Post: #71

(12-18-2017 03:31 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:  I feel bad for John McCain and his family right now. Lots of times I don't agree with his his policy opinions, but I think he's done a lot for our country in the military and in Congress. He and Bernie have worked together for a long time on pro-veteran legislation. Good on them.

The type of brain cancer McCain's battling right now is the worst. Hopefully, he'll make it through the holidays and beyond.

I feel bad for them too and when I see John McCain I feel sad for him. I respect him. I heard some people talking about this moment so I went looking for it. It's very moving.

Post: #72

Joe Biden strikes me as a genuinely nice person. I don't think I've heard any politician from any party say bad things about his character or abilities. Even Mitch McConnell considers him a friend and the one Democrat he would/could negotiate with during the Obama administration.

He is a close-talker and a little touchy-feely sometimes, in my opinion, but apparently not in a sexual way.

Anyway, if he's still healthy, I really think he's eyeing to run for President in 2020. He's doing a lot of interviews and says he's not declaring that he'll run, but he's not closing that door.

Post: #73

So former campaign adviser and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon has weighed-in about his thoughts on the Russia interference investigation.



Bannon ^ shared his disdain of other top campaign officials for going blind into the June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer instead of dispatching a legal team to vet information in a hand-off way and failing to alert authorities of a possible crime.

'The three senior guys in the campaign (Manafort, Kushner, Donald Jr) thought it was a good idea to meet with a foreign government inside Trump Tower in the conference room on the 25^th floor – with no lawyers. They didn't have any lawyers,' Bannon vented in 'Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House' by Michael Wolff.

'Even if you thought that this was not treasonous, or unpatriotic, or bad shit – and I happen to think it's all of that – you should have called the FBI immediately,' Bannon stated.

He said that he believes money laundering is at the heart of the investigation and that investigators will crack Don Jr. like an egg on national television. He reportedly added that there's no way Donald Trump Sr. didn't know what was going on right under his nose in Trump Tower.

The book containing Bannon's interview is set to be released next week.

Refs:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administrati...ous-report
https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/01.../23322662/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...eting.html

Post: #74

(01-03-2018 01:02 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:  He said that he believes money laundering is at the heart of the investigation and that investigators will crack Don Jr. like an egg on national television. He reportedly added that there's no way Donald Trump Sr. didn't know what was going on right under his nose in Trump Tower.

Ahahahaha! This is divine, absolutely divine.

No wonder trump has been nuttier than usual the past couple of days. Someone musta gave him a heads up. *snicker*

Post: #75

(01-03-2018 01:18 PM)Duchess Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 01:02 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:  He said that he believes money laundering is at the heart of the investigation and that investigators will crack Don Jr. like an egg on national television. He reportedly added that there's no way Donald Trump Sr. didn't know what was going on right under his nose in Trump Tower.

No wonder trump has been nuttier than usual the past couple of days. Someone musta gave him a heads up. *snicker*

Yeah, unless this is some reality-show type scripted drama by Trump and Bannon again, this is a big problem for the President and he's not happy at all.

He just issued a statement in response to the news of Bannon's interview for the book.

President Trump's response: “Steve Bannon has nothing to do with me or my presidency. When he was fired, he not only lost his job, he lost his mind,” Trump said in a statement. “Steve doesn’t represent my base - he’s only in it for himself.”

Flynn and Bannon (and Kushner, in my opinion) were some of the worst hiring/appointment decisions I've ever witnessed. The writing was clearly on the wall for anyone who's not completely blind or otherwise compromised / misguided.

Post: #76

I've been reading excerpts in NY mag. Whatta story. Man.

Post: #77

I have always admired Joe Biden.

Post: #78

(01-03-2018 03:34 PM)Duchess Wrote:  

I've been reading excerpts in NY mag. Whatta story. Man.

I just searched out that long excerpt. Fascinating read. http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/201...trump.html

None of it surprised me, as most of the documented behind-the-scenes goings-on and insider comments coincide and/or explain what we've seen play out on the public stage.

Post: #79

(01-03-2018 04:59 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:  Fascinating read.

It sure is. I ordered Michael's book. I was just going to wait and get it from the library but I said screw it, I don't want to wait after reading someone say trump called Sally Yates a cunt. I'll read it and take it all with a grain of salt. I may not know if it all's true but you can bet your ass Special Counsel Mueller will be in the know.

This book is going to dominate for days!

Post: #80

Hows this thing going? Is it like 50,000 shades of collusion now or has the squirrel changed position, the squirrel being the latest greatest shiny object. Time will tell.

Post: #81

Update:

I really hope there was no illegal campaign action and/or illegal obstruction of justice carried out by Trump and his inner circle.

The independent investigation is still underway and I want to see what evidence is uncovered before assuming guilt or insisting on innocence.

But, man................I don't think it's possible to act more guilty of at least obstruction of justice than Trump and company.

These are just some of the recent deflection and diversion efforts undertaken by Trump, his administration, and/or GOP members since the last time line posting upthread:

-Demean and request the firing of the Attorney General (who Trump selected and was Trump's first credible political endorser) for doing the right thing and recusing himself,

-Launch a smear campaign against the new FBI Director (who Trump himself selected for the job after he fired Comey),

-Accuse the FBI of not being able to do their jobs due to bias, degrading the national law enforcement community in the process (even though Trump claims to be a 'law and order' candidate),

-Parrot the White House propaganda network's (FOX's) screams for McCarthy-like firings and jailings of law enforcement officers without one shred of evidence of illegality,

- Push for the public release of a GOP-written memo in attempt to delegitimize the American justice department, national intelligence agencies, and the independent investigation,

- Repeat over and over in public, even when not asked about the investigation, "there was no collusion, okay, no collusion!"

Post: #82

The Fresno Bee endorsed Devin Nunes (Republican, pictured below) in the 2016 congressional elections.



However, given his role in creating and pushing for 'the memo' referenced above to be publicly released + his blatant presidential ass-licking, Nunes is now being labeled 'Trump's Stooge' by the paper. http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editori...33904.html

I totally agree with the paper's editorial board and hope Nunes is the next high-profile GOPer to exit stage right. Wave your wand Duchess!

Post: #83

(02-02-2018 06:28 PM)HairOfTheDog Wrote:  Wave your wand Duchess!

On it!

Post: #84

^ I like that image -- it's witchy. But, I don't think your wand is going to be necessary after all.

I just read the GOP memo that Nunes pushed and Trump approved for public release. It is not a 'bombshell!', as promised.

That memo ( https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/02/politics/...index.html ) doesn't prove or even credibly suggest that anything was done wrong by the FBI and intelligence agencies. It's a big fat 'so what?!' spin piece.

Carter Page had already been a concern to US Intelligence Agencies due to his statements and connections in Russia. And, the FISA warrants referenced in the memo were issued after the Trump campaign had already distanced themselves from him and Page no longer had a role in the campaign. The probable causes in the FISA warrant requests were approved by a judge. Sounds to me like the FBI, intelligence agencies, and judiciary are all guilty......................of doing their jobs.

It doesn't matter or show bias if the surveillance warrants for Page were granted, even in large part as the memo asserts but doesn't validate, due to the Steele Dossier. That Dossier was funded partially by a conservative Republican publication and partly by a Democratic candidate organization --the former funding source being conveniently left out of the memo.

And, the FISA issues mentioned in the memo also relate to George Papadopoulos, who was in fact indicted and pleaded guilty to lying about his Russian activities during his time as a Trump campaign staff member. That, to me, reinforces the credibility of the FISA warrants and the investigation.

Anyway, I think 'The Memo" is a huge fail for Nunes and all the GOP mouthpieces who oversold the propaganda piece. Nunes just wrote his own political obituary with California voters -- at least, I hope so. He is a stooge.