Bill was radioactive in the midterms and Hillary was the Ghost of Christmas Past. Her approval rating is at a record low of 36 percent. The only American who seems truly interested in her these days is President Donald Trump, who can’t stop tweeting about her. She’s still money in his book.
The Clintons refuse to be discarded. It has been their joint project for half a century to be at the center of the public scene and debate. The way that the whole thing came crashing down in 2016 is too hard for them to bear. They would like to rewrite the ending, but there is no way to do that.
Nothing they have done lately suggests that they have learned anything, including their obtuse post-#MeToo comments about Monica Lewinsky, who has been far more candid and sympathetic in the 20th anniversary retellings of the impeachment saga. The Clintons are still unable to hold themselves accountable. The formerly golden couple who dominated their party for nearly three decades is traveling North America in a bubble, shockingly un-self-aware.
Their pathological need to be relevant in America is belied by a Canadian arena, where stretches of empty seats bear witness to the passing of their relevance.
-- Maureen Dowd, "Curtains for the Clintons" (NYT via WRAL).
Wednesday, December 05, 2018
Truest statement of the week II
Robert Mueller is the hero of the “resistance.” Yet the over the top
Mueller love is a result of Democratic Party and corporate media gas
lighting more than it is evidence of collusion with Russia. Well placed
pundits and official mouthpieces say that the investigation of the
president is winding down. But they are trying to prove the unprovable.
Mueller nullified his plea agreement with Paul Manafort, a man guilty of cheating on his taxes and having the bad sense to ally himself with Trump and company. Manafort was convicted of bank and tax fraud, not of colluding with the Russian government. He was stupid enough to contact witnesses before his trial and he ended up in jail for his trouble. The feds have already used asset forfeiture to take his fortune. It is difficult to believe that he would add to his troubles by lying to Mueller.
Yet that is what Mueller insists he did although he wouldn’t reveal the nature of the lie. According to the resistance and their quasi religious belief system Mueller is never to be questioned.The prosecutorial squeeze play is not the only problem in Manafort’s life. While Mueller got the American corporate media to accept his every word as gospel truth, their friends in London joined in the beat down.
Guardianreporter Luke Harding made a name for himself and a good living by endlessly repeating the entire Russiagate narrative. He didn’t disappoint as he joined in the Mueller vilification of an already defeated man. The Guardianquoted “anonymous sources ” who said Manafort visited Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy on three occasions. The story is problematic for at least two reasons. First, the Guardianpublished a list of Assange visitors in May 2018 and Manafort’s name is nowhere to be found. Secondly, that embassy is under constant surveillance and anyone who has visited Assange is on camera. Unless or until the Guardianor Mueller or Harding or anyone produces footage of Manafort in that location the claim must be labeled a lie.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Mueller, Manafort and Assange" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
Mueller nullified his plea agreement with Paul Manafort, a man guilty of cheating on his taxes and having the bad sense to ally himself with Trump and company. Manafort was convicted of bank and tax fraud, not of colluding with the Russian government. He was stupid enough to contact witnesses before his trial and he ended up in jail for his trouble. The feds have already used asset forfeiture to take his fortune. It is difficult to believe that he would add to his troubles by lying to Mueller.
Yet that is what Mueller insists he did although he wouldn’t reveal the nature of the lie. According to the resistance and their quasi religious belief system Mueller is never to be questioned.The prosecutorial squeeze play is not the only problem in Manafort’s life. While Mueller got the American corporate media to accept his every word as gospel truth, their friends in London joined in the beat down.
Guardianreporter Luke Harding made a name for himself and a good living by endlessly repeating the entire Russiagate narrative. He didn’t disappoint as he joined in the Mueller vilification of an already defeated man. The Guardianquoted “anonymous sources ” who said Manafort visited Julian Assange in the Ecuadorean embassy on three occasions. The story is problematic for at least two reasons. First, the Guardianpublished a list of Assange visitors in May 2018 and Manafort’s name is nowhere to be found. Secondly, that embassy is under constant surveillance and anyone who has visited Assange is on camera. Unless or until the Guardianor Mueller or Harding or anyone produces footage of Manafort in that location the claim must be labeled a lie.
-- Margaret Kimberley, "Mueller, Manafort and Assange" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
A note to our readers
Hey --
Tuesday and we're finally done.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
And what did we come up with?
Mike and the gang did this one and we thank them for it.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Tuesday and we're finally done.
Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:
The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.
And what did we come up with?
Maureen Dowd gets a truest.
Another truest for Margaret Kimberley.
The Bush Crime Family.
Ava and C.I. take on a number of topics.
Where has this been all year? We just let the year slip away but here's another film in our continued coverage.
We get back into the test kitchen.
Does it hurt to be stupid? Grace can tell you.
Continued coverage of the community book coverage.
Ken Silverstein.
What we listened to while writing.
Mike and the gang did this one and we thank them for it.
Peace,
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: The criminals who destroyed Iraq
Iraq is a country filled with people. Unless you're a member of the Bush Crime Family, in which case, Iraq is a target to attack, to destroy, in order to feel better about your own self.
Somehow a public is so uneducated that over the weekend Twitter erupted with claims that people were confusing Poppy Bush with Bully Boy Bush. It was Bully Boy Bush, idiots insisted, who went to war with Iraq.
No.
No.
It was both.
We don't believe all the blame for the destruction of Iraq falls on the shoulders on the Bush Crime Family. But a lot of it does. And the crimes are sweeped away by fellow criminals who rush in to 'mourn' the death of Poppy.
The Ex-Presidents? It's a club of criminals. They care about each other, they don't care about the people.
Somehow a public is so uneducated that over the weekend Twitter erupted with claims that people were confusing Poppy Bush with Bully Boy Bush. It was Bully Boy Bush, idiots insisted, who went to war with Iraq.
No.
No.
It was both.
- Don't mourn George Bush. Mourn 100s of thousands massacred in Iraq, thousands slaughtered in Panama, millions dead in Southern Africa, Central America, Asia and everywhere else he backed atrocities in name of American Empire.
- George HW Bush systematically attacked the civilian infrastructure in Iraq. He turned hospitals into death rows for infants. He widely used depleted uranium, causing cancer rates to skyrocket. He made Iraq a mass graveyard. And the killing hasn’t stopped since.
- I remember feeling a deep sense of shame and anger when I visited the Amiriyah shelter in Iraq. George HW Bush killed more than 400 civilians huddled there on February 13, 1991. These are the crimes we should be discussing today.
- Did you know? George H. W. Bush dropped 88,500 tonnes of bombs on Iraq
& Kuwait
during the Gulf War. 70% 'missed' their targets, killing thousands & destroying infrastructure (NYT)
Depleted uranium
bombs were also used, causing cancer rates to boom.
#Remembering41
- For the Guardian, George HW Bush's devastation of Iraq was 'triumphant', 'the president did not put a foot wrong', 'his most impressive achievement', 'After Bush’s masterly management of the first Iraq war'.... A very ugly apologetic for massive crimes
We don't believe all the blame for the destruction of Iraq falls on the shoulders on the Bush Crime Family. But a lot of it does. And the crimes are sweeped away by fellow criminals who rush in to 'mourn' the death of Poppy.
Obama: Bombed Iraq.
Bill Clinton: Bombed Iraq.
George W. Bush: Bombed Iraq.
George HW Bush: Bombed Iraq.
War criminals of a feather flock together.
The Ex-Presidents? It's a club of criminals. They care about each other, they don't care about the people.