Strange Is Refusing To Vote At All

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Author: craigcrawford

Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.

72 thoughts on “Strange Is Refusing To Vote At All”

  1. even stranger is refusing to meet the nominee, refusing to hold hearings and refusing to allow a vote.

  2. but in the not so strange category…. half gov duped

    the guardian:

    […]
    On Monday it was revealed that Baron Cohen had spent a year undercover filming a new project for the Showtime channel. The series, Who Is America?, explores a range of figures “across the political and cultural spectrum” and is reported to feature interviews with Bernie Sanders, Dick Cheney – and Palin. A teaser released for the show features a clip of Cheney being asked to sign a “waterboarding kit”.
     
    “Yup – we were duped. Ya’ got me, Sacha. Feel better now? I join a long list of American public personalities who have fallen victim to the evil, exploitive, sick ‘humor’ of the British ‘comedian’”, Palin wrote in a Facebook post addressing the incident.
     
    The former governor of Alaska said she had travelled to Washington DC with one of her daughters for the interview, which she believed was for a “legit” historical documentary on Showtime. She said that Baron Cohen had “heavily disguised himself as a disabled US veteran, fake wheelchair and all” for the interview.
    […continues…]

  3. from above link

    “I sat through a long ‘interview’ full of Hollywoodism’s disrespect and sarcasm – but finally had enough and literally, physically removed my mic and walked out, much to Cohen’s chagrin. The disrespect of our US military and middle-class Americans via Cohen’s foreign commentaries under the guise of interview questions was perverse,” Palin said.

    Palin also claimed that once the interview had ended, the show’s producers purposely dropped her and her daughter off at the wrong airport, knowing that they would be unable to catch a flight back to Alaska, and refused to assist the pair in getting home.

     

    and this was what she was talking about

    You know Ali G, Bruno, and Borat, but this summer Sacha Baron Cohen returns in a new series as you’ve never, ever seen him before. Who Is America? Series premiere Sunday, July 15 at 10pm ET/PT only on SHOWTIME.

  5. Looks like SFB is trying to give KGB Agent Putin a little gift before going to Finland.  The shame of the moron going to Finland is like when Hitler went to Finland.  Back then Finland received support from the Nazis to protect against USSR from invading again during WWII.  Now we have a man, reported to be a Russian agent, meeting with Putin to allow Russia to take over the world.

  8. nbc news:  Michael Flynn says new lobbyist job a

    […]
    The Wall Street Journal had first reported that Flynn had taken a new job on Tuesday afternoon, and his bio on Stonington’s brand-new website seemed to confirm that.
    But within hours, Flynn’s attorneys issued a statement on Tuesday evening that said he has not actually joined Stonington Global and that a comment issued in his name was the result of a “misunderstanding.”
    It was clear from the attorneys’ statement that Flynn — who is awaiting sentencing on charges he lied to FBI agents investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election — had some designs on the position.
    “He was aware that statement was being drafted,” his lawyers said. “But he did not intend that it be issued at this time. Its issuance now in his name appears to be the result of a misunderstanding.”

    The statement did not say whether Flynn might join Stonington in the future, but the firm’s principals, Nick Muzin and Joseph Allaham obviously haven’t given up hope.
    [….]
    A source familiar with Stonington’s dealings told NBC News that the new company is “basically a rebranding” of a firm called Muzin Capitol Partners, with Allaham being brought on as a partner.
    Muzin Capitol Partners filed foreign lobbying disclosure firms last year, taking in as much as $125,000 per month to lobby on behalf of the Democratic Party of Albania. The Albanian opposition party’s leader, Lulzim Basha, is a pro-Trump national populist who met with Trump in June of last year.
    Muzin Capitol Partners’ ties to Basha prompted U.S. magazine Mother Jones to track money moving between the firm and the Albanian leader in recent months. Basha’s party launched attacks against the magazine, falsely claiming reporters were receiving cash from Albania’s socialist party and blaming billionaire liberal George Soros for the reports.
    [….]

    Trump fundraiser Elliott Broidy recently sued Qatar and Muzin, accusing them of being involved in the hacking of his emails. Separately, Broidy is embroiled in litigation over a hush money agreement with a former Playboy Playmate brokered by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen.

    […continues…]

  10. above photo postacard message notable for it’s accuracy

    “embarrassing americans one country at a time”

  11. Ocasio is interesting. But she needs a mentor beyond the gentleman from Vermont. Right now she needs to concentrate on the Bronx and Queens or she might find her congressional career short-lived.

  12. Great Quote:

    Donald Trump is a vulgar, uninformed, anti-intellectual, extremely unpopular grifter helming a family of grifters who apparently intend to milk their moment on the mount for every red cent. —Charles M. Blow, New York Times columnist

  13. They Will Die in Tallinn

    Great long form article on Putin’s next probable victim.  Estonia is a NATO member.  will Donald Trump do nothing to defend them or will Putin’s Puppet just bow to his master?

     

  14. the tweeted postcard also referred to the flotus as the 1st skank but, imo, inaccurately if meant by the definition by urban dictionary .   (highly doubt she has poor hygiene unless they’re referring to the stench which settles on all who are close to the twit)

     

  15. Patd

    One of my missions in life is to avoid Sasha Baron Cohen whenever possible.  Unfortunately, he was in Les Miserables which was unavoidable, but at least now I can fast forward through the bad parts.

  16. I thought/think it is refreshingly remarkable that our Senate had the collective reproductive organs to issue a diplomatic document supporting NATO and our membership in that organization while the president is overseas at a meeting of said organization. Up with NATO; down with Trump.

  17. SB Cohen was good in “Talladega Nights”, haven’t seen any of his other stuff except in snippets here and there…..

    but Palin is saying she flew from Alaska for the interview? That’s weird.

  19. “If you have a compelling message & personality, you can have a huge impact around here.” 

    Wise words & A Better Deal indeed.

    Full disclosure: I continue to contribute part of my paycheck weekly to the campaign of Cynthia Nixon & those she endorses, which includes Ms Ocasio-Cortez. Not since the emergence of Zephyr Teachout a few years back has my “fire been lit.” A new generation has emerged. The old timers forged the trail, built the roads & should be acknowledged & thanked for their service. Times have changed though: this is reality & the new pups have more bite than bark & the initiative to move forward. Can these two worlds coexist instead of colliding? Of course. Grandparents handing down wisdom is the best way to learn. Mentor, share – & know when to make that graceful exit.

     

  21. SJWNY:   Grandparents handing down wisdom is the best way to learn. Mentor, share – & know when to make that graceful exit.

    This is why I keep supporting Nancy Pelosi for Speaker if we take back the house.  That woman knows more about the inner workings of legislation than virtually anyone currently breathing, but she is 78.  That should leave her time to instruct the youngsters, mentor and empower the new generation then bow out with dignity.

  22. I’ve not kept up with where that loon hangs her hat, and I may have misread that she had flown in from Alaska…..but Arizona-Alaska, either one is weird……one is just a little weirder maybe.

  23. Jamie44,

    I get where you’re coming from, I respect this. Just pointing out that there is a new generation (which will prevail, time marches on, people retire, die) that should be respected & welcomed. However one feels about 2016 the balance on the Dems’ teeter totter shifted toward the Progressives. New blood, fresh ideas, different faces, multi cultural, religiously tolerant, racially diverse: This Is America.

  24. Curious about this situation: If any or all of the “Red State Four” Democrats vote for Mr Kavanaugh (against stated Party Leadership wishes) would/should/could they have support from their Party in any upcoming elections, or is electing Democrats, no matter who, paramount? What are the dynamics, repercussions? I’m a dweeb for behind the scenes machinations.

     

  25. Good-bye Orin  you senile old git

    I think there are some ageists here

     

  27. I suspect that Pelosi with follow in the tradition of most speakers, In other words, she will surrender the gavel when you pry it from her cold dead hands. It is a perk of the office.

    As to the youngsters, leadership is earned, and it takes more than sharing sound bites with every camera you encounter.

    Jack

  28. Guess I’m a bit contrarian on this question of “tough” choice for for red state Ds re: Karnivore. Don’t think it’s a bit difficult. They’re never going to get reelected by Trumpsters or diehard Republicans no matter how many right wingers they vote for. But they could lose out on Dem surge in November if there is one.

  29. The Middle East has totally dropped out of the news lately, but today is the birthday of Gertrude Bell.  If you haven’t read Gertrude Bell, Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations

    Georgina Howell does an excellent job on this biography of a remarkable woman

    She has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. She was at one time the most powerful woman in the British Empire: a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of modern-day Iraq. Born in 1868 into a world of privilege, Bell turned her back on Victorian society, choosing to read history at Oxford and going on to become an archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author (of Persian Pictures,The Desert and the Sown, and many other collections), poet, photographer, and legendary mountaineer (she took off her skirt and climbed the Alps in her underclothes).

     

     

  31. Flatus – your 8:31 comment is right on – I hope Ocasio-Cortez listens.

    Poobah, for Manchin there won’t be a blue wave in WV to miss.  He’s going to beat Morrissey with R votes if at all.  The only trend I see here is R’s doubling down with SFB. Sad.

  32. How can we possibly watch all these fine people having cocktails at the Brandenburg Gate without a little Wagner:

     

  34. Craig

    I kinda agree, here Hawley jumped out with an attack ad using the court appointee. It should be easy to counter with a party over Missouri. It helps that Hawley had to be shamed into investigating Grietens. I think pounding the lock step with the national party works and maybe treating Hawley like an inexperienced baby.  Fact is both sides of the court debate are set, pushing other issues can peal off the some of the “vote Republican just because” vote and Clair has been good at that.

    But we will see.

    Jack

  35. So, we blame Gertrude Bell for starting the nation-building/ongoing garbage in that area of the world?

  36. Someone should present Trumpsky with a TV show about how the KGB worked & that once you’re KGB, you’re always KGB (like Putin).   Putin knows exactly how to manipulate Trumpsky’s ego.  It’s sad that he is so willfully clueless.

  38. Flynn sure tried quash his new gig.  Those folks tie him & Trumpsky to Russia!

  39. Good for Ms Ocasio-Cortez in getting & accepting media exposure. Can’t this end up benefiting the Party by encouraging people who are minorities, people of color to hear her story & applaud her success? A Pied Piper of Hope? She’s like me. She speaks to me, knows & understands where I come from. Her story is relatable.

    Who will attract more potential voters to any Party that gets white folks will soon be the minority: An attractive, intelligent go getter or another Caucasian droning on? Hey, I’m white & have more culturally in common with Pelosi than Ms Ocasio-Cortez. But I understand Progress & yield to those who can enable it.

     

     

     

  40. SJ

    Mrs Jack started her chemo Monday, the effects are just hitting her today. there will be 2 months of that then they remove the lower half of her stomach and then more chemo.  According to the doctor if they get the cancer it rarely comes back.

    She is the type of person who needs to feel she is in control of her world so instead of waiting for her hair to fall out she got her a real cute short haircut, She did insist that the  stylist  leave  a strand of the hair long and he had some blue dye so she has a unicorn tail that  she can  put  down either side  or straight down the back.

    Thanks for asking

    Jack

     

  41. Whskyjack & Mrs Jack,

    All the best.

    I believe in unicorns, btw. At least now I do 😉

     

  42. Jack…  here’s to hoping all the best for both you and Mrs. Jack.

    I don’t get why some people here seem to be upset for a calling for new Democratic blood… i.e…. fresh ideas.  Of course respect has to be earned.  Of course experience means a lot.  But what’s wrong with a mixture of both experience and fresh ideas.

    I’ve always loved going to craft shows to talk with my old friends…  but relish seeing the new artists.  It doesn’t have to be all one way….   unless one thinks like a gooper.

  43. renee, agree wholeheartedly. mix it up. none of this mono-culture stuff. nature flourishes with variety. so why not human nature?   young, old, inexperienced and experienced, blowhard or contemplative.  big dem tents should have room even for old retired elephants as well as spunky kick-asses.

    there should also be room for folks who cross the aisle and vote now and then for qualified nominees or legislation.  sometimes purity can be the enemy of compromise, therefore the end of democracy.

  44. the guardian quoted more from angela

    Arriving at Nato headquarters only hours after Trump singled out Germany for criticism, Merkel said: “I have experienced myself how a part of Germany was controlled by the Soviet Union. I am very happy that today we are united in freedom, the Federal Republic of Germany. Because of that we can say that we can make our independent policies and make independent decisions. That is very good, especially for people in eastern Germany.”
    She also hit back at Trump’s criticism that Germany contributed too little to European defence. “Germany does a lot for Nato,” she said.
     
    “Germany is the second largest provider of troops, the largest part of our military capacity is offered to Nato and until today we have a strong engagement towards Afghanistan. In that we also defend the interests of the United States.”
     

    perhaps she should start charging market value (or at least count the costs toward that 2% nato debt) for all our installations in germany.

    according to wiki: The United States Army has approximately 36 military bases in Germany.   

    [most notably considering its convenience if the twit entourage had a medical problem while in europe]
    The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center (LRMC) is an overseas military hospital operated by the United States Army and the Department of Defense. LRMC is the largest military hospital outside the continental United States. It is located near Landstuhl, Germany, and serves as the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, it serves military personnel stationed in the European Union as well as their family members.
    The medical center also serves as a stop-over (medevaced via the nearby Ramstein Air Base) for serious casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan before being flown to the United States.
     

  45. twit replaces skull & cross bones symbol?

    the guardian: Russian mining firm puts Trump’s face on its asbestos products

    [….]
    Uralasbest, one of the world’s largest producers and sellers of asbestos, has taken to adorning pallets of its product with a seal of Trump’s face, along with the words “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States”.
     
    The move follows the US Environmental Protection Agency’s recent decision not to ban new asbestos products outright. The EPA said it would evaluate new uses of asbestos but environmental groups have criticized the agency for not going further by barring them on public health grounds.
    In a Facebook post, Uralasbest published pictures of its Trump-adorned chrysotile asbestos, writing: “Donald is on our side!” The post thanks Trump for supporting Scott Pruitt, the recently departed head of the EPA, “who declared that his agency would no longer deal with matters related to side effects potentially caused by asbestos”. It adds that Trump called asbestos “100% safe after application”.
     
    Uralasbest, which is located in the mining city of Asbest in the Ural Mountains, is reported to have close ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who Trump will meet for talks in Helsinki next week.
    [….]
    “Vladimir Putin and Russia’s asbestos industry stand to prosper mightily as a result of the Trump administration’s failure to ban asbestos in the US,” said Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group.
     
    “Helping Putin and Russian oligarchs amass fortunes by selling a product that kills thousands each year should never be the role of a US president or the EPA, but this is the Trump administration.”
     
    Asbestos was once widely used in the US for insulation and roofing but is now classed by the federal government as a “known carcinogen” due to evidence that, when disturbed, asbestos fibers can become lodged in the lungs and cause mesothelioma, as well as cancers of the lung, larynx and ovary. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 2,500 Americans die from mesothelioma every year.
    […continues…]

  47. meanwhile back in mueller v Manafort country

    from politico:
    Paul Manafort may not be a free man. But the former Donald Trump campaign chairman’s jail conditions are hardly the stuff of Alcatraz.
     
    According to telephone calls being monitored by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, Manafort has recently told people he’s being treated like a “VIP” at the Virginia prison where he’s been held since June 15.
    The longtime GOP operative’s living arrangements, described in an eight-page motion filed Wednesday by Mueller’s prosecutors, also include “unique privileges” like a private, self-contained cell that’s bigger than what other inmates get, a private bathroom and shower, a personal telephone and daily access between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. to a workspace where Manafort can meet with his lawyers and prepare for his upcoming criminal trials.

     
    Manafort also doesn’t have to wear a prison uniform at the Northern Neck Regional Jail about two hours south of Washington D.C.
     
    But there are some drawbacks. Mueller’s team on Wednesday revealed it can listen in on any phone calls that Manafort has with people other than his lawyers, and it’s one of those conversations that prosecutors are now using in their opposition to the defendant’s request to postpone his upcoming Virginia trial until after a separate criminal case is finished in Washington D.C.
    Andrew Weissmann, a special counsel prosecutor leading the Manafort case, argued in the motion that Manafort may have ulterior motives in shifting around the order of his trials. As evidence, he cited a June 20 monitored phone call Manafort had with an unnamed person who did not believe the Washington D.C. venue was favorable. There, Manafort explained: “Think about how it’ll play elsewhere…There is a strategy to it, even in failure, but there’s a hope in it.”
    For now, Manafort’s Northern Virginia trial on charges of bank fraud, tax evasion and failure to report foreign bank accounts is scheduled to begin July 25. But before that happens, U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III has scheduled oral arguments for Tuesday on Manafort’s motion to postpone the proceedings, as well as a related request for a change of venue from Alexandria to Roanoke, Virginia.
     
    Ellis on Tuesday also ordered Manafort to be transferred to a detention center in Alexandria and rejected a last-minute request from the defendant’s lawyers to let their client continue to stay at the Northern Neck prison after they’d previously complained about logistical challenges that were hurting their ability to prepare for the trial.
    [….continues…]

  48. All the best Jack!  The short haircut and unicorn tail tells me she’s going to handle this just fine.

  49. Mr Jack,

    Our circle continues to nag Heaven for Mrs Jack. Please let her know that people all over the country are at it on her behalf. Yours, too, of course.

    I like the blue unicorn tail tale. That’s a sure winner.

    X

  51. Renee, if the comment about new blood is in reference to Flatus & my comments re: Ocasio and Bernie!, it’s not the Ocasio idea infusion that worries me, it’s the potential that her activities on behalf of other candidates might distract her from her own race.  Ideas, I’m all for them.

  55. Pogo…  nah… it wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular.  I think patd said it best with her 3:11 comment. Let’s mix it up and rumba!

    or should we make that a tango (insert smiley face)

  56. As they say, always be yourself unless you can be a unicorn…then, be a unicorn.  All the best to Mrs. Jack & her Mr.

  58. Jack and Mrs. Jack – the fight is hard and difficult, not knowing beforehand is worse than knowing that.  It takes a team, and you two are a team, to win.  On those many down and out days someone will need a hand held out to pull up and out of the doldrums, not saying who is down or who is reaching. Hold special parties, maybe a trip somewhere or a visit to a park.  And, an ice cream sunday at 0030 is always good; add sprinkles and some whipped cream.  I always liked Moose Droppings, or is that Moose Tracks?

  59. There are so many things going on in the world besides the SFB ss (shitshow).  Remember the moron has changed import regulations to allow trophy elephant kills to be allowed into the States.  Here is a link to a little one who is as much a victium of his killer policies as the little children kidnapped from their parents at the border.

    This little tyke was found barely alive.  A lot of money was needed to save his life.  Think of all those affected by SFB policy, not just immediately here.

  60. Turmeric to reduce the likelihood of new carcinomas. A tablespoon per day. Tastes worse than medicine. Take it anyway.

    I’m now 15 years 10 months past my cancer, a fairly aggressive and almost invariably recurring form of bladder tumor. I’ve know men who have had surgery 7 to 9 times for the same type of tumor. I only had it that one time, and I credit turmeric for helping with that.

  62. A tablespoon?  I’ve only been taking 1/2 teaspoon to help with inflammation. I guess I should get a bigger spoon?

    I mix it with unsweetened, coconut milk yougurt or raw honey.

  64. All the Best for Mrs Jack.  Should she take up swimming, she can use the alternate persona.

     

  65. Bid

    In many ways the British are very much to blame for the mess that is the Middle East.  It is a long history of the empire.  The picture is the 1921 Bagdad Conference and that is Winston Churchill next to Bell.

     

  68. Bloomberg: 
    U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller argued that jurors who will weigh whether Paul Manafort illegally lobbied for Ukraine should also hear about his work three decades ago for Saudi Arabia and other nations.

    Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, is charged in Washington with failing to register as a foreign agent of Ukraine, laundering millions of dollars, and obstructing justice. Mueller asked a judge Wednesday to let him introduce evidence at trial about the Saudi lobbying as a prior “bad act,” showing Manafort’s “absence of mistake or accident” in failing to register his Ukrainian work under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA.

    Prosecutors want jurors to hear about Manafort’s interactions with the Justice Department over FARA in the mid-1980s when he was at firms including Black Manafort Stone and Kelly.
    Manafort registered under FARA as a Saudi agent from June 1984 through June 1986, even though he was a director of a federal agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, according to the filing. Federal law barred public officials from acting as registered agents of foreign principals, and President Ronald Reagan’s administration refused to grant Manafort an exemption, prosecutors said. Manafort resigned from OPIC in May 1986.

    But while Manafort argued at the time that he hadn’t personally lobbied — only his firm had — a Justice Department inspection found 18 lobbying and public-relations activities that weren’t reported on his FARA filings, according to the filing in federal court in Washington.
    Cohen Weighs Deal as Manafort Seeks Delay: Trump Legal Update
     
    “These omissions included memoranda summarizing lobbying by Manafort of Congress and the White House regarding a ‘Jerusalem Bill’ and a ‘Saudi Arms package,’ dissemination of press articles to Congress, lobbying of the National Security Council, and talking points” for phone calls on a pending Saudi munitions sale, according to the filing.
    The inspection also revealed “a number of deficiencies” in his firm’s work on behalf of 10 foreign principals, including The Bahamas and Saint Lucia, according to the filing. A Justice Department report described a media plan to get Bahamian materials to the media.

    “The inspection report noted that BMSK’s counsel confirmed this activity during meetings” and found that the firm’s FARA filings had to disclose the activity.
    [….continues…]

  69. bink, no wonder they did such a lousy job cutting up and renaming  countries….  here they were in Egypt and didn’t even know it.

  70. Look how big trump’s bald spot is getting, and it’s on the SIDE of his head because of his comb-over.  One must find joy in the little things, these days.

  71. BB, when he can get Melania to come anywhere near him, I bet he gets her to glue the hair to the bald spot.

  72. Talk of President Trump’s bald spot made me think of Alan Brady sitting in front of his collection of toupees.

     

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