[PJ] One of the more notable differences between Watergate and the metastasizing scandals involving the FBI, our intelligence agencies, and the Obama administration -- subjects of the soon-to-be-released inspector general's report -- is that the media exposed Watergate. They aided and abetted the current transgressions.
By providing a willing and virtually unquestioned repository for every anonymous leaker (as long as he or she was on the "right" side) in Washington and beyond, the press has evolved from being part of the solution to being a major part of the problem. Gone are the days of the true "whistle-blower." Here are the days of the special interest provocateur, shaping public opinion by passing on half-truths and outright lies to their favorite reporter. One might then even call the media, in Orwell's words, "objectively pro-fascist," functioning much in the manner of Pravda and Izvestia during that famous author's time, covertly or overtly pushing the party line in the most slavish and orthodox manner while feigning "objectivity."
CNN, NBC, the Washington Post and The New York Times -- misinforming the public as it hasn't since the days of their great Stalin-excuser Walter Duranty (still pictured on their Pulitzer wall of honor) -- are particularly egregious in this regard. But there are many others.
#4
My position is that 1st Amendment referred to the technology of the dissemination during the period, not institutions protected by corporate shuffling from the consequences of their acts in an open market. This internet is far more aligned with the intent of the 1st's protection than anything of the Legacy Infotainment Enterprises.
Further, the 14th providing equal protection of the law blows out the judicial fiction of two classes of private and public personalities for processing claims of libel. If nothing less, then application of product liability should apply to the LSM as much as any 'evil' capitalist business they so enjoy exposing.
[The Hill] Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) warned Republican lawmakers on Friday not to expose the identity of a secret FBI informant, saying that to do so would be "irresponsible" ‐ and potentially illegal.
"It would be at best irresponsible, and at worst potentially illegal, for members of Congress to use their positions to learn the identity of an FBI source for the purpose of undermining the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in our election," Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement.
"Anyone who is entrusted with our nation’s highest secrets should act with the gravity and seriousness of purpose that knowledge deserves," he added.
[Zero Hedge] Veteran D.C. attorney Joe diGenova - who President Trump initially wanted to hire to represent him in the Mueller probe, only to have to step aside due to conflicts - sat down on Fox News on Thursday where he put a bow on what many believe was a high-stakes gamble by various members within the Obama Intelligence Community (IC) and others to infiltrate the Trump campaign and frame Donald Trump with Russiagate.
Key among the participants in this alleged plot is former CIA director John Brennan, whose involvement is thought to have dovetailed with the FBI's recently disclosed "operation Crossfire Hurricane" - the code name given to the agency's earliest counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign. The FBI says the operation was launched following a drunken conversation between a Clinton-linked Australian ambassador and a low-level Trump associate, George Papadopoulos, who may have been set up from the start after being fed information by a professor named Joseph Mifsud, who is currently missing.
[Daily Caller] Former Director of Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday night on CNN that it was "a good thing" there was an FBI informant spying on the Trump campaign.
Clapper admitted the FBI "may have had someone who was talking to them in the campaign," referring to President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. He explained away the possibility of an FBI informant spying on the campaign as the bureau was trying to find out "what the Russians were doing to try to substantiate themselves in the campaign or influence or leverage it."
Obama’s Director of National Intelligence then went on to say, "So, if there was someone that was observing that sort of thing, that’s a good thing."
He also stated he believes "it’s hugely dangerous if someone like that is exposed because the danger to that person" and the potential "reluctance of others to be informants for the FBI" could possibly devastate the FBI.
#4
All of them are dirty, they naturally assumed Trump was too. All they had to do was commit multiple serious felonies to say on him and they'd find something. Then Hillary would be president and US troops would be hip deep in Russia by now.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
05/19/2018 5:49 Comments ||
Top||
#5
You know what's scary....
It's not spying on the president elect, it's the idea that for a couple of presidential spans the leader of the country has been selected, not elected.
Our only saving grace was the more opaque the bureaucracy, the less competent.
#6
It's not spying on the president elect, it's the idea that for a couple of presidential spans the leader of the country has been selected, not elected.
Becoming rather obvious isn't it? Might be more than... "a couple."
#7
Remember when the first unelected president decided to actually run for the office and the party selected him for a full term? Remember who ran against him in the primaries? Remember who we got?
Ford. Reagan. Carter.
We had to endure 4 years of the latter before, we corrected the 'selected' choice. "It's his turn" - motto of the Stupid Party
#11
Then Hillary would be president and US troops would be hip deep in Russia by now.
It seems to me the Russia thing was ginned up because Mrs. Clinton lost. Had she won they would not have fussed about Russia trying to impact the vote, something Russia has tried to do since Stalin was running things.
#12
Please stop using the word “democracy.” One of the commies’ best tactics is weaponizing our language to steer us into falsehood. These United States are not a democracy.
#14
Can't call it Feudal. In feudal times the 'lord' (or noble) had a responsibility to care for and protect his subjects (that is what they got for accepting his lordship and paying taxes). While we have a 'nobility' and a 'common' class - I don't see any evidence of that these days.
[Townhall] Katie wrote about it this morning. It’s confirmed, folks. The FBI had a spy embedded with the Trump campaign. She added the bureau did not have enough evidence to launch a criminal investigation, so they executed a counterintelligence probe instead in July of 2016. The code name was "crossfire hurricane." This was the investigation signed off by FBI agent Peter Strzok. Sztrok was a top counterintelligence agent before being transferred to human resources after his extramarital affair with bureau lawyer Lisa Page was made public and the two’s texts, which numbered in the tens of thousands, were riddled with anti-Trump and pro-Hillary sentiments. Once then-FBI Director James Comey was fired by President Trump in May of 2017, Robert Mueller took over the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein oversees him.
The Page-Strzok texts formed the basis of inquiry into the FBI’s role in all of this. How impartial were they? The texts were so problematic that Mueller removed him in August of 2017. The two discussed how they felt the FBI was going too hard on Hillary as well; Strzok was also involved in that investigation as well. Was the bureau in the tank? The optics weren’t good, especially when reports came that Strzok was presented with evidence that the former first lady’s email server was breached and did nothing about it.
But the main focus was the text Strzok sent about a meeting with then-Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe in which he referenced an "insurance policy" against Trump. Many have alleged this is a reference to the Trump dossier, which was used to obtain a spy warrant against Carter Page, who was a foreign policy adviser for the Trump campaign. This is unsettling because the dossier was a bankrolled project by Democrats. The Clinton campaign hired research firm Fusion GPS, who then contracted former MI6 spook Christopher Steele to compile dirt on Trump. Still, the counterintelligence probe into Russian collusion and the Trump team, in which there is still zero evidence, moved forward: My guess is that it will soon be learned that Obama and Brennan were behind the entire fiasco, Brennan being the architect, Obama the authorizing agent.
#5
IMA going with #3. He had little or no interest (or motivation) for anything beyond his next toke. Whatever his handler Brennan and the Deep State wanted was fine with Soetoro.
Soetoro was the product of a very lengthy Deep State affirmative action, recruitment and development process. He worked out splendidly for his handlers.
Little wonder Soetoro's presidential library is becoming so scandalous. Reality is setting in.
#6
"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?"
Obama didn't need to initiate this, there were plenty of apparatchiks willing to act. Did he refuse to counteract their overreach -- certainly. Did he conspire to cover up... *Wink* Of course not, he had ValJar to do that, right?
#7
It's less than clear where this is heading and even more murky where it will end. But if the CYA wagons circling is any indication there's a sizable segment of the population that needs to prepare their fragile psyches for an unexpected destination.
I asked a younger man, who happens to be trying to build his firearms business what he thinks is causing the shootings. His answer was, "Parents not beating the sh*t out of their kids." The conversation was a little more detailed than that, but his sentiment is that the lack of discipline, especially what a father can provide, is part of the problem.
It's hard to argue that, because when it comes to domestic violence and the courts, the courts have yet, lo these 40 years or so, to come to terms with their roles in exacerbating the social problem of divorce and destroyed families.
Men are going to react to a judicial Mandarin following dicta from legislatures which create a favored social class in the courts. All the pontificating about what the man does wrong does not in any way deal with the woman's role in the violence.
And judges believe that because of their unique standing their rulings from the bench are the word of God, yet they are nothing of the sort. They are the raw unleavened power of the state.
This story about a man accused of stalking his girlfriend is a good example of the press pushing the cause of the victim, ignoring what is actually going on between a man and a woman. The woman's first reaction in the case of threats to domestic violence is to make herself a ward of the state by filing a victim's protective order, with extra privileges provided by the state and the press.
In the story you will read the term "red flag", which means that the sheriff probably endorses the idea of stripping away civil liberties to protect a single social element through "red flag" gun confiscation orders, which, by the way, are likely to become law in red Oklahoma next year.
All because a woman lacks the judgement to select a proper mate, the rest of us have to face expanded power of the state through a cobbled together legal process that will enable the state to seize property without just cause.
And you know, like the protective orders back in the 1990s, a leftist Congress will expand those orders as further punishment. It is coming, folks.
Loads
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Pistol ammunition prices were mostly steady. Rifle ammunition prices were steady.
Prices for used pistols were mixed. Prices for used rifles were mostly lower.
New Lows:
None
Pistol Ammunition
.45 Caliber, 230 Grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (6 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammomen, Magtech, FMJ, Brass Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, Own brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads, .19 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each After Unchanged (2 Weeks))
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, Reloads .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: East Carolina Trading, FP, Brass Casing, Reloads, .19 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (2 Weeks))
9mm Parabellum, 115 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (1Q, 2018)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Extreme Reloading, Own Brand, RN, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: FedArm, Own brand, FMJ, Brass Casing, Reloads .14 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (1Q, 2018))
.357 Magnum, 158 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Gun Buyer, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 500 rounds: Wholesale Hunter, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .22 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks))
.38 Special, 158 Grain, From Last Week: -.02 Each After Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammomen, Magtech, RNL, Brass Casing, .22 per round
Cheapest Bulk: 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Prvi Patizan, RNL, Brass Casing, .23 per round (From Last Week: -.01 Each)
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Able's, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (1Q, 2018))
.308 NATO 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (8 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: SG Ammo, Tulammo, FMJ, Steel Casing, .30 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
7.62x39mm AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (4 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, FMJ, Steel Casing, .20 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1,000 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .20 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.30-06 Springfield 145 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (1Q, 2018)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Outdoor Limited, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .54 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: United Nations Ammo, Wolf WPA, Steel Casing, FMJ, .53 per round (From Last week: Unchanged (4Q, 2017))
.300 Winchester Magnum 150 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (9 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .81 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Target Sports USA, Prvi Partizan, Brass Casing, SP, .85 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (1Q, 2018))
.338 Lapua Magnum 250 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Selway Armory, Prvi Partizan, FMJ, Brass Casing, 2.50 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 200 rounds: Target Sports USA, IMI (SMK), FMJ, Brass Casing, 2.60 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (3 Weeks))
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (1Q, 2018)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammomen, Federal, RNL, Brass Casing, .04 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Winchester, RNL, Brass Casing, .04 per round (From Last Week: Unchanged (7 Weeks))
h/t Instapundit
...In a tweet Thursday, Trump cited the National Review article suggesting that the FBI source was really a "confidential informant in the campaign."
"If so, this is bigger than Watergate!" he tweeted.
If true, it is 1,000 times bigger than Watergate. But until now, wild horses couldn’t have pulled the facts that have been steadily emerging about the real scandals of the 2016 election out of the AP. Why does the AP grudgingly cover them now? Because they were tweeted by President Trump.
#1
If only John McCain had a Twitter account in Hanoi:
"TO THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DRVN. I'M JOHN SYDNEY McCAIN, 624787, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, U.S. NAVY. I WAS BORN ON 25 AUGUST 1936 PANAMA. MY HOME STATE IS OREGON. I WAS SHOT DOWN 26 OCTOBER 1967 A4 AIRCRAFT.
"I, AS A U.S. AIRMAN, AM GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST THE VIETNAMESE COUNTRY AND PEOPLE. I HAVE BOMBED THEIR CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES AND CAUSED MANY INJURIES, EVEN DEATH TO THE PEOPLE OF VIETNAM.
"I WAS CAPTURED IN THE CAPITOL OF HANOI WHILE ATTACKING IT. AFTER I WAS CAPTURED, I WAS TAKEN TO A HOSPITAL IN HANOI WHERE I RECEIVED VERY GOOD TREATMENT."
"I WAS GIVEN AN OPERATION ON MY LEG WHICH ALLOWED ME TO WALK AGAIN. A CAST WAS PUT ON MY RIGHT ARM, WHICH WAS BROKEN IN THREE PLACES. THE DOCTORS WERE VERY GOOD AND THEY KNEW A GREAT DEAL ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.
"I REMAINED IN THE HOSPITAL FOR SOME TIME AND REGAINED MUCH OF MY HEALTH AND STRENGTH."
"SINCE I ARRIVED IN THE CAMP OF DETENTION, I HAVE RECEIVED HUMANE TREATMENT AND FOOD, EVEN THOUGH I CAME HERE AS AN AGGRESSOR AND THE PEOPLE WHO I INJURED HAVE MUCH DIFFICULTY IN THEIR LIVING STANDARDS. I WISH TO EXPRESS MY DEEP GRATITUDE FOR MY KIND TREATMENT AND I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS KINDNESS EXTENDED TO ME."
[Breitbart] Thursday on Fox News Channel’s "Hannity," nationally syndicated radio Mark Levin argued that what the Mueller investigation had revealed was not Russian conclusion in the 2016 presidential election, but that the greatest perpetrator against the American people was the federal government.
Levin argued for President Donald Trump to appoint a commission to clean up agencies within the intelligence community and that it should be done regardless of what Attorney General Jeff Sessions says.
"I would also tell him, and I’ve said this before myself ‐ we need to fix this," he said. "We can’t have in another election where the federal government, our United States government, is interfering with an election. And so, what I think the president needs to do to appoint a commission of five or seven people ... top-notch men from prior administrations and women, and appoint them and say fix the FBI at the top, fix the CIA, fix intelligence agencies. We can’t allow it to happen to another president of the United States. To hell with, sorry Jeff, with Jeff Sessions and all of the other people. The president should take responsibility. You are talking about spies in the Trump administration. You’re talking about a failed FISA court. This is incredible stuff."
#1
It'll take a lot more than that - you need to cut the funding, say by half, and that ain't happening with Ryan as Speaker and all the RINO's voting as they've been voting, or not voting (i.e., not to repeal Obamacare).
#5
They clearly have Sessions compromised. There's no other explanation for his silence and reluctance to prosecute these clearly guilty people.
Posted by: Herb McCoy ||
05/19/2018 5:51 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Rag has it at #1. Cut the funding, eliminate the positions at GG-14 and above levels. Remote transfers and reassignments (US Embassy Mogadishu, Somalia for instance) and forced retirements.... since actual 'termination' is apparently not an option.
#7
But then they would start accepting bribes maybe. Time to sign them up for a lifetime of auditing to make sure they couldn't enjoy the fruits of same.
[AAWSAT] Here’s a split-screen for our times: While Israeli troops were killing dozens of Paleostinian protesters in Gazoo on Monday, Trump administration representatives were 50 miles away in Jerusalem, celebrating with Israeli officials the opening of the US Embassy there and praising their mutual devotion to peace.
"Moving the US embassy," Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan declared, is "a step toward advancing peace."
President Trump himself, in a video message, pledged his commitment to a "lasting peace agreement."
His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said "peace is within reach."
And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared it "a great day for peace."
Because nothing says "peace" like 58 Paleostinians killed, 2,700 maimed, renewed hostilities between Iran and Israel, the entire region aflame and US allies reeling.
Those numbers came from sharpshooters choosing their targets, plus an exaggerated count of those briefly inconvenienced by tear gas. Israel could have lined up tanks and artillery along the border and just swept the field clean, leading to much larger numbers strongly skewed toward the dead rather than the wounded, Mr. Milbank. That’s what real war looks like.
Kushner, who reminded the audience that he’s in charge of Trump’s "efforts to bring peace," used his remarks to denounce the Paleostinians. "As we have seen from the protests of the last month and even today, those provoking violence are part of the problem and not part of the solution," he said. Back in Washington, a White House front man declined to join allies urging Israel to exercise restraint.
The move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv could have been a moment of unity and brotherhood. Instead, as with most everything Trump touches, it became a symbol of division and bitterness. It could have been the capstone of a peace deal, as Republican and Democratic administrations alike had hoped. Instead, it all but dashed hope for a two-state solution.
Most European allies skipped the event. And only 14 members of Congress were on hand for the celebration ‐ all Republican and only one Jewish. Republicans scolded Democrats for their absence; Democrats said they weren’t invited. "I would have loved to have participated in this historic and moving embassy dedication," Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), who supported the embassy move, said in a statement. "Despite reaching out to the administration, I was not invited to be a part of the official American delegation."
Given the lineup present at the opening, it was less a diplomatic ceremony than a campaign event. David Friedman, the US ambassador to Israel, praised "the vision, the courage and the moral clarity of one person to whom we owe an enormous and eternal debt of gratitude, President Donald J. Trump."
Moral clarity! And that’s not all: "I think President Lincoln is smiling today as another great Republican, Donald J. Trump, opens our embassy."
Netanyahu dutifully declared that Trump "made history," Hagee thanked God "for President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... ’s courage," and Pastor Robert Jeffress praised Trump’s leadership, determination, resolve and courage and offered his view to God that Trump "stands on the right side of You."
Kushner got applause for reminding the crowd of Trump’s decision to "exit the dangerous, flawed and one-sided Iran deal."
The bipartisan unity toward Israel had begun to break down even before Trump, as Netanyahu, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, clashed with President Barack Obama I inhaled. That was the point... . Trump has further driven the partisan wedge over Israel, and it’s splitting not just Democrats from Republicans but American Jews from Netanyahu’s government.
A poll last year by the American Jewish Committee found that American Jews, only 21 percent of whom view Trump favorably, were overwhelmingly (68 percent) opposed to an immediate move of the embassy.
Perhaps American Jews recognize that Trump, and the messianic Christians driving his policy, are leading Israel away from democracy and security. And perhaps they don’t trust claims of "peace" when their own eyes see the opposite.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/19/2018 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Mideast peace is an oxymoron!
Posted by: Bag Balm ||
05/19/2018 0:17 Comments ||
Top||
Skull and Bones club member, married to a Democratic party pollster, and apparently, a wholly owned and operated branch of Hamas, despite being nominally Jewish.
In US presidential general elections he advocates voting, "for the best candidate who is NOT on the ballot."
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.
[PJ] One of the more notable differences between Watergate and the metastasizing scandals involving the FBI, our intelligence agencies, and the Obama administration -- subjects of the soon-to-be-released inspector general's report -- is that the media exposed Watergate. They aided and abetted the current transgressions.
[Daily Caller] Former Director of Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday night on CNN that it was "a good thing" there was an FBI informant spying on the Trump campaign.
[Townhall] Katie wrote about it this morning. It’s confirmed, folks. The FBI had a spy embedded with the Trump campaign. She added the bureau did not have enough evidence to launch a criminal investigation, so they executed a counterintelligence probe instead in July of 2016. The code name was "crossfire hurricane." This was the investigation signed off by FBI agent Peter Strzok. Sztrok was a top counterintelligence agent before being transferred to human resources after his extramarital affair with bureau lawyer Lisa Page was made public and the two’s texts, which numbered in the tens of thousands, were riddled with anti-Trump and pro-Hillary sentiments. Once then-FBI Director James Comey was fired by President Trump in May of 2017, Robert Mueller took over the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein oversees him.
By Dana Milbank
