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You are here: Home / Economics / C.R.E.A.M. / Entertaining Russiagate Read: “The Recruitables”

Entertaining Russiagate Read: “The Recruitables”

by Anne Laurie|  October 26, 20175:39 pm| 171 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Dolt 45, Foreign Affairs, Republican Stupidity, Russiagate, Trump Crime Cartel, Not Normal, Security Theatre

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Q: Should you be more civil?
Trump: Press makes me more uncivil than I am… I went to an Ivy League college. I'm a very intelligent person pic.twitter.com/x2sYu4tYV2

— David Mack (@davidmackau) October 25, 2017

If you have to tell people you’re ‘very intelligent’, you’ve already proved you aren’t. Alex Finley explains to Politico “Why Trump’s Team Was Easy Prey for Putin”:

By now, it should be clear to anyone following the news that Russian intelligence made a formidable effort to approach the Trump campaign and assess the potential to manipulate its members. As a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, I can tell you that Russian security services would have been derelict not to evaluate the possibility of turning someone close to Trump. While the question of collusion remains open, it’s beyond dispute that Russia tried to get people around the president to cooperate. The June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower is indication enough, but other encounters bolster the argument.

How do you get someone to do something they should not do?

Generally, an intelligence officer looks for a person’s vulnerabilities and explores ways to exploit them. It usually comes down to four things, which—in true government style—the CIA has encompassed in an acronym, MICE: Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego. Want to get someone to betray his country? Figure out which of these four motivators drives the person and exploit the hell out of it…

From an intelligence point of view, the people surrounding Trump, and Trump himself, make easy targets for recruitment. This is not to say these people have definitely been recruited by Russian intelligence—and they’ve all denied it repeatedly—but you can be sure that Russia’s intelligence services took these factors into consideration when they approached the campaign…

Paul Manafort: Money
Anyone who has lobbied on behalf of leaders ranging from Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko to the Philippines’ Ferdinand Marcos to Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang likely has no set ideology or moral compass and is motivated primarily by making money. People like this make very good targets. There is no emotion involved. Getting the person to do something is a fairly straightforward transaction…

Donald Trump Jr.: Money, Ego
Junior is a lot like dad in his need to feel important. He was certainly a target because he manages access to his father, and his arrogance makes him easy to read…

Donald Trump: Ego…
Ego is clearly the best way to get Trump to do anything. The Saudis certainly understood this, feting him with gold and orbs and displaying his enormous portrait on the side of a hotel, right next to the king’s portrait…

Trump’s ego wanted to win and, he figured, everyone else wanted him to win, too. He was under the impression that everyone loved him and appreciated his greatness. Of course everyone wanted to help him win. If he accepted help from Russia, it’s possible he didn’t realize there was anything wrong with doing so. Why wouldn’t they help him win, he might have thought, and why shouldn’t he accept that help? For an experienced chekist like Putin, manipulating his ego is almost too easy…

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171Comments

  1. 1.

    The Golux

    October 26, 2017 at 5:44 pm

    I’ve come to the realization that the TSG’s relentless tweeting reminds me of a flasher: He keeps showing you his junk when it’s the last thing you want to see.

    Also, has anyone noticed that all Republicans have the same middle name as Bucky Dent?

  2. 2.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    Q: Should you be more civil?
    Trump: Press makes me more uncivil than I am… I went to an Ivy League college. I’m a very intelligent person

    When the archeologists dig this up they’ll either laugh or cry.

  3. 3.

    rikyrah

    October 26, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    They are treasonous cretins with no morals.

    There. That’s your article.

  4. 4.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    But remember, according to Devin Nunes “It’s now clear the Democrats made it possible for Russia to subvert the 2016 election”.

    Because they (and republicans and the FBI) all funded the Steele Dossier.

  5. 5.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    Yeah, pretty much.

  6. 6.

    germy

    October 26, 2017 at 6:00 pm

    Here’s a dumb headline on my local TV news website:

    Trump: Clinton team funding for Russia is a disgrace

    Now the dumbshits who leave foxnews talking points in the comments sections are convinced “Clinton gave money to Russia to cheat Trump”

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    @germy: So far they’ve been far too uncoordinated and lazy to pull off anything remotely resembling a big lie in the vein of “Sadaam caused 9/11” or such, so that’s good at least.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    October 26, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: How do you un-recuse yourself when you’ve already stated that you have a conflict of interett?????

  9. 9.

    HeleninEire

    October 26, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    Want a Mary Update? Well. Here it is.

    Had a conference call with my family which consists of my older sister JoAnn, my Dad, and Mary’s caregivers. Gotta say, my family are not stand up people. When my brother Vinny was dying of cancer 7 years ago, JoAnn pretended that it wasn’t happening. But that was the first time my Dad was a stand up person. Cuz Vinny was his favourite. And that’s OK, cuz he was my favourite too. He was my best friend.

    Anyway, Mary. Looks like this is a meds thing. But let me tell you about Mary. She was born in 1967. She had a hole in her heart. Those stupid people in the hospital missed it. Today, my father would own that fucking hospital. Anyway they sent her home. Maybe, 6 months later my parents realized she was not like other babies. She didn’t scream when she cried. She wimpered cuz she could not breath. So they tested her and said to my mother “Take her home. Give her a bottle every hour.” Not because they thought Mary needed a bottle every hour, but because they thought she would die that night and they wanted my mother to be awake when it happened. So my mother did that. But Mary didn’t die. The hole in her heart fixed itself. But they oxygen to the brain was compromised.

    But, back to today. They just changed Mary’s b/c pills for heavy periods. They say she doesn’t need them anymore. Maybe not for that, but the regulating of her meds included the b/c pills. So the question to my family was “Shall we get her back on the b/c pills?” Cancer runs in my family – oh wait I didn’t tell you up tread that my mother died of breast cancer at 37. I was 12. Mary was 7. But still my answer was yes. JoAnn and Dad are still thinking about it. So. Dunno. But I gotta tell you, both my Dad and JoAnn said don’t leave Ireland. That’s where you belong. So, family comes through.. Who knew.

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    October 26, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    Last night’s Frontline report, called “Putin’s Revenge, Part 1”, showed how the Russian strongman sized up Dubya and quickly figured out that religion was a weak spot he could penetrate. Hence Bush stating that he was able to “read his soul” or some such nonsense after an early meeting between the two. Next week they’ll look at how Putin was able to roll Trump and his assorted flunkies.

  11. 11.

    germy

    October 26, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: They’re working on their talking points.
    Ironing out the wrinkles. They’ll fan out tomorrow onto all the TV shows and repeat some bullshit verbatim.

  12. 12.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    October 26, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    Yes – the thing that scares me most about Trump, and Jr., and Kushner is that they *think* they’re sharp. They *think* they’re on top of the world. They probably *think* they could play Russia.

    Now, me, I’ll confess: I can’t play in that league. But I’d like to think my self-honesty is such that even if I could play in that league, I’d be aware that the people who think they’re best able to play the other guy is the person most easy to play. Almost every famous confidence game relies on the mark thinking that they’re in the driver’s seat.

    Was it Kushner who wanted the back channel to Russia? And everyone went on TV to point out that it’s not a horrible thing? Even if we assumed purely noble intent – and we can’t! – it’s still a way to *beg* to be played. You *need* intelligence oversight to remind you that you’re being a chump when you are. (And if you’re not – they lose interest. So if they’re interested, hell, yeah, you’re a chump.)

  13. 13.

    gratuitous

    October 26, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    “How do you get someone to do something they should not do?”

    It’s really pretty easy when you’re dealing with a bunch of dummies who don’t know what they shouldn’t be doing. The Trump campaign was chock full of babes in the woods who didn’t have the first clue about what was and wasn’t legal for campaign workers to do. “Gee, in the business of Manhattan real estate and development, we’d just do something incredibly illegal, then grease a few palms with the authorities, and forge on.”

    That doesn’t work so much in a presidential campaign.

  14. 14.

    tobie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:07 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Everything today has the feeling of that last week in October when Comey publicly reopened the investigation of Clinton’s emails, leakers in the FBI exonerated Trump of any wrong-doing with Russia, Podesta and Company continued to be slammed for material in wikileaks, etc. Russia must be involved in this latest scheme. Nunes is too stupid to cook it up himself. If we can’t find a way to fend off this latest avalanche, I don’t know what the future of the republic is. It’s that dire.

    BTW: Has there been any reporting on how in the same week that the house and senate open an investigation on Clinton and the sale of uranium, the info about Fusion GPS funding comes out?

  15. 15.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    @HeleninEire: Do not leave Ireland.

    But no one said anything about not crossing the pond to see Mary and your family, from time to time.

    The staff is learning too, and perhaps they’ll remember this when dealing with another postmenopausal patient.

    Last, that’s sad; that Mary might have started as a more normally-gifted baby, but the oxygen deprivation took away her chances. Thank Dog so much progress since 1967, and still miles to go.

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:09 pm

    @WaterGirl: I think his stated reasoning is that he only recused himself from the ONE russian investigation so he can get involved in other russian investigations. And also that he voluntarily recused, so he can voluntarily un-recuse at any time.

  17. 17.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    @HeleninEire: That sounds like an awful situation (and a truly awful story about your sister’s infancy) – thank you for the update, and I hope everything turns out okay.

  18. 18.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 6:10 pm

    My Dad just brought up the “optics” of the Steele Dossier produced by Fusion GPS being funded by Democrats and Hillary’s Campaign. Anyone care to give me talking points on why this whole thing is bullshit? I haven’t had the chance to read much about it.

  19. 19.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    @germy: They haven’t been able to accomplish anything that requires talking points so far, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.

  20. 20.

    Immanentize

    October 26, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    Dear Cheryl,
    Would it be possible for you to give us a post some time of the “Russians gave money to Clinton foundation so later Hillary approved a sale of uranium” story? I just can’t get behind it. Shouldn’t we want Russia to sell us fissionable material? Wasn’t that a huge part of START II? Especially the Ukraine part? Please help, my brain is small.

  21. 21.

    raven

    October 26, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    @HeleninEire: I had a feeling.

  22. 22.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    The newest batch of JFK files just dropped!

    ETA http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/jfk-assassination-files-classified-document-release-donald-trump/index.html

  23. 23.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:13 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: “What do you think the optics are of this being funded by a Republican campaign? Or that the FBI found it so credible that they funded it when the Democrats stopped funding it the day after the election?”

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m torn between being really interested and wondering if this is just another distraction (like the Uranium and Steele Dossier things)

  24. 24.

    Archon

    October 26, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:

    The question isn’t who funded the dossier. The question is, are the contents of it true or not?

  25. 25.

    rikyrah

    October 26, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    @HeleninEire:
    Thanks for the update. Sending positive thoughts for your family.

  26. 26.

    Capri

    October 26, 2017 at 6:15 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: It is the universal lament of the abuser. Someone else makes them angry, it is never their fault.

  27. 27.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    @HeleninEire: I’m glad you get to stay where you’re happy.

  28. 28.

    tobie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:16 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: You could begin by explaining that FusionGPS is an oppo research firm first hired by one of Trump’s Republican opponents in the primary. Every campaign hires oppo research firms. Trump’s did, too. (And now they’re trying to peddle a refuted scandal about uranium sales dug up by their oppo research team.) You could also mention that Fusion GPS hired Steele as a subcontractor, not the Clinton campaign, and they had no knowledge of his existence. Finally you could tell him that Steele felt that what he found was so explosive that he went to the FBI himself with the memo. No one in the Clinton campaign seemed to be responding to the info he provided. Since the election the FBI has verified a significant portion of the dossier. I don’t know the full amount.

  29. 29.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: When you have to reach for optics, you got nothing.

  30. 30.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    I’m torn between being really interested and wondering if this is just another distraction (like the Uranium and Steele Dossier things)

    He had a deadline by law to release the ones he didn’t determine would compromise yadda yadda.

  31. 31.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    October 26, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Ask him why he cares more about who footed the bill then the accuracy of what was reported and it’s treasonous implications.

  32. 32.

    rikyrah

    October 26, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @tobie:
    I wasn’t believing that something big is about to drop from Bobby Three Sticks, but, now I do. He is about to explode on them. SOMETHING has happened. We don’t know what, but they are phucking desperate. And, that makes me strangely calm.

  33. 33.

    Uncle Ebeneezer

    October 26, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @Baud: Or what Baud said! (directed to Goku)

  34. 34.

    LanceThruster

    October 26, 2017 at 6:20 pm

    DNC and Fusion GPS.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    October 26, 2017 at 6:22 pm

    @HeleninEire: Holy shit there’s a lot to digest in that comment. I’ll stick with the final paragraph for now.

    Do they not know that rule #1 is don’t fuck with complicated meds when they are working? They sent my friend’s sister into a psychotic break when she had surgery because none of the professionals seemed to know that drugs used for anesthesia often mess with drugs that are critical to stability of people with mental illness. So I’m pissed as hell that they just took your sister off her birth control pills, apparently willy nilly. I want to say Jesus fucking christ but I can’t do that because I went to catholic school and you are not allowed to take god’s name in vain. Doesn’t matter if you aren’t catholic anymore, that stuff just sticks with you. So if one of you great swear-ers could think about stepping up and saying that for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

    Good on your dad and your sister for supporting you in your life in Ireland!

    P.S. If we were co-located I would suggest copious amounts of adult beverages as we discussed paragraphs 2 and 3.

  36. 36.

    Mary G

    October 26, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    @HeleninEire: It’s remarkable how good it can feel to not accept all the responsibility when others are available to help. Glad your family is supporting you staying in Ireland, because you seem happy there. Yay Helen and dad and brother! Such an awful story about Mary. Things like this is why I get so angry when Republicans tout “tort reform” all the time.

  37. 37.

    waspuppet

    October 26, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    If he accepted help from Russia, it’s possible he didn’t realize there was anything wrong with doing so. Why wouldn’t they help him win, he might have thought, and why shouldn’t he accept that help?

    At the risk of sounding like I’m making excuses for him, this is extremely plausible. Any examination of the record of Trump’s life yields no evidence that this country is even in his Top 5. But he’ll use it to skate on this, like he’s skated on everything he’s ever done in his “clownish, dipshit, klutzy life” (Mac Wellman, though he wasn’t writing about Trump).

  38. 38.

    debit

    October 26, 2017 at 6:23 pm

    Oh look. It’s our Russian friend, Lance. Hi, comrade!

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    October 26, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
    1. The beginning patron of the dossier was A Republican.
    2. Said Republican was so disturbed by it- THAT they sent it to the Democrats. They wanted Hillary to know what they had found.
    3. Steele, in not so many words, is a WHISTLEBLOWER.
    No, someone hired to do opposition research, DOES NOT EVERYDAY, or every decade…SHOW UP ON THE DOORSTEP OF THE FBI saying, ‘I have a story to tell you.’

    Show me when that has happened?
    4. The CIA, when alerted by their counterparts about Dolt45 and his cabal, they freaked out.
    5. Putin is not just some head of another country. HE.USED.TO.RUN.THE.PHUCKING.KGB.

  40. 40.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I have absolutely no problem thinking Trump would declare anything he wanted as a national security secret, though. “Required by law” doesn’t seem to really faze him much.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:26 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    I thought it was very well done. Did you see their earlier program on Putin (“Putin’s Way”)?

  42. 42.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @LanceThruster: Jimmy Dore Was Wrong.

    There! Just as much proof as was in that video.

  43. 43.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    Shorter @rikyrah. The people involved are heroes.

  44. 44.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    @HeleninEire:

    Glad your family wants you to stay put.

  45. 45.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:28 pm

    @HeleninEire: Happy to hear your family is supportive of staying in Ireland, it seems to be very good for you.

  46. 46.

    Wapiti

    October 26, 2017 at 6:29 pm

    @rikyrah: I really wish the investigation would throw one of the lesser minions family members to the New York AG, for morale building and to start sucking funds out of legal defense warchests.

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack

    October 26, 2017 at 6:31 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:

    Ask him about the “optics” of the dossier first being funded by Republicans, identities so far unknown, and why it is that their identities have not come out. Ask him if he, as a savvy news consumer, thinks there’s anything fishy about that. And ask him why Hillary would dig up all this dirt on Trump and then not use it during the campaign.

  48. 48.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:
    His response, playing devil’s advocate, that’s why they fired Comey.

  49. 49.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @Wapiti: They’re waiting until the AG’s that Trump personally interviewed are installed, I’m sure.:P

  50. 50.

    tobie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @rikyrah: thank you for these soothing words! I need to learn how to keep calm, especially as my health has not been the best of late.

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    October 26, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    @Wapiti:
    How do we know that he hasn’t.

  52. 52.

    Mike in NC

    October 26, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    @debbie: No, have not seen that program but will look for it ‘on demand’.

  53. 53.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 6:33 pm

    Seriously OT, and long, but found this nugget for Ms. Bianca on the previous thread, and have to share.

    @Miss Bianca: You will love this.

    Suspected GHWBush mistress was named Jennifer Fitzgerald, who had been a longtime Bush aide and was named to a good job at the Dept. of State. Got into a scandal about sneaking a fur into the country through Customs. Anyway, the WaPost one day, on its Federal Pages:

    Jennifer Fitzgerald, who has served in a variety of positions under George HW Bush, ….

    Coffee spitting time. Read the story out loud to the whole office. Aha — here’s confirmation from People magazine, 1992, on the eve of the Republican convention:

    People magazine: George Bush Confronts a Rumor

    Now, on the eve of [the convention], the long la-boo [sic; meant taboo?] question of an alleged First Mistress has reared its ugly head. A front-page story in the sensationalist tabloid the New York Post reported that a new book quotes former U.S. Ambassador Louis Fields as saying that he arranged for then Vice President George Bush and his former appointments secretary Jennifer Fitzgerald to share a private cottage during an official visit to Geneva in 1984. “It became clear [they] were romantically involved,” said Fields, according to The Power House, a book about influence peddling in the capital … the rendezvous took place when Barbara Bush was out promoting her book about C. Fred, the family dog. Fields said the rendezvous, which had the couple “staying in adjoining bedrooms,” was “so heavy-handed” that it made him “very uncomfortable.”

    … When The story broke last week. Fitzgerald, now 59 and deputy chief of protocol in the State Department, was said to be out of the country on business and unreachable for comment. Not so President Bush, who responded sharply when a CNN reporter broached the topic at a news conference in Kennebunkport. “”I’m not going to take any sleazy questions like that,” Bush bristled. “I’m not going to respond other than to say it’s a lie.” Fitzgerald’s mother, 86-year-old Frances Patteson-Knight of McLean, Va., also denied the reports, which she says have “devastated Jennifer. “She had a very unhappy marriage, and she can’t stand men,” says Patteson-Knighl, who recalls her daughter once telling her, “I’ve been through so much. I couldn’t have sex with anybody.” [Thanks, Mom.]

    … In 1974 she was appointed Bush’s personal assistant after he was named U.S. envoy to Beijing; it was then, rumors say, that the alleged affair began. When Bush returned in 1975 to head the CIA, Fitzgerald came along as his aide. With the exception of a year in England at the U.S. Embassy, she stayed by the Vice President-side-technically as his appointments assistant but in reality as an all-powerful gatekeeper. Colleagues say she has an extremely tough office style and a fondness for shopping.

    When Fitzgerald was transferred from the White House to become Bush’s liaison to the Senate in 1985, rumors circulated that it was because their relationship had become a liability to Bush. After Bush became President. Fitzgerald was named to her present job at the State Department. Gossip surfaced again during the 1988 campaign, when the alternative L.A. Weekly ran a story naming Fitzgerald as Bush’s longtime mistress and quoting an unnamed source that Fitzgerald had spoken openly of the affair. Last May, Hilary Clinton, fuming over stories about her husband’s alleged affair with Gennifer Flowers, complained in Vanity Fair that everyone knew there was another “Jennifer”—in Bush’s life—but that no one was reporting it.

    It is true that the controversy surrounding Fitzgerald has not been widely covered. Nonetheless her name is well known to influential people in the capital, and Fitzgerald’s run-in with U.S. Customs was a hot topic in 1990. Fitzgerald was fined $648 for underestimating by $2,100 the value of a nutria-lined raincoat and a silver-fox cape that she purchased for 82.100 in Argentina.

    The long-term political significance of last week’s accusation was unclear. Most Washington analysts agreed that Bush’s denial would quell the gossip. Bill Clinton, for one. wasn’t gloating over George Bush’s distress. “I didn’t like it when it was done to me,” he said, “and I don’t like it when it’s done to him.”

    I had never seen the People magazine story, but it was pre-internet for our office, and folks used to think People was kind of trashy/celebrity fluff. (Alas, it was just ahead of its time.)

    Note that they misspell Hillary Clinton’s name.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: You actually clicked? Brave.

  55. 55.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:35 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: My response, playing Devil’s Advocate: Trump explicitly said he fired Comey to shut down the Russian Investigation, so your father is accidentally right. Comey was trying to pursue an honest investigation into Russian Election Interference.

    If you want, you can note that Comey gave Trump preferential treatment in terms of FBI investigations. He needlessly (and against policy) made public statements and judgments on Hillary multiple times while the investigation was ongoing, re-opened it publicly (against policy) just before the election, and never once confirmed or announced anything about the far-more-serious investigation into Trump’s Russian ties.

    All evidence is that Comey was in Trump’s corner, not Hillary’s. If he agreed to fund the Steele Dossier’s research, that’s just an indication of how scary and reliable the information was.

  56. 56.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @rikyrah: Yeah. They’re freaking. Even more than usual.

    Tonight’s lead story on NBC: The Opioid Crisis.

  57. 57.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @Baud: I wanted to give him a chance before he got pied. It was… an incredibly stupid, misinformed conspiracy theory with no evidence and lots of Hillary hate. So basically par for the course.

  58. 58.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:36 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:

    All evidence is that Comey was in Trump’s corner, not Hillary’s.

    Wasn’t he on the Whitewater investigation?

  59. 59.

    mike in dc

    October 26, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    Bob Mueller’s investigation is a black box, but it seems likely that most of the congressional investigations into Trump Russia will conclude by early to mid 2018.

  60. 60.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: Further note, if your dad honestly believes in all of this (like, not actually playing Devil’s Advocate) then you should get him into an anti-brainwashing program.

  61. 61.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: I don’t understand his response.

  62. 62.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    If you can’t find it wherever they store on demand, it’s on youtube. It goes into more detail about his early career as well as his shenanigans with Chechnya. My one complaint about last night’s report is that it was light on those wars.

  63. 63.

    SatanicPanic

    October 26, 2017 at 6:37 pm

    ooh I like this

    Bennet and Brown would revamp the Child Tax Credit to make it larger and more universal. They would start by more than tripling its value to $3,600 a year for each child up to 5 years old, while bumping it to $3,000 for kids ages 6 to 18. They would also make it fully refundable, meaning that for the first time, low-income parents could claim the whole benefit. Finally, instead of making parents wait until they file their tax returns to get the credit, they’d receive it in advance as a monthly payment. In the end, families would get $300 a month for each young child, while those with older kids would receive $250. The credit would still wind down for upper income parents, as it does today.

    Democrats have some good ideas!

  64. 64.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:38 pm

    @Baud: He was. Anecdotal evidence since has said that he regarded Bill and Hillary as guilty people who got away with it and wanted to nail them for something.

    In this case, I’d remember that the plural of “anecdote” is not “data”, so that’s unreliable. But it does fit with his behavior over the following years.

  65. 65.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: From what I can tell, his dad is saying they fired Comey because he was so in the tank for Hillary/against Trump that he funded a Democratic hit job against him.

  66. 66.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Did you listen to his announcement? He sounded more like he was announcing a game show than an initiative to combat a health crisis.

  67. 67.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: I tend to be quicker than most people when it comes to dismissing people for lack of credibility. In my defense, I am usually correct.

  68. 68.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Huh.

    @Baud: I’m extremely fast to pie somebody but have essentially a 100% success rate at picking out trolls here.

  69. 69.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    @SatanicPanic:

    You sound surprised.

  70. 70.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    Evidence continues to mount that Ivanka Trump does not, in fact, know how to use words

  71. 71.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I don’t pie, even though your filer is excellent. I have never pied.

  72. 72.

    rikyrah

    October 26, 2017 at 6:43 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:
    That, too, made sense on a general level. But the focus is even clearer. The office of Preet Bahara didn’t Stop working after he was fired. We now know this week, that they have been working hard- with a laser focus on Manafort. Yes, they are desperate.

    Even the tax cuts. Hear from LarryO that something this big takes over a year to do, , so why the rush. They are terrified of something. Something is about to happen.

  73. 73.

    SatanicPanic

    October 26, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @debbie: Oops, trying to sound like a booster. I wasn’t sure if that sounded too corny or not, I guess people are so jaded that me loudly proclaiming they’re awesome comes off as snark.

  74. 74.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Heh.

  75. 75.

    HeleninEire

    October 26, 2017 at 6:44 pm

    @raven: Yah. Post me a pic. The pic outside he bakery. My favourite pic of all of BJ> Lil bit to the left. Bhodi the right saying YES YES DADAY.I AM A GOOD BOY. I can sit quiet et to my brother. Take me home. Look how good I can be!!!!!!!

  76. 76.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:45 pm

    @Baud: I usually don’t block people, but I unfriended/blocked a few people on Facebook during October of last year and I found it made me much less stressed out in general. Maybe I’ll get a little more on the blockwagon now. Then again, it’s not hard to spot obvious trolls here.

    @Major Major Major Major: Yeah. Like I was saying in another comment, if his dad actually believes this parallel-universe conspiracy theory, he needs to go to anti-brainwashing therapy. The whole thought construction is incredibly flimsy and rests on never being wrong about anything, even in the cases where you’ve already been proven wrong.

  77. 77.

    Emma

    October 26, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: “Dad, I’m sorry I can’t make you see how they’re using people like you to destroy this country. I’m glad I don’t have any kids that will suffer.”

    Sigh. No, of course not. Ignore it. I’m in a sour mood today.

  78. 78.

    Chris T.

    October 26, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    Trump: Press makes me more uncivil than I am

    Or, as so many have said before him, “My abusiveness is your fault!”

  79. 79.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @MisterForkbeard:
    That’s pretty much it. He doesn’t believe any of it but thinks that’s how Team Trump will try to spin it and the media will join them.

  80. 80.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:46 pm

    @Baud: Cleek wrote the filter, I just… installed it.

  81. 81.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    @Emma: I like it.

  82. 82.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 6:47 pm

    @debbie: I’ve trained myself to ignore Trump. Started to hit the remote, but remembered I was watching NBC so I could see the Halperin announcement.

    NBC had a good package on the opioid crisis. Only one in ten addicts gets treatment. And someone saying we need a lot more funding (to follow the rhetoric).

    Was thinking drug treatment is probably more routinely covered in Europe and Canada (assumption of mine), and they don’t hand out opioids like aspirin either.

  83. 83.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:48 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: So he remembers the 2016 election.

    Glad to hear your dad isn’t one of them.

  84. 84.

    eclare

    October 26, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Saw that earlier and loved it!

  85. 85.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    @Baud:

    One person pied me, but I haven’t seen him since. I’m disappointed because I wanted to call him all kinds of horrible names, knowing he couldn’t see them.

  86. 86.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:50 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: @Baud: I am also glad your dad doesn’t believe this shit.

    @debbie: lol, who pied you?

  87. 87.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    John D.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    @debbie:

    knowing he couldn’t see them.

    That’s no fun.

  89. 89.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    @Baud: I was talking about this with my wife yesterday in regards to the “Democrats funded Steele!” clusterfuck unfolding in the media. Our media is just awful, and it’s incredibly frustrating to see them repeating the mistakes they made in 2016 in an effort to validate their prior behavior.

    “SEE? We should have concentrated on Hillary just as much as we did, because look at this bombshell! SHADOWS, PEOPLE!”

  90. 90.

    No Drought No More

    October 26, 2017 at 6:53 pm

    “By now, it should be clear to anyone following the news that Russian intelligence made a formidable effort to approach the Trump campaign and assess the potential to manipulate its members”.

    So far, so good. But it does not serve to explain Kushner’s approaching the Russkies with a proposal to open a private, back channel line of communication last January. Does it? Let me rephrase that: doe$ it?

  91. 91.

    Ruckus

    October 26, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    Good news for Helen.

    So I’m pissed as hell that they just took your sister off her birth control pills, apparently willy nilly. I want to say Jesus fucking christ but I can’t do that because I went to catholic school and you are not allowed to take god’s name in vain.

    I think you just did. But given the circumstances I’d bet a just god would more than understand. BTW Even Jesus would have said Jesus Fucking Christ in this instance.

  92. 92.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: I don’t think they regard it as a mistake.

  93. 93.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Apparently this new initiative involves zero funds; it only lessens whatever bureaucracy has been slowing down treatment programs.

  94. 94.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    @debbie: I don’t think I know the name.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    @Baud:

    Sure it is! You never made goofy faces at the back of your mom’s head when you were a kid?

  96. 96.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    @debbie: No.

    ETA:. And my mom would never have pied me.

  97. 97.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 6:58 pm

    @Baud:
    @Major Major Major Major:

    He’s still something of a both sider and is far too optimistic about bipartisanship. He thinks if we all just come together and sing kumbya all our problems will be fixed. He also has some blind spots on race (believes black should be treated like everyone else, but not treated “better”, ie affirmative action). I keep telling him that it’s more complicated than that and that the GOP and Bannonite Neo-fascists (and their oligarchic supporters) are hellbent on establishing a one-party police state that will attempt to radically change the course of American society. He says Bannon and the GOP will fail. I’m not so sure.

  98. 98.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    It was last year at the height of the you-know-who-should-be-the-candidate crisis. I think I said something reasonable and then it was all Katey Bar the Door.

  99. 99.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 6:59 pm

    NBC’s Halperin report immediately followed GHWBush’s apologizing to women whose butts he squeezed or patted. They put up the spokesman’s statement.

    WaPost: George H.W. Bush ‘has patted women’s rears’ but never meant to offend, spokesman says

    Bush, through his spokesman, has since apologized. In a statement Wednesday evening, McGrath said:

    At age 93, President Bush has been confined to a wheelchair for roughly five years, so his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures. To try to put people at ease, the president routinely tells the same joke — and on occasion, he has patted women’s rears in what he intended to be a good-natured manner. Some have seen it as innocent; others clearly view it as inappropriate.

    To anyone he has offended, President Bush apologizes most sincerely.

    More from the WaPost:

    … Lind also said that a security guard later told her that she shouldn’t have stood next to Bush.

    After news of Lind’s allegations circulated online, Grolnick talked about a similar experience. She told Deadspin that she was working on a production of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” in Maine in August 2016, near the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport, when Bush came backstage during intermission and grabbed her as they posed for a picture.

    “He reached his right hand around to my behind, and as we smiled for the photo he asked the group, ‘Do you want to know who my favorite magician is?’ As I felt his hand dig into my flesh, he said, ‘David Cop-a-Feel!’ ” Grolnick said.

    The other women in the picture laughed uncomfortably while Barbara Bush made a remark like, “He’s going to get himself put into jail!” Grolnick said. Grolnick, who posted a photo of the moment on her Instagram account, according to Deadspin, said she had been warned by other actors not to stand next to Bush.

    If there is not earlier bad behavior, I’d be inclined to give Dad Bush a pass. If this only started very late in life, and once he was in poor health. The elderly have less filters. Pretty sure Bush’s butt patting days are behind him, after the embarrassing news came out. I dunno …

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack

    October 26, 2017 at 7:02 pm

    @debbie:

    How do you know if someone pies you? Other than them telling you, I mean.

  101. 101.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    @debbie: That crisis ended?

  102. 102.

    ColoradoGuy

    October 26, 2017 at 7:03 pm

    The thing about the DNC/Hillary funding the Steele dossier is that IT WASN’T USED during the campaign. That’s kind of the whole point of oppo research … to use it, and use it hard and often. That’s why it’s called oppo research. It doesn’t do any damn good if people just sit on it.

    Last summer, the Steele dossier was an open secret to the entire DC press corps, and guess what, they didn’t see fit to share it with the US public. The FBI knew about it, and said not a word. The press corps thought it was good enough for cocktail-party talk, but that’s as far as it went. And the DNC and the Hillary campaign didn’t use it either, even though they picked up the support costs after the unknown GOP challenger dropped out.

    The 2016 campaign was one of the most successful bait-and-switch operations of all time, and it definitely required the active collusion of the press corps. They deliberately sat on a story that was pretty much the definition of treason, and invented the email scandal out of whole cloth. The New York Times, in particular, looks a lot like the exact same NYT that ginned up the Iraq war fever out of nothing 15 years ago, or the anti-Clinton fever swamp 25 years ago. They don’t change.

  103. 103.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:04 pm

    @debbie: well, screw him.

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: sounds like an alright fella, well within the realm of agreeable disagreement.

  104. 104.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: There are a lot of those folks out there. I wish I knew how to convince them. If Obama’s efforts weren’t enough to show them which side is the problem, I don’t know what will do the trick.

  105. 105.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    @Baud:

    No, but aside from an occasional flare-up, its intensity has lessened.

  106. 106.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    He is most of the time. I just get mad when he falls for stupid shit and becomes a useful idiot.

  107. 107.

    HeleninEire

    October 26, 2017 at 7:09 pm

    Night all. You are the bestest of the bestest. Imagine I was thinking about leaving here, just a day or two ago, I MUST BE HIGH (yeah, I wish)

    Really good night my friends. Also, please everyone keep up on what’s up with efgoldman. Very worried.

  108. 108.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 7:10 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    He posted that he was pie-ing me.

  109. 109.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    Also, please everyone keep up on what’s up with efgoldman. Very worried.

    Has there been any news today? The search function here is not very productive.

  110. 110.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    @HeleninEire: Yeah, I wish he would check in.

  111. 111.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:12 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: have you tried being mad less? You seem mad a lot.

  112. 112.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 7:14 pm

    Laughing. Just saw a political ad.

    [Democratic candidate for Governor] Ralph Northam: his voice clip telling an audience he’s got a D- rating from the NRA.

    Voiceover: “That’s wrong. It’s an F.”

    And then visuals of Northam saying it’s us against them on the subject of guns. US AGAINST THEM.

    Great ad, in the aftermath of the Las Vegas massacre. Sponsored by the NRA.

    They are desperate.

  113. 113.

    Cheryl Rofer

    October 26, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    @Immanentize: The fact that they have pulled “Uranium One” up again suggests to me that they are getting desperate. Also the reappearance of Devin Nunes and the accusations about the Steele dossier. It’s all making me crazy too. I keep hoping to be able to write, and they keep coming up with something else.

    Media coverage of all these stories is hard to follow. One tiny fact comes out after another, and they don’t always connect them well, then smother whatever may be new with a recap of what is already known. After a while, all the stories look equally confused and pretty much the same. And, of course, the rightwingers dance around, spreading lies as they go.

    Here is a fact check article. I think it’s hard to follow. Here’s maybe the best from the Washington Post. Here’s another article that provides a little more information. I have an email in to a colleague who may have written something about this.

    There is a lot that is just crazy about this story. The Russian share of the company involved is 20%. That is not the same as 20% of the US uranium supply. The decision was made to allow the Russians to buy that share was made when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, but she probably had nothing to do with the deliberations; nobody has shown that she did.

    And there is underlying crazy. NOBODY NEEDS URANIUM NOW, NOR DID THEY WHEN THE DEAL WENT THROUGH.

    The market for uranium stinks. Since the 1990s, Russia and the United States have been disassembling their nuclear weapons, which contain highly enriched (>90%) uranium. Most of the use of uranium is in nuclear power reactors, which require about 3.5% enrichment. You can make a lot of that by mixing that weapons uranium with natural uranium, and that’s what we’ve been doing. The United States had an agreement to buy Russia’s blended-down weapons uranium for ten years, and 10% of US electricity was coming from former Russian nuclear weapons for that time. There’s probably some of it in reactors still. The agreement ran out a few years back.

    Why was Russia screwing around with North American uranium companies? They have historically been poor in uranium. I think they’ve made some discoveries in the last decade. They have a much stronger commitment to using nuclear power than the US does, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr. Putin wanted a hedge in case he wanted to make more weapons.

    BUT WE HAVE EXPORT CONTROLS ON URANIUM IN THE SAME WAY WE REQUIRE STATE DEPARTMENT APPROVAL FOR RUSSIA TO BUY INTO AMERICAN URANIUM COMPANIES. So if it were obvious he wanted it for weapons (and it would be), we could just say nuh-uh, no uranium for you.

    Sorry for the shouting. I am SO annoyed at all this foolishness.

  114. 114.

    geg6

    October 26, 2017 at 7:15 pm

    @debbie:

    The $$ figure I heard on CBS was $56,000. Yes, that is the correct number of zeros.

  115. 115.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 7:16 pm

    @geg6: They’re treating one addict? Or two?

  116. 116.

    Ruckus

    October 26, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    @debbie:
    Hoping for the very best for efg. But with what he has going on and having to go back into the hospital, this may take some time.

  117. 117.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 7:17 pm

    @Baud: The problem is that Obama was paired with a group of awful republicans that lied about him constantly, and whom were given coverage by the media. The media also refused to call out said lies, which leads “reasonable people” to conclude that the truth is somewhere in between. To wit: Obama probably only smoked crack on weekends while in office, but he personally killed babies in Planned Parenthood and raised everyone taxes to pay for Obamaphones for black people. Also, Obamacare must have been an unbridled disaster.

    People who don’t pay attention in our current environment will lean republican, because they can’t understand just how bad the republicans are and how little credibility they should have.

  118. 118.

    debbie

    October 26, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @geg6:

    That’s an insult. It’ll only cover a couple of private flights for whoever they’re putting in charge of the program.

  119. 119.

    Shana

    October 26, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @HeleninEire: I’ve been wondering about you and your family. Thank you so much for the update. It sounds like things are being dealt with and Mary has advocates back here who will stand for her. It must be a relief. Be well.

  120. 120.

    Mike in NC

    October 26, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @debbie: Thank you.

  121. 121.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @MisterForkbeard: Right. I understand the causes. My question is about solutions, since the GOP and the media aren’t going away or reforming themselves any time soon.

    And I know there are no easy or obvious solutions, but we need to figure something out, no?

  122. 122.

    Ruckus

    October 26, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @debbie:
    They weren’t thinking of helping addicts. Only themselves.

  123. 123.

    Baud

    October 26, 2017 at 7:23 pm

    You all will enjoy this Reddit post.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/78xkze/looks_like_donald_trump_wrote_to_new_york/

  124. 124.

    Jeffro

    October 26, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks Cheryl. I forwarded much of the same debunking to my RWNJ dad (who sounds a lot like Goku’s, frankly) and he’s giving me BS like “I’m appalled at all of our leaders” in response.

    They just cannot wake up and smell the treason. Oh well. I think Bobby Three Sticks may have some surprises in store for them.

  125. 125.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    @Baud: Very true. And I don’t know what the solution is: I’m getting to the point where I try to educate people to show them exactly how awful the republicans are with demonstrable facts… and if that doesn’t work I ignore them. It’s counterproductive overall, but I literally can’t deal with the constant frustration of trying to teach someone that insists on obvious, disprovable nonsense… and then calls ME biased.

    It’s infuriating. And all it does it make them smug that they’ve maintained their careful objectivity. So I just don’t do it.

  126. 126.

    sharl

    October 26, 2017 at 7:24 pm

    @Elizabelle: I would have liked to have seen the people minding GHWB – Babs and whatever staff hover around them – keep the young women out of arm’s reach during those photo ops, but whatever.

    At least some people coming to the old lech’s defense are getting deservedly dragged:

    John at what age do men start being able to grab asses indiscriminately and how excited are you to reach it— BranDIE Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) October 26, 2017

    There’s never a bad time to dunk on J-Pod.

  127. 127.

    HeleninEire

    October 26, 2017 at 7:25 pm

    @WaterGirl: LOL Come visit. I like your style!!!!!!!!! But you know, Baud is mine, right?

  128. 128.

    Jeffro

    October 26, 2017 at 7:25 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: See #124 above…you and me both!

  129. 129.

    Cheryl Rofer

    October 26, 2017 at 7:28 pm

    Oh, and this is an excellent (AND CLEAR) article on the Steele dossier nonsense.

  130. 130.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:28 pm

    @Baud: You are correct.

  131. 131.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    @sharl: Nah, remember: If you’re a white republican and you apologize even superficially for something, no one in polite company is ever allowed to bring it up ever again. Especially if you were ever in the military.

    Does not apply to Democrats, or ex-Republicans. Or NeverTrumpers.

  132. 132.

    ChristianPinko

    October 26, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    I can handle things! I’m smart! Not like everybody says… like dumb… I’m smart and I want respect!

  133. 133.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 7:29 pm

    Ad by Dem Ralph Northam: announcer over stills of photos:

    Enron Ed Gillespie. Millions to Wall Street Banks. Keep student loan rates high. Take away your healthcare.

    Enron Ed Gillespie. He’s selling YOU out too.

    I think that one is effective.

  134. 134.

    danielx

    October 26, 2017 at 7:30 pm

    For an experienced chekist like Putin, manipulating his ego is almost too easy…

    Well, yes. Manipulating a toddler does not post much of a challenge.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    October 26, 2017 at 7:31 pm

    @Baud:
    Well, while this current maladministration may not have been the known/desired outcome 70 yrs ago, this has been the direction conservatives have been heading all along. Get into power any way possible and crush any resistance/ betterment of the people since WWII. The rich and powerful then just have more money today but are otherwise the same in every way but name and face. How to get it all, how to keep it all, whatever it takes is the goal. They’ve had some setbacks and have had to resort to working with enemies to get it done but here we are. We haven’t lost yet, and they hired some real idiots so they may not be successful after all, but taking over and pillaging the land is the goal. We just have to be stronger than the money they’ve ripped off of all of us.

  136. 136.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 7:32 pm

    Ad by Gillespie: concerned young white mother: She cannot vote for Ralph Northam.

    He restores voting rights to convicted sex offenders. They could buy guns.

    Picture of the sex offender. Refreshingly, he’s white, middle aged and blondish.

    He tried to buy a gun, after he was arrested.

    (note the language: arrested. Not convicted.)

  137. 137.

    HeleninEire

    October 26, 2017 at 7:33 pm

    @Shana: Thank you. I will check in and post when I can. Lovely to have friends, even virtual friends, who care.

  138. 138.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:35 pm

    @danielx:

    Manipulating a toddler does not post much of a challenge.

    Spoken like somebody who’s never tried to get a toddler to do something they didn’t want to.

  139. 139.

    Cheryl Rofer

    October 26, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    #JFKFiles are LIVE!!! https://t.co/pVyVzowEhN

    — Mark S. Zaid (@MarkSZaidEsq) October 26, 2017

  140. 140.

    ? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?

    October 26, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:
    I’m not mad most of the time. I just across that way here because our current political climate makes me that way.

  141. 141.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: gotcha, that’s good then ?

  142. 142.

    NeenerNeener

    October 26, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    @Elizabelle: According to a nun my sister knows, JF lived in McLean, Va, on the same street as a convent. The nun said they often observed official limousines and Secret Service parked around that house.

  143. 143.

    Shana

    October 26, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?: First, every campaign does opposition research. It’s just a fact of campaigning. Period. The Steele dossier started as something funded by one of Trump’s Republican opponents. When that person (and we don’t know who that was yet) dropped out of the race, the Fusion GPS (?) and DNC and Clinton-allied folks took over paying for the work to continue. They would have been derelict to have not done opposition research on Trump and since the work was already underway, why not just continue on the path of what had been started?

    Does that help?

    ETA: Tobi got there before me.

  144. 144.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 26, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    Months ago. I said here that they’d find some way to pin the Russia scandal on Hillary Clinton. People said I was being hysterical.

  145. 145.

    MisterForkbeard

    October 26, 2017 at 7:41 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer: I need to stop reading the comments on there. There’s clear, bullet-pointed rebuttals from several Republicans which are literally wrong on every point – and not even debateably wrong, just flat-out proven bullshit.

    I fear for the general state of our country. People who actually believe this proves anything about Russian interference at all are fucking morons.

  146. 146.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    @Matt McIrvin: it’s still wrong unless by “pin on” you mean “say things to the effect of that have no actual consequences”.

  147. 147.

    WaterGirl

    October 26, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    @HeleninEire: I love how we act as though baud gets no say in the matter!

    oops, intended for helen.

  148. 148.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    @NeenerNeener: No doubt.

    I appreciate the discretion.

  149. 149.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 26, 2017 at 7:48 pm

    @Baud:

    John Barron in drag.

  150. 150.

    zhena gogolia

    October 26, 2017 at 7:51 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    Are the Republicans really going to get away with this? I am so depressed to hear this.

  151. 151.

    SatanicPanic

    October 26, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    @Jeffro: “I hate all politicians” is looking more and more like “I am an easy target for the oldest scam in the book- politicians who pretend they’re not politicians”

  152. 152.

    SatanicPanic

    October 26, 2017 at 7:54 pm

    @zhena gogolia: They got away with the Clinton emails thing, but there was an election. What are they going to do, not elect her again? I’m not even sure how this works. At the end of it, Trump is going to have to face someone in 2020 (if he’s not thrown out of office first) and it won’t be Hillary. I’d like to think that people aren’t this stupid. And based on the popular vote total in 2016, we’re not. Most of us anyway.

  153. 153.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 7:58 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: That was classic.

    It’s either Trump dictating “Carolyn’s” letter, or maybe snark by someone familiar with his bragging language. It’s parody quality. From 1992, hmmm?

    In 1992, people who knew of Donald Trump knew he was a buffoon. People did not take him seriously. He was media fodder, and a celebrity, not a serious guy.

  154. 154.

    Major Major Major Major

    October 26, 2017 at 7:59 pm

    @zhena gogolia: let’s give it a little bit of time before we decide that this even has any traction.

  155. 155.

    Cheryl Rofer

    October 26, 2017 at 8:00 pm

    @zhena gogolia: It’s getting me down too. But the MSM doesn’t seem to have fully picked it up yet.

  156. 156.

    Another Scott

    October 26, 2017 at 8:01 pm

    NPR (from July):

    […]

    In early July 2016, Carter Page went to Moscow to deliver a speech. He was a minor figure in the Trump campaign, a policy adviser few people had ever heard of before Trump mentioned him in an editorial board meeting with The Washington Post.

    We now know July is also the month the FBI began investigating possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, though the public wouldn’t find out until well after the election.

    In Cleveland, on July 21, one year ago this coming weekend, Donald Trump closed out the GOP convention with a dark speech that fired up his supporters.

    “This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism and weakness,” he said to rousing applause and cheers.

    WikiLeaks ✔@wikileaks

    RELEASE: 19,252 emails from the US Democratic National Committee https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/ #Hillary2016 #FeelTheBern

    10:50 AM – Jul 22, 2016
    632 Replies 15,191 Retweets 13,057 likes

    The next morning, WikiLeaks posted nearly 20,000 emails hacked from the DNC. The emails contained damaging information that confirmed the narrative that the Democratic leaders preferred Clinton over Sanders. The revelations roiled the Democratic National Convention that began just three days later.

    Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump

    The new joke in town is that Russia leaked the disastrous DNC e-mails, which should never have been written (stupid), because Putin likes me

    7:31 AM – Jul 25, 2016

    5,728 Replies 11,519 Retweets 32,146 likes

    Trump tweeted about the DNC hack repeatedly, including a “joke” that maybe it had happened “because Putin likes me.”

    The Russian propaganda machine — including RT, the Russian government-sponsored, English language television channel that is beamed into homes all over America — had an undeniable message at the time.

    “Speaking of crime and Internet and fame and money and politicians, one immediately thinks of Hillary Clinton,” said one RT announcer.

    On July 25, a reporter on the state-run channel argued that any focus on Russian involvement in the email leak was just a distraction from the real issue — how terribly unfair the DNC had been to Sanders.

    “When immediately after the leaks, the Clinton campaign began to blame Russia instead of addressing the revelations in the leaks, to many it sounded like a joke, like something you would see in the Onion fake news,” said RT reporter Gayane Chichakyan. “Except it was real news.”

    On July 27, Trump held a press conference and was asked whether he would call on Putin to stay out of the election.

    “Why should I tell Putin what to do?” Trump said, before turning to a talking point used by both Trump’s campaign and Russian media outlets. “Let me tell you, it’s not even about Russia or China or whoever it is that’s doing the hacking. It’s about what was said in those emails. Those were terrible things.”

    Rather than condemn the hacking, at his press conference Trump seemingly encouraged Russia to keep going.

    “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said, referring to Clinton’s deleted personal emails. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That will be next.”

    After that, a reporter pressed Trump on whether he had any qualms about asking a foreign government to interfere or to hack.

    “Nope. Gives me no pause. If they have them, they have them,” he said.

    The personal emails deleted from Clinton’s private server still haven’t surfaced publicly. But, in early October, WikiLeaks began posting a new batch of internal Clinton campaign emails each day. And it was rewarded mightily with a constant stream of negative stories about Clinton.

    Clint Watts, Robert A. Fox Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, began raising alarms about Russian measures to influence the American public’s political views shortly after Trump’s press conference.

    “Once you see both the campaign echoing the messages and themes that are coming out from RT and Sputnik News, when you see hacked materials of the DNC strategically linked and timed in terms of their release to influence the U.S. election in favor of Trump, then when you see Trump get onto stages or make prepared speeches where he refers to both Russia and Clinton’s emails, it seems very ominous, in terms of maybe there was some connection between the two,” said Watts. “At a minimum, they were at least looking or aware of those lines or influenced by Russian propaganda to be saying it almost near verbatim throughout those months.”

    Whether Trump was a witting or unwitting beneficiary of Russia’s efforts hasn’t been proven, but as Watts sees it, Russia benefited from the way candidate Trump ran his campaign.

    “The bottom line is Russian active measures were deployed to influence the U.S. election,” Watts said, referring to the effort to discredit the political system and turn voters against Clinton. “They worked in large part because one candidate used Russian active measures to his own benefit.”

    (Emphasis added.)

    Trump and his minions didn’t need to be “recruited”. They were more than happy to do Vlad’s bidding. And we’ve all known since at least July 2016.

    Here’s hoping that Mueller is able to prove it in court.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  157. 157.

    Mnemosyne

    October 26, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    @debbie:

    I don’t remember if you were here when AsianGrrrlMN was a regular, but there was one time when someone she had pied called her the c-word in a rage and she couldn’t figure out what was happening as he got banned. ? It was pretty funny.

  158. 158.

    Jeffro

    October 26, 2017 at 8:19 pm

    @SatanicPanic: Yes indeedy. “Vote for me – I’m different, I’ll look out for ya!”

  159. 159.

    TenguPhule

    October 26, 2017 at 8:21 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I wasn’t believing that something big is about to drop from Bobby Three Sticks, but, now I do. He is about to explode on them. SOMETHING has happened.

    Sorry, people have been saying this same line for months now.

    Nothing happened.

    The investigation continues to move at a bed-ridden snail’s pace.

    And time is a commodity that the former Republic increasingly can no longer afford.

    Its 2006 all over again with the economic indicators and irrational expectations. And this time, we have no grownups in the room.

  160. 160.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 8:24 pm

    @TenguPhule: Please don’t be such a downer.

    Why don’t we sit around and guess which of our pets will die next?

  161. 161.

    TenguPhule

    October 26, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Please don’t be such a downer.

    Sorry, but I thought people were going to stop this whole “The indictments are going to come any day now. They’re panicking over at the GOP!” back in September. Irrational exuberance is a bigger buzz kill because every time it doesn’t come true, other people get more jaded and less trusting of that poster’s reliability.

    And I don’t like where the economic indicators are pointing. I especially do not like it that we have nobody that can handle a crisis in any of the really important positions when shit gets real.

  162. 162.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    @TenguPhule: Back in September. It’s only the end of October. Time passes differently in Trump’s America.

    I don’t hear exuberance. I hear a plea for relief. That’s entirely different.

    Agree with you about econ indicators. And can’t stand that moron Trump is likely to choose a fellow moron rather than reappoint Janet Yellen. I wake up every day hoping Trump stroked out overnight, although Pence would be his own kind of nightmare.

    That’s why so much rides on Mueller. Undercutting the legitimacy of this illegitimate regime. Who wants to see musical chairs when you’re still rewarding the thieves.

    Take them out. Take out the GOP leadership. If you can find foreign contributions to campaigns, prosecute that and name the recipients.

  163. 163.

    TenguPhule

    October 26, 2017 at 9:10 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I don’t hear exuberance. I hear a plea for relief. That’s entirely different.

    I’ll give you that.

    I’d be happily surprised if we get indictments any time soon.

    But the damage already done is stomach turning.

  164. 164.

    wenchacha

    October 26, 2017 at 9:34 pm

    @Elizabelle: What I don’t like is that his “handlers” are aware, as is Babs. It isn’t okay to put attractive but unwitting women within groping distance of an elderly man who no longer controls himself. Unless they want him to enjoy the event having his fun, and just don’t give a rat’s ass about who he grabs.

  165. 165.

    Bill Arnold

    October 26, 2017 at 10:02 pm

    @Cheryl Rofer:

    The fact that they have pulled “Uranium One” up again suggests to me that they are getting desperate. Also the reappearance of Devin Nunes and the accusations about the Steele dossier. It’s all making me crazy too. I keep hoping to be able to write, and they keep coming up with something else.

    [rant mode on]
    It’s really really irritating how gullible some (much) of the press has been. Puppets, those ones are.
    In the last week, an improbably large collection of admin-and-allies-pushed stories:
    (1) Uranium One (BS story, probably, resurrected zombie)
    (2) Clinton/DNC payed for months of Steele investigation (previously paid for Jeb Bush, the original stories went) (We knew this in February, though not in detail). This one doesn’t even make sense; what’s Putin’s motivation for helping Clinton, who he was known to hate? Etc etc. I literally cannot assemble a coherent story out of the Republican innuendo line.
    (3) The Nunes ramp-up. This is just embarrassing. He has zero shame. (Perhaps it’s Kompromat)
    (4) JFK assassination info dump (redacted, a lot, surprise, suckers!!!), with Trump even making a transparently manipulative comment about how interesting it would be.
    (5) Opioid national emergency. (No funding, natch)
    (6+) Certainly forgot a few.

    And much (not all for sure) of the press (CNN particularly guilty) has been chasing all the shiny chaff thrown at them, because eyeballs and stenography.
    Meanwhile we have a festering story (don’t know how significant) about military involvement in Niger, Cambridge Analytica (big factor in Trump’s win IMO) was reportedly in contact with Wikileaks (who might have been sitting on stuff we haven’t heard about, e.g. voter information. Just speculating… And Assange hated Hillary), and more,
    Some in the media are finally catching on to the propaganda tactics (e.g. timed media flooding) being used by the Trump administration. Bannon was better at it so it’s looking pretty transparent now.

    This made me smile: New Polls Suggest Trump and the GOP Won’t Get Away With This

  166. 166.

    Elizabelle

    October 26, 2017 at 10:09 pm

    @wenchacha: Yeah. Babs being in know leaps out. Also that it’s been going on for so long that they’ve let their guards down. It’s normal behavior.

    They need to work harder on separating women from their wheelchair-bound patriarch.

    FWIW, I do not hold GHWB that responsible. He’s 93, in frail health, and does not have a history of this behavior previously. That we know about. Sounds like elderly “losing one’s filter” issues.

  167. 167.

    Ithink

    October 26, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    @? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?:
    Its BS because some masked Republican operatives were the first to fund it; some Clinton campaign operatives picked up said funding efforts after they so obviously lost & apparently, Hillary & the most elite aides were never informed of its whereabouts. Why, I haven’t the foggiest…? But thats the news so far on it!

  168. 168.

    Regnad Kcin

    October 26, 2017 at 11:17 pm

    @waspuppet: “I don’t know, and I don’t know why I don’t know. And you know what? I don’t care.”

    World needs it some Sincerity Forever, Now More Than Ever(tm)

  169. 169.

    J R in WV

    October 26, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    @debbie:

    Geeze, I’ve pied a ton of people, and occasionally I’ll post a piece about pie in reply to one of their pied posts, but to just …. well, maybe I did tell LanceThruster he was pied. But he’s so so obvious!

    Tell you all what. I’m going to remove most people from my pie list. I’m too overboard. Not LanceThruster, tho, that guy is so pied!!!

  170. 170.

    Jinchi

    October 26, 2017 at 11:45 pm

    the CIA has encompassed in an acronym, MICE: Money, Ideology, Coercion, Ego.

    With Trump, it’s all about ME : money and ego.

  171. 171.

    Ruckus

    October 27, 2017 at 12:05 am

    @J R in WV:
    I have a few pied. Vast majority are trolls. They have nothing to say worth listening to and because I read all the comments in a thread, they waste my time and energy. If anybody is going to waste my time and energy it’s going to be me. I have a regular or two pied as well. They are just not worth the time very often. And if they had something decent to say, somebody will have responded and I can go back and read what they said. Cleek has done the world a massive favor and we get to take advantage of it.

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