Musical Titanic Cabinet Torture Chairs

by

by Ugh

Tillerson out! He very much wanted to stay, apparently. Wasn't told, doesn't know why.  

Mike Pompeo to State.  Some wag on twitter notes that with access to both the CIA and State Department files, Pompeo can surely get to the bottom of….Benghazi!

Gina Haspel will lead the CIA, she was directly involved in the, um, wonderful torture regime run by the prior republican president who took office after losing the popular vote.  We must look forward, not back, but apparently we didn't look far enough forward did we?

Only the best people y'all.  

304 thoughts on “Musical Titanic Cabinet Torture Chairs”

  7. with access to both the CIA and State Department files, Pompeo can surely get to the bottom of….Benghazi!
    And the fact that he hasn’t been trumpeting anything on the subject tells you all you need to know about how real the whole thing was. Not!

  8. with access to both the CIA and State Department files, Pompeo can surely get to the bottom of….Benghazi!
    And the fact that he hasn’t been trumpeting anything on the subject tells you all you need to know about how real the whole thing was. Not!

  11. Putin and mp are cleaning house.
    I suspect Christopher Steele will be poisoned via Russian nerve agent and Robert Mueller fired, and possibly arrested, in the same week.

  12. Putin and mp are cleaning house.
    I suspect Christopher Steele will be poisoned via Russian nerve agent and Robert Mueller fired, and possibly arrested, in the same week.

  13. No, the next unfortunate involontary departure from the mortal plane (or was it plain?) should appropriately be by icepick.
    Mueller should stay away from helicopters instead.
    The House shuts short its investigation into Trump collusion without even telling Dem members of the committee. The 158 pages long report is said to state that there is not the shred of a hint of any collusion by Trump with Russia but to have a recommendation to look into possible connections between Hillary Clinton and Putin regarding the election.[that’s what I heard, I have not dug deeper]
    Maybe they could also shed some light on the nefarious 1914 Belgian invasion of Germany that started WW1 [OK, this part is snark]

  14. No, the next unfortunate involontary departure from the mortal plane (or was it plain?) should appropriately be by icepick.
    Mueller should stay away from helicopters instead.
    The House shuts short its investigation into Trump collusion without even telling Dem members of the committee. The 158 pages long report is said to state that there is not the shred of a hint of any collusion by Trump with Russia but to have a recommendation to look into possible connections between Hillary Clinton and Putin regarding the election.[that’s what I heard, I have not dug deeper]
    Maybe they could also shed some light on the nefarious 1914 Belgian invasion of Germany that started WW1 [OK, this part is snark]

  15. Speaking as a frog living in this particular pot of water, I’m noticing a distinct rise in the temperature.
    Just saying.

  16. Speaking as a frog living in this particular pot of water, I’m noticing a distinct rise in the temperature.
    Just saying.

  17. Wow, Gina Haspel.
    Previous administrations at least tried to cover up their crimes. Trump doesn’t even pretend to have a sense of shame.

  18. Wow, Gina Haspel.
    Previous administrations at least tried to cover up their crimes. Trump doesn’t even pretend to have a sense of shame.

  23. Trump doesn’t even pretend to have a sense of shame.
    he’s currently in a legal dispute with a porn actress – with whom he had an affair while his current (3rd) wife was home with their infant son – involving the question of the $130,000 pay-off she received to stay quiet is valid or not because the lawyer (who has now told several lies about the matter) who paid her off didn’t bother getting Trump himself to sign the document.
    this isn’t even the third or fourth top story on any news site.
    hey, at least we can all say we were there when it all came crashing down! if we can learn to speak Mandarin.

  24. Trump doesn’t even pretend to have a sense of shame.
    he’s currently in a legal dispute with a porn actress – with whom he had an affair while his current (3rd) wife was home with their infant son – involving the question of the $130,000 pay-off she received to stay quiet is valid or not because the lawyer (who has now told several lies about the matter) who paid her off didn’t bother getting Trump himself to sign the document.
    this isn’t even the third or fourth top story on any news site.
    hey, at least we can all say we were there when it all came crashing down! if we can learn to speak Mandarin.

  25. Wrong thread, probably, but they’ve found another Russian dead, a friend of Boris Berezovsky who always questioned whether BB’s death was really what it seemed, and an open enemy of Putin. Jesus H Christ etc….

  26. Wrong thread, probably, but they’ve found another Russian dead, a friend of Boris Berezovsky who always questioned whether BB’s death was really what it seemed, and an open enemy of Putin. Jesus H Christ etc….

  27. GftNC, it absolutely is the correct thread. Tillerson managed to rise to the occasion to say something against Russia in regard to the earlier poisonings in a statement last night. I’m sure the abruptness of this morning’s farewell isn’t a coinkidink.
    The violence isn’t lost on the toadies here, who seem to be anxious to spare themselves.

  28. GftNC, it absolutely is the correct thread. Tillerson managed to rise to the occasion to say something against Russia in regard to the earlier poisonings in a statement last night. I’m sure the abruptness of this morning’s farewell isn’t a coinkidink.
    The violence isn’t lost on the toadies here, who seem to be anxious to spare themselves.

  31. and now Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein has been fired, for daring to contradict the official WH line on Tillerson’s firing.
    fucking clown show.
    thanks, Republicans.

  32. and now Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein has been fired, for daring to contradict the official WH line on Tillerson’s firing.
    fucking clown show.
    thanks, Republicans.

  33. And I don’t even want to imagine right now what Pompeo means for Iran.
    <sarcasm> I know, let’s put a guy who has openly advocated for regime change in North Korea in charge of State while we’re supposedly negotiating for a Trump-Kim meeting… </sarcasm>

  34. And I don’t even want to imagine right now what Pompeo means for Iran.
    <sarcasm> I know, let’s put a guy who has openly advocated for regime change in North Korea in charge of State while we’re supposedly negotiating for a Trump-Kim meeting… </sarcasm>

  37. we shall defend our Trump, whatever the cost may be, we shall fire them on the beaches, we shall fire them on the landing grounds, we shall fire them in the fields and in the streets, we shall fire them in the hills; we shall never surrender…

  38. we shall defend our Trump, whatever the cost may be, we shall fire them on the beaches, we shall fire them on the landing grounds, we shall fire them in the fields and in the streets, we shall fire them in the hills; we shall never surrender…

  43. I’m waiting for the conspiracy nuts to reverse course and argue the the election returns (showing Trump losing the popular vote) must be bogus because Hilary never existed! Obviously, you can’t lose the popular vote when you are running unopposed. Obviously.

  44. I’m waiting for the conspiracy nuts to reverse course and argue the the election returns (showing Trump losing the popular vote) must be bogus because Hilary never existed! Obviously, you can’t lose the popular vote when you are running unopposed. Obviously.

  45. The Beeb is saying nothing yet about the Glushkov death, presumably waiting to determine cause of death. It could of course be natural causes, but he was only 68, and had himself been saying how too many Russian emigres had been dying.

  46. The Beeb is saying nothing yet about the Glushkov death, presumably waiting to determine cause of death. It could of course be natural causes, but he was only 68, and had himself been saying how too many Russian emigres had been dying.

  49. they’ve found another Russian dead
    so far I’ve been thinking that the way to get to the bottom of the various Trump ratholes was to follow the money.
    now I’m beginning to think the best approach is to follow the bodies.
    Sam Giancana was born at the wrong time. Trump’s a guy he could have worked with.

  50. they’ve found another Russian dead
    so far I’ve been thinking that the way to get to the bottom of the various Trump ratholes was to follow the money.
    now I’m beginning to think the best approach is to follow the bodies.
    Sam Giancana was born at the wrong time. Trump’s a guy he could have worked with.

  51. the other thing I’ll say about all of this is that bi-partisan comity is all well and good, but things like Haspel as head of CIA is why it would have been good if Obama had damned the torpedos and cleaned f**king house at the CIA and military intelligence generally when he took office.
    war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of Geneva. bring it and let the chips fall where they may.
    that would probably have gotten us to our famous Second Civil War in a New York minute, at least among some communities.
    but at least we wouldn’t have creeps like Haspel around anymore.
    these people never go away, they just bide their time.
    I’ve generally been agnostic on the impeachment question, but at this point I’m pretty much in the ITMFA camp. the man is a menace to the nation and the world.

  52. the other thing I’ll say about all of this is that bi-partisan comity is all well and good, but things like Haspel as head of CIA is why it would have been good if Obama had damned the torpedos and cleaned f**king house at the CIA and military intelligence generally when he took office.
    war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of Geneva. bring it and let the chips fall where they may.
    that would probably have gotten us to our famous Second Civil War in a New York minute, at least among some communities.
    but at least we wouldn’t have creeps like Haspel around anymore.
    these people never go away, they just bide their time.
    I’ve generally been agnostic on the impeachment question, but at this point I’m pretty much in the ITMFA camp. the man is a menace to the nation and the world.

  53. McEntee: serious financial crimes according to Homeland Security:
    https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/politics/john-mcentee-white-house-security-clearance/index.html
    Which, of course, preeminently qualifies him for a high post in mp’s re-election campaign.
    Presumably he owns a second coat he can wear on the new gig.
    By Fall, the murders per week will outnumber the tweets.
    Hillary spoke out yesterday. I’d advise her to be very careful as there are millions of republicans who want to murder her, probably including the new CIA Chief.
    Same for Obama.
    Marty’s is right that this is the most transparent of Administrations and governance.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHn9islS1f0

  54. McEntee: serious financial crimes according to Homeland Security:
    https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/13/politics/john-mcentee-white-house-security-clearance/index.html
    Which, of course, preeminently qualifies him for a high post in mp’s re-election campaign.
    Presumably he owns a second coat he can wear on the new gig.
    By Fall, the murders per week will outnumber the tweets.
    Hillary spoke out yesterday. I’d advise her to be very careful as there are millions of republicans who want to murder her, probably including the new CIA Chief.
    Same for Obama.
    Marty’s is right that this is the most transparent of Administrations and governance.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHn9islS1f0

  55. “these people never go away, they just bide their time.”
    This is why I no longer believe in elections, because republicans may lose when they don’t cheat, lie, and steal, the filth, but they are still left among the living to fuck America another day.

  56. “these people never go away, they just bide their time.”
    This is why I no longer believe in elections, because republicans may lose when they don’t cheat, lie, and steal, the filth, but they are still left among the living to fuck America another day.

  57. I’ve generally been agnostic on the impeachment question, but at this point I’m pretty much in the ITMFA camp. the man is a menace to the nation and the world.
    I admit to worrying that Pence would be (more) competent at doing things that I don’t want to see done. Not to mention being far likelier to get re-elected in 2020.
    But at least he wouldn’t blunder us into a war with North Korea. Or pull some other massively destructive stunt out of general nastiness or sheer boredom.
    That said, I wouldn’t want to see an impeachment unless there was some reasonable prospect of an actual removal by the Senate. Without that, it’s more of a distraction than anything else. Better to have a Democrat-controlled House put its time and energy into doing some real oversight on the Executive branch. And maybe even legislating away some of Trump’s follies — after all, it takes fewer votes in the Senate to pass something than it would to convict after an impeachment.

  58. I’ve generally been agnostic on the impeachment question, but at this point I’m pretty much in the ITMFA camp. the man is a menace to the nation and the world.
    I admit to worrying that Pence would be (more) competent at doing things that I don’t want to see done. Not to mention being far likelier to get re-elected in 2020.
    But at least he wouldn’t blunder us into a war with North Korea. Or pull some other massively destructive stunt out of general nastiness or sheer boredom.
    That said, I wouldn’t want to see an impeachment unless there was some reasonable prospect of an actual removal by the Senate. Without that, it’s more of a distraction than anything else. Better to have a Democrat-controlled House put its time and energy into doing some real oversight on the Executive branch. And maybe even legislating away some of Trump’s follies — after all, it takes fewer votes in the Senate to pass something than it would to convict after an impeachment.

  61. “n” that is. Not sure what happened there. I think the word “call” was in my head instead of nazi.

  62. “n” that is. Not sure what happened there. I think the word “call” was in my head instead of nazi.

  65. First woman to head the CIA, another crack in the government glass ceiling, plus an experienced career intelligence officer. It’s hard to i.agine a more qualified person.
    Everything we keep saying he should be appointing.

  66. First woman to head the CIA, another crack in the government glass ceiling, plus an experienced career intelligence officer. It’s hard to i.agine a more qualified person.
    Everything we keep saying he should be appointing.

  67. Trump’s former body guy was possibly fired for “serious financial crimes”, but was immediately hired by the Trump campaign.
    such swamp drainage.
    the best people.
    much honor.

  68. Trump’s former body guy was possibly fired for “serious financial crimes”, but was immediately hired by the Trump campaign.
    such swamp drainage.
    the best people.
    much honor.

  69. The Simpsons once watched a TV s(h)it-com called “Admiral Baby” wherein a toddler in diapers and naval officer’s cap commands the fleet to sail to Candy Island. Even Homer thought that premise was stupid.
    I don’t know why that memory just popped into my head.
    –TP

  70. The Simpsons once watched a TV s(h)it-com called “Admiral Baby” wherein a toddler in diapers and naval officer’s cap commands the fleet to sail to Candy Island. Even Homer thought that premise was stupid.
    I don’t know why that memory just popped into my head.
    –TP

  71. Posted by: Marty | March 13, 2018 at 02:05 PM has to be trollery, just to get everyone riled up. It can’t be serious commentary. Of all the women to appoint, it has to be a known serial torturer?

  72. Posted by: Marty | March 13, 2018 at 02:05 PM has to be trollery, just to get everyone riled up. It can’t be serious commentary. Of all the women to appoint, it has to be a known serial torturer?

  73. Well, Marty, if she ran a black prison site and oversaw a regime where prisoners were tortured, do you still think she’s everything he should be appointing? And she definitely drafted a cable ordering the destruction of CIA interrogation videos in 2005 – is this also the kind of person you think should be heading the CIA?
    Do you truly think this, or are you just trying to yank our chains?

  74. Well, Marty, if she ran a black prison site and oversaw a regime where prisoners were tortured, do you still think she’s everything he should be appointing? And she definitely drafted a cable ordering the destruction of CIA interrogation videos in 2005 – is this also the kind of person you think should be heading the CIA?
    Do you truly think this, or are you just trying to yank our chains?

  77. Hey, Himmler was a really really qualified, competent person too, and Charles Manson was good with a knife.
    What are you people complaining about?

  78. Hey, Himmler was a really really qualified, competent person too, and Charles Manson was good with a knife.
    What are you people complaining about?

  79. i know Marty used to think torture was wrong. so, yes, he’s trolling.
    beats saying a bad thing about a Republican, i guess.

  80. i know Marty used to think torture was wrong. so, yes, he’s trolling.
    beats saying a bad thing about a Republican, i guess.

  83. It’s hard to i.agine a more qualified person.
    if you’re gonna troll, at least spell check.
    we have standards here.

  84. It’s hard to i.agine a more qualified person.
    if you’re gonna troll, at least spell check.
    we have standards here.

  85. I admit to worrying that Pence would be (more) competent at doing things that I don’t want to see done.
    Pence is probably my polar opposite in every imaginable way, beginning with the fact that he still has a full head of hair.
    That said, I’d probably prefer him to Trump. Trump is profoundly corrupt. It’s destructive to the office.
    Hell of a choice, though.

  86. I admit to worrying that Pence would be (more) competent at doing things that I don’t want to see done.
    Pence is probably my polar opposite in every imaginable way, beginning with the fact that he still has a full head of hair.
    That said, I’d probably prefer him to Trump. Trump is profoundly corrupt. It’s destructive to the office.
    Hell of a choice, though.

  87. When Pence got the VP nod, and people were asking, “What is he thinking?”, I pointed out that it was a high-risk potentially very high reward bet. It put him two unlikely events — Trump winning, and then leaving office — away from being President. He got the first one, and has most of three years still to get the second in some fashion.

  88. When Pence got the VP nod, and people were asking, “What is he thinking?”, I pointed out that it was a high-risk potentially very high reward bet. It put him two unlikely events — Trump winning, and then leaving office — away from being President. He got the first one, and has most of three years still to get the second in some fashion.

  91. Himmler …
    https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19420496/obama-organic-rule-trump-rollback/
    Have we noticed the coincidence of the return of the foul treatment of poultry, the gearing up of Guantanamo for the chickens come home to roost, and the return of the American torture regime at CIA?
    Commandant of U.S. black torture sites, including the domestic ones for liberals, and the position of Secretary of Agriculture have similar, complementary skill sets, much as the Nazi Government in 1938 Germany cultivated a horizontal structure across government functions.
    I’d like to hear what pollo de muerto has to say.

  92. Himmler …
    https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19420496/obama-organic-rule-trump-rollback/
    Have we noticed the coincidence of the return of the foul treatment of poultry, the gearing up of Guantanamo for the chickens come home to roost, and the return of the American torture regime at CIA?
    Commandant of U.S. black torture sites, including the domestic ones for liberals, and the position of Secretary of Agriculture have similar, complementary skill sets, much as the Nazi Government in 1938 Germany cultivated a horizontal structure across government functions.
    I’d like to hear what pollo de muerto has to say.

  93. Mike Pence is a theocrat wannabe. If Supply Side Jesus told him to launch a crusade against Iran, Pence would hop to it. That Pence would try to replace the Constitution with the Old Testament is a given, because he’s that kind of “Christian”. And of course Pence has the stink of the Beast on him: He, Trump picked him, after all.
    BTW: I would not be surprised if Mueller has as much on Pence as Putin has on He, Trump. But I don’t know what would happen if the present-day US were to face another Agnew-Nixon situation.
    –TP

  94. Mike Pence is a theocrat wannabe. If Supply Side Jesus told him to launch a crusade against Iran, Pence would hop to it. That Pence would try to replace the Constitution with the Old Testament is a given, because he’s that kind of “Christian”. And of course Pence has the stink of the Beast on him: He, Trump picked him, after all.
    BTW: I would not be surprised if Mueller has as much on Pence as Putin has on He, Trump. But I don’t know what would happen if the present-day US were to face another Agnew-Nixon situation.
    –TP

  95. I agree with the schmaltzy Obama Administration rules that chickens should lead better lives, perhaps being allowed to play racket ball, before I pack them on to trains, cook their flesh, render their fat, kidnap their fetuses, and rip them to pieces with my incisors.

  96. I agree with the schmaltzy Obama Administration rules that chickens should lead better lives, perhaps being allowed to play racket ball, before I pack them on to trains, cook their flesh, render their fat, kidnap their fetuses, and rip them to pieces with my incisors.

  101. I thought the idea was that mp was what you got when you took the Tru[e] out of the name of a habitual liar….

  102. I thought the idea was that mp was what you got when you took the Tru[e] out of the name of a habitual liar….

  103. not to derail, but meanwhile in other news…
    The short form:
    Guy who’s been hear forever illegally, worked his way up from dishwasher to owner of a popular local restaurant, gets deported.
    Locals were surprised, because he was one of the good ones. They thought of him as a white guy (not my words).
    But, now he’s gone. Economy’s better, we like the tax cuts. Somebody bought the business, so we can still get our dinner.
    Life goes on.
    My own perspective on this:
    First, I’m sick of hearing about the hale-fellows-well-met in the heartland and their concerns. I got my own concerns. The whole phenomenon of folks from the NYT or WaPo haunting the nation’s short-order joints to see how “Real Americans” are doing pisses me off. We got short order joints right here where I live, and people who are f***king hard up and trying to figure out how to make it all work, right here where I live.
    We just didn’t vote for Trump, mostly, so we don’t have that same level of anthropological interest as folks out in Places Not Near A Coast.
    Second, I don’t need a report from Places Where They Grow Corn And Hogs to tell me that a lot of people don’t give two craps, or even one and half craps, about what happens to somebody else, as long as their bottom line is rosy. My coastal elite world is chock full of folks just like that, and also chock full of immigrants both legal and illegal.
    It’s messed up to take a guy who’s been here working his ass off, who’s not trying to hide, who isn’t breaking any laws, and who’s working with the immigration services to get his status sorted out, and have him walk into his regular interview with immigration to discuss his status, and have him not come out. Then find his way through seven freaking jails until he finds himself back in Mexico, with nothing. Nothing.
    That’s what we do now, because Trump has made it OK – politically and socially OK – to piss on brown people again.
    And if you think that’s not what it’s about, I invite you to show me the hundreds of illegal Irish – who are more than plentiful here in the people’s republic – that are being rounded up, detained, held for months while they wait for a hearing, then sent back to the emerald isle with bugger-all.
    Not that I wish that for them, it’s just that the contrast is…. notable.
    Hope the crap that folks like the folks in the article – who are just like folks in my world, and yours – are perfectly happy to see happen to their former friend and neighbor never falls on their heads. Karma’s a bitch, and is not known for having the quality of mercy.
    Enjoy those tax cuts and nice 401k gains everyone! Hope it doesn’t all turn to shit before you get a chance to cash in.
    I have, quite seriously, lost respect for this country. I’m not quite all the way to despise, but I can see it from here.

  104. not to derail, but meanwhile in other news…
    The short form:
    Guy who’s been hear forever illegally, worked his way up from dishwasher to owner of a popular local restaurant, gets deported.
    Locals were surprised, because he was one of the good ones. They thought of him as a white guy (not my words).
    But, now he’s gone. Economy’s better, we like the tax cuts. Somebody bought the business, so we can still get our dinner.
    Life goes on.
    My own perspective on this:
    First, I’m sick of hearing about the hale-fellows-well-met in the heartland and their concerns. I got my own concerns. The whole phenomenon of folks from the NYT or WaPo haunting the nation’s short-order joints to see how “Real Americans” are doing pisses me off. We got short order joints right here where I live, and people who are f***king hard up and trying to figure out how to make it all work, right here where I live.
    We just didn’t vote for Trump, mostly, so we don’t have that same level of anthropological interest as folks out in Places Not Near A Coast.
    Second, I don’t need a report from Places Where They Grow Corn And Hogs to tell me that a lot of people don’t give two craps, or even one and half craps, about what happens to somebody else, as long as their bottom line is rosy. My coastal elite world is chock full of folks just like that, and also chock full of immigrants both legal and illegal.
    It’s messed up to take a guy who’s been here working his ass off, who’s not trying to hide, who isn’t breaking any laws, and who’s working with the immigration services to get his status sorted out, and have him walk into his regular interview with immigration to discuss his status, and have him not come out. Then find his way through seven freaking jails until he finds himself back in Mexico, with nothing. Nothing.
    That’s what we do now, because Trump has made it OK – politically and socially OK – to piss on brown people again.
    And if you think that’s not what it’s about, I invite you to show me the hundreds of illegal Irish – who are more than plentiful here in the people’s republic – that are being rounded up, detained, held for months while they wait for a hearing, then sent back to the emerald isle with bugger-all.
    Not that I wish that for them, it’s just that the contrast is…. notable.
    Hope the crap that folks like the folks in the article – who are just like folks in my world, and yours – are perfectly happy to see happen to their former friend and neighbor never falls on their heads. Karma’s a bitch, and is not known for having the quality of mercy.
    Enjoy those tax cuts and nice 401k gains everyone! Hope it doesn’t all turn to shit before you get a chance to cash in.
    I have, quite seriously, lost respect for this country. I’m not quite all the way to despise, but I can see it from here.

  107. People get used to “Abholen” rather quickly, provided it’s not themselves. Just don’t do the “Sonderbehandlung” within sight. And if there is quick “Arisierung” too, short memory span will do the rest.

  108. People get used to “Abholen” rather quickly, provided it’s not themselves. Just don’t do the “Sonderbehandlung” within sight. And if there is quick “Arisierung” too, short memory span will do the rest.

  109. From Rolling Stone on Haspel—
    “Veterans of the intelligence community, however, were broadly supportive of her elevation last month to the role of deputy director. At the time, James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, said he was “very pleased” with the choice; Michael Morell, former deputy director and acting director at CIA, characterized her as “widely respected throughout the agency”; former CIA Director Michael Hayden said she was a “wonderful” pick who would handle the job with “dignity, professionalism and honor.”

  110. From Rolling Stone on Haspel—
    “Veterans of the intelligence community, however, were broadly supportive of her elevation last month to the role of deputy director. At the time, James Clapper, director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama, said he was “very pleased” with the choice; Michael Morell, former deputy director and acting director at CIA, characterized her as “widely respected throughout the agency”; former CIA Director Michael Hayden said she was a “wonderful” pick who would handle the job with “dignity, professionalism and honor.”

  115. I invite you to show me the hundreds of illegal Irish – who are more than plentiful here in the people’s republic – that are being rounded up, detained, held for months while they wait for a hearing, then sent back to the emerald isle with bugger-all.
    more on this:

    In 2017, ICE deported 34 undocumented Irish, up from 26 the year before. The numbers are tiny compared with the 128,765 Mexicans ejected from the country last year, but in Boston’s closeknit Irish community the wave of arrests is big news.

    https://www.npr.org/2018/01/22/578930256/undocumented-irish-unexpectedly-caught-in-trumps-immigration-dragnet
    Rule Of Law!

  116. I invite you to show me the hundreds of illegal Irish – who are more than plentiful here in the people’s republic – that are being rounded up, detained, held for months while they wait for a hearing, then sent back to the emerald isle with bugger-all.
    more on this:

    In 2017, ICE deported 34 undocumented Irish, up from 26 the year before. The numbers are tiny compared with the 128,765 Mexicans ejected from the country last year, but in Boston’s closeknit Irish community the wave of arrests is big news.

    https://www.npr.org/2018/01/22/578930256/undocumented-irish-unexpectedly-caught-in-trumps-immigration-dragnet
    Rule Of Law!

  123. That’s what we do now, because Trump has made it OK – politically and socially OK – to piss on brown people again.
    And if you think that’s not what it’s about,
    Much like the hokey-pokey, that is what it’s all about. Someone to look down on so you’re* not at the bottom of the barrel, and it’s easier to look down on them if they’re somehow different from you because it ensures you’re not going to be subject to the same treatment.
    *not you russell

  124. That’s what we do now, because Trump has made it OK – politically and socially OK – to piss on brown people again.
    And if you think that’s not what it’s about,
    Much like the hokey-pokey, that is what it’s all about. Someone to look down on so you’re* not at the bottom of the barrel, and it’s easier to look down on them if they’re somehow different from you because it ensures you’re not going to be subject to the same treatment.
    *not you russell

  125. Given his effort to gut the State Department, and the departure of many senior diplomats with distinguished careers in the department, Tillerson’s fall likely won’t be lamented in Foggy Bottom, or in many other places. But in the unique and alarming context of this Presidency, he seemed like a stabilizing and independent-minded presence. At least, he wasn’t a Trump flunky or a Bannonite ethno-nationalist.
    From the New Yorker piece on the Tillerson firing. I completely agree. His wholehearted condemnation of the Russians only looks so good in comparison to the rest of that corrupt bunch of bozos.

  126. Given his effort to gut the State Department, and the departure of many senior diplomats with distinguished careers in the department, Tillerson’s fall likely won’t be lamented in Foggy Bottom, or in many other places. But in the unique and alarming context of this Presidency, he seemed like a stabilizing and independent-minded presence. At least, he wasn’t a Trump flunky or a Bannonite ethno-nationalist.
    From the New Yorker piece on the Tillerson firing. I completely agree. His wholehearted condemnation of the Russians only looks so good in comparison to the rest of that corrupt bunch of bozos.

  131. mp, on the PA race.
    “And Conor Lamb: Lamb the Sham, Lamb the Sham — he’s trying to act like a Republican so he gets . . . he won’t give me one vote. Look, I don’t know him. Looks like a nice guy.
    I hear he’s nice-looking. I think I’m better-looking than him. I do. I do. I do. And he’s slightly younger than me. Slightly. No, I heard that, then I saw, he’s OK. He’s all right. Personally, I like Rick. I think he’s handsome.”
    WTF. If the two candidates had pussies, both could have considered themselves grabbed.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pennsylvania-republican-congressional-candidate-claims-his-opponents-hate-trump-u-n856011
    Another filthy, rather ugly conservative republican who confuses HIMSELF with America and God.
    I grew up near Saccone in Jagoff Town.
    Fuck his anti-American, Godless mouth.

  132. mp, on the PA race.
    “And Conor Lamb: Lamb the Sham, Lamb the Sham — he’s trying to act like a Republican so he gets . . . he won’t give me one vote. Look, I don’t know him. Looks like a nice guy.
    I hear he’s nice-looking. I think I’m better-looking than him. I do. I do. I do. And he’s slightly younger than me. Slightly. No, I heard that, then I saw, he’s OK. He’s all right. Personally, I like Rick. I think he’s handsome.”
    WTF. If the two candidates had pussies, both could have considered themselves grabbed.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/pennsylvania-republican-congressional-candidate-claims-his-opponents-hate-trump-u-n856011
    Another filthy, rather ugly conservative republican who confuses HIMSELF with America and God.
    I grew up near Saccone in Jagoff Town.
    Fuck his anti-American, Godless mouth.

  133. “At least, he wasn’t a Trump flunky or a Bannonite ethno-nationalist.”
    This seems to be the formulation now as we bump along the bottom with all of the lowest common denominators, unfortunately.
    Albert Speer profited from similar comparisons.

  134. “At least, he wasn’t a Trump flunky or a Bannonite ethno-nationalist.”
    This seems to be the formulation now as we bump along the bottom with all of the lowest common denominators, unfortunately.
    Albert Speer profited from similar comparisons.

  135. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Saccone
    David Barton, Abu Graib, waterboarding, shut down public education and public libraries.
    Seems to like his gummint expense account a little too much, which means he could be mp Cabinet material soon, perhaps in charge of upgrading the drapes at the Bureau of Martial Law and Murdering Liberals.

  136. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Saccone
    David Barton, Abu Graib, waterboarding, shut down public education and public libraries.
    Seems to like his gummint expense account a little too much, which means he could be mp Cabinet material soon, perhaps in charge of upgrading the drapes at the Bureau of Martial Law and Murdering Liberals.

  137. Hey, without Speer WW2 in Europe would have ended 1-2 years earlier and with The Soviets reaching at least the Rhine. The guy was a certified genius, just completely amoral*. And his performance at Nuremberg should have earned him an Academy Award at least. It saved his neck (arguably one of the few cases where the judges got fooled into misplaced clemency).
    I can’t see anything similar in The Donald’s orbit.
    *but by comparision relatively incorrupt, i.e. not a thieving magpie like e.g. Göring. Another difference to Team Donald.

  138. Hey, without Speer WW2 in Europe would have ended 1-2 years earlier and with The Soviets reaching at least the Rhine. The guy was a certified genius, just completely amoral*. And his performance at Nuremberg should have earned him an Academy Award at least. It saved his neck (arguably one of the few cases where the judges got fooled into misplaced clemency).
    I can’t see anything similar in The Donald’s orbit.
    *but by comparision relatively incorrupt, i.e. not a thieving magpie like e.g. Göring. Another difference to Team Donald.

  139. Petty, too..
    https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-power-briefing/2018/03/13/rex-tillerson-fired-state-department-254312
    the White House has fired one of Rex Tillerson’s top aides after he contradicted the official account of the secretary of state’s dismissal by President Donald Trump. The officials said Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, was informed of the move shortly after he released a statement in his name saying that Tillerson was ‘unaware of the reason’ for his termination. Goldstein had also told reporters that Tillerson learned of his firing Tuesday morning from Trump’s tweet announcing he was nominating CIA chief Mike Pompeo to lead the State Department.”…

  140. Petty, too..
    https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook-power-briefing/2018/03/13/rex-tillerson-fired-state-department-254312
    the White House has fired one of Rex Tillerson’s top aides after he contradicted the official account of the secretary of state’s dismissal by President Donald Trump. The officials said Steve Goldstein, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, was informed of the move shortly after he released a statement in his name saying that Tillerson was ‘unaware of the reason’ for his termination. Goldstein had also told reporters that Tillerson learned of his firing Tuesday morning from Trump’s tweet announcing he was nominating CIA chief Mike Pompeo to lead the State Department.”…

  143. Sounds like a fit made in heaven. He’s polished in front of the cameras. And he’s wrong a lot — which can be written off as fake news. What more could Trump ask?

  144. Sounds like a fit made in heaven. He’s polished in front of the cameras. And he’s wrong a lot — which can be written off as fake news. What more could Trump ask?

  147. Tucker Carlson should be arrested by immigration authorities, and physically beaten, if he attempts to enter any other country besides Russia and Yemen.
    https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/13/tucker-carlson-defends-white-nationalist-pizzagate-conspiracy-theorist-after-she-was-barred-entering/219627
    His return to the United States will be viewed by my government as extraordinary rendition.
    He should also try ordering the AR-15 white pizza at my restaurant and see what it comes with.

  148. Tucker Carlson should be arrested by immigration authorities, and physically beaten, if he attempts to enter any other country besides Russia and Yemen.
    https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2018/03/13/tucker-carlson-defends-white-nationalist-pizzagate-conspiracy-theorist-after-she-was-barred-entering/219627
    His return to the United States will be viewed by my government as extraordinary rendition.
    He should also try ordering the AR-15 white pizza at my restaurant and see what it comes with.

  149. according to the torture denialist/apologist on NPR this AM, she wasn’t in charge when the tapes were destroyed either. her boss made that decision.

  150. according to the torture denialist/apologist on NPR this AM, she wasn’t in charge when the tapes were destroyed either. her boss made that decision.

  151. kudos to Katherine.
    https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/03/14/architect-cia-torture-program-defends-trump-cia-pick-gina-haspel-wed-be-shooting-ourselves-foot-if/219628
    As per Marty, women who torture and murder are underrepresented in our stinking government.
    Why would we be shooting ourselves in the foot? Wouldn’t we instead cut the balls off of a swarthy guy and feed them to him for lunch?
    THAT would be the American way and I daresay, a woman’s touch.

  152. kudos to Katherine.
    https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2018/03/14/architect-cia-torture-program-defends-trump-cia-pick-gina-haspel-wed-be-shooting-ourselves-foot-if/219628
    As per Marty, women who torture and murder are underrepresented in our stinking government.
    Why would we be shooting ourselves in the foot? Wouldn’t we instead cut the balls off of a swarthy guy and feed them to him for lunch?
    THAT would be the American way and I daresay, a woman’s touch.

  153. Rodriguez was head of the clandestine service, Haspel was his chief of staff. She was apparently not, remotely, out of the loop.
    The torture regime represents the US taking our fundamental values and throwing them in the trash. After pissing on them.
    The general mood of hysteria after 9/11 was understandable, and things happen under duress that we wish did not happen. The torture regime was not “things happening under duress”, it was a deliberate program, systematically planned and executed, complete with consultants, playbooks, and documentation.
    I’m not sure there would be much value at this point in going back and prosecuting the folks who designed, implemented, and operated it. I am sure as hell that I don’t want them running the intelligence services.

  154. Rodriguez was head of the clandestine service, Haspel was his chief of staff. She was apparently not, remotely, out of the loop.
    The torture regime represents the US taking our fundamental values and throwing them in the trash. After pissing on them.
    The general mood of hysteria after 9/11 was understandable, and things happen under duress that we wish did not happen. The torture regime was not “things happening under duress”, it was a deliberate program, systematically planned and executed, complete with consultants, playbooks, and documentation.
    I’m not sure there would be much value at this point in going back and prosecuting the folks who designed, implemented, and operated it. I am sure as hell that I don’t want them running the intelligence services.

  155. kudos to Katherine.
    Seconded.
    Instead of “Why do you hate America?”, the new rallying cry will be “Why do you hate women’s rights?”
    I understand the need for the clandestine collection of intelligence. But every time anyone lifts the lid on the CIA Directorate of Ops, it’s like looking into a bucket of ghouls.

  156. kudos to Katherine.
    Seconded.
    Instead of “Why do you hate America?”, the new rallying cry will be “Why do you hate women’s rights?”
    I understand the need for the clandestine collection of intelligence. But every time anyone lifts the lid on the CIA Directorate of Ops, it’s like looking into a bucket of ghouls.

  157. kudos to Katherine.
    Agreed, it was a good and interesting piece. Also, the more accuracy in these matters the better.

  158. kudos to Katherine.
    Agreed, it was a good and interesting piece. Also, the more accuracy in these matters the better.

  159. But every time anyone lifts the lid on the CIA Directorate of Ops, it’s like looking into a bucket of ghouls.
    Exactly. The DO needs to go, we’ve never been good at it and it blows up in our face more often than not. Plus the people conducting the ops tend to stay around like a cancer.

  160. But every time anyone lifts the lid on the CIA Directorate of Ops, it’s like looking into a bucket of ghouls.
    Exactly. The DO needs to go, we’ve never been good at it and it blows up in our face more often than not. Plus the people conducting the ops tend to stay around like a cancer.

  161. I’m a little put out that placing a woman in a position to oversee torture does not result in more WOMEN being tortured.
    There is more than one glass ceiling.

  162. I’m a little put out that placing a woman in a position to oversee torture does not result in more WOMEN being tortured.
    There is more than one glass ceiling.

  169. All credit to Rand Paul (not a sentiment I often express):
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/14/rand-paul-gina-haspel-cia-director-torture-gleeful-joy
    “When you read that, sort of the joyful glee at someone who’s being tortured, I find it just amazing that anyone would consider having this woman for head of the CIA. So my opposition to her is over her direct participation in interrogation and her gleeful enjoyment at the suffering of someone being tortured.”

  170. All credit to Rand Paul (not a sentiment I often express):
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/mar/14/rand-paul-gina-haspel-cia-director-torture-gleeful-joy
    “When you read that, sort of the joyful glee at someone who’s being tortured, I find it just amazing that anyone would consider having this woman for head of the CIA. So my opposition to her is over her direct participation in interrogation and her gleeful enjoyment at the suffering of someone being tortured.”

  171. i guess he’s better than Cramer?
    Absolutely not. Cramer is an entertainer. Kudlow is a foaming at the mouth mad dog ideologue.

  172. i guess he’s better than Cramer?
    Absolutely not. Cramer is an entertainer. Kudlow is a foaming at the mouth mad dog ideologue.

  173. Kudlow will do harm.
    Probably not much (nobody pays much attention to the CEA) unless he convinces Trump to put the country back on the gold standard.

  174. Kudlow will do harm.
    Probably not much (nobody pays much attention to the CEA) unless he convinces Trump to put the country back on the gold standard.

  175. Just watching a documentary on Stephen Hawking, called A Brief History of Mine, made with his cooperation and his narration 4 years ago. Worth watching if they show it wherever you are.

  176. Just watching a documentary on Stephen Hawking, called A Brief History of Mine, made with his cooperation and his narration 4 years ago. Worth watching if they show it wherever you are.

  179. Excellent find wj. I’ve just heard him say that he estimates he worked for an hour a day as an undergraduate, spent the rest of the time partying and coxing. Thank God he had a good time while he could. Mind you, have also just watched his carer spoon champagne into his mouth at one of the many champagne receptions he went to 4 years ago – looks like he still knew how to have a good time even when almost completely incapacitated.

  180. Excellent find wj. I’ve just heard him say that he estimates he worked for an hour a day as an undergraduate, spent the rest of the time partying and coxing. Thank God he had a good time while he could. Mind you, have also just watched his carer spoon champagne into his mouth at one of the many champagne receptions he went to 4 years ago – looks like he still knew how to have a good time even when almost completely incapacitated.

  181. “Thank God he had a good time while he could.”
    Kudlow certainly did .. wait, you are talking about Hawking.
    http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/03/former-100000-per-month-cocaine-addict-no-training-economics-historical-100-error-rate-regard-economic-predictions-named-nations-top-economic-adviser
    1994? Wasn’t there an airfield in Arkansas?
    I wonder what Kudlow’s response will be when mp issues an executive order to assassinate drug dealers, you know, republican doctors in hillbilly country with prescription pads, in alleys, Mindanao-style.
    Kudlow, I expect, will tip off his former suppliers, now writing position papers at conservative think tanks and serving on as republican staff in the House, that the hammer is coming down.
    All of them believe in the eternal prosperity gospel … sniff.
    Can you imagine if a Democrat, a liberal with Kudlow’s curriculum vitae was appointed to … oh, fuck it.
    America needs to swallow a nuke.

  182. “Thank God he had a good time while he could.”
    Kudlow certainly did .. wait, you are talking about Hawking.
    http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2018/03/former-100000-per-month-cocaine-addict-no-training-economics-historical-100-error-rate-regard-economic-predictions-named-nations-top-economic-adviser
    1994? Wasn’t there an airfield in Arkansas?
    I wonder what Kudlow’s response will be when mp issues an executive order to assassinate drug dealers, you know, republican doctors in hillbilly country with prescription pads, in alleys, Mindanao-style.
    Kudlow, I expect, will tip off his former suppliers, now writing position papers at conservative think tanks and serving on as republican staff in the House, that the hammer is coming down.
    All of them believe in the eternal prosperity gospel … sniff.
    Can you imagine if a Democrat, a liberal with Kudlow’s curriculum vitae was appointed to … oh, fuck it.
    America needs to swallow a nuke.

  183. I wonder what Kudlow’s response will be when mp issues an executive order to assassinate drug dealers, you know, republican doctors in hillbilly country with prescription pads
    Now, now. You know such an order would only be applied in minority neighborhoods. (And probably only in big cities.) The shallow end of the “deep state”** will probably try to keep that aspect under wraps. But I doubt Trump would be able to resist tweeting about the reality.
    ** The shallow end of the “deep state” I confess that I’m really pleased to have come up with that description of the Trump cabinet and sycophants.

  184. I wonder what Kudlow’s response will be when mp issues an executive order to assassinate drug dealers, you know, republican doctors in hillbilly country with prescription pads
    Now, now. You know such an order would only be applied in minority neighborhoods. (And probably only in big cities.) The shallow end of the “deep state”** will probably try to keep that aspect under wraps. But I doubt Trump would be able to resist tweeting about the reality.
    ** The shallow end of the “deep state” I confess that I’m really pleased to have come up with that description of the Trump cabinet and sycophants.

  185. She was a charmer:
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2018/03/14/sec-elizabeth-holmes-theranos-fraud/#6c98f18e18f3
    Jeff Sessions, or whomever the Caligula who will succeed that nasty little cracker, will send low level black drug offenders to private prisons for possessing low level amounts of dope, but she gets to parse out what her “stake” in Theranos might be worth.
    You see why America, once mp is executed by firing squad, all of the i’s dotted and t’s crossed surely, will descend into savage violence.

  186. She was a charmer:
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2018/03/14/sec-elizabeth-holmes-theranos-fraud/#6c98f18e18f3
    Jeff Sessions, or whomever the Caligula who will succeed that nasty little cracker, will send low level black drug offenders to private prisons for possessing low level amounts of dope, but she gets to parse out what her “stake” in Theranos might be worth.
    You see why America, once mp is executed by firing squad, all of the i’s dotted and t’s crossed surely, will descend into savage violence.

  189. “Consumers have always been deeply divided about the Trump: They either love it or they hate it. And it’s not hard to understand why: In a market saturated with so many models that look, sound, and drive alike, the Trump sticks out like a Volkswagen Thing on a lot full of Kia Sedonas.”
    A Consumer Report on Donald Trump: How’s he rate?

  190. “Consumers have always been deeply divided about the Trump: They either love it or they hate it. And it’s not hard to understand why: In a market saturated with so many models that look, sound, and drive alike, the Trump sticks out like a Volkswagen Thing on a lot full of Kia Sedonas.”
    A Consumer Report on Donald Trump: How’s he rate?

  193. I mean, what else could be keeping 60 Minute from airing that interview? Plus Lesley Stahl explaining to America the mechanics would be ratings gold!

  194. I mean, what else could be keeping 60 Minute from airing that interview? Plus Lesley Stahl explaining to America the mechanics would be ratings gold!

  195. At a time when Theranos claimed it had annual sales of $100 million, sales were just $100,000.
    Rounding error.

  196. At a time when Theranos claimed it had annual sales of $100 million, sales were just $100,000.
    Rounding error.

  203. It looks like Nikki Haley may be the next to go. Unless Trump has (or at least had, at the moment that she was speaking) changed position on Russia’s latest attack in the UK.

    The United States believes that Russia is responsible for [attacking] two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent,” Haley said at the U.N. in New York.
    “Russia must fully cooperate with the U.K.’s investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons program,” she added.

  204. It looks like Nikki Haley may be the next to go. Unless Trump has (or at least had, at the moment that she was speaking) changed position on Russia’s latest attack in the UK.

    The United States believes that Russia is responsible for [attacking] two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent,” Haley said at the U.N. in New York.
    “Russia must fully cooperate with the U.K.’s investigation and come clean about its own chemical weapons program,” she added.

  205. prediction: Russia is going to get away with this, with only minor sanctions. just like it’s got away with Crimea, and the election stuff.

  206. prediction: Russia is going to get away with this, with only minor sanctions. just like it’s got away with Crimea, and the election stuff.

  207. just like it’s got away with Crimea, and the election stuff.
    And the Litvinenko murder.

  208. just like it’s got away with Crimea, and the election stuff.
    And the Litvinenko murder.

  209. It’s complicated, though. Expelling diplomats is one thing, but those winters can be chilly.
    From the FT in January:

    Russia’s gas exports to Europe rise to record high
    State-run Gazprom supplies close to 40 per cent of Europe’s supply

    It’s not a minor issue in the UK, either.
    These are articles about gas; I’ll try to chase down oil later.

  210. It’s complicated, though. Expelling diplomats is one thing, but those winters can be chilly.
    From the FT in January:

    Russia’s gas exports to Europe rise to record high
    State-run Gazprom supplies close to 40 per cent of Europe’s supply

    It’s not a minor issue in the UK, either.
    These are articles about gas; I’ll try to chase down oil later.

  211. One thing the attacks on Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Skripal have in common is that both used poisons readily traceable to the Russian state. The Russian government has denied responsibility both times, but it can’t possibly expect anyone to believe it.
    I suppose they could employ conventional assassins if they wished, so why have they gone out of their way to incriminate themselves?

  212. One thing the attacks on Alexander Litvinenko and Sergei Skripal have in common is that both used poisons readily traceable to the Russian state. The Russian government has denied responsibility both times, but it can’t possibly expect anyone to believe it.
    I suppose they could employ conventional assassins if they wished, so why have they gone out of their way to incriminate themselves?

  213. why have they gone out of their way to incriminate themselves?
    In a word: intimidation. To intimidate others who might work with the West, they have to know who will come after them.

  214. why have they gone out of their way to incriminate themselves?
    In a word: intimidation. To intimidate others who might work with the West, they have to know who will come after them.

  215. I don’t think that explanation quite works. Other (potential) defectors would take note however the murder is committed.

  216. I don’t think that explanation quite works. Other (potential) defectors would take note however the murder is committed.

  217. Maybe part of the point is precisely to make the point that no one can do a thing about it. It’s laughing in the world’s face.
    They don’t seem to be bothering to hide this kind of thing, either.
    So the scary question is: what are they doing that they *are* taking pains to hide?

  218. Maybe part of the point is precisely to make the point that no one can do a thing about it. It’s laughing in the world’s face.
    They don’t seem to be bothering to hide this kind of thing, either.
    So the scary question is: what are they doing that they *are* taking pains to hide?

  219. I have been entertaining myself by sending Russian flags as gifts. I got a pretty big R flag off Amazon for five dollars ans sent it as a present to Congressman Nunes . The gift card said something like ” Something for you to salute besides he Republican party”. This evening I will send one to Trump with a note that will say Something to salute besides yourself. I plan to work my way own a list of House Repubicans. I hope I am upsetting the target. Yes I knw they dont answer their own mail, but hopefully the flag andthe note will be delivered.

  220. I have been entertaining myself by sending Russian flags as gifts. I got a pretty big R flag off Amazon for five dollars ans sent it as a present to Congressman Nunes . The gift card said something like ” Something for you to salute besides he Republican party”. This evening I will send one to Trump with a note that will say Something to salute besides yourself. I plan to work my way own a list of House Repubicans. I hope I am upsetting the target. Yes I knw they dont answer their own mail, but hopefully the flag andthe note will be delivered.

  221. “Maybe part of the point is precisely to make the point that no one can do a thing about it. It’s laughing in the world’s face.”
    Who else does that remind us of?
    https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS774US774&ei=Zn2qWpqIO8K4jwOn0qX4Bw&q=gazprom+stock+given+to+republicans&oq=gazprom+stock+given+to+republicans&gs_l=psy-ab.12…29777.40557.0.42506.25.24.1.0.0.0.242.2808.0j20j1.21.0….0…1.1.64.psy-ab..3.15.1958…0j0i67k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1j33i22i29i30k1.0.DFuxJT5FBvc
    https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns
    Also, Rosneft. Those republican bank and brokerage accounts in the Caribbean stuffed with Russian paper.
    Republican love offshore drilling two ways.
    Rosneft has a subsidiary that sells rope.
    Be careful what we say around here. Some of our lurkers are republicans working for Putin/mp enterprises.

  222. “Maybe part of the point is precisely to make the point that no one can do a thing about it. It’s laughing in the world’s face.”
    Who else does that remind us of?
    https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS774US774&ei=Zn2qWpqIO8K4jwOn0qX4Bw&q=gazprom+stock+given+to+republicans&oq=gazprom+stock+given+to+republicans&gs_l=psy-ab.12…29777.40557.0.42506.25.24.1.0.0.0.242.2808.0j20j1.21.0….0…1.1.64.psy-ab..3.15.1958…0j0i67k1j0i22i30k1j33i160k1j33i21k1j33i22i29i30k1.0.DFuxJT5FBvc
    https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/tangled-web-connects-russian-oligarch-money-gop-campaigns
    Also, Rosneft. Those republican bank and brokerage accounts in the Caribbean stuffed with Russian paper.
    Republican love offshore drilling two ways.
    Rosneft has a subsidiary that sells rope.
    Be careful what we say around here. Some of our lurkers are republicans working for Putin/mp enterprises.

  223. I fear for your future, wonkie.
    Poking a murder syndicate with a stick like that.
    Where did Kudlow buy his cocaine, I’d like to know?
    Why wasn’t he arrested for possession and use, if everyone at Bear Stearns knew about it?
    I mean, I know that bucket shop hauled in suitcases full of the stuff through the freight elevator, but still.
    Who protected him?

  224. I fear for your future, wonkie.
    Poking a murder syndicate with a stick like that.
    Where did Kudlow buy his cocaine, I’d like to know?
    Why wasn’t he arrested for possession and use, if everyone at Bear Stearns knew about it?
    I mean, I know that bucket shop hauled in suitcases full of the stuff through the freight elevator, but still.
    Who protected him?

  231. Canada and Mexico are going to need more fissionable material:
    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-admits-lying-canada-trudeau-trade-deficit
    “laughing in the world’s face.”
    Fucking Americans, and I include myself among them because I’ve waited until it’s now too late to do something about the vermin republican infestation, need to be harassed, cavity-checked, and pistol-whipped at entry points along our northern and southern borders.
    Are you now, or have you ever been, a registered Republican?

  232. Canada and Mexico are going to need more fissionable material:
    https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-admits-lying-canada-trudeau-trade-deficit
    “laughing in the world’s face.”
    Fucking Americans, and I include myself among them because I’ve waited until it’s now too late to do something about the vermin republican infestation, need to be harassed, cavity-checked, and pistol-whipped at entry points along our northern and southern borders.
    Are you now, or have you ever been, a registered Republican?

  251. By a historical accident due to the fact that I was dragged round the world too much as a child, I have lived longer in my apartment than anyone else I know has lived anywhere. When I bought this apartment, the area was still infested by artists and bohemians, but in the ensuing decades it has been gentrified to the max and my road is now the home of a couple of (very minor) Russian oligarchs. One of them installed some very unusual (unprecedented actually) heavy duty security a few months ago, a year or two after they bought the place, such that visitors have to wait in the street by a video entry system before they can even get into the front yard, and today I see that the other one is installing the same thing. So I’m guessing Russians in London (and everywhere else) are none of them sleeping too well.

  252. By a historical accident due to the fact that I was dragged round the world too much as a child, I have lived longer in my apartment than anyone else I know has lived anywhere. When I bought this apartment, the area was still infested by artists and bohemians, but in the ensuing decades it has been gentrified to the max and my road is now the home of a couple of (very minor) Russian oligarchs. One of them installed some very unusual (unprecedented actually) heavy duty security a few months ago, a year or two after they bought the place, such that visitors have to wait in the street by a video entry system before they can even get into the front yard, and today I see that the other one is installing the same thing. So I’m guessing Russians in London (and everywhere else) are none of them sleeping too well.

  253. on the bright side, our incoherent, unstable and stupid administration is actually going to slap some more sanctions on Russia. sure, these are more of those individually-targeted things that really just make us look silly. but, maybe it’s better than totally ignoring the issue.

  254. on the bright side, our incoherent, unstable and stupid administration is actually going to slap some more sanctions on Russia. sure, these are more of those individually-targeted things that really just make us look silly. but, maybe it’s better than totally ignoring the issue.

  257. on the bright side, our incoherent, unstable and stupid administration is actually going to slap some more sanctions on Russia
    Has there been a generals’ coup ??

  258. on the bright side, our incoherent, unstable and stupid administration is actually going to slap some more sanctions on Russia
    Has there been a generals’ coup ??

  269. Why wasn’t he arrested for possession and use, if everyone at Bear Stearns knew about it?
    Rich white guys don’t go to jail for blow.

  270. Why wasn’t he arrested for possession and use, if everyone at Bear Stearns knew about it?
    Rich white guys don’t go to jail for blow.

  271. Rich white guys don’t go to jail for blow.
    As I noted above (March 14 9:21 PM) just like a potential executive order to assassinate drug dealers, such things mainly get applied enthusiastically in minority neighborhoods. (Although occasional exceptions can be made of college students.)

  272. Rich white guys don’t go to jail for blow.
    As I noted above (March 14 9:21 PM) just like a potential executive order to assassinate drug dealers, such things mainly get applied enthusiastically in minority neighborhoods. (Although occasional exceptions can be made of college students.)

  277. How dumb do you have to be (or how dumb do you have to think we are) to register to participate remotely in a US political convention . . . using an e-mail address that ends .mail.ru??? (For those who don’t know, .ru is a country code for Russia.) Amazing. And also makes me wonder how many similar efforts are enough smarter to not use obviously Russian accounts.

  278. How dumb do you have to be (or how dumb do you have to think we are) to register to participate remotely in a US political convention . . . using an e-mail address that ends .mail.ru??? (For those who don’t know, .ru is a country code for Russia.) Amazing. And also makes me wonder how many similar efforts are enough smarter to not use obviously Russian accounts.

  283. Somehow, worrying about what someone selling the house will hear you, a prospective buyer, say isn’t that big a deal to me. Much bigger would be, how sure are you that, once you complete the transaction, those camera and microphones are no longer sending to the previous owner’s phone?
    In my mind, a major flaw in the whole Internet of Things is all those gadgets in your home, most with minimal security built into their software, sending information off to the cloud. Does one (or all) get hacked? Do they do more than just their nominal function — like, does the dusting gadget also photograph all the books, magazines, photos, etc. you have lying around?
    Or say you have an indoor/outdoor weather station, which sends weather information to the cloud, where (depending on your settings) anybody can see it. If temperature, wind speed and direction, and rainfall is all it’s sending out, probably not a big deal. (Unless the rainfall numbers show that you are watering your yard during drought restrictions, of course.) But if it’s got a microphone and camera in there as well? Does it? Are you sure? Have you taken it apart and looked?
    I’m ignoring, since it probably doesn’t hurt you personally, the possibility that the little computers on those gadgets can be hacked to participate in a DOS attack. Fun times we live in!

  284. Somehow, worrying about what someone selling the house will hear you, a prospective buyer, say isn’t that big a deal to me. Much bigger would be, how sure are you that, once you complete the transaction, those camera and microphones are no longer sending to the previous owner’s phone?
    In my mind, a major flaw in the whole Internet of Things is all those gadgets in your home, most with minimal security built into their software, sending information off to the cloud. Does one (or all) get hacked? Do they do more than just their nominal function — like, does the dusting gadget also photograph all the books, magazines, photos, etc. you have lying around?
    Or say you have an indoor/outdoor weather station, which sends weather information to the cloud, where (depending on your settings) anybody can see it. If temperature, wind speed and direction, and rainfall is all it’s sending out, probably not a big deal. (Unless the rainfall numbers show that you are watering your yard during drought restrictions, of course.) But if it’s got a microphone and camera in there as well? Does it? Are you sure? Have you taken it apart and looked?
    I’m ignoring, since it probably doesn’t hurt you personally, the possibility that the little computers on those gadgets can be hacked to participate in a DOS attack. Fun times we live in!

  287. Sorry, that was a bit off topic for something that isn’t an open thread.
    We just thought you had been hacked…

  288. Sorry, that was a bit off topic for something that isn’t an open thread.
    We just thought you had been hacked…

  295. From the WaPo piece (sorry no link, I read it on an app):

    Several candidates have emerged as possible McMaster replacements, including John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Keith Kellogg, the chief of staff of the National Security Council.
    Kellogg travels with Trump on many domestic trips, in part because the president likes his company and thinks he is fun. Bolton has met with Trump several times and often agrees with the president’s instincts. Trump also thinks Bolton, who regularly praises the president on Fox News Channel, is good on television.

    I have nothing to add.

  296. From the WaPo piece (sorry no link, I read it on an app):

    Several candidates have emerged as possible McMaster replacements, including John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and Keith Kellogg, the chief of staff of the National Security Council.
    Kellogg travels with Trump on many domestic trips, in part because the president likes his company and thinks he is fun. Bolton has met with Trump several times and often agrees with the president’s instincts. Trump also thinks Bolton, who regularly praises the president on Fox News Channel, is good on television.

    I have nothing to add.

  297. Said it before, and it’s still true, and still very unpleasant:
    If you want torture to go back into the “box of things NEVER to be done again”, either:
    A. Frogmarch the W torturers and their commanders, enablers, and apologists, harsh trials, PUBLIC executions: short drop, long dangle.
    B. Widespread torture practiced against the GOP and the domestic terrorists in their midst.
    Could do both, but doing neither guarantees that torture will be part of our ‘culture’ for the foreseeable future.

  298. Said it before, and it’s still true, and still very unpleasant:
    If you want torture to go back into the “box of things NEVER to be done again”, either:
    A. Frogmarch the W torturers and their commanders, enablers, and apologists, harsh trials, PUBLIC executions: short drop, long dangle.
    B. Widespread torture practiced against the GOP and the domestic terrorists in their midst.
    Could do both, but doing neither guarantees that torture will be part of our ‘culture’ for the foreseeable future.

  299. Kudlow is a disaster.
    Of course, he won’t have a lot of influence, but what he does have will be awful.
    It is just amazing that that jackass could be appointed to the job.
    It just gets worse and worse.

  300. Kudlow is a disaster.
    Of course, he won’t have a lot of influence, but what he does have will be awful.
    It is just amazing that that jackass could be appointed to the job.
    It just gets worse and worse.

  303. As I said above, I’ll get seriously worried (about Trump getting us into an unnecessary war) if Bolton replaces McMaster.

  304. As I said above, I’ll get seriously worried (about Trump getting us into an unnecessary war) if Bolton replaces McMaster.

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