None of This Is Normal

[bodysong]

On Sunday in America, the Trump Tyrant family should have honored
Remembrance Day. (Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day,
falls on a Monday in America, this year.)

Stalinism is countenanced in the outlaw state of Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
China is building a 21st-century totalitarianism.

Bankrupt impulses and failed ideologies of the 1920s and 1930s are taking
root again in another generation of disillusioned and demoralized leadership.
But it’s not too late to remember the bitter, bloody fruit of those fields and
change course.

What better time to start remembering than on Remembrance Day?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...0094da-0263-11ea-8bab-0fc209e065a8_story.html

Sunday, Donnie Trump Jr. staged a propaganda event disguised as a book tour
at University of California, LA (UCLA)

Maximum media attention and publicity- Trump Jr. deliberately ignored his
father's guidelines. 1.) Rent a private venue, 2.) use security to keep it closed
to the public 3.) Use obedient operatives, actors, and paid staff to control
the message. Feed the mob a (paid actor) protester, for ritual's sake.

Trump junior chose the most liberal university in California
to stage a fascist hate celebration. Donnie Jr. was taking part in a skit.
His team had not counted on the "librul" protesters determination
to remain peaceful, lawful, and unprovoked.

/end bodysong comment

"...the appearance backfired when his own supporters, diehard MAGA
(Make America Great Again) conservatives, raised their voices most
loudly in protest and ended up drowning him out barely 20 minutes
into an event scheduled to last two hours.

The 450-strong audience had just been told they would not be allowed
to ask questions, “due to time constraints”.

In minutes, the entire argument put forward by the president’s son –
that he was willing to engage in dialogue but that it was the left that
refused to tolerate free speech – crumbled.

“I’m willing to listen…” Trump began.

“Q and A! Q and A!” the audience yelled back.

“We’ll go into the lion’s den and talk …” Trump tried again.

“Then open the Q and A!” came the immediate response.

Guilfoyle, forced to shout to make herself heard, told students
in the crowd: “You’re not making your parents proud by being
rude and disruptive.”

Kimberly Guilfoyle alienates the incels-
"You’re not making your parents proud by being rude and disruptive
and discourteous,” she shouted. “We are happy to answer a question."
"Respect the people around you so that they can hear.”
“Let me tell you something, I bet you engage and go on online dating
because you’re impressing no one here to get a date in person,” she added.

https://www.salon.com/2019/11/11/do...for-his-book-about-liberals-silencing-speech/

And of course Jr's girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle had to chime in.

Audience: We want to ask questions
TPUSA: Have sex incel

This will end well.

— Mister AntiBully (@MisterAntiBully) November 10, 2019

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/11/donald-trump-jr-booed-stage-book-launch

She and Trump Jr left the stage moments later.

The fiasco pointed to a factional rift on the Trump-supporting conservative
right that has been growing rapidly in recent weeks, particularly among
“zoomers” – student-age activists. On one side are one of the sponsors
of Trump Jr’s book tour, Turning Point USA, a campus conservative
group with a track record of bringing provocative rightwing speakers
to liberal universities.

On the other side are far-right activists – often referred to as white supremacists
and neo-Nazis, although many of them reject such labels – who believe in
slamming the door on all immigrants, not just those who cross the border
without documents, and who want an end to America’s military and
diplomatic engagement with the wider world.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ed-book-launch-after-heckling-from-supporters

The excuse that Trump Jr gave, in order to sidestep questions and answers-

"Trump Jr tried – and failed – to argue that taking questions from the floor
risked creating soundbites that leftwing social media posters would abuse
and distort.

http://sierramadretattler.********.com/2019/11/he-flaked-donald-trump-jr-walks-out-of.html

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-11-10/protests-donald-trump-jr-ucla-reagan-library

Were Trump Jr's team members hoping to "trigger" everyone attracted
to his propaganda event- create chaos, and momentarily flood the
newsfeed ?

 

[bodysong]

Trump met with 'lock him up' chants during Veterans Day Parade

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/tra..._notifications

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...-a9198691.html

Presiderp on Monday spoke in his hometown of New York City ahead
of the Veterans Day parade. Although the president was behind bulletproof
glass, protesters chanted “lock him up” loud enough for him to hear. Chants
of “impeach and remove” could also be heard.

Veterans Protest Trump's Appearance At NYC Parade

(Presiderp) Donald Trump will not be attending the traditional wreath-laying
ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day.

Veterans Day: Trump Returns to N.Y. for Parade, to Cheers and Boos
The New York Times

Trump faces ‘lock him up’ chants, ‘IMPEACH’ banner as he kicks off
Veterans Day parade in Manhattan
NY Daily News

Trump proclaims-
“...you can shoot me, but you’ll have to kill us all.” ...because Veterans Day

 

[texasj65]

The TDS runs strong here... just saying

 

[magicalmoments]

I think you mean DTS
Disfunctional Trump Syndrome.
Looks like junior has it as well, must be hereditary.

 

[bodysong]

11/19/2019

The Trump administration reportedly is demanding that Seoul,
a key ally, contribute around $5 billion for the coming year to
cover the cost of the roughly 28,500 U.S. troops based in
South Korea. That's more than five times what South Korea
agreed to contribute earlier this year, and Seoul is pushing back
hard. South Korean and U.S. officials would not confirm the
amount to NPR.

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/19/7807...costs-u-s-walks-out-of-talks-with-south-korea

Trump administration ridiculed for orchestrating ‘secret’ foreign policy
on WhatsApp

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...n-policy-whatsapp-rudy-giuliani-a9208491.html

David Holmes was in a restaurant in Kyiv with
U.S. Ambassador Gordon Sondland on July 26,
when Sondland called Trump to discuss the probes.

Holmes told members of the House Intelligence Committee
that he "vividly" recalled the conversation because Trump's
voice was so loud and discernible, and the two spoke so openly
about the investigations.

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/...ion-ukraine-impeachment-sondland-trump-071433

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...uiry-david-holmes-transcript-sondland-ukraine


Holmes, the political counselor at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, said it immediately
made him nervous because two of the three mobile networks in Ukraine are
Russian-owned.

"We generally assume that mobile communications in Ukraine are being
monitored," Holmes said, according to a transcript of his Nov. 15 closed-
door testimony, released late Monday.

 

[bodysong]

'Deep, Dark Conspiracy Theories' Hound Some Civil Servants In Trump Era

Former Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson's nomination
for a top Pentagon job was withdrawn following smear attacks
published on alt-right websites loyal to Trump.

Patterson's story showcases a growing trend in the Trump era:
career civil servants enduring attacks on their credibility in
conservative media. And it is more than just unflattering coverage.
The campaigns against government workers have resulted in harassment,
or in the case of the whistleblower at the heart of impeachment inquiry,
death threats.

They're often accused of being part of a so-called "deep state" that is
trying to sabotage the Trump administration. And some are getting fired.
In a report released today, the State Department's Inspector General finds
that one career employee was fired for perceived political views.

Conservative publications seized on Patterson's time in Egypt, calling her
the "Muslim Brotherhood's Stooge."

...the Brotherhood is an Islamist group that Trump wants to designate a
terrorist organization, even though there is no evidence linking the group
to violence against Americans, which is a requirement of the designation.

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/14/7790...eories-hound-some-civil-servants-in-trump-era

Conservatism became a hollow shell, and then the trolls and the opportunistic
cons moved in to fill the space. The kooks and the cons are now driving
movement (conservatism ?)

After 43 years in the State Department, Anne Patterson got a plum job
offer from the Pentagon and thought the opportunity would be an honorable
way to cap her long career as a foreign service officer.

But then Patterson’s nomination unleashed a torrent of articles in conservative
media that painted her as a clandestine partisan or worse. And shortly after the
headlines rocketed around the Internet, then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis
withdrew Patterson’s nomination, and she eventually left government.

She was “trying to do her best to do her duty as she saw it, and in return just
got these kind of nasty, baseless attacks,” said Jerry Feierstein, who worked
with Patterson for decades at the State Department.

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/326840_Civil_Servants_Increasingly_Ta

 

[bodysong]

Gordon Sondland testified Wednesday that his recollection of a July 26
call with Trump was refreshed by mention of the jailed performer

November 20, 2019

“What triggered my memory was someone’s reference to ASAP Rocky,
which was I believe the primary purpose of the phone call,” Sondland told
a House attorney. He’d previously testified that he doesn’t take notes during
meetings or conversations, hence the issues with memory.

Rocky’s name reportedly came up Friday during the private questioning
of David Holmes, an official at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv who said he
overheard Sondland speaking with Trump via cellphone at a Kyiv restaurant.

Trump said "The Gordon problem"

Holmes testified that he overheard Sondland advising Trump that he should
“let him get sentenced, play the racism card, give him a ticker-tape [parade]
when he comes home.” The ambassador then told Trump that Sweden
“should have released him on your word” and added,
“You can tell the Kardashians you tried,” Holmes said.

Sondland said Wednesday that he frequently has non-classified calls over
unsecure land lines and cellphones and that it was up to the president
to decide what was classified.

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2019-11-20/asap-rocky-impeachment-inquiry

 

[bodysong]

Laura Cooper

CSPAN ✓

Twitter › cspan

@RepSwalwell to Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Ukraine Laura Cooper:
"Your testimony today destroys two of pillars of president's defense
and one justification for his conduct."

2 hours ago

Katherine Clark ✓
Twitter › RepKClark

Laura Cooper just testified that Ukraine knew there was an "issue"
with the security assistance the day Trump spoke to Zelensky.
So much for the "they didn’t know" defense.

#DefendOurDemocracy #ForThePeople #ImpeachmentHearing

3 hours ago

Ukrainians asked about stalled aid as early as July, Cooper testifies

Testimony from Laura Cooper, the Pentagon official who is currently
testifying before lawmakers, undercuts an argument that Trump’s
supporters have often made in defending the president.

Republicans have said that no bribery or quid pro quo could have occurred
because the Ukrainians were unaware that aid was being withheld.

Cooper said he staff received an from the State Department on July 25
saying that the Ukrainian embassy and House foreign affairs committee
were asking about the security assistance. Two hours later, Cooper said
her staff got another email from the State Department regarding aid.

This was the same day as the infamous July 25 phone call, during which
Trump asked the Ukrainian president to investigate his political opponents.

Cooper also said “a member of my staff got a question from a Ukraine
embassy contact asking what was going on with Ukraine security assistance”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...n-sondland-ukraine-republicans-latest-updates

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale

On July 26, he attended a Deputies Small Group meeting on Ukraine
chaired by Deputy National Security Adviser Charles Kupperman.
At the meeting, each agency was asked for their view and Hale advocated
strongly for resuming the assistance to Ukraine, as did every other agency
represented there with the exception of the OMB. OMB said that their guidance
on the freeze came from the president through Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney,
but OMB provided no further explanation for the decision.

Hale then sent a note to the Secretary of State informing him that this issue
was “going to have to be resolved at the principals level and that it was
unlikely that OMB would be shifting their position at the principals level
given what [they] just heard.” Therefore, it would have to be resolved
directly with the president. Hale stated that he was relieved when the
assistance was released on Sept. 11.

Asked why the State Department had yet to provide a single document
to Congress on the Ukraine matter, Hale replied that this was not his area
of responsibility and that he had only overhead snippets of these discussions.
He understood that the relevant documents were being gathered and prepared
but then the White House sent notice not to share these documents.

Hale also stated that he was vaguely aware of a letter from the secretary
of state to the committee accusing them of bullying members of the
department, but that he had not heard from any career State Department
members that they felt bullied by requests to testify.

https://www.lawfareblog.com/summary-amb-david-hales-deposition-testimony

David Hale, the third-highest-ranking official at the State Department,
reiterated that it was “wrong” to dismiss Ukrainian ambassador Marie
Yovanovitch, who was unexpectedly removed from her post in May.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in position to grant or deny defense
or support to Amb. Marie Yovanovitch.

Allegations against Yovanovitch were unsupported, and no evidence
was given.

 

[bodysong]

Unfortunately for Republicans, Mick Mulvaney, who was reportedly directed
by Trump to put the hold on Ukraine aid, has already said, on television,
that the aid was frozen as part of a quid pro quo for investigations.
(Mulvaney, the White House’s acting chief of staff and head of the
Office of Management and Budget, later denied that he said this,
despite the clear public record.) Much of the Republican case,
going forward, is likely to depend on pretending that this
confession doesn’t exist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/opinion/gordon-sondland-impeachment-hearings.html

On July 10th, Ambassador Sondland informed a group of U.S. and Ukrainian officials
meeting at the White House that according to Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, a White
House meeting desperately sought by the Ukrainian president with Trump would
happen only if Ukraine undertook an investigation into the energy sector, which
was understood to mean Burisma, and specifically the Bidens.

National Security Advisor Bolton abruptly ended the meeting and said afterwards
that he would not be, quote, "part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney
are cooking up on this," end quote.

A week later, on July 18th, a representative of the Office of Management and Budget,
the White House agency that oversees federal spending, announced on a video
conference that Mulvaney, at the direction of the president, was freezing nearly
$400 million in security assistance authorized and appropriated by Congress,
and which the entirety of the U.S. national security establishment supported.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...testimony-front-house-intelligence-committee/

 

[domroger]

Allegations against Yovanovitch were unsupported, and no evidence
was given.

Standard practice for this administration ,make accusations and refuse to give any evidence to support them .

 

[bodysong]

November 19, 2019

Under President Barack Obama, Washington held back from sending
lethal assistance, out of concern that the United States could get sucked
into a proxy conflict with Russia.

Trump reversed the decision, and Javelin antitank missiles started to flow.

There are tight restrictions on how they can be used.

For now, they are kept away from the front lines.

But if Russia decided to push into Ukraine, the Ukrainian military could speed
the Javelins into action.

“The Javelin is the best man-portable anti-armor system in the world,”
said Ben Hodges, a retired U.S. Army general who handled military
assistance for Ukraine while he led forces in Europe between 2014
and 2017. “With the Russians knowing the Ukrainians had that, that
obviously was a deterrent.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...ece332-070e-11ea-9118-25d6bd37dfb1_story.html

November 21, 2019

Ukraine's forbidden, hidden Javelin missiles.

We blocked their deployment, 100s of miles from combat

Did you miss it, buried in the 14th paragraph in a NY Times story,
about the “lethal” missiles we sent Ukraine?

“Trump’s sale of those weapons prohibited the use of Javelins on the front lines..."

The missiles got warehoused 100s of miles away from the “contact line”

in eastern Ukraine, where the fighters exchange gunfire and lives are lost
every week. Another NY Times article says soldiers shape, and prop up,
“dummy” missiles as a gambit to try to deter Russian-backed fighters:


… there is a big catch.
The Trump administration provided the missiles on the condition
that they not be used in the war, Ukrainian officials and American
diplomats have said, lest they provoke Russia to slip more powerful
weaponry to the separatists.


“They are not to be on the front line,” Iryna Herashchenko, a former
chief settlement negotiator, said of the missiles.

In Ukraine, the Javelin missiles have come out only for parades.

The special U.S. envoy Ukraine, Kurt Volker, has said that the Javelins
are being stored in a secure facility far from the front line. —
June 11, 2019

Bad faith delivery - US stopped Ukraine from bringing our missiles
to "contact line" with Russia

September 24, 2019

Underreported.

Trump and his people thump their chests, to say we’ve given lethal weapons,
Javelin missiles, for Ukraine to fight Russia in its eastern region. We’re “strong”
against Russia, they say. Yet on the first missiles delivery, we put an odd hold
on the weapons we sent in 2018. The embargo was confirmed, by U.S. envoy
Kurt Volker and by a Ukrainian minister:

Georgiy Tuka — deputy minister for occupied territories —

“Yes, as of today, there are certain limitations introduced regarding Ukraine,”
Georgiy Tuka, the country’s deputy minister for occupied territories said on
May 6 [2018]. ….

…. The U.S. demand that the Javelins must be kept out of the combat zones
was confirmed by U.S. envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker.
(direct to cached story at link)

Nevertheless, such a low-key approach drew criticism from some
foreign policy experts, who called for more overt support for Ukraine.

“Trump administration should let Ukraine deploy its new anti-tank weapons
to the front lines, rather than insisting they be warehoused under lock and key
in western Ukraine,” former U.S. Department of Defense official and currently
a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council Michael Carpenter commented on
his Twitter page on May 3. “What’s the point then?“

— article, May 23, 2018, Kyiv Post

Ukraine has lost 13,000 combat lives since 2014
25,000 to 30,000 Ukrainians wounded in the 5-year period.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...en-their-deployment-100s-of-miles-from-combat

 

[bodysong]

Walter Shaub is a former director of the United States Office
of Government Ethics who served under President Obama
and briefly under Donald Trump. Shaub resigned from the
position in July 2017 in frustration, saying he could do
no more to curb ethical violations within the Trump
administration.

He cited the administration as proof that there was a need
to strengthen the ethics program. On Sunday, he posted a
thread on Twitter outlining the dangerous precedents
being set by the Republican Party in its truly unethical
handling of its mad king Trump.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...-the-Republican-Party-is-destroying-democracy

Former government ethics chief lays out 39 ways
the Republican Party is destroying democracy

November 25, 2019

Shaub goes on to touch on the White House concealing damaging
political information and employing white nationalists.

He calls out the crisis at our border as a violation of human rights
and international law. He notes Trump’s and Kushner’s complicity
in the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside
the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

United States Office
of Government Ethics

Shaub was replaced by OGE acting Director David Apol in July 2017.
Then Apol made the mistake of suggesting that Trump’s lack of ethics,
and more specifically his unwillingness to divest from his personal
business interests, was hurting Americans’ confidence in our democracy,
saying, “Nothing you could gain economically or politically could possibly
justify putting our democracy at risk. These are perilous times.” Apol was
replaced by Emory Rounds III. Rounds’ biggest battle to date was this
past July, when he warned Trump’s political appointees that they could
not change their ethics agreements without his signature.

https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/fo...the-republican-party-is-destroying-democracy/

Walter Shaub ✓
Twitter › waltshaub

I can guarantee you that any candidate who becomes president
without divesting will wind up disliking me as much as the
Trump White House does. But we shouldn't have to wait
until the election. It would be disrespectful for any candidate
to leave us wondering.

#WillYouDivest

1 day ago

I hope the Senate will ask Braithwaite why he didn't comply with
his ethics agreement. He pledged that he would receive an "incentive"
payment from his former employer before entering government
but now says he received it while in government, which implicates
different rules.

1 day ago

Esper is recommending ambassador to Norway Kenneth Braithwaite
be nominated to succeed Spencer. Trump later confirmed that
Braithwaite is indeed his pick.

Who is Braithwaite? He’s a retired Navy rear admiral who, according
to his Navy bio, was a naval aviator who later became a public affairs
officer. His last assignment with the Navy was as the deputy chief
of information.

https://www.politico.com/morningdefense/

 

[bodysong]

Presiderp proved that despite laws on the books, he could get away with anything
if Mitch McConnel stacked the courts with judges that supported him...

President Trump issued an Executive Order13888

Enhancing State and Local Involvement in Refugee Resettlement
on Sept. 26 (2019) that will allow states and localities to restrict
the resettlement of refugee in their areas.

Trump issued an executive order to allow states and localities to refuse
the resettlement of refugees in their communities, which is expected
to face challenges in court.

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/26/7648...uts-number-of-refugees-allowed-to-enter-the-u

Advocates Challenge Trump Administration Plan To Let States And Towns Block Refugees


https://www.npr.org/2019/11/21/7817...ation-plan-to-let-states-and-towns-block-refu

Advocates Challenge Trump Administration Plan To Let States And Towns Block Refugees

Three refugee resettlement organizations have filed a lawsuit challenging
an executive order by President Trump that would empower state and
local authorities to prevent refugees from settling in their jurisdictions.

According to the filed complaint, the executive order violates federal law,
which requires federal agencies to make decisions about where refugees
are to be placed within the United States according to a detailed list of
factors, leaving no room for state and local governments to veto such
decisions.

 

[bodysong]

The Republicans continue to distract Democrats by sending the candidates
emails "by mistake."

There is not an angle that Trump loyalists have overlooked.

The burden of fact-checking and truth seeking is laid at the Democrat's door.
Trump loyalists already know which information is dis-information. They are
the people that are spreading the lies.

Despite denials, Congressional seats are serious business to Trump loyalists.
The Presiderp himself attended campaign rallies to support Representatives.

What would Presiderp have done, without Texan stooges to defend him,
at the impeachment hearings ?

Texas is dead serious-

Texas Sen. John Cornyn

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/pol...ument-for-2020-elections-leaked-to-democrats/

https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/texas-politics-before-and-after-trump-11804411

‘They’re in deep trouble’: Texas GOP’s secret 2020 strategy emailed to
Democrats in a bizarre political mishap

https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/th...d-to-democrats-in-a-bizarre-political-mishap/

The document, titled “Primary/General Election 2020 [Draft],” began
showing up in Democratic emails this Monday and included a list 12
statehouse districts that the GOP is targeting in 2020.

“Starting after the Primary, the RPT will generate microsites for negative hits
against the Democrat candidates in our twelve target race—we expect each
microsite to be roughly $500,” the document reads.

“We will then begin rolling out these websites, prioritizing the races that were
within 4% in the 2018 election.”

The document details how Republicans plan to thwart Democrats’ plans
to take the majority in the Texas House for the first time since 2003.
Speaking to The Dallas Morning News, executive director of the
Texas Democratic Party, Manny Garcia, said that “Republicans
have already fumbled the ball and we aren’t even in 2020 yet.”

 

[bodysong]

Take the tiniest grain of truth or plausibility

(even if you have to construct it out of thin air)

use that to justify the 99.9% of the paranoid narrative

- that is straight-up lies

https://www.salon.com/2019/11/27/do...-now-liberals-are-waging-war-on-thanksgiving/

Cotton candy, spun from factory lab sourced "corn sugar" and "corn syrup" for the masses.

 

[JackLuis]

You want Normal?

Florida man steals fire chief’s truck — then nearly sets himself on fire while in jail

A Florida man is accused of starting several fires throughout Cocoa before stealing a fire truck, police told FloridaToday.com.

According to the report, Michael Simpson was spotted Tuesday morning, throwing a brick around outside of a credit union. He momentarily laid down in the bank’s drive-thru and then urinated on the grass.

He was arrested and taken to the Brevard County Jail, where he proceeded to take out matches and light the tank top he was wearing on fire, the arrest report said.

 

[bodysong]

Corrupt Texan used illegal means to pressure liberal Democrat- owned
East Coast health food chains to sell out to him, and got away with it.

Good ol' Texan religion removed liberal and political magazines from the shelves.

Jeff Bezos entered into the picture-

Mitch McConnell Made Whole Foods Spend Their Thanksgiving
Denying They Made Him Person of the Year

November 28, 2019

“WholeFoods Magazine” also pitched in, distancing itself from the grocery chain:

@WholeFoodsMag is a b-to-b magazine serving the natural products industry
since 1977. WholeFoods Magazine has no affiliation with @WholeFoods.
@WholeFoodsPR

— WholeFoods Magazine (@WholeFoodsMag) November 28, 2019

https://www.mediaite.com/news/mitch...ing-denying-they-made-him-person-of-the-year/

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jul/16/whole-foods-amazon-prime-working-conditions

 

[bodysong]

US Releases $100 Million in Aid to Lebanon Armed Forces

December 2, 2019

Amount was withheld last month by White House against State & Pentagon wishes

The money had languished in limbo at the Office of Management and Budget
since September although it had already won congressional approval and had
overwhelming support from the Pentagon, State Department and National
Security Council. The White House has yet to offer any explanation for
the delay despite repeated queries from Congress.

Earlier this month, the delay came up in impeachment testimony by David Hale,
the No. 3 official in the State Department, according to the transcript of the
closed-door hearing.

https://www.boston.com/news/politic...tration-quietly-releases-lebanon-military-aid

Trump Administration Withholding Over $100 Million of Military Aid to Lebanon

November 22, 2019

Several officials said National Security Council staff had deliberately tried
to run an end-around of the Pentagon and State Department by demanding
a signed presidential determination to release the aid and then slow-walking
delivery of the finding to the Oval Office for Trump’s signature.

The officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly
and spoke on condition of anonymity.

(Hezbollah is not a comcern (ack! concern) of Trump, any more than ISIS was in Syria,
or Russian forces on the border of Ukraine, or Russian backed rebels
inside Ukraine.)

https://time.com/5737584/trump-administration-military-aid-lebanon/

The National ✓
Twitter › TheNationalUAE

Come and collect jailed Briton, says Houthi official

59 minutes ago

@thenationaluae

 

[bodysong]

The Queen is most likely clutching her head and pulling her hair out,
in private. Another Annus horribilis, and she is left to face off with the
disgusting monsters by herself.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...nato-guests-but-problems-mount-for-absent-son

 

[bodysong]

Dan Rather ✓
Twitter › DanRather

This is a moment of conscience.
Impeachment is a process.

But at its core in this extraordinary case is the fundamental question
of what we stand for, and what we will stand up for, as a nation.

1 hour ago

With President Trump in Europe the world may be laughing but it’s not amused.

12 hours ago

Dan Rather
American journalist

Presiderp at the 70th celebration of NATO

The quote: Someday in the distant future,Trump said,
"You'll have a Democrat president. You'll have a Republican House.
They’ll do the same thing. Because somebody picked an orange out
of a refrigerator and you don’t like it, so let’s go and impeach him.”

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) December 3, 2019

Was Tuesday’s comment a specific rhetorical choice from Trump?
Or might he have just heard the phrase somewhere in the conspiracy-
theory swamps he inhabits and had his messy unconscious spit it back
out in slightly garbled form to the public? It’s impossible to say.

- By Benjamin Hart@realaxelfoley

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/12/trump-invokes-orange-to-illustrate-evils-of-impeachment.html

 

[bodysong]

January 13, 2020

As we enter the fourth year of the Trump era, let's remember:
this is still not normal

- Michael H Fuchs

None of this is normal. These actions go far beyond policy
disagreements. They are not only disturbing and unbecoming
the office of the president – they undermine the democratic values
America embodies, and damage America’s national security.

Trump hopes that his offensive and dangerous actions are
normalized by the sheer force and volume of them.

He obfuscates, gaslights and lies – in his three years in office has
made more than 15,000 false or misleading claims, according to
the Washington Post.

As 2020 begins and Trump teeters on the edge of starting a war
with Iran, it is a stark reminder that America no longer knows
what it’s like not to be at war – roughly a quarter of Americans
have only been alive while America has been fighting a war.
This should not be normal – but sadly America has already
begun to treat it like it is.

We may not be able to dedicate the same level of outrage
or oversight to every single one of Trump’s despicable
actions. But we cannot allow them to be seen as normal,
and we must push back on them all.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/13/trump-era-not-normal-michael-h-fuchs

 

[Ziggins]

When normal stops working, we get abnormal.

 

[bodysong]

Drones in space ?

Space Force/Space Command

18 January 2020

The new military service, overseen by the US Air Force,
is not intended to put troops into orbit.

Rather, it will protect US assets such as the hundreds
of satellites used for communication and surveillance.

US Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett said the Space Force
would comprise about 16,000 air force and civilian personnel.

The Trump administration has allocated $40m (£34m) to fund
the force in its first year.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51160547

On Tuesday, the new Space Force chief, Gen. John Raymond,
was sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence.

Then on Friday, Space Force unveiled its new uniforms.

Sticking with camouflage saves money, so Space Force is
being thrifty by going traditional and basically wearing
what everyone else in the military is wearing.

Last month, Congress passed a new spending bill that
funds the Space Force and President Donald Trump
officially signed off on it.

https://www.wwnytv.com/2020/01/18/new-space-force-uniforms-are-camo-why/

bodysong comment-

Is Trump is selling Space Force badges and uniforms in his gift shop ?

That might explain the velcro on the upper arm.

January 16, 2020

Gen. John “Jay” Raymond reports directly to Air Force Secretary
Barbara Barrett. For the next year, he will be dual-hatted as
commander of U.S. Space Command and chief of the U.S.
Space Force.

Even though his uniform says Air Force, Raymond’s military ID
says “Space Force.”

The Space Force eventually will have its own uniforms, logo
and seal that will become part of the service’s unique identity.
These are still being designed, he said.

“We’re working that really hard.”

https://spacenews.com/u-s-space-forc...ld-operations/

USSF is utilizing current Army/Air Force uniforms, saving costs
of designing/producing a new one.

Members will look like their joint counterparts they’ll be
working with, on the ground.

— United States Space Force (@SpaceForceDoD) January 18, 2020

Jan 18th, 2020

https://www.mediaite.com/online/new-...oyed-to-endor/

Is that velcro ?

https://crooksandliars.com/2020/01/i...-force-uniform

 

[bodysong]

The administrator of the Space Force’s Twitter account
spent much of Saturday responding to continued criticism
of the camouflage, which did not stop after the branch’s
initial tweets offering clarification.


In response to a comment from actor and author
George Takei, the Space Force said that its members
would work from Earth to maneuver U.S. space assets
and track space debris, among other tasks.

The Space Force has not announced its dress uniform.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...wont-help-you-hide-orbit-theyre-not-supposed/

 

[bodysong]

On Martin Luther King's birthday, militia groups and fringe
Extremist Right Wing groups are gathered in North Carolina

Thousands of gun-rights advocates packed the streets around
the Virginia Capitol on Monday

Virginia voters gave majorities in the General Assembly to
Democrats who promised to enact gun-control laws.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...36852c-3baa-11ea-8872-5df698785a4e_story.html

January 20, 2020

In 1983, President Ronald Reagan officially declared
Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday, but it
wasn't until 1986 that it was celebrated that way.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/19/us/mlk-day-2020-open-closed-trnd/index.html

Ronald Reagan was an unprincipled weasel that
sold out everyone that he could, for money.

Hypocrite, his campaign against drugs was mocked
by the government's dumping of illegal drugs, in
minority communities. Ronald Reagan used minority
communities as scapegoats.

Ronald Reagan depended on the corruption and twisting
the vote in America, to win. Even that sort of cheating
was not enough.

He cheated, at winning the presidential seat- he used
American hostages to gain an unfair advantage in
the elections- He used another country against the
integrity of the vote. Just like Trump.

Mar 5, 1987

"A few months ago I told the American people that
I did not trade arms for hostages," Reagan said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...es-swap/7a5cd7cc-a112-4283-94bd-7f730ad81901/

A liar, a cheat, a fool, a sell-out.

In Alabama, Martin Luther King Day also honors Confederate
General Robert E. Lee

Currently, only Alabama and Mississippi combine the day
honoring the black civil rights leader and white Confederate
general. Arkansas ended its dual King/Lee holiday in 2017
and now honors King alone.

Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807; King was born on Jan. 15, 1929.
The King holiday was moved to Monday after the 1971
implementation of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act
which put the observance of some holidays at the start
of the work week to allow for three-day weekends.

https://www.al.com/news/2020/01/in-...-honors-confederate-general-robert-e-lee.html

MLK Day became a federal holiday in 1983 after President Reagan,
who’d opposed the bill for years, signed it into law.

On the same day as MLK Day, Alabama and Mississippi honor
Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who at a glance represents the
antithesis of what King fought for.

In a way, these overlapping holidays are a summation of the
South’s deep-rooted ties to both a history of racism and the
forefront of the civil rights movement.

https://www.theplainsman.com/article/2020/01/editorial-its-mlk-day-not-robert-e-lee-day

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi,
North Carolina, Virginia, Missouri, Texas