Day: May 18, 2017

Closing Thought–18May17

Before I begin….FOX News Roger Ailes is dead at 77…….gone but never forgotten….

We have been bombarded with this version or that on the firing of FBI head, Comey……of course his supporters are just telling the world to move on…..and the rest of us are just fascinating at the antics around the whole affair.

There has been as many version of this report as there are hairs on ones butt……so which is accurate?

The problem as I see it is that Trump sent his minions out to head off any negativity about this event…the problem is none of them had the same story…and then their fearless leader went on TV for an interview and basically threw those minions under the bus.

He pretty much crapped on the whole story line making his loyal minions look like douche bags and liars.

Trump’s interview made me think of something Lloyd George of the UK, a past prime minister, had to say in an interview he had given…….”one feature that distinguishes a first rate political leader from a second grade politician is the former is careful to avoid making any definite statement that can be subsequently refuted.”

To paraphrase:  keep your mouth shut until the correct time.

Our man in DC needs to shut the Hell up and stop making the situation worse with each tweet or interview.

Instead of acting like a butt hurt juvenile he should be avoiding this situation and talking about tax reform or infrastructure or anything else but the story line flying around the media.

Instead he opens his mouth and inserts another foot…he does not realize that everything he says is out there and can be pulled up at any time.  Plus what is with all the use of adverbs?

Not to worry the minions of the Trump Land are countering all this news with an Obama piece…..I would go into further but it is just too lame to repeat….another attempt to blame Obama for the massive fuck ups by their chosen king….anything to deflect people from the moronic bone head moves of Trump…..haven’t heard it yet…just wait it will get louder as Trump’s stupidity gets more clear.

Waiting for the Mother Ship………

I am spent!  Enough already!  Peace Out!

A Janus Speaks

Janus?

Janus is the Roman god of gates and doors (ianua), beginnings and endings, and hence represented with a double-faced head, each looking in opposite directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest time, planting, marriage, birth, and other types of beginnings, especially the beginnings of important events in a person’s life. Janus also represents the transition between primitive life and civilization, between the countryside and the city, peace and war, and the growing-up of young people.

Two heads….two mouths…..two distinct versions of the same story….

Our dutiful president, Donald J. Trump, is a Janus.

After the announcement of the special counsel for this Russian thingy Trump made two distinct statements……or was it Tweets?

Wednesday night after the announcement……

The White House issued a short statement Wednesday night from the president, which predicted the special counsel appointed to investigate President Trump’s administration and Russian meddling in the 2016 election, former FBI Director Robert Mueller, will “confirm what we already know.”

“As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know – there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,” Mr. Trump said in a statement issued by the White House. “I look forward to this matter concluding quickly. In the meantime, I will never stop fighting for the people and the issues that matter most to the future of our country.”

After I heard this statement in the news…….my first thought was who the Hell wrote that?  I bet it was not Trump……

I think I was right in my assumption….why?

Come Wednesday evening…..Trump took to Twitter….his normal media for expression and Tweeted……

Donald J. Trump

✔ @realDonaldTrump

This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!

6:52 AM – 18 May 2017

Donald J. Trump ✔ @realDonaldTrump

With all of the illegal acts that took place in the Clinton campaign & Obama Administration, there was never a special counsel appointed!

9:07 AM – 18 May 2017

Why does his White House crew bother to make him, Trump, sound like a statesman….for he craps all over their well intended BS the first chance he gets……..

What a waste!

The Creeping “I” Word

The news these days is all Trump all day…..and not in a good way….there are many games played in DC and the new one is a basic repeat of the past…..and one that has his nose picking supporters all butt hurt……and they do what they do….strike out instead of making a cogent argument against any action they just want to insult and to show their command of adjectives……

Everyone that breathes knows the story in the headlines……but a new wrinkle has shown its face….the possibility of an impeachment process……

President Trump’s latest troubles have even Republicans such as John McCain drawing comparisons to Watergate. An assessment at NPR notes that the “‘I’ word is creeping its way into the mainstream,” but the piece emphasizes, twice, that the chance of a GOP-controlled Senate impeaching Trump is somewhere around zero. A look at what others are saying:

  • Testing the waters: In what it sees as a “significant development,” McClatchy reports that Democrats are poised to start polling to gauge sentiment. Their fear is that making a public push to impeach Trump may backfire in the long run.
  • “Hushed” chatter: Politico’s Playbook blog says the GOP chatter on Capitol Hill in the wake of the new Comey reports is “hushed” but unmistakable. “That’s not to say President Donald Trump will be impeached, but the prospect is beginning to creep into Republicans’ minds, and it’s noteworthy that they are not ruling it out.”
  • Not so hushed: Rep. Justin Amash became the first Republican in Congress to publicly broach the idea Wednesday, reports the Hill. Asked if what Comey said was true would merit impeachment, he responded simply, “Yes.” On the Democratic side, Rep. Al Green of Texas called for Trump’s impeachment on the House floor Wednesday, reports the Week.
  • Nope: Law professor Jonathan Turley assesses the Comey allegations and finds zilch in them to support impeachment. “There are dozens of different variations of obstruction charges ranging from threatening witnesses to influencing jurors,” he writes in the Hill. “None would fit this case.” As for the broader charge of Trump trying to interfere with the “due administration of justice,” that would hinge on the dicey prospect of proving that Trump intended to influence “corruptly.”
  • Deep breath: “Take a few steps back, America,” advises John Kass at the Chicago Tribune. “Get yourself a pocket copy of the Constitution and hold on.” He sees one big issue with the Comey story: We haven’t actually seen the supposedly damning memo. So until then, or until Comey testifies under oath about his conversations with Trump, “we just don’t know.”
  • Two to watch: The president’s fate really lies with House leader Paul Ryan and Senate leader Mitch McConnell, writes Dylan Matthews at Vox. As long as they don’t turn on Trump, he’s safe.
  • Trump’s strategy: Expect him to keep “stoking his base,” predicts a post at Axios. Lawmakers will be leery of bucking him if he stays popular in their districts. “It’s his most basic survival strategy—and it’s another reason he won’t change.” In the meantime, the Trump campaign is fundraising with an email that has “SABOTAGE” as a subject line, notes Slate.
  • The 25th? In the New York Times, conservative columnist Ross Douthat doesn’t think impeachment fits and instead floats the idea of invoking the 25th Amendment. That allows the removal of a president if the majority of his Cabinet tells Congress he is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” A two-thirds vote by Congress would follow if the president contests. Based on the daily comments about Trump from his inner circle in the press, Douthat thinks it’s a possibility.
  • The bookies: Bookmakers say the odds of a Trump impeachment have jumped in the last week, and MarketWatch has the details.

There will make the news more enjoyable for some….but then there seems to be another wrinkle forming in the fabric of Trumpism……

The Justice Department has appointed a special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election, the New York Times reports. According to the Washington Post, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has tasked Robert Mueller with investigating “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump.” Mueller, a former FBI director, is authorized to prosecute any federal crimes the investigation uncovers and will have subpoena authority, USA Today reports.

Mueller will answer to Rosenstein at the DOJ but have more freedom to run the investigation than would a US attorney. “I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authorities and appoint a special counsel,” Rosenstein said in a statement. Rosenstein makes it clear that doesn’t mean he’s found evidence of criminal acts. In a statement following Rosenstein’s announcement, Trump said a special counsel will only confirm what everyone already knows: there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia, the AP reports. Mueller served as FBI director from 2001 to 2013, the longest term since J. Edgar Hoover. Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz calls him a “great selection” with “impeccable credentials.”

Please stand by for updates from the Mother Ship……the foil hat will not block out the signals……

A Rolling Stone Gathers A Flynn

By now everyone has heard the problems that are flying around ex-NatSec adviser, Flynn…..none of it is good and all is virtually indefensible…..it appears that he was a really bad boy…..with each passing day there is more of his “betrayal” of the country and its people.

More and more it looks like the Trump team knew all about is involvement with foreign countries and did not care……

The newest batch of facts comes out……

Yet another twist in the Michael Flynn drama: President Trump’s transition team knew weeks before the inauguration that Flynn was under federal investigation for links to a foreign power, but that was no obstacle to his hiring as national security adviser, sources tell the New York Times. The insiders say Flynn told the transition team’s chief lawyer on Jan. 4 that he had been secretly working as a lobbyist for Turkey while advising Trump on national security issues during his campaign. He was hired in August by a Turkish businessman. Trump campaign officials—and the Justice Department—became suspicious after Flynn wrote an Election Day op-ed in the Hill criticizing a foe of the Turkish government.

The Justice Department investigation of Flynn’s Turkey links is separate from the FBI investigation of his ties to Russia, which President Trump allegedly asked former FBI chief James Comey to drop, Slate notes. Flynn was paid more than $500,000 for his work representing Turkish interests and McClatchy reports that just 10 days into the Trump administration, Flynn rejected a plan that would have involved Kurdish forces helping retake Raqqa, the de facto ISIS capital in Syria. The move, which was what Turkey wanted, halted an operation that had been months in the making. Trump revived the Raqqa plan weeks after Flynn was fired. (Flynn was warned about foreign payments years ago.)

It is apparent that the Trump vetting process sucks!

While this revelation was making the rounds another shoe dropped concerning Flynn…..

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pushed to delay a plan to retake ISIS stronghold Raqqa that Turkey opposed, according to a new report.

McClatchy reports that former President Obama and his national security adviser Susan Rice informed then president-elect Trump of a Pentagon plan to retake the city of Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold, with the help of Syrian Kurdish forces. Obama’s team informed Trump because while the plan would be approved under Obama, it would likely be executed after Trump took office.

Flynn told Rice to delay approving the mission. His explanation for the delay was not recorded, according to McClatchy, but the decision to delay approval lined up with Turkey’s interests in the region. Turkey has been a staunch opponent of the United States partnering with Kurdish forces in the region.

The recommendation to delay the mission approval took place during the Trump team’s transition period, ahead of Trump’s inauguration.

(thehill.com)

If this is true then this alone should be grounds to BBQ this douche!

Is this why it is taking so long to route ISIS from Raqaa?

Time to drag this person over the coals and find out who knew what and who did what!

Stop “pussy footin'” around and go for broke!

But first…..More on the Russian Front……it seems that the Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with the Russians…..

Michael Flynn and other advisers to Donald Trump’s campaign were in contact with Russian officials and others with Kremlin ties in at least 18 calls and emails during the last seven months of the 2016 presidential race, current and former U.S. officials familiar with the exchanges told Reuters.

The previously undisclosed interactions form part of the record now being reviewed by FBI and congressional investigators probing Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election and contacts between Trump’s campaign and Russia.

Source: Exclusive: Trump campaign had at least 18 undisclosed contacts with Russians: sources | Reuters

Sorry dudes but with each passing day the news gets worse……how long before heads start rolling down Pennsylvania?

How long before his ass scratching supporters wake up  and smell the manure they are standing in?

Becoming “Sour And Dark”

You know I am always thrilled when the inevitable happens….a politician gets caught lying and trying to cover their ass…..but it is more fun to watch the die hard supporters doing all they can to support their “guy”…..of course the insults are always fun because these supporters are pretty creative in their insults….usually they have NO idea what they are talking about but Hell that never stopped a moron from babbling.

Now with the trouble that Trump has created for himself just amps up the supporters and their admiration of the man…..they refuse to look at the facts, and yes there are facts, whether they like them or not, but rather just throw out their chest and let the poison pen fly.

It is fun watching butt hurt twats do their “thang”……as silly and unimaginative as they are……

I bring all this up because these supporters are a carbon copy of their vision of manliness…..”Sour and Dark”!

Things are not going well in DC…..not for Trump and not so much for those die heard supporters……Trump who is crazy about his son-in-law, Jared,  has started attacking him as well….you know things are going to shit when he attacks his “fair-haired boy”…..

As leaks from President Donald Trump’s White House continue to spring in the aftermath of the president firing former FBI Director James Comey, staffers are revealing more information about the president’s moodiness that is even directed at the closest in his inner circle.

According to a New York Times report by Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush, the president has not only been overheard complaining about having to fire his disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn, but has also begun directing his mood swings at his son-in-law-turned-adviser Jared Kushner.

“His own mood, according to two advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark,” the report claims, “turning against most of his aides — even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — and describing them in a fury as ‘incompetent,’ according to one of those advisers.”

Source: Trump becoming ‘sour and dark’ as he turns against son-in-law Jared Kushner: report

I am wondering if Jared is asking….”Is this the price I pay for blind obedience?”

Not a good sign for the admin…..he can hope that on his first international trip he does not say or Tweet something stupid…if he tries he could have a minor re-start….but how likely is that?

Just a few words of advice for the Trump-ster……

Keep your mouth shut……keep you finger away from the Tweet button….and maybe the rest of the week could slow down and get back to the business of state.

How likely is that?

Afghanistan And The World Of Tomorrow

New president and a new plan for Afghanistan?

The news coming out of the country, especially the intel reports, is not a good one…..

The security situation in Afghanistan will further deteriorate even if there is a modest increase in U.S. military support for the war-torn country, the top U.S. intelligence official said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump’s administration weighs sending more forces to Afghanistan.

Afghan army units are pulling back, and in some cases have been forced to abandon more scattered and rural bases, and the government can claim to control or influence only 57 percent of the country, according to U.S. military estimates from earlier this year.

“The intelligence community assesses that the political and security situation in Afghanistan will almost certainly deteriorate through 2018, even with a modest increase in (the)military assistance by the United States and its partners,” Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said in a Senate hearing.

Source: Security situation in Afghanistan likely to get worse: U.S. intel chief | Reuters

So if the prediction is that things will get worse in the coming months…..what has the decision by the president done to stave off disaster?

Previous reports on the Pentagon’s Afghan War plans, then yet to be presented to President Trump, presented them as uniformly in favor of escalation, with the plans varying from a 3,000 troop buildup to one with upwards of 5,000 more US ground troops sent to the country.

Today, reports are suggesting that the actual plans presented are down to two basic options, one which is the escalatory plan that involves around 3,000 troops, and a “less kinetic” option that involves keeping troop levels in the country flat, and limiting direct US involvement to “high-value” targets.

Officials in favor of the second option say the US “don’t fight other people’s wars,” and want to focus on preparing the Afghan military to fight ISIS itself.  They also note this plan is considerably cheaper than launching yet another surge into Afghanistan.

(antiwar)

But like Syria and Iraq, Afghanistan seems to be an open ended war…meaning a war without end……will Trump keep on keeping on?

It remains to be seen whether President Donald Trump will approve the proposals that Mattis and McMaster have pushed in recent weeks.

Judging from his position during the campaign and his recent remarks, Trump may well baulk at the plans now being pushed by his advisers.

The plans for the three countries now being developed within the Trump administration encompass long-term stationing of troops, access to bases and the authority to wage war in these three countries.

These are the primordial interest of the Pentagon and the US military leadership, and they have pursued those interests more successfully in the Middle East than anywhere else on the globe.

US military officials aren’t talking about “permanent” stationing of troops and bases in these countries, referring instead to the “open-ended commitment” of troops. But they clearly want precisely that in all three.

Source: Will Trump Agree to the Pentagon’s Permanent War in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria? | Global Research – Centre for Research on Globalization

My thought is the later…..don’t fight other people’s wars…..declare success and leave them to their fate.

And thoughts from the “Peanut Gallery”?

Update:  Since I wrote this draft more news about Afghanistan has come to light….

While publicly US strategy in the Afghan War has been based around the conceit that the conflict is in a “stalemate,” despite mounting losses by the Afghan government. Advisers have offered a classified assessment on the conflict recently, however, conceding that the Ghani government’s survival is at risk, and that the war is being “slowly” lost.

Their solution, as with everyone else, is even bigger escalation, with reports from those familiar with the plan saying that the US needs “more than 50,000” ground troops in Afghanistan to ensure Ghani’s survival, with an eye toward eventually defeating the Taliban.

That’s a big escalation, and a much bigger one than has been suggested in previous reports, which initially presented the proposed escalation as 3,000 to 5,000, and most recently made it a choice between 3,000 or keeping troop levels flat. The Pentagon is evasive about troop levels in recent months, but around 8,400 troops are believed to presently be in Afghanistan.

(antiwar.com)

Speechless?  All I can think of at this time is….”Here we go again!”

What Is America’s Goal In The World?

During one of my classes as student asked me, during one of our “rap Sessions”, a time I set aside to talk about the day’s current events, she asked me “Just what is America’s role in the world”?

That is a damn good question….I gave her my opinion….

Trump seems to have an extreme dislike for diplomacy…..he is gutting the State Dept and trying to expand the Pentagon…..to me that says that his thought is to use force in every incident…..

I then told her to read an article by Buchanan in the American Conservative (not someone I would turn to for much opinion but this is a pretty good look at his thoughts)

For the World War II generation there was clarity.  The attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, united the nation as it had never been before—in the conviction that Japan must be smashed, no matter what.

For the World War II generation there was clarity.

The attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941, united the nation as it had never been before—in the conviction that Japan must be smashed, no matter how long it took or how many lives it cost.

After the defeat of the Axis powers in 1945, however, Americans divided.

Only with the Berlin Blockade of 1948, the fall of China to Mao and Russia’s explosion of an atom bomb in 1949, and North Korea’s invasion of the South in 1950, did we unite around the proposition that, for our own security, we had to go back to Europe and Asia.

Source: What Is America’s Goal in the World? | The American Conservative

She returned to class and we spoke privately on the article…(she gets extra credit for her initiative).

The school year is drawing to an end…I hope that this young lady pursues international relations for she has a good mind and she asks questions in search of real answers not just those that will ease her mind.