The Other Side of Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass

[gotsnowgotslush]

All elected Democrat politicians and Democrat supporters are to stand accused of the breach of bipartisan civility ?

Democrats are forbidden to be uncivil to Republicans ?


Why be surprised that they defend their chosen leader, when he holds a baby up to shield his political torso ?


He was not chosen because he is civilized.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Kellyanne Conway's adventures in Bowling Green, and Pumpkin Klown#45's Tallahassee Trail adventures


If there are alternate facts, I suppose there are alternate locations. Perhaps, they can be found on a map, on the other side of Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass

Cannot get there, from here.

https://www.snopes.com/news/2017/02/03/bowling-green-massacre/


https://www.tallahassee.com/story/n...lahassee-trail-congressional-smack/733853002/

"Former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt wrote on Twitter at the time: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has (Trump) he been smoking? Questions abound."

Sweden puzzled by fictional event, taking place at un-named fictional location.

one of the articles in the paper, explaining what happened that day:

11:23 AM: Ok, let’s not be fake news, this story took place in the autumn, but was reported Friday before lunch and we thought you would like it. A wooden moose got the attention of a lovesick moose bull. It all happened in 79 year old Ove Lindqvist’s garden in Byske outside Skellefteå, northern Sweden. ”I thought it was going to start a fight, instead it humped the wooden moose thrice”, he said.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...last-night-donald-trump-florida-a7589036.html

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Trump was allowed to say anything he wanted to say, at his rally in Montana.This came pouring out of Trump's mouth.


"They never say I’m a great speaker,” Trump bellowed, pointing at the media attending the rally. “Why the hell do so many people come? It’s got to be something. I guess they like my policy?”



I have broken more Elton John records,
he seems to have a lot of records.
And I, by the way, I don’t have
a musical instrument.
I don’t have a guitar or an organ.
No organ. Elton has an organ.
And lots of other people helping.
No we’ve broken a lot of records.
We’ve broken virtually every record.
Because you know, look I only need
this space. They need much more room.
For basketball, for hockey and all
of the sports, they need a lot of room.
We don’t need it. We have people in that space.
So we break all of these records.
Really we do it without like,
the musical instruments.
This is the only musical: the mouth.
And hopefully the brain attached to
the mouth. Right?
The brain, more important than
the mouth, is the brain.
The brain is much more important.”




The text displayed above is a verbatim quote from Trump’s speech at the rally, and as such we rank the claim true


https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tr...al-instrument/


What was Trump squalling about ?

Trump is not speaking of breaking those flat frisbee-like discs of hard plastic that a DJ spins. Not LP records that grandpa has on his record player/ turn table/stereo. He is talking about record breaking crowds. Trump does not get them. Elton John has had record breaking crowds attend his concerts. Trump is boasting that he does not need a band, or music, to get big crowds. Which is a lie. His campaign steals recorded music from popular musicians to entertain his crowd. This crowd waits for four to six hours, for him to come onto the stage, and speak. They are entertained by local musicians, and speakers. Cheerleaders for Trump.

Trump is rambling about the the size of the halls and sport centers his campaign rents, to stage his rallies in. He rents airplane hangars, and little school auditoriums and school gymnasiums. He goes to little country towns outside of big cities. There is almost always too much room, because the show has converted from a public free for all, to a highly managed, staged event. The real opposition is gone. The rally is closed off to protesters. That is why Trump needs to invite more people than will be admitted into the theatre to see the show. The excitement of directly confronting challengers in the flesh, is still available. Just not indoors, where the theatre owners do not want them. (The Trump campaign might get sued. The owner might get sued.) Tensions have reached a high pitch. It is not safe for a protester to be trapped in a closed space with people at a hate festival. A murder would not look good. Cost effective too. Less police and guards needed, when everyone inside is loyal to Trump. When the hate festival revolves around responding to symbolic enemies.



Newspapers fact check Trump, when he makes claims about crowd size. It seems that he cannot resist adding 10,000-15,000 fictional people, to the crowd that exists. He inflates the numbers, and the fact checkers deflate them.

Inauguration crowd size was a manufactured argument, that had a purpose. He had a bone to pick with the "dishonest media." He was telling a lie, Sean Spicer repeated his lie. Soon, the lie did not matter to Republicans. The fun of trolling Democrats with a lie, was what mattered.

At the rallies, hearing Trump complain that the media does not report his exceptionally huge crowds, is a a standard part of the show. That allows Trump to wind up the crowd about dishonest media. This gives the crowd an opportunity to express hostility towards the media. The cameramen and journalists are stuck in a press pen.

It is very twisted and weird, but they like it.

Ask any Republican troll on the GB. They enjoy themselves, as if they were teasing a dog into chasing its own tail.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Eight Republican senators went to Russia



Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.), Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.).


They returned, humiliated.

They never were admitted to Putin's presence.



"You came because you needed to, not because we did."


This is what Russia thinks of America, now.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/powe...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8697795f8afe

Mike Pompeo was sent to North Korea

He returned humiliated.


He was never admitted into Kim Jong Un's presence.

The North Korean government is now humiliating Trump’s newly anointed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, accusing him of “gangster-like” tactics and calling the entire negotiations “regrettable.” So not only did Kim Jong-Un manage to shake the hand of the President of the United States while giving up nothing at all, he’s now found a way to condemn Trump for trying to get anything out of him at all.

Now Kim is flaunting his total victory over Trump in such direct fashion, it’s painfully obvious to everyone involved that Trump got played.


http://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/toast-trump-north-korea/11264/

Peter Baker
✔
@peterbakernyt
Weeks after Trump claimed to have "largely solved" the North Korea nuclear dispute, North Korea makes clear no solution is yet at hand as it accuses US of making "gangster-like demand." @GardinerHarris⁩ @choesanghun⁩ https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/world/asia/mike-pompeo-north-korea-pyongyang.html …

11:35 AM - Jul 7, 2018



“The U.S. side came up only with its unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization,” the statement said.


“The issues the U.S. side insisted on during the talks were the same cancerous ones that the past U.S. administrations had insisted on,” it added.


Evans Revere, a former U.S. diplomat with a long history of negotiating with North Korea, said it was evident that the talks in Pyongyang had not gone well — and that it appears North Korea may have no intention of actually denuclearizing in the way the United States would want.

“Pompeo appears to have presented the North Koreans with some demands and requirements for real moves toward denuclearization, as opposed to the symbolic steps and empty language Pyongyang has been using so far. He deserves credit for doing so,” Revere wrote in an email.

“But in doing so, he has elicited North Korean ire, and he has now seen the reality of North Korea’s game plan and intentions that many of us have been describing for some time,” Revere added. “Welcome to our world, Mr. Secretary.”




https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ef6e56aa962_story.html?utm_term=.ce79ebe5cb7a


North Korea’s foreign ministry criticized the U.S. team’s “regrettable” unilateral attitude towards denuclearization, adding that talks were “really disappointing” because the U.S. delegation “came out with such . . . robber-like denuclearization demands as CVID, declaration and verification that go against the spirit of the North-U.S. summit meeting.”

The statement wasn’t necessarily a surprise; signs of trouble emerged during the visit itself, when an anticipated meeting between Pompeo and Kim failed to coalesce.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/201...dicts-pompeo-calls-talks-really-disappointing



They were puffed up with agressive bluster and self importance, before they left American soil.


Russia treated them as if they were dogs begging for treats.

But, once home in America, they pretend they are the conquering heroes.

What a grotesque spectacle, presented on the Fourth of July.

Were the people that pretend to live on the other side of Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass celebrating something on the Fourth of July ?


Their Leech God, Emperor Carrot Head just smeared slime on America's prestige, and crumpled it up.


It does not matter to their Golden Leech God, but it will matter to the next person to take a seat in the Oval office.

In spite any past flimsy agreements, the president will ensure no potential agreement fails to adequately address the North Korean threat.” But even if it does, the president suggested he will never admit it. “Honestly, I think [Kim’s] going to do these things,” Trump insisted. And if things fall apart? “I don’t know that I’ll ever admit that [I was wrong],” the president shrugged. “I’ll find some kind of excuse."


https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-north-korea-nuclear-summit

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

The whirlwind European tour was capped off with the absolute treason of Trump's Helsinki speeches. It seems to have worn Trump out.


A strange attempt to walk back the treason-

" In a rambling, listless, low-energy speech..."

The odd spectacle of Republicans standing inside of a bonfire, proclaiming that it is just fine.

Other Republicans, that had no election to campaign for, yelped that the bonfire was very hot, indeed.


GOP voices more critical of Paul and Trump's stance toward Russia took center stage on Monday. Mitt Romney called Trump’s performance alongside Putin “disgraceful” and Sen. John McCain called the meeting with Putin a “tragic mistake.”

But Paul chalks that up to “Trump derangement syndrome.” He believes his trip, planned in concert with the libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, will allow the United States to eventually make inroads with Russia in the ongoing civil war in Syria, denuclearizing North Korea and getting Russian troops out of Ukraine.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/16/rand-paul-trump-putin-russia-725044


The Republicans soft pedaled their complaints, because it would not do, to awaken the more deranged supporters. Good ol'Rand Paul sings the lullaby to soothe the stirring crazies. "Trump derangement syndrome," the familiar song, lulls them back into the dream that keeps them firmly rooted in the land that exists in their minds, on the other side of Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

My former definition of arse-clown, was a person that behaved like a complete arsehole, and made a clown of themselves. Or a person that was convinced that using horse's arse-like behaviour was a form of humor that others would find amusing and funny.

Now, after the Helsinki performance, of Trump, with Putin's hand up his arse, as if he were a muppet, I have a new definition.

Trump fits all three definitions. His jokes are geared toward his base, and are cruel, in poor taste, and full of "dog whistles" that harm good people. His jokes sometimes leave his captured audience of Tramplandia inhabitants puzzled, disconcerted, and silent. Which is bad stagemanship, as he interrupts his own flow, and disappoints his fan's wish to seize every chance to applaud and cheer Trump.


Even a live audience must bend, to give Trump's truly fanatical base the message they must hear, and contribute to the photo-op/ sound bite that must be perpetuated.

Vladimir Putin Mentions George Soros, MAGA World Swoons


July 16, 2018

When a reporter asked Trump whether he believed Putin, who denies attempting to interfere in American elections, or American intelligence agencies who unanimously agree that Russia did attempt to interfere, Trump responded, in a roundabout way, that he was more inclined to believe Putin.

Putin added to Trump’s response, saying, “The Concord company is being accused of interference but this company does not institute the Russia state, does not represent the Russia state, and I brought several examples before. You have a lot of individuals in the United States—take George Soros, for instance, with multi-billion capitals—but it doesn’t make his position, his posture, the posture of the United States.”

Within Trumplandia, the message is perceived not to be as quite as garbled. Russia is the fanatic White Supremacist's only hope, since Sane Europe rejects racism, homophobia, intolerance, bigotry, and tyrants.

But, still.

WTF ?

Trump wants Republicans to vote for people that will join his alliance, and swear loyalty to him. How will he convince those that truly want to know that Russia did not tip the scales in Trump's favor ? Trump shouts "No Collusion,"with regularity. Shouts about "witch hunts."

This latest round of denying that there was anything of substance to Mueller's investigation fell flat.

/end gsgs rant


Trump was toiling (and trolling) hand-in-hand with Putin to advance Moscow’s deceit. And here’s a key question: was this performance jointly planned in advance? Both men said they did discuss the matter during their private tete-a-tete. It seems likely—in fact, highly probable—they talked about what they would say on this subject during the post-meeting press conference. (The public cannot be sure of this, because no one else, besides interpreters, attended the session, and no transcript has been released.) Yet the events of the past two years already indict Trump: he has repeatedly aided Putin’s attempt to escape responsibility for the attack. And today, the two men issued respective messages—which might have been coordinated—that each supported and advanced Russian disinformation.


There you have it. Collusion. Trump working with Putin, in the open, to make the Russian attack on the United States disappear. Trump himself has proven the case.

https://www.motherjones.com/politic...trump-shows-he-is-indeed-guilty-of-collusion/

An attempt to have three cakes, eat three cakes, and enjoy the ice cream, if he can manage it ?

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

The question was asked this morning-

Did Trump go too far, this time ?

That depends on which side of Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass, a person is on, does'nt it ?

Republicans with half a foot in the Looking Glass world (out of political convenience, expediency, and efficiency. Not in any way, a true, heartfelt belief. Most politicians give up these beliefs, as a child gives up the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny.

Now, it seems, Russia has their very own Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass, to pretend with.

yikes


What kind of strange game of beliefs is Trump playing with Putin ?



Trump Appears to Have Crossed Out Line in Prepared Remarks About Bringing Anyone Involved in DNC Hack to Justice


CNBC White House reporter Christina Wilkie noticed on an image of Trump’s remarks taken by New York Times photographer Tom Brenner is that the president apparently used a Sharpie to cross the phrase “anyone involved in that meddling to justice” out of his typed comments in that particular section. Click through to the tweet to expand the image:

(image located at tweeted message, and at Slate site)

(As Brenner notes, Trump also wrote in an ad-lib about there having been “no colusion [sic]” between his campaign and Russia.”)


The President wrote in sharpie “THERE WAS NO COLUSION” during a meeting with congressional members.

4:08 PM - Jul 17, 2018 · Washington, DC

The “justice” language is a sentence fragment, which suggests that it was perhaps left by mistake in the printed remarks after a grammatically complete promise to bring anyone involved in meddling to justice was deleted from an earlier draft. Whatever happened, though, it seems clear that the president did not, under any circumstances, want to publicly promise to prosecute everyone involved in 2016 election hacking.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...ng-justice-promise-from-prepared-remarks.html

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Pretending to enter the other side of Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass, is nearly effortless.

Never access the real world.

There are so many people willing to subvert reality, it is possible to choose among many media options that will not challenge illusions.

"When I say information — generally we say knowledge — but I'm just calling it information at this point, because you can have bad information and still believe it," Mason explained. "And essentially the more of it that you have — which right now means the more you are exposed to media arguments that help you justify what you've seen — the easier it is for you to say, 'Well, I can explain it because "Fox & Friends" this morning just showed me how to explain it.' Or, 'because I'm reading Breitbart and that told me what exactly is happening here and it told me how to get my brain around it in a way that makes it okay.'"

She added, "So it's not exactly 'I'm seeing something, I know that it's false and I'm trying to deal with it.' It's 'I'm seeing something, I want it to be true, and I'm going to contort myself mentally using tools that have been given to me by my trusted media sources to make it okay."

gsgs comment- The question that I ask myself, often, is "What am I looking at ?" If I do not know the background, do not know the motives of those involved, do not know who is telling the story, I am vulnerable to being deceived.

Universes witness, and know, that I have opened "cans of worms," that have had me re-examining my world view, that have had me horrified by the hideousness viewed in the cracks.

Sometimes, the light comes from malevolent stars, but they are no less illuminating.

I make an effort to be informed of "bad," and worse than bad.

I am very angry with the men and women that have wounded America's body politic, and caused a gangrene to form on that body politic.



I an furious with the men and women that introduced necrosis into the minds of Americans.

What ever the motive is, to damage the minds of people, these acts are evil.

There are now Nazi-style prison camps in America, in 2018

This is a symptom, the pus of the wound.

Gangrene

Gangrene is a term that refers, in simple terms, to the death of a tissue or organ as a result of an inadequate blood supply. This, by extension, implies the tissue or organ hasn't received enough oxygen since blood carries oxygen to our tissues and organs. Gangrene comes to us from the Greek 'gangraina', a gnawing sore. Gangrene can involve a very small area of a part of the body or it might involve an entire organ.

There are two common categories of gangrene. One is known as dry gangrene. This involves the death of tissue without any bacterial involvement. In this kind of gangrene, a person's tissue will dry and shrivel. The other major form of gangrene is wet (moist) gangrene, which involves a bacterial infection. The bacteria multiplies, releases toxins and a lot of wet pus is produced in the process.


https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ald-trump-lessons-from-hannah-arendt-protests

It will have to be cut out.

What are we going to lose ?

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

July 24, 2018

(Trump) has faced withering criticism from many in his own party over the tariffs. Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said Tuesday that the trade war is “cutting the legs out from under farmers and White House’s ‘plan’ is to spend $12 billion on gold crutches. This administration’s tariffs and bailouts aren’t going to make America great again, they’re just going to make it 1929 again.”

“We’ve gotta fight it. … The farmers are going to be the biggest beneficiaries. Just be a little patient.”
- Trump

As for reports of the negative impact his trade war is having on American farmers, Trump was dismissive.

“What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what’s happening,” he said.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article215418920.html


During his speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday, President Donald Trump told the audience not to trust what they see and read.

The comment was made while Trump was speaking about America’s economy.

“This country is doing better than it’s ever done before, economically,” Trump said. “But it’s all working out."

"Just remember: What you’re seeing and what you’re reading is not what's happening,” he said. “Just stick with us. Don’t believe the crap you see from these people — the fake news."
-Donald Trump

Noah Antwiler
@TheSpoonyOne
"Just remember what you’re seeing and what you're reading is not what’s happening," --President Donald J. Trump

"The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command." --George Orwell, "1984"

2:02 PM - Jul 24, 2018


Leah McElrath
@leahmcelrath
"Just remember: what you’re seeing and what you're reading is not what’s happening."

Gaslighting is a form of torture that makes the victim doubt their perception of reality.

Gaslighting engages the victim as a self-torturer on the perpetrator’s behalf


4:56 PM - Jul 24, 2018


https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mbvd/trump-veterans-seeing-reading-not-real-george-orwell-1984

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Good gracious! I had not considered what decisions Radio Free Europe and Voice of America must make.

Trump is a pathological liar. If there is -ending stream of propaganda from Trump White House, acted against the American people, does America need to have Radio Free Europe send truth from Europe ? Or, following the usual route of government-sponsored propaganda, in this case, Trump's propaganda ?


"truthful hyperbole" But, there's no truth to the statements that are made.

Today, reports on Trump White House altering transcripts and video clips to erase unwanted events, words spoken.

Trump's twitter posts are erased, without notice given. No stenographer is recording Trump, consistently, word for word, in the White House.Who visits Trump, and who speaks to Trump on the phone, is not the business of American citizens, but the Russians are free to hack into Trump's un-protected phones. Trump speaks to Putin in person, and in secret.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/24/politics/foreign-leaders-call-white-house/index.html

https://mockpaperscissors.com/2018/07/25/caller-id-blocked/



Mike Pompeo was nailed in a hearing

"So, how do I know the difference of a presidential statement not a policy? Murphy asked again.

Pompeo never gave a straightforward answer.

Who knows what Trump and Putin discussed ?

"It's kind of shocking that you go into a meeting for two hours and you don't have your secretary of state or your national security adviser or the director of national intelligence with you because that allows the Russians to ultimately characterize the discussion, as they are doing, without a counter to it," (Sen. Bob) Menendez told NPR.



https://www.npr.org/2018/07/25/6319...p-summits-with-foreign-leaders-raise-question

What is this trigger that Mike Pompeo has put in place, if it is proved that Russia interfered with American elections ?

Integrity persists, despite attempts at corruption

July 25, 2018

FCC commissioners testified Wednesday in front of the the House Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J) asked about the tenor of Trump’s tweet and the president’s suggestion that Sinclair would be a “much needed Conservative voice for and of the People.”

“The only thing that I find disgraceful,” Pallone said, “is that the president is still trying to undermine the integrity of dedicated journalists while blatantly trying to enrich his friends and amplify his message at the expense of local news across the country.”

Pai, however, responded by sticking with claims he made during his November confirmation hearing that for anything put before him, he would stick to the responsibilities of his office as designated by Congress. “So long as I have the privilege of serving as the chairman of the FCC, I’m going to find the facts, I’m going to follow the law and I’m going to call them like I see them,” Pai said.


POLITICS

07/23/2018

U.S.-Funded Radio Free Europe Aimed Stealth Facebook Ads At Americans: Report
Posts were an apparent violation of domestic anti-propaganda laws.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ?


Associate professor of communication Jennifer Grygiel discovered a series of sponsored ads aimed at U.S. users that ran on the Facebook page of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. They weren’t labeled as political ads by Facebook, nor tracked as such, said Grygiel. They were marked simply “RFE/RL sponsored,” and RFE/RL was identified as a “media/news company.”

They included human-interest stories about Russians. One ad involved a graphic about NATO’s popularity posted two days after Donald Trump demanded at a heated summit in Brussels that NATO members commit more funds to their military budgets.

Grygiel’s discovery and research was reported Thursday by The New York Times. After the story ran, the ads were pulled.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entr...h-us-facebook-ads_us_5b5538e8e4b0fd5c73c6ae4e

7/19/2018

Moscow sued and fined Radio Free Europe because or foreign agent laws ? Isn't that a good thing ? Did RFE accidentally tell the truth ?

Ads directed at Americans

In 2014 the law was amended to permit requested information to be distributed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/technology/facebook-ads-propaganda.html

Broadcasting Board of Governors, (BBG) U.S. government-supported international media arm,

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

What happened to Trump's pride, in succeeding, in his effort to dominate the headlines, of all newspapers and television news ?

Melania watched his television on Air Force 1, and left the selection on CNN. Instead of watching CNN, and gloating over his name being broadcast, he reacted with rage.

Melania Trump was violating her husband’s Fox News–only policy.

Asked about the story, the First Lady’s spokeswoman brushed aside a CNN reporter’s question but did say that Melania watches “any channel she wants.”


He raged at his staff for violating a rule that the White House entourage should begin each trip tuned to Fox — his preferred network over what he considers the “fake news” CNN — and caused “a bit of a stir” aboard Air Force One, according to an email obtained by The New York Times.

The email obtained by the Times contained another interesting tidbit: a request for two additional TVs for when the president and First Lady travel together, one for each of their hotel rooms.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligence...trum-after-seeing-an-af1-tv-tuned-to-cnn.html

Beam, it is just like TiVo!


July 25, 2018

Where he once hate-watched any number of networks for the sheer joy of seeing his name in lights, the president has now taken to cocooning himself in the friendly confines of Fox News at all times.

No one in the president's orbit shall be exposed to dissenting information!


Only the pravda network is acceptable viewing.

It is extremely reassuring to know that the president and his aides are working in a world where Steve Doocy is a major source of critical information, foreign and domestic.

Who is Steve Doocy, Precious ?

You would do better to ask what Steve Doocy, is, My Dear.

Back in 2012, President Obama’s re-election campaign tweeted an image of the president having a conversation with a fictional pirate, complete with an eye-patch and fake parrot on his shoulder. The photo was three years old, and was intended to be funny in honoring National Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Drudge Report jumped on the “story,” claiming that Obama was meeting with a pirate instead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Fox News host Steve Doocy commented on the story, saying, “So much for peace in the Middle East.”

(Truth does not seem to matter much to Mr. Douche-y, does it ?)

https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/dumbest-moments-fox-news-history.html/


JUN 18, 2018


On Monday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, host Steve Doocy defended President Trump’s immigrant child detention facilities by arguing the media is unfairly describing cages as “cages.”

https://thinkprogress.org/steve-doo...aa144-558523357be5-bca7e8ea1988-b5ac0feb2039/


There's your answer. He's a douche canoe.



Trump's War on the Truth Has Officially Gone Full Orwell



Things are true and not true, all at once.

Don't believe your eyes and ears.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a22547037/donald-trump-orwellian-truth-reality-eyes-ears/

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

July 27, 2018

America's National Prayer Breakfast


And now, thanks to The New York Times, we learn that the NPB has turned into little more than an all-purpose crafts fair for influence peddling. And we also learn that a certain flame-haired Muscovite gun enthusiast went shopping there as well.

Apparently, lobbyists use the NPB to entice their clients to network furiously with the Beltway power elite, many of whom are more devoted to their bacon and eggs than to the Almighty. And why not, since, as the Times points out-

"Some describe the gathering as similar to the World Economic Forum, except that Jesus is the organizing principle."


($220,000 for access to the disciples!)


https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22577428/maria-butina-national-prayer-breakfast/



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/us/politics/national-prayer-breakfast.html

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Michiko Kakutani, the Pulitzer Prize-winning literary critic, has posed the questions that often bedevil us: "How did this happen? What are the roots of falsehood in the Trump era? How did truth and reason become such endangered species, and what does their impending demise portend for our public discourse and the future of our politics and governance?"

She supplies the answers in her new book, "The Death of Truth," a bleak treatise that ends with a dose of hope.

Kakutani, the newly retired New York Times book reviewer, seeks to put Trump in context. Her goal is to paint the big picture: "Trump's unhinged presidency represents some sort of climax in the warping of reality, but the burgeoning disorientation people have been feeling...traces back to the 1960s, when society began fragmenting...The assault on truth and reason that reached fever pitch in America during the first year of the Trump presidency had been incubating for years."

Is there any hope that America can reverse the atrophy of truth? Among the cacophony of voices in this eloquent book - everyone from John le Carre to George Washington - we get this, from fired acting attorney general Sally Yates: "Not only is there such a thing as objective truth, failing to tell the truth matters. We can't control whether our public servants lie to us. But we can control whether we hold them accountable."

https://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ss...death_of_truth_reagan.html#incart_river_index

DONALD TRUMP BOASTS HE 'DESTROYS' CAREERS OF REPUBLICANS WHO SAY BAD THINGS ABOUT HIM

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-tru...-republicans-who-say-bad-things-about-1057514

“How do you get 100 percent of anything? We always have somebody who says ‘I don’t like Trump, I don’t like our president, he destroyed my career,'” the president told the crowd, The Hill reported.

“I only destroy their career because they said bad things about me and you fight back and they go down the tubes and that’s OK,” he added


http://thehill.com/homenews/adminis...rs-of-republicans-who-say-bad-things-about-me


August 3, 2018

On Thursday, the Washington Post published a remarkable story on its front page revealing a recent spike in the number of “false and misleading claims” made by President Trump. In his first year as President, Trump made 2,140 false claims, according to the Post. In just the last six months, he has nearly doubled that total to 4,229. In June and July, he averaged sixteen false claims a day. On July 5th, the Post found what appears to be Trump’s most untruthful day yet: seventy-six per cent of the ninety-eight factual assertions he made in a campaign-style rally in Great Falls, Montana, were “false, misleading or unsupported by evidence.”

https://www.newyorker.com/news/lett...mps-escalating-war-on-the-truth-is-on-purpose

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Mike Pence wanted Bill Clinton to go, after intercourse-free White House affair with intern...

"If you and I fall into bad moral habits, we can harm our families, our employers and our friends. The President of the United States can incinerate the planet. Seriously, the very idea that we ought to have at or less than the same moral demands placed on the Chief Executive that we place on our next door neighbor is ludicrous and dangerous. Throughout our history, we have seen the presidency as the repository of all of our highest hopes and ideals and values. To demand less is to do an injustice to the blood that bought our freedoms."


"In a day when reckless extramarital sexual activity is manifesting itself in our staggering rates of illegitimacy and divorce, now more than ever, America needs to be able to look to her First Family as role models of all that we have been and can be again."


https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/06/politics/kfile-mike-pence-moral-columns/index.html


https://theslot.jezebel.com/more-of-mike-pences-old-writing-unearthed-to-prove-hes-1828157503

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Laura Ingraham planted her obscenely expensive high heels into the low end of the swamp, and mocked a teenager that survived a school massacre.


Laura Ingraham
✔
@IngrahamAngle
David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and whines about it. (Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA...totally predictable given acceptance rate.


11:46 AM - March 28, 2018


It does not seem to matter to FOX TV.

Not when Laura is willing to produce a Squirrel of racist proportions

https://splinternews.com/laura-ingrahams-latest-racist-rant-is-unhinged-even-for-1828218867


"(Laura) Ingraham is saying outright that allowing non-white people to come here—and, down the line, threaten the majority power enjoyed by White America—is tantamount to destroying America."

"...the most telling part of Ingraham's monologue last night came before the true white nationalist section."

"It came as she took on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic Socialist from New York who seems to drive right-wingers a special brand of insane. Surely it's a coincidence that it was Ocasio-Cortez, an increasingly powerful Puerto Rican star in Democratic politics, who launched Ingraham on this rant about the demographic destruction of America."

"As if she (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) knows all of America from her loft in Queens.

-Laura Ingraham

https://www.esquire.com/news-politi...am-white-nationalism-fox-news-tucker-carlson/



Ingraham was responding to comments by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic nominee for a New York congressional seat, who said the fortunes of moderate Democrats representing the interests of the upper middle class have fallen because “that upper middle class doesn’t exist any more in America”.

The Fox anchor mocked Ocasio-Cortez, saying: “As if she knows all of America from her loft in Queens” – although the candidate actually lives in an apartment in the Bronx.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/09/laura-ingraham-fox-news-attacks-immigrants

Laura Ingraham has long stopped pretending that her views are anything but white nationalist fearmongering aimed at aging racists in an effort to drum up votes for Trump in 2020.


But it's never been more obvious than in Wednesday night's segment of her Fox News show called, what else, "The Left's Effort to Remake America." She starts off by throwing vitriol at "New York's new socialist It Girl" Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Bronx progressive who is likely to become the youngest woman ever to be elected to Congress, playing a clip in which Ocasio-Cortez says America has changed since the centrist-Democrat heyday of the '90s. What Ocasio-Cortez meant was that establishment Democrats are aging and millennials, angered by low wages and lack of healthcare, are flocking to progressive politics.

There's the "loft" description to suggest Ocasio-Cortez is living the lap of luxury, even though Queens is far from New York's wealthiest bureau.


But then there's the idea Queens is not part of Real America.


The subtext here, of course, is that Queens is some alien entity.





https://www.refinery29.com/2018/08/...cist-rant-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-immigrants



Andrew Lawrence

@ndrew_lawrence

Laura Ingraham: "The America we know and love doesn't exist anymore. Massive demographic changes have been foisted on the American people, and they are changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don't like ... this is related to both illegal and legal immigration.

10:25 PM - Aug 8, 2018



George Takei
✔
@GeorgeTakei
She's not even trying to hide it anymore

10:42 AM - Aug 9, 2018


Laura Ingraham's rant about evil undocumented immigrants committing the most low and evil of crimes (which are currently committed against undocumented immigrants by Americans, that are imprisoned in cages by Trump)

Meanwhile, Laura Ingraham adopts undocumented immigrant children...

Jeff Kasky
@JeffKasky
WHOA, wait just one second: Laura @IngrahamAngle is now on the anti-LEGAL immigration Trump train? Would someone please remind her that she is the single mother of three child immigrants from GUATEMALA (1) and RUSSIA (2)? WOW, LAURA, SHAME ON YOU! @davidhogg111 #Hypocrite

https://secondnexus.com/news/laura-ingraham-demographic-changes-white-supremacy-racism/2/

Ingraham then segues into insisting that she thinks America really has changed, but not in the way Ocasio-Cortez suggests. "In some parts of the country, it does seem like the America that we know and love doesn't exist anymore," she says. "Massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the American people, and they're changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don't like. From Virginia to California, we see stark examples of how radically, in some ways, the country has changed. Now much of this is related to both illegal and, in some cases, legal immigration that, of course, progressives love."



Judging by Ingraham's rhetoric and support of Trump's immigration policies, her pre-"demographic change" America is a white one, and people who come here from other countries — even "legally," as she says — are not welcome. In her America, the fact that the Census projects the U.S. to be 49.9% white in 2045, for the first time a minority, is a tragedy. Her America is afraid of change.


Make no mistake: The America Ingraham is pining for is a regressive one.

https://www.refinery29.com/2018/08/...cist-rant-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-immigrants

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Laura Ingraham walks back her attention grabbing racist Squirrel


"If you have to refuse praise from David Duke, maybe it’s time to take a long, hard look at what you’re saying."


Laura Ingraham insisted that her jaw-dropping comments about “massive demographic changes” destroying “the America that we know and love” had “nothing to do with race or ethnicity.” Unfortunately for her, we all heard for ourselves that race and ethnicity was exactly what she was talking about.

BS on your claim that we were the ones who misunderstood or twisted your words. Anyone who really didn’t mean to sound like a racist would have apologized for having spoken poorly.



Instead, Ingraham played the victim as she argued that she had not said what she plainly had said.

INGRAHAM: A message to those who are distorting my views, including all white nationalists, and especially one racist freak whose name I will not even mention. You do not have my support. You don't represent my views, and you are antithetical to the beliefs I hold dear.


(gsgs comment- Since Trump lent his support to Alice in Wonderland's Looking Glass pretending residents, the term "racist freak" may be attempted to be applied to a member of the minority community- as if Europeans were enslaved by minority countries for centuries. ???)



https://crooksandliars.com/2018/08/laura-ingraham-says-racist-comments-had


- JACK HOLMES
AUG 10, 2018

David A. Bell
@DavidAvromBell
·
Aug 9
A good example of how Twitter is changing the national conversation. @KevinMKruse's thread taking down @IngrahamAngle's xenophobic rant quickly becomes basis for @NYMag article

AUG. 9, 2018
Ingraham Another Super-Patriot Who Doesn’t Actually Like, Much Less Love, America

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligence...**BYork**BMagazine)&__twitter_impression=true


Kevin M. Kruse
@KevinMKruse
Terrific piece by @JohnBlakeCNN on how the old patterns of "white flight" have turned into "white fight," with comments from me and other scholars.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/10/us/white-flight-911-calls/index.html


CNN- It's getting hard to keep up with the latest hashtags devoted to 911 calls on black people

But this behavior isn't a symptom of anything new. It's a modern twist on something old, say some historians and those who've lived through it. This aggressive patrolling of public space bears an eerie resemblance to another race-induced contagion in America decades ago.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Anakin sacrificed his integrity, honor, and the truth because he wanted something. After he sacrificed his integrity, honor, and the truth- what he had wanted, was no longer of any importance to him.


Obi-Wan: I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you.
Anakin Skywalker: I should have known the Jedi were plotting to take over!
Obi-Wan: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!
Anakin Skywalker: From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!
Obi-Wan: Well, then you are lost!
Anakin Skywalker: This is the end for you, my master

(Anakin suffers the same fate, as all of the other Sith under-studies. He has hatred for everything that he formerly loved. Until the end, where he must sacrifice his son. (Ambivalence issue ?) He allows himself to perceive that he no longer has a reason to continue self-deception, or enable deception's proliferation.)


America's Plunge Into Deception

August 19, 2018

Alert: another half-chilling, half-laughable Trump administration mantra is ready to add to the trophy case, in the space just beside “Alternative Facts” and “What You’re Seeing … Is Not What’s Happening.”


(Our experiment with "truthiness" VS facts, photographic evidence, testimony of witnesses, voice recordings, internet evidence, written proof.

“What You’re Seeing … Is Not What’s Happening.”

JULY 24, 2018

Trump to Veterans: Trust Me, Not Your Lying Eyes

(Believe me, believe Me, Believe Me!)

Giuliani's twisted explanation-

“Look, I am not going to be rushed into having him testify so that he gets trapped into perjury,” Giuliani said. “And when you tell me that, you know, he should testify because he’s going to tell the truth and he shouldn’t worry, well that’s so silly because it’s somebody’s version of the truth. Not the truth. He didn’t have a, a conversation...

TODD: Truth is truth. I don’t mean to go like…

GIULIANI: No, it isn’t truth. Truth isn’t truth. The president of the United States says, “I didn’t…”

TODD: Truth isn’t truth? Mr. Mayor do you realize, what, I, I, I –

GIULIANI: No, no –

TODD: This is going to become a bad meme.


The wonderful kaleidoscope of changing stories involving the Trump Tower story-

In the other noteworthy section of his interview, Giuliani once again changed the Trump administration’s line on its fateful meeting with Russians at Trump Tower in 2016. He now claims, confusingly, that the sitdown was all about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton (not adoptions after all!), but that Trump officials had no idea that actual Russians would be involved (which is definitely not true).


Russian dirt on Hillary Clinton
DONALD TRUMP JR-"I love it."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/11/us/politics/trump-russia-email-clinton.html

The face under the mask, or the mask, itself ? What is under the mask ?

(gsgs comment-Do not force me to hold up my hand, and tell you that I have six fingers! Do not force me to lie about what face I see, when the mask is removed.)


August 19, 2018

Giuliani asserted, but because the president might present a version of the truth that wouldn’t be the same as Mueller’s


In a sequence rivaling Kellyanne Conway’s Sunday morning extemporaneous invention of the Orwellian “alternative facts” more than a year ago, Giuliani’s sit-down with Chuck Todd became a surreal battle over what the word “truth” actually
means.


"Not the truth,” Giuliani began, before Todd stopped him by saying, “Truth is truth."

"No, it isn’t truth,” Giuliani said. “Truth isn’t truth. The President of the United States says, ‘I didn’t. .."

Todd interrupted again, clarifying, “Truth isn’t truth?” When Giuliani responded, “No, no,” Todd sighed, “This is going to become a bad meme.”



Giuliani's quest to keep Trump away from a deposition has gotten more furtive over the last few weeks, as he continues to cite the “perjury trap” argument against having the president testify. “The reality is, you can be accused of perjury when you’re telling the absolute truth,” Giuliani said during a Fox News appearance last weekend, explaining his fears that that those on the other side can just choose not to believe Trump, even if he does tell the truth.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/08/rudy-giuliani-trump-perjury-truth-isnt-truth


Giuliani's task, is to inform the judge that Emperor Carrot Head cannot distinguish reality from fantasy. Emperor Carrot Head is so totally immersed in self-deception, reality has no meaning, to him.

John Brennan Says Trump is "Drunk on Power"

gsgs comment- It is worst than that, Trump is addicted to the abuse of power, among other addictions. Trump has been living on the Other Side of Alice in Wonderland's looking glass, for most of his life.

Emperor Carrot Head has been enabled, assisted, and people have rendered themselves complicit with his aims, wishes, and orders.


They gambled on a monomaniac.

They knew what he was, when they signed on the dotted line. They wanted something.

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

gsgs comment-

I am clouded with bewilderment, with the Republican's choice of stepping into the Other Side of Alice in Wonderland's looking glass.

It was President Obama's recovery plan that put bank loans into the hands of businesses, after the crash of 2007- 2008. Republicans are in denial, today.The very people that are wealthy enough to bribe Trump, and fill the money bags for Trump's weekly cash pick-ups, are the ones that had their necks saved by President Obama.


Trump Adviser Bolton Says Russia 'Stuck' in Syria, Iran Must Leave


New York Times
Middle East


Bolton, speaking to Reuters while on a visit to Israel, said U.S. contacts with Russia did not include any understanding over a push by Damascus's forces against the rebels in Idlib. But he warned against any use of chemical or biological weapons there.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States has sought to disengage from Syria, where the previous administration deployed some troops and gave limited support to rebel Kurdish forces over the objections of NATO partner Turkey.


Bolton sidestepped a question on whether these measures would continue, saying that the U.S. was staying in Syria to carry out some specific objectives.



https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/201...2reuters-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-russia.html

Aug. 22, 2018 Russia is "stuck" in Syria and looking for others to fund its post-war reconstruction, U.S. National ...


https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...on-says-russia-stuck-in-syria-iran-must-leave


Russia is "stuck" in Syria and looking for others to fund post-war reconstruction there, U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said, describing this as an opportunity for Washington to press for Iranian forces to quit the country.


Russia, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's big-power backer, says it is committed to destroying Islamic State insurgents but has been more circumspect about the involvement of Iran, another foreign power reinforcing Damascus.

Bolton said that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met Trump in Helsinki on July 16, had told the United States that Moscow could not compel the Iranians to leave Syria.


In April, the Trump administration mustered a coalition of U.S., French and British forces to attack Syrian government facilities related to the production of chemical weapons after a poison gas attack killed dozens of people in Douma district.


Damascus, endorsed by Moscow, has denied using such weapons.

Asked how the United States might respond should there be a chemical or biological attack on Idlib, Bolton said only: "strongly".

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...on-says-russia-stuck-in-syria-iran-must-leave

August 15, 2018

“I survived because I was walking to a building that was behind a small hill that faced downtown. I was standing in such a way that the building was to my right and the stone garden was to my left. It was my daughter’s wedding day and I was pushing the wedding dresses in a wheelbarrow to the wedding hall. All of a sudden, for no obvious reason, I was just knocked to the ground. I never heard the bomb. . . I was about to get up when suddenly wood and debris fell from the sky and hit me on the head and back, so I stayed on the ground. . . . I couldn’t even hear the wood falling. . . . When I did start to hear, it was an odd sound. I ran to a hill area where I could look down to the city. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The whole city of Hiroshima was gone. And the noise I heard — it was people. They were moaning and walking like zombies with their arms and hands stretched out in front of them and their skin was hanging off their bones."

"Not everyone was walking. Not everyone was even so much as a prostrate corpse. Many people had been vaporized like water on a hot frying pan. They left “shadows” on the ground that in some cases still remain. But some walked or crawled. Some made it to hospitals where others could hear their exposed bones clacking on the floor like high heels. At the hospitals, maggots crawled into their wounds and their noses and ears. The maggots ate the patients alive from the inside out. The dead sounded metallic when thrown into trashcans and trucks, sometimes with their young children crying and moaning for them nearby. The black rain fell for days, raining death and horror. Those who drank water died instantly. Those who thirsted dared not drink. Those untouched by illness sometimes developed red spots and died quickly enough to watch the death seep over them. The living lived in terror. The dead were added to mountains of bones now viewed as lovely grass hills from which the smell has finally departed."


https://freepress.org/article/“i-survived-because-”

August 21, 2018

The founder of Blackwater trashed the U.S. Army in his attempts to persuade Donald Trump to give him a big contract and fight the war privately


Prince again brought up the costs of the war did and not his fee if Trump did privatize the Afghanistan war and made him the lead operative.

Prince made a fortune under George Bush and now is looking for another rainy day payoff from Trump.

"As much as I despise these misbegotten wars, turning anything over to Prince is ludicrous."
-John Amato


https://crooksandliars.com/2018/08/erik-prince-bashes-us-military-attempts

Report Suggests Blackwater Founder Erik Prince May Have Lied to Congress


He told Congress he didn’t meet with the Trump campaign. A new story says he did


MAY. 19, 2018

Blackwater founder Erik Prince appears to have a problem. The New York Times reported Saturday that Prince, the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, arranged and attended an August 3, 2016 Trump Tower meeting where George Nader, an adviser to the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates, told Donald Trump Jr. that UAE and Saudi Arabia were eager to help his father win the election.


https://www.motherjones.com/politic...ounder-erik-prince-may-have-lied-to-congress/

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

http://www.toledoblade.com/Paddy-O-Gara/2018/02/26/Mencken-on-my-mind.html


PATRICK O'GARA | BLADE COLUMNIST
Published on Feb. 26, 2018



H.L. Mencken is all but forgotten, except that during the presidency of George Walker Bush, some diligent scribbler unearthed this pithy squib:


When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost. ... All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum.

“The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”


Some folk unkindly took this as a prophetic reference to “Dubya” himself. When Barack Obama took over, the label was swiftly transferred to the seat of his presidential pants. As far as I know, nobody has yet applied the paragraph to President Trump, so neither will I. To do so would be an impertinence. But it makes you think, doesn’t it?

1922


Mencken regarding the majority of his fellow citizens. For example:

“The American people, taken one with another, constitute the most timorous, snivelling, poltroonish, ignominious mob of serfs and goose-steppers ever gathered under one flag in Christendom since the end of the Middle Ages.”


http://www.toledoblade.com/Paddy-O-Gara/2018/02/26/Mencken-on-my-mind.html

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Sarah Palin fanclub

August 23, 2018

Did Bristol Palin's children sign up for this ?


Bristol’s 9-year-old son, Tripp, will make his reality TV debut on “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors” and he’s in line to bring in a boat load of money if his rhythm’s on point … this according to his minor’s contract, obtained by TMZ.

Just like Honey Boo Boo and Scottie Pippen’s kid … Tripp will get paid $50k just for signing up to do the show. He can make a ton of cash if he survives and up to $130k total if he makes it to the finale. BTW … Stevie Wonder’s son, Mandla Morris, is also joining the cast. The kid’s got music in his blood, so watch out.

For all her railing against the Hollywood elite, it seems Sarah Palin’s daughter and grandson sure love the dough and attention that’s gonna come with it. To be fair to Tripp, which kid would reject a chance to make $130,000 bucks?

And yes the rumors that Levi and Sunny are also making an appearance of some kind in Bristol’s new show “Teen Mom OG” seem to be true as well.

http://www.the-immoral-minority.com...ining-cast-of-dancing-with-the-stars-juniors/

Bristol is joining MTV's "Teen Mom OG" as its newest cast member. It appears she's replacing Farrah Abraham.


8/22/2018

According to Tripp's contract, he's allowed to appear in episodes of Teen Mom while competing on DWTS.


http://www.tmz.com/2018/08/22/bristol-palin-son-tripp-joining-dancing-with-the-stars-juniors/

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

We are yet, again, reminded that there are Political Gremlins that wanted to gift America with "worst."

Their glee must be driving them further towards insanity.


Overflowing Sewer of Trumpian Corruption and Incompetence

The list hints at the overflowing sewer of Trumpian corruption and incompetence, and the refusal of congressional Republicans to investigate any of it

Axios has obtained a spreadsheet that's circulated through Republican circles on and off Capitol Hill — including at least one leadership office — that meticulously previews the investigations Democrats will likely launch if they flip the House.


The bottom line: Thanks to their control of Congress, Republicans have blocked most of the Democrats’ investigative requests. But if the House flips, the GOP loses its power to stymie. Lawyers close to the White House tell me the Trump administration is nowhere near prepared for the investigatory onslaught that awaits them, and they consider it among the greatest threats to his presidency.

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/a...c3-4c8c-8a4c-623a0dabe5f9.html?chunk=0#story0


Axios has obtained a list of Trump administration scandals. The list hints at the overflowing sewer of Trumpian corruption and incompetence, and the refusal of congressional Republicans to investigate any of it. Oddly enough, this list is being circulated by Republicans in Congress. The list, composed of Democratic requests for hearings that Republicans have blocked, is meant to warn of what Congress would look into if Democrats win the midterms.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligence...gress-list-of-trump-scandals-covering-up.html

"Michael Cohen will be a major witness, as will the others named in the plea-deal documents."

August 27, 2018

Another day, another twist in what Michael Cohen may — or may not — know about Donald Trump, Russian dirt and the 2016 election.

Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, is walking back his assertions that his client, the president’s former “fixer,” could tell a special prosecutor that Trump had prior knowledge of a meeting with a Russian lawyer to get damaging information on Hillary Clinton.

“I should have been much clearer that I could not confirm the story,” Davis said Monday, attempting to clean up his comments in interviews last week after Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and bank fraud.

Davis told The Washington Post over the weekend that he “could not independently confirm” the claims he made on television last week that Cohen witnessed Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., telling his father about the Trump Tower meeting beforehand.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...ory.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.186aff6b7f73

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Everything is different, on the Other Side of Alice in Wonderland's looking glass.


Who rose to the top, and stands on the right side of Trump's throne ? Mike Pence is a "snake-oil salesman." An opportunist, that exploited his own state, and exploits the facade of religion, to distort reality.

His father helped build a Midwestern empire of more than 200 gas stations that provided an upbringing on the ‘‘front row of the American dream.’’

Indiana — and, to a smaller extent, Kentucky and Illinois — are still on the hook for millions of dollars to clean up more than 85 contaminated sites across the three states, including underground tanks that leaked toxic chemicals into soil, streams and wells.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/po...t-taxpayers/YrJPM7ayxGywPTLDKsG8LO/story.html


Mike Pence promises that every Evangelical man will have his guns, his Evangelical alliance, his tax break, and his White Privilege.


The current belief is that you are not a True Christian, if you are not an Evangelical.


Dinner party for Evangelicals, at Trump's Spite House

Monday night, a Florida pastor who has gained a following preaching on television and advising the president gave Donald Trump a Bible signed by more than 100 leading evangelical Christians with an inscription that said “History will record the greatness that you have brought for generations.”

https://www.thedailybeast.com/evang...ll-record-the-greatness-that-you-have-brought


AUGUST 28, 2018


During Evangelical Dinner, Trump Left Crucial Part Out of John Adams’ Prayer



Last night, during Donald Trump‘s special dinner for conservative Christians, he quoted a prayer written by President John Adams that, in 1945, was carved into the State Dining Room’s fireplace mantle.

Well, he quoted part of it.


Trump's speech to 100 Evangelicals

"Here in the State Dining Room, carved into this fireplace, is the famous prayer of John Adams. It says, “I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house.” And that’s really what it is. This is an incredible house. Means so much. Means so much to our country. Means so much to the world. And it means, really, so much to religion and to Christians. So it’s an honor to have you. Together, we will uplift our nation in prayer, defend the sanctity of life, and forever proudly remain one nation under God."

The whole prayer

I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof

Naturally, Trump chose not to read the line about “honest” and “wise” men ruling in the White House…

Maybe he didn’t want to hear the crowd erupt in laughter.

http://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/...p-left-crucial-part-out-of-john-adams-prayer/

Wednesday, August 22, 2018


Words 'Guilty,' 'Criminal,' and 'Felons Welcome Here' Projected on Trump Hotel in DC

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2...-felons-welcome-here-projected-trump-hotel-dc



It was a fitting message on a day when two members of the president's inner circle both became felons


robin bell
@bellvisuals
Felons Welcome Here Projection with American Bridge at Trump Hotel 8-21-18

11:54 PM - Aug 21, 2018

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Sarah Palin was not invited to McCain’s funeral
Donald Trump was requested to stay away.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligence...in-wasnt-invited-to-john-mccains-funeral.html


https://www.npr.org/2018/08/27/642327632/mccain-services-to-include-past-presidents-but-not-trump


Invited to participate


Warren Beatty
Vice President Joe Biden
former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg
former Secretary of Defense William Cohen
businessman Stephen Dart
former McCain presidential campaign manager Richard Davis
fundraiser Carla Eudy
former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.)
former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm
former Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.)
Vice Chairman of Open Russia Vladimir Kara-Murza
former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge (R)
McCain’s former chief of staff Mark Salter
fellow veteran and FedEx founder Fred Smith
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

Invited to speak

George W. Bush and Barack Obama will speak, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Sens. Joe Lieberman and Kelly Ayotte. Renee Fleming will sing "Danny Boy" at McCain's request.


McCain's body will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Friday. There, Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will all lay wreaths and, Davis said, members of the public "will be encouraged to view John."




https://www.johnmccain.com/press/programdetails/nationalcathedral/

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Leaving aside the wisdom of using government personnel records to smear a federal agent in a district with huge numbers of Defense Department employees who have filled out the exact same form with the expectation that that shit is private, just how the hell did the Congressional Leadership Fund (a Super PAC, which formed in 2011, has rapidly become a major contributor to GOP politicians, closely aligned to House Speaker Paul Ryan.*) get their grubby paws on a document that's illegal to release under the Privacy Act?

*
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2018/08/what-is-the-congressional-leadership-fund/

https://www.wonkette.com/paul-ryans...-with-cia-agent-abigail-spanberger-lotsa-luck

A Democratic hopeful who once worked in the CIA is accusing a GOP super PAC of obtaining her classified federal security clearance application.

The second installment of What In The Unholy Fck Is Going On And What In The Unholy Fck Is Wrong With These People? comes to us from The New York Times. It seems that...somebody...is playing fast and loose with a candidate's classified federal security clearance application for the purposes of ratfcking the midterms.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politi...abigail-spanberger-cia-midterm-security-form/


Postal Service Accepts Blame for Release of Candidate's Security File, and Asks for It Back


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/...on=click&module=Top**0Stories&pgtype=Homepage



The US Postal Service Says “Human Error” Is To Blame For Releasing A Former CIA Officer’s Security Application To A Republican Group

The US Postal Service on Thursday said “human error” led to the release of the entire federal security clearance application of a former CIA officer running for Congress



“We take full responsibility for this unfortunate error, and we have taken immediate steps to ensure this will not happen again."

The Postal Service has addressed the issue by providing clear instructions and guidance to our employees tasked with the responsibility for handling these requests, and we will follow up with additional training,” Partenheimer added in his statement. “The Postal Service also intends to change our process for handling requests for OPF information to provide further protection against its inadvertent release, and to ensure that such requests are properly handled."


"The Postal Service has addressed the issue by providing clear instructions and guidance to our employees tasked with the responsibility for handling these requests, and we will follow up with additional training. The Postal Service also intends to change our process for handling requests for OPF information to provide further protection against its inadvertent release, and to ensure that such requests are properly handled. We are continuing our review, but believe the issue began in June of 2018, and that only a small number of additional requests for information from personnel files were improperly processed."

https://www.richmond.com/news/virgi...cle_4238f501-a64a-5725-9e2b-890b527531fd.html


https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/talalansari/postal-service-human-error-spanberger-file


National Personnel Records Center
National Archives and Records Administration


It was National Personnel Records Center, a division of NARA, that pulled her file & sent directly to USPS corp mgmt


BuzzFeed News can confirm that an unredacted copy of the federal security clearance application was obtained by America Rising, a research group allied with the Republican Party, through what the organization believed was a response to its July 9 Freedom of Information Act request from the US Postal Service's human resources section. Once America Rising obtained the documents it then shared it with its client, the Congressional Leadership Fund.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/articl...es-cia-officer-security-clearance-application

“I've confirmed through USPS that someone at the agency's human resources division released Abigail Spanberger's entire personnel file, including her SF-86, in UNREDACTED form to America Rising, which assumed it was in response to their #FOIA request filed in July.”


Surprise! Republican Rumplestiltskin is spinning ugly propaganda from ill-gotten info



Democratic candidate has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the executive director of the Congressional Leadership Fund, demanding that the PAC destroy all copies of the form and “agree to not use the information in any fashion.” And the real question boils down to: Is someone within the Trump White House handing out classified information to be used against Democratic candidates?

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-p...application-former-cia-agent-running-democrat

 

[gotsnowgotslush]

Small teams of Extremist Right Wing fringe groups scream about free speech for hate, and drain city budgets and town budgets.

Extremely wealthy corporation owners buy up newspapers formerly known as supporters for Democratic activists, exposing corruption and crime. After the newspapers are sold to Trump Republicans, they become unrecognizable, because Trump propaganda becomes the main selling point.

Gothamist newspaper and associated newspapers across the country survived because they forged an alliance with Public Television and Public Radio. Their freedom is restricted more than ever, without their independent print capability.

Archives reserve former fearless investigations.

Archives for the Village Voice ?

The Village Voice Is Officially Dead


AUG 31, 2018 12:56 PM

Three years after buying The Village Voice, and a year after the paper shut down its print edition, owner Peter Barbey told the remaining staff today that the publication will no longer be posting any new stories.

"Today is kind of a sucky day," Barbey told the staff, according to audio obtained by Gothamist. "Due to, basically, business realities, we're going to stop publishing Village Voice new material [sic]."

Barbey said that half of the staff, which is around 15 to 20 people, will remain on to "wind things down," and work on a project to archive the Voice's material online.

The rest of the staff will be let go today.

This story has been corrected to reflect that Barbey told the staff the news in person, but that other Voice employees who weren't present called in.


http://gothamist.com/2018/08/31/village_voice_is_officially_dead.php


The last of Village Voice

AUGUST 31, 2018

#Prisonstrike:

A Rebellion Inside America’s Profitable Gulag Archipelago


'Imprisoned men and women are the drivers of a multibillion-dollar shadow economy: its laborers and its prey'




The latest “test” to prison labor comes not from outside detractors or procurement laws, but from within the prisons themselves. On August 21, a loosely connected network of incarcerated activists, led by the group Jailhouse Lawyers Speak, announced a nationwide prison strike. One of the ten demands released by the protesters is an end to prison slavery – a demand for a full and fair wage just noting it specifies as based on the prevailing wage in their state or territory for any labor performed while incarcerated.



The date was set for August 21, the day Nat Turner’s slave revolt began in 1831. It’s meant to last until September 9, the anniversary of the Attica State Peniteniary uprising, a mass prisoner takeover of an upstate New York prison in 1971 that ultimately led to significant reforms in the New York carceral system.

The strike is as sprawling and difficult to track as America’s prison state itself, a system that encompasses some 2.3 million people. Its participants are largely anonymized by the activists who publicize their resistance, for fear of retaliation by prison authorities. By its very nature, it vexes publications, as the incarcerated individuals taking part are purposefully tucked out of sight and kept from communicating with the press.


But reports have trickled out — particularly in activist-aligned outlets like Democracy Now! and It’s Going Down — of ICE detainees hunger-striking in Washington State; prison work stoppages in South Carolina; boycotts of commissaries in Florida; and more hunger strikers, in Colorado, North Carolina, Georgia, and California. Many groups of strikers have released local demands. These reports are smuggled out like the contraband they are, to whichever ears on the outside are willing to receive them.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/0...inside-americas-profitable-gulag-archipelago/