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patd
5 years ago

sturge, was that turkey picture in reference to the dems’ slate of candidates or the goper ostriches with their heads in the sand re trump?

patd
5 years ago

Bill recaps the top stories of the week, including Donald Trump’s move to Florida, Katie Hill’s resignation and California’s wildfires.

patd
5 years ago

Carl Hiaasen Miami herald:

When K9 Conan visits President Trump, which one has to wear the muzzle? | Opinion

An absolutely true news item: President Trump has ordered the military to arrange a White House visit for Conan, the Army Delta Force K9 that cornered Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi moments before the ISIS leader killed himself during a U.S. raid.
The following are pre-event questions from the White House for [REDACTED NAME OF UNIT LEADER IN CHARGE OF K9 CONAN], to be classified top secret, encrypted and transmitted to (REDACTED NAME OF MISSION BASE IN SYRIA].
[…]
Is it possible not to mention the origin of K9 Conan’s name?
The President has been told that the dog is named after Conan O’Brien, a sarcastic late-night comedian who has been critical of the Administration. It would be best for K9 Conan’s handler not to confirm or deny such reports.
A proposed alternate narrative would be that the dog is actually named after Conan the Barbarian, a primitive warrior figure in popular movies. However, the Conan character was portrayed by the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who once referred to the President as “a wet little noodle.”
In addition, Schwarzenegger is the one who replaced the President as host of “The Apprentice,” when the ratings tanked. Therefore, please consider ignoring all inquiries about how K9 Conan got his name.

[continues]

Jamie44
5 years ago

Judging by CNN morning coverage, Mayor Pete was the only candidate speaking last night.  If you didn’t watch C-SPAN you wouldn’t know there were any other candidates in the hall.  

patd
5 years ago

speaking of another white house invitee, according to the hill:

Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle will not visit the White House with his teammates when President Trump hosts the club to celebrate their World Series victory. 
Doolittle, a relief pitcher who joined the Nationals in 2017, told The Washington Post on Friday that he will not attend a White House ceremony scheduled for Monday because of his opposition to Trump. 
“There’s a lot of things, policies that I disagree with, but at the end of the day, it has more to do with the divisive rhetoric and the enabling of conspiracy theories and widening the divide in this country,” Doolittle said.
“My wife and I stand for inclusion and acceptance, and we’ve done work with refugees, people that come from, you know, the ‘shithole countries,’ ” he added, referencing remarks Trump made in 2018 about immigrants coming from Haiti and other African nations. 
Doolittle went on to say that “as much as I wanted to be there with my teammates and share that experience with my teammates, I can’t do it.”

[continues]

Jamie44
5 years ago

UK Intelligence Officials Shaken By Trump.

And the information being requested has left allies astonished. One British official with knowledge of Barr’s wish list presented to London commented that “it is like nothing we have come across before, they are basically asking, in quite robust terms, for help in doing a hatchet job on their own intelligence services”.

 

Jamie44
5 years ago

Cory Booker

Kamala Harris

 

Jamie44
5 years ago

Any Yang Gang folks?  He was there too:

 

patd
5 years ago

perhaps hero dog conan can corroborate trump’s account. apparently the generals can’t and won’t.

NYTimes:

The ‘Whimpering’ Terrorist Only Trump Seems to Have Heard

WASHINGTON — It was a vivid scene worthy of the ending of a Hollywood thriller, the image of a ruthless terrorist mastermind finally brought to justice “whimpering and crying and screaming all the way” to his death. But it may be no more true than a movie script.

In the days since President Trump gave the world a graphic account of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s last minutes, no evidence has emerged to confirm it. The secretary of defense, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the regional commander who oversaw the operation that killed the leader of the Islamic State all say they have no idea what the president was talking about.
Four other Defense Department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share details of the raid, said they had seen no after-action reports, situation reports or other communications that support Mr. Trump’s claim. Nor did they have any indication that Mr. Trump spoke with any of the Delta Force commandos or ground commanders in the hours between the Saturday night raid and his Sunday morning televised announcement.
One American official who was deeply familiar with the operation dismissed the president’s version of events as mere grandstanding. Another senior official briefed extensively on the mission said, “I don’t know how he would know that. It sounds like something he made up.” The surveillance drone video Mr. Trump watched in the Situation Room had no live audio.
[…]
What may be most telling about the episode is how little attention the disparity of details received. In the past, presidential words were scrutinized with forensic exactitude  and any variance from the established record could do lasting political damage. In the era of Trumpian truth, misstatements and lies are washed away by the next story, prompting Pinocchios from fact checkers and scolding from Democrats and Never Trumpers while Republicans dismiss them with that’s-just-Trump-being-Trump weariness.
[…]
It is certainly true that there was no mourning Mr. al-Baghdadi’s death in Washington. During his five-year reign, the Islamic State proved itself one of the most brutal terrorist organizations on the planet, establishing a murderous rule over millions while beheading and raping captured Americans.
Nor did anyone argue with the characterization of Mr. al-Baghdadi as a coward after he detonated a suicide vest with children nearby on Sunday, killing them along with himself.
But that was apparently not enough for Mr. Trump. In his announcement and subsequent question and answer session, he used the word “whimpering” six times, “crying” five times and “screaming” four times.
Mr. Trump’s account, aspects of which he repeated Friday evening at a rally in Tupelo, Miss., has left four-star generals in the awkward position of not confirming assertions they do not know to be true while trying not to contradict the president too overtly.
[…]
“The real consequence,” she said, “is that because it is clearly a lie, it breeds conspiracy theories or undermines the success of the mission.”
;”>“In other words, the impact of his gloating is more harmful to us,” she added, “and takes a winning moment that our allies needed and our enemies should fear and turns it into” a question of credibility.
And it has resulted in an unwanted headache at a Pentagon that would rather focus on the success of a mission that took the most-wanted terrorist in the world out of action. Asked this week if senior defense officials and military commanders wished the whole issue would just go away, one senior official sighed and said, “Yes, yes.”

patd
5 years ago

jamie, nbc’s today show did even worse.  they opted to cover the trump show & beto’s withdrawal.

Jamie44
5 years ago

Another take on the speeches:

Buttigieg, Harris, Warren had biggest in-house crowds. Klobuchar’s late speaking slot hurt her, no fault of her own. Bad luck on the draw. Sanders didn’t pay for supporter tix, Warren folks applauded for him. Yang Gang knows their candidate.

Jamie44
5 years ago

Patd

And Craig wonders why I keep my pet snide on a tight leash when it comes to media coverage and thumbs on the scale of elections.  If I let it loose for a second, it would rip the channel owners to shreds.

 

patd
5 years ago

a theme song for our up-coming election year

Jamie44
5 years ago

I really like that one Pat!!!!   Thank you.

 

craigcrawford
5 years ago

Jamie, let loose. This does remind me of the 2007 dinner when media went nuts for Obama. I was at that one. His campaign bussed in about 500 college students from Illinois and filled the upper chamber where they obnoxiously dominated the evening with chants, driving the coverage.

Jamie44
5 years ago

Craig

C-Span has a drop down menu of who is mentioned in their video of the event.  Whose name was left off?  Kamala Harris.  Whether you like her or not, it really is looking like an almost intentional erasure.  Heaven forbid the black woman get facetime even with her enthusiastic base.

 

Jamie44
5 years ago
RebelliousRenee
5 years ago

It’s good to be back online.  Due to very high winds and a downed tree on the power lines just up the street, we lost power yesterday a smidge before noon.  Didn’t get it back until the wee hours of this morning.
 
Yup… someone’s gonna win the Democratic nomination.  Still haven’t made up my mind firmly.  IMO, the most important thing is to beat trumpty dumpty…  and to have a firm grasp on foreign policy (especially to calm down our allies).  Biden is the best concerning both.  Warren is very smart and I have confidence that she will hire smart foreign policy wonks.  Same for Harris and Klobuchar.  I like Mayor Pete personally (plus he’s very smart also) … but think he’s in way over his head. I like Booker as VP. Don’t really care about the rest.

Blue Bronc
5 years ago

The media is still trying to normalize SFB.  I have no doubt that in his version of the world, a very not real world, he did see and hear the villain doing whatever it is villains do when they are going to blow themselves up.  I have no doubt the low intelligence narcissist hears voices and see things no one else hears or sees.  The problem is his out of this world pronouncements are treated as if real and make sense.  They make no sense at all.  They need to constantly be labeled as false and lies and denounced as the ravings of a lunatic.

Pogo
5 years ago

WaPo reports 

 
By 

Nick Miroff 

November 2, 2019 at 12:03 p.m. EDT

SAN DIEGO — Smuggling gangs in Mexico have repeatedly sawed through new sections of President Trump’s border wall in recent months by using commercially available power tools, opening gaps large enough for people and drug loads to pass through, according to U.S. agents and officials with knowledge of the damage.

The breaches have been made using a popular cordless household tool known as a reciprocating saw that retails at hardware stores for as little as $100. When fitted with specialized blades, the saws can slice through one of the barrier’s steel-and-concrete bollards in a matter of minutes, according to the agents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the barrier-defeating techniques.

After cutting through the base of a single bollard, smugglers can push the steel out of the way, allowing an adult to fit through the gap. Because the bollards are so tall — and are attached only to a panel at the very top — their length makes them easier to push aside once they have been cut and are left dangling, according to engineers consulted by The Washington Post.

****
The smuggling crews have been using other techniques, such as building makeshift ladders to scale and overtop the barriers, especially in the popular smuggling areas in and around San Diego, according to nearly a dozen U.S. agents and current and former administration officials.

Mexican criminal organizations, which generate billions of dollars in smuggling profits, have enormous incentive to adapt their operations at the border to new obstacles and enforcement methods, officials say.
[Continues in similar ridiculousness]

LOL. Of course. Will we hear “Cut that Wall” or “Climb that Wall” at SFB’s rallies?  Idiot 

craigcrawford
5 years ago

Harris is below the margin of error in Iowa. Didn’t do it and not the media’s fault. 

Jamie44
5 years ago

Key takeaway messages from all the L&J 2019 event from

Iowa Starting Line 

 

 

Jamie44
5 years ago

It’s no surprise that all the great white savior candidates are in the lead in Iowa, but it also doesn’t help if those needing to increase name recognition don’t get even minimal air time.

 

craigcrawford
5 years ago

Jamie, I think one-to-three percenters have gotten more attention than they deserve, and full coverage in local media in early states. Blame the voters, not the media. 

And yes Iowa might be nearly all white but don’t forget they catapulted Obama to the White House.

patd
5 years ago

I’m over generalizing a bit about I-o-way-uns and mid-westerners in general, but it seems they tend to take to upbeat happier warriors (warren, buttigieg and klobuchar for example).  harris and castro come across too serious, acerbic, perhaps know-it-all and stern much like Hillary for that crowd.  joe sounds more petulant than usual and cory though upbeat most of the time just gets left out of the picture.   have no idea why Bernie is even considered – must be the bots and the bros doing their evil magic tricks.

xrepublican
5 years ago

Are those cutting tools made in Mexico ?

whskyjack
5 years ago

Sturge
The problem with watching Grit tv is the commercials. Magnum PI is assuring me he wouldn’t rip me off with his Insurance scam. The depressing part is how F**King old he is. 
BTW if it is a western with Kirk Douglas that is the definition of hokey.
Jack

Bink
5 years ago

Harris didn’t even do very well on the PBS interview you posted, Jamie.  She may be a qualified candidate, but she doesn’t seem to rouse a lot of enthusiasm with her public-speaking.

Bink
5 years ago

The hokiest Western i saw on over-air TV, recently, was “the Robe” with Victor Mature.  So bad i couldn’t look away. 

whskyjack
5 years ago

“Are those cutting tools made in Mexico ? “
It depends,  but probably China if I was to bet. We live in a world of international trade.
We send T-Bills to China, they send sawsalls with diamond blades to Mexico, Mexico sends drugs to the US.
It is the new version of triangular trade* and we all get rich except for a few black people.
Jack
* in case you have a modern education go here to learn
 

Bink
5 years ago

lol good one

i suppose that depends on when spaghetti was invented

Bink
5 years ago

I’ve noticed the head-buffoon doesn’t mention the “Wall”, that much, recently.  Maybe, because it’s a “Fence”.

whskyjack
5 years ago

With the cold weather, I brought all my potted tropical plants in. With them came all the critters too. 
So here I set and a spider jumps up on my arm as I type. He is wanting something and if he is like the rest of the critters in my world it is either food or to be let outside so he can poop. As I don’t understand spider talk I took him to the back door, told him to go poop, good hunting and oh winter is coming, so good luck!
Jack

Bink
5 years ago

I had to do a frost-compelled emergency-pick of the rest of my veggies, last night.  What creatures await me in the basket i was too tired to clean and sort?  So exciting!  

Thanks for the reminder.  *approaches basket with dread*

Jamie44
5 years ago

C-Span corrected their wipe out of Kamala Harris.  I guess it pays to raise hell.  🙂

 

patd
5 years ago

with all due respect, sturge, Marco was more roamin’ than Roman. he was Venetian, born in the republic thereof.  am sure he would have been insulted by that mischaracterization.  

patd
5 years ago

(CNN) President Donald Trump and other top 2016 Trump campaign officials repeatedly privately discussed how the campaign could get access to stolen Democratic emails WikiLeaks had in 2016, according to newly released interview notes from Robert Mueller‘s special counsel investigation.

CNN sued the Justice Department for access to Mueller’s witness interview notes, and this weekend’s release marks the first publicly available behind-the-scenes look at Mueller’s investigative work outside of court proceedings and the report itself. Per a judge’s order, the Justice Department will continue to release new tranches of the Mueller investigative notes monthly to CNN and Buzzfeed News, which also sued for them.

A retelling of events from former Trump deputy campaign chairman Rick Gates, who served alongside campaign chairman Paul Manafort, is the fullest detail revealed by the Justice Department yet on discussions within the Trump campaign as it pursued damaging information about its Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The documents were stolen by the Russians, the American intelligence community has found.
“[Rick] Gates recalled a time on the campaign aircraft when candidate Trump said, ‘get the emails.’ [Michael] Flynn said he could use his intelligence sources to obtain the emails,” investigators wrote in a summary of Gates’ April 2018 interview with Mueller’s team. Flynn was a foreign policy adviser on the campaign and became Trump’s first national security adviser.
“Flynn had the most Russia contacts of anyone on the campaign and was in the best position to ask for the emails if they were out there,” the investigators also wrote about Gates’ interview.
Gates described in an interview with Mueller investigators last year how several close advisers to Trump, Trump’s family members and Trump himself considered how to get the stolen documents and pushed the effort, according to investigators’ summary.
“Gates said Donald Trump Jr. would ask where the emails were in family meetings. Michael Flynn, [Jared] Kushner, [Paul] Manafort, [Redacted] [Corey] Lewandowski, Jeff Sessions, and Sam Clovis expressed interest in obtaining the emails as well. Gates said the priority focuses of the Trump campaign opposition research team were Clinton’s emails and contributions to the Clinton Foundation. Flynn, [Redacted] [Jeff] Sessions, Kushner, and [Donald] Trump Jr. were all focused on opposition topics,” Gates told investigators, according to the interview summary.
[…]
Large parts of the interview notes are still redacted by the Justice Department.

Blue Bronc
5 years ago

One year when I brought in one of the tropicals, the one I put in the bathroom, all was good for a few weeks.  Then I noticed little ants showing up.  Then lots of little ants. Finally ants all over the place.  Quite disturbing while trying to read while on the throne.  Finally I had to give the little beasties their good bye.  They appeared to be setting up housekeeping in the bathroom.  It took a while as the pot had three different ant colonies.

Bink
5 years ago

hmm

Bink
5 years ago

…will concede that Buttigieg doesn’t sound any more intelligent than, say Harris, but everyone says, “ooh, Mayor Pete is sooo smart.”  
 
I don’t dislike Buttigieg, it’s just that i’m still awaiting the kind of mind-blowing revelations from him that everyone else seems to get.🤷‍♂️

Katherine Graham Cracker
5 years ago

Lloyd the Dog got a spider bite on his nose –he is fine but I hope it teaches him where to NOT put his nose

whskyjack
5 years ago

I’m a fan of spiders, we always had one or two large house spiders around when I was growing up. They keep down the nasty bugs. But what was fun about this little jumping spider was how bold he was as if he was the King and I was his servant.  He just jumped on my wrist and walked up my arm looking me in the eye as he did so.
Jack

Pogo
5 years ago

A major award!  

tiptoe21
5 years ago

Boy is this the truth.  I’ve been saying for years that the Dems just aren’t as bastardly as the repubes.
 

 
 

Bink
5 years ago

omg i just time-travelled

patd
5 years ago

NEW THREAD