Hi there, !
Today Mon 10/21/2019 Sun 10/20/2019 Sat 10/19/2019 Fri 10/18/2019 Thu 10/17/2019 Wed 10/16/2019 Tue 10/15/2019 Archives
Rantburg
531687 articles and 1855967 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 73 articles and 261 comments as of 10:02.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion       
Heavy fighting between Turkish/SNA and YPG/SDF
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 6: Politix
9 23:37 JohnQC [3] 
4 17:15 trailing wife [1] 
7 13:30 JohnQC [1] 
8 12:05 Abu Uluque [1] 
5 17:07 BrerRabbit [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 19:17 Dron66046 []
22 22:38 trailing wife [1]
0 []
0 []
2 22:46 james [2]
0 []
0 [1]
1 04:11 g(r)omgoru [1]
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
2 05:35 Dron66046 []
0 [1]
1 08:15 Snumble Phosh3957 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
Page 2: WoT Background
3 14:41 g(r)omgoru [1]
4 10:10 jpal []
0 [1]
0 [2]
0 [2]
0 []
0 [1]
5 15:36 Vernal Hatrick []
1 08:43 Mercutio []
0 []
4 23:08 SteveS []
1 01:17 Phomose Pheresh4103 [1]
0 [2]
1 12:41 Dron66046 []
1 12:17 rjschwarz [2]
Page 3: Non-WoT
14 22:35 bbrewer126 [2]
2 12:01 Bright Pebbles []
3 16:43 Elmerert Hupens2660 []
13 20:27 Vernal Hatrick []
1 07:35 Bobby []
1 08:17 Deacon Blues []
7 23:59 Captain Hupinesh4743 []
0 []
1 08:54 Dron66046 [1]
0 []
0 []
6 12:19 rjschwarz []
10 11:32 Daniel []
0 [2]
1 08:30 Bobby []
5 12:23 Bright Pebbles []
14 22:58 james [1]
8 23:09 james [1]
Page 4: Opinion
14 23:45 newc [1]
5 17:57 g(r)omgoru []
3 20:01 SteveS []
6 10:18 magpie []
7 22:07 trailing wife []
11 17:08 charger []
4 08:55 Lex [1]
0 [1]
26 20:11 SteveS [2]
9 12:55 Abu Uluque []
8 13:11 Abu Uluque []
Home Front: Politix
Hiillary claims Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian Asset (not from a satire site)
[NationalReview] Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asserted that the Russians are attempting to undermine the 2020 election by backing Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D., Hawaii) as a third-party candidate, stating "she's the favorite of the Russians."
"Steele and Fusion GPS told me"
Appearing on Obama campaign manager David Plouffe's podcast, Clinton made a number of claims regarding Russian meddling in U.S. elections, including that Gabbard's substantial social-media support relies on Russian bots. Gabbard was the most-searched candidate after the first and second Democratic debates.

"I think they've got their eye on someone who's currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate," Clinton said on the podcast. "She's the favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far."
Posted by: lord garth || 10/18/2019 12:52 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fire away, Tulsi. Another big fat Shitshow shit-spouter target just opened up for you...
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 13:16 Comments || Top||

#2  The antiwar candidate. What they want more than anything is *more war*.
Posted by: Herb McCoy || 10/18/2019 13:24 Comments || Top||

#3  It's interesting. When I lived in HI, Tulsi morphed from level-headed to just another flake... and now she's the only Donk Candidate with a semblance of sanity. Where o where is my Overton Window?
Posted by: Mercutio || 10/18/2019 13:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Grandma's off her meds again....

Posted by: DarthVader || 10/18/2019 14:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Gabbard is not following the group program. So Hilly takes it upon herself to correct her.
Posted by: Dale || 10/18/2019 14:25 Comments || Top||

#6  God I love ha I got Hildabeest in the public eye again. Adding her voice to the clown show of the democrat party just adds to how insane their political offerings have become. And it’s amusing so see hed dragging Webb's mute offspring along on her grifting forays like that will help her prospects for the congressional seat
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 10/18/2019 15:05 Comments || Top||

#7  Once more with the Freudian Projection.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/18/2019 20:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Tulsi had quite a response on Twitter.
Posted by: bbrewer126 || 10/18/2019 23:06 Comments || Top||

#9  HildaB paving the way for an insanity defense?
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/18/2019 23:37 Comments || Top||


"I got nothing." - Loser Dem candidate Sen. Michael Bennett figures it out
[Politico]
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 12:36 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Struggled through the bias and got as far as "undocumented migrants" before it was too much to continue.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 10/18/2019 13:14 Comments || Top||

#2  Apologies - it's a slog, agreed. I just liked the very candid last paragraph, 's all:

He’s incredible,” Bennet says of the president. “He’s got, ‘Build the wall.’ He’s got, ‘Lock her up.’ He’s got, ‘Make America Great Again.’ He’s got, ‘Drain the swamp.’”

What about Bennet?


He shrugs, staring ahead. “I got nothing.”
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 13:21 Comments || Top||

#3  And when you got nothin, you got nothin' to lose, - except the nomination!
Posted by: Raj || 10/18/2019 16:12 Comments || Top||

#4  As a presidential candidate, he makes a solid, if uninspiring, senator.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/18/2019 17:15 Comments || Top||


What it would take for Hunter Biden's story to check out
[American Thinker] Try to imagine that you are the son of a prominent politician who will ultimately rise to the second highest executive office in the land, and your very first job out of law school, when ol' Dad's a mere United States senator, is with a major bank holding company that just happens to be a major contributor to your father's political campaigns. Wonder of wonders, within two years of being a new hire, you are the executive vice president of said company. But you don't tell Daddy about that astonishing advancement because you and Dad, operating out of a keen sense of political and familial decorum, simply don't ever discuss your phenomenal career successes.
suuurrre
Then you become a Washington lobbyist, and you and your father maintain your separation and propriety with an agreement in which ol' Pops won't ask you about your lobbying clients and you won't tell him about them. One has to wonder how those seeking influence and advantage in Washington by paying your lobbying firm all those big bucks feel about how all that high-minded family rectitude serves their purposes. As for your newly acquired hedge fund, Daddy already knows about all those investors, but you're not about to ever discuss them with him.

At age 43, when many naval officers are approaching retirement, you are selected to be directly commissioned as a very junior officer in the Naval Reserve, an astounding accomplishment requiring double waivers for your being two tokes over the line: your advanced age, as well as previous drug and alcohol usage ‐ both waivers, no doubt, obtained entirely by your own ingenuity and persistence, inasmuch as you and dear ol' Dad still are maintaining that wall of professional and familial separation, meaning he would never, ever have used his position to pressure the Pentagon to offer an unheard of commission to an unqualified candidate.

Of course, it's a good move for the service: the Naval Reserve pooh-bahs could be expected to eagerly issue such waivers, considering all the benefits you can bring to their service in the decades before you retire in your sixties to collect that nice monthly pension. Ah, but then your nautical ambitions go overboard a single month later, when you can't clear a drug scan, and even dear ol' Daddy can't fade that degree of Pentagon heat ‐ not that he'd try, of course.

But your fickle fortune cookie favors you, and on a fortuitous flight to China with Pops on Air Taxpayer, you sit on opposite sides and ends of the cabin, and you speak not a word of business to each other for fourteen hours so as to maintain your principled propriety. While in China, you discuss nothing but family matters, and Dad introduces you to no one. Nor, on the return flight, do you address matters of commerce due to similar seating arrangements as before. Can you just imagine your old man's surprise when he finally learns from the financial news that the Chinese have awarded your hedge fund an investment deal worth more than $1.6 billion? You can just picture Pop's pride in his boy, except, of course, he can't discuss it with you, because it just wouldn't be proper.

Then, a year later, through your unique personal qualifications, you manage to land a sweet seat on the board of a Ukrainian natural gas company to the tune of $50K to $100K per month, in spite of being behind the curve on the country and knowing nada about natural gas except for Daddy's dazed emissions. Here you just got the boot for taking a toot, and now you are collecting some serious coin. A proud son must be champing at the bit to show Poppa what a self-made success you are, but nope, just wouldn't be proper, now, would it? So you stifle your pride and don't tell the old man a thing about this latest extraordinary turn in your fortunes, because of that conscientious clan claim to indisputable integrity ‐ which makes you wonder how Dad manages to find out about your position in time to call those clowns in Kiev and convince them to call off their corruption investigation, saving your job and your fairly earned compensation.

Try to imagine how your dear ol' daddy ever knows to do that when he doesn't even know you're on the board that's being investigated. It sure wasn't you who told him about it, because we all know that just wouldn't be proper, now would it?
Posted by: Frank G || 10/18/2019 06:34 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Goodness. When it’s put that way...
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/18/2019 8:10 Comments || Top||

#2  TW, the Shitshow deserves no less.

What we are seeing and hearing from these clowns is beyond ridiculous.

It's surreal.

Look back: we were told ...
- One of the finest judges in the nation is a serial gang rapist.
- Policemen who shoot criminals in self-defense are "murderers"
- The man who ratcheted up our confrontation with Russia on every front, including trashing our arms control treaty, closing consulates, expanding the sanctions, selling our most advanced weapons to Poland and Ukraine and even Sweden - we're told he's not a "warmonger" but an agent of the Russian state.
- an actual palace coup attempt by our intel and justice department leaders was the prevention of a coup attempt by said "Russian agent"

And now we have Hunter Biden and his dad telling us they never talked business. It's not ludicrous; it's surreal.

Welcome to the Shitshow. Bullshit is the Shitshow's stock in trade.
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  What would it take to prove that 2 + 2 = 5?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/18/2019 8:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Age 43, when many naval officers are approaching retirement, you are selected to be directly commissioned as a very junior officer in the Naval Reserve.....

And how did that work out ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/18/2019 8:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Each time I see that photo with Biden and the earpiece I think of Maxwell Smart and his secret wingtip shoe-phone.

"Would you believe...."
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 9:21 Comments || Top||

#6  Trump tells the truth and the radical Democrats try to crucify him using every fake means they can.

Joe Biden admits to getting an Ukrainian prosecutor because he is trying to prosecute Hunter. The money is then released to Ukraine after the guy is fired. Hunter admits on ABC that he would get the perks if his name were not Biden.

Posted by: JohnQC || 10/18/2019 9:24 Comments || Top||

#7  Hunter admits on ABC that he would NOT get the perks if his name were not Biden.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/18/2019 9:25 Comments || Top||

#8  What would it take to prove that 2 + 2 = 5?

ABCCBSNBCCNN telling us that, indeed 2 + 2 = 5, 24/7.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 10/18/2019 12:05 Comments || Top||


CNN and the New York Times skip climate change in the fourth Democratic debate
[GRIST] Moderators of the three previous Democratic primary debates caught a lot of flak from environmental advocates for not spending enough time on climate change. On Tuesday night, moderators of the fourth debate paved the way for a new era of climate politics by featuring warming front and center. Just kidding. In actuality not a single question about the biggest threat facing residents of the United States, and the world, was asked of the 12 candidates who qualified for the debate.

That’s despite the fact that CNN, one of the night’s two host media organizations, recently held a climate change-themed town hall during which moderators grilled candidates on all angles of the issue. The New York Times, the other host, has a team of journalists specifically assigned to climate stories. (CNN even ran a Times ad touting its climate coverage during one of the debate’s commercial breaks). And yet, somehow, CNN and the Times were unable to muster even a yes/no question about a crisis that is projected to claim millions of lives and alter the world as we know it.

Instead, the candidates were asked about hot topics in recent news cycles, like about whether President Trump should be impeached and the commander-in-chief’s recent decision to pull troops out of Syria ‐ as well as topics that have come up previously, like gun control, a wealth tax, and the minutiae of single-payer health care versus Medicare for all versus "Medicare for all who want it." That’s all well and good: It’s certainly important that voters hear from the candidates on those issues. But at the 11th hour, when it seemed the moderators might finally ask the candidates a question about climate change, they delivered a disappointment of epic proportions.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/18/2019 04:47 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  in defense of CNN, they did have a 7 hour debate on climate change just a few weeks ago
Posted by: lord garth || 10/18/2019 5:20 Comments || Top||

#2  A tactical retreat only - environmentalism is the best tool this bunch of aspiring tyrants has.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/18/2019 5:45 Comments || Top||

#3  in defense of CNN, they did have a 7 hour debate on climate change just a few weeks ago

Some people just can't get enough bullshit in their lives.
Posted by: Raj || 10/18/2019 9:17 Comments || Top||

#4  Because CNN and NYTs skip climate change in the debate does not mean that it isn't part of the agenda.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/18/2019 9:26 Comments || Top||

#5  They need to have a debate immigration. It would be a hoot.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 10/18/2019 17:07 Comments || Top||


Government
Six Takeaways from the Fourth Dem Debate
I know we've all been dying to hear how this turned out!
[NPR]The fourth Democratic debate was a long one, about three hours, and ended after 11 p.m. ET.

You might not have made it through the whole thing, but there were some potentially consequential moments.

Here are six takeaways:

1. The scrutiny came for Warren, and her vulnerabilities were exposed some

Buttigieg attacked Warren for promoting "Medicare for All," while not having a detailed plan or saying how she would pay for it.

"Look, this is why people here in the Midwest are so frustrated with Washington in general and Capitol Hill in particular," Buttigieg told Warren. "Your signature, Senator, is to have a plan for everything except this."

Klobuchar was going after Warren for, in her view, dismissing others' plans because they weren't hers.
Ouch.
The criticisms strike at Warren's core vulnerability ‐ that she's less electable than others in the race because, one, her policies are too liberal and, two, the former Harvard professor is dismissive and elitist.

2. The Biden versus Warren Rorschach test
Say what?
An exchange later in the debate certainly caught the attention of social media, but it was one that was in the eye (and ear) of the beholder.

Warren was touting her role at the inception of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau during the Obama administration when former Vice President Joe Biden objected.
Joe wanted a big piece of the credit.
It's not clear what Biden's role was exactly in whipping up votes for the CFPB. Ryan Grim at The Intercept noted that he covered the agency's creation and recalled that while a top Biden adviser was involved, Biden was not.

3. Buttigieg may be back in the game

The small-town mayor, who has become a darling of the donor class, controlled multiple exchanges and had a very strong night. In addition to taking on Warren on health care, he also went after former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke on his proposal to take away privately owned guns and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on her support of President Trump pulling U.S. troops out of Syria.
Perhaps the only person in the quadrant to support Trump.
In exchange after exchange, Buttigieg appeared to be trying to rein in Democrats from getting too far afield with policies that don't poll very well.

He said he disagreed with Biden that Trump is an "aberration," arguing that the president is a symptom of what he sees as the challenge of a changing country.
Actually, I might agree with that. Any Dims want to address that?
Buttigieg also criticized Warren for what he called "infinite partisan combat."
Think about that for a moment!
Can he sell his third way? He's at least positioned himself for the pragmatic lane if Biden falters, and he could pull from Warren's support given their overlap with college-educated white voters.


4. Questions about Hunter Biden were over and done with surprisingly quickly

The candidates ‐ and, frankly, the moderators ‐ didn't seem to want to go very deep on Biden's son Hunter and his business ties. It's somewhat surprising there wasn't more follow-up given just how much this has been talked about in recent weeks since Democrats opened their impeachment inquiry into Trump after the president's phone call with Ukraine's president.

"Look, my son did nothing wrong," Biden said. "I did nothing wrong. I carried out the policy of the United States government in rooting out corruption in Ukraine. And that's what we should be focusing on."

And that was essentially the end of the conversation. None of the other candidates wanted to touch it.

5. The previously taboo issue of age was broached

The top three Democratic candidates ‐ Warren, Biden and Sanders ‐ are all septuagenarians. Sanders is 78, Biden 76 and Warren 70. In the runup to the debate Sanders had a heart attack that took him off the campaign trail, and that became a reason for the moderators to ask about age.

Biden was asked about being 80 and handling the duties of president. "Look," Biden said, "one of the reasons I am running is because of my age and my experience. With it comes wisdom."

6. Health care was again dominant, while immigration, climate change and race didn't even come up

Once again, Democrats showed the biggest fissure in the party is on health policy. It has dominated Democratic debates for a decade, and it continuously rates as the top issue for Democrats.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/18/2019 07:46 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  #7: Amy Klobuchar isn't "Minnesota nice." She's a nasty piece of work who just pulled the same throw-a-dear-relative-under-the-bus stunt, in front of a national audience, that Hussein did with when he called his white grandma a racist.

Recall that this was the woman who took Barry in and raised him when his hippie mom and deadbeat dad weren't around.

Barry showed his true colors in that moment; Klobuchar showed the nation her true nature last night.

We've been warned.

Here's the excerpt from J Meloso of American Thinker's piece today:

The candidates are just plain weird. For example, Senator Amy Klobuchar, in discussing the need for rehabilitation of drug addicts, said her father, now age 91 in a nursing home, was an alcoholic who had three DUIs and was told after his third DUI that he could go to rehab or to jail. This is nice. The poor guy is in a nursing home, and his daughter used his story to get some applause. Even the audience, composed of the rabid Democratic base, was silent. Klobuchar has no shame. This was elder abuse.



Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 8:51 Comments || Top||

#2  I carried out the policy of the United States government in rooting out corruption in Ukraine.

How is shutting down an investigation into corruption "rooting out corruption"? This is how they lie.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 10/18/2019 11:53 Comments || Top||

#3  ^ Shitshow, Part 137
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 11:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Excellent post Bobby.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/18/2019 11:59 Comments || Top||

#5  In exchange after exchange, Buttigieg appeared to be trying to rein in Democrats from getting too far afield with policies that don't poll very well. He said he disagreed with Biden that Trump is an "aberration," arguing that the president is a symptom of what he sees as the challenge of a changing country.

[Bobby] Actually, I might agree with that. Any Dims want to address that?

Seconded. This guy has some residue of common sense and is unafraid to show it. He could be dangerous in the general. Watch him.
Posted by: Lex || 10/18/2019 12:03 Comments || Top||

#6  Buttigieg is aiming for a VP slot. Dems want the first women president first, the first gay president can come next. There are simply too many women voters for it to go the other way.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 10/18/2019 12:40 Comments || Top||

#7  #6 rjschwarz. We already had the first gay president.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/18/2019 13:30 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
33[untagged]
13Sublime Porte
7Commies
5Taliban
3Islamic State
3Arab Spring
2Hamas
1Govt of Pakistan
1Govt of Sudan
1Govt of Syria
1Govt of Iran
1al-Nusra
1Govt of Iran Proxies
1Govt of Iraq

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2019-10-18
  Heavy fighting between Turkish/SNA and YPG/SDF
Thu 2019-10-17
  Pence announces ceasefire at the US Embassy in Turkey.
Wed 2019-10-16
  Spain, Sweden, Canada, UK halting sales of military material to Ankara
Tue 2019-10-15
  Notre-Dame plot: Five women jailed over foiled car bomb attack
Mon 2019-10-14
  Trump tells Pentagon to begin withdrawing remaining troops from northern Syria
Sun 2019-10-13
  Syria now considers itself at war with Turkey!
Sat 2019-10-12
   Palestinians riot on Gaza border; 49 said wounded
Fri 2019-10-11
  Orange Man confirms bomb maker and terrorist Ibrahim al-Asiri is Tango Uniform
Thu 2019-10-10
  2 ISIS 'Beatles' transferred from Syrian prison to US military custody
Wed 2019-10-09
  Possible terror attack with automatic guns in Halle (Germany)
Tue 2019-10-08
  Turkey starts bombing Kurds
Mon 2019-10-07
  Iraqi premier rejects resignation of seven ministers, Baghdad governor steps down
Sun 2019-10-06
  91 protesters killed by Iraqi police over week of demonstrations
Sat 2019-10-05
  Masked gunmen attack TV stations reporting the protests in Iraq
Fri 2019-10-04
  At least 35 Russian mercenaries killed fighting for Haftar in Libya

Better than the average link...



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.
3.237.44.242
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (24)    WoT Background (15)    Non-WoT (18)    Opinion (11)    (0)