Posts Tagged ‘BILL O’REILLY’
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, ABC NEWS, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, ADRIANNE ZUCKER, ALABAMA SUPREME COURT, ALTERNET, ANDERSON COOPER, ANDREW CUOMO, AP, ATHEISTS, BARACK OBAMA, BILL CLILNTON, BILL O'REILLY, BILLY BUSH, BLACKS, BRETT KAVANAUGH, BUZZFEED, CARL PALADINIO, CBS NEWS, CHARLES MANSON, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, CNN, COREY LEWANDOWSKI, COREY LEWENDOWSKI, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, DONALD TRUMP, E. JEAN CARROLL, FACEBOOK, FOX NEWS, HISPANICS, HOMOSEXUALS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, INFIDELITY, IVANA TRUMP, JERRY FALWELL JR., JESSICA LEEDS, JEWS, KEVIN MCCARTHY, LEIGH CORFMAN, LESBIANS, LIBERALS, MARCO RUBIO, MARLA MAPLES TRUMP, MELANIA TRUMP, MICHAEL GERSON, MICHELLE BACHMANN, MINDY MCGILLIVRAY, MINDY MCGILLLIVRAY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, NATASHA STOYNOFF, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NON-CHRISTIANS, NPR, PALM BEACH POST, PEOPLE, PEOPLE MAGAZINE, POLITICO, RALPH REED, RAPE, RAW STORY, RELIGIOUS RIGHT, REPUBLICAN PARTY, REPUBLICANS, REUTERS, ROY MOORE, SALON, SEAN HANNITY, SEATTLE TIMES, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, SLATE, STEVE BANNON, STORMY DANIELS, TED SLOWIK, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE PALM BEACH POST, THE WASHINGTON POST, THOM TILLIS, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UPI, USA TODAY, WOMEN
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on August 13, 2021 at 12:05 am
On October 12, 2016, The Palm Beach Post, The New York Times and People all published stories of women claiming they had been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump.
Trump’s reaction: “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never.”
For “proof,” he attacked their physical appearance.
Of one accuser, Natasha Stoynoff, he said: “Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”
Of another accuser, Jessica Leeds, Trump said: “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you. Whoever she is, wherever she comes from, the stories are total fiction. They’re 100% made up. They never happened.”
In short: They were too ugly for Trump to consider them worth sexually harassing.
And he threatened: “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
To date, Trump has not filed a single lawsuit for defamation. No doubt he realized:
- He would have to take the witness stand and testify under oath; and
- There was simply too much evidence stacked against him.
By October 14, 2016, at least 12 women had publicly accused Trump of sexually inappropriate behavior. By 2020, the number had grown to 26.
Trump—who’s been married three times and often boasted of his sexual prowess—asked why President Barack Obama hadn’t had similar claims leveled against him.
The answer: Because there has never been the slightest hint of scandal about Obama as a faithful husband.
Donald Trump
Many Right-wingers defended Trump’s misogynist comments as mere “frat boy” talk.
Said Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager and commentator for CNN and Fox News: “We are electing a leader to the free world. We’re not electing a Sunday school teacher.”
And Fox News host Sean Hannity went Biblical to excuse Trump: “King David had 500 concubines for crying out loud!”
But Washington Post Columnist Micheal Gerson took a darker—and more accurate—view of Trump’s comments.
Appearing on the PBS Newshour on October 7, 2016, Gerson said: “Well, I think the problem here is not just bad language, but predatory language, abusive language, demeaning language. That indicates something about someone’s character that is disturbing, frankly, disturbing in a case like this.”
In June, 2019, yet another woman came forward to accuse Trump—now President—of sexual assault: E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist for Elle magazine.
E. Jean Carroll
Carroll alleges that Trump attacked her in the fall of 1995 or the spring of 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York.
She claims that, while gift shopping, Trump pressured her to try on lingerie and grabbed her arm to pull her toward the dressing room.
“The moment the dressing-room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall, hitting my head quite badly, and puts his mouth against my lips.
“I am so shocked I shove him back and start laughing again. He seizes both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and, as I become aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and jams his hand under my coat dress and pulls down my tights.
“The next moment, still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway —or completely, I’m not certain—inside me.”
True to form, Trump responded by exonerating himself on the basis of the woman’s appearance: “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type.”
Then he accused the accuser: “Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves, or sell a book, or carry out a political agenda….
“It’s just as bad for people to believe it, particularly when there is zero evidence. Worse still for a dying publication to try to prop itself up by peddling fake news—it’s an epidemic.”
Also, predictably, he portrayed himself as the innocent victim of yet another vast conspiracy: “If anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Ms. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible.”
And, just as predictably, Republicans rallied around the President.
“Quite honestly, as somebody who had a front-row seat to the Kavanaugh hearings, we’ve seen allegations that were false,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “We’ll let the facts go where they are, but I take [Trump’s] statement at face value.”
“Yes, I believe the president.” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy when pressed on whether he believed Trump.
There’s an old saying: “If one person tells you you’re drunk, and you feel fine, ignore him. If ten people tell you you’re drunk, you need to lie down.”
More than a score of women have come forward to say that Donald Trump—the former President of the United States—is a sexual predator.
Yet not one Republican was willing to say: “It’s time for him to leave.”
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, ABC NEWS, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, ALTERNET, ANDERSON COOPER, ANDREW CUOMO, AP, BILL CLILNTON, BILL O'REILLY, BILLY BUSH, BRETT KAVANAUGH, BUZZFEED, CBS NEWS, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, CNN, COREY LEWANDOWSKI, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, DONALD TRUMP, E. JEAN CARROLL, FACEBOOK, FOX NEWS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, INFIDELITY, IVANA TRUMP, JESSICA LEEDS, KEVIN MCCARTHY, LEIGH CORFMAN, MARCO RUBIO, MARLA MAPLES TRUMP, MELANIA TRUMP, MICHAEL GERSON, MINDY MCGILLIVRAY, MINDY MCGILLLIVRAY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, NATASHA STOYNOFF, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NPR, PALM BEACH POST, PEOPLE, PEOPLE MAGAZINE, POLITICO, RAPE, RAW STORY, REPUBLICAN PARTY, REPUBLICANS, REUTERS, SALON, SEAN HANNITY, SEATTLE TIMES, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, SLATE, STORMY DANIELS, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE PALM BEACH POST, THE WASHINGTON POST, THOM TILLIS, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UPI, USA TODAY, WOMEN
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on August 12, 2021 at 12:06 am
On August 10, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, facing impeachment for sexually harassing multiple female state employees, announced that he would resign in two weeks.
This prompted former Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly to tweet: “Like Cuomo, many of the loudest woke voices have quiet resumes that are appalling; especially in the media and in Hollywood,”
O’Reilly’s critics on Twitter mercilessly reacted. Many noted that In total, O’Reilly and Fox have paid at least $45 million to settle multiple harassment claims against him.
No doubt many critics recalled his silence when Donald Trump faced such accusations during the 2016 Presidential campaign.
Trump had been married three times—and divorced twice:
- 1977: Trump married Czech model Ivana Winklmayr. They divorced in 1992.
- 1993: Trump married actress Marla Maples—and divorced her in 1999.
- 2005: Trump married Slovenian model Melania Knauss.
Ivana Trump and Marla Maples Trump
Donald and Melania Trump
And Trump has never been known for marital fidelity:
- He was married to Ivana when he carried on a highly publicized extramarital affair with Marla Maples.
- Trump was married to Maples when he entered into an affair with Melania Knauss.
- And only four months after Melania gave birth to their son, Barron, Trump had his now-infamous tryst with porn “actress” Stormy Daniels.
He has often boasted about his sexual prowess:
- When his 2016 Republican rival, Marco Rubio, joked that Trump’s hands were small, Trump said: “Look at those hands, are they small hands? And, [Rubio] referred to my hands—‘if they’re small, something else must be small.’ I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee.”
- Trump equated avoiding STDs during the late 1990s with serving in Vietnam: “I’ve been so lucky in terms of that whole world, it is a dangerous world out there. It’s like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider,”
Trump’s most infamous “take” on women appeared during the 2016 Presidential race. The remarks happened during a 2005 exchange with Billy Bush, then the host of Access Hollywood.
The two were traveling in an Access Hollywood bus to the set of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, where Trump was to make a cameo appearance. A “hot” microphone caught Trump’s boast of trying to pick up a married woman:
You know and I moved on her actually. You know she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her and I failed. I’ll admit it. I did try and fuck her. She was married….
I took her out furniture [shopping]. I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there, and she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look….
You know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.
When the Washington Post broke the story on October 7, 2016, the reaction was immediate—and explosive.
Trump quickly released a statement: “This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course—not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended.”
On October 12, 2016, The Palm Beach Post, The New York Times and People all published stories of women claiming to have been sexually assaulted by Trump.
Among his victims:
- MINDY MCGILLLIVRAY: Told the Post that Trump groped her buttocks when she, then 34, visited Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2013.
Within a week of accusing Trump, she told the Palm Beach Post that she and her family were leaving the United States. The reason: She feared for her family’s safety.
“We feel the backlash of the Trump supporters. It scares us. It intimidates us. We are in fear of our lives.’’
- NATASHA STOYNOFF: A People magazine writer, in December, 2005, she went to Mar-a-Lago to interview Donald and Melania Trump for a first-wedding-anniversary feature story.
During a break in the interview, Trump said he wanted to show Stoynoff a “tremendous” room in the mansion.
Recalled Stoynoff: “We walked into that room alone, and Trump shut the door behind us. I turned around, and within seconds he was pushing me against the wall and forcing his tongue down my throat.”
Natasha Stoynoff
Fortunately, Trump’s butler soon entered the room, and Trump acted as though nothing had happened. But as soon as he and Stoynoff were alone again, Trump said: “You know we’re going to have an affair, don’t you?”
Stoynoff asked her editors—and received permission—to be removed from writing any further Trump features.
- JESSICA LEEDS: More than 30 years earlier, Trump had made equally unwelcome advances toward businesswoman Leeds, then 38.
Jessica Leeds
She said she was sitting next to Trump in the first-class cabin of a New York-bound flight when Trump lifted the armrest, grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt. She fled to the back of the plane.
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, ABC NEWS, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ADOLF HITLER, ALEC BALDWIN, ALTERNET, ANDREW JACKSON, AP, BARACK OBAMA, BILL O'REILLY, BUZZFEED, CBS NEWS, CHEKA, CNN, CONCENTRATION CAMPS, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE, EXECUTIONS, FACEBOOK, FIRST AMENDMENT, FOX NEWS, FRED TRUMP, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, FSB, HILLARY CLINTON, HUMOR, HUSTLER MAGAZINE, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, JERRY FALWELL, JOE SCARBOROUGH, JOHN F. KENNEDY, JOHN MCCAIN, JOSEPH STALIN, KELLY SADLER, KGB, KIM JONG-II, KIM JONG-UN, LARRY FLYNT, MGB, MORNING JOE, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NAZI GERMANY, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NKVD, NORTH KOREA, NPR, PARODY, POLITICO, RAW STORY, REUTERS, RICHARD NIXON, RUSSIA, SALON, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, SEATTLE TIMES, SLATE, SOVIET UNION, STORMY DANIELS, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, UPI, USA TODAY, VLADIMIR PUTIN, WILLIAM REHNQUIST
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on July 7, 2021 at 12:15 am
In January, 2018, the White House of President Donald Trump banned the use of personal cell phones in the West Wing.
The official reason: National security.
The real reason: To stop staffers from leaking to reporters.
According to an anonymous White House source: “The cellphone ban is for when people are inside the West Wing, so it really doesn’t do all that much to prevent leaks. If they banned all personal cellphones from the entire [White House] grounds, all that would do is make reporters stay up later because they couldn’t talk to their sources until after 6:30 pm.”
Other sources believed that leaks wouldn’t end unless Trump started firing staffers. But that risked firing the wrong people. To protect themselves, those who leaked might well accuse tight-lipped co-workers.
Within the Soviet Union (especially during the reign of Joseph Stalin) fear of secret police surveillance was widespread—and absolutely justified.
Among the methods used to keep conversations secret:
- Turning on the TV or radio to full volume.
- Turning on a water faucet at full blast.
- Turning the dial of a rotary phone to the end—and sticking a pencil in one of the small holes for numbers.
- Standing six to nine feet away from the hung-up receiver.
- Going for “a walk in the woods.”
- Saying nothing sensitive on the phone.
The secret police (known as the Cheka, the NKVD, the MGB, the KGB, and now the FSB) operated on seven working principles:
- Your enemy is hiding.
- Start from the usual suspects.
- Study the young.
- Stop the laughing.
- Rebellion spreads like wildfire.
- Stamp out every spark.
- Order is created by appearance.
Trump has always ruled through bribery and fear. He’s bought off (or tried to) those who might cause him trouble—like porn actress Stormy Daniels.
He’s never been able to poke fun at himself—and he grows livid when anybody else does.
At Christmastime, 2018, “Saturday Night Live” aired a parody of the classic movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Its title: “It’s a Wonderful Trump.”
In it, Trump (portrayed by actor Alec Baldwin) discovers what the United States would be like if he had never become President: A great deal better-off.
As usual, Trump expressed his resentment through Twitter: The Justice Department should stop investigating his administration and go after the real enemy: “SNL.”
“A REAL scandal is the one sided coverage, hour by hour, of networks like NBC & Democrat spin machines like Saturday Night Live. It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?”
By saying that “SNL’s” right to parody him “should be tested in courts, can’t be legal?” Trump chose to ignore the role of the First Amendment in American history.
Cartoonists portrayed President Andrew Jackson (1829 -1837) wearing a king’s robes and crown, and holding a scepter. This thoroughly enraged Jackson—who had repulsed a British invasion in 1815 at the Battle of New Orleans. To call a man a monarchist in 1800s America was the same as calling him a Communist in the 1950s.
During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was lampooned as an ape and a blood-stained tyrant. And Theodore Roosevelt proved a cartoonist’s delight, with attention given to his bushy mustache and thick-lensed glasses.
Thus, the odds are slight that an American court would even hear a case brought by Trump against “SNL.”
Such a case made its way through the courts in the late 1980s when the Reverend Jerry Falwell sued pornographer Larry Flyint over a satirical interview in Hustler magazine. In this, “Falwell” admitted that his first sexual encounter had been with his own mother.
In 1988, the United States Supreme Court, voting 8-0, ruled in Flynt’s favor, saying that the media had a First Amendment right to parody a celebrity.
“Despite their sometimes caustic nature, from the early cartoon portraying George Washington as an ass down to the present day, graphic depictions and satirical cartoons have played a prominent role in public and political debate,” Chief Justice William Rehnquist—an appointee of President Richard Nixon—wrote in his majority decision in the case.
Moreover, Trump would have bene forced to take the stand in such a case. The attorneys for NBC and “SNL” would have insisted on it.
The results would have been:
- Unprecedented legal exposure for Trump—who would have been forced to answer virtually any questions asked or drop his lawsuit; and
- Unprecedented humiliation for a man who lives as much for his ego as his pocketbook. Tabloids and late-night comedians would have had a field-day with such a lawsuit.
And while Trump loves to sue those he hates, he does not relish taking the stand himself.
On October 12, 2016, The Palm Beach Post, The New York Times and People all published stories of women claiming to have been sexually assaulted by Trump.
He accused the Times of inventing accusations to hurt his Presidential candidacy. And he threatened to sue for libel if the Times reported the women’s stories. He also said he would sue the women making the accusations.
He never sued the Times, The Post, People—or the women.
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, ABC NEWS, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ADOLF HITLER, ALEC BALDWIN, ALTERNET, ANDREW JACKSON, AP, BARACK OBAMA, BILL O'REILLY, BUZZFEED, CBS NEWS, CHEKA, CNN, CONCENTRATION CAMPS, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE, EXECUTIONS, FACEBOOK, FIRST AMENDMENT, FOX NEWS, FRED TRUMP, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, FSB, HILLARY CLINTON, HUMOR, HUSTLER MAGAZINE, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, JERRY FALWELL, JOE SCARBOROUGH, JOHN F. KENNEDY, JOHN MCCAIN, JOSEPH STALIN, KELLY SADLER, KGB, KIM JONG-II, KIM JONG-UN, LARRY FLYNT, MGB, MORNING JOE, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NAZI GERMANY, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NKVD, NORTH KOREA, NPR, PARODY, POLITICO, RAW STORY, REUTERS, RICHARD NIXON, RUSSIA, SALON, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, SEATTLE TIMES, SLATE, SOVIET UNION, STORMY DANIELS, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, UPI, USA TODAY, VLADIMIR PUTIN, WILLIAM REHNQUIST
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on July 6, 2021 at 12:42 am
On May 10, 2018, The Hill reported that White House Special Assistant Kelly Sadler had joked derisively about dying Arizona United States Senator John McCain.
McCain, a Navy pilot during the Vietnam war, was shot down over Hanoi on October 26, 1967, and captured. He spent five and a half years as a POW in North Vietnam—and was often brutally tortured. He wasn’t released until March 14, 1973.
Recently, he had opposed the nomination of Gina Haspel as director of the CIA.
The reason: In 2002, Haspel had operated a “black” CIA site in Thailand where Islamic terrorists were often waterboarded to make them talk.
For John McCain, waterboarding was torture, even if it didn’t leave its victims permanently scarred and disabled.
Aware that the 81-year-old McCain was dying of brain cancer, Sadler joked to intimates about the Senator’s opposition to Haspel: “It doesn’t matter. He’s dying anyway.”
John McCain
Leaked to CNN by an anonymous White House official, Sadler’s remark sparked fierce criticism—and demands for her firing.
South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a close friend of McCain, said: “Ms. Sadler, may I remind you that John McCain has a lot of friends in the United States Senate on both sides of the aisle. Nobody is laughing in the Senate.”
“People have wondered when decency would hit rock bottom with this administration. It happened yesterday,” said then-former Vice President Joe Biden.
“John McCain makes America great. Father, grandfather, Navy pilot, POW hero bound by honor, an incomparable and irrepressible statesman. Those who mock such greatness only humiliate themselves and their silent accomplices,” tweeted former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Officially, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to confirm or deny Sadler’s joke: “I’m not going to get into a back and forth because people want to create issues of leaked staff meetings.”
Unofficially, Sanders was furious—not at the joke about a dying man, but that someone had leaked it. After assailing the White House communications team, she pouted: “I am sure this conversation is going to leak, too. And that’s just disgusting.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
No apology was offered by any official at the White House—including President Donald Trump.
In fact, Senior White House communications adviser Mercedes Schlapp reportedly expressed her support for Sadler: “I stand with Kelly Sadler.”
On May 11—the day after Sadler’s comment was reported—reporters asked Sanders if the tone set by Trump had caused Sadler to feel comfortable in telling such a joke.
“Certainly not!” predictably replied Sanders, adding: “We have a respect for all Americans, and that is what we try to put forward in everything we do, but in word and in action, focusing on doing things that help every American in this country every single day.”
On May 14, 2018, Trump revealed his “respect” for “all Americans”—especially those working in the White House.
“The so-called leaks coming out of the White House are a massive over exaggeration put out by the Fake News Media in order to make us look as bad as possible,” Trump tweeted.
“With that being said, leakers are traitors and cowards, and we will find out who they are!”
This from the man who, during the 2016 Presidential campaign, shouted: “WikiLeaks, I love WikiLeaks!”
Of course, that was when Russian Intelligence agents were exposing the secrets of Hillary Clinton, his Presidential opponent.
And, in a move that Joseph Stalin would have admired, Trump ordered an all-out investigation to find the person who leaked Sadler’s “joke.”
In January, 2018, the White House had banned the use of personal cell phones in the West Wing.
The official reason: National security.
The real reason: To stop staffers from leaking to reporters.
Officials now had two choices:
- Leave their cell phones in their cars, or,
- When they arrive for work, deposit them in lockers installed at West Wing entrances. They can reclaim their phones when they leave.
Several staffers huddled around the lockers throughout the day, checking messages they had missed. The lockers buzzed and chirped constantly from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday.
More ominously, well-suited men roamed the halls of the West Wing, carrying devices that pick up signals from phones that aren’t government-issued. “Did someone forget to put their phone away?” one of the men would ask if such a device was detected.
If no one said they have a phone, the detection team started searching the room.
Phone detector
The devices can tell which type of phone is in the room.
This is the sort of behavior Americans have traditionally—and correctly—associated with dictatorships
In his memo outlining the policy, former Chief of Staff John Kelly warned that anyone who violated the phone ban could be punished, including “being indefinitely prohibited from entering the White House complex.”
Yet even these draconian methods did not end White House leaks.
White House officials still spoke with reporters throughout the day and often aired their grievances, whether about annoying colleagues or competing policy priorities.
Aides with private offices sometimes called reporters on their desk phones. Others used their cell phones to call or text reporters during lunch breaks.
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, ABC NEWS, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, ADOLF HITLER, ALEC BALDWIN, ALTERNET, ANDREW JACKSON, AP, BARACK OBAMA, BILL O'REILLY, BUZZFEED, CBS NEWS, CHEKA, CNN, CONCENTRATION CAMPS, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE, EXECUTIONS, FACEBOOK, FIRST AMENDMENT, FOX NEWS, FRED TRUMP, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS, FSB, HILLARY CLINTON, HUMOR, HUSTLER MAGAZINE, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, JERRY FALWELL, JOE SCARBOROUGH, JOHN F. KENNEDY, JOHN MCCAIN, JOSEPH STALIN, KELLY SADLER, KGB, KIM JONG-II, KIM JONG-UN, LARRY FLYNT, MGB, MORNING JOE, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NAZI GERMANY, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NKVD, NORTH KOREA, NPR, PARODY, POLITICO, RAW STORY, REUTERS, RICHARD NIXON, RUSSIA, SALON, SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, SEATTLE TIMES, SLATE, SOVIET UNION, STORMY DANIELS, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT, UPI, USA TODAY, VLADIMIR PUTIN, WILLIAM REHNQUIST
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on July 5, 2021 at 12:15 am
“Nothing funny about tired Saturday Night Live on Fake news NBC! Question is, how do the Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution? Likewise for many other shows? Very unfair and should be looked into. This is the real Collusion!”
So tweeted President Donald J. Trump on February 17, 2019.
Less than nine hours earlier, “SNL” had once again opened with actor Alec Baldwin mocking the 45th President. In this skit, Baldwin/Trump gave a rambling press conference declaring: “We need wall. We have a tremendous amount of drugs flowing into this country from the southern border—or The Brown Line, as many people have asked me not to call it.”
Right-wingers denounce their critics as “snowflakes”—that is, emotional, easily offended and unable to tolerate opposing views.
Yet here was Donald Trump, who prides himself on his toughness, whining like a child bully who has just been told that other people have rights, too.
The answer is simple: Trump is a tyrant—and a longtime admirer of tyrants.
Donald Trump
He has lavishly praised Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, such as during his appearance on the December 18, 2015 edition of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”:
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader, unlike what we have in this country”—-a reference to then-President Barack Obama.
During a February, 2017 interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, Trump defended Putin’s killing of political opponents.
O’Reilly: “But he’s a killer.”
Trump: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
Asked by a Fox News reporter why he praised murderous North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, he replied: “He’s a tough guy. Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, tough people, and you take it over from your father…If you could do that at 27 years old, I mean, that’s one in 10,000 that could do that.”
In short: Kim must be doing something right because he’s in power. And it doesn’t matter how he came to power—or the price his country is paying for it.
Actually, for all their differences in appearance and nationality, Trump shares at least two similarities with Kim.
Kim Jong-Un
Blue House (Republic of Korea) [KOGL (http://www.kogl.or.kr/open/info/license_info/by.do)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
First, both of them got a big boost into wealth and power from their fathers.
- Trump’s father, Fred Trump, a real estate mogul, reportedly gave Donald $200 million to enter the real estate business. It was this sum that formed the basis for Trump’s eventual rise to wealth and fame—and the Presidency.
- Kim’s father was Kim Jong-Il, who ruled North Korea as dictator from 1994 to 2011. When his father died in 2011, Kim Jong-Un immediately succeeded him, having been groomed for years to do so.
Second, both Trump and Kim have brutally tried to stamp out any voices that contradict their own.
- Trump has constantly attacked freedom of the press, even labeling it “the enemy of the American people.” He has also slandered his critics on Twitter—which refused to enforce its “Terms of Service” and revoke his account until he incited the January 6 attack on Congress.
- Kim has attacked his critics with firing squads and prison camps. Amnesty International estimates that more than 200,000 North Koreans are now suffering in labor camps throughout the country.
Thus, Trump—-elected to lead the “free world”—believes, like all dictators:
- People are evil everywhere—so who am I to judge who’s better or worse? All that counts is gaining and holding onto power.
- And if you can do that, it doesn’t matter how you do so.
Actually, it’s not uncommon for dictators to admire one another—as the case of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler nicely illustrates.
Joseph Stalin
After Hitler launched a blood-purge of his own private Stormtroopers army on June 30, 1934, Stalin exclaimed: “Hitler, what a great man! That is the way to deal with your political opponents!”
And Hitler was equally admiring of Stalin’s notorious ruthlessness: “After the victory over Russia,” he told his intimates, “it would be a good idea to get Stalin to run the country, with German oversight, of course. He knows better than anyone how to handle the Russians.”
Adolf Hitler
Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1990-048-29A / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)%5D
One characteristic shared by all dictators is intolerance toward those whose opinions differ with their own. Especially those who dare to actually criticize or make fun of them.
All Presidents have thin skins. John F. Kennedy often phoned reporters and called them “sonofbitches” when he didn’t like stories they had written on him.
Richard Nixon went further, waging all-out war against the Washington Post for its stories about his criminality.
But Donald Trump took his hatred of dissidents to an entirely new—and dangerous—level.
On May 10, 2018, The Hill reported that White House Special Assistant Kelly Sadler had joked derisively about dying Arizona United States Senator John McCain.
Trump was outraged—not that one of his aides had joked about a man stricken with brain cancer, but that someone in the White House had leaked it.
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, ABC NEWS, ADAM SCHIFF, ALTERNET, AMERICABLOG, AP, BABY BOOMER RESISTANCE, BENJAMIN NETANAHU, BILL O'REILLY, BRETT KAVANAUGH, BUZZFEED, CATHOLOCISM, CBS NEWS, CHINA, CHRISTINE BLAZEY FORD, CIA, CNN, CORRUPTION, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, DONALD TRUMP, EXTORTION, FACEBOOK, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT, FOUNDING FATHERS, FOX NEWS NETWORK, HILLARY CLINTON, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ISRAEL, JAMES COMEY, JARED KUSHNER, JOE BIDEN, JOHN STUBBS, KIM JONG-UN, LOUIS X1V, MAR-A-LAGO, MICK MULVANEY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NANCY PELOSI, NATALIA VESELNITSKAYA, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NPR, PARODY, PAUL MANAFORT, PBS NEWSHOUR, POLITICO, POLITICUSUSA, POLITIFACT, QUEEN ELIZABETH 1, RAW STORY, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, REUTERS, RINAT AKHMETSHIN, ROBERT A. PRENTICE, RODRIGO DUTERTE, RUSSIA, SALON, SEATTLE TIMES, SERGE KOVALESKI, SLATE, SNOPES, TALKING POINTS MEMO, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE DAILY BLOG, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THINKPROGRESS, TIME, TREASON, TRUTHDIG, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UKRAINE, UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, UPI, USA TODAY, VICTOR YANUKOVYCH, VLADIMIR PUTIN, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, WILLIAM BARR, XI JINPING
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary, Uncategorized on October 11, 2019 at 12:07 am
Donald Trump routinely makes fun of others.
During the 2016 Presidential campaign, he infamously mocked New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, a congenital condition affecting the joints.
In 2018, Trump viciously attacked Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who had come forward to allege that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, had sexually assaulted her when she was 15.
But he holds himself immune from ridicule.
On September 26, Adam Schiff (D-CA), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, rose to the occasion.
Adam Schiff
During a hearing of his committee, he gave a dramatic reading—part news summary, part parody. It centered on an extortion call Trump had made on July 25 to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Trump had wanted a “favor”: Investigate 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who has had business dealings in Ukraine.
Unspoken was the threat of cancelling $400 million in promised American military aid to Ukraine.
So Schiff—whose committee is investigating that incident—gave a summary of that call during a hearing.
It wasn’t the news summary part that infuriated Trump, but the mockery included within it.
As Schiff explained to CNN: “The fact that that’s not clear is a separate problem in and of itself. Of course, the President never said, ‘If you don’t understand me I’m going to say it seven more times.’ My point is, that’s the message that the Ukraine president was receiving in not so many words.”
Trump had aimed his own brand of juvenile humor at Schiff in the past, referring to him as “little Adam Schit.”
Donald Trump
But for Schiff to dare to make fun of him was—for Trump—entirely too much.
“Rep. Adam Schiff illegally made up a FAKE & terrible statement, pretended it to be mine as the most important part of my call to the Ukrainian President, and read it aloud to Congress and the American people,” Trump tweeted. “It bore NO relationship to what I said on the call. Arrest for Treason?”
Trump is the first President to openly equate criticism—especially mockery—of himself with treason. Like the French King, Louis X1V, he believes: L’État, c’est moi—“I am the State.”
And treason is a crime that has traditionally been punished with death.
So Trump more than gave the game away when he tweeted, on October 7: “Nancy Pelosi knew of all of the many Shifty Adam Schiff lies and massive frauds perpetrated upon Congress and the American people.
“This makes Nervous Nancy every bit as guilty as Liddle’ Adam Schiff for High Crimes and Misdemeanors, and even Treason. I guess that means that they, along with all of those that evilly ‘Colluded’ with them, must all be immediately Impeached!”
Nancy Pelosi, as speaker of the House of Representatives, has done nothing that meets the Constitutional definition of treason: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.”
Moreover, members of Congress cannot be impeached. Impeachment is a Congressional tool for investigating judges or executive branch officials they believe may have committed crimes.
No doubt many people believe that Trump wouldn’t dare ask his hand-picked Attorney General, William Barr, to indict Adam Schiff or Nancy Pelosi for treason.
Of course, there were many people who believed that Trump wouldn’t dare fire FBI Director James Comey for pursuing an investigation into Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential election.
Or that he would openly call on a hostile foreign power—China—to intervene in the 2020 Presidential election.
A President who can invite a hostile foreign power to slander his political opponent can just as easily call on a hostile foreign power to assassinate that opponent.
Trump has claimed: “Let me tell you, I’m only interested in corruption. I don’t care about politics. I don’t care about Biden’s politics….”
But if Trump were concerned about fighting corruption, he wouldn’t have:
- Focused his anti-corruption campaign entirely on Biden;
- Defended his former 2016 campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, who made millions working for former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych;
- Praised others mired in corruption scandals—such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump is counting on Americans’ awe of the Presidency to convince them of his integrity.
But according to Robert A. Prentice, Professor of Government and Society at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin:
“President Donald Trump’s lying is off the charts. No prominent politician in memory bests Trump for spouting spectacular, egregious, easily disproved lies. The birther claim. The vote fraud claim. The attendance at the inauguration claim. And on and on and on.
“Every fact checker—Kessler, Factcheck.org, Snopes.com, PolitiFact—finds a level of mendacity unequaled by any politician ever scrutinized. For instance, 70 percent of his campaign statements checked by PolitiFact were mostly false, totally false, or “pants on fire” false.”
Donald Trump prides himself on setting Presidential precedents. He may turn out to be the first President who invoked “treason” against his political opponents—and was himself found to be a menace to the nation he claimed to love.
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, ABC NEWS, ADAM SCHIFF, ALTERNET, AMERICABLOG, AP, BABY BOOMER RESISTANCE, BENJAMIN NETANAHU, BILL O'REILLY, BRETT KAVANAUGH, BUZZFEED, CATHOLOCISM, CBS NEWS, CHINA, CHRISTINE BLAZEY FORD, CIA, CNN, CORRUPTION, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, DONALD TRUMP, EXTORTION, FACEBOOK, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT, FOUNDING FATHERS, FOX NEWS NETWORK, HILLARY CLINTON, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ISRAEL, JAMES COMEY, JARED KUSHNER, JOE BIDEN, JOHN STUBBS, KIM JONG-UN, LOUIS X1V, MAR-A-LAGO, MICK MULVANEY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NANCY PELOSI, NATALIA VESELNITSKAYA, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NPR, PARODY, PAUL MANAFORT, PBS NEWSHOUR, POLITICO, POLITICUSUSA, POLITIFACT, QUEEN ELIZABETH 1, RAW STORY, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, REUTERS, RINAT AKHMETSHIN, ROBERT A. PRENTICE, RODRIGO DUTERTE, RUSSIA, SALON, SEATTLE TIMES, SERGE KOVALESKI, SLATE, SNOPES, TALKING POINTS MEMO, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE DAILY BLOG, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THINKPROGRESS, TIME, TREASON, TRUTHDIG, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UKRAINE, UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, UPI, USA TODAY, VICTOR YANUKOVYCH, VLADIMIR PUTIN, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, WILLIAM BARR, XI JINPING
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary, Uncategorized on October 10, 2019 at 12:07 am
In 2016, Donald Trump asked Russia to intervene in the upcoming Presidential election.
At a July 22, 2016 press conference in Doral, Florida, Trump said: “Russia, if you are listening, I hope you are able to find the 33,000 emails that are missing [from Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s computer]. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
Hours later, the Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow targeted Clinton’s personal office and hit more than 70 other Clinton campaign accounts.
And on October 3, 2019, Trump called on another foreign—and enemy—nation to churn out “dirt” on another Democratic Presidential candidate: Former Vice President Joe Biden: “China should start an investigation into the Bidens.”
Donald Trump
Asked if he had requested China’s “President-for-Life” Xi Jinping to do so, Trump replied: “I haven’t. But it’s certainly something we should start thinking about.”
Trump’s comments came just one week before a Chinese delegation was to arrive in Washington to resume protracted trade negotiations.
And to make certain the Chinese got the message, Trump warned: “I have a lot of options on China, but if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous power.”
Despite Trump’s accusations, there has been no evidence of corruption by Biden or his son, Hunter.
Having twice called on foreign—and enemy—nations to subvert American Presidential elections, Trump feels himself qualified to define who is guilty of treasonous behavior.
Enter Adam Schiff (D-CA), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
Adam Schiff
In July, 2019, Trump told his acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, to withhold almost $400 million in promised military aid for Ukraine, which faces increasing aggression from Russia.
On July 25, Trump telephoned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to “request” a “favor”: Investigate 2020 Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, who has had business dealings in Ukraine.
The reason for such an investigation: To find embarrassing “dirt” on Biden.
But then a CIA whistleblower filed a complaint about the extortion attempt—and the media and Congress soon learned of it.
Schiff tweeted: “The transcript of the call reads like a classic mob shakedown: — We do a lot for Ukraine — There’s not much reciprocity — I have a favor to ask — Investigate my opponent — My people will be in touch — Nice country you got there. It would be a shame if something happened to her.”
Then, even worse for Trump’s ego, Schiff went further. He dared to parody Trump’s extortion attempt.
Joe Biden
On September 26, during a session of the Intelligence Committee, Schiff gave a dramatic reading—part news summary, part parody—of the call with Zelensky.
He prefaced the reading by saying, “In not so many words, this is the essence of what the President communicates.
“President Zelensky, eager to establish himself at home as the friend of the President of the most powerful nation on earth, had at least two objectives: Get a meeting with the President and get more military help. And so what happened on that call?
“Zelensky begins by ingratiating himself, and he tries to enlist the support of the President. He expresses his interest in meeting with the President, and says his country wants to acquire more weapons from us to defend itself.
“And what is the President’s response? Well, it reads like a classic organized crime shakedown.
“Shorn of its rambling character and in not so many words, this is the essence of what the President communicates. ‘We’ve been very good to your country. Very good. No other country has done as much as we have. But you know what? I don’t see much reciprocity here.
“‘I hear what you want. I have a favor I want from you, though. And I’m going to say this only seven times, so you better listen good. I want you to make up dirt on my political opponent. Understand? Lots of it, on this and on that.
“‘I’m going to put you in touch with people, and not just any people. I’m going to put you in touch with the attorney general of the United States, my attorney general, Bill Barr. He’s got the whole weight of the American law enforcement behind him. And I’m going to put you in touch with Rudy [Trump’s personal attorney and fixer].
“‘You’re going to love him [Giuliani]. Trust me. You know what I’m asking? And so I’m only going to say this a few more times in a few more ways. And by the way, don’t call me again. I’ll call you when you’ve done what I asked.'”
Schiff later told CNN that he was trying to mock the President’s conduct.
The next day, September 27, Trump demanded in a tweet that Schiff “immediately resign.”
Trump, of course, has no power to force a member of Congress to resign.
And on September 29, Trump tweeted: “….Schiff made up what I actually said by lying to Congress……
“His lies were made in perhaps the most blatant and sinister manner ever seen in the great Chamber. He wrote down and read terrible things, then said it was from the mouth of the President of the United States. I want Schiff questioned at the highest level for Fraud & Treason…..”
Treason?
Like this:
Like Loading...
2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, ABC NEWS, ADAM SCHIFF, ALTERNET, AMERICABLOG, AP, BABY BOOMER RESISTANCE, BENJAMIN NETANAHU, BILL O'REILLY, BRETT KAVANAUGH, BUZZFEED, CATHOLOCISM, CBS NEWS, CHINA, CHRISTINE BLAZEY FORD, CIA, CNN, CORRUPTION, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE, DONALD TRUMP, EXTORTION, FACEBOOK, FIVETHIRTYEIGHT, FOUNDING FATHERS, FOX NEWS NETWORK, HILLARY CLINTON, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ISRAEL, JAMES COMEY, JARED KUSHNER, JOE BIDEN, JOHN STUBBS, KIM JONG-UN, LOUIS X1V, MAR-A-LAGO, MICK MULVANEY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NANCY PELOSI, NATALIA VESELNITSKAYA, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NPR, PARODY, PAUL MANAFORT, PBS NEWSHOUR, POLITICO, POLITICUSUSA, POLITIFACT, QUEEN ELIZABETH 1, RAW STORY, RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, REUTERS, RINAT AKHMETSHIN, ROBERT A. PRENTICE, RODRIGO DUTERTE, RUSSIA, SALON, SEATTLE TIMES, SERGE KOVALESKI, SLATE, SNOPES, TALKING POINTS MEMO, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE DAILY BLOG, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THINKPROGRESS, TIME, TREASON, TRUTHDIG, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UKRAINE, UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION, UPI, USA TODAY, VICTOR YANUKOVYCH, VLADIMIR PUTIN, VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, WILLIAM BARR, XI JINPING
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary, Uncategorized on October 9, 2019 at 12:03 am
The American colonists had learned firsthand how capricious and deadly a monarch’s rage could be. Under English law, “treason” could be liberally applied to anyone who offended the Royal Personage.
For example: During the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, John Stubbs, an English pamphleteer and political commentator, opposed her proposed marriage to Francis, Duke of Anjou, a Roman Catholic—and the brother of the King of France.
Stubbs, a Puritan who hated Catholicism, damned in in a scathing pamphlet—which infuriated Elizabeth’s court. At first, the Queen favored the death penalty. But then she was persuaded to choose a lesser sentence: Amputation of his right hand by driving a cleaver driven through the wrist with a mallet.
After the sentence was carried out, Stubbs cried, “God save the Queen!” before fainting. He was then imprisoned for eighteen months.
Queen Elizabeth 1
So when the Founding Fathers drafted the Constitution of the United States, they specifically restricted the definition of treason.
In Article III, section 3, the framers wrote:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
The Constitution permits the United States Congress to create the offense, and restricts any punishment for treason to only the convicted (the second paragraph). The crime is prohibited by legislation passed by Congress.
The United States Code, in 18 U.S.C. 2381, states:
Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.
For President Donald Trump, treason means any opposition to or criticism of himself.
Donald Trump
A tyrant by nature, he envies foreign tyrants who have powers to slaughter anyone they dislike. Among the proofs of this:
- During a February, 2017 interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, Trump defended Russian President Vladimir Putin’s killing of political opponents. When O’Reilly noted, “But he’s a killer,” Trump replied: “There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
- Asked by a Fox News reporter why he praised murderous North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, he replied: “He’s a tough guy. Hey, when you take over a country, tough country, tough people, and you take it over from your father.…If you could do that at 27 years old, I mean, that’s one in 10,000 that could do that.”
Kim Jong-Un
Blue House (Republic of Korea) [KOGL (http://www.kogl.or.kr/open/info/license_info/by.do) %5D, via Wikimedia Commons
- Of Philippines dictator Rodrigo Duterte, whose death squads have slaughtered more than 6,000 citizens, Trump said: “I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem.”
- After Turkish dictator Recep Tayyip Erdogan cracked down on Turkish civil society, the media, and his opponents, Trump congratulated him: “Frankly, he’s getting very high marks. He’s also been working with the United States. We have a great friendship and the countries—I think we’re right now as close as we’ve ever been….a lot of that has to do with a personal relationship.”
- And at a party fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago resort in March, 2018, Trump praised China’s dictator Xi Jinping: “He’s now president for life. President for life. No, he’s great. And look, he was able to do that. I think it’s great. Maybe we’ll have to give that a shot some day.”
Nor has Trump blanched at calling on foreign dictators to destroy his political opponents.
On July 9, 2016, high-ranking members of his Presidential campaign met at Trump Tower with at least two lobbyists with ties to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. The participants included:
- Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.;
- His son-in-law, Jared Kushner;
- His then-campaign manager Paul Manafort;
- Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with ties to Putin; and
- Rinat Akhmetshin, a former Soviet counterintelligence officer suspected of “having ongoing ties to Russian Intelligence.”
The purpose of that meeting: To gain access to any “dirt” Russian Intelligence could supply on Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton.
And at a July 22, 2016 press conference in Doral, Florida, Trump said: “Russia, if you are listening, I hope you are able to find the 33,000 emails that are missing [from Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s computer]. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
This was nothing less than treason—calling upon a foreign power, hostile to the United States, to interfere in its Presidential election.
Hours later, the Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow targeted Clinton’s personal office and hit more than 70 other Clinton campaign accounts.
And on October 3, 2019, Trump called on another dictator—China’s “President-for-Life”” Xi Jinping—to churn out “dirt” on Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Like this:
Like Loading...
ABC NEWS, ALTERNET, AP, BILL CLINTON, BILL O'REILLY, BUZZFEED, CALLISTA BISEK, CBS NEWS, CNN, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DONALD TRUMP, FACEBOOK, FBI, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, FOX NEWS, GODFATHER'S PIZZA, HERMAN CAIN, JEROME POWELL, JESSICA LEEDS, MONICA LEWINSKY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NATASHA STOYNOFF, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NEWT GINGRICH, NPR, PBS NEWSHOUR, POLITICO, RAW STORY, REUTERS, ROBERT PORTER, ROGER AILES, RUSH LIMBAUGH, SALON, SEATTLE TIMES, SHARON BIALEK, SLATE, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UPI, USA TODAY
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary on April 9, 2019 at 12:20 am
Donald Trump feels comfortable with men who abuse women.
One was Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News from 1996 to 2016. He resigned in disgrace after seven women publicly accused him of extorting sexual favors from them and other Fox employees.
Immediately after leaving Fox, he became an adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign, assisting with debate preparation.
When Trump learned that Ailes was facing a sexual harassment lawsuit by former Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson, he stated: “I think they are unfounded just based on what I’ve read. Totally unfounded, based on what I read.”
Roger Ailes
Ninian Reid [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D
Another Trump buddy was Robert Porter, who served as White House staff secretary from January 20, 2017, until February 7, 2018. Then his two former wives accused him publicly of battery—and he resigned his position.
It meant nothing to Trump that an FBI background check found the allegations credible and unearthed a restraining order. As far as he was concerned, Porter–not his two battered ex-wives—was the victim:
“He also, as you probably know, says he’s innocent, and I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he’s innocent, so you have to talk to him about that.”
Then there’s former Fox News host Bill O”Reilly.
In April, 2017, the New York Times revealed that O’Reilly and Fox News had settled five sexual harassment lawsuits totaling $13 million. Embarrassed, Fox News then fired O’Reilly.
Trump’s response? “He is a good person.” Calling O’Reilly “a person I know well,” Trump said he shouldn’t have settled: ‘“I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”
Donald Trump
This is hardly surprising.
By October, 2016—less than a month from Election Day—no fewer than 12 women had publicly accused Trump himself of making sexually inappropriate advances toward them.
Trump’s reaction: “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never.”
For “proof,” he attacked their physical appearance.
Of one accuser, Natasha Stoynoff, he said: “Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”
Of another accuser, Jessica Leeds, Trump said: “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you. Whoever she is, wherever she comes from, the stories are total fiction. They’re 100% made up. They never happened.”
In short: They were too ugly for Trump to consider them worth sexually harassing.
And he threatened: “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
To date, Trump has not filed a single lawsuit for defamation.
As of April, 2019, the total number of women accusing Trump of making improper advances has risen to 23.
So there’s no reason to be surprised at his choice of businessman Herman Cain for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board. During Cain’s short-lived run for the Presidency in 2011, he was accused by multiple women of making aggressive and unwanted sexual advances.
Herman Cain
Yet Cain was not without his supporters. Among these: Rush Limbaugh, the Right-wing radio propagandist.
On November 7, 2011, Limbaugh attacked Sharon Bialek, one of Cain’s accusers. Calling Bialek a “babe” and “the blonde bombshell,” he joked about Cain’s attempt to extort sexual favors via her need for a job.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha,” laughed Limbaugh. “That’s it. Cain decided to provide her with his idea of a ‘stimulus package.’”
But Limbaugh wasn’t through: “Get this now. I have been wrong in pronouncing the fourth Cain accuser’s name as “Be-allek.” Gloria Allred [Bialek’s attorney] says that her name is pronounced ‘Bye-a-lick,’ as in ‘Buy a Lick.’”
To drive home his point, he made crude slumping noises over the microphone.
Rush Limbaugh
Actually, the woman’s name is pronounced “By-a-Lek.”
But even the venom of America’s most toxic Right-wing broadcaster couldn’t save Cain.
Cain’s longtime wife, Gloria, chose to stand by him. But millions of female voters chose other candidates to vote for.
On December 3, 2011, he dropped out of the race, before any actual votes were cast.
Another Rightist who had only praise for Cain was the notorious serial adulterer, Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives.
In 1998, while he was railing against the “immorality” of President Bill Clinton’s tryst with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, Gingrich was having his own fling. His being married to his second wife didn’t prevent him from committing adultery with Callista Bisek, who would become his third.
Gingrich was himself running for President in 2012 So he hoped to inherit Cain’s supporters, not alienate them. Thus, as soon as Cain dropped out, Gingrich offered this salute: “I am proud to know Herman Cain and consider him a friend and I know he will continue to be a powerful voice for years to come.”
The endorsement didn’t help Gingrich; he lost the 2012 Republican nomination to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Who lost the election to President Barack Obama.
While Cain and Trump share an affinity for abusing women, they also share mega-watt egos that demand constant attention. Thus, the odds of Cain’s long remaining a part of the Trump administration remain highly unlikely.
Like this:
Like Loading...
ABC NEWS, ALTERNET, AP, BILL CLINTON, BILL O'REILLY, BUZZFEED, CALLISTA BISEK, CBS NEWS, CNN, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DONALD TRUMP, FACEBOOK, FBI, FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD, FOX NEWS, GODFATHER'S PIZZA, HERMAN CAIN, JEROME POWELL, JESSICA LEEDS, MONICA LEWINSKY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NATASHA STOYNOFF, NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NEWT GINGRICH, NPR, PBS NEWSHOUR, POLITICO, RAW STORY, REUTERS, ROBERT PORTER, ROGER AILES, RUSH LIMBAUGH, SALON, SEATTLE TIMES, SHARON BIALEK, SLATE, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UPI, USA TODAY
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Politics, Social commentary on April 8, 2019 at 12:06 am
SLEAZE ME
(To be sung to the tune of “Mama’s Got a Squeeze Box”)
Herman’s got a big hand
He slips up your dress.
And when he’s feeling his oats
You’ll never get any rest.
‘Cause he likes his girls white
When he’s leaning to the Right.
Herman’s got a boner,
Girl, you’ll never sleep tonight.
President Donald Trump is considering Herman Cain, the former CEO of “Godfather’s Pizza,” for a seat on the Federal Reserve Board.
Cain would fill one of two open seats on the board.
A second seat would be manned by Stephen Moore, a long-time Trump supporter.
Herman Cain
This would give Trump two political loyalists on the board of a central bank that has often crossed him. Trump has repeatedly attacked Jerome Powell, his own appointee as Federal Reserve chairman, for raising interest rates. Trump has even discussed firing him.
In September, 2018, Cain co-founded a pro-Trump super-political action committee, America Fighting Back, whose avowed purpose is: “We must protect Donald Trump and his agenda from impeachment.”
That seems to be Cain’s primary qualification for the position.
Or maybe it’s just that Trump likes to surround himself with men who share his “grab-em’-by-the-pussy” view of women.
It was a series of scandalous accusations against him by at least four women that led Cain to abort a short-lived campaign for President in 2011.
He’s got a big booming voice
And a floppy pimp hat.
It doesn’t matter to him
If you’ve never done that.
‘Cause he delivers all night
When his wife is out of sight.
Herman’s got a boner,
Girl, you’ll never sleep tonight.
One of these was Sharon Bialek, a former employee of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) where Cain served as CEO. On November 7, 2011, she gave a press conference where she recounted the following:
In mid-July 1997, she asked Cain for help in finding a new job or getting her old one back. S he had been let go from her job with the educational foundation of the NRA.
Sharon Bialek
Cain offered to help her and she traveled to Washington to meet him.
“I met Mr. Cain in the lobby of the bar at the Capitol Hilton at around 6:30 p.m.. We had drinks at the hotel, and he asked how I liked my room…and I said I was very surprised.
“I said, ‘I can’t believe it, I’ve got this great suite, it’s gorgeous.’ Mr. Cain kind of smirked, and then said, ‘I upgraded you.’”
Cain then took her to an Italian restaurant for dinner.
“While we were driving back to the hotel, he said that he would show me where the National Restaurant Association offices were. He parked the car down the block. I thought that we were going to go into the offices so that he could show me around.
“At that time I had on a black pleated skirt, a suit jacket and a blouse. He had on a suit with his shirt open. But instead of going into the offices, he suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals.
“He also grabbed my head and brought it toward his crotch. I was very, very surprised and very shocked.
‘Cause he likes his girls white
And you know he’s far-Right.
Herman’s got a boner,
Girl, you’ll never sleep tonight.
“I said, ‘What are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend. This isn’t what I came here for.’
“Mr. Cain said, ‘You want a job, right?’
“I asked him to stop and he did. I asked him to take me back to my hotel which he did, right away.”
Of course, Bialek never got her job back—or help from Cain in finding another one.
But, as Herman Cain himself would assure you, that was all her fault. She didn’t meet the stringent employment requirement he laid down: Suck me or stay unemployed.
Bialek was the fourth woman to come forward to accuse Cain of making improper sexual advances toward her. And it was her testimony that sealed his fate as a Presidential candidate.
But that didn’t mean Cain lacked Right-wing supporters—such as Right-wing radio propagandist Rush Limbaugh.
On October 31, 2011, Limbaugh blamed “the Left’s racist hit job” for Cain’s faltering campaign: “The racial stereotypes that these people are using to go after Herman Cain, what is the one thing that it tells us?
“It tells us who the real racists are, yeah, but it tells us that Herman Cain is somebody. Something’s going on out there. Herman Cain obviously is making some people nervous for this kind of thing to happen.”
And on November 7, Limbaugh offered another “defense” for Cain’s behavior: Calling Bialek a “babe” and “the blonde bombshell,” he joked about Cain’s attempt to extort sexual favors via her need for a job.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha,” laughed Limbaugh. “That’s it. Cain decided to provide her with his idea of a ‘stimulus package.’”
He goes, “Squeeze me,
Come on and tease me.
Come on and sleaze me for a job.
Just act like I’m your God.”
Herman’s got a boner,
Girl, you’ll never sleep tonight.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Bureaucracybuster's Blog 
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, ABC NEWS, ACCESS HOLLYWOOD, ADRIANNE ZUCKER, ALABAMA SUPREME COURT, ALTERNET, ANDERSON COOPER, ANDREW CUOMO, AP, ATHEISTS, BARACK OBAMA, BILL CLILNTON, BILL O'REILLY, BILLY BUSH, BLACKS, BRETT KAVANAUGH, BUZZFEED, CARL PALADINIO, CBS NEWS, CHARLES MANSON, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, CNN, COREY LEWANDOWSKI, COREY LEWENDOWSKI, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DAYS OF OUR LIVES, DONALD TRUMP, E. JEAN CARROLL, FACEBOOK, FOX NEWS, HISPANICS, HOMOSEXUALS, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, INFIDELITY, IVANA TRUMP, JERRY FALWELL JR., JESSICA LEEDS, JEWS, KEVIN MCCARTHY, LEIGH CORFMAN, LESBIANS, LIBERALS, MARCO RUBIO, MARLA MAPLES TRUMP, MELANIA TRUMP, MICHAEL GERSON, MICHELLE BACHMANN, MINDY MCGILLIVRAY, MINDY MCGILLLIVRAY, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, NATASHA STOYNOFF, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NON-CHRISTIANS, NPR, PALM BEACH POST, PEOPLE, PEOPLE MAGAZINE, POLITICO, RALPH REED, RAPE, RAW STORY, RELIGIOUS RIGHT, REPUBLICAN PARTY, REPUBLICANS, REUTERS, ROY MOORE, SALON, SEAN HANNITY, SEATTLE TIMES, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES, SLATE, STEVE BANNON, STORMY DANIELS, TED SLOWIK, THE ATLANTIC, THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE DAILY BEAST, THE GUARDIAN, THE HILL, THE HUFFINGTON POST, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE NATION, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE PALM BEACH POST, THE WASHINGTON POST, THOM TILLIS, TIME, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UPI, USA TODAY, WOMEN
HARASSMENT–AND HYPOCRISY: PART TWO (END)
In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on August 13, 2021 at 12:05 amOn October 12, 2016, The Palm Beach Post, The New York Times and People all published stories of women claiming they had been sexually assaulted by Donald Trump.
Trump’s reaction: “Every woman lied when they came forward to hurt my campaign. Total fabrication. The events never happened. Never.”
For “proof,” he attacked their physical appearance.
Of one accuser, Natasha Stoynoff, he said: “Take a look. You take a look. Look at her. Look at her words. You tell me what you think. I don’t think so. I don’t think so.”
Of another accuser, Jessica Leeds, Trump said: “Believe me, she would not be my first choice, that I can tell you. Whoever she is, wherever she comes from, the stories are total fiction. They’re 100% made up. They never happened.”
In short: They were too ugly for Trump to consider them worth sexually harassing.
And he threatened: “All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.”
To date, Trump has not filed a single lawsuit for defamation. No doubt he realized:
By October 14, 2016, at least 12 women had publicly accused Trump of sexually inappropriate behavior. By 2020, the number had grown to 26.
Trump—who’s been married three times and often boasted of his sexual prowess—asked why President Barack Obama hadn’t had similar claims leveled against him.
The answer: Because there has never been the slightest hint of scandal about Obama as a faithful husband.
Donald Trump
Many Right-wingers defended Trump’s misogynist comments as mere “frat boy” talk.
Said Corey Lewandowski, a former Trump campaign manager and commentator for CNN and Fox News: “We are electing a leader to the free world. We’re not electing a Sunday school teacher.”
And Fox News host Sean Hannity went Biblical to excuse Trump: “King David had 500 concubines for crying out loud!”
But Washington Post Columnist Micheal Gerson took a darker—and more accurate—view of Trump’s comments.
Appearing on the PBS Newshour on October 7, 2016, Gerson said: “Well, I think the problem here is not just bad language, but predatory language, abusive language, demeaning language. That indicates something about someone’s character that is disturbing, frankly, disturbing in a case like this.”
In June, 2019, yet another woman came forward to accuse Trump—now President—of sexual assault: E. Jean Carroll, an advice columnist for Elle magazine.
E. Jean Carroll
Carroll alleges that Trump attacked her in the fall of 1995 or the spring of 1996 at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York.
She claims that, while gift shopping, Trump pressured her to try on lingerie and grabbed her arm to pull her toward the dressing room.
“The moment the dressing-room door is closed, he lunges at me, pushes me against the wall, hitting my head quite badly, and puts his mouth against my lips.
“I am so shocked I shove him back and start laughing again. He seizes both my arms and pushes me up against the wall a second time, and, as I become aware of how large he is, he holds me against the wall with his shoulder and jams his hand under my coat dress and pulls down my tights.
“The next moment, still wearing correct business attire, shirt, tie, suit jacket, overcoat, he opens the overcoat, unzips his pants, and, forcing his fingers around my private area, thrusts his penis halfway —or completely, I’m not certain—inside me.”
True to form, Trump responded by exonerating himself on the basis of the woman’s appearance: “I’ll say it with great respect: Number one, she’s not my type.”
Then he accused the accuser: “Shame on those who make up false stories of assault to try to get publicity for themselves, or sell a book, or carry out a political agenda….
“It’s just as bad for people to believe it, particularly when there is zero evidence. Worse still for a dying publication to try to prop itself up by peddling fake news—it’s an epidemic.”
Also, predictably, he portrayed himself as the innocent victim of yet another vast conspiracy: “If anyone has information that the Democratic Party is working with Ms. Carroll or New York Magazine, please notify us as soon as possible.”
And, just as predictably, Republicans rallied around the President.
“Quite honestly, as somebody who had a front-row seat to the Kavanaugh hearings, we’ve seen allegations that were false,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “We’ll let the facts go where they are, but I take [Trump’s] statement at face value.”
“Yes, I believe the president.” said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy when pressed on whether he believed Trump.
There’s an old saying: “If one person tells you you’re drunk, and you feel fine, ignore him. If ten people tell you you’re drunk, you need to lie down.”
More than a score of women have come forward to say that Donald Trump—the former President of the United States—is a sexual predator.
Yet not one Republican was willing to say: “It’s time for him to leave.”
Share this:
Like this: