September 29, 2019

“He’s been forecasting that the ‘deep state’ is out to get him, and there’s a way in which the narrative of the whistleblower can come to confirm all of that for his followers.”

Said historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, “an expert on authoritarianism at New York University,” quoted in “Staring down impeachment, Trump sees himself as a victim of historic proportions” (WaPo).

170 comments:

gilbar said...

yes! Being shot at, can confirm that people are out to get you!

David Begley said...

Well, haven’t facts proven Trump to be correct?

rhhardin said...

Trump doesn't see himself as a victim. It's a fair fight, to him; and he's better at it.

Fernandinande said...

"He’s been forecasting that the ‘deep state’ is out to get him, and there’s a way in which the narrative of the whistleblower can come to confirm all of that for his followers.”

A complicated way of saying that Trump was right.

Mike Sylwester said...

Indeed, Donald Trump has exposed the Deep State that exists.

Fortunately, The Resistance in DOJ/FBI has been exposed enough to paralyze it there. Nobody in DOJ/FBI still is trying to undo the 2016 Presidential election.

Unfortunately, the exposure of The Resistance in the CIA is only beginning. There, still, Resistance die-hards still are tying to undo the election.

I expect that the Resistance in the CIA will be finally crushed when William Barr releases several reports in the coming weeks.

The House Democrats still will be trying to undo the 2016 election, but they no longer will enjoy enthusiastic, active support from inside the Intelligence Community.

The Intelligence Community will be trying to rebuild its reputation as a professional, non-partisan institution that serves the entire US population. Therefore, the Intelligence Community will carefully consider and slow-walk all requests from the House's Democrats.

chuck said...

Notes from the land of woo-woo. If Ruth Ben-Ghiat isn't making money in Vegas as a mind reader I see no reason to take her opinions seriously. As to impeachment, it is a low grade magic show where the audience has already seen the clumsy slight of hand. The Democrats aren't ready for prime time.

PJ57 said...

Just because these events bear a family resemblance to the Reichstag fire doesn't make them or Trump's and his supporters' interpretation of them untrue.

Oso Negro said...

I am not surprised to read that New York University has a problem with authoritarianism. How that relates to the persecution of Donald Trump by the Deep State, I am not sure.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

David Frum said ...
Once you realize that "deep state" is code for "the rule of law," you can translate their jibberish into English.


Darrell said...

You mean the second-hand "whistleblower" that need a rule change by Democrats to allow the farce to proceed and that has been wrong about all the details? Not to mention the "whistleblower's" connections.

MickV said...

Why do you repeat Left wing talking points "Law Prof"? Trump is taking apart the Deep State while acting as Braer Rabbit, but neither you or the MSM get it.

Darrell said...

Deep State is code for a bunch of assholes that think that they know better than the voters. Like ARM.

narciso said...

They are like the early 20th century okrana that solzhenitsyn blamed in part for enabling tye revolution for getting rid of stolypin.

narciso said...

Carrying over:
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/09/adam_schiffs_impeachment_fun_playhouse.html

HT said...

Anything that Dump doesn't like is Deep State. You all have the worst case of Trump Derangement Syndrome I've ever seen outside of breitbart.

Mark said...

So he failed to drain the swamp.
Kind of like that wall Mexico never paid for.
Or any of his other failed promises.

Poor little baby Trump. Maybe he can put on his big boy pants and not be such a beta pajamaboy griping on Twitter at 4AM.

Qwinn said...

If Frum said that, he's a moron. The single most distinguishing characteristic of the Deep State is that it holds itself completely above "the rule of law", and it is why they must be defeated.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I voted for him to be President. I’m a voter. I’m a supporter. I support the president.

I despise the media because of their contempt for me, and I reject their attempts to turn my vote into a cult. I’m not a FOLLOWER as this authoritarian asshat writes. I don’t worship him as leftist commenters here have written. I voted for him. He won. Maybe the real cult is the unceasing media gaslight crew trying to overturn the last election. Maybe Miss Authoritarian should ponder that.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

David Frum is an idiot that always ran losing campaigns. Once you realize media like him are simply Democrat operatives with media credentials you can dismiss their gibberish as spin.

FIFY

Kevin said...

“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.” — Auric Goldfinger

Trump has not been “forecasting” in a vacuum.

Kevin said...

Where were all these “experts on authoritarianism” during Obama’s administration?

Or any other?

CWJ said...

I too was ticked off being styled a "follower."

I cannot improve upon Mike (MJB Wolf)'s comment above.

Ray - SoCal said...

Agree, CIA has not been cleaned out yet.

The head of the London Office during the time a lot of the BS in the uk happened, is now the head of the CIA.

Another huge center of the uniparty resistance is the Senate select committee on intelligence.

Interesting that Bill Barr is in Italy - where is Mifsud?

This Ukraine BS could be a preemptive attack for all the stuff that will be released soon, including indictments.

With all the Resistance and this new Ukraine stuff, I don’t think it’s hurt Trump a lot, but it has resulted in a lot of high level firings and resignations In the fbi and justice. And it resulted in a mid term pick up of 2 Senate seats. Would have been more, but for the eGOP.

Phil 314 said...

If you proceed with the presumption of guilt (“He’s guilty of _______” [insert despicable crime here]) then any accusation, any sort of “evidence “ proves his guilt. If only Dems could just step back a second and realize how crazy they’ve been.

The response to Trump is NOT he Green New Deal or Drag Queen story hour.

Unknown said...

Even Schumer (Schumer!) warned Trump about how the intelligence agencies would go after him. It ain't paranoia if they're really out to get you.

MBunge said...

What's missing from that ridiculous article are two things:

1. There is NO EVIDENCE that anything Russia did or anything Russia is accused of doing actually affected the 2016 election.

2. Trump's enemies, including everyone attacking him over Ukraine now, spent 2 1/2 years essentially calling Trump a traitor, an agent of Russian influence who colluded with Russia to affect the 2016 election. That was untrue. Not only were they wrong but where did that accusation come from and why was it endlessly repeated for 2 1/2 years when there was never anything to support it?

Mike

Hagar said...

If the "whistleblower" appears before Congress, he/she is going to be sharply questioned about exactly who told him/her about all these things.
How does he/she avoid answering without being cited for contempt?

ThunderChick said...

The WaPo article is comical. If Trump did nothing, then he would be guilty. Because Trump fights back, he is playing the victim card. Yes, there is a Deep State that exists and #resistance is proof that the Dems and Deep State were going to do anything and everything to bring down Trump. I agree with our hostess that this whole Ukrainian farce is a last ditch effort by the Dems to take down Trump because they know 2020 is not looking good for them.

BUMBLE BEE said...

For the Donald I'm thinking Elton John's "I'm Still Standing". For Mark and HT ... George Harrison's "Gossip".

Ray - SoCal said...

The house and senate are on a 2 week break.

What matters is the polls in two weeks.

This gives 2 weeks for the Dems with their msm allies and/or Trump to set the narrative.

My moneys on Trump.

The Democrats and their intelligence allies will regret this.

BUMBLE BEE said...

"Devil's Radio"... my bad

Michael K said...

Therefore, the Intelligence Community will carefully consider and slow-walk all requests from the House's Democrats.

Disagree. The IC is not only disloyal to the elected president, But it is incompetent. The entire Chinese and Iranians agent networks were identified and the agents all executed or imprisoned because the CIA created a communications system that was easily hacked and exposed the agents.
\\It is time to shut down the CIA and its 20,000 "analysts" that do nothing but read foreign language newspapers and plot coups.

Valerie P{lame was a warning, that was ignored. Aldrich Ames was worse. He was not even discovered by the agency,

James K said...

Trump sees himself not as a victim but as a target. "Victim" suggests defeat, "target" means the fight is ongoing. And of course he is a target.

Kevin said...

The Dems ignore Pelosi’s press conference happened before the transcript or report had been released.

They literally needed no evidence to proceed.

wildswan said...

If Trump could subpoena from past Dem Presidents like Obama and Clinton the same material that Congress is requesting from him, e.g. transactions with the Ukraine or whatever the Committee of Six Committees comes up with, because he needs it to show to C6C that what he, Trump, has been doing is in line with his predecessors (or perhaps was different because more honest) then he could expose the double standard being applied to him. Similarly, supposing they want financial records, he could request the papers showing how much money the members of the C6C had before they were in Congress as compared to what they now have and sort of point out that he is not six times as rich as he was but they are and they are investigating him because he said he would drain the swamp which is the members of C6C coming in poor and going out rich. And if they say he has to give them White House deliberations or financials because impeachment then he could request records of other Presidents and Congresscritter financials of the C6C because impeachment.

Browndog said...

Clearly this is a CIA operation in tandem with the House intel committee.

Gina Haskel runs the CIA.

Gina Haskel was the London station chief during Crossfire Hurricane.

Gina Haskel had broad 'bi-partisan' support during her confirmation.

buwaya said...

I should not be reading annoyances like this, or Frum, at bedtime.

Anyway, what you are dealing with is of course your cold civil war, which is, roughly, that of the people, or the middle class, against the alliance of the upper class and its state structure, of which the "deep state" concept is inadequate to describe. It is much bigger and more integrated and widespread than just senior bureaucrats covering for each other.

This is a classic revolutionary conflict, of "guerilla" forces against a massive, well-funded governing structure, complete with security agencies, a secret police, and a massive centrally controlled propaganda system. Moreover it has sufficient control over the economy and the public face of society to punish individual dissidents almost as Vaclav Havel described.

The only curious thing is that the alignment of forces includes the wild-card of Trump, an irritant in the ostensible executive seat. As we know however, it is one thing to sit in the saddle, and quite another to control a vicious, hostile animal.

Anyway, compared to being in the US, over here, for now, I breathe the air of liberty. It is of course rather humid and stuffy, with all the smells of the the third world tropics, but you can look another man in the eye and tell the truth.

rehajm said...

How does he/she avoid answering without being cited for contempt?

Lawfare will find a way..

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Billionaire Beta-boy Beto is now asking Trump to resign.

rehajm said...

What is striking is how the left never learns what dirty tricks they use against Republicans will be used against them later. Go ahead and lower the standard for impeachment to 'because we don't like you' and see how that goes...

Seeing Red said...

How does the whistleblower not look like a whiner, loser and taking one for the team?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Frum is wrong.

Deep State = democratic rice bowl collusion corruption - and it all peaks out at Hillary Clinton.

Gusty Winds said...

“:::his followers...”

Supporters? Voters? They use that word to delegitimize 63 million people.

D. said...

>Kind of like that wall Mexico never paid for.<

Who's paying for the 15,000 Mexican troops stationed on Mexico's southern border?

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2019/06/mexico-sends-15000-troops-to-us-border/

buwaya said...

Nothing has changed since the end of 2016 really, other than that the shape of the conflict as it was established then has become more obvious, the opposing entrenchments and strongpoints have been reconnoitered, the loyalties and armaments of their various occupants in the lines of battle revealed.

Though there has been a constant fire, bombardments, across the lines, and various raids and strategems and ruses de guerre have been employed, the great offensives are still in preparation.

wildswan said...

Trump could request the deliberations over pallets of cash, over Benghazi, over I've got "phone I've got a pen", over cages on the border, over Monica, over Juanita, over China, over CrowdStrike, anything on Seth Rich. And also from the NYT to find out when they knew Mueller had nothing but kept covering the story as if he had something. And this is to show that they are fake news, in case Trump calling the slimers "fake news" comes up. And request from CNN / MSNBC - what did they know and when they knew it about what Mueller had as compared to what they published. And they would have to give all this up because impeachment. Then he'd need time to organize it all into his responses. Or maybe they would't give it up or not in a timely manner so he could not respond to Congress. Too bad. Bleak House.

D. said...

>Kind of like that wall Mexico never paid for.<

Who's paying for this?

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2019/06/mexico-sends-15000-troops-to-us-border/

JAORE said...

In 2016 I voted against Hillary because I thought she was corrupt. In 2020 I will vote for President Trump because:
- He's doing a better job than I dared hope,and
- I now fear for the survival of our nation if we turn the controls of power to the insane left.

Gusty Winds said...

The depth of the sins committed by those in power, and those who sold their soul must be horrific. They’re flailing.

JAORE said...

The Senate should call the relevant people that changed the whistle blower forms allowing hearsay. Chase them from the clerk to the Under Secretary of Shenanigans.

rcocean said...

Wow, she's an EXPERT - and a professor. Well, that's impressive. I'm sure that means her opinion on Trump is super objective and scientifiky. Y'know Social SCIENCE. She probably wears a lab coat.


Authoritarian. Judas Priest, again with these fucking left-wing labels. What the hell does "Authoritarian" mean - precisely? And how does the POTUS, duly elected by the people, up for re-election in 2020, and bound by Congressional power, get to dictate anything? Why not just call Trump a son-of-a-bitch and stop with the phony concern.
And clothing your insults in pseudo-learning.

Mark said...

So he failed to drain the swamp.

In your failed attempt at mockery, "Mark," you end up conceding that there is a swamp, i.e. a Deep State of unelected unaccountable bureaucrats who fancy themselves the real government.

whitney said...

I totally agree that Trump does not see himself as a victim. I don't think he sees it as a fair fight either but he's a fighter and he'll keep going till the very end. I didn't vote for this guy but I cannot even believe what a unique and vigorous person he is.

rcocean said...

What amazes me about this whole whistleblower thing, is how you can write a complaint and not name the people who told you Trump was doing all this terrible stuff. I thought you had to actually name names if you were going to pass on 2nd hand gossip.
I mean, its not like you're a New York Times reporter - filing a complaint is serious sutff.

Beasts of England said...

How can the so-called whistleblower remain anonymous? Doesn’t the confrontation clause apply to an impeachment proceeding?

buwaya said...

There really isn't much more to say about your social and political situation.
We, the whole world, are all waiting for that other shoe to drop.

Ken B said...

Where is Farmer? The CIA is plausibility alleged to be mucking about and Farmer is silent?

Megthered said...

I voted for Trump and will vote for him again. The only worshippers I have seen are the libtards who worshipped Obammy, then Hellary. Their idols proved false but they refuse to believe anyone else.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

While Nancy hides behind her fake prayers, her party is corrupt from top to bottom.

Mark said...

The Intelligence Community will be trying to rebuild its reputation as a professional, non-partisan institution that serves the entire US population.
______________________

To hell with it's reputation as a professional, non-partisan institution. It's been trading on that for years.

What the IC needs to do is rebuild itself as a professional, non-partisan institution that understands and appreciates that it is a servant of the nation, not a master.

By the way, presidents have been complaining about a deep state for a long time. For example, JFK complained that he really had little power, explaining that he would say, "do this, do that," and the unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy would do nothing and instead do whatever they were going to do.

Birkel said...

The "resistance" announced itself before Trump's inauguration.
The press lauded that announcement.
Schumer gave it official imprimatur.

Trump needs to get to the lamentations of their women* phase.

*regardless of their anatomical parts

Ray - SoCal said...

Why the sudden intense push by Democrats on impeachment?

Seems like there may actually be a vote.

Not just more hearings.

Perhaps Ann can do a poll - will there be a vote for formal impeachment?

Associated question is why the sudden push? Why now?

This timing was planned by Pelosi.

Strange this was dropped right before a 2 week recess.

Or is this just going to be forgotten in 2 weeks?

My guess - this is a trial balloon and she will see what polls say in 2 weeks when the house returns from recess.

And if this had been done next year, there would be accusations of politics in an election year.

Or is RBG going to get replaced soon?

Or is this just a preemptive against coming indictments?

narciso said...

Like a bond villain,



https://www.steynonline.com/9755/hunted-biden

Lyle said...

Academics... overwhelmingly a worthless lot, or that's my narrative.

Mark said...

Not all of this Deep State resistance is in the shadows, some of it is brazen enough to be done in the bright light of day. Such as when a day or two after he took office, the holdover from the Obama Administration who was acting AG tried countermanding some of the President's legal directives and told people not to follow them, as if she were a superior officer than the chief executive.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Deep State hatched its plot against Trump very early, and they told us so

“Right after the 2016 election, I read some articles describing people in government who had decided to stay put and secretly sabotage Trump. These articles weren’t exposes written by the right; they were proud confessions from the left, part of the righteous Resistance. We are seeing the fruit of that today.”

Indeed. The left are openly corrupt because the media are on board.

Bay Area Guy said...

Text exchange by two high-ranking FBI officials at Headquarters, who were investigating Trump in Crossfire Hurricane and had helped obtain FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign:

"[Trump’s] not ever going to become president, right? Right?!" Page texted Strzok.

"No. No he won’t. We’ll stop it," Strzok responded.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

buwaya said...
Anyway, compared to being in the US, over here, for now, I breathe the air of liberty.


How many servants do you have?

hombre said...

Trump sees himself as a victim? I don’t think so. It is more probable Trump sees himself As a warrior.

If victimization is an issue, the Democrats and their mediaswine consorts are victimizing the whole country including the usual useful idiots and dupes in their own party. If Trump is impeached, whether or not convicted, the polarization will be much worse than today with dire consequences.

We are seeing Democrats vs. the Republic.

Iman said...

In the spirit of tilting at windmills, I continue to wait for Lefties to grow up and become the responsible adults their parents were too busy or indulgent to prepare them to be.

hombre said...

The NYT knows the whistleblower is CIA because the information pipeline from the seditious intelligence community to the DNCmedia is alive and well and protecting the country from notDemocrats.

Wince said...

After all that dime store psychology, please remind me who exactly is failing to stick to the facts in this impeachment drive?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Admitted Deep State in Vanity Fair - 2017. (via NEO)

Frum - hardest hit.

An Anti-Trump Resistance Movement Is Growing Within the U.S. Government

admissions and clues:

Others, however, view resistance as a part of the job. “Policy dissent is in our culture,” one diplomat in Africa, who signed the letter circulating among foreign diplomats, told The New York Times. “We even have awards for it,” this person added, in reference to the State Department’s “Constructive Dissent” award. One Justice Department employee told the Post, “You’re going to see the bureaucrats using time to their advantage,” and added that “people here will resist and push back against orders they find unconscionable,” by whistle-blowing, leaking to the press, and lodging internal complaints. Others are staying in contact with officials appointed by President Obama to learn more about how they can undermine Trump’s agenda and attending workshops on how to effectively engage in civil disobedience, the Post reports.

Again - whistle-blowing, leaking to the press, and lodging internal complaints

Michael K said...

Strange this was dropped right before a 2 week recess.

No, this is all part of the plan, as was the "whistleblower." The next two weeks will be spent arranging the hearings from which Republicans will be excluded. The new rules were drafted last January and will proceed with committees doing the voting so Trump district Democrats will be protected. The Republicans will not be allowed to question witnesses and the vote will succeed. Then the trial in the Senate will take the next year, during which a Ginsberg replacement nomination will not be allowed.

This is hardball carried to almost assassination. Will it succeed ? I doubt it and hope it will destroy the Democrat Party for a decade. It is war. Meanwhile Boris and Netanyahu are under similar assault. By many of the same people.

tim maguire said...

Reminds me of the linguistic game playing I used to endure in philosophy class. Sure, if Trump is an authoritarian, then these are all things you can point to as examples of the nature of his authoritarian rule. But none if them require that he be an authoritarian for them to be true. There are other perfectly legitimate explanations that better fit the larger facts about Trump.

Poor Ruth, all she has is a hammer and a cozy sinecure.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Frum would have stood by in Nazi Germany like a good little foot soldier.

Skeptical Voter said...

Even paranoids have real enemies. And the pencil necked geek from Southern California is definitely Trump's enemy. The good news is that Schiff is not as smart nor effective as he thinks he is.

Roughcoat said...

There really isn't much more to say about your social and political situation.

Nonetheless, I'm sure you'll find something to say. Over and over.

Bob Boyd said...

Pelosi and Co. decided to open a formal impeachment inquiry before the transcript had been released. Supposedly she and her fellow committee members hadn't even seen the specifics of what Trump had said to to the President of Ukraine. And the complaint was released after the transcript.

Does anybody really believe Dem leadership didn't know what was in the complaint before they decided this is the big one?
Does anybody really believe they don't know what else will be coming soon? What other "whistle blowers" will come forward and what they will say?
I'm guessing this is a concocted, coordinated plan and it has a schedule.
Not saying it's a good plan or a smart plan or that it will work. It wasn't Plan A.


gadfly said...

So, in 2016, Trump begged Russia to interfere by finding 30,000 missing emails from a Clinton server. A year later he told Russian officials whom he hosted in the White House, in order to brag about firing Jim Comey, that he didn't care that Russia had interfered in our 2016 election. Then, of course, we are in the midst of our president 's coercing of Ukrainians in order to interfere in the 2020 elections.

But The Donald wants to join Billy Joel as an innocent man.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

It's a bad idea to turn the intel agencies into a 21st-century Praetorian Guard. No one should be happy about this.

Ralph L said...

Pelosi was pretty stupid to make her announcement and then let the critters leave town for 2 weeks. Perhaps it was a trial balloon.

Sebastian said...

"there’s a way in which the narrative of the whistleblower can come to confirm all of that for his followers.”

Well, yeah, "there's a way," since that's the way it is.

Who needs conspiracy theories when the plotters barely care to cover their tracks?

jaydub said...

Most Americans want a strong economy, an adequate national defense, personal property rights and personal freedom. So, which Democrat should they vote for? There isn't one. It isn't that Trump isn't flawed, it's that he's the only sane option for 2020.

MD Greene said...

Enough of this. Let Trump give the "whistleblower" immunity from prosecution and a lifetime sinecure with full benefits at the CIA. (It's more than Obama and Holder ever did -- one black ex-FBI agent is still in federal prison while the recipient of his reported leaks, a NYTimes reporter, escaped prosecution. But that was never newsworthy, of course.)

Then let this noble "whistleblower" come before the Senate and name names. Give all those named persons immunity too, and let them sing their hearts out. See if their complaints resonate the way Emile Zola's did in l'affaire Dreyfus.

The best thing Trump has going for him is antagonists who cannot let go of 2016. They have been flinging poo at the wall for the better part of three years, hoping some spatter will stick because they just KNOW he's BAD.

The better plan would be to run a more credible candidate in 2020. But obsession and keen strategic thinking seldom come bundled in the same package.

Francisco D said...

Why the sudden intense push by Democrats on impeachment?

As I said on another post, this is the fourth quarter and the Democrats are terrified of losing this game. They are waging a full court press with the helping hand of the Media. It is an inherently risky proposition and it boils down to who has the most ammunition and who wants to win the most.

Don't count Trump out. He is a winner who is not from the Gentleman Republican Club.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

"Trump has turned American diplomacy into a cash scheme based on quid-pro-quo, said the woman whose slush fund took over $10 million from the Saudis, $150M from Russia, $1M from UAE, and $1M from Qatar while she was at State. "

Hillary Clinton IS the face of evil and the top of the corrupt pyramid scheme that IS the Deep State.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Scalise: (You know- the man shot by a Bernie Bro)

"Pelosi bypassed the official vote that's typically required to start an impeachment inquiry.

Schiff read a made-up transcript in a hearing.

Now they've recessed the House for 2 WEEKS.

This isn't a serious, fact-based process. It's a reckless scheme to attack @realDonaldTrump"

stan said...

Not even Reagan faced what Trump has. Trump's ability to sustain these attacks has been extraordinary. He's been a super man. And he's not only stood up despite them, he has managed incredible successes. He has to be one of the toughest people psychologically of all time.

Birkel said...

Ray - SoCal

People do things for either of two reasons:
1) Perceived opportunity for a big gain
2) Perceived opportunity to avoid a big loss

I will argue that #1 is not something Pelosi views as likely. She knows impeachment is unpopular. She knows the Senate is exceedingly unlikely to convict. She knows that Trump is a largely disliked loudmouth whose policies are well-liked and working.

Therefore, we are left with #2. And we can speculate about what is the downside risk Pelosi hopes to avoid. My suggestions:
1. Political split between the Democratics
2. News from IG, Barr, and Durham
3. Exposure of specific FISA-related crimes
4. Indictments of former officials
5. Mueller (Weissmann) report shown to be false in many ways
6. INSERT GUESSES HERE

Seeing Red said...

Impeachment leading to losing at the ballot box by 1000 cuts.

Craig Howard said...

Gina Haskel had broad 'bi-partisan' support during her confirmation.

Haskell is just another swamp-dweller.

Whenever Trump nominates someone who might actually remain loyal to him, the uni-party wing of the GOP springs into action to nix it. I suspect that was why they allowed Barr as AG. He was from the Bush era and they expected he would be harmless.

They won’t make that mistake again.

Mike Sylwester said...

In the weeks before the 2016 election, The Deep State developed its so-called "Insurance Policy", which prepared for the possibility that Donald Trump might win the Electoral College vote by a small margin. In late October, a FISA warrant was obtained in order to justify the collection of communications of a wide network of Trump's associates.

If Trump indeed did win by a small margin in the Electoral College, then the communications of Trumps' associates would be searched for indications of communications with Russians. The Deep State would be able to use such indications until December 19, when the Electoral College would vote to confirm Trump's election victory.

Incriminating indications would be leaked to the Trump-hating mass media (just as incriminating indications were leaked later about Michael Flynn).

If necessary, Trump-haters in top Intelligence Community positions -- such as James CLapper, James Comey and John Brennan -- would say publicly that Russia had meddled significantly in the election, enabling Trump to win unfairly.

The goal of The Insurance Policy was to enable the Deep State to convince enough Electoral College voters to switch their votes from Trump to Clinton by December 19, 2016.

Unfortunately for the Deep State, though, Trump won by a large margin in the Electoral College -- too large a margin to overturn.

The Deep State persisted, however, in trying to undo the 2016 Presidential election.

That persistent effort suffered a disaster when the text messages of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page were revealed. That was the turning point for the Deep State members in DOJ/FBI.

The Strzok-Page text messages were revealed the day after the indictment of Michael Flynn was announced. The public still does not know the secret hero who revealed the text messages, but he apparently revealed them to avenge the indictment of Flynn.


The exposure of the seditious activities of the Deep State members in DOJ/FBI has been so embarrassing that those members have been dispersed and crushed. Nobody in DOJ/FBI still is trying to undo the 2016 election.

The exposure of the sedition in CIA has barely begun. Deep State members in CIA still are trying to undo the election, but they too will be dispersed and crushed.

gilbar said...

Oh, Hunter Biden was later joined on the board by a Mitt Romney advisor. If an impeachment trial ever happens in the Senate, will Mitt vote to remove Trump from office?

So;
Jo Biden, John Kerry, and Mitt Romney all were represented on the board of this corrupt Ukrainian corp?

My question is:
Where was John McCain's Family? Shouldn't Arizona beer distribution have been represented too?

SteveM said...

Like Ray-SoCal suggests, I think that the timing of this impeachment push is tied to RBG. I suspect that the Democrats fear that the time to replace RBG is near, and want to impeach Trump beforehand so that they then go can argue that the constitution forbids an impeached president from nominating a Supreme Court justice (regardless of whether it does or not).

SteveM said...

Like Ray-SoCal suggests, I think that the timing of this impeachment push is tied to RBG. I suspect that the Democrats fear that the time to replace RBG is near, and want to impeach Trump beforehand so that they then go can argue that the constitution forbids an impeached president from nominating a Supreme Court justice (regardless of whether it does or not).

Leland said...

I do think there's quite a bit of common petty politics in terms of attacking Trump. For instance; I'm tired of hearing from both sides that such and such President won't give up office and will stay there until forced out. I heard this about Reagan, then Clinton, then W, then Obama, and now Trump.

And if you look at the history of the "special prosecutor", pretty much every President has lived with one digging to find dirt. Obama was a bit of an exception, but then he did have his AG held in contempt of Congress.

I think what bugs me about Trump's opposition is how pathetic it is. For instance, Russian colluding with Trump has always sounded stupid to me. It never made sense at face value. Russia colluding with Hillary did, and essentially, that is exactly what happened via a blundering UK spy. Saudi Arabia collusion might be more compelling, back in 2016, but when they finally decided to use that country; Trump's support of US oil production made that claim sound silly too.

This latest event is just nuts. Any crime Trump can be accused of in relation to Ukraine; the Democrats have boasted doing far worse. Quid pro quo? Tell me how Biden's comments were not clearly quid pro quo. Harming our Ukrainian ally? Not according to the Ukrainian President. It's not like Trump looked away after Russia downed a 3rd party civilian airliner over the Ukraine. Collusion to affect the elections? Sure, we can look into Democrat Senators asking the Ukraine for dirt.

Nobody is being fooled by the Democrat ruse, other than to understand what is the real motivation for being this stupid. Is it to get rid of Biden? Is it to prepare for the loss of RBG? Is it to shackle AG Barr from his investigations? Is it just to sully Trump?

Alas, it doesn't really matter, because the Democrat hard core base is fired up, when they are the only ones donating money during the primary season. That's why Congress went on recess. They went back home to fundraise on all this. Both sides.

The real threat Republicans face is their continued inaction in Congress to stop this muckraking. There is real harm occurring to the trust of Intelligence and Investigation communities. This will have long term ramifications that will see lots of people getting hurt. A few people need to be reined in.

Mike Sylwester said...

narciso at 9:24 AM

I followed narciso's link to Mark Steyn's article about Hunter Biden in Ukraine. I too recommend that everyone read Steyn's article.

Narr said...

O ja, zat "Deep Shtate" is chust a myt!

As all good lefty academics have always known, and said repeatedly, the United States is the world's ideal of fair, incorruptible, and transparent government. At least, it became so with the inauguration of the Lightworker.

We had a visit last week from an old friend and her daughter. The talk eventually turned to Trump, and she asked me how I liked having an idiot for a president. I told her I found it very revealing-- our highly-paid and lauded professional spooks couldn't even manage to frame a doofus like Trump.

And that's the crew that's soooo damn smart. And good, can't forget how good they are.

Narr
Trump's a bit like Mr. Magoo

virgil xenophon said...

"The fast flow of instantly appearing comments is over. I hope this inspires your writing."

I see that AA is trying her school-marm best to march us all to literary virtue via 101-level english composition bayonet-point..

Bill Peschel said...

Let's see, why would Trump think there's a conspiracy to obstruct a sitting president legitimately elected?

Because that's what they told us they would do.

From Vanity Fair, published 12 days after Trump's inauguration:

Others, however, view resistance as a part of the job. “Policy dissent is in our culture,” one diplomat in Africa, who signed the letter circulating among foreign diplomats, told The New York Times. “We even have awards for it,” this person added, in reference to the State Department’s “Constructive Dissent” award. One Justice Department employee told the Post, “You’re going to see the bureaucrats using time to their advantage,” and added that “people here will resist and push back against orders they find unconscionable,” by whistle-blowing, leaking to the press, and lodging internal complaints. Others are staying in contact with officials appointed by President Obama to learn more about how they can undermine Trump’s agenda and attending workshops on how to effectively engage in civil disobedience, the Post reports.

Of course, what "orders they find unconscionable" means whatever they want it to be. So far, that means orders that support Israel's right to exist, contain China's imperialistic ambitions, and enforce existing immigration law.

Yancey Ward said...

Since the essay and included video is probably the shortest and cleanest explanation for the Biden/Busrisma tie up, I will hotlink Narciso's citation:

Hunted Biden
by Mark Steyn

William said...

What are the odds that back then someone in the Justice Dept. would whistle about that tarmac meeting between Clinton and Lynch? In the unlikely probability that such a person materialized they would soon look like Linda Tripp. Dem whistleblowers are Joan of Arc (or Monica Lewinsky) and canonized by the media. Any Republican whistleblower should heed the example of Linda Tripp and keep quiet....Bill Clinton's various scandals were bimbo eruptions. It's fair to say that any woman accusing Kavanaugh or Trump were treated with far more courtesy and respect.

LA_Bob said...

Ray - SoCal said, "Why the sudden intense push by Democrats on impeachment?"

It's all politics. The Democratic base (and some Republican "never-Trumpers") are foaming at the mouth for impeachment. The political adults in the room (Pelosi) feel they need to throw the impeachers a bone. There won't be a conviction. Trump will stay in office, so let's just get the charade over with and move on.

https://hotair.com/archives/allahpundit/2019/09/27/hearings-dems-hoping-rush-impeachment-thanksgiving/

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

Did David Frum really spell it "jibberish"? Or was that ARM?

Let's take a tip from Shakespeare:

In the most high and palmy state of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,
The graves stood tenantless and the sheeted dead
Did squeak and gibber in the Roman streets.
- Hamlet (1.1), Horatio

If these Never Trumper dolts were half the intellects they claim to be, they could gibber more coherently and spell their gibbering more correctly.

wendybar said...

Because Democrats keep changing the rules...…."Between May 2018 and August 2019, the intelligence community secretly eliminated a requirement that whistleblowers provide direct, first-hand knowledge of alleged wrongdoings."

https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/27/intel-community-secretly-gutted-requirement-of-first-hand-whistleblower-knowledge/

chuck said...

> What's missing from that ridiculous article are two things:

Nonsense, nothing could possibly be missing. The WaPo judges itself a source of "credible" news, are you calling them liars?

Mike Sylwester said...

Trump's new nickname for Biden is Quid Pro Joe.

bagoh20 said...

The question to be asked is why isn't the claim confirmed for everyone? What the hell would it take? It took no evidence at all for many people to believe in a false "far right-wing conspiracy" against Bill Clinton, or a completely unsubstantiated racist assassination-fantasy among the Tea Party movement. The deep state being anti-Trump has a lot more clear evidence than there is for an imminent climate catastrophe. Can you even make up a believable story that would more thoroughly confirm the idea that a President was so hated and targeted by the swamp (bureaucratic government apparatchiks)? They started calling for impeachment and working on destroying him before he ever stepped in White House.

When you see the unhinged reaction to his election by everyone from journalists to politicians to Google execs, you need to be pretty naive to not expect them to try and do something about it at all cost with whatever power they have, and that's exactly what we see happening now for 3 years.

wildswan said...

Anyhow, can Congress subpoena for an impeachment if impeachment hasn't been voted on by the House? I mean, there might not be an impeachment and then the subpoena wouldn't be for anything. "Come in and answer questions because." That isn't legal. It's what the Star Chamber used to do way back at the beginning of America over in England when they were persecuting Puritans. "Come in and talk, you've been ordered to", that's how the Star Chamber used to stick it to the Puritans and our system is built on the finding that such proceedings are not legal.

Yancey Ward said...

Here is the timeline for the Ukraine/Biden- you tell me there is no corruption here?????

(1) Russian leaning President Yanukovych is deposed in the Euromaiden Revolution in February 2014- a revolution actively encouraged and supported by the Obama Administration.

(2) Mykola Zlochevsky had been Yanukovych's Minister of Natural Resources, and had been the minister for 10 years. In that role, he had handed out oil and gas licenses to companies that he personally controlled. Two months after Yanukovych was deposed with the support of the Obama Administration and the same month that the British government froze $23 million dollars of Zlochevsky's money, Zlochevsky hires Vice President Joe Biden's son for the board of Burisma for more than $50,000 per month.

(3) Hunter Biden remained in this position until this year- he quite the board the very month Joe Biden announced he was running for president.

(4) Mykola Zlochevsky got his frozen money back from the British government in 2016 because the Ukrainian government of Poroshenko never provided the evidence that it was the proceeds of criminal acts. It was only after Joe Biden was no longer in a position to do jack shit for Zlochevsky that the Ukrainian justice system began taking another look at his criminal acts, overturning previous closings of investigations and reopening them in 2018

Mykola Zlochevsky paid Biden and his business partner, Archer, over 3 million dollars (this is the number that is known). I think that was a pretty good return- he got the $23 million out of the UK, at a minimum, and likely got most of the criminal investigation deep sixed in the Ukraine, at least until the Obama Administration was no longer calling the shots.

Matt Sablan said...

I mean, the Deep State has been saying that they're out to get him too. Does no one else remember #Resist, #BAMN and the like? They kind of mutually hate each other.

Matt Sablan said...

"Where were all these “experts on authoritarianism” during Obama’s administration?

Or any other?"

-- Considering Obama spied on the media and jailed whistleblowers, while Trump just says mean things about them, these experts on authoritarianism knew when to press their luck.

Mike Sylwester said...

Bill Peschel at 10:46 AM

Do you have a link to that Vanity Fair article?

Matt Sablan said...

"How does he/she avoid answering without being cited for contempt?"

-- When was the last time someone in Congress suffered any consequences for refusing to cooperate with Republicans? Remember: The standard was set with the last presidential election. Some politicians and their supporters can destroy subpoenaed evidence with hammers; others go to jail even when the FBI's report says they were being truthful. There is no way this whistleblower faces any serious consequences for taking a strike at the king and failing. It's not like it is Obama, who actually jailed whistleblowers and the press, the whistleblower is attacking.

mockturtle said...

Trump doesn't see himself as a victim. It's a fair fight, to him; and he's better at it.

Rhhardin is right. Trump is nobody's victim. And as others have pointed out, we 'deplorables' are the real victims of the media. Do they not know that we know how much they despise us? Another thing we all know is that this impeachment circus is a last-ditch effort to prevent Trump from replacing the moribund RBG. And perhaps because they realize that Trump will be reelected.

gilbar said...

What i don't understand, is: First House Republican backs inquiry...

Mark Amodei represents (the Awesomely Corrupt State of) Nevada's 2nd District. He's won reelection comfortably, but 41% percent of voters Still voted against him. Half of his district voted for O'Bama.

My Question is: What the HELL is he thinking?
There is NO CHANCE IN HELL that any one that didn't vote for him is going to vote for him.
No one is going to say; "This Republican voted to oust a Republican, so i'm going to vote for him"

So, That means he has to KEEP the 58% that Voted For him...
And he thinks the Way to do that is to Vote Against President Trump?
Sure, there might be (probably ARE!) people in his district that HATE Trump; But MOST of them are Dem's: Dems Vote for Dems.

In 2016, Trump only got 52% of District 2's votes (that's 6% points less than Amodei got)...
But OF those 52%, How many were Rabid Trump Supporters that will CRUCIFY someone that tries to harm him?

I just Do NOT see Amodei getting relected. WHY shoot yourself? What did they have on him

Bruce Hayden said...

“How can the so-called whistleblower remain anonymous? Doesn’t the confrontation clause apply to an impeachment proceeding?”

Whistleblower statutes are designed to get around this. Maybe by hiding their identity when testifying.

But one way that the Trump DoJ May be able to blow it apart is to use the Espionage Act. The person or persons who told the “whistleblower” about the President’s conversation with the Ukrainian president very likely violated the Espionage Act by disclosing classified (Secret) information. No doubt, the “whistleblower” has a security clearance, but he had no discernible Need To Know the contents of that conversation. The criminal act then was telling the “whistleblower” the classified information. And there are only a handful of people who it could have been - most likely the the 4 or so IC (CIA?) people transcribing the conversation. Since this would be presumably a National Security investigation of leaking of classified information, the FBI could just hook the four of them up to lie detectors.

This is, btw, one glaring weakness to the 2nd hand whistleblowing - the first Party to the conversation has the Whistleblower Act as protection to the potential Espionage Act violation if they report to the IG. But that cannot be the case with telling a second party who ultimately tells the IC IG, because that would blow apart the Espionage Act, since Need to Know could be safely ignored.

mockturtle said...

It is time to shut down the CIA and its 20,000 "analysts" that do nothing but read foreign language newspapers and plot coups.

Hear, hear, MichaelK! And you can add selling surplus arms, bought by taxpayers, for a profit. They have been corrupt since I can remember and we are not even allowed to see their annual budget.

Mike said...

Yes, that awful deep state that shows itself in [squints] Trump and Giuliani openly confessing to crimes. What a conspiracy!

Ralph L said...

Jo Biden, John Kerry, and Mitt Romney all were represented on the board of this corrupt Ukrainian corp?

No, Ketchup Boy squirted out of the Burgisma bun, but his ex-roommate/partner stayed with Hunter. His dad was a Republican, so he has some sense of honor--or knows he isn't bulletproof.

narciso said...

No it took a reporter, at a local arizona station.

Yancey Ward said...

And let me ask all the commentators these questions:

(1) Let's say you are the nobody you are in reality (like me). Burisma's owner approaches you with an offer of a position on the board of directors for $50,000+/month. Do you accept it? What reservations would you have in doing so?

(2) Let's say you are you as you are in reality, but with one exception- you are the son or daughter of the Vice President of the United States. Burisma's owner approaches you with an offer of a position on the board of directors for $50,000+/month. Do you accept it? What reservations would you have in doing so?

Here are my answers:

On #1, I would probably take the money as long as I could be sure I wasn't breaking the law in doing so, and as long as I could be sure that I had a skill they could reasonably be paying for. In other words, I would decline the offer if I couldn't figure why I was being hired. To exemplify- I have a PhD in Organic Chemistry- if I was offered this kind of money by, let's say, a Ukrainian bank, I would have to see evidence they actually need my skill set in some way, else I turn down the offer as something too good to be true, and likely for some nefarious purpose.

On #2, I would only take the offer if I had a skill the company needed (as above), and as long as I knew for certain that my VP parent had no dealings at all with the company or it country of operations. It wouldn't be enough for me to take the money under the understanding that I would, in no way, intercede with my parent on the company's behalf, nor would it be enough that my parent themself declared to me that they would, in no way, act to benefit my employer just because I was their son.

Hagar said...

@Wildswan,
It is not an "impeachment," just an "inquiry." Thus the committee chairs have their regular powers, which are extensive, and the ranking members have nothing.
If the Democrats in the House go to impeachment, then rules are that the committee chairs get some more powers with regards to subpoenas, etc., but so do the ranking members, which could prove seriously "inconvenient" in Ms. Pelosi's judgment.

narciso said...

So it resembles quantum which was chock full of intelligence operatives
https://thefederalist.com/2019/09/26/top-romney-adviser-worked-with-hunter-biden-on-board-of-ukrainian-energy-company/

bagoh20 said...

Analogy:

You rob a bank, but to avoid being investigated or charged, you announce you are running for sheriff.

320Busdriver said...

Weird that I found myself cheering on Stephen Miller as he battled with Chris Wallace this morning. Let’s shine the fucking sun on this shit, man!

Hagar said...

Or impeachment impeachment, as Whoopie would say.

Hagar said...

This is banana republic stuff!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Molly said...
Did David Frum really spell it "jibberish"?


Let me introduce The Google.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The loudest voices for impeachment: Hillary and Biden.

Clues.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Mike S.

Here is the Vanity Fair article

2017 - admitting the deep state exists:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/donald-trump-federal-government-workers

" ...“You’re going to see the bureaucrats using time to their advantage,” and added that “people here will resist and push back against orders they find unconscionable,” by whistle-blowing, leaking to the press, and lodging internal complaints. "

Ken B said...

"Mr Halley predicted the return of this comet over 70 years ago and it's return confirms Mr Halley's foolishness." - The Washington Post 1758

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump must be impeached for Hillary and Biden family geo-political international money grubbing.

MBunge said...

"So, in 2016, Trump begged Russia to interfere by finding 30,000 missing emails from a Clinton server."


That was a joke. Seriously. He said it in front of the media and everything.

Mike

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

320Busdriver said...
Weird that I found myself cheering on Stephen Miller as he battled with Chris Wallace this morning.


To buy Miller's argument you have to believe that Putin and Kim's best friend Mr Trump gives a shit about corruption in other countries. Not an easy argument to sustain.

Jim at said...

So, in 2016, Trump begged Russia to interfere by finding 30,000 missing emails from a Clinton server.

A snarky joke during a debate is begging Russia to interfere?

My gawd, you people are insane. Absolutely batshit insane.

Beasts of England said...

’Whistleblower statutes are designed to get around this.’

Fair enough, Bruce, but the issues driving those statutes have never been the sole basis for an impeachment effort, have they?

Narayanan said...

bagoh20 said...Analogy
______

Start with you're planning to Rob etc

When did USA (which party?) politicians start down this road

Mafia got into act also.

Birkel said...

Mark (the dumb one) believes crimes were committed.
No Democratics ever cite a code section.

Therefore, it is safe to say they are lying.
And stupid.

Birkel said...

For ARM to make his argument, he has to ignore all the policy positions Trump has taken against Russia.
ARM also has to pretend Trump is not trying to dislodge North Korea from Chinese control.

ARM is mendacious.

Birkel said...

That's right!
Trump was begging the Russians to hack a server that Hillary had already taken offline.
And asking for Hillary's Emails is a crime.
It's a crime all reasonable prosecutors would charge.
/sarc

cubanbob said...

Gadfly admits that he believes the Russians have Hillary's emails. According to him that is why Trump asked Putin for them. Gadfly doesn't explain how Putin managed to get hold of Hillary's emails. Gadfly please enlighten us on just how did the Russians and presumably every other intelligence agency in world get Hillary's emails and how most likely several organized crime groups and terrorist groups got them as well. Be a sport gadfly, let us know!

320Busdriver said...

Blogger Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said

To buy Miller's argument you have to believe that Putin and Kim's best friend Mr Trump gives a shit about corruption in other countries. Not an easy argument to sustain.

That’s not what I got out of it. Trump will not let go of trying to shine a light on the genesis of the “Russia collusion conspiracy”

Not that that should surprise anyone.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Gadfly-
said

"Trump begged Russia to interfere by finding 30,000 missing emails from a Clinton server."

Begged?

It helps if you get the story correct.

Trump joked about Russia finding Hillary's deleted e-mails BECAUSE YOU LEFTISTS GAVE RUSSIA SO MUCH POWER TO DO SO. Are you that tone def? Hello - Missing E-mails were purposefully bleach-bit=erased and hard-drives hammered after they were subpoenaed - and you're more concerned about a Trump joke?

wow.

Bay Area Guy said...

"Trump's new nickname for Biden is Quid Pro Joe."

That's a winner - I buy it!

If Kamala had done all this, we'd call her Quid Pro Ho......

Ray - SoCal said...

“Quid Pro Joe” - new name Trump just have...

Good luck to the msm And Dems to not talk about Biden!

Very Alinsky!

Looks like Trump used multiple Alinsky Rules:

4. "Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules."
5. "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon."
6. "A good tactic is one your people enjoy."
8. "Keep the pressure on."
10. "The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition."
12. "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."

Ray - SoCal said...

Interesting read about why Trump may want impeachment, about the Senate processes including calling witnesses.

Hyram F. Suddfluffel: The Origin & What’s True about the Viral Impeachment Post

Suddfluffel Was mentioned in an article about impeachment, so I did a search.

gilbar said...

gilbar [that was ME!]said...
What i don't understand, is: First House Republican backs inquiry...


Now, it makes more sense!
Amodei told Breitbart News when asked to confirm he does not support an impeachment inquiry that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats are now conducting into President Trump.

“You’re sitting there going wow, look at this guy’s history,” Amodei said in an exclusive interview on Saturday. “I’m not a household name or anything like that, so you think I just lost my mind one day and ate some loco weed and called all the Nevada people in and said, ‘Here we go’? I guess the reason I’m not phenomenally agitated or whatever is is quite frankly I think that Humberto Sanchez’s article was fair and accurate. There’s confusion throughout the nation between what we did with the UC to send it to the appropriate committees, which the White House supports, and what Pelosi is doing. So it would certainly be news if that’s what I was saying I was in favor of. We got into some discussions about ‘what ifs’ and it’s like hey, let the committees do their work and see where it leads. Wherever it leads, it leads—let the chips fall where they may. But how you get from that discussion in context to ‘Oh my god he supports Pelosi’s thing’ is not true.”

bagoh20 said...

"To buy Miller's argument you have to believe that Putin and Kim's best friend Mr Trump gives a shit about corruption in other countries. Not an easy argument to sustain."

It shouldn't matter what Trump's motivation is if his actions bring corrupt people to light, unless you think corruption is fine as long as it's Trump's competitors doing it. If the Democrats don't want Trump benefiting from fighting corruption then don't elect and put up corrupt people like Biden.

Trump also benefits from a good economy and low unemployment. Should he avoid trying to affect those things as well? If Biden is as corrupt as he brags about on tape, then wouldn't any good American want him exposed before they vote for him? What Trump did is simply ask for Ukraine to honor a decades-long treaty and assist in an investigation of possible corruption at our own government's highest levels. As the chief executive, that is his job. Biden doesn't get a pass just becuase he's running against Trump, even if Hillary did get such a incredibly corrupt pass last time.

If Trump was the one selling his office, and Biden was the one exposing it, you sure as hell wouldn't give him a pass, and neither would I, and the MSM would be on it like it was armageddon.

bagoh20 said...

If a Presidential candidate does something incredibly corrupt and brags about it on tape, is looking into that really just "digging up dirt"? Why does it take the President to shine a light on it? Don't we supposedly have a free press just for that reason? Who gets these passes anyway? Are they handed out Democrat fund raisers, or do the major media companies print them? Doesn't Trump deserve a few passes by now since his corrupt opponents always get one?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Is as if the left swallow whole Adam Schitt's bullshit.
Right Gadfly? Because you hate Trump - all the bullshit you shove into the Trump-hate blender makes a mighty fine smoothie.

narciso said...

this two shall pass, the most interesting parts of the story, Atkinson's part in the fisa fraud, bakaj as ambulance chaser for gossip, cofer black's board seat with burisima the blue star group aren't discussed, so these are just blank pages,

Molly said...

(eaglebeak)

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

"Molly said...

"Did David Frum really spell it "jibberish"?

"Let me introduce The Google."

Startlingly, Beloved Whatsis didn't get my point.

Won't belabor it, but a shot of Shakespeare is always good.

As for David Frum, he's the guy who's been dining out for years on the phrase "axis of evil." Nothing more to say.

bagoh20 said...

Can you believe there are Americans who actually believe what Adam Shifty says? Two years of staring right into the camera and lying right at you on a daily basis, and the next thing he says you believe again? WTF, people? Are you still expecting that $2500 reduction in health insurance premiums too? I'm sure Trump probably stole all that money to buy polar bear steaks for Mar a Lago. If Adam Shifty told you that, you'd tell other people it was true, wouldn't you?

narciso said...

the 'authoritarian personality' model is right out of Frankfurt school, particularly teodor adorno, they had to explain why communism didn't succeed, when stalin demonized the social democrats, hofstadler popularized in the 50s, which accounted for McCarthy and goldwater in their view, Nixon was the epitome,

John henry said...

I don't remember trump asking Russia to find hilary's emails.

What I do remember is trump building on the premise that Russia already had the emails. This has since turned out to be true due to shoddy security on her part.

Because they already the emails, trump jokingly asked the Russians to release them.

And, we've found out, the Chinese didn't even have to hack. Every email sent from her server was blind copied and sent directly to them.

John Henry

Clyde said...

Kevin said...
Where were all these “experts on authoritarianism” during Obama’s administration?

Or any other?


Likely on their knees, fellating.

Gospace said...

Trump asking Russia for the 30000 missing emails was brilliant strategy. My local newspapers had never mentioned them at all - and suddenly had to cover them. And tell their readers "Oh, BTW, she was conducting official business using non-official email. Which they had never covered. And then, the explanation - they were all about yoga and wedding planning. Is there anyone here ignorant enough to believe that? Even Hillary supporters didn't.

Then there's the other thing that was revealed. All reasonable security professionals believe that foreign intelligence services have ALL her emails, including the deleted ones. Especially since it was finally revealed, after the election, that every single email she sent was forwarded to a foreign email address... But no reasonable prosecutor would see any problem with this...

I don't think I ever did see any rabid Democrat actually defending her choice to unlawfully use a private server and non-governmental email to conduct official business. They simply downplayed the seriousness of the issue and pretended to believe her outrageous lies about it.

On a side note, if a vast number of the emails are recovered, and they're not about yoga she lied to federal investigators. Real lies, not trumped up accusations like those used to bankrupt General Flynn.

Michael K said...

On a side note, if a vast number of the emails are recovered, and they're not about yoga she lied to federal investigators. Real lies, not trumped up accusations like those used to bankrupt General Flynn.

Why we would like to see that Crowdstrike server brought back.

Kay said...

I’m seeing a missed opportunity by The Donald here to dissolve the CIA and FBI completely forever.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

mmm polar bear steaks are mar-a-lago.

Impeach!

John henry said...

OT for Ann and Narciso

Narciso had recommended I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes a few days ago. I downloaded the sample and started reading it last night. WOW!!! I am through the first part, when he works for an unnamed US intelligence agency and if the rest of the book is like that, I am going to be very disappointed that this is the only book of his available.

For Ann: After reading the sample, I tried to buy it via your portal. I could get through the portal to the book page but when I tried to buy the Kindle version, I got a blank page with a message that I could not do this. Maybe something with your settings?

John Henry

narciso said...

Its a real page turner, its not for everyome, this is the guy behind road warrior and dead calmn,

Guildofcannonballs said...

Well okay, but what about the guy behind the greatest American, you know.

Word is Myers Anderson was an asshole, but what did America benefit by his ass?

We all know it's more than shitheads can contemplate, so why put them in that position unless you are evil?

Trump, Kid Rock, Me, and others are indeed wrackin' our brain (where the pain was?)

Yancey Ward said...

John Henry wrote:

I don't remember trump asking Russia to find hilary's emails.

What I do remember is trump building on the premise that Russia already had the emails. This has since turned out to be true due to shoddy security on her part.


Yes, every Trump hater tells the story the exact same way- that Trump asked the Russians to hack for the e-mails, which is a bald-faced lie at this point in time. Your memory is exactly correct- he was suggesting the Russians had them for years and might be convinced to send them to the FBI. It was, of course, all a joke to begin with, but the Left has no sense of humor that we are aware of.

Ray - SoCal said...

Since the emails were forwarded to a google account, google has a copy of all emails.

They don't delete anything...

NYPD also seems to have a copy of the emails, on Weiner's laptop.

Plus the FBI seems to have recovered the emails from something I read, that were supposedly deleted.

Plus there seems to have been emails that were sent to her by state dept. people, that also got collected. May of them just recently got letters.

Narayanan said...

,,, every single email she sent was forwarded to a foreign email address ,,
______
Is this foreign email still a secret?
Why? A bounty surely generate some mining action?

I'm tending towards not bug but feature of server motivation.

Quite likely fwd all incoming too.

RobinGoodfellow said...

Blogger JAORE said...
In 2016 I voted against Hillary because I thought she was corrupt. In 2020 I will vote for President Trump because:
- He's doing a better job than I dared hope,and
- I now fear for the survival of our nation if we turn the controls of power to the insane left.


Pretty much sums it up.

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

Only national leaders of totalitarian countries are "experts on authoritarianism". Academics are experts on the study of authoritarianism. They are usually wrong because they are academics and the idea that they may not understand something in the real world is inconceivable to them.