User-Supported News Commentary Hosted by Craig Crawford
It’s Mueller Time
Whoopi Goldberg (ABC, “The View”)
Random thoughts:
What if Mueller calls in John Kelly to testify?
Trump doesn’t need to testify. He’s already convicted himself.
If Melania resigns there’s no spousal privilege.
Author: craigcrawford
Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
View all posts by craigcrawford
meanwhile, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!
the guardian It launched as a potent symbol of Chinese ambitions in space, but in the coming weeks the nation’s first orbital outpost will come crashing down to Earth in a fireball that could scatter debris over thousands of kilometres.
The Chinese space agency lost control of its Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace, spacecraft in 2016, five years after it blasted into orbit to make China only the third nation to operate a space station after the US and Russia.
The defunct module is now at an altitude of 150 miles and being tracked by space agencies around the world, with the European Space Agency’s centre in Darmstadt predicting a fiery descent for it between 27 March and 8 April.
Hurtling around the Earth at about 18,000mph, the module ranks as one of the larger objects to re-enter the atmosphere without being steered towards the ocean, as is standard for big and broken spacecraft, and cargo vessels that are jettisoned from the International Space Station (ISS), to reduce the risk to life below. The spacecraft’s orbit ranges from 43° north to 43° south, which rules out a descent over the UK but includes vast stretches of North and South America, China, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, parts of Europe – and great swaths of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Western analysts cannot be sure how much of the spacecraft will survive re-entry, because China has not released details of the design and materials used to make Tiangong-1. But the spacecraft may have well-protected titanium fuel tanks containing toxic hydrazine that could pose a danger if they land in populated areas.
[….continues…]
notice to all parties scheduling hearings, depositions, and trials with the twit: too busy meeting with rocket man to determine who pushes whose bigger button first
not that the twit planned it, but the nork rendezvous may be his best distraction of all from the probable upcoming court dates being sought by stormy, Mueller et al
Mueller Time! It gives a whole, new meaning to cracking one open. Right, Gates?
Doubtful Melania knows anything about Russian collusion…unless she was translating. Nyet, but she could sure spill other stuff. You can bet a subpoena would follow the divorce papers. I doubt that will happen.
Hey, he may actually just be using this trip as a cover to escape. Can we extradite Trumpsky from NK? Ha!
Let us hope this goes the way of Skylab and it has little impact on life forms of Earth. This was already a TV series (“Dead Like Me”) long ago; chick gets killed by a space toilet seat.
The preppers with bunkers may not be completely crazy.
Any chance that space garbage would land on Kim J Un and Donny J or Ass-wad or Put-ey or (and this would be beautifully ironic) China’s leader-for-life? No, if it doesn’t land in a desert or ocean, it will probably land on a day care or a senior center or a community food pantry, cuz that’s the way things work in the 2,000s.
the hill: The Memo: Dangers multiply for Trump in Mueller probe
[….]
…Mueller’s team has reportedly secured the cooperation of a hitherto-marginal figure, Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, who was stopped and questioned by the FBI at Washington’s Dulles Airport in January.
And Nader’s emails are purported to reveal a push by a Republican fundraiser with links to the United Arab Emirates to get Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fired.
There have also been a number of other intriguing, if more marginal, developments.
A New Yorker profile of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored a contentious dossier alleging Russia had compromising material on Trump, included the detail that British intelligence services had intercepted “a stream of illicit communications between Trump’s team and Moscow” during the 2016 campaign. “The content of these intercepts has not become public,” the author, Jane Mayer, added.
Put it all together and experts agree the perils for Team Trump are multiplying.
[….continues…]
Any conference between us and the DPRK should have as its single focus the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We removed our 100s of nuclear weapons in the 1970s and the ROK, under a nuclear-free Korea pledge, has not sought to develop their own.
There is a single ethnic Korean people–split by an ill thought-out line dividing them into a free half, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian administered north, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Since that time, ordinary Koreans have sought reunification of their families. The DPRK, with Soviet sponsorship, tried to force reunification militarily in June of 1950. They would have succeeded had it not been for incredibly brave soldiers and civilians setting-up a perimeter around Pusan that held until MacArthur could bring forces from Japan.
Following three years of fierce fighting, during which Red Chinese forces joined the fray, an armistice was negotiated with a demilitarized zone (DMZ) being established along the forward edge of the battle area (FEBA). These negotiations were held at Panmunjom, a point along the western DMZ. The location is still a neutral area where alleged violations of the armistice are sorted-out and resolved. The DMZ is not the same as the 38th Parallel. Our involvement was, and continues to be, under the auspices of the United Nations.
FWIW I think calling people people from the DPRK norks is akin to calling people from China chinks. I refer to the country as the DPRK and the people as North Koreans.
A beautiful morning glory to the trail. Patd, I have to agree the norks, the tariffs, syria all take our eyes off of the domestic disaster of david denison and his cohort, PP (peggy peterson).
putin in cahoots with xi have really created a perfect pr junket with the upcoming photo op of dotard and rocketman. However, in 2009, Bill Clinton visited the norks on behalf of gore to free journalists. He got there way before trump.
The ruskies and china have worked very hard to get the patsy where he is. I watched some steelworkers on cnn talk about the tariffs being too late and the 1980’s (under reagan) were the death knell of the steel industry. More repug rule and reagonomics dragging us down and to bring back the ’80’s? No thank you. Shoulder pads, permed hair and the cig stank of morton downey jr? The awful years of America.
I did read the previous thread about barron. I think the kid looks like a clone of his father. And I care more about the average American kid as barron is wealthy and appears to be healthy. For many children in this country, it is like the recession never left and the absolute theft of wealth under the repugs is only going to make it worse for the poor. repugs lost their muscle to govern and put their false teeth in for a bite out of the middle class. Otherwise, they sit with feeding tubes firmly into the government while trying to keep the dems and their followers from the tube.
There are no moderating forces in SFB’s circle. They are with him because they like him and think he is right.
I saw an interview with Ivanka – she is a clueless git “I’m a daughter,I’m working for women(sic) Myhusband is not a crook….”
worthless piece of crap
and Melanoma –“No nanny for me (just my parents)
Meanwhile. peru joins cptpp.
This trade agreement involves 11 countries from the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
US of AA, left in the dust. Our infrastructure is crumbling and citizen’s have ideas to improve our country, but trump wants to drag us back to the 1950s and give us the pollution of bejing.
I have am working on an idea to convert those dead suburban malls into senior or military veteran campuses…small contained villages that can house seniors at a low cost, provide on-site healthcare, have enough parking space for employees that run small grocery stores , clinics, gyms, restaurants and shopping. The cost savings of geographically lumping the same ‘birds of a feather?’ The savings could be immense for a graying population. Just like my interstate right-of-way use for rail and an electrical grid plan? We will build a useless wall instead. So many in the business of renewables, just like the cannabis industry…stopped by the trumpence junta. States being sued by the justice department while russia goes unpunished. It is a shame that the republican party is so complicit and will let us go down so easily…allow regression to take hold instead of progress. Lavish spending continues by cabinet members like stinky zinke, munchkin, price (the first to go), carson and the like. Just a bad scene under their rule.
ny times via msn: Stormy Daniels Lawsuit Opens Door to Further Trouble for Trump
[…]
…
it will fall to a judge in Los Angeles, where the suit was filed, to decide whether to compel Ms. Clifford to return to arbitration or allow the case to go forward in court, where Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump could find themselves open to the discovery process, during which both sides share documents and information.
“A lawsuit opens the door, and judges almost always allow for a plaintiff to have a fishing expedition,” said Robert S. Bennett, the Washington lawyer who represented Mr. Clinton in the Paula Jones case. The questions could include, “Have you paid other people money?” he said.
[….]
He suggested that Ms. Clifford and her lawyer might be starting with a narrow argument aimed at getting the contract declared invalid, perhaps intending to broaden it later to include claims that Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen coerced her into silence. “If that happened,” he said, “they certainly could seek to depose Trump.”
And in that case, he said, “I can certainly imagine how it might get broader. And if it did, the wide array of Trump’s sexual interactions could be addressed, just as the wide array of Clinton’s sexual interactions was addressed in the Paula Jones case deposition.”
[….]
mportant factors in the case would include just how closely Mr. Cohen coordinated the payment to Ms. Clifford with Mr. Trump and whether it was intended to help the campaign avoid negative publicity.
Mr. Cohen has said that he “facilitated” the payment with his own money and was not reimbursed by Mr. Trump’s company or campaign, and that the payment was “not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.” But in her suit, Ms. Clifford tries to implicate Mr. Trump in the transaction, saying the offer of money was intended to buy her silence to help “ensure he won the presidential election.”
Paul S. Ryan, the vice president for litigation and policy at Common Cause, said that assertion makes clear that the payment was connected to the campaign. “That’s a threshold legal issue, establishing that the purpose of the payment was to influence the election,” he said.
[….continues…]
I respectfully disagree – they do like him…not the electeds but the people in his circle–including Mel…until she was made fun of in public –then not so much
All of them would prefer life in the 1950’s when it was easy to be rich and white
mel has done a good job of trying to kick-out the kids from the first marriage along with dissing the first wife. Getting rid of javanka in the WH will help her forget about hope (and stephanie, nikki and all of trump’s perverted attractions). The separate living is still on in a place that Bill Clinton described as ‘the crown jewel of the federal penal system,’ aka the WH). Enjoy your cell, mel.
flatus, forgive me, I read your sentence about the using ‘norks.’ I have been lectured, shamed, sermonized and embarrassed by my rude nomenclature here on the trail…it will be very difficult for me to change…easier to type norks…just like it is easier to type ruskie for me. Some name calling globalist, I am!
FWIW I think calling people people from the DPRK norks is akin to calling people from China chinks. I refer to the country as the DPRK and the people as North Koreans.
I just think the nork thing is a pr job construed by putin and xi. They created the nuclear nork threat and they can take it away with an olympic maneuver. I think this is a photo op and nothing more…these guys don’t speak the same language, but they have a commonality that both are beholding to russia and china. This meeting gets their american patsy out of some hot water to continue the ruse of winning an election.
Let us hope that the patsy potus doesn’t mistake a chinese finger trap for a condom…otherwise we will never be able to pull-out and return home to close the nationalist doors.
The DPRK is a major exporter of nuclear weapons technology (for dollars) to Eurasian countries desiring said capabilities. Oops, probably should add African countries as well. The chance of him giving-up that source of cash is nil. Trump is on a fool’s errand.
BW, the DPRK nuclear threat is not “…a pr job construed by putin and xi.” IMO Kim is absolutely beyond their control; the threat is real and becoming “realer” every month.
as was said above, it’s obvious Trump was just trying to change the subject yesterday. But neither Stormy or Mueller are going away, no matter how many dictators he meets with
it is curious the involvement of Russia with NK, not just the nuclear goodies but also those chemical weapons that showed up in Syria (putin’s new adopted country to play in) which have been identified as NK products.
reuters: Former Trump campaign aide Nunberg appears before grand jury
WASHINGTON — Former Donald Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg, who had balked at testifying in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington on Friday as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
Nunberg made no comment to reporters as he entered the federal courthouse, other than to say that he would not make a statement after his grand jury testimony.
[….]
Nunberg, 36, is an associate of Trump ally and longtime political consultant Roger Stone. Mueller wants to determine whether Stone played any role in the publication of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence operatives, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Russia has denied the allegations and Trump has said there was no collusion between Moscow and his campaign.
Nunberg first worked for one of Trump’s businesses and later helped advise his presidential campaign, but he was fired in August 2015 amid reports that he posted racially charged messages on Facebook. Nunberg also was close to former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who has met with Mueller’s team on several occasions last month, the sources said.
Roger Stone I hope he goes down big time. I think he had a role in setting up the NJ bomber and other things. Dirty tricks are his game and he also is just a general asshole He learned his stuff with Roy Cohn
BW – That is a great idea; repurposing empty malls!
A guy is repurposing an old prison into a homeless shelter up here. Getting rid of the prison doors and things, of course, but there are rooms, bathrooms and an industrial kitchen/cafeteria. Some guy is doing it on his own & hopes other organizations will come on board. Just a contractor trying to give back.
nbc news: Michael Cohen used Trump company email in Stormy Daniels arrangements
President Donald Trump’s personal attorney used his Trump Organization email while arranging to transfer money into an account at a Manhattan bank before he wired $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence.
The lawyer, Michael Cohen, also regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — before she signed a nondisclosure agreement, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News.
And Clifford’s attorney at the time addressed correspondence to Cohen in his capacity at the Trump Organization and as “Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump,” the source said
[…]
In a statement last month, Cohen said he used his “personal funds to facilitate a payment” to Clifford, who says she had an intimate relationship with Trump a decade ago.
“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Cohen said in that statement.
But an email uncovered in the last 24 hours and provided to NBC News by Clifford’s current attorney, Michael Avenatti, shows First Republic Bank and Cohen communicated about the money using his Trump company email address, not his personal gmail account.
“I think this document seriously calls into question the prior representation of Mr. Cohen and the White House relating to the source of the monies paid to Ms. Clifford in an effort to silence her,” said Avenatti, who is representing Clifford in a lawsuit against Trump.
“We smell smoke.”
The email, dated Oct. 26, 2016, was sent to Cohen by an assistant to First Republic Bank senior managing director Gary Farro. The email appears to have been a reply to Cohen; the subject was “RE: First Republic Bank Transfer” and the message confirmed that “the funds have been deposited into your checking account.”
The email did not provide any more details about the accounts the money was transferred from or to, and it was not clear whether they were personal accounts or corporate accounts. It also did not specify the amount.
According to a 2017 financial disclosure form, Trump has a checking account at First Republic with between $15,001 and $50,000 at the time of the disclosure — though there is no indication that account is connected to the Clifford payment.
The day after the email, Cohen wired money from First Republic to the City National Bank account of lawyer Keith Davidson, who was representing Clifford at the time.
“The $130,000 question, however, is from whose account was the money transferred on Oct. 26, 2016.” Avenatti said.
He said the email “suggests” it might have been a Trump Organization account since the correspondence was through Cohen’s Trump email. He said it was “curious” that after Cohen got the email, he immediately forwarded it to his personal gmail and then used gmail to forward it to Davidson, presumably to show the money was ready to be wired.
“Mr. Cohen should immediately provide the prior emails [between him and the bank] to show exactly where the money came from,” Avenatti said.
[….continues…]
given the twit held public wh shows declaring he would sign a bipartisan bill on daca and likewise on guns, then reneged on both within hours if not days, it is very likely he will back down on the commitment he made publically to meet with NK kim. question is will this latest reversal be before or after he reverses himself on tariffs?
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”,
not that the following has anything to do with anyone in particular…wink wink
wiki: Pathological lying (also called pseudologia fantastica and mythomania) is a behavior of habitual or compulsive lying.
Pathological liar definition
Defining characteristics of pathological lying include:
The stories told are usually dazzling or fantastical, but never breach the limits of plausibility, which is key to the pathological liar’s tactic.
The fabricative tendency is chronic.
A definitely internal, not an external, motive for the behavior can be discerned clinically.
The stories told tend toward presenting the liar favorably.
A couple of months before the summit. I’m thinking it never happens They won’t be able to agree on a place
My 6th grade teacher served in Korea. He was the first male teacher we’d ever seen and young. One day we came to school and he was in whatever is the Korean equivalent of a kimono. He had a whole slide show and other photos of his time in Korea. He never said anything about his military service just about the country and the people. He must have been there is early days because he came back got his degree and we were his first class The whole class thought he was the best teacher ever. He invited the class to his wedding and we all went and giggled through the ceremony. He later became a principal which is kind of too bad. He was a wonderful teacher.
The man who would have been my father-in-law died at Chosin Reservoir. All those lost had some definite impact back home. They were supposed to come home after WW II and then Korea happened.
This misnomering trend that has become a staple of contemporary casual political discourse just muddles the meaning and poisons the debate. One needs a glossary to decipher the intended subjects from their given invectives.
You know, conservatives give stupid nicknames, too, and they think they are being clever and funny- they’re not. It shouldn’t be surprising that no one can talk to anyone else, anymore, in a context of political disagreement, when parties to such discussions refuse to even employ the same nomenclature.
This culture is fucked, anyway, so you do you- just sayin’
bink, what you rail against, the “misnomering trend that… muddles the meaning and poisons the debate,” perhaps might have its origins in the debaters themselves hiding behind their own personal misnomer and fanciful avatar.
..nah. If i can pinpoint a genesis of the phenomenon, i’d place it in the late ‘90s, when calling Clinton “Slick Willy”, exclusively, was en vogue in conservative circles, thanks to media opinion-makers of that time.
you forget, bink, that john adams was referred to as “His Rotundity” james Madison as “Little Jemmy” or His Little Majesty” all the way down the list to “Tricky Dick” and so on… we amurikans seem to have no sense of respect toward our leaders
Jamie – One of the things I like about Dead Like Me is I have been dead and in that kind of strange world in between living and the light goes out. So a fantasy like this is fun.
There is a active shooter thing going on at a veterans home in California. One of the new SFB political appointees to the DC Medical Center got rid of the door guards so anyone can walk in any door. Some of the vets are not allowed in the building without an armed escort. Sometimes brain damage makes a formerly shy quiet type very angry and aggressive. Not enough to be put in containment, but sometimes he gets angry. Without guards they can walk in and not be seen. SFB is doing his best to destroy the VA medical system to give it to the kock bros so they can “privatize” it for their profit.
Craig… I would be sorely disappointed in Mueller if he subpoenas some porn star over campaign finance law… small fish. Trump giving this country over to the Russians is no joke,IMO. Keep your eyes on the prize Mr. Three Sticks!
Bink, I agree to an extent – patd’s able research into the early days of the republic notwithstanding, it is much more pervasive today, and it is absolutely more widespread than I’ve ever seen – thanks largely to SFB, Cheeto Jesus, or whatever. Damn repugns.
Bink…. Rick and I were talking the other night about the difference between now and the Watergate era. We both agreed that the biggest thing is that most people got their news from the nightly news hour on tv… think Walter Cronkite. With the difference between reporting on MSNBC and Fox News, it’s no wonder we seem to be talking different languages now.
RR, I disagree. You get the target whatever it takes. Pile on. Overwhelm the defense with every credible charge, flip every witness. Shock and awe.
That’s what Mueller is doing to Manafort, and what I expect he will do to Trump.
At any cost. Just like how Mueller gave Sammy “The Bull” a pass on 11 murders to convict John Gotti. Then followed up and put Sammy in jail for life for drug trafficking.
No criminal can escape this man.
Cohen has now so openly run afoul of so many laws Mueller can have his interns prepare the case.
The biggest difference (Jamie mounts her hobby horse) between Watergate and now is the population . In the era of US nightly news the population was about 200 million people hanging around the water cooler in the morning with little international input. Now with access to the twitterverse, the population is 400 million in US plus a slew of global feeds into the equation. Human beings are tribal in nature and the tribes really, really don’t like each other particularly when being crowded.
You’re reading to deeply into it, Jamie. The misnomering habit is employed by internet commenters to in an attempt to elevate themselves above their audience to try to assume authority on the topic being discussed in lieu of any genuine insight. It’s grown adults communcating like teenagers, in a politcal context. End result = rule by man-child.
Suspicious bank alerts, trump org emails, FEC complaints, home mortgage funds used for payoff, etc. How can Mueller not get involved in the Stormy case?
reminds me of Dalton Trumbo’s JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, about the WW1 Soldier who was lying in a hospital after becoming paralyzed, deaf , and blind……..learned to communicate with his nurse with eye movement……
What do you think he told her…….
First correct guess gets a ice cream.
Don’t like calling it “Mueller time” or calling people porky or norky or any of those damn things which make it sound like some kind of video game…..this is serious shit.
I apologize for any lug headed stuff I wrote in the past that was insensitive. The thought that it hurt you (or anyone here for any reason) brings sadness. No one to blame but the person who wrote it. Always good to be self aware.
Good to see Bink back. Don’t be a stranger. You are a unique presence.
Yes, it is serious, but why is that different than calling Trump SFB? The nicknames are meant to be derogatory. And Mueller Time just shows anticipation for justice and the man we hope will bring it.
I’ll say what I want, but will take the note from Flatus with regard to NK since that goes beyond Kim to cover others.
Now, is there a name bad enough to call the NRA for trying to stop FL from raising the age limit in buying guns? If they think that this is going to fade into the background like it has in the wake if past atrocities, they are sorely mistaken. They push back, the movement grows and pushes back harder. And every politician who takes their blood money loses their seat when their term is up. If the money dries up (or if candidates are afraid to be caught being bough and paid for), then the NRA gets found out for what it really is & the idiot hunters and preppers might wake up.
I’ve never felt the need to invent pejoratives, as there already exists a plentitude of incisive terms that convey my intended meaning, perfectly. You had better rack your brain before you conceive of something better than “************”.
https://youtu.be/VXMhbNZiSSA
meanwhile, THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!! THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!!
the guardian
It launched as a potent symbol of Chinese ambitions in space, but in the coming weeks the nation’s first orbital outpost will come crashing down to Earth in a fireball that could scatter debris over thousands of kilometres.
The Chinese space agency lost control of its Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace, spacecraft in 2016, five years after it blasted into orbit to make China only the third nation to operate a space station after the US and Russia.
The defunct module is now at an altitude of 150 miles and being tracked by space agencies around the world, with the European Space Agency’s centre in Darmstadt predicting a fiery descent for it between 27 March and 8 April.
Hurtling around the Earth at about 18,000mph, the module ranks as one of the larger objects to re-enter the atmosphere without being steered towards the ocean, as is standard for big and broken spacecraft, and cargo vessels that are jettisoned from the International Space Station (ISS), to reduce the risk to life below.
The spacecraft’s orbit ranges from 43° north to 43° south, which rules out a descent over the UK but includes vast stretches of North and South America, China, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, parts of Europe – and great swaths of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
Western analysts cannot be sure how much of the spacecraft will survive re-entry, because China has not released details of the design and materials used to make Tiangong-1. But the spacecraft may have well-protected titanium fuel tanks containing toxic hydrazine that could pose a danger if they land in populated areas.
[….continues…]
notice to all parties scheduling hearings, depositions, and trials with the twit: too busy meeting with rocket man to determine who pushes whose bigger button first
not that the twit planned it, but the nork rendezvous may be his best distraction of all from the probable upcoming court dates being sought by stormy, Mueller et al
Mueller Time! It gives a whole, new meaning to cracking one open. Right, Gates?
Doubtful Melania knows anything about Russian collusion…unless she was translating. Nyet, but she could sure spill other stuff. You can bet a subpoena would follow the divorce papers. I doubt that will happen.
Hey, he may actually just be using this trip as a cover to escape. Can we extradite Trumpsky from NK? Ha!
Let us hope this goes the way of Skylab and it has little impact on life forms of Earth. This was already a TV series (“Dead Like Me”) long ago; chick gets killed by a space toilet seat.
The preppers with bunkers may not be completely crazy.
Any chance that space garbage would land on Kim J Un and Donny J or Ass-wad or Put-ey or (and this would be beautifully ironic) China’s leader-for-life? No, if it doesn’t land in a desert or ocean, it will probably land on a day care or a senior center or a community food pantry, cuz that’s the way things work in the 2,000s.
the hill: The Memo: Dangers multiply for Trump in Mueller probe
[….]
…Mueller’s team has reportedly secured the cooperation of a hitherto-marginal figure, Lebanese-American businessman George Nader, who was stopped and questioned by the FBI at Washington’s Dulles Airport in January.
And Nader’s emails are purported to reveal a push by a Republican fundraiser with links to the United Arab Emirates to get Secretary of State Rex Tillerson fired.
There have also been a number of other intriguing, if more marginal, developments.
A New Yorker profile of Christopher Steele, the former British spy who authored a contentious dossier alleging Russia had compromising material on Trump, included the detail that British intelligence services had intercepted “a stream of illicit communications between Trump’s team and Moscow” during the 2016 campaign. “The content of these intercepts has not become public,” the author, Jane Mayer, added.
Put it all together and experts agree the perils for Team Trump are multiplying.
[….continues…]
Any conference between us and the DPRK should have as its single focus the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We removed our 100s of nuclear weapons in the 1970s and the ROK, under a nuclear-free Korea pledge, has not sought to develop their own.
There is a single ethnic Korean people–split by an ill thought-out line dividing them into a free half, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian administered north, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Since that time, ordinary Koreans have sought reunification of their families. The DPRK, with Soviet sponsorship, tried to force reunification militarily in June of 1950. They would have succeeded had it not been for incredibly brave soldiers and civilians setting-up a perimeter around Pusan that held until MacArthur could bring forces from Japan.
Following three years of fierce fighting, during which Red Chinese forces joined the fray, an armistice was negotiated with a demilitarized zone (DMZ) being established along the forward edge of the battle area (FEBA). These negotiations were held at Panmunjom, a point along the western DMZ. The location is still a neutral area where alleged violations of the armistice are sorted-out and resolved. The DMZ is not the same as the 38th Parallel. Our involvement was, and continues to be, under the auspices of the United Nations.
FWIW I think calling people people from the DPRK norks is akin to calling people from China chinks. I refer to the country as the DPRK and the people as North Koreans.
have to agree with mojo on this:
Joe: Trump makes N. Korea decision because of Stormy Daniels
https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/news/joe-trump-makes-n-korea-decision-because-of-stormy-daniels/vi-BBK3c9W
A beautiful morning glory to the trail. Patd, I have to agree the norks, the tariffs, syria all take our eyes off of the domestic disaster of david denison and his cohort, PP (peggy peterson).
putin in cahoots with xi have really created a perfect pr junket with the upcoming photo op of dotard and rocketman. However, in 2009, Bill Clinton visited the norks on behalf of gore to free journalists. He got there way before trump.
Meanwhile, the trumpence junta general mattis has really become the shadow prez. From 2016, fanboy ron paul institute frothing for a maddog presidency.
The ruskies and china have worked very hard to get the patsy where he is. I watched some steelworkers on cnn talk about the tariffs being too late and the 1980’s (under reagan) were the death knell of the steel industry. More repug rule and reagonomics dragging us down and to bring back the ’80’s? No thank you. Shoulder pads, permed hair and the cig stank of morton downey jr? The awful years of America.
I did read the previous thread about barron. I think the kid looks like a clone of his father. And I care more about the average American kid as barron is wealthy and appears to be healthy. For many children in this country, it is like the recession never left and the absolute theft of wealth under the repugs is only going to make it worse for the poor. repugs lost their muscle to govern and put their false teeth in for a bite out of the middle class. Otherwise, they sit with feeding tubes firmly into the government while trying to keep the dems and their followers from the tube.
There are no moderating forces in SFB’s circle. They are with him because they like him and think he is right.
I saw an interview with Ivanka – she is a clueless git “I’m a daughter,I’m working for women(sic) Myhusband is not a crook….”
worthless piece of crap
and Melanoma –“No nanny for me (just my parents)
They are with him because he feathers their nests……when the feathering stops so will they.
Nobody likes him.
they are Feather Gatherers.
It’s only his base (pun intended) who think he’s right and like him.
Meanwhile. peru joins cptpp.
This trade agreement involves 11 countries from the Asia-Pacific region: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam.
US of AA, left in the dust. Our infrastructure is crumbling and citizen’s have ideas to improve our country, but trump wants to drag us back to the 1950s and give us the pollution of bejing.
I have am working on an idea to convert those dead suburban malls into senior or military veteran campuses…small contained villages that can house seniors at a low cost, provide on-site healthcare, have enough parking space for employees that run small grocery stores , clinics, gyms, restaurants and shopping. The cost savings of geographically lumping the same ‘birds of a feather?’ The savings could be immense for a graying population. Just like my interstate right-of-way use for rail and an electrical grid plan? We will build a useless wall instead. So many in the business of renewables, just like the cannabis industry…stopped by the trumpence junta. States being sued by the justice department while russia goes unpunished. It is a shame that the republican party is so complicit and will let us go down so easily…allow regression to take hold instead of progress. Lavish spending continues by cabinet members like stinky zinke, munchkin, price (the first to go), carson and the like. Just a bad scene under their rule.
ny times via msn: Stormy Daniels Lawsuit Opens Door to Further Trouble for Trump
[…]
…
it will fall to a judge in Los Angeles, where the suit was filed, to decide whether to compel Ms. Clifford to return to arbitration or allow the case to go forward in court, where Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump could find themselves open to the discovery process, during which both sides share documents and information.
“A lawsuit opens the door, and judges almost always allow for a plaintiff to have a fishing expedition,” said Robert S. Bennett, the Washington lawyer who represented Mr. Clinton in the Paula Jones case. The questions could include, “Have you paid other people money?” he said.
[….]
He suggested that Ms. Clifford and her lawyer might be starting with a narrow argument aimed at getting the contract declared invalid, perhaps intending to broaden it later to include claims that Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen coerced her into silence. “If that happened,” he said, “they certainly could seek to depose Trump.”
And in that case, he said, “I can certainly imagine how it might get broader. And if it did, the wide array of Trump’s sexual interactions could be addressed, just as the wide array of Clinton’s sexual interactions was addressed in the Paula Jones case deposition.”
[….]
mportant factors in the case would include just how closely Mr. Cohen coordinated the payment to Ms. Clifford with Mr. Trump and whether it was intended to help the campaign avoid negative publicity.
Mr. Cohen has said that he “facilitated” the payment with his own money and was not reimbursed by Mr. Trump’s company or campaign, and that the payment was “not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.” But in her suit, Ms. Clifford tries to implicate Mr. Trump in the transaction, saying the offer of money was intended to buy her silence to help “ensure he won the presidential election.”
Paul S. Ryan, the vice president for litigation and policy at Common Cause, said that assertion makes clear that the payment was connected to the campaign. “That’s a threshold legal issue, establishing that the purpose of the payment was to influence the election,” he said.
[….continues…]
All his kids are nursing old wounds which likely still fester under the veneer.
The pilot/first episode of Dead Like Me has a possible outcome of the Chinese bird coming home.
Sturge
I respectfully disagree – they do like him…not the electeds but the people in his circle–including Mel…until she was made fun of in public –then not so much
All of them would prefer life in the 1950’s when it was easy to be rich and white
The old man has crapped in his mess kit.
His kids….hmmmI think Donald jr is the one most likely to snap and shoot him
Ivanka is probably still hoping to screw him
In all fairness, obama holdover, the once popular cab member shulkin is also viewed as an incompetent spendthrift.
These guys will have their tumble in the barrel, but I doubt it will change anything.
BW
Every time I see Zinke…I think stinky –you are the best
He ordered a most expensive door –hope it hits him on the butt
North Koreans call SFB Lyin’ King…actually pretty funny for a a country you wouldn’t think that familiar with Broadway
mel has done a good job of trying to kick-out the kids from the first marriage along with dissing the first wife. Getting rid of javanka in the WH will help her forget about hope (and stephanie, nikki and all of trump’s perverted attractions). The separate living is still on in a place that Bill Clinton described as ‘the crown jewel of the federal penal system,’ aka the WH). Enjoy your cell, mel.
Ivana was pretty terrible …
flatus, forgive me, I read your sentence about the using ‘norks.’ I have been lectured, shamed, sermonized and embarrassed by my rude nomenclature here on the trail…it will be very difficult for me to change…easier to type norks…just like it is easier to type ruskie for me. Some name calling globalist, I am!
kgc, very funny & very true; but don’t think the norks originated it since there was an earlier variation out there with Obama.
KGC, the only good thing to come out of the ivana-donald union? Chappy, the poodle dog.
KGC the stinky zinke always likes to make an entrance. It is said the door has a retina reader, like NCIS.
Oh yeah…. can’t wait to see lil Kim and SFB negotiating…. it’ll be akin to watching tweedledum and tweetledee negotiating over an Alice sandwich.
one pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small…
He should have stayed with Ivana – they are two peas
oops, is the use of “norks” now on the no no list?
bw, I tho’t flatus was more concerned about and offended by the references to eating dogs, not the name calling.
I have corrected your typo —
‘two pees in a bed’…remember the wee-wee leaks vid and putie’s prostitutes (the best in the world).
Flatus wrote —
FWIW I think calling people people from the DPRK norks is akin to calling people from China chinks. I refer to the country as the DPRK and the people as North Koreans.
Flatus…when the Washington Redskins change their racist name? I will quit using nork.
I think there is a lot of mock offense going on..people pretending to be offended in areas where it isn’t worth the time to argue
I would not find the NKs offensive.
And, yes I’m extremely sensitive to what I perceive as slights against the Korean people–it’s my duty as the patriarch of a sizable Korean family.
I just think the nork thing is a pr job construed by putin and xi. They created the nuclear nork threat and they can take it away with an olympic maneuver. I think this is a photo op and nothing more…these guys don’t speak the same language, but they have a commonality that both are beholding to russia and china. This meeting gets their american patsy out of some hot water to continue the ruse of winning an election.
This is a chinese finger trap.
This NK thing is a trap.
as Sock-eye, the Myrtle Beach gambler, was fond of saying: You have to take all the scent off the trap.
I think one of the biggest problems today is the idea of patrimony —
Or is this a ‘steel trap?’
South Korea hurt by tariffs.
Let us hope that the patsy potus doesn’t mistake a chinese finger trap for a condom…otherwise we will never be able to pull-out and return home to close the nationalist doors.
The DPRK is a major exporter of nuclear weapons technology (for dollars) to Eurasian countries desiring said capabilities. Oops, probably should add African countries as well. The chance of him giving-up that source of cash is nil. Trump is on a fool’s errand.
BW, the DPRK nuclear threat is not “…a pr job construed by putin and xi.” IMO Kim is absolutely beyond their control; the threat is real and becoming “realer” every month.
Apropos of nothing.
Peter Falk and his daughter
russia sold nuclear weapons to north korea.
russia throws north korea economic lifeline.
And while we discuss global economies and tensions on the korean peninsula? Another scotus appt. for trump coming this summer.
as was said above, it’s obvious Trump was just trying to change the subject yesterday. But neither Stormy or Mueller are going away, no matter how many dictators he meets with
Another Kennedy rumor …how many times have we heard he is going to retire
Heller is just trying to save his big fat ass
I hear stormy has a GoFu account
as distractions go, at least trying to prevent a war is better than starting one.
it is curious the involvement of Russia with NK, not just the nuclear goodies but also those chemical weapons that showed up in Syria (putin’s new adopted country to play in) which have been identified as NK products.
reuters: Former Trump campaign aide Nunberg appears before grand jury
WASHINGTON — Former Donald Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg, who had balked at testifying in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, appeared at the federal courthouse in Washington on Friday as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.
Nunberg made no comment to reporters as he entered the federal courthouse, other than to say that he would not make a statement after his grand jury testimony.
[….]
Nunberg, 36, is an associate of Trump ally and longtime political consultant Roger Stone. Mueller wants to determine whether Stone played any role in the publication of Democratic emails hacked by Russian intelligence operatives, according to sources familiar with the investigation. Russia has denied the allegations and Trump has said there was no collusion between Moscow and his campaign.
Nunberg first worked for one of Trump’s businesses and later helped advise his presidential campaign, but he was fired in August 2015 amid reports that he posted racially charged messages on Facebook. Nunberg also was close to former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who has met with Mueller’s team on several occasions last month, the sources said.
“as distractions go, at least trying to prevent a war is better than starting one”
craig, and better than the tariff tiff that unsettles the global stock markets and puts fear into the workers who will lose jobs.
Roger Stone I hope he goes down big time. I think he had a role in setting up the NJ bomber and other things. Dirty tricks are his game and he also is just a general asshole He learned his stuff with Roy Cohn
meanwhile, madame defarge sits and knits
the guardian:
Paralysis in Congress as Republicans and Democrats dither over gun control
In the wake of the Florida shooting, calls for reform have grown louder but legislation has again stalled. Why can’t Congress get it right?
maybe wayne’s world can answer that
encore! let’s hear it for the parody project!
SFB will make a bi-lateral trade deal with North Korea the only country still available to make that kind of deal
BW – That is a great idea; repurposing empty malls!
A guy is repurposing an old prison into a homeless shelter up here. Getting rid of the prison doors and things, of course, but there are rooms, bathrooms and an industrial kitchen/cafeteria. Some guy is doing it on his own & hopes other organizations will come on board. Just a contractor trying to give back.
A grandparent and a nanny are not the same.
I still wonder how Eric & Don Jr’s nanny ended up dead at the bottom of the basement stairs.
BB – Watch out for falling toilet seats.
Are they gonna give Nunberg a breathalyzer before he is questioned today?
(I shall try to refer to Lil Kim as Porky and drop the Norky.)
nbc news: Michael Cohen used Trump company email in Stormy Daniels arrangements
President Donald Trump’s personal attorney used his Trump Organization email while arranging to transfer money into an account at a Manhattan bank before he wired $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence.
The lawyer, Michael Cohen, also regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — before she signed a nondisclosure agreement, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News.
And Clifford’s attorney at the time addressed correspondence to Cohen in his capacity at the Trump Organization and as “Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump,” the source said
[…]
In a statement last month, Cohen said he used his “personal funds to facilitate a payment” to Clifford, who says she had an intimate relationship with Trump a decade ago.
“Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly,” Cohen said in that statement.
But an email uncovered in the last 24 hours and provided to NBC News by Clifford’s current attorney, Michael Avenatti, shows First Republic Bank and Cohen communicated about the money using his Trump company email address, not his personal gmail account.
“I think this document seriously calls into question the prior representation of Mr. Cohen and the White House relating to the source of the monies paid to Ms. Clifford in an effort to silence her,” said Avenatti, who is representing Clifford in a lawsuit against Trump.
“We smell smoke.”
The email, dated Oct. 26, 2016, was sent to Cohen by an assistant to First Republic Bank senior managing director Gary Farro. The email appears to have been a reply to Cohen; the subject was “RE: First Republic Bank Transfer” and the message confirmed that “the funds have been deposited into your checking account.”
The email did not provide any more details about the accounts the money was transferred from or to, and it was not clear whether they were personal accounts or corporate accounts. It also did not specify the amount.
According to a 2017 financial disclosure form, Trump has a checking account at First Republic with between $15,001 and $50,000 at the time of the disclosure — though there is no indication that account is connected to the Clifford payment.
The day after the email, Cohen wired money from First Republic to the City National Bank account of lawyer Keith Davidson, who was representing Clifford at the time.
“The $130,000 question, however, is from whose account was the money transferred on Oct. 26, 2016.” Avenatti said.
He said the email “suggests” it might have been a Trump Organization account since the correspondence was through Cohen’s Trump email. He said it was “curious” that after Cohen got the email, he immediately forwarded it to his personal gmail and then used gmail to forward it to Davidson, presumably to show the money was ready to be wired.
“Mr. Cohen should immediately provide the prior emails [between him and the bank] to show exactly where the money came from,” Avenatti said.
[….continues…]
given the twit held public wh shows declaring he would sign a bipartisan bill on daca and likewise on guns, then reneged on both within hours if not days, it is very likely he will back down on the commitment he made publically to meet with NK kim. question is will this latest reversal be before or after he reverses himself on tariffs?
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!”,
not that the following has anything to do with anyone in particular…wink wink
wiki: Pathological lying (also called pseudologia fantastica and mythomania) is a behavior of habitual or compulsive lying.
Pathological liar definition
Defining characteristics of pathological lying include:
The stories told are usually dazzling or fantastical, but never breach the limits of plausibility, which is key to the pathological liar’s tactic.
The fabricative tendency is chronic.
A definitely internal, not an external, motive for the behavior can be discerned clinically.
The stories told tend toward presenting the liar favorably.
A couple of months before the summit. I’m thinking it never happens They won’t be able to agree on a place
My 6th grade teacher served in Korea. He was the first male teacher we’d ever seen and young. One day we came to school and he was in whatever is the Korean equivalent of a kimono. He had a whole slide show and other photos of his time in Korea. He never said anything about his military service just about the country and the people. He must have been there is early days because he came back got his degree and we were his first class The whole class thought he was the best teacher ever. He invited the class to his wedding and we all went and giggled through the ceremony. He later became a principal which is kind of too bad. He was a wonderful teacher.
BiD
I have the whole Dead Like Me series on DVD. Love it.
The man who would have been my father-in-law died at Chosin Reservoir. All those lost had some definite impact back home. They were supposed to come home after WW II and then Korea happened.
There is already a steady action to cover the first announcements of a “meeting” with cat sand.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled discussion of the sleazy prevarications of Donald Trump until the next twinkly object.
HAH!! Bama just knocked #1 seed Auburn out of the SEC tournament. Absolutely thumped them in the 2nd half.
This misnomering trend that has become a staple of contemporary casual political discourse just muddles the meaning and poisons the debate. One needs a glossary to decipher the intended subjects from their given invectives.
You know, conservatives give stupid nicknames, too, and they think they are being clever and funny- they’re not. It shouldn’t be surprising that no one can talk to anyone else, anymore, in a context of political disagreement, when parties to such discussions refuse to even employ the same nomenclature.
This culture is fucked, anyway, so you do you- just sayin’
Easiest way to blow up Stormy’s NDA: Mueller subpoenas her.
bink, what you rail against, the “misnomering trend that… muddles the meaning and poisons the debate,” perhaps might have its origins in the debaters themselves hiding behind their own personal misnomer and fanciful avatar.
..nah. If i can pinpoint a genesis of the phenomenon, i’d place it in the late ‘90s, when calling Clinton “Slick Willy”, exclusively, was en vogue in conservative circles, thanks to media opinion-makers of that time.
Roll Tide !
you forget, bink, that john adams was referred to as “His Rotundity” james Madison as “Little Jemmy” or His Little Majesty” all the way down the list to “Tricky Dick” and so on… we amurikans seem to have no sense of respect toward our leaders
🙂
*
Jamie – One of the things I like about Dead Like Me is I have been dead and in that kind of strange world in between living and the light goes out. So a fantasy like this is fun.
There is a active shooter thing going on at a veterans home in California. One of the new SFB political appointees to the DC Medical Center got rid of the door guards so anyone can walk in any door. Some of the vets are not allowed in the building without an armed escort. Sometimes brain damage makes a formerly shy quiet type very angry and aggressive. Not enough to be put in containment, but sometimes he gets angry. Without guards they can walk in and not be seen. SFB is doing his best to destroy the VA medical system to give it to the kock bros so they can “privatize” it for their profit.
Craig… I would be sorely disappointed in Mueller if he subpoenas some porn star over campaign finance law… small fish. Trump giving this country over to the Russians is no joke,IMO. Keep your eyes on the prize Mr. Three Sticks!
Bink, I agree to an extent – patd’s able research into the early days of the republic notwithstanding, it is much more pervasive today, and it is absolutely more widespread than I’ve ever seen – thanks largely to SFB, Cheeto Jesus, or whatever. Damn repugns.
Bink…. Rick and I were talking the other night about the difference between now and the Watergate era. We both agreed that the biggest thing is that most people got their news from the nightly news hour on tv… think Walter Cronkite. With the difference between reporting on MSNBC and Fox News, it’s no wonder we seem to be talking different languages now.
It sells our news is for sale
Yeah Chuck Todd for asking why why why do we still have day light savings
Also the hearings really focused people’s attention — Sam Ervin and Barbara Jordan – both perfect for the time and the role they played
we need a focal point for the SFB problems
RR, I disagree. You get the target whatever it takes. Pile on. Overwhelm the defense with every credible charge, flip every witness. Shock and awe.
That’s what Mueller is doing to Manafort, and what I expect he will do to Trump.
At any cost. Just like how Mueller gave Sammy “The Bull” a pass on 11 murders to convict John Gotti. Then followed up and put Sammy in jail for life for drug trafficking.
No criminal can escape this man.
Cohen has now so openly run afoul of so many laws Mueller can have his interns prepare the case.
RR & Bink
The biggest difference (Jamie mounts her hobby horse) between Watergate and now is the population . In the era of US nightly news the population was about 200 million people hanging around the water cooler in the morning with little international input. Now with access to the twitterverse, the population is 400 million in US plus a slew of global feeds into the equation. Human beings are tribal in nature and the tribes really, really don’t like each other particularly when being crowded.
Whetever the cause, it sure makes reading a political message-board difficult.
You’re reading to deeply into it, Jamie. The misnomering habit is employed by internet commenters to in an attempt to elevate themselves above their audience to try to assume authority on the topic being discussed in lieu of any genuine insight. It’s grown adults communcating like teenagers, in a politcal context. End result = rule by man-child.
Suspicious bank alerts, trump org emails, FEC complaints, home mortgage funds used for payoff, etc. How can Mueller not get involved in the Stormy case?
Bink….it’s not like you to leave that “to” unedited in the first 3 words of your last post……..you ok?
Blink twice if yes.
reminds me of Dalton Trumbo’s JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, about the WW1 Soldier who was lying in a hospital after becoming paralyzed, deaf , and blind……..learned to communicate with his nurse with eye movement……
What do you think he told her…….
First correct guess gets a ice cream.
Add campaign funding violations to collusion with a foreign state.
Just to keep Porky on his toes, Trumpsky might not meet with him? Is he really trying to negotiate the nukes away or just trying to out-crazy Kim?
Don’t like calling it “Mueller time” or calling people porky or norky or any of those damn things which make it sound like some kind of video game…..this is serious shit.
Which is not to say that I have not participated in creative name calling…..it’s a vice…….I’ll plead guilty at my next confession.
i. e. Never
Hey Flate what was you raise up as?
Sturgeone,
This IS serious [ ]. Thank You. Fully agree.
Flatus,
I apologize for any lug headed stuff I wrote in the past that was insensitive. The thought that it hurt you (or anyone here for any reason) brings sadness. No one to blame but the person who wrote it. Always good to be self aware.
Good to see Bink back. Don’t be a stranger. You are a unique presence.
Yes, it is serious, but why is that different than calling Trump SFB? The nicknames are meant to be derogatory. And Mueller Time just shows anticipation for justice and the man we hope will bring it.
I’ll say what I want, but will take the note from Flatus with regard to NK since that goes beyond Kim to cover others.
Now, is there a name bad enough to call the NRA for trying to stop FL from raising the age limit in buying guns? If they think that this is going to fade into the background like it has in the wake if past atrocities, they are sorely mistaken. They push back, the movement grows and pushes back harder. And every politician who takes their blood money loses their seat when their term is up. If the money dries up (or if candidates are afraid to be caught being bough and paid for), then the NRA gets found out for what it really is & the idiot hunters and preppers might wake up.
Dreading another Sunday without something from Jace. We need his musical sorbet to cleanse out tastebuds around here.
Lol, i can’t even post a vid.
I’ve never felt the need to invent pejoratives, as there already exists a plentitude of incisive terms that convey my intended meaning, perfectly. You had better rack your brain before you conceive of something better than “************”.
We stand on the shoulders of giants.