... there are all sorts of things to talk about.
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January 11, 2018
At the Dog-and-Cat Café...
... there are all sorts of things to talk about.
And remember the Althouse Portal for your Amazon shopping.
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55 comments:
A day or two ago there was a post regarding Diane Feinstein (D-Senile), unilaterally releasing the full testimony of a co-founder of the firm behind the infamous Russia dossier. There was a back and forth on that AA post regarding the alleged superior intelligence the aforementioned senator.
Subsequently the senator was quoted: "The one regret I have is that I should have spoke with Senator Grassley before. And I don't make an excuse but I've had a bad cold and maybe that slowed down my mental facilities a little bit.”
Facilities????? Who said she's lost it?
Meade was right, and this year's flu is indeed a beggar.
As for DiFi's "faculties," perhaps her rather advanced age may also have something to do with it?
Feinstein did it because she knew an apology (of sorts) to Grassley and a lame excuse that would shame a fifth grader would get her a pass from the media for her inexcusable actions.
I've been listening to the Heaven's Gate podcast. Not S-Town quality and light on the explanatory background material that separates history from sensationalism. Nevertheless very listenable and enough fuel for hours of diner/bar/kitchen table conversation.
Now I'm no Scott Adams but...
J. Farmer said...
This has a whiff of an avalanche to it. Stay tuned.
10/5/17, 5:39 PM
"In public, [Harvey Weinstein] presents himself as a liberal lion, a champion of women and a winner of not just artistic but humanitarian awards."
Hard to imagine that Durbin/Graham/Flake think their immigration proposal is going to fly.
No, Farmer, you certainly aren’t.
Fusion GPS was a contractor for FBI.
Working for the FBI, Fusion GPS was allowed to search through NSA data bases.
This was the situation until April 18, 2016, when NSA Director Mike Rogers prohibited further searches.
On the next day, April 19, Mary Jacobs, the wife of Fusion's owner Glenn Simpson, visited the White House.
A few days later in April 2016, the Clinton campaign hired Fusion GPS.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/11/the-doj-and-fbi-worked-with-fusion-gps-on-operation-trump/
"Fusion GPS was a contractor for FBI."
Why would the FBI hire Fusion to go through the NSA database. I don't get it.
Comey has a book scheduled for Spring release..
I don't think it's named "Make like a curtain"
Original Mike at 9:22 PM
Why would the FBI hire Fusion to go through the NSA database.
To search for information about Donald Trump and his associates.
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/11/the-doj-and-fbi-worked-with-fusion-gps-on-operation-trump/
Pussy hats..meet pussy cafe
"To search for information about Donald Trump and his associates."
I read the CTH piece. I am searching for the FBI's motive to hire Fusion rather than do it themselves.
@Meadehouse: I read today on Twitter that Paul Soglin is going to run against Scott Walker. Is this true?
That would be race worth following.
Soglin declared his candidacy, but he's got to win the D primary before running against Walker.
Yes chikelit
Original Mike said...Soglin declared his candidacy, but he's got to win the D primary before running against Walker.
Who would oppose him, Russ Feingold?
Paul Soglin has got to have thee worst upstate image and reputation of any recent Dem.
I need to correct my first comment. NSA Director Rogers did not stop the searches of the NSA databases on April 18, 2016. What happened on that date was that the FBI stopped Fusion GPS from further searches, because the FBI learned that Roger was looking into the FBI-Fusion arrangement.
Rogers himself stopped all agencies and contractors from continuing any such searches on October 26, 2016.
The Conservative Treehouse article includes the following passages.
[quote; emphasis added]
.... It was an FBI “private contractor” that was conducting the unauthorized FISA-702 Queries.
We [Conservative Treehouse] have been tipped off that the contractor in question was, unbelievably, Fusion-GPS.
It is almost certain this early 2016 series of FISA-702 compliance violations was the origin of NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers concern. His discovery becomes the impetus for Director Rogers requesting the 2016 full compliance audit. It appears Fusion-GPS was the FBI contracted user ....
As soon as the FBI discovered Mike Rogers was now looking at the searches, the FBI discontinued allowing their sub-contracted agent access to the raw FISA information effective April 18th, 2016.
Fusion-GPS was working on behalf of the FBI? Fusion-GPS was a contractor for the FBI? Fusion-GPS was being paid by the FBI?… while using access to research Trump
On April 19th, 2016, the day after the FBI stopped allowing access to the FISA database, the wife of Fusion-GPS founder Glenn Simpson, Mary B Jacoby, went to the White House.
[end quote]
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/11/the-doj-and-fbi-worked-with-fusion-gps-on-operation-trump/
In other words, he would exacerbate existing polarity in Wisconsin.
He's yuuuge in Fox Valley
@Big Mike:
No, Farmer, you certainly aren’t.
Ouch. But honestly, I just never mustered the energy to get into Adams' commentary. It's a kind of Freudian obsession with hidden impulses and motives that seems to intrigue Ann and a lot of the commenters here. I really could not care less about Trump has a human being or what the makeup of his psychology is. It is what he does that matters. If he does something I think is wrong, I'll say why I think it is wrong. If he does something I think is right, I will say why it is right. Why he does it seems completely irrelevant to me.
chickelit...I'm not really up on the democrat challengers, but I think there are several. Tony Evers (superintendent of educatioon) is probably the most prominent.
I read the CTH piece. I am searching for the FBI's motive to hire Fusion rather than do it themselves.
@Original, perhaps the people they would have had to assign the task to were too honest and could not be trusted not to let someone know that an illegal surveillance was going on? Just a hypothesis.
"In other words, he would exacerbate existing polarity in Wisconsin."
Dude,
Yup, Paul is already exacerbating exasperation:
http://althouse.blogspot.com/2018/01/madison-mayor-paul-soglin-jostled-his.html
"@Original, perhaps the people they would have had to assign the task to were too honest and could not be trusted not to let someone know that an illegal surveillance was going on? Just a hypothesis."
Peter Strzok had qualms? Although I guess he was busy at the time running cover for Hillary.
Continuing my comment from 9:54 PM
The FBI stopped Fusion GPS from searching through the NSA database on April 18, 2016. On the next day, April 18, Mary Jacoby, the wife of Fusion's owner Glenn Simpson, visited the White House.
The Conservative Treehouse continues the story.
[quote]
What plan came from that April 19th,2016 White House meeting? .... Glenn Simpson and Mary Jacoby, Fusion-GPS hires Nellie Ohr ...
Nellie H. Ohr, wife of the demoted official, Bruce G. Ohr, worked for the opposition research firm .... Mrs. Ohr has written extensively on Russia-related subjects. .... She was paid by Fusion GPS through the summer and fall of 2016.
The Clinton campaign hires Fusion GPS (April 2016), who then sub-contract retired British MI6 agent Christopher Steele ....
Nellie Ohr applied for a HAM radio license on May 23rd, 2016. ...
[end quote]
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/11/the-doj-and-fbi-worked-with-fusion-gps-on-operation-trump/
Continuing my comment from 10:07 PM
The Conservative Treehouse sums up the new information.
[quote]
... the FBI was working with Christopher Steele through their contractor Fusion-GPS. Yes, the FBI and Clinton Team were, in essence, both paying Christopher Steele for his efforts. The FBI paid via their sub-contractor Fusion-GPS.
Lastly, when the DOJ/FBI used the Steele Dossier to make their prior surveillance activity legal, their October FISA application, they are essentially using the outcome of a process they created themselves in collaboration with both Fusion GPS and the Clinton campaign.
All research indicates the information the DOJ and FBI collected via their FISA-702 queries, combined with the stuff Fusion GPS created in their earlier use of contractor access to FISA-702(17) “about queries”, was the data delivered to Christopher Steele for use in creating “The Russian Dossier”.
[end quote]
@Farmer, very refreshing. Obama taught me to ignore what he said and look at what he did. I apply the same principle to Trump. If he was one of my staff I'd grab a conference room and discuss the need to think before speaking, but his instincts, thus far, have been very good (though I recognize that you and I disagree about his foreign policy).
@anti-de Sitter: Thanks! I completely missed that post. :(
@Original, what makes you think Strzok had the knowledge required to formulate efficient queries against massive databases? Big data analytics is not for the dilettante.
This photo endears Soglin to Althouse and Meade better than the one with Castro.
Oh but he was so much older then, he's younger than that now.
From the moment when Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller to the Special Counsel position, both men were well informed about the FBI's prior arrangement of paying Fusion GPS as a subcontractor to search through the NSA's database.
Rosenstein selected Mueller because Mueller was the one person in the entire world who was most motivated and able to whitewash the FBI.
From the first day of his "investigation", Mueller has had all the information he needed to inform the US public that the RussiaGate matter was simply a hoax concocted by Fusion and its FBI enablers for the purpose of defaming Donald Trump.
Instead of informing the public, Mueller has spent the past year disinforming the public by means of a continual series of leaks to defame and trouble our President.
The only thing Mueller has been investigating is how he can get Trump's tax documents in order to use them to remove Trump from office.
Mueller was a leaker when he headed the FBI, and he taught that dark art to his successor, "Crazy Comey the Leaker". Now again, Mueller is a leaker in his position of Special Counsel.
Mueller has been doing nothing productive but trying to get Trump's tax documents in order to leak them to Nicholas Kristof in order to remove Trump from office.
"From the moment when Rod Rosenstein appointed Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller to the Special Counsel position, both men were well informed about the FBI's prior arrangement of paying Fusion GPS as a subcontractor to search through the NSA's database."
Whether the FBI paid Steele has been a question for awhile now but this is the first I've heard the hypothesis that the FBI was paying Fusion. That would be something.
@Big Mike - So that would be a motive, if Simpson had skills the Trump Project conspirators within the FBI didn't.
From the moment when Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller was offered the Special Counsel position by Rod Rosenstein, both men were well informed about the FBI-Fusion relationship and knew that the appointment of Mueller was inappropriate.
The purpose of appointing a Special Counsel is to satisfy the public that a matter has been investigated in a non-partisan, objective manner.
That is not Mueller's purpose.
Mueller's top three goals have been to:
* whitewash the FBI
* whitewash his BFF "Crazy Comey the Leaker"
* convict a scapegoat (someone like Scooter Libbey) in order to make the public think that the FBI's "investigation" of Russiagate was valid and worthwhile.
Mueller's fourth goal has been to employ his gang of Trump-hating lawyers to investigate how to get Trump's tax documents so that Mueller can leak them and thus remove Trump from the Presidency.
Mueller has no interest at all in satisfying the public that his Special Counsel "investigation" will satisfy the public that a non-partisan, objective investigation has determined whether Russia meddled in the 2016 Presidential election.
Original Mike at 9:22 PM
Why would the FBI hire Fusion to go through the NSA database.
Remember that Edward Snowden was a contractor who was allowed to roam throughout NSA's databases and take whatever he wanted.
There have been several commenters on Twitter who have voiced the theory that Mueller is actually investigating the Clintons, the DNC, etc. Interesting if true. I'd like to believe that this whole thing is a sting operation, but it may be wishful thinking.
I do think the IG report of Horowitz on the 15th (at least the preliminary one) is going to be an atom bomb in DC. I think the Dems are in a world of trouble.
I really could not care less about Trump has a human being or what the makeup of his psychology is. It is what he does that matters. If he does something I think is wrong, I'll say why I think it is wrong. If he does something I think is right, I will say why it is right. Why he does it seems completely irrelevant to me.
J. Farmer, we've got our differences, but I wouldn't deny that you are an intelligent man. But you are so shockingly obtuse. Which probably explains a lot of the crap you get on this blog. In a word: Is there in your mind no value to the quality of *prediction*? If you understand why someone does something, you may understand what they're going to do next! Call me crazy, but I think about 7 billion people would like to know what President Trump is going to do next.
You have lots of data, but no insight. For all your subtleties you have not wisdom. This is not meant to be insulting, it's a very sober reflection. How do you not see this?
It's not just me. Sun Tzu says that knowing yourself is not enough; to win the other half of the battles, you need to know the other guy.
Andrew at 11:55 PM
Mueller is actually investigating the Clintons, the DNC, etc.
Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller does not deserve any presumption of good motives.
If Mueller were an honorable person, then he would have:
* refused the offer to become Special Counsel
* hired a bipartisan staff
* concluded his investigation quickly
* informed the public that the FBI and Fusion were in cahoots
Mueller is NOT an honorable person. He is trying to defame, harass and remove the elected President.
If Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller were an honorable person, then he would have:
* indicted James Comey for leaking FBI secret information.
Mueller NEVER will indict Comey for leaking.
Mueller TAUGHT COMEY how to leak.
Althouse:
Happy Birthday!
--reader_iam
Althouse:
Happy Birthday!
Oh? Seconded! You and Rush as well.
What did Trump say? The news says "blank-hole country."
Probably asshole.
How's it playing on the nation's campuses. There must be a lot of need for safe spaces today.
There seems to be a shitstorm.
From the Economist Magazine's very critical review of Trump year 1: "Each time Mr. Trump's critics put their aim of stopping him above their means of doing so, they feed partisanship and help set a precedent that will someday be used against a good president fighting a worthy but unpopular cause."
Hey it's Martin Luther King day.
The father of many of our streets in black neighborhoods. The rest of his legacy has been forgotten as not convenient for affirmative action.
MLK failed to foster resentment, today's emotion of choice.
@Molly. Allow me to expand the Economist's point. Every strategy the commie-pinko lefties use against Trump will come back for use against their future candidates.
Additionally, it's only because Jeff Sessions is an honorable sort that he hasn't used DOJ against Trump's enemies. Which is why he should be canned. We have a street fighter as president, we need Attila the Hun as AG.
On Scott Adams's poor countries with bad schools.
That's what Derbyshire calls the magic dirt theory of education. The evidence points to bad students, as it seems to be impervious to money spent in various attempts in the U.S.
So it actually comes down to a literal form of racism, that there are genetic differences in separated populations that evolve many generations without interbreeding.
What's missing in this form of literal racism is any ill-wishing. Its question is what to do to help that might actually help. Wishing well is a big part of today's literal racism
Teaching good character, which covers practically everything you need in life, would be my solution. They used to do that. There would be fathers involved too.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan was an early (D) prophet on the consequences of the destruction of the black family.
In the meantime, a merit based immigration system would be nice. At least don't favor shithole countries. Same test for everybody.
Bad Lieutenant said...
But you [Farmer] are so shockingly obtuse.
No, he's right.
Which probably explains a lot of the crap you get on this blog.
He's definitely one of the smartest and best informed posters here.
In a word: Is there in your mind no value to the quality of *prediction*?
That's more words than a word.
If you understand why someone does something, you may understand what they're going to do next!
Actually, no you don't. The best prediction of future behavior is past behavior.
If I want to predict your "posting behavior" on this blog, I'd look at your past behavior; your motivation is irrelevant, and in fact you probably can't even understand and describe your own motivations well enough to allow someone else to predict what you'll do, posting wise, in the future.
Call me crazy, but I think about 7 billion people would like to know what President Trump is going to do next.
They won't do that by pretending they understand his psychology or motivations.
The Thread is in the past and under moderation so I may as well drop it, but I will observe, Ferdinand, that it is you making these comments, not him to whom they were addressed.
That said, they are not necessarily in opposition. If I predict that the next time Michael K posts on anything, however innocuous and correct, you will brutally and gratuitously attack him, that could be either because you have always done so in the past, or because of your mental state. In fact, they probably ride together.
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