Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Clarification and updates

In the preceding post, I published a picture labeled "Russian spy Maria Butina in the Oval Office." Several readers have posted links to a Gizmodo article which demonstrates that the woman in the picture is someone else.

I knew that. I knew it all along.

What we are dealing with here is a simple slip of the keyboard. The label was supposed to read "This WOULDN'T be Russian spy Maria Butina in the Oval Office." I don't know why the first three words were left off, although I suspect a conspiracy by the Deep State.

You want a better explanation? All right. Here's what happened: You see, there were these DNC servers, and the FBI was supposed to look at the servers, and all I want to know is, what was on those servers? What? Also, 30,000 emails. Fake news. Sad. I am 100 percent supportive of our intelligence agencies.

I think that clarifies things pretty good by itself (to quote our eloquent leader).

By the way: It was hilarious to see Trump try to blame the negative reaction to his disastrous press conference on "the fake news." For chrissakes, we all watched the thing in real time, as it happened.

On a more serious note... Let's talk about that really weird shit Trump spouted in Helsinki about a DNC server. Are you wondering what the hell he was burbling on about? This. Trump was referencing a situation in which the DNC was the victim -- a situation in which neither the FBI nor the DNC did anything wrong. (Putin did.) Trump obviously had no idea what he was talking about -- or how computers work.

God damn, but that nonsense Trump said in Helsinki has to be the stupidest blast of conspiracy vomit ever to rocket out of that man's copious gut.

A few other updates...

The Manafort trial was delayed because Mueller wants an immunity deal for five witnesses, people whose names have not heretofore been connected to the case. I'm cool with that, but a little sad to see that Manafort is not going to flip.

(Note to self: Never get your hopes up, particularly when it comes to these incessant "he's gonna flip" predictions.)

You think Hope Hicks might be one of the five? That could be droll.

The Mariia Butina affadavit references Dana Rohrabacher. Yes, he's the congressman.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) is the U.S. Congressman named in Monday's FBI affidavit against Russian national Maria Butina, which alleges Rohrabacher was part of a 2015 delegation that traveled to Moscow and planned to meet with a Russian official widely believed to be Alexander Torshin, reports The Daily Beast.
By the way, Josh Marshall says that "Mariia" (with two Is) is the correct spelling of Ms. Butina's first name. Henceforward, I may go with "Maria," since she doesn't seem to mind that.

Cambridge Analytica and Russia. We have further confirmation.
Damian Collins, the Conservative MP leading a British parliamentary investigation into online disinformation, told CNN that a British investigation found evidence that the data, collected by Professor Aleksandr Kogan on behalf of Cambridge Analytica, had been accessed from Russia and other countries.
Kogan! I forgot to mention him in my previous piece on CA and Russia. Has there ever been any doubt as to Kogan's true loyalties?

Tom Arnold. You may be interested in his most recent tweet...
How will history remember Mark Burnett? Affable Christian producer of a Jesus doc & America's favorite singing show? Or a man who allowed his best friend Donald Trump to sexually harass his employees & made them sign 10 yr NDA's & now sits on his $$$ & tapes while America falls?
The responses in that thread are not without interest. One tweet mysteriously name-drops Semion Mogilevich, the incredible vile crime boss who traffics in underaged prostitutes. Another tweet reads thus:
Tom, Mark Burnett & NBC colluded with Donald Trump on the Apprentice to knowingly defraud investors for years. Trump Soho, Tampa, Baja Mexico, Trump University, Cap Cana & the Trump brand were all promoted by Burnett & NBC even after the criminal frauds were publicly known.
We have good reason to believe that certain Trump properties had ties to the Russian mob, although I do not know if the producer of the Apprentice had any awareness of such things.

If the fabled Apprentice tapes do contain evidence of sexual harassment, might it now be possible to subpoena them pursuant to a legal action against Trump by one of the women who have made claims against him? Remember, during the Paula Jones trial, Clinton was grilled about Monica Lewinski in order to establish a pattern of behavior. I did not agree with that line of inquest at the time (and still do not) but if Clinton's pattern was aired, then Trump's pattern also deserves an airing.

And I'd really, really like to see those tapes.

Finally: If there are still protests at the White House this weekend, there is some possibility that I may attend. Is it acceptable to bring dogs to these events? Perhaps my young pooch Charlie could wear signage: "POOP ON PUTIN" and "TINKLE ON TRUMP."

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm posting this again now that everybody's speaking the word "treason". Seems that this video segment could be put to good use by someone;

We're all familiar with Trump's habit of projecting his own negative behaviors and toxic personality traits upon others. And most of us know how a bad poker player will show "tells", behavioral quirks that give away his state of mind.

Watch a reporter directly ask Donald about Russian collusion; Trump deflects the question by switching the topic to Crooked Hillary's cheating in the elections... then he reveals what's really been on his mind by talking about getting the electric chair.

Start at minute 40:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5FRUM-AK9k&t=2788s

Sharon said...

"You think Hope Hicks might be one of the five?"
Joe, how do you keep all these balls in the air? Hope Hicks slipped my mind until just now.

Mr Mike said...

Donald Trump is a cult like Scientology or Mormon. Otherwise intelligent people, like my PhD kid sister are true believers. Congressional republicans are keeping shut about the Great White Dope's Helsinki Chernobyl bc retaliation from the Trumptards.
The only remedy for the madness is a Blue GOTV effort this November and 2020.
Inre Bernie Sanders: The Gipper during 1980 primarily said something about not going negative on the other candidates bc the opposition could use it during the general election. Somebody should give the Bernie Bros n Hos a clue.
The Cambridge Analytica/Facebook/Russian troika will be working to suppress Democrats turnout with negative stories about candidates including #metoo tales. We need a strategy to counter. Any thoughts?

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why Hillary and her team are so quite now. Why don't they go all out with a law suit or something. They are not going to have new enemies for sure. This passive attitude what got us here in the first place.

gavan said...

Does anyone seriously believe that Hillary should be running for anything? Look, I buy it that she has been smeared but the stench will always remain. To continue for what purpose? Aren't there other Dem candidates out there? The BernieBots are nuts but they have tapped into the fact that a large segment of the population wants somebody else, somebody with less of an aura of entitlement.

Mr Mike said...

gavan @ 6:40 you drank the borscht. Only people thinking Hillary has a sense of entitlement are Bernie Bros n Hos. Sorry man you been had.

Anonymous said...

That's besides the point. Obviously the election was stolen, and she won. She should be making noise about it, if not taking it to the court. What is new about Sanders? He was a senator 5 years before Hillary. Sitting on your ass there collecting salary then decades later decides to make noise doesn't qualify as new. I bet the only reason he ran to begin with is bc he was sure to count on CDS to give him a platform. The coward.

gavan said...

There are a few arguments here Mr Mike, First, defectors from Trump might swallow that they were wrong about him but their stubborn pride forbids them from being wrong in their hate for Hillary. They have to be able to hate something in the Lib sphere. Second, I've never really been impressed with HRC. Remember, her domestic policies are fine but she was spruiking an army of jihadists ripping Syria to shreds and backing Nazis in Ukraine. No moral principles there. Of course Sanders and Co are worse but HRC could serve a valuable role as a very public Democrat Party elder promoting new talent. And yes, she does have a sense of entitlement and it's boring.