Coming soon...

There's a lot to talk about, as always, but I think I'm going to spend today putting together that promised piece about "Molly's Game." Even if I write it, I may have to hold off on publication, because there are "smoke signals" in the sky indicating that Trump is a-fixin' to do something very nasty with the FBI.

Actually, there are lots of smoke signals. There's so much smoke, it's starting to seem as though a volcano went off.

Example:

Shortly after President Trump fired his FBI director in May, he summoned to the Oval Office the bureau’s acting director for a get-to-know-you meeting.

The two men exchanged pleasantries, but before long, Trump, according to several current and former U.S. officials, asked Andrew McCabe a pointed question: Whom did he vote for in the 2016 election?

As ever, Trump is trying to fill the Justice Department with loyalists, in order to protect his own ass and to pursue a vendetta against Obama and Clinton. (The vendetta stems not from any actual wrongdoing by Obama or Clinton; Trump simply wants to rewrite history.) All of this right-wing talk about FBI corruption has nothing to do with the way the FBI is handling any cases unrelated to politics. Trump cares only about protecting Trump. 

Take a look at what's going on in the semi-respectable right-wing media (in this case, the NY Post):

Yet each day brings credible reports suggesting there is a massive scandal involving the top ranks of America’s premier law enforcement agency. The reports, which feature talk among agents of a “secret society” and suddenly missing text messages, point to the existence both of a cabal dedicated to defeating Donald Trump in 2016 and of a plan to let Hillary Clinton skate free in the classified email probe.

From a less-respectable source:

There is serious talk on Capitol Hill about the appointment of a second special counsel amid several new bombshell revelations swirling around the Trump/Russia probe. First, there are the allegations of shocking and substantial government surveillance abuses under President Obama outlined in the FISA abuse memo. Secondly, the FBI lost five months of key text messages between the anti-Trump/pro-Clinton FBI officials Peter Strzok and his mistress Lisa Page. And now there's talk of a "secret society" of officials within the FBI that apparently met the day after the election of Donald J. Trump to plot against the president-elect.

All of this is conspiratard delusion.

Thanks to a relentless propaganda campaign, there are now millions of fools out there who actually believe that James Comey -- the man who put Trump in office, the man who undermined Hillary Clinton -- was part of some pro-Hillary conspiracy. This, despite the fact that the FBI offered no hint whatsoever before the election that Trump was under investigation.

Which we now know that he was.

I presume that you've been following the "Release the memo" propaganda meme. I will further presume that you don't need me to rehash the basics. Check this out:

The FBI has demanded to see a copy of the memo, but so far -- understandably -- the Intelligence Committee has declined to show them their hand. Republicans believe that publishing the memo will but pressure on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a second special counsel, Fox News reported.

"Show them their hand"? What kind of bullshit is this?

How can the memo be released to the public without the FBI seeing it?

How can the truth be served by not letting the FBI see this memo? Obviously, there can be only one reason they want to keep this memo away from the Bureau: The thing is a deceptive text put together by Republican propagandists. It was designed to generate an instant frenzy.

The Republicans intend to wallop us with a propaganda tornado. If all goes according to their plan, the thing will hit us bereft of explanation or context. A million reactionary conspiratards will inundate congress with requests for a second prosecutor ordered to hound Mueller.

Why? So Team Trump will be able to learn everything that Bob Mueller has on him. Mueller will have no more secrets. The Mueller investigation, heretofore almost completely leakproof, will suddenly start to leak, leak, leak.

Of course, if the memo is leaked to the public, the FBI will no doubt offer a response which will point out errors and omissions. We'll get some important context -- though not full context, since the Bureau will not want to be accused of leaking sources and methods. More importantly, any official response will be days in coming.

Two or three days will suffice. By that point, the second prosecutor will no doubt already be in place.

Please understand that I am not in favor of keeping the thing secret forever. I'd like to see for myself what the Republican propagandists have concocted -- and I'd like to see it soon. Show it to the FBI right now and then let others see it after the FBI has commented.

The refusal to let the Bureau view the thing offers all the proof we need that we are being subjected to a deception operation. Once again, the right has staged a masterful bit of psy-war.

Incidentally, the "Release the Memo" tweets are coming entirely from Republicans and Russians.

Also noteworthy: Chelsea Manning has revealed herself to be a far-right creep, hanging out with Mike Cernovich and other Pizzagators, hobnobbing with people who hate gays and the transgendered, and then offering utterly lame excuses -- which a number of people have exploded.

The hardest part about seeing Chelsea Manning socializing with Gavin McInnes is that, of the far right, McInnes is perhaps the most virulently transphobic. He’s called trans people “gender n****rs, and gave this speech AT that party...

For some reason, I can't link to the video, but you can guess what kind of a speech he gave. Cassandra Fairbanks (the Bernie-worshipper who pals around with Roger Stone) was at the party -- it wouldn't be an Alt Right shindig without her. Naturally, she has leaped to Manning's defense....

I introduced Chelsea to some people at the party because I like to introduce people who have different opinions and views.

What more evidence do you need that Chelsea is dirty?

Heretofore, this blog has always defended Manning. This blog has also switched to the female pronoun at the same time everyone else did. But from now on, I shall use the male pronoun in reference to Chelsea Manning, because I want to offend him. He's a traitor.

Like many another progressive, I had jumped to the conclusion that anyone who is gay or transgendered must be cool politically. It ain't necessarily so. So how the hell did Manning become like this? Roehm was not built in a day. 

Please do not interpret what I am about to say as a threat of any kind. I am not a violent individual. Sweartagod, I have not been in a physical fight since second grade. (I lost that one to a smaller kid. Taught me a lesson.) Violence is NOT NOT NOT the way.

That said: As some of you know, I'm Sicilian on my mom's side. One of the more noteworthy bits of lore I picked up from my mom is this: Some Sicilians -- not anyone in our immediate family, but some Sicilians -- have, on occasion, displayed a rather unforgiving attitude when it comes to matters of deep personal betrayal.

How unforgiving, you ask? Let's just say that if a traitor were to piss off a Sicilian to a sufficient degree, said traitor might not need to pay for SRS. And a certain no-long-useful artifact might be shoved down the traitor's throat.

(How old was I when Mom told me about that characteristically Sicilian way of settling scores? Ten, I think. Mom, wherever you are -- thanks. I can't say that my childhood was dull.)

And now, I shall get back to researching Molly Bloom.