[CNBC] At a House Intelligence Committee hearing, NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers and FBI Director James Comey answer questions on the leaking of classified information, and the...
Strange, very strange. No mention of the Sedition Act of 1918. No mention of non-disclosure. No mention of US Gov't labeling the NYT a non-credible source of news or source of disinformation. No mention at all.
It's a good thing lying to a reporter isn't against the law; everyone in Washington would be stood against a wall and shot. Including the reporters...
[RT] FBI and NSA directors are testifying before the House Select Committee on Intelligence concerning allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and President Donald Trump’s claims his campaign was spied on.
20 March 2017
19:19 GMT
The FBI investigation itself is creating a cloud over the sitting administration, Nunes tells Comey.
Comey says he can't answer if the FBI has any evidence of any wrongdoing.
"I can tell you that we don't have any evidence," he says, urging Comey to hurry with his probe and ending the hearing.
19:13 GMT
Trey Gowdy (R-SC) is asking Comey (both were prosecutors once) about hearsay and newspaper articles as proof.
"The system we respect would laugh you out of court" if one showed up with a newspaper article as evidence, Gowdy says. "How do you cross-examine an anonymous source? How do you cross-examine hearsay?"
Skipping down to...what "people shouldn't do"...or think, or something.
19:03 GMT
"Tell us why we should care about Russia's use of Americans, helping Russians destabilize our democracy?" Heck asks.
"I truly believe we are a shining city on a hill," Comey answers, but cautions that people shouldn't jump to conclusions. "Now we're going to close our mouths and do our work... because the answers matter." Emphasis added.
#1
A few observations after watching the House Intelligence Committee hearing:
1.We haven’t heard much about the Clinton server, the Clinton foundation or what was found on Weiner’s computer lately.
2.No one has been prosecuted for anything during the past 8 years—it’s certainly not because there wasn’t criminality and corruption.
3.Comey is not a boyscout; he’s got some strange history.
4.Comey invoked the cloak of secrecy far too much. This would imply an on-going investigation, protecting state secrets, or jumping to conspiracy notions; cover-up and protecting those high up from prosecution. Folks, we just cannot have that much stuff that needs to be kept secret from the American people.
5. There seems to be little truth-telling in DC.
6.These hearings seem to be a kind of masturabatory activity that substitutes for getting anything useful done; except Gowdy, Nunes and a few others did a good job.
7. The American people are kept in the dark about what's going on in DC; the MSM is useless.
8.Swamp-draining is nearly impossible in DC.
I would add that nothing has been said about the Obama administration's abject failure to do anything about cyber security. They are so sanctimonious about those bad, bad Russians doing all that hacking but strangely silent about their failure to prevent it.
Also, nothing was said about the DNC's abject failure to implement security measures on their email server. If it was the Russians who really did hack it you could make a case that they did us all a favor by demonstrating the gross incompetence of these people who aspire to run the country. If they can't manage an email server, how can they manage the country?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/21/2017 12:04 Comments ||
Top||
#4
Oh and the leaks!
The only thing we know for certain out this whole freaking mess is that FBI leaks like a sieve and Comey won't even say whether or not he is investigating the leaks. This guy has a serious credibility problem.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
03/21/2017 12:15 Comments ||
Top||
#5
FBI/NSA: We did no wrong, Trump bad!
Congress/Media: Okey dokey, good enough for me.
How does a society hold spies to account for illegal spying when they are the ones who find the evidence of illegal spying?
[Washington Standard] You see what happens when you start trading liberty for alleged security. Under George W. Bush, a full on unconstitutional federalization of airport security and subsequent violations of the Fourth Amendment that take place every single day in this country were passed following the 9/11 attacks. Now, the news is a buzz about Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro Sobarkah’s wiretapping of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, but Project Dragnet records are now providing evidence that Donald Trump and his family were being illegally spied on by the National Security Agency (NSA) under President George W. Bush.
According to the Project Dragnet database, Trump was listed for electronic surveillance for the following companies, locations and times: Caution: Single-source reporting. Reliability cannot be confirmed.
#2
I recall Feinstein getting apoplectic about being spied upon by the CIA. Domestic spying seems to happen more often than one would think from what's being said now.
#4
That means that if FISA requests were requested on all 325 million people in the U.S. that only 105,457 would be rejected. Why, that would be like giving all the people in Dearborn, MI a pass.
An example of what you consider to be humor when you start to believe your own bullsh*t...
Via Gerard Van der Leun
Apparently I got taken in by some satire. My bad.
I don’t mean to sound conceited, No, no, certainly not!
but my obvious mental acuity Thanks for explaining that, Herr Adjunct...
makes me an easy target for some autocratic tyrant’s curb-stomping goon squad. The tyrant Obama is gone
What I’m saying is if a ruthless dictator were to strong-arm his way into the White House and decree that intellectuals be exterminated lest they pose a threat to the ruling fascist regime, I would, like, totally be murdered. I mean look at me! I’m an adjunct professor at Florida State University! Your understanding of the role of a Constitutionally elected American president is staggering. And it's clear why FSU is better known for its football and synchronized swimming teams... Professor of what? Does it involve math? Sure, technically I’m a part-time lecturer and not a professor, but seeing as how no one in my family gets that, a roving gang of far-right street thugs won’t request my full job title and last pay stub before bashing in my skull with a mini-bat. The only "roving gang of far-right street thugs" in America are those hired by democrats in the 2016 general election to break up political rallies, or criminal gangs. You seem to have either forgotten that, or ignored it. The thugs in American political life in the last eight years have come from the left. The only brutality shown has been from the left whenever they have tried to pin it on the right.
So what if my brother-in-law the auto mechanic can afford to take his family on vacation and doesn’t have to subsist on day-old bread for the summer? I bet a fascist will never try to crush his windpipe. Your brother in law produces for the economy and enjoys the fruits of his labors as he should. Besides, he is likely a tough hombre who is armed.
When you think about it, I might be the only one intellectual enough at FSU to pose a real threat to an autocratic administration. I’m certainly the most murderable person on this campus. Way more murderable than my goody two-shoed colleague, Jennifer. So, you're an iconoclast in your own mind. No one gives a f*ck.
In a sense, I can understand why they would want to kill me. Boring people are killed all the time, at least in the minds of others... Not for their politix, but because they're stultifying.
The fascists likely would have a dossier of my many pointed comments on The Atlantic’s website, or they would dig up a receipt from my recent $32 contribution to the ACLU as evidence that I am a cerebral force of powerful dissent and must be neutralized. Or maybe they’d murder me just because of my sharp-looking, clear-framed eyewear. Until this moment, I never realized what it meant to read something and to become dumber for the experience. What comes before hubris? It’s easy to imagine how the fascists would come for me. Jackbooted stormtroopers would descend upon the university, scanning the student body for the best and brightest FSU has to offer, only to find yours truly as worthy of their ire. Nah, I think you're safe from the brownshirts and snowflakes. Unless you quote Foucault incorrectly...
They’d probably look right past Jennifer even though she was recently asked by the university to come on full-time. Instead they’d track me down in my office of the main campus in a basement of the engineering building annex. The Department of Deconstructionist Engineering?
Or if it’s a Monday, Tuesday, or Friday evening, the on-campus Starbucks where I sometimes hold office hours. Then they’d pluck me out of the crowd and pound my smart face and brain into ground chuck before hauling me away to a black site prison. You should be beaten for the abject vapidity of this missive.
The fascist’s would choose ME! I mean, wow! Wouldn’t it be truly something? Something would be a persecution complex that is common to all leftists. Is it just me, or is he not huddling in the closet of his basement office being really, really scared Horst Wessel is looking for him?
I mean, scary. Yeah, of course — it would be a scary vision of the possible future of America. Not even close to the American future. Only if the progressives win do the adjuncts go to prison...
All I’m saying is, if fascists wanted to kill us intellectuals, I don’t think Jennifer would have to worry. She doesn’t even wear glasses!
Anyway, getting back to that horrifying vision — the fascists would probably scream something like, “You look like you should hold a tenure-track position. Come with us!” Or, “If only the FSU employment search committee could see you now!” Maybe they would say it loud enough for everyone to hear. Who knows? This individual teaches other adults. And writes articles that are supposed to be humorous, but instead exposes how utterly immoral the writer really is. He's reminding me more of Eichmann and the banality of evil...
Then I’d be dragged through the quad as onlookers, possibly including Little Miss Full-Time Faculty, stood powerless to do anything other than silently agree that I am their intellectual superior. Get help, or start drinking. Heavily. Ever think there was a reason why Jennifer was promoted instead of you, pal? Perhaps she both speaks and writes in complete sentences?
I wonder if I’m smart enough to be buried alive in an unmarked grave? I wonder if your peers are wishing it had already been done...
Maybe they’d even tie a rope to my feet and drag my corpse through the street as a warning to agitators! Everyone would see it, even my brother-in-law. “That guy must have been way smart to get all this! I guess he wasn’t a loser, after all.” he’d say. Alternately, perhaps he'd be free to start arranging dates for his sister, your widow...
It’d be awful, of course. Being murdered, I mean. That part would be awful. But man oh man, what a ride it’d be! If this isn't satire it should be.
#1
It's McSweeney's - sort of an intellectual version of The Onion crossed with wreckage washed up from The Atlantic magazine. Which is not to say there aren't people who think like this, Gawd help us all.
If Putin is the world's puppet master he's not doing very well. Russia's economy has been in crisis since 2014, with no end in sight. The Kremlin has been in the doldrums for two reasons: the continued decline in oil prices and economic sanctions imposed on Moscow for its incursions into Ukraine.
Trends have worsened rather than gotten better. Initial hopes the Trump administration would cut Russia some slack were dashed. "Enormous amounts of money have flowed in and out of Russia over the past several months as oil prices and U.S. policies turned from favorable to seemingly unfavorable".
...If Putin robbed the bank where's the money? The problem with the Russian hacking stories now roiling Washington is demonstrating how any of it worked to the Kremlin's advantage. A proper conspiracy theory involving a foreign power in the last election should at least consider China, not just Russia, as a suspect. The Chinese at least would have benefited from cheap oil. Yet even here there are problems.
...The golden rule in detecting conspiracies lies in observing what suspects did rather than focusing on what they are alleged to have said. Lobbying and influence peddling in Washington is a multi-billion dollar business. From the policy record there is no reason to think that Russia is the only, or even the major, source of corruption in the capital. It's not hard to believe there's mischief afoot in DC. The more interesting question is whether the Narrative is on the trail of the actual culprit or following a red herring.
#2
If the Russians wanted to interfere with the election, there's lots of things they could have revealed re: the Obama and Clinton administrations. Like, among other things, the Iran deal...
They can literally prove the dem party's hog thieves because they've been helping them throw them in the back of the truck after hitting them in the head.
BLUF: [Daily Caller] Westerners have the best countries in the world. The Rest of the world wants to come to The West. But Westerners themselves are too submissive and browbeaten to appreciate that their lovely countries are the way they are due to Western civilization’s human seed capital. At their inception, the core, founding populations in these countries possessed the innate abilities and philosophical sensibilities to flourish mightily. Now they’re being taught--on pain of punishment--that populations are interchangeable.
That’s likely what Rep. King was cautioning America about on Jan Mickelson’s Iowa radio station. It was certainly what this writer was warning about, on the same radio station, to the same broadcaster, in 2011, while discussing "Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America From Post-Apartheid South Africa." Then as now, Mr. Mickelson and his guest were working to expose "the misdirected pursuit of a multicultural soup," as he put it.
#1
TheRepublican congressman quickly reframed the comments. It was not our race he was alluding to, but "our stock, our country, our culture, our civilization." Those sound like proxies for race. Nice try, congressman.
Contrary to what AL Sharpton, David Duke, or the author of this piece say Congressman King's comments are not specifically about race.
#2
I never understood the honourable Congressman's comments to refer to race, whether white or otherwise, but to all Americans. The racism accusation is straightforward throwing things against the wall to see what sticks.
[Breitbart] Monday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh maintained a House Intelligence Committee hearing that featured testimony from FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Michael Rogers was meant to send a message to President Donald Trump and his administration.
Limbaugh argued that although there were some good questions from Republicans members during the hearing, it was meant to be a warning shot at Trump -- allow Washington Republicans to run the town or face possible impeachment.
Partial transcript as follows (courtesy of RushLimbaugh.com):
These hearings today, what happened last week and the week before that, what happened during the transition period... What all of this is can be explained simply by saying, "Look at how terrified they are in the Washington-New York establishment, of Donald Trump and draining the swamp." The Never Trumpers on both sides of the aisle. There are conservative Never Trumpers today celebrating over the fact that Comey made it official that there’s an investigation of Trump and colluding with the Russians.
These people know that there isn’t any evidence of this, but that doesn’t matter. What everybody in Washington supports is the smearing, the slander, and the libel of Donald Trump. And these hearings today? The FBI director, James Comey, is trying to save the jobs of a lot of people. He’s trying to save the careers of a whole lot of people -- his included -- in, I think, an inappropriate way. And the Republicans in this committee? Look folks, I’ve been waiting. I’ve been patiently waiting. I’ve been trying to hold it, keep the powder dry. But the Republicans on this committee...
I know it’s early, and they’re gonna go on all day. But so far, outside of Trey Gowdy and a question from Peter King and Devin Nunes the chairman, there just hasn’t been much. For example, "Are you still investigating the Clinton Foundation, Director Comey?" "I can’t say." By the way, Comey said he got special permission to reveal this investigation. Who gave him that special permission? He said he went to the Department of Justice. Who’s over there? Who runs that? That it would be Jeff Sessions.
The Trump administration itself granted permission for Comey to announce this today. (interruption) Well, no. My point there is that there’s no attempted cover-up of anything going on there. The Trump administration could very well have said, Jeff Sessions could have said, "Comey, look, it’s just like you said last summer about Hillary: We don’t detail ongoing investigations." But he today was given permission to do just that, and he’s running with it. And the whole point of this today -- and, by the way, it doesn’t mean I’m not gonna go through this and give you what the real news of these hearings is today and what the backdrop of all this is.
Because there’s a really salient factor that’s driving this from the Democrat side that is never going to be reported or commented on, which I’m going to touch on myself today. But, as I say, the purpose of this is to further the narrative that Trump is illegitimate, that he should not be president, that his election was the result of tampering by the Russians. So the objective is that Trump either stops this reform business he’s got, stops this drain-the-swamp stuff, and starts letting the Washington Republicans run the town again, or they’re gonna impeach him.
That’s the message being sent today: "You either straighten up and fly right or you’re gone."
"We’re coming for you," is the message of these hearings today.
#2
Limbaugh argued that although there were some good questions from Republicans members during the hearing, it was meant to be a warning shot at Trump -- allow Washington Republicans to run the town or face possible impeachment.
Impeachment was never discussed in Washington during Obama's tenure. A Trump impeachment is not likely to happen--unless enough Republicans get on board with Democrats.
#3
Well, the Pubs do have enough votes by themselves to start an impeachment in the House (only if they want to see all hell break loose in flyover- land). Of course, the Donks would jump on board.
#5
Impeachment is in the interests of all Democrats and a significant number of Republicans: Trump's efforts to 'drain the swamp' seem credible and are a serious risk to the DC uniparty, who will grab any usable means of getting rid of him. Impeachment would be on the table, and I would not be surprised at 'suicide.'
#10
Trump is fighting the establishment dems, establishment pubs, the bureaucracy, the courts. They will game the system to protect their interests. The problem is that all these denizens of the swamp are on national suicide on the installment plan.
We do not have a swamp to drain. We have a malignant tumor to remove. How are we going to do that with what we have in power? President Trump is a patriot that is trying to prevent these so called elite from destroying the country. All they can think of is to keep the game going and the money and perks coming in. That is what tumors do.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
03/21/2017 19:50 Comments ||
Top||
[DAWN] PAKISTAN High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit has made a sensible and timely observation: important as the terrorism issue is to bilateral ties, there are other matters of equal importance that deserve to be focused on and therefore dialogue needs to be revived at the earliest.
The high commissioner’s remarks came on a day that the BJP shocked India with its nomination of a controversial, hard-line Hindu priest to the post of chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state. The reaffirmation of a message of constructive dialogue on Pakistain’s part at a time when India may be lurching further to the political right is necessary; the stakes are simply too high for India and Pakistain to drift into a new era of turbulent relations.
The high commissioner’s remarks, then, are a welcome reminder that right- thinking individuals in both countries are continuing to dwell on the need for dialogue and not jettisoning the shared experience of the past seven decades, which has proved that while dialogue is difficult to initiate and even harder to sustain, it is the only realistic option.
Consider the so-called low-hanging fruit that Mr Basit referred to: Sir Creek and Siachen. Sir Creek in particular was once regarded as an agreement within reach -- a border and maritime dispute that can be resolved by technical teams, if the political will to do so exists.
Similarly, the mindless stand-off in Siachen, more than three decades old and a growing environmental concern, could be resolved in a manner that satisfies both the military and politicianships in both countries. But the freezing of dialogue has stalled all progress, in disputes small and large. And in the case of Siachen, there is a sense that the intransigence of the Indian military and its growing influence in the national security and foreign policy domains have effectively cancelled the low-hanging-fruit status of the Siachen dispute. Unhappily, the absence of dialogue is allowing other factors to intervene and make historical and already complicated disputes even more complex.
The revival of political will to engage in dialogue is the obvious starting point.
Having established his party as the dominant political force in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has an opportunity to pivot and return to the path of dialogue with Pakistain. Mr Modi also now has the benefit of greater experience -- the unexpected return to dialogue and the unveiling of the so-called comprehensive dialogue process with additional baskets in late 2015 was a commendable effort, but was not adequately militancy-proofed. The subsequent Pathankot attack caused a rupture where more experienced and committed dialogue partners may have found a way to sustain the process.
Almost a year and a half later, with Pakistain having taken a few steps against India-centric murderous Moslem groups and large-scale counterterrorism operations under way across the country, the dialogue process can be restarted in a more conducive environment.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2017 00:00 ||
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] During two recent occasions, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah spoke of two creations: the theory of a "divine miracle" in Syria and the advice of "developmental miracle" to resist rivals!
One of these was televised as Nasrallah delivered his address during a ceremony held on Saturday to commemorate the birth anniversary of Fatima Zahraa. The other occasion was not televised but its content was published by Lebanese media outlets. During this latter occasion, which was held on Friday evening, Nasrallah met with members of the education department in Hezbollah.
During this meeting, which aims to frame young men’s thinking, teach them partisanship and mobilize them, Nasrallah described the scene of his party, the country that supports it, Iran, and their ally Bashir al-Assad as a scene that reflects a "divine miracle."
It seems Nasrallah is fond of godly terms. His party’s name is Hezbollah ‐ the Party of God. He describes his festivities with Israel as "divine victory." As for the "crime" which he, Iran, Assad, ISIS, al-Nusra ...formally Jabhat an-Nusrah li-Ahli al-Sham (Support Front for the People of the Levant), also known as al-Qaeda in the Levant. They aim to establish a pan-Arab caliphate. Not the same one as the Islamic State, though .. ... Front and even Kurdish militias in support of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party committed, he describes it as a "divine miracle."
Exaggerating infallibility
Such an approach reflects exaggerating infallibility as godly terms are used to describe human behavior, which are close to a "demonic miracle," to say the least. This is more so considering their catastrophic results on civil peace and their role in nurturing the sectarian and tense atmosphere in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
During the ceremony, Nasrallah spoke about the funds which Arab countries spent and said this money could have saved the Syrian people from the crimes, which in fact he and his sponsor Iran and their friend Assad, committed. He spoke about hundreds of billions and then lamented and said: "This money could have saved Somalia and Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic... of famine, built houses for Paleostinians in Gazoo, provided job opportunities and ended illiteracy."
He speaks as if Hezbollah is a developmental organization that protects peace and the environment, works to stop global warming and encourages clean and vegetarian diets when in fact it’s a terrorist group with activities across countries.
The icon of Khomeini’s mobilization in the Arab world, Nasrallah, stated that the "axis of the resistance will not be defeated but will win in Syria, Iraq and Yemen." Congratulations! But does this promise that his group will win in Yemen include shelling the Kofal military camp during Friday prayers using two Houthi ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews ... "resistance" missiles and killing 34 and injuring 100 others?
I gave this example because this happened around the same time as his recent televised address and his "religious" educational gathering with Hezbollah’s youth. There are many other shameful examples to his party’s practices.
Truth, however, is opposite to Nasrallah’s illusions. The Khomeini republic’s current situation is not at its best considering the recent American awakening the recent manifestations of which include designating the Saraya al-Ashtar organization as a terrorist organization.
Oh man, fear God.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/21/2017 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
IMI been looking for a name for their new bunker-busting bomb.
And they're both theater critics -- it all makes sense now!
Insert Ace Ventura gif here.
[NYMag] No Sympathy for the Hillbilly:
Democrats need to stop trying to feel everyone’s pain, and hold on to their own anger.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Washington Standard] You see what happens when you start trading liberty for alleged security. Under George W. Bush, a full on unconstitutional federalization of airport security and subsequent violations of the Fourth Amendment that take place every single day in this country were passed following the 9/11 attacks. Now, the news is a buzz about Barack Hussein Obama Soetoro Sobarkah’s wiretapping of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, but Project Dragnet records are now providing evidence that Donald Trump and his family were being illegally spied on by the National Security Agency (NSA) under President George W. Bush.
Sure, technically I’m a part-time lecturer and not a professor, but seeing as how no one in my family gets that, a roving gang of far-right street thugs won’t request my full job title and last pay stub before bashing in my skull with a mini-bat.
It’s easy to imagine how the fascists would come for me. Jackbooted stormtroopers would descend upon the university, scanning the student body for the best and brightest FSU has to offer, only to find yours truly as worthy of their ire. 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] During two recent occasions, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah spoke of two creations: the theory of a "divine miracle" in Syria and the advice of "developmental miracle" to resist rivals!
