When a house is on fire, Trump says, ‘Ignore that. Look, I’ve set my own house on fire’.
Trump strips security clearance for Ex-CIA chief for criticizing him https://t.co/WHnYx1MEUe pic.twitter.com/DCWamawS15
— The Hill (@thehill) August 16, 2018
1600 Distraction Avenue
jack, meant to get back on your complaint about the un-importance of omarosa & co.
mrs. jack’s chemo challenge right now tops that any day for what counts as really important. please give her a hug for me and tell her for us what that great Canadian of the north, red green, would say: “Remember I’m pullin’ for ya–we’re all in this together.”
courtesy of faux news: Trump’s full statement on revoking John Brennan’s security clearance
As the head of the executive branch and Commander in Chief, I have a unique, Constitutional responsibility to protect the Nation’s classified information, including by controlling access to it. Today, in fulfilling that responsibility, I have decided to revoke the security clearance of John Brennan, former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Historically, former heads of intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been allowed to retain access to classified information after their Government service so that they can consult with their successors regarding matters about which they may have special insights and as a professional courtesy.
Neither of these justifications supports Mr. Brennan’s continued access to classified information. First, at this point in my Administration, any benefits that senior officials might glean from consultations with Mr. Brennan are now outweighed by the risks posed by his erratic conduct and behavior. Second, that conduct and behavior has tested and far exceeded the limits of any professional courtesy that may have been due to him.
Mr. Brennan has a history that calls into question his objectivity and credibility. In 2014, for example, he denied to Congress that CIA officials under his supervision had improperly accessed the computer files of congressional staffers. He told the Council of Foreign Relations that the CIA would never do such a thing. The CIA’s Inspector General, however, contradicted Mr. Brennan directly, concluding unequivocally that agency officials had indeed improperly accessed congressional staffers’ files. More recently, Mr. Brennan told Congress that the intelligence community did not make use of the so-called Steele Dossier in an assessment regarding the 2016 election, an assertion contradicted by at least two other senior officials in the intelligence community and all of the facts.
Additionally, Mr. Brennan has recently leveraged his status as a former high-ranking official with access to highly sensitive information to make a series of unfounded and outrageous allegations – wild outbursts on the internet and television – about this Administration. Mr. Brennan’s lying and recent conduct, characterized by increasingly frenzied commentary, is wholly inconsistent with access to the Nation’s most closely held secrets and facilitates the very aim of our adversaries, which is to sow division and chaos.
More broadly, the issue of Mr. Brennan’s security clearance raises larger questions about the practice of former officials maintaining access to our Nation’s most sensitive secrets long after their time in Government has ended. Such access is particularly inappropriate when former officials have transitioned into highly partisan positions and seek to use real or perceived access to sensitive information to validate their political attacks. Any access granted to our Nation’s secrets should be in furtherance of national, not personal, interests. For this reason, I have also begun to review the more general question of the access to classified information by former Government officials.
As part of this review, I am evaluating action with respect to the following individuals: James Clapper, James Comey, Michael Hayden, Sally Yates, Susan Rice, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr. Security clearances for those who still have them may be revoked, and those who have already their lost their security clearance may not be able to have it reinstated.
It is for the foregoing reasons that I have exercised my Constitutional authority to deny Mr. Brennan access to classified information, and I will direct appropriate staff of the National Security Council to make the necessary arrangements with the appropriate agencies to implement this determination.
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.’
That’s not his house; it’s his lying panties that are on fire.
Nothing bearing the Trump name will be worth poop.
His brand is deceipt, manipulation, bullying, and, insanity. Nobody wants a piece of that.
Did you see Suckabee let out a smirk when read out the next to last name on Trumpsky’s security clearance hit list? I wonder what that was about?
She is one, good Nazi mouthpiece.
Cohen has tapes. Omarosa has tapes. Someone, surely, has tapes they can stop the insanity. Just give ‘em to all news outlets & Mueller. Don’t let Trumpsky bury the real story (crimes) or this country.
Shuck-and-Jive-abee Sanders takes “tacky” to new heights.
op ed in today’s ny times
John Brennan: President Trump’s Claims of No Collusion Are Hogwash
That’s why the president revoked my security clearance: to try to silence anyone who would dare challenge him.
By John O. Brennan
Mr. Brennan was director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2013 to 2017.
realclearpolitics:
Hayden on Brennan: Trump Just Told Intel Community Not To Disagree Or “He Will Punish You”
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Joining us now, a man whose security clearance is said to be under review by the administration now, former CIA and NSA director, retired Air Force General Michael Hayden, CNN contributor. General Hayden, first of all, just how do you interpret the actions by President Trump that he is taking against John Brennan, and what he’s basically threatening to do to you and others?
GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN (RET.), FORMER CIA & NSA DIRECTOR: Yes. So, first of all, Anderson, with regard to John, it was personal and it was vindictive. And, frankly, I think it was an overall judgment that John was being somewhat effective.
You can tell I’m here at Dulles. I’ve been traveling all day. So, that tape you just played of Sarah Sanders describing why the president did it, I could translate for you, Anderson, is that John Brennan’s life experience gives him legitimacy to say a lot of the things he is saying, and the White House couldn’t stand for that. So, you’ve got the misuse of power here I think with regard to John.
Now, you’ve got the others, included, that was a threat that was put out there from the White House press room. In essence, we’re under review, that’s simply telling us that we’re all being watched. We need to be careful. Now, frankly, I don’t think that’s going to affect any of us. But just the fact that the threat was made is very disappointing.
And, finally, Anderson, one final thing, and this is a big one. This is — this is the one that really matters. The White House just messaged the entire American intelligence community if you stand up and say things that upset the president or with which he disagrees, he will punish you. And that is a horrible message to be sending to folks who are there to tell you objective truth.
the New Yorker:
Omarosa, the Tragic Narrator of Our Times
[…tough worded article starts off briefly reviewing book parts and background…]
Manigault’s selling point is that she has intimate, historic insight into the Trump family—insight one can’t get from Michael Wolff’s “Fire and Fury,” or from Anthony Scaramucci’s forthcoming blitz, “Trump: The Blue-Collar President.” But she can’t seem to choose between dressing herself as a bushy-tailed mentee, whose abstracted loyalty precludes her from seeing the misogyny and racism of her “mentor,” or a savvy career woman, who was willing to play dirty to get ahead. Gone is the conviction of “Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump.” “Now, when I look at things, I’m stunned that I was involved in this kind of shady dealing,” she writes, of dropping a lawsuit against the National Enquirer at Trump’s behest. The Enquirer, she claims, sent a reporter to surveil the funeral of her brother Jack, who was murdered, in 2011. She also claims that Trump brokered a solution: Manigault would serve as the West Coast editor in exchange for letting the matter go. (David Pecker, the Enquirer’s publisher, denies such an arrangement.)
[…]
The book seems flittingly sincere as a grief chronicle. Throughout, Manigault invokes her family tragedy—her father was murdered when she was young; her second husband, the actor Michael Clarke Duncan, died, from a heart attack, in bed, while she was recovering from a miscarriage—as reason for her surrender to Trump’s flattery. But for Manigault, an ordained minister, to present ego-driven career climbing as a symptom of grief is unpalatable, to say the least. And the flattery does not seem so flattering. When her husband died, in 2012, Trump did not attend the funeral. He sent her a letter that said, “I’m sorry about your loss. I heard Michael was a good guy.”
No one is buying that the hardened reality-show player could not see what was tweeting in front of her. So what is Omarosa really selling? Her product is not simply the alleged tapes but the idea that she may have outmaneuvered Trump. ….
…..Our infantilization of women in power has, at times, elicited empathy for figures such as Hope Hicks, Melania Trump, and Ivanka Trump. This seems to be what Omarosa seeks. But, for as little as she has gained, and for all she will endure—being called a “lowlife” and a “dog” by the President, most recently—she will never receive it. I wonder why.
Doreen St. Félix is a staff writer at The New Yorker
Jack… I sincerely wish the best for both you and Mrs. Jack. Hang in there.
R.I.P. Aretha Franklin… you will always be the Queen of Soul.
vanity fair:
“Death Spiral”: Why Omarosa Totally Triggered Trump
The perceived betrayal of a longtime female ally, and her perfectly executed Trumpian tactics, made the feud too personal to ignore.
[…]
In recent days, Trump has called Manigault Newman “crazed,” a “lowlife,” and a “dog” on Twitter. His campaign filed an arbitration suit against her seeking “millions.” And Trump told advisers that he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to have Manigault Newman arrested, according to one Republican briefed on the conversations. (It’s unclear what law Trump believes she broke.) Another Republican recounted how over the weekend Trump derailed a midterm-election strategy session to rant about Manigault Newman’s betrayal. In an effort to change the narrative, the White House announced yesterday that Trump had revoked former C.I.A. director John Brennan’s security clearance. But that only ignited a new public-relations crisis. A former West Wing official compared Trump’s erratic behavior this week to the P.R. nightmare he created by attacking grieving Muslim-American Gold Star parents during the 2016 campaign. It’s a “death spiral,” the former official said.
[…]
Meanwhile, former Trump aide Sam Nunberg told me that Trump is lashing out because he sees Manigault Newman as a “formidable enemy.” “Hell hath no fury like Omarosa scorned,” Nunberg said.
Just saw stories about Dear Leader’s stupid military parade (which even the Pentagon doesn’t want) still going forward for Nov. 10 at an estimated cost of $90+ million. For the record that’s around nine times Mueller’s budget.
A fellow care giver shout out to Mr. Jack — we were at ER again at 4am last night getting a catheter back in. Dad’s prostate is healing from surgery too slowly to do without it, which we’ve tried twice without success. The caregiving time zone sure scrambles the days and the nights. I don’t have a shed for retreat but Toby and I do squeeze in some pool play here and there.
$90 million? that’s equal to 30 taxpayer paid IMPOTUS trips to mal an ego
speaking of which back in june the hill reported: Trump has spent more visiting Mar-a-Lago than Mueller has on Russia probe
[…]
“A.P. has just reported that the Russian Hoax Investigation has now cost our government over $17 million, and going up fast. No Collusion, except by the Democrats!” Trump tweeted Friday.
But that number is dwarfed by the amount required to pay for the president’s numerous trips to the “Winter White House,” which Washington Post and Politico analyses have estimated to cost taxpayers on average between $1 million and $3 million per trip.
As of Dec. 26, Trump had spent 39 days at Mar-a-Lago in 2017. Trump took his 17th trip to the property in April, according to Town and Country magazine.
And the cost of Trumpsky’s parade to prop up his ego v the cost of things that matter to Americans (including his base) should be EVERYWHERE. Don’t let them hide in the Faux News fart cloud.
Comparing it to the cost of the Mueller investigation won’t get anywhere with some folks.
Compare it to healthcare, the VA, something that will knock some sense into these folks.
That said, c’mon Bobby III, Omarosa, Cohen, or anyone else with something that can save the country from Trumpsky and his commie puppet-master in the Kremlin. (It must bug the crap out of Putie when Americans hold a rally and diverse crowd shows up.)
I know security will probably prevent protests at the parade, but not tee-shirt that say we support our military, but not scumbag Trump. Or, taking a queue from Omarosa, what if Trump holds a parade and only those required to show up attend. An anti-Trump/pro-DEMOCRACY rally elsewhere or everywhere?
GOOPERZ are either complicit or asleep at the wheel. (Asleep At The Wheel is a great band, but no way for an elected official to behave.). They will pay in future elections.
Has anyone done a comparison of a dictator’s rise to power/what actions they took with regard to how Trump, Suckabee, silent members of Congress if acted??? Surely some of the folks in his base remember that their grandfathers fought against the spread of such things.
They may not buy anything any Dem says, but they can be turned against the vile, orange maniac in the OO.
As usual btw Trump’s Mueller cost numbers are a lie, WH adds unrelated indirect costs to inflate the total.
I’m not sure his base cares about how much his golf habit costs the country, either, because he says he’s working. Yeah, I’ve been invited to those kinds of expense account lunches and things in the past. Five minutes of work talk and then it’s, “let’s order.”
It has to be something that his base will feel.
from the observer:
“I believe Omarosa has really hurt the president personally because they go back a pretty long ways,” Michael Caputo, a former communications advisor on the Trump campaign, told Observer. “And because of that, the president is going to pay more attention to this than he probably should, and so is the press office.”
[…]
When asked if Trump played any responsibility for grooming Manigault Newman’s career during The Apprentice and for hiring her to advise him at the White House, Caputo likened her to the monster Frankenstein.
“Mary Shelley wrote this script,” said the operative, referencing the English novelist behind the Gothic masterpiece. “The lesson is that when you create a monster, it will eventually come and attack you.”
In describing the reality star’s “treachery,” Caputo also hinted at Shakespearean themes of betrayal reminiscent of literature’s iconic Machiavellians.
“While people all around her were wondering why she was in the White House and what exactly she was doing, she was gaslighting the president,” explained Caputo. “He genuinely liked her. He believed they were friends, and when it comes to his friends, he tends to not listen to the criticism others have. Let’s face it, the White House is a treacherous place. Only when she forced a firing, and when she turned her back on him and wrote a tell-all book, only then did he understand the depths of her treachery.”
Manigault Newman is the second Trump confidant to secretly record conversations with the president. Michael Cohen, the longtime Trump attorney now cooperating with the FBI, also released recorded audio of their interactions to media networks.
Caputo cackled when asked whether he thought other Trump allies had taken similar measures.
“I don’t think so, but tomorrow is another day,” he responded.
R-e-s-p-e-c-t for Aretha.
(None for Trump.)
Please! Omarosa’s behavior on The Apprentice is what made the show what it was…so he’s kind of her monster, too.
more proof of intent in the obstruction of justice argument?
wapo:
Trump blurts out another Lester Holt moment
It really was the Russia investigation all along.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal posted late Wednesday, President Trump once again gave away the ballgame when it comes to his efforts to affect the probe and tear down its leaders (both current and former). He confessed that his true motivation for revoking former CIA director John Brennan’s security clearance was the “rigged witch hunt” that Brennan once “led.”
“I call it the rigged witch hunt; [it] is a sham,” Trump told the Journal’s Peter Nicholas and Michael C. Bender. “And these people led it!”
He added: “So I think it’s something that had to be done.”
You could be forgiven for having flashbacks to Trump’s interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt in the aftermath of his firing last year of James B. Comey as FBI director. Then, as now, the White House offered a series of motivations for the crackdown on a person who was a liability in the Russia probe. Then, as now, it seemed clear what the actual motivation was. And then, as now, Trump appeared to go out and just admit the actual motivation.
In fact, I’d argue that this was more of a straight-up admission — albeit for something on a smaller scale.
[…]
… Trump’s comments to the Journal weren’t even about what Brennan is saying today; they were about the fact that he was CIA director when the Russia investigation was happening. “These people led it!” Trump said. “So I think something had to be done.”
And now he’s done it. Again.
Sigh, Aretha’s gone. God I hate that.
Poobah sez at http://trailmix.cc/home/2018/08/16/1600-distraction-avenue/#comment-78935 That IMPOTUS is going ahead with his $90M parade. Think he’ll wear epaulettes and a sash?
speaking of monsters, from huffpo:
Samantha Bee Names The ‘Young Monsters’ On Her ‘Fascists To Watch 2018’ List
“Authoritarianism and racism are creeping into every part of our once-OK institutions — and not just superstar racists like Donald Trump.”
Primo Aretha with Jake and Elwood.
Craig
Mr. C had a similar surgery and his doctor told him the catheter was in for two full weeks.
The good news was since he usually had to get up to pee now he was sleeping through the night.
yep KGC, ever the optimist Dad says that is an upside of these contraptions
We have a friend whose wife is bed/wheelchair bound. She cannot do anything for herself. She cannot be left alone. Just recently he has been able to put together two consecutive days when he has help and can get out, He said if it weren’t for that he didn’t think he could do it. I think family member caregivers have the hardest job.
Will there be a bone spur unit in the IMPOTUS’ parade ?
It’ll be the perfect event for truthful tv networks to mention that chickens and turkeys also have heel spurs.
Naturally, a chicken-turkey hybrid such as Baron Harkonnen would want to display his footwork
Couldn’t we just stage a cock fight ? Mayhappen, the US IMPOTUS versus the new Italiano Duce ? With the bantum Tsar Vladimir II versus the Maharaja narendra the First, modi in the prelim ?
95% of the planet on pay per view ?
x-r
cockfight? too funny
One day towards her last months I walked by the bedroom and saw Kumcho ‘admiring’ her neatly carved frame post-shower. I did an about face and sat on the bed next to where she was standing. When she was through with her survey we shared a hug full of mutual warmth.
Later she came into the kitchen wearing a t-shirt and gym shorts–she looked as if she was seventy-something eleven-year-old.
Trumpsky hugging himself. Lookie that body language.
Suckabee will go down in history as one of the most vile, soulless, liars ever.
abc news:
The retired U.S. Navy admiral who led the mission to kill Osama bin Laden is defending former CIA director John Brennan after President Donald Trump revoked his security clearance earlier this week.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post on Thursday, retired Adm. William McRaven asks Trump to revoke his own security clearance in solidarity with Brennan, a frequent critic of the president.
“Few Americans have done more to protect this country than John. He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question, except by those who don’t know him,” McRaven wrote. “Therefore, I would consider it an honor if you would revoke my security clearance as well, so I can add my name to the list of men and women who have spoken up against your presidency.”
McRaven, a former Navy SEAL, led the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 before leaving the military. He notably oversaw the 2011 mission that killed the former head of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, in Pakistan.
“Like most Americans, I had hoped that when you became president, you would rise to the occasion and become the leader this great nation needs,” McRaven wrote, addressing Trump. “A good leader tries to embody the best qualities of his or her organization. A good leader sets the example for others to follow. A good leader always puts the welfare of others before himself or herself. Your leadership, however, has shown little of these qualities.”
“Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation,” he continued. “If you think for a moment that your McCarthy-era tactics will suppress the voices of criticism, you are sadly mistaken. The criticism will continue until you become the leader we prayed you would be.”
McRaven has criticized Trump before, saying the president’s characterization of the press as “the enemy of the American people” is the “greatest threat to democracy” he’s ever seen.
The retired admiral, who went on to become the chancellor for the University of Texas system, made the comment during a speech at the University of Texas – Austin campus last year, according to the Daily Texan.
[…continues….]
excerpt from pbs newshour:
So how does all this look to people who have served in the intelligence community?
For that, we turn to John McLaughlin. He had a three-decade career at the CIA. He served as acting director during the George W. Bush administration.
John McLaughlin, welcome back to the NewsHour.
John McLaughlin:
Thank you, Judy.
Judy Woodruff:
What do you make of President Trump personally revoking the security clearance for John Brennan?
John McLaughlin:
Well, it’s unprecedented. That’s the first thing to say. I think second, I believe the president has crossed an important line here.
He has intimidated people before. He’s called people names before, but this to me is first time he’s used power that’s uniquely his to punish and with the hope of intimidating an individual who opposes him and argues against him politically. I think that’s a very bad sign.
I’ve seen this movie before, and it’s usually not in democratic societies. It’s something that people do, tyrants do, in countries where there is not free speech. And John Brennan is expressing his view.
I think it transcends John Brennan. I don’t think we should focus on John Brennan so much. It doesn’t matter what he says. Assuming he’s not calling for insurrection or, you know, fire in a crowded theater, it’s his right to express his point of view, and whether he has a clearance or not has no bearing on that.
[…]
udy Woodruff:
Just yesterday, he made the comment or today in “The New York Times”, he wrote that he believes that in essence that the president did collude with the Russians to corrupt this last election.
John McLaughlin:
Well, these are his views. I think analytically this is what he’s concluded, connecting the dots, if you will, to use that phrase.
The problem is there are procedures and process for revoking someone’s clearance. It’s written down in executive order. Here it is. It’s 26 pages. There are 13 reasons given in here for reasons to revoke a security clearance.
One of them is not having a view that’s contrary to the president. One of them is not what the president accuses him of, erratic behavior and so forth. John Brennan’s behavior meets none of these criteria. Now, the president can change this executive order if he’s looked at it. It was issued during his time in office.
China ‘likely’ training pilots to target US, Pentagon report says https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/politics/china-military-mission-targeting-us/index.html
Sweet dreams, y’all
Architect of bin Laden raid issues stunning rebuke of Trump https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/politics/mcraven-trump-brennan-security-clearance-revoke/index.html
In short, you can take my security clearance and stick it up your fat, un-presidential arse.
Pentagon postpones Trump’s military parade https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/politics/military-parade-postponed/index.html
I hate CIGNA, I hate HCA, I hate my soon-to-be former cardiologist who has a scathing email waiting for him, I hate Medi Lynx, hate, hate, hate & hope to have a heart attack and be done with the lot of them.
Ms Dallas,
Please don’t have a heart attack. You’ve got to live in spite of those baseturds. Spite the hell out of them. Heart attacks are no fun, as you probably know.
Big, warm soft hugs,
X
BiD, what x-r said