately and constantly. According to the smarties on Twitter, though — and history, really — that doesn't mean they won't manufacture something.
You probably saw this season 3 plot twist coming-Russia hacked Burisma, where Hunter Biden was on the board, after the Trump scandal broke & likely looking for negative info on Biden. https://t.co/QDhUTcnq5X — Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) January 13, 2020
DNC 2.0. To protect Trump the GRU will manufacture & insert Black propaganda, fake emails in a data base Burisma emails to implicate Biden & support Trump. They don’t care if you believe it ... it’s all to get Trump to believe it. He’ll destroy America to win. #NoGreaterTraitor https://t.co/LgZeAwa9fK — Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) January 14, 2020
Of course the Russians hacked Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company where Hunter Biden worked. How else would Trump come up with new propaganda to attack Biden with? He can’t use the President of the Ukraine anymore, too risky. — Mystery Solvent (@MysterySolvent) January 14, 2020


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--Thank You To All Our C&L Readers

Thank You To All Our C&L Readers

I , and our entire C & L team want to thank all of you who donated to our 2019 @ @ @ @ @ a difference .
We are now into our 16th year of providing honest and breaking @ @ @ @ @ progressive opinions , reviews and extensive media criticism .
Quantex tells us that our readership @ @ @ @ @ educated and informed in the blogosphere .
As Duncan writes on Eschaton , “ Blogging @ @ @ @ @ , really , it is .
A couple of posts are easy .
Doing this @ @ @ @ @ hard !
” He continued in another article , “ Blogging is actually harder than @ @ @ @ @ nobody blogs anymore.
” But we 're still here , and it 's thanks to @ @

I, and our entire C&L team want to thank all of you who donated to our 2019 fundraisers. It really made a difference.
We are now into our 16th year of providing honest and breaking news coverage while offering up progressive opinions, reviews and extensive media criticism.
Quantex tells us that our readership is one of the most educated and informed in the blogosphere.
As Duncan writes on Eschaton, “Blogging is hard work! No, really, it is. A couple of posts are easy. Doing this all day every day is hard!” He continued in another article, “Blogging is actually harder than it used to be because nobody blogs anymore.”
But we're still here, and it's thanks to you.


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--Abby Huntsman Leaves 'The View'

Abby Huntsman Leaves 'The View'

The Trump campaign for 2020 released an enemies list of Trump 's rivals they want network executives to ban from @ @ @ @ @ told The View , `` Should we block White House folks that come on shows @ @ @ @ @

Can you help us out?
For 18 years we have been exposing Washington lies and untangling media deceit, but now Facebook is drowning us in an ocean of right wing lies. Please give a one-time or recurring donation, or buy a year's subscription for an ad-free experience. Thank you.


crooksandliars--2020-01-14--For Rick Wilson, The Republican Party Went To Hell

For Rick Wilson, The Republican Party Went To Hell -- In 2010

Rick Wilson is the Future of Liberal Media Yes , kiddies , I haz seen The Future of cable teevee news !
And it looks a lot like four life-long , highly-paid Republican goons and a couple of neutered Liberals , sitting in a drum circle promoting Rick Wilson 's latest book and lamenting that , somehow , while no one was looking , their Republican Party filled up with ... Republicans !
Oh Lordy !
Why did n't someone warn them !
From Morning Joe this AM : Since we have four former Republicans here , you will hear @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the party was always corrupt , it was always rotten , it was always racist .
You are now reaping what you sow .
There are times when I have been going , wait a second , were the liberals right ?
Were the liberals that said GOP was racist and -- all the things that I have been my entire life , Evangelical , Southern Baptist , a proud Southerner , you just go down the list , right now you look at it and , 95 % of the people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a very different platform , they are all Trump supporters now .
RICK WILSON : I think that Trump catalyzed things that -- SCARBOROUGH : I used to mock the press for always going for the whacko early in the process .
You do that because this reinforces what you believe about Republicans .
They will never make it .
I wrote a column called `` Crazy Never Wins '' in 2012 .
We usually got the Mitt Romney , Bob Dole .
WILSON : And George HW Bush .
The moderating forces @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stool of foreign policy conservatives , social conservatives , and fiscal conservatives , that 's gone now .
The entire party is dedicated to being ... SCARBOROUGH : When did it happen ?
WILSON : I think we went off the rails in 2010 .
The 'owning the libs ' portion of the Republican Party and 'let 's be transgressive ' -- Ted Cruz said I would rather have 35 real conservatives than the majority .
Of course , once Reality finally got her hands fully around the throats of the Never Trumpers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jesus Christ just a few years ago that there was nothing was wrong with their party ) and throttled them out to the point where they would grudgingly admit that their party is rotten to the core , the Most Important Thing became controlling any discussion of the exact moment when their party lost its mind .
Picking a date on the calendar that would both acknowledge the self-evident truth that the GOP is a shitepile of bigots and imbeciles ... while more or less exonerating them personally of any responsibility for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gassing on and ruminating and drying each others tears , a panel of four Republicans eagerly allowed Rick Wilson to lie about the history of their Republican Party .
Yeah , because Lee Atwater never existed .
And Willie Horton never happened .
And the Southern Strategy never happened .
Reagan 's `` young bucks '' and `` welfare queens '' campaign never happened .
That Gingrich never happened .
And Limbaugh/Hate Radio never happened .
And Fox News never happened .
And Tom Delay never happened .
And the entire Dubya administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own despicable contributions to the debasement of his party never happened : In fact , the entire history of the modern Republican Party never happened .
Instead , someone threw a magic , invisible switch in 2010 that spontaneously converted Rick Wilson 's party from a team of sober , Constitution-loving , Burke-quoting fiscal conservative normals into a raving shitepile of bigots and imbeciles .
Which must amuse the hell out of Stuart Stevens -- the `` most successful Republican political operative of his generation '' -- who says quite bluntly in his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rotten to the core for decades .
And at the opposite end of the spectrum , this must also confuse the hell out of David Brooks who famously swore in 2014 that his Republican Party was completely over it 's scary `` Sarah Palin '' phase and was back to being 100 % awesome !
All of which is to say these fckers ca n't even get their lies straight among themselves .
But even if what Rick Wilson said were true , that means he went right on happily collecting blood money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raving shitepile of racism and madness for six more years -- right up until Rubio and Cruz were crushed by Trump in the Republican primaries in 2016 .
And now Rick Wilson making the rounds insisting that stoopid Liberals like us -- who have been right about the Right all along -- need to shut up , step aside let him tell us how to win presidential elections .
Well , when it comes to presidential elections , let 's remember that Rick lost in 2008 .
And lost again in 2012 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ mean , if even half of Rick Wilson 's claims of nearly omnipotent electoral wizardry are true , would n't President Rubio or President Cruz be sailing to a slam-dunk re-election with a comfortable 60 % approval rating right about now ?
More to the point , if even one-quarter of their claims of nearly omnipotent electoral wizardry are true , why the hell have n't Rick Wilson , Tom Nichols and the rest of the Twelve Angry Kibitzers decamped themselves to Massachusetts to pour all their energies into Bill Weld 's campaign @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't need reverse-engineering .
He already checks pretty much every one of the Never Trumper 's ideological boxes .
And he 's a decent man .
And he 's running an actual campaign that could use all the help in can get .
So if the Never Trumpers are really capable of divining the deepest desires of some vast-but-invisible-but-apparently-decisive army of `` Real '' Republicans , Sensible Centrists and Noble Independents , why are n't they putting their towering electoral genius to work drawing them into the Party of Lincoln and destroying Donald @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nomination again ?
Jesus , just imagine the rewards and accolades that would shower down upon them for bringing down the Trump administration and sweeping Bill Weld to power !
Just imagine how many helpings of steaming , hot crow Libtards like me would have to eat while we watch Bill Weld take the oath of office in January of 2021 ?
But of course , we all know the real reason : because the GOP that Rick Wilson and Tom Nichols and Elise Jordan and Joe Scarborough created really is nothing more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ imbeciles .
Because in Donald Trump , that raving shitepile of bigots and imbeciles found the perfect embodiment of the lies and bigotry and paranoia that a generation of relentless conditioning by Fox New and Hate Radio and paid goons like Rick Wilson have trained them to accept as gospel .
Which is also why advice from goons like Wilson is worse than useless .
Because Wilson 's magic tricks -- his style of politics -- only worked with the Republican Party because decades Gingrich/Limbaugh/Fox News lobotomizing had created a racist meathead voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with rage that they were easy for someone like Wilson to exploit .
So then what is Rick Wilson 's game ?
If Democrats take back the White House in 2020 , Rick Wilson will make the rounds of cable teevee claiming that he nearly single-handedly dragged the feckless Democrats over the finish line .
If Democrats lose in 2020 , Rick Wilson will make the rounds of cable teevee claiming that the feckless Democrats lost because they refused to take his advice .
It 'll be win-win for Rick , while real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Right all along will be nowhere to be found .
And for the record , this -- -- is what makes it art .

Rick Wilson is the Future of Liberal Media
Yes, kiddies, I haz seen The Future of cable teevee news! And it looks a lot like four life-long, highly-paid Republican goons and a couple of neutered Liberals, sitting in a drum circle promoting Rick Wilson's latest book and lamenting that, somehow, while no one was looking, their Republican Party filled up with...Republicans!
Oh Lordy! Why didn't someone warn them!
From Morning Joe this AM:
Since we have four former Republicans here, you will hear from our good friend Charlie Pierce that the party was always corrupt, it was always rotten, it was always racist. You are now reaping what you sow. There are times when I have been going, wait a second, were the liberals right? Were the liberals that said GOP was racist and -- all the things that I have been my entire life, Evangelical, Southern Baptist, a proud Southerner, you just go down the list, right now you look at it and, 95% of the people who voted for me when I was running a very different platform, they are all Trump supporters now. JOE SCARBOROUGH: RICK WILSON: I think that Trump catalyzed things that -- SCARBOROUGH: I used to mock the press for always going for the whacko early in the process. You do that because this reinforces what you believe about Republicans. They will never make it. I wrote a column called "Crazy Never Wins" in 2012. We usually got the Mitt Romney, Bob Dole. WILSON: And George HW Bush. The moderating forces inside the party, the old three-legged stool of foreign policy conservatives, social conservatives, and fiscal conservatives, that's gone now. The entire party is dedicated to being... SCARBOROUGH: When did it happen? WILSON: I think we went off the rails in 2010. The 'owning the libs' portion of the Republican Party and 'let's be transgressive' -- Ted Cruz said I would rather have 35 real conservatives than the majority. SCARBOROUGH: They're not real conservatives.
Of course, once Reality finally got her hands fully around the throats of the Never Trumpers (who were swearing by Reagan and Jesus Christ just a few years ago that there was nothing was wrong with their party) and throttled them out to the point where they would grudgingly admit that their party is rotten to the core, the Most Important Thing became controlling any discussion of the exact moment when their party lost its mind. Picking a date on the calendar that would both acknowledge the self-evident truth that the GOP is a shitepile of bigots and imbeciles...while more or less exonerating them personally of any responsibility for the problem.
All while pimping Rick Wilson's book.
So this morning, after gassing on and ruminating and drying each others tears, a panel of four Republicans eagerly allowed Rick Wilson to lie about the history of their Republican Party.
WILSON: I think we went off the rails in 2010. The 'owning the libs' portion of the Republican Party and 'let's be transgressive' -- ted Cruz said I would rather have 35 real conservatives than the majority.
Yeah, because Lee Atwater never existed.
And Willie Horton never happened.
And the Southern Strategy never happened.
Reagan's "young bucks" and "welfare queens" campaign never happened.
That this --
-- never happened.
That Gingrich never happened.
And Limbaugh/Hate Radio never happened.
And Fox News never happened.
And Tom Delay never happened.
And the entire Dubya administration never happened.
And Rick Wilson's own despicable contributions to the debasement of his party never happened:
Wilson has plenty of experience. In 2002, he made a commercial that criticized Democratic Senator Max Cleland, who had lost three limbs in Vietnam, while showing images of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. In 2008, Wilson made ads attacking Barack Obama by showing the incendiary statements of his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. “I wanted to scare the living shite out of white people in Pennsylvania and Ohio,” Wilson said. “Today, they would all be Trump voters, I’m sure.”
In fact, the entire history of the modern Republican Party never happened. Instead, someone threw a magic, invisible switch in 2010 that spontaneously converted Rick Wilson's party from a team of sober, Constitution-loving, Burke-quoting fiscal conservative normals into a raving shitepile of bigots and imbeciles.
Which must amuse the hell out of Stuart Stevens -- the "most successful Republican political operative of his generation" -- who says quite bluntly in his upcoming book that the GOP has been rotten to the core for decades.
And at the opposite end of the spectrum, this must also confuse the hell out of David Brooks who famously swore in 2014 that his Republican Party was completely over it's scary "Sarah Palin" phase and was back to being 100% awesome!
All of which is to say these fckers can't even get their lies straight among themselves.
But even if what Rick Wilson said were true, that means he went right on happily collecting blood money from a party he knew was a raving shitepile of racism and madness for six more years -- right up until Rubio and Cruz were crushed by Trump in the Republican primaries in 2016.
And now Rick Wilson making the rounds insisting that stoopid Liberals like us -- who have been right about the Right all along -- need to shut up, step aside let him tell us how to win presidential elections.
Well, when it comes to presidential elections, let's remember that Rick lost in 2008.
Lost bigly.
And lost again in 2012.
And lost again in 2016. I mean, if even half of Rick Wilson's claims of nearly omnipotent electoral wizardry are true, wouldn't President Rubio or President Cruz be sailing to a slam-dunk re-election with a comfortable 60% approval rating right about now?
More to the point, if even one-quarter of their claims of nearly omnipotent electoral wizardry are true, why the hell haven't Rick Wilson, Tom Nichols and the rest of the Twelve Angry Kibitzers decamped themselves to Massachusetts to pour all their energies into Bill Weld's campaign?
After all, Bill Weld doesn't need reverse-engineering. He already checks pretty much every one of the Never Trumper's ideological boxes. And he's a decent man. And he's running an actual campaign that could use all the help in can get. So if the Never Trumpers are really capable of divining the deepest desires of some vast-but-invisible-but-apparently-decisive army of "Real" Republicans, Sensible Centrists and Noble Independents, why aren't they putting their towering electoral genius to work drawing them into the Party of Lincoln and destroying Donald Trump before the GOP hands him the nomination again?
Jesus, just imagine the rewards and accolades that would shower down upon them for bringing down the Trump administration and sweeping Bill Weld to power! Just imagine how many helpings of steaming, hot crow Libtards like me would have to eat while we watch Bill Weld take the oath of office in January of 2021?
But of course, we all know the real reason: because the GOP that Rick Wilson and Tom Nichols and Elise Jordan and Joe Scarborough created really is nothing more than a raving shitepile of bigots and imbeciles. Because in Donald Trump, that raving shitepile of bigots and imbeciles found the perfect embodiment of the lies and bigotry and paranoia that a generation of relentless conditioning by Fox New and Hate Radio and paid goons like Rick Wilson have trained them to accept as gospel.
Which is also why advice from goons like Wilson is worse than useless. Because Wilson's magic tricks -- his style of politics -- only worked with the Republican Party because decades Gingrich/Limbaugh/Fox News lobotomizing had created a racist meathead voting base so ignorant, racist and drunk with rage that they were easy for someone like Wilson to exploit.
So then what is Rick Wilson's game?
Simple.
If Democrats take back the White House in 2020, Rick Wilson will make the rounds of cable teevee claiming that he nearly single-handedly dragged the feckless Democrats over the finish line.
If Democrats lose in 2020, Rick Wilson will make the rounds of cable teevee claiming that the feckless Democrats lost because they refused to take his advice.
It'll be win-win for Rick, while real Liberals who have actually been right about the Right all along will be nowhere to be found.
And for the record, this --
SCARBOROUGH: They're not real conservatives.
-- is what makes it art.
Republished with permission from Driftglass


crooksandliars--2020-01-13--Key Mueller Witness George Nader Pleads Guilty To Child Sex Charges

George Nader , a key witness for the Mueller probe and a lobbyist who worked with Jared Kushner to plan Trump ’ s first state visit to Saudi Arabia , pleaded guilty on Monday to child sex charges of bringing a 14-year-old boy to the U.S. for sex and to possession of child pornography .
Based on the charges he pleaded guilty to , he faces AT LEAST ten years in prison , although the maximum is thirty years .
In exchange for this plea , he will not face charges in New York , although he is facing charges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contributions to both Democrats and Republicans .
He pleaded guilty to the charges in federal court in Alexandria , Virginia .
Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a mandatory sentence of 10 years , although the judge could sentence him to substantially more .
Sentencing is scheduled for April 10th .
Following his release from prison , prosecutors have agreed to allow him to leave the country voluntarily versus deporting him .
This is not Nader 's first conviction for child pornography .
In 1991 he was convicted of a similar offense .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the Trump administration and various staff to facilitate meetings between heads of countries and the administration .
He worked to set up a meeting in January 2017 between Erik Prince ( Blackwater mercenary and brother of Betsy Devos ) and a close associate of Vladimir Putin .
While Mueller was investigating this meeting , they found the child porn on Nader 's computer .
This led to the charges that he pleaded guilty to .
After federal prosecutors investigated , the found that Nader had brought a 14 year old boy from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington , D.C. home in early 2000 and kept him at his house for a month .
A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD BOY .
Alone .
Law enforcement found out about it two years later , but Nader had already fled the United States .
In 2003 , he was convicted of sexual contact with a minor boy ( unclear if it is the same one or a different one ) .
The Washington Post reports that the Czech court documents state that he paid *AT LEAST FIVE TEENAGE BOYS* to engage in sex @ @ @ @ @ @ @ under the age of 15 .
He enticed the boys with `` money , jewelry , mobile telephones , clothing , care and housing . ''
Nader 's attorneys tried to spin the child sex acts by saying he was just “ having a relationship with two young men two years under the age of consent.
” Nader was sentenced to a year in Czech prison for those crimes .

George Nader, a key witness for the Mueller probe and a lobbyist who worked with Jared Kushner to plan Trump’s first state visit to Saudi Arabia, pleaded guilty on Monday to child sex charges of bringing a 14-year-old boy to the U.S. for sex and to possession of child pornography. Based on the charges he pleaded guilty to, he faces AT LEAST ten years in prison, although the maximum is thirty years. In exchange for this plea, he will not face charges in New York, although he is facing charges in DC related to funneling illegal campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans.
He pleaded guilty to the charges in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a mandatory sentence of 10 years, although the judge could sentence him to substantially more. Sentencing is scheduled for April 10th. Following his release from prison, prosecutors have agreed to allow him to leave the country voluntarily versus deporting him.
This is not Nader's first conviction for child pornography. In 1991 he was convicted of a similar offense.
In recent years, Nader has worked closely with the Trump administration and various staff to facilitate meetings between heads of countries and the administration. He worked to set up a meeting in January 2017 between Erik Prince (Blackwater mercenary and brother of Betsy Devos) and a close associate of Vladimir Putin. While Mueller was investigating this meeting, they found the child porn on Nader's computer. This led to the charges that he pleaded guilty to.
After federal prosecutors investigated, the found that Nader had brought a 14 year old boy from the Czech Republic to Nader’s Washington, D.C. home in early 2000 and kept him at his house for a month. A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD BOY. Alone. Law enforcement found out about it two years later, but Nader had already fled the United States. In 2003, he was convicted of sexual contact with a minor boy (unclear if it is the same one or a different one).
The Washington Post reports that the Czech court documents state that he paid *AT LEAST FIVE TEENAGE BOYS* to engage in sex acts and that four of them were under the age of 15. He enticed the boys with "money, jewelry, mobile telephones, clothing, care and housing."
Nader's attorneys tried to spin the child sex acts by saying he was just “having a relationship with two young men two years under the age of consent.”
Nader was sentenced to a year in Czech prison for those crimes.
Vile. Just vile.