Posts Tagged ‘VLADIMIR PUTIN’
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In Bureaucracy, Entertainment, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on January 2, 2019 at 12:05 am
“O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down whilst bloody treason flourished over us!”
So Mark Antony mourns the assassination of his friend and mentor, Julius Caesar, in the classic play of the same name by William Shakespeare.
Millions of Americans now feel the same anguish over the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States on November 8, 2016.
And for the same reason.
True, Trump continues to wail there was “no collusion” between himself and Russian Intelligence agents to win the Presidency.
Yet an increasing onslaught of revelations spotlight the links among Trump and members of his campaign and/or Cabinet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
And, for this, the United States owes thanks to a 74-year-old man who has assumed the burdens created when millions of racist, hate-filled Americans deliberately sent a Russian-backed egomaniac and would-be dictator to the White House.
That man is Robert Swan Mueller III.
Like Will Kane, the embattled marshal played by Gary Cooper in High Noon, he is not a young man—born on August 7, 1944. And, like Cooper’s Will Kane, he is tall, gray-haired and tight-lipped.
But while Cooper never saw military service, Mueller did. A 1966 graduate of Princeton University, he served as a Marine Corps infantry platoon commander during the Vietnam War.
Wounded in combat, among the military awards he received were:
- The Bronze Star Medal with Combat “V” for heroism (for saving a wounded Marine while under enemy fire).
- The Purple Heart Medal (awarded for wounds in combat).
- Two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals with Combat “V”.
- Combat Action Ribbon.
- National Defense Service Medal.
Having given three years of his life (1968-1971) to the Marines, Mueller devoted the rest of his life to law enforcement.
Robert Mueller
A 1973 graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, Mueller served as:
- United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts (1986-1987);
- United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division (1990-1993);
- United States Attorney for the Northern District of California (1998-2001);
- United States Deputy Attorney General (January 20, 2001– May 10, 2001).
On September 4, 2001—seven days before Al Qaeda’s monstrous 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York—President George W. Bush appointed him director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Widely praised for his integrity and effectiveness, he served his full 10-year term—the legal maximum.
But when President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he asked Mueller—a lifelong Republican—to stay on for an additional two years until a suitable replacement could be found.
Mueller agreed—and was succeeded by a fellow Justice Department colleague named James Comey.
Retiring from the FBI in 2013 at age 69, Mueller’s 27-year career as a dedicated law enforcer seemed at last to be over.
Then, on May 9, 2017, President Donald Trump fired Comey as FBI director. There were five reasons for this:
- Comey had refused to pledge his personal loyalty to Trump. Trump had made the “request” during a private dinner at the White House in January.
- Comey told Trump that he would always be honest with him. But that didn’t satisfy Trump’s demand that the head of the FBI act as his personal secret police chief—as was the case in the former Soviet Union.
- Trump had tried to coerce Comey into dropping the FBI’s investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, for his secret ties to Russia and Turkey. Comey had similarly resisted that demand.
- Comey had recently asked the Justice Department to fund an expanded FBI investigation into well-documented contacts between Trump’s 2016 Presidential campaign and Russian Intelligence agents.
- The goal of that collaboration: To elect Trump over Hillary Clinton, a longtime foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
James Comey
On May 10—the day after firing Comey—Trump met in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Kislyak is reportedly a top recruiter for Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency. He has been closely linked with Jeff Sessions, now Attorney General, and fired National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.
“I just fired the head of the FBI,” Trump told the two dignitaries. “He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
And on May 11, Trump, interviewed on NBC News by reporter Lester Holt, said: “And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said ‘you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.'”
A national firestorm erupted—unprecedented since President Richard M. Nixon had fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox on October 20, 1973.
To squelch it, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein moved quickly.
On May 17, 2017, he appointed Robert S. Mueller III to serve as Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice.
Rosenstein charged Mueller to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
Since then, Trump, his shills in Congress and Right-wing Fox News have relentlessly attacked Mueller’s integrity and investigative methods.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on December 28, 2018 at 12:10 am
“We will have so much winning if I get elected [President] that you may get bored with winning.”
It was vintage Donald Trump, speaking at a September, 2015 Capitol Hill rally to protest President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran.
That was before:
- Trump became President—and, since then, has been entangled in multiple investigations into contacts between Russian Intelligence agents and high-level officials of his 2016 Presidential campaign.
- He was forced to fire retired General Mike Flynn as his national security adviser. The reason: Flynn’s close ties to Russia and its dictator, Vladimir Putin, had recently come to light in the press.
- He fired James Comey, the FBI director who had refused to give him a pledge of personal loyalty.
- Secretary of Defense James Mattis resigned to protest Trump’s impromptu decision to withdraw American troops from Syria.
- An anonymous White House source told CNN: “He now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for Donald Trump to be. I see him emotionally withdrawing. He’s gained weight. He doesn’t have anybody whom he trusts.”
Donald Trump
Trump’s boast reflected he mindset, if not the words, of an earlier CEO whose ego carried him—and his country—to ruin: Adolf Hitler.
Literally thousands of books have been written on Hitler’s six-year stint as a self-appointed field commander. But for an overall view of Hitler’s generalship, an excellent choice is How Hitler Could have Won World War II by Bevin Alexander.
It’s essential reading—because many of the flaws in Hitler’s character can clearly be seen in Trump’s.
Among the fatal errors that led to the defeat of the defeat of the Third Reich:
- Wasting hundreds of Luftwaffe [air force] pilots, fighters and bombers in a halfhearted attempt to conquer England.
- Ignoring the pleas of generals like Erwin Rommel to conquer Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, which would have given Germany control of most of the world’s oil.
- Attacking his ally, the Soviet Union, while still at war with Great Britain.
- Turning millions of Russians into enemies rather than allies by his brutal and murderous policies.
- Needlessly declaring war on the United States after the Japanese attacked Pearl harbor. (Had he not done so, Americans would have focused all their attention on defeating Japan.)
- Refusing to negotiate a separate peace with Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin—thus granting Germany a large portion of captured Russian territory in exchange for letting Stalin remain in power.
- Insisting on a “not-one-step-back” military “strategy” that led to the needless surrounding, capture and/or deaths of hundreds of thousands of German servicemen.
As the war turned increasingly against him, Hitler became ever more rigid in his thinking.
He demanded absolute control over the smallest details of his forces. This, in turn, led to astonishing and unnecessary losses among their ranks.
On June 6, 1944, General Erwin Rommel ordered the Panzer tanks to drive the Allies from the Normandy beaches. But these could not be released except on direct orders of the Fuehrer.
Panzer tank
Hitler’s chief of staff, General Alfred Jodl, informed Rommel: The Fuhrer was asleep-–and was not to be awakened. By the time Hitler awoke and issued the order, it was too late.
Nor could Hitler accept responsibility for the policies that were leading Germany to certain defeat. He blamed his generals, accused them of cowardice, and relieved many of the best ones from command.
Among those sacked was Heinz Guderian, creator of the German Panzer corps—and responsible for the blitzkreig victory against France in 1940.
Heinz Guderian
Another was Erich von Manstein, designer of the strategy that defeated France in six weeks—which Germany had failed to do during four years of World War 1.
Erich von Manstein
Finally, on April 29, 1945—with the Russians only blocks from his underground Berlin bunker—Hitler dictated his “Last Political Testament.”
Once again, he refused to accept responsibility for unleashing a war that would ultimately consume 50 million lives:
“It is untrue that I or anyone else in Germany wanted war in 1939. It was desired and instigated exclusively by those international statesmen who either were of Jewish origin or worked for Jewish interests.”
Hitler had launched the invasion of Poland–and World War II—with a lie: That Poland had attacked Germany.
Fittingly, he closed the war—and his life—with a final lie.
Joachim C. Fest, author of Hitler (1973), writes of the surprise that awaited Allied soldiers occupying Nazi Germany in 1945: “Almost without exception, virtually from one moment to the next, Nazism vanished after the death of Hitler and the surrender.
“It was as if National Socialism had been nothing but the motion, the state of intoxication and the catastrophe it had caused….
“Once again it became plain that National Socialism, like Fascism in general, was dependent to the core on superior force, arrogance, triumph, and by its nature had no resources in the moment of defeat.”
The ancient Greeks believed that “a man’s character is his destiny.” For Adolf Hitler—and the nations he ravaged—that proved fatally true.
It remains to be seen whether the same will prove true for Donald Trump—and the United States.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on December 24, 2018 at 12:21 am
On July 6, 2017, Walter Shaub, who had been director of the Office of Government Ethics since 2013, resigned his position.
He did so after repeatedly clashing with President Donald Trump over the latter’s conflicts-of-interest vis-a-vis his tangled financial holdings.
Summing up the ethical legacy of Trump’s life and administration, Shaub noted:
“When this is over, when the lights are turned back on, it will become clear that there were only two kinds of people: Those who stood against Trump’s corruption, cruelty and degradation of American values, and those who enabled him.”
Walter Shaub
Since Trump took office as the 45th President of the United States on January 20, 2017, Americans have seen him steadily move toward his goal of absolute power.
Among these moves:
- Firing FBI Director James Comey for pursuing an investigation into Russian subversion of the 2016 election.
- Repeatedly attacking—and ultimately firing—his own Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, for not quashing the Russia investigation.
- Relentlessly attacking the free press as “the enemy of the American people.”
- Brutally attacking Federal judges whose rulings displease him.
- Repeatedly urging Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to vengefully prosecute Hillary Clinton, his 2016 rival for the Presidency.
- Refusing to accept the findings of the FBI, CIA and NSA that Russian Intelligence agents intervened in the 2016 election to ensure his victory.
- Siding with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s claim that Russia did not subvert that election.
- Shutting down the Federal Government to extortionately force Democrats to vote $5 billion for his “border wall” along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Donald Trump
Republicans don’t fear that Trump will trash the institutions that Americans have cherished for more than 200 years.
What Republicans fear is that he will finally cross one line too many—like firing Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And that the national outrage following this will force them to launch impeachment proceedings against him.
But it isn’t even Trump they most fear will be destroyed.
What they most fear losing is their own precious hold on nearly absolute power in Congress and the White House—and the privileges that accompany it.
If Trump is impeached and convicted, he will become a man no one any longer fears. He will be a figure held up to ridicule and condemnation.
Like Richard Nixon.
And, like Nixon, his fall will be followed by that of other Republicans.
Republicans vividly remember what happened after Nixon was forced to resign on August 9, 1974: Democrats, riding a wave of reform fever, swept Republicans out of the House and Senate—and Jimmy Carter into the White House.
Richard Nixon
And Republicans fear history will repeat itself.
If Republicans are conflicted—whether to continue supporting Trump or desert him—the reason is the same: How can I hold onto my power and all the privileges that go with it?
Years from now, historians will compare the Trump era to that of the Third Reich—where sadists and opportunists sought power at the expense of their fellow citizens, and a handful of decent and courageous patriots dared to stand against them.
Only men like James Comey and James Marttis and Brett McGurk will emerge as heroes worthy of remembrance—and imitation.
On May 9, 2017, Comey was fired as FBI director for refusing to pledge his personal loyalty to Trump—and for daring to pursue an investigation into Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential election.
James Comey
On December 20, 2018, Mattis officially notified Trump that he would resign as Secretary of Defense by March 1. The reason: Trump’s surprise announcement that he would pull all United States forces troops from Syria, where they have directed fighting against forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
And on December 21, Brett McGurk, Trump’s envoy to coalition forces fighting ISIS, submitted his own resignation—for the same reason.
For Trump, perhaps the most outrageous insult came on December 22, when Comey noted on Twitter: “To a president without any external ethical framework, folks who resign on principle must be confusing.”
Addressing GOP cowardice in refusing to stand up to Trump, Comey had publicly stated on December 17:
“Republicans used to understand that the actions of a president matter, the words of a president matter, the rule of law matters, and the truth matters. Where are those Republicans today?
“At some point, someone has to stand up and in the fear of Fox News and fear of their base, and fear of mean tweets, stand up for the values of this country and not slink away into retirement.”
* * * * *
As the Third Reich crumbled, Adolf Hitler sought to punish the German people for losing the war he had started.
He ordered the destruction of everything still remaining—industries, ships, harbors, communications, roads, mines, bridges, stores, utility plants, food stuffs.
Fortunately for Germany, one man—Minister of Armaments Albert Speer—broke ranks with his Fuehrer.
Risking death, he blocked such destruction or persuaded influential military and civilian leaders to disobey the order as well.
As a result, those targets slated for destruction were spared.
America still awaits its own Albert Speer to come forward and save its liberties from a racist, vindictive and treasonous President installed by American Fascists and KGB computer-hackers.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Military, Politics, Social commentary on December 21, 2018 at 12:08 am
According to President Donald Trump, Democrats are guilty of treason.
Their crime? Refusing to stand and applaud him during his State of the Union message in January, 2018.
On February 5, he told a crowd in Cincinnati: “They were like death and un-American. Un-American. Somebody said, ‘treasonous.’ I mean, Yeah, I guess why not? Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean they certainly didn’t seem to love our country that much.”
For Trump, to love the United States, you must first prove that you love him.
But Article Three of the United States Constitution defines treason as:
“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.”
United States Constitution
In short: Actions such as colluding with a foreign power hostile to the United States (such as Russia) to subvert America’s democratic election process.
By that standard, Donald Trump stands rightly accused of a crime that traditionally carries the penalty of death.
Example #1: The infamous June, 2016 meeting at Trump Tower starring Donald Trump’s son, Donald, Jr.; Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and Trump’s then-campaign manager, Paul Manafort—and two Russian lobbyists who wanted the United States to end its sanctions against Russia for human rights abuses.
The meeting’s purpose: To obtain from Russian Intelligence agents “dirt” on Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Example #2: On July 27, 2016, Trump said at a press conference in Doral, Florida: “Russia, if you are listening, I hope you are able to find [Hillary Clinton’s] 33,000 emails that are missing—I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
Hours later, the Main Intelligence Directorate in Moscow targeted Hillary Clinton’s personal office and hit more than 70 other Clinton campaign accounts,
Donald Trump
Example #3: On December 16, 2016, then-FBI Director James B. Comey and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. agreed with a CIA assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election in part to help Donald Trump win the White House.
Trump, however has steadfastly denied any such role by Russia.
On July 16, 2018, he attended a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. There he blamed American Intelligence agencies—such as the FBI, CIA and National Security Agency—instead of Putin for Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential election: “I have President Putin. He just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.”
Example #4: On May 9, 2017, Trump fired FBI Director James Comey for investigating Russia’s subversion of the 2016 Presidential race. His motive: To end that investigation before it reached him.
The next day, meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office, Trump said: “I just fired the head of the FBI. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
On May 11, during an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt, Trump admitted: “And, in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said: ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should’ve won.’”
Example #5: During that same meeting, Trump gave the Russian officials highly classified Israeli Intelligence about an Islamic State plot to turn laptops into concealable bombs.
At first, the White House denied Trump had done so. Then Trump admitted in a tweet: “As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining … to terrorism and airline flight safety.
Example #6: Trump has surrounded himself with men who had close ties to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. Among these:
- Paul Manafort – His former campaign manager. His longstanding ties to pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine lead directly to Putin.
- Roger Stone – Self-confessed dirty trickster and former business partner of Manafort. Stone had extensive contacts with hacker Guccifer 2.0, whom the CIA, NSA and FBI believe was actually a front for GRU, Russian military intelligence.
- Michael T. Flynn – Former United States Army lieutenant general and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. A leading Trump supporter during the 2016 Presidential campaign, he was rewarded with the post of National Security Adviser when Trump took office.
Michael T. Flynn
- On February 13, 2017, The Washington Post reported that Acting Attorney General Sally Yates had warned Trump in late January that Flynn had lied about his contacts with Kislyak–and that he could be blackmailed by Russian Intelligence. Flynn was forced to resign that same day.
- In December, 2015, he had appeared on Russia Today, the news network that serves as “the Kremlin’s principal international propaganda outlet.” For this he received more than $45,000 as a “speaking fee.”
- At the gala where Flynn received the fee, he sat next to Putin for dinner.
The Republican party—which for 50 years claimed to be America’s defender against Communism—has now fervently embraced a man with demonstrated ties to a Communist dictator.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Military, Politics, Social commentary on December 20, 2018 at 12:04 am
The headline in the February 6, 2016 edition of The World Post read: “Geneva III: The Stillborn Conference and the Endemic Failure of the International Community.”
Then came the waterworks:
“While approaching the fifth anniversary of the Syrian civil war on March 15 — which claimed more than 300,000 lives, approximately 700,000 wounded, 4 million fled the country, and another 6 million displaced within Syria — the international community has failed to put an end to bloodshed in this war-torn country.”
The Syrian conflict began on March 15, 2011, triggered by protests demanding political reforms and the ouster of dictator Bashar al-Assad.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights—which is safely located in Great Britain—the total number of dead is now more than 310,000.
And who does the Observatory—and The World Post-–blame for this Islamic self-slaughter?
The West, of course:
“The silence of the International community for the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Syria encourages the criminals to kill more and more Syrian people because they have not found anyone that deter them from continuing their crimes that cause to wound more than 1,500,000 people; some of them with permanent disabilities, make hundreds of thousands children without parents, displace more than half of Syrian people and destroy infrastructure, private and public properties.”
Got that? It’s the duty of non-Muslims to bring civilized behavior to Islamics.
And why are all these murderers eagerly slaughtering one another?
Because of a Muslim religious dispute that traces back to the fourth century.
Yes, it’s Sunni Muslims, who make up a majority of Islamics, versus Shiite Muslims, who comprise a minority.
Each group considers the other takfirs—that is, “apostates.” And, in Islam, being labeled an apostate can easily get you murdered.
On April 23, 2016, the United Nations estimated that 400,000 Syrians had died in the war.
There is, however, an optimistic way to view this conflict:
- Put another way: 400,000 potential or actual Islamic terrorists will never pose a threat to the United States or Western Europe.
- The United States cannot be held in any way responsible for it.
In fact, it’s in America’s best interests that this conflict last as long as possible and spread as widely as possible throughout the Islamic community.
Here are four reasons why:
First: In Syria, two of America’s most deadly enemies are waging war on each other.
Yes, it’s Hizbollah (Party of God) vs. Al-Qaeda (The Base).
Hizbollah is comprised of Shiite Muslims. A sworn enemy of Israel, it has kidnapped scores of Americans suicidal enough to visit Lebanon and truck-bombed the Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 299 Americans.
Flag of Hizbollah
Al Qaeda—which gave us 9/11—is comprised of Sunni Muslims. It considers Shiites as heretics and seeks their extermination. It has attacked the mosques and gatherings of liberal Muslims, Suffis and other non-Sunnis. And despite the death of its creator, Osama bin Laden, in 2011, it still seeks to destroy the United States.
Flag of Al Qaeda
Second: Since 1979, Syria has been listed by the U.S. State Department as a sponsor of terrorism.
Among the terrorist groups it supports: Hizbollah and Hamas. For many years, Syria provided a safe-house in Damascus for Illich Ramirez Sanchez—the notorious international terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal.
Illich Ramirez Sanches “Carlos the Jackal”
Third: China and Russia are supporting the Assad dictatorship—and the brutalities it commits against its own citizens.
This reflects badly on them—not the United States. And any move by the United States to directly attack the Assad regime could ignite an all-out war with Russia and/or China.
What happens if Russian and American forces start trading salvos? Or if Russian President Vladimir Putin orders an attack on America’s ally, Israel, in return for America’s attack on Russia’s ally, Syria?
It was exactly that scenario—Great Powers going to war over conflicts between their small-state allies—that triggered World War I.
Fourth: While Islamic nations like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan wage war within their own borders, they will lack the resources—and incentive—to attack the United States.
Every dead Hizbollah and Al-Qaeda and ISIS member makes the United States that much safer. So does the death of every sympathizer of Hizbollah, Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
The peoples of the Middle East have long memories for those who commit brutalities against them. In their veins, the cult of the blood feud runs deep.
When Al-Qaeda blows up civilians in Beirut, their relatives will urge Hizbollah to take brutal revenge. And Hizbollah will do so. Similarly, when Hizbollah does, those who support Al-Qaeda will demand even more brutal reprisals against Hizbollah.
Al-Qaeda terrorists–now taking aim at Hezbollah terrorists
No American could instill such hatred in Al-Qaeda for Hizbollah—or vice versa. This is entirely a war of religious and sectarian hatred.
In fact, this conflict could easily become the Islamic equivalent of “the Hundred Years War” that raged from 1337 to 1453 between England and France.
When Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, then-Senator Harry S. Truman said: “I hope the Russians kill lots of Nazis—and vice versa.”
That should be America’s position whenever its sworn enemies start killing off each other. Americans should welcome such self-slaughters, not become entrapped in them.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Humor, Politics, Social commentary on December 7, 2018 at 12:56 am
(To be sung to the tune of “Santa, Baby”)
Stormy baby, slip yourself right under the tree, for me.
I’ve been an awful bad boy, Stormy baby,
And hurry to the White House tonight.
Stormy baby,
A picture of your beautiful self.
I’ll wait up for you dear, Stormy baby,
And hurry to the White House tonight.
Think of all the fun I’ve missed.
Think of all the porn stars that I haven’t kissed.
Next year I could be oh, so bad,
And give you the best sex that you’ve ever had.
Stormy honey, I wanna screw and really that’s quite a lot
All the passion you’ve got.
I’ve been a devil all year, Stormy baby,
And hurry to the White House tonight.
Come and trim my Christmas tree,
Melania will be gone so it’s just you and me.
I really do believe in you
Let’s see if you still want to screw.
Stormy cutie, there’s one thing that I really do need—your lips
And your non-virgin hips, Stormy cutie.
And hurry to the White House tonight.
Hurry to the White House tonight.
Hurry, tonight.
* * * * *
PAUL MANAFORT, PAUL MANAFORT
(To be sung to the tune, “O Christmas Tree”)
Paul Manafort, Paul Manafort, how ugly is your treason.
Paul Manafort, Paul Manafort, we know the ugly reason.
You have betrayed your native land
To serve another traitor man.
Paul Manafort, Paul Manafort, how ugly is your treason.
Paul Manafort, Paul Manafort, for you the judge is coming.
Paul Manafort, Paul Manafort, it’s “Traitors Die” he’s humming.
Vlad Putin cannot save you now.
Nor can his ugly White House sow.
Paul Manafort, Paul Manafort, how ugly is your treason.
* * * * *
* * * * *
HAVE YOURSELF A ROBERT MUELLER CHRISTMAS
(To be sung to the tune, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”)
Have yourself a Robert Mueller Christmas
Let your hearts be light.
From now on the Fascists will be filled with fright.
Have yourself a Robert Mueller Christmas
Let your hearts be gay.
I can’t wait till all the traitors go away.
Here we are as in Watergate
Traitors filled with hate feel fear.
Faithless friends now are selling out
Let us give a shout—and cheer.
Soon we hope their Fuhrer will be history
Crying Fascist tears.
When the Traitor’s gone we’ll put away our fears.
And celebrate in Robert Mueller’s name for years.
Here we are as in Watergate
Traitors filled with hate feel fear.
Faithless friends now are selling out
Let us give a shout—and cheer.
Soon we hope their Fuhrer will be history
Crying Fascist tears.
When the Traitor’s gone we’ll put away our fears.
And celebrate in Robert Mueller’s name for years.
* * * * *
* * * * *
THE 12 DAYS OF MUELLER
(To be sung to “The 12 Days of Christmas”)
On the first day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
A country once again free.
On the second day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the third day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the fourth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the fifth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the sixth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the seventh day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Eric Trump in handcuffs
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted Fascists
Two indicted hackers and
A country once again free.
On the eighth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Michael Cohen a-ratting
Eric Trump in handcuffs
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted Fascists
Two indicted hackers and
A country once again free.
On the ninth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Vlad Putin raging
Michael Cohen a-ratting
Eric Trump in handcuffs
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the tenth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Ivanka Trump a-wailing
Vlad Putin raging
Michael Cohen a-ratting
Eric Trump in handcuffs
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the eleventh day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Sarah Sanders belching
Ivanka Trump a-wailing
Vlad Putin raging
Michael Cohen a-ratting
Eric Trump in handcuffs
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
On the twelfth day of Christmas Bob Mueller gave to me
Donald Trump indicted
Sarah Sanders belching
Ivanka Trump a-wailing
Vlad Putin raging
Michael Cohen a-ratting
Eric Trump in handcuffs
Six prisons filling
Five Russian spies
Michael Flynn convicted
Three busted hackers
Two indicted Fascists and
A country once again free.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Military, Politics, Social commentary on December 5, 2018 at 12:33 am
The love-fest between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump certainly got off to a great start.
No doubt well-informed on Trump’s notorious egomania, Russian President Putin called a press conference on December 17, 2015, to announce: “He is a bright personality, a talented person, no doubt about it. It is not up to us to appraise his positive sides, it is up to the U.S. voters. But, as we can see, he is an absolute leader in the Presidential race.”
Vladimir Putin
kremlin.ru [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)%5D
Trump quickly responded. On the December 18, 2015 edition of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” he said: “Sure, when people call you ‘brilliant,’ it’s always good. Especially when the person heads up Russia.
“He’s running his country, and at least he’s a leader. Unlike what we have in this country”—an insult aimed at President Barack Obama.
Donald Trump
Both Putin and Trump are well-known for their authoritarian characteristics. But more than one dictator’s admiration for another might explain their notorious “bromance.”
Trump has repeatedly attacked United States’ membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He believes the United States is paying an unfairly large portion of the monies needed to maintain this alliance—and he wants other members to contribute far more.
He has also said that, if Russia attacked NATO members, he would decide whether to come to their aid only after determining whether those nations have “fulfilled their obligations to us.”
If he believed that they had not done so, he would tell them: “Congratulations, you will be defending yourself.”
This clearly gave Putin a reason to prefer Trump over his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump’s statement marked the first time that a major Presidential candidate placed conditions on the United States’ coming to the defense of its major allies.
The withdrawal of the United States from NATO would instantly render that alliance kaput. Its European members that have long hurled insults at the United States would suddenly face extinction.
Even if their armed forces proved a match for Russia’s—which they wouldn’t—their governments would cower before the threat of Russia’s huge nuclear arsenal.
Trump’s motives for his “bromance” with Putin have been more difficult to decipher.
Some believe that Trump—a notorious egomaniac—is simply responding to overdoses of Putin flattery.
Others think that, while visiting Moscow, Trump made himself vulnerable to Russian blackmail.
There are unconfirmed Intelligence reports that he paid—and watched—several Russian prostitutes urinate on a bed once slept on by President Obama and his wife at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. The alleged incident was reportedly captured by hidden microphones and cameras operated by the FSB, the successor to the KGB.
Then, on November 29, Trump’s longtime attorney and “fixer,” Michael Cohen, cast new light over the Trump-Putin relationship.
Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan to lying to Congress about the Russia investigation.
Cohen admitted that he lied about the “Moscow Project”—the Trump Organization’s efforts to “pursue a branded property in Moscow.” To sweeten the deal, Trump planned to offer a $50 million penthouse suite to Putin.
According to Cohen, Trump hid his business dealings with Russia throughout the campaign—while Moscow intervened to elect him.
Shortly after this news broke, Trump canceled his scheduled meeting with Putin at the December 1 G20 summit in Buenos Aires.
Even so, Putin is not the first Communist dictator to find common cause with an avowed Right-winger.
On August 23, 1939, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin signed a “non-aggression pact” with Nazi Germany’s Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler.
Joseph Stalin
The reason: Hitler intended to invade Poland—but feared going to war with the neighboring Soviet Union if he did so. By signing a non-aggression pact with Stalin, he avoided this danger—and gained “rights” to the western half of Poland.
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
In addition, Nazi Germany began receiving huge shipments of raw materials from the Soviet Union—as part of Stalin’s effort to placate Hitler and avoid a Nazi-Soviet clash.
And Stalin got something, too: The eastern half of Poland, which would be occupied by the Red Army.
But the Hitler-Stalin alliance lasted less than two years. It ended without warning—on June 22, 1941.
With 134 divisions at full fighting strength and 73 more for deployment behind the front—a total of three million men—the German Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union.
There are four ways Putin may now regret his “bromance” with Trump.
First: Trump has not been able to lift the sanctions imposed on Russia by President Obama for subverting the 2016 election.
Second: Democrats and even some Republicans have taken a more aggressive stance toward Russia because of that subversion. They have pressured European allies to impose tougher sanctions against Russia.
Third: Putin must be dismayed that his subversion of the 2016 election became known—and, even worse, is the subject of an all-out investigation. That investigation has proven highly embarrassing to Trump—and Russia.
Fourth: Trump is known for his egomania, not his loyalty. He may take offense at some future perceived Putin slight. In such case, he may well decide he doesn’t owe anything to the man he once called “a leader.”
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on December 4, 2018 at 12:06 am
Donald Trump resembles his fellow New Yorker, Mafia “Boss of all Bosses” John Gotti, in more ways than he would like to admit. Among these:
- He craves publicity like a drug.
- His egomania long ago reached psychotic heights: In a 1990 interview with Playboy magazine, he offered his worldview: “The show is Trump, and it is sold-out performances everywhere.”
- He impulsively and brutally badmouths virtually everyone—in press conferences and on Twitter.
- He brags constantly—about his wealth, his intelligence, his sexual prowess, his achievements: “My fingers are long and beautiful, as, it has been well documented, are various other parts of my body.”
- He has bought his way out of legal trouble: Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi personally solicited a political contribution from him while her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates. After Bondi dropped the case against Trump, he wrote her a $25,000 check for her re-election campaign.
Donald Trump
- He repeatedly threatens violence against his opponents: On March 16, 2016, he warned Republicans that if he didn’t win the GOP nomination in July, “I think you’d have riots….I think bad things would happen.”
- Although not a member of the Mafia, he has often been linked—directly or indirectly—to men who are, such as “Fat Tony” Salerno and Paul Castellano.
- He prizes being seen as a tough guy: “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.” At a Las Vegas rally in 2016, he said about a protester: “I’d like to punch him in the face.”
- He has no loyalty to anyone. He has badmouthed—and fired—such ardent supporters as his ex-Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions
It is this last characteristic—his complete lack of loyalty—that may well undo him.
Consider his treatment of Michael Cohen, his personal attorney for more than 10 years.
On April 9, 2018, the FBI, executing a federal search warrant, raided Cohen’s office at the law firm of Squire Patton Boggs, as well as his home and his hotel room in the Loews Regency Hotel in New York City.
And Trump’s response: “Michael Cohen only handled a tiny, tiny fraction of my legal work.
“Michael is in business—he is really a businessman, a fairly big business, as I understand it. I don’t know his business, but [the investigation] doesn’t have to do with me.”
Thus Trump undermined the argument of Cohen’s lawyers that he was the President’s personal attorney—and therefore everything Cohen did was protected by attorney-client privilege.
Michael Cohen
IowaPolitics.com [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
An April 19, 2018 headline in Esquire magazine warned: “If the Water is Rising, Donald Trump Will Throw You Overboard.”
The article read in part:
“No matter how long or how intimately you’ve known Donald Trump, you’re one news cycle away from being tossed overboard….
“An old friend becomes a needy acquaintance; a campaign chairman becomes someone you got from the temp agency; a national security adviser becomes a ‘volunteer.'”
But Michael Cohen wasn’t just Trump’s lawyer. He was his fixer, a man who made problems “go away” with threats and bribes. He knows many—if not most—of Trump’s darkest secrets.
And he has since made it clear he is willing to reveal them.
In an off-camera interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Cohen warned: “I will not be a punching bag as part of anyone’s defense strategy” if Trump or his attorneys try to discredit him.
And unlike Trump—who has repeatedly asserted that Russia didn’t interfere with the 2016 Presidential election—Cohen said he believed it did.
Moreover, on November 29, Cohen pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan to lying to Congress about the Russia investigation. It’s part of a new deal reached with Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III.
Cohen admitted that he lied about the “Moscow Project”—the Trump Organization’s efforts to “pursue a branded property in Moscow.”
He did so in an August 2017 letter to the House and Senate intelligence committees, which were investigating alleged collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russian Intelligence agents to subvert the 2016 Presidential election.
Now Cohen has revealed why, throughout the campaign, Trump hid his business dealings with Russia—while Moscow intervened to elect him.
Cohen has spent more than 70 hours in interviews with Mueller’s team. There is no telling how many of Trump’s secrets he has revealed.
Mueller—unlike Trump—doesn’t vent his temper in semi-literate tweets. In a rarity for Washington institutions, there have been almost no leaks from the Office of the Special Counsel since Mueller was empowered on May 17, 2017.
Mueller has also spoken with other federal prosecutors and the New York State Attorney General’s Office.
Shortly after news broke that Cohen had pleaded guilty to lying to Congress, Trump attacked his onetime fixer: “He’s a liar. He’s a weak person and what he’s trying to do is get a reduced sentence.”
But shortly after news broke that Cohen had revealed Trump’s business dealings with Russia, the President canceled his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the December 1 G20 summit in Buenos Aires.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on December 3, 2018 at 12:23 am
President Donald Trump shares many similarities with John Gotti, who, for five years, ruled as the boss of the most powerful Mafia family in the United States: The Gambino Family.
Among those similarities: A complete lack of loyalty to anyone.
John Gotti
On December 12, 1989, Gotti became a victim of his own disloyalty.
Unknowingly speaking into an FBI electronic bug, Gotti charged that Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, his underboss, or second-in command, was too greedy. He also blamed him for the murders of three Mafiosi whom Gotti had ordered hit: Robert “Deebee” DiBernardo, Louis Milito and Louis DiBono.
“Deebee, did he ever talk subversive to you?” asked Gotti.
“Never,” replied his Consigliere, or adviser, Frankie Locascio.
“Never talked it to Angelo, never talked it to [Joseph Armone] either,” said Gotti. “I took Sammy’s word that he talked about me behind my back….I was in jail when I whacked him. I knew why it was being done. I done it anyway. I allowed it to be done anyway.”
Gotti was determined to blame Gravano for the murders of Milito and DiBono. He claimed that both men had been killed because Gravano had asked for permission to remove his business partners.
In fact, Milito had been “whacked” for questioning Gotti’s judgment. And DiBono had been hit because he refused to answer a Gotti summons.
And there was more: Gotti accused Gravano of excessive greed—and hoarding money for himself at the expense of the Family:
“That’s Sammy….Every fucking time I turn around there’s a new company poppin’ up. Building. Consulting. Concrete. Where the hell did all these new companies come from? Where did five new companies come from?
“Paul [Castellano, the Gambino Family’s previous boss] sold the Family out for a fucking construction company. And that’s what Sammy’s doing now. Three, four guys will wind up with every fuckin’ thing. And the rest of the Family looks like waste.”
Sammy “The Bull” Gravano
He accused Gravano of creating “a fuckin’ army inside an army,” adding: “You know what I’m saying, Frankie? I saw that shit and I don’t need that shit.”
Gotti’s effort to rewrite history soon came back to haunt him.
At a 1991 pretrial hearing following the arrests of Gotti, Gravano and Locascio, prosecutors played the FBI’s tapes of Gotti’s unintended confessions—including his badmouthing of Gravano.
Gravano suddenly realized that his future in the Mafia was nil.
Gravano, Gotti and Locascio were all facing life imprisonment as targets of RICO—the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act.
And if the Feds didn’t send him to prison, mob gunmen—sent by Gotti—would eventually get him. Gotti clearly planned to make him the fall guy—in court or in a coffin—for murders that Gotti himself had ordered.
Only John Gotti was shocked when Gravano agreed to testify against him—and other Mafiosi—in exchange for a five-year prison sentence.
Gravano, as Gotti’s second-in-command, had literally been at the seat of power for five years. He knew the secrets of the Gambino Family—and the other four Mafia families who ruled New York.
On April 2, 1992, a jury convicted Gotti of five murders, conspiracy to murder, loansharking, illegal gambling, obstruction of justice, bribery and tax evasion. He drew a life sentence, without possibility of parole.
Gotti was incarcerated at the United States Penitentiary at Marion, Illinois, in virtual solitary confinement. He died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002, at the age of 61.
And just as Gotti’s disloyalty ultimately destroyed him, the same may yet prove true for Donald Trump.
Consider the case of attorney Michael Cohen.
- An executive of the Trump Organization, Cohen acted as “Trump’s pit bull.” “If somebody does something Mr. Trump doesn’t like,” he told ABC News in 2011, “I do everything in my power to resolve it to Mr. Trump’s benefit.”
- In 2015, a reporter for The Daily Beast asked Cohen about Ivana Trump’s charge (later recanted) that Trump had raped her while they were married. Cohen: “I’m warning you, tread very fucking lightly, because what I’m going to do to you is going to be fucking disgusting.”
- In 2016, while Trump was running for President, Cohen acted as the go-between for a $130,000 hush-money payoff to porn star Stormy Daniels. The reason: To prevent her from revealing a 2006 tryst she had had with Trump.
In April 2018, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York began investigating Cohen. Charges reportedly included bank fraud, wire fraud and violations of campaign finance law.
Michael Cohen
By IowaPolitics.com (Trump executive Michael Cohen 012) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
On April 9, 2018, the FBI, executing a federal search warrant, raided Cohen’s office at the law firm of Squire Patton Boggs, as well as his home and his hotel room in the Loews Regency Hotel in New York City. Agents seized emails, tax and business records and recordings of phone conversations that Cohen had made.
Trump’s response: “Michael Cohen only handled a tiny, tiny fraction of my legal work.”
Thus Trump undermined the argument of Cohen’s lawyers that he was the President’s personal attorney—and therefore everything Cohen did was protected by attorney-client privilege.
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In Bureaucracy, History, Law Enforcement, Politics, Social commentary on November 19, 2018 at 12:06 am
Once you have decided on a treason,
Sign on with a man named Donald Trump.
And when you find your hatred is a reason,
Then on your country you can take a dump.
There really isn’t any need for worry,
Just do it and then go ahead and lie.
Like giving Russians secrets in the White House,
And that avoids those pests named “F.B.I.”
House and Senate Republicans have almost universally refused to to speak out against threats by President Donald Trump to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and/or Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Or to take action to prevent or punish Trump for doing so.
On April 17, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would not allow legislation to protect Mueller’s independent investigation into Russian subversion of the 2016 Presidential election to reach the Senate floor.
Mitch McConnell
“I’m the one who decides what we take to the floor. That’s my responsibility as majority leader. We’ll not be having this on the floor of the Senate,” the Kentucky Republican said in an interview on Fox News.
Earlier that day, Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan claimed that legislation to protect Mueller was “unnecessary.”
“It would not be in the President’s interest to [fire Mueller] and I think he knows that,” said the Wisconsin Congressman.
On November 14, McConnell rejected another chance to protect the Mueller investigation.
Republican Arizona United States Senator Jeff Flake introduced a bill to make it harder for the Trump to fire Mueller—and allow the special council to appeal his firing.
McConnell claimed such legislation was unnecessary—and that he hadn’t heard Trump or others say they want to shut down Mueller’s probe.
This, of course, totally ignored:
- On November 7, Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions—for refusing to fire Mueller; and
- Appointed Sessions’ deputy, Matthew Whitaker, as acting Attorney General. Whitaker had publicly attacked the investigation and urged its suppression.
Why have so few Republicans dared to stand against Trump?
Because many House and Senate Republicans received millions of dollars in “campaign contributions” from Russian oligarchs who are answerable to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
‘Cause it’s treason by numbers, 1, 2, 3,
It’s as easy to do as your G.O.P.
It’s treason by numbers, 1, 2, 3,
It’s as easy to do as your G.O.P.
Now if you have a taste for turning traitor
And you find it’s really thrilling as can be,
Then pick up that phone and call the Kremlin
And soon you’ll have a bud named Vladimir P.
The following data comes from the Federal Elections Commission.
One major Russian contributor is Len Blavatnik, whose net worth is estimated at $20 billion. In 2016, he gave $6.35 million to GOP PACs.
In 2017, he gave millions of dollars to top Republican leaders:
- A total of $1.5 million to PACs associated with Senator Marco Rubio (Florida).
- $1 million to Trump’s Inaugural Committee.
- $1 million to McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund.
- $3.5 million to a PAC associated with McConnell.
- $200,000 to the Arizona Grassroots Action PAC, associated with Arizona Senator John McCain.
- $800,000 went to the Security is Strength PAC, associated with Senator Lindsey Graham (South Carolina).
The Kremlin
Another Russian oligarch, Alexander Shustorovich, contributed $1 million to Trump’s Inaugural Committee.
A third oligarch, Andrew Intrater, contributed $250,000 to Trump’s Inaugural Committee.
And a fourth, Simon Kukes, contributed a total of $283,000, much of it to the Trump Victory Fund.
Yes, treason isn’t something that comes easy.
It’s an act that makes most people want to gag.
But you can earn those rubles that you long for
And the Right will back you up and wave the flag.
‘Cause it’s treason by numbers, 1, 2, 3,
It’s as easy to do as your G.O.P.
Treason by numbers, 1, 2, 3,
It’s as easy to do as your G.O.P.
McConnell participated in high-level intelligence briefings in 2016. The FBI, CIA and the code-cracking National Security Agency, warned that the Russians were trying to subvert the electoral process.
In October, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) issued a joint statement: The Russian government had directed the effort to subvert the 2016 Presidential election.
Two weeks later, McConnell’s PAC accepted a $1 million donation from Blavatnik.
On March 30, 2017, McConnell’s PAC accepted another $1 million from Blavatnik. This was just 10 days after former FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee about Russia’s efforts to subvert the 2016 election.
Billionaires don’t give huge sums to politicians without expecting to get something in return. And this is especially true—and frightening—when the contributors are linked to a former KGB agent like Vladimir Putin, whose aggressive intentions are increasingly on display.
Now you can join the list of Right-wing traitors
In history’s dark and evil hall of shame.
Their ranks are filled with greedy, racist haters.
At least the ones that we all know by name.
But if you can con you way into the White House
If you become the leader of the land,
Then treason is the sport of the elected,
And Republicans will give you a big hand.
‘Cause it’s treason by numbers, 1, 2, 3,
It’s as easy to do as your G.O.P.
Treason by numbers, 1, 2, 3,
It’s as easy to do
As your God-damned G.O.P.
2016 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, 2016 PRESIDENTIAL RACE, ABC NEWS, ACADEMY AWARDS, ALEXANDER SHUSTOROVICH, ALTERNET, ANDREW INTRATER, AP, ARCHIBALD COX, BARACK OBAMA, BENGHAZI INVESTIGATION, BEST ACTOR OSCAR, BUZZFEED, CBS NEWS, CHUCK GRASSLEY, CIA, CNN, CROOKS AND LIARS, DAILY KOZ, DAVID BROOKS, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, DEVIN NUNES, DONALD TRUMP, DONALD TRUMP JR., DONALD TRUMP’S INAUGURAL COMMITTEE, DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, EMAILS INVESTIGATION, FACEBOOK, FBI, FEDERAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION, FOX NEWS, FRED ZINNEMANN, GARY COOPER, GEORGE W. BUSH, GRACE KELLY, HIGH NOON, HILLARY CLINTON, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, JACOB WOHL, JAMES COMEY, JARED KUSHNER, JEFF SESSIONS, JENNIFER TAUB, JOHN KASICH, JOHN MCCAIN, JOSEPH MCCARTHY, JOSEPH R. MCCARTHY, KGB, LEN BLAVATNIK, LESTER HOLT, LINDSEY GRAHAM, MARCO RUBIO, MARK SHIELDS, MICHAEL FLYNN, MITCH MCCONNELL, MOTHER JONES, MOVEON, MSNBC, NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY, NBC NEWS, NEWSWEEK, NPR, OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, PAUL MANAFORT, PAUL RYAN, PBS NEWSHOUR, PEW RESEARCH SURVEY, POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEES (PACS), POLITICAL CONSULTANTS, POLITICO, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, RAW STORY, REPUBLICAN PARTY, REPUBLICANS, REUTERS, RICHARD M. NIXON, ROBERT MUELLER III, ROBERT S. MUELLER 111, ROD ROSENSTEIN, RUDOLPH GIULIANI, RUSSIA, RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS, SALON, SCOTT WALKER, SEATTLE TIMES, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE, SENATE LEADERSHIP FUND, SERGEY KISLYAK, SERGEY LAVROV, SIMON KUKES, SLATE, SOVIET UNION, SUPREME COURT, TEX RITTER, 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, TRUMP INAUGURAL COMMITTEE, TRUMP TOWER, TWITTER, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE, UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS, UNITED STATES SENATE, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA LAW SCHOOL, UPI, USA TODAY, VERMONT LAW SCHOOL, VIETNAM WAR, VLADIMIR PUTIN, WILL KANE
“MAN OF THE YEAR” FOR 2018: ROBERT S. MUELLER—PART ONE (OF FOUR)
In Bureaucracy, Entertainment, History, Law, Law Enforcement, Military, Politics, Social commentary on January 2, 2019 at 12:05 am“O, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down whilst bloody treason flourished over us!”
So Mark Antony mourns the assassination of his friend and mentor, Julius Caesar, in the classic play of the same name by William Shakespeare.
Millions of Americans now feel the same anguish over the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States on November 8, 2016.
And for the same reason.
True, Trump continues to wail there was “no collusion” between himself and Russian Intelligence agents to win the Presidency.
Yet an increasing onslaught of revelations spotlight the links among Trump and members of his campaign and/or Cabinet with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
And, for this, the United States owes thanks to a 74-year-old man who has assumed the burdens created when millions of racist, hate-filled Americans deliberately sent a Russian-backed egomaniac and would-be dictator to the White House.
That man is Robert Swan Mueller III.
Like Will Kane, the embattled marshal played by Gary Cooper in High Noon, he is not a young man—born on August 7, 1944. And, like Cooper’s Will Kane, he is tall, gray-haired and tight-lipped.
But while Cooper never saw military service, Mueller did. A 1966 graduate of Princeton University, he served as a Marine Corps infantry platoon commander during the Vietnam War.
Wounded in combat, among the military awards he received were:
Having given three years of his life (1968-1971) to the Marines, Mueller devoted the rest of his life to law enforcement.
Robert Mueller
A 1973 graduate of the University of Virginia Law School, Mueller served as:
On September 4, 2001—seven days before Al Qaeda’s monstrous 9/11 attacks on Washington and New York—President George W. Bush appointed him director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Widely praised for his integrity and effectiveness, he served his full 10-year term—the legal maximum.
But when President Barack Obama took office in 2009, he asked Mueller—a lifelong Republican—to stay on for an additional two years until a suitable replacement could be found.
Mueller agreed—and was succeeded by a fellow Justice Department colleague named James Comey.
Retiring from the FBI in 2013 at age 69, Mueller’s 27-year career as a dedicated law enforcer seemed at last to be over.
Then, on May 9, 2017, President Donald Trump fired Comey as FBI director. There were five reasons for this:
James Comey
On May 10—the day after firing Comey—Trump met in the Oval Office with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Kislyak is reportedly a top recruiter for Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency. He has been closely linked with Jeff Sessions, now Attorney General, and fired National Security Adviser Mike Flynn.
“I just fired the head of the FBI,” Trump told the two dignitaries. “He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
And on May 11, Trump, interviewed on NBC News by reporter Lester Holt, said: “And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said ‘you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.'”
A national firestorm erupted—unprecedented since President Richard M. Nixon had fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox on October 20, 1973.
To squelch it, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein moved quickly.
On May 17, 2017, he appointed Robert S. Mueller III to serve as Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice.
Rosenstein charged Mueller to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump, and any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
Since then, Trump, his shills in Congress and Right-wing Fox News have relentlessly attacked Mueller’s integrity and investigative methods.
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