Yep, so far Tim Scott is the only Republican willing to actually stand up to Trump since the ACA debacle.
In this environment, words mean nothing and possibly just serve as cover to let the current controversy die down.
Once again, when Chairman Hurd holds hearings, I’ll kudo the heck out of him.
He votes with Trump 96% of the time. Not that I would expect different from a Republican, but that’s hardly standing up to the dictator.
Back to the topic at hand…
My apologies if posted on another thread, but Mueller’s investigation just took an unexpected turn toward Bernie Sanders’ former campaign aide, Tad Devine.
I don’t for a moment believe Bernie Sanders wittingly played around with Vladimir Putin, but I’ve occasionally wondered about the extent to which his campaign was exploited by Russia and used as a tool to hurt Clinton’s standing among left-leaning voters. I had assumed that it barely went beyond just Russian intelligence trolling Facebook with pro Bernie propaganda, but this leads me to consider that the exploitation could have gone further. Devine, like Manafort, performed work on behalf of Putin-friendly political interests in Ukraine. It’s completely wild speculation at this point, but I wonder if someone like Devine didn’t perhaps deliberately amp up the animosity between Sanders’ and Clinton’s campaigns.
Well, somebody sure as Hell did! As I have testified herein, for a while there, couldn’t go to my FB without seeing screaming headlines about how Hillary kidnapped Bernie Bed Hair’s grandchildren to work on her sex farm. Sometimes, it was even more imaginative.
Some of them were semi-legit, seeing as how some of the Bernie Bros were bitterly opposed to HRC, but their links had actual websites, it led to an organization that existed for several weeks. Whereas the suspect ones didn’t exist today, much less yesterday.
I don’t think the Russians gave a shit between Bernie and HRC, they just wanted to stir up trouble and strife among Trump’s opposition. Now, if FB’s algorithms don’t have you pegged as a Dem/lefty, you may not have seen them. But it appears that FB shrewdly had me figured as a lefty, so I saw all of them. If you were a Republican and so identified, you wouldn’t believe what I tell you because… you wouldn’t have seen any of them!
Brothers and sisters, pals and gals, we are entering a new age of political chicanery. TV ads, newspaper ads are kerosene powered, the new skullduggery is lightning fast, they can appear and disappear instantly! Now, the upside here is that this can be more “populist”, more grass roots, people talking to people. Bad news for TV stations and newspapers who depend on political advertising, even worse news for campaigns that depend on those outlets. 'Course, cynical bullshit is just as easy.
I like to close with conventional wisdom: time will tell, and both sides do it.
Mueller has subpoenaed the Manhattan Madam, who was involved in the Elliot Spitzer case. She used to work for Roger Stone, and has connections to Andrew Miller.
Yahtzee!
Lol, if your own lawyer secretly records you, what do you think Putin did?
Jesus, Putin probably used the four-camera set-up. 
He probably made Trump do several takes.
Too true.
Too true.
Alaska?
We’re finally talking about the big conspiracy and taking off the tin foil hats for the discussion. For the sake of argument, if this conspiracy is as big or bigger than it appears to be (meaning Trump knowingly colluded with Russians and the Republican party via the NRA is in deep with the Russians as well), what the fuck happens next? They control all the levers of government.
I’ll take Russia for $200, Alex.
What’s next: Putin told thump he wants Russian military bases in California.
You heard it here first.
Putin certainly wouldn’t mind owning the Alaskan oil fields, and he wouldn’t mind being able to house some missiles on the North American continent.
But his more immediate instructions to his minion Trump were, in all likelihood, to start pulling US troops out of Europe.
It’s all happening out in the open and in plain sight, for any who have the time/inclination/stamina to regard it. Republicans are counting on most people not being able to do that, and they’ve been trading somewhat successfully on that bet since before the election.
It’s why they’re trying so hard to strangle the vote through voter suppression efforts; why they are working to add the citizenship question to the census; why every day is Opposite Day in the Trump White House, at Sinclair “News” and at Fox “News”; why they’re stifling the ability of the public to follow the money; why they’re working furiously to load the courts with ideologues, up to and including the SCOTUS. And on and on.
They’re not worried about Russian interference in the 2018 election. They’re counting on it.
Putin is pressing his advantage for all it is worth. He’s got no choice. He’s in more trouble at home than is generally known. His money supplies are less sure. He wants those sanctions gone, and he views this as perhaps his last best chance to accomplish that. The Oligarchs will not be happy if he is unable to deliver. Also worth remembering that it is easy to invade a country – harder to hold it if you can’t pay for the military required. And Russian “justice” is a little different from our own. Putin is desperate, and as dangerous as he has ever been.
The patterns are clear to see. It all adds up to a grand conspiracy on an order of magnitude that’s difficult to absorb. No one wants to believe such a debacle was even ever possible in the good ol’ US of A. Acceptance is always the last stage of grief.
But here’s the key: What we have is our voices and our vote. They’re still afraid of the public, their opinions and their votes.
So take heart. The battle is far from over. Consider:
Why is Obamacare not already in the history books? Why is Jeff Sessions still in his job (horrible as that is)? Rod Rosenstein? Why is the Mueller investigation still going on? Why is this awful administration being made to reunite refugee children with their refugee parents, despite their hopes to do otherwise? There’s more, but you get the idea.
Again, public opinion, their voices and their votes still matter in this struggle. Use all of yours, loud and often.
Frankly, if people don’t care enough, we’ll just have to live through it best we can. Else time to explore options for living abroad. (Portugal looks nice to me.)
I know some people who escaped to Portugal. I like Scandinavia, but it’s always been too cold for this Texan. However, with global warming, I understand it’s gone up into the 80s in Norway. Every cloud, eh?
People are saying that Russia will build a naval base at San Diego. Or maybe just take the one that’s already there.
Where did you hear that? :dubious:
One of those places where people say stuff.
No, they’re taking Point Mugu, as that will give them vital strategic control of Oxnard.