The War is On (updated 20may17)

George Rebane

The War on Trump – yes, I believe that it’s now a full-fledged war in which the objective is to remove a duly elected sitting president - is steaming full speed ahead.  Yesterday’s clarion claim that the president had “shared sensitive intelligence” (supposedly the name of a middle east city) was modified today to have really been secret “code words” according to NPR.  The whole thing was sourced to unnamed WH officials who were also supposed to have contacted the CIA and NSA to give them a heads-up on the Russians’ Oval Office visit.  Now understand, no one has presented evidence that the president did anything wrong.  In fact, three senior officials “trotted out” by the White House – National Security Advisers McMaster and Dina Powell (for strategy), and SecState Tillerson – who were actually in the room, all denied the story calling it “false” and “It didn’t happen.”

But that makes no never mind to those dedicated to the destruction of this presidency.  All the miked politicos and talking heads continued lecturing the nation on what should and should not be said by the president, and what damage such revelations would do to our intelligence apparatus and relationships with allies, and on and on.  The careless listeners heard that such revelations actually happened; in no such breathless reports was mentioned that there still was not one shred of evidence on which to base the manufactured hysteria.  One Democratic MoC even called for another special prosecutor to be immediately commissioned to discover if Trump had committed an impeachable offense.  The hysteria of accusations and CYA statements by politicians of all stripe that now blanket the news cycle knows no end.

To illustrate the extent of the froth on this stormy sea, one worthy’s looney logic presented conclusive evidence of wrongdoing based on, McMaster’s and Tillerson’s statements denying that “Mr Trump disclosed any sources of US intelligence services or those of US allies”.  He claimed the allegation must be true since neither gentleman specifically “denied” that any city name was mentioned, therefore it must have been mentioned – say what?!  By that logic, since the mention of secret agents’ names were also not specifically denied, it must be true that such names were in fact also revealed by Trump.  And once allowed, this ‘logic’ of guilt by omission has no end to it.

Is that the end of this volley?  By no means, since tonight’s pile on is Comey’s allegation that last February the president asked the FBI director in private to halt the investigation into former National Security Adviser Flynn.  Somehow Comey failed to share that little tidbit with anyone else until conveniently after he was fired.  But now the Dems are screaming “obstruction of justice” and demanding that another special prosecutor be named.  Soon the main reasons for Washington’s gridlock will be the shortage of cops on the streets to direct new special prosecutor traffic.

Will we ever get back to fixing healthcare, tax reform, regulatory reform, filling federal appointments, revisiting our trade policies, immigration reform, … ?  Not if Team Chuckie has its way.

[20may17 update]  Again political cartoonist Ramirez communicates concisely.

Comments

[Russ]

And, then there was this assessment:

The mournful assumption among many of Trump’s supporters is that the frenzy of media hysteria, though almost comically baseless, is nonetheless dangerous because, on the throw-enough-mud-and-some-will-stick principle, it has an abrading, delegitimizing effect, a drip-drip-drip apodosis that is corrosive of trust.

That may very well be the case. But I suspect nonetheless that the primary victim of the malicious static will not be Trump but the media, which has passed from carping hostility to surreal fantasy.

Two things are happening. On the one hand, the media’s credibility has entered a death spiral. On the other hand, Trump keeps chugging along, toting up victories and setbacks, just like every other successful politician known to man.

[Russ]

Yet another assessment by the Diplomad 2.0 who has over 30 years of dealing with diplomatic issues under multiple Presidents:

On the subject of legalisms, let's get all the legal technicalities and quasi-legal mumbo-jumbo out of the way. The President has the right and duty to meet foreign officials, to discuss matters of concern to the United States, and to seek their cooperation in those matters. That includes meeting the Russians. Russia is a big, important country. There is nothing wrong with talking to the Russians and trying to find areas of common agreement and cooperation.

The President, under the law, furthermore, can say or reveal anything he wants. Material is classified if the President says it it is; it is not classified if the President says it is not. The details of a private conversation by a US official with a foreign official normally are classified. Usually, that is. When it's the President, well, it's a Schrödinger paradox, to wit, the cat is both alive and dead . . . you know the issue. . . the conversation is both classified and unclassified. The ultimate authority here, however, is not the Attorney General nor the FBI Director . . . it's not even poor Schrödinger, it's the President. Our President has the power, under our laws, to determine if the cat is alive or dead. Nobody else. So if the President wants to say something to a foreign official, he can; if he wants to give away the location of our nuclear subs, he can. Just ain't nothing the lawyers can do about it. Good? Bad? I don't know. It's the law. The President decides what is or is not classified.

When I listen to the reporters, talking head and pundits I get the sense they have no idea of how the government really works and lack a basic understanding of the constitutional authority of the President. We are not a third world banana republic, but a republic none the less.

[Eric Anderson]

Apparently Comey shared it in memos he'd written and will produce. And it is ludicrous for anyone to claim that Comey should've resigned when Trump asked him, in an act of obstructing justice, to halt the Russian investigation (Lindsey Graham did just that). It would make a Constitutionally-foul request into a successful command. No way, Comey did the right thing, gathering evidence, setting the wheels of prosecution in motion, and documenting the man-baby's criminal actions along the way. Get used to it, stop whistling past the graveyard, your man Trump is going down. Massive number of indictments in the works, mark my word.

Bye bye Trump, bye bye GOP.

[Paul Emery]

At last the Repubs are waking up

ason Chaffetz Says He’s ‘Ready’ To Subpoena James Comey Memo
“If the memo exists, I need to see it and I need to see it right away.”

“If the memo exists, I need to see it and I need to see it right away. We are drafting the necessary paperwork to get the memo, so we will find out in a hurry if it’s there,” he said.

“I do have the ability to unilaterally issue a subpoena if need be ― hopefully, if this memo exists, they will turn it over voluntarily and swiftly, but we are writing a request as we speak.”

In a letter published later Tuesday, Chaffetz asked acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe to provide “no later than May 24, 2017, all memoranda, notes, summaries and recordings referring or relating to any communications between Comey and the President.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jason-chaffetz-comey-subpoena_us_591b7cd9e4b0a7458fa402fb?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

"

[Eric Anderson]

No need to start a war George, we all agree that a criminal should be punished. War hooey is just incitement. Time is now to get on the right side of history.

[Russ]

Putin - You want proof Trump DID NOT reveal top secrets.

SOCHI, Russia, May 17 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump had not passed any secrets onto Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Washington last week and that he could prove it.

Speaking at a news conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Putin quipped that Lavrov had not passed what he said were the non-existent secrets onto him either.

Putin said Russia was ready to hand a transcript of Trump's meeting with Lavrov over to U.S. lawmakers if that would help reassure them.

Two U.S. officials said on Monday that Trump had disclosed highly classified information to Lavrov about a planned Islamic State operation, plunging the White House into another controversy just months into Trump's short tenure in office. (Reporting by Denis Pinchuk/Jack Stubs/Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

http://news.trust.org/item/20170517115015-r09uu

To have a complete transcript of the Trump meeting Lavrov may have been wired, recording the whole meeting. Probably with a spy pen, capable of recording 60-90 minutes all encased in a Mount Blanc fountain pen case.

[Russ]

THE RUSSIAN HACK: It sounds like a Hillary conspiracy theory, and it is.

R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr:

How did we find ourselves at this comic pass with the Democratic Party warning us of the Russian menace — the Democratic Party whose members have included Alger Hiss and, more lately, Bill Ayers? Well, turn to the recently released bestseller written by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, “Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign.” All the pundits are talking about it, and there are things to admire in it. For instance, turn to Page 395. There you will find this revelation: “Hillary declined to take responsibility for her own loss . Hillary kept pointing her finger at Comey and Russia . That strategy had been set within twenty-four hours of her concession speech . For a couple of hours [Hillary and her aides] went over the script they would pitch to the press and the public. Already, Russian hacking was the centerpiece of the argument.” Now it is the “centerpiece” of the mainstream media and the Democratic Party’s campaign against Donald Trump.

In her own words, now the media is carrying the ball for Hillery. The press and media have become unhinged. We have stopped watching the TV News, searching for sanity online and podcasts by rational folks.

[Bill Tozer]

We are witnessing the death spiral of the media. Their planned coup of the Trump Administration will just blow up in their faces per usual, but this time their fingers will get blown off as well.

As Newt recently said, "If Washington is the swamp, then MSM is the muck."

[Russ]

Main Stream Media Hypocrisy

Obama Gave Classified Intel to Russia. Chief executives share intel when it suits them, but it’s less often that the leader of one country reminds another that “After my election I have more flexibility” to deliver on things his own people might not approve of.

No outrage, no calls for impeachment, no huffing and puffing, and screaming at critics who are attempting to tell the truth when Obama gave classified data to Russia. Why now? Hypocrisy!

[George Rebane]

Today there is wholesale reporting as fact that Trump shared forbidden secrets with the Russians. However, there is not one piece of evidence to support that report, several witness denials that any such thing happened, and now even Putin is weighing in with an offer to provide Russia's record of the meeting. Nevertheless, the war proceeds apace.

BTW, some not so careful readers (e.g. EricA 1109pm) confuse an assessment that a war has started with actually starting a war.

[Todd Juvinall]

I have written the democrats in Congress asking for their resignations, all of them. Maybe if everyone started the same thing we could get some attention on the loons of the left?

[Paul Emery]

Frump twisting slowly in the wind

A former Department of Justice official promised MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that ousted FBI director James Comey has even more damaging evidence against President Donald Trump.

Matthew Miller, a former communications director for the Justice Department and spokesman for former attorney general Eric Holder, warned the Trump administration last week that Comey kept meticulous notes when he believed there was evidence of wrongdoing."

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/05/you-probably-dont-leak-the-worst-memo-first-ex-doj-official-predicts-comey-has-more-dirt-on-trump/

[Todd Juvinall]

We don't care about all those lefty attacks. Fake news and hurt feelings. My goodness.

[jon smith]

Todd 5/17 8:01
"I have written the democrats in Congress asking for their resignations, all of them." Such requests will be on the public record. This will be quick and simple enough to fact check. When and how Todd?

[fish]

Good to see the democratic socialists getting onboard with the new Pence administration!

[fish]

Well to be fair.....it takes one to know one!

OBAMA THINKS TRUMP 'BULLSHITTER'...

http://people.com/politics/what-does-barack-obama-really-think-of-donald-trump-hes-nothing-but-a-bullsh-ter/

[Russ]

ELIZABETH PRICE FOLEY IN THE NEW YORK TIMES: Trump’s Statements Are Not an Obstruction of Justice.

Widespread howls erupted, including by editors of this paper, asserting that President Trump obstructed justice. But as distasteful as the president’s statements may be, they do not constitute an obstruction of justice. Indeed, if they did, virtually every communication between criminal defense lawyers and investigators would be a crime. . . .

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/opinion/trumps-fbi-comey-statements-are-not-an-obstruction-of-justice.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1

Elizabeth Price Foley
Professor of Law
http://www.elizabethpricefoley.com

The lefty progressive thinkers view the world as they would like it to be, not how it really is, thus they start screaming before the facts are known. How hard is it to look up the law on the obstruction of justice, or ask a lawyer to explain it. Most of Fox News Anchors are former lawyers and know the law, some even clerked at the Supreme Court. That could be the reason we get a more a rational analysis of the news on Fox, which the left does not watch. They have trouble dealing with facts.

[Russ]

If Trump Committed a Crime, Comey Failed to Report It.

Gregg Jarrett of Fox News argues that if Comey believed the president’s statements to him amounted to obstruction of justice, then Comey himself committed a crime unless he promptly reported those statements to the Department of Justice. However, if Comey concluded that Trump’s language was vague, ambiguous or elliptical, then he had no duty under the law to report it because the statements weren’t criminal.

From all that appears, Comey did not report Trump’s statements to the DOJ. A memo to the file, even if shared with a few confidantes, wouldn’t constitute the reporting required in the event Comey believed Trump committed a crime.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/05/preliminary-thoughts-on-the-comey-memo.php

Logic: No crime committed! Keep searching lefties!! And, how about coming up with more proof than anonymous sources.

[Bill Tozer]

Well, let's see the memos. All of them. If Comney wrote memos in February on the clock, they are property of the FBI. If he took them home, he removed government property from the site. Let's see all his memos of meetings with Justice Department officials from both administrations and Congressional leaders. All of them. The belong to the FBI, not the fired director. Then let the chips fall where they may. I hope Comey did not take any memos with him and then leak them. Those are big time criminal felonies if he did.

Seems to me that Comey has testified under oath to the House Intel Committee, the Senate Intel Committee, the House Judiciary Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, one testimony just last week. Not a peep about the memos or nary a word about obstruction of justice by anyone in the current administration. Zilch. Now a memo circulates from February?
I agree with Dr. Rebane on this one. It appears to be a CYA memo written before he got fired. I would like to see all his CYA memos. What did he say about HRC, BHO, and congressional leaders?

Quoting Holder's Fast and Furious spokesman Miller does not generate much faith with me. Eric Holder.....isn't he the guy who was held in contempt of Congress for not answering questions? Lynch replaced him after his legal woes began to mount for his stalling tactics and they were ready to drop the hammer on him. Surprised he lasted as long as he did.

If Miller is right about Comey keeping meticulous notes, then let's see them all. Oh, the Leftists should be careful what they wish for. Popcorn time. Subpoena pen in hand and show us the goods....all the goods.

[Todd Juvinall]

Obama in April 2016 in a presser sent Comey his orders to drop the case on Hillary. And he did! So, what are the staute of limitations on that piece of obstruction?

[Bill Tozer]

The mucky media has gone from fakenews folks to dishonest news folks. No wonder only 6% of Americans surveyed trust the mucky media. It is indeed an act of mercy that the dishonest media are blind to how they are viewed by the American people. If they got just a glimpse of the utter contempt they are held by the public, they would have no choice but to put a gun in their mouths and pull the trigger. They good news is their arrogance prevents them from seeing themselves as the majority of others see them. Always a silver lining.

[George Boardman]

Of course we can believe everything we're told by members of the Trump administration. Just look at the explanation for why Comey was fired: Pence, Conway and Spicer insisted the president acted on the recommendation of Rod Rosenstein.

But Rosenstein made no such recommendation, and Trump admitted later he was going to fire Comey anyway. Of course we can believe everything we're told by members of the Trump administration.

For a more clear-eyed conservative view of the situation, I recommend the lead editorial in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal: "Loose Lips Sink Presidencies."

[Todd Juvinall]

And your pals said Rosenstein wanted more money and if he did not get it he would resign. Lots of this going around so don't be so smug. And 6% of the country says you are all liars.

[Paul Emery]

What poll did you get that from Todd? I thought you didn't believe in polls. Besides 6% is tiny so what's the big deal.

[George Rebane]

GeorgeB 1058am - Rosenstein outlined in his memo why Comey's past actions made him unsuitable for the FBI director's job. Whether or not Rosenstein explicitly recommended firing Comey does not mean that 'acting on' the memo ignored Rosenstein's suitability conclusion.

[fish]

Posted by: George Boardman | 17 May 2017 at 10:58 AM

....and for all his Bull in a China Shop antics he still has more credibility than the media!

Gawd but these are fun days!

[Paul Emery]

The bottom is falling out. Trump score is in the 30's in the latest polling average. -15% All time low for new President heading for Nixonion-Bush lows

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

[Don Bessee]

This is one funny thread. The fakenews hyperventilation is so bad you have to wonder when they get any oxygen? ;-)

[Bill Tozer]

The War is on.
https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1088957591238277/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1089591267841576/?type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/RowdyConservatives/photos/a.217983685002343.55586.217926015008110/1088731591260877/?type=3&theater

[George Boardman]

Re Dr. R's 11:25: The point here is that either Trump or Pence was lying. Take you pick.

[fish]

Posted by: George Boardman | 17 May 2017 at 01:16 PM

A politician lying.......? That's unpossible!

[George Rebane]

GeorgeB 116pm - Apparently my 1125am was dismally unsuccessful in demonstrating that neither of them could have been lying. Pity.

[Bill Tozer]

Dr. Rebane, you are an optimist if nothing else. You expected what from them? ROFLMAO. The Punch Drunk One is still lost in pollin' cyberspace and the one who lives behind the guarded walls was the first to come over here on the morning of November 10th to call us a bunch of David Duke racists and start fretting about Obamacare. Now, my good man, go ahead and expect something different. You're a better man than me. Indeed hope burns eternal. They are blinded by hate, duh.

[Paul Emery]

So it begins-Special Prosecutor appointed by Justice Department-Should have been done weeks ago.

"Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to serve as special prosecutor overseeing the investigation into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

In a statement, Rosenstein stressed that his decision “is not a finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted.” But he said he’d determined “based upon the unique circumstances, the public interest requires me to place this investigation under the authority of a person who exercises a degree of independence from the normal chain of command.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/doj-special-counsel-russia-trump_us_591cbfa2e4b03b485cae5465?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009

[fish]

Posted by: Paul Emery | 17 May 2017 at 03:49 PM

Dammit Punchy....enough of your Huff Po folderol......where is todays poll?

[Paul Emery]

Sorry you missed it Fish I was right on time around 11AM. Here it is again for your reading pleasure.

The bottom is falling out. Trump score is in the 30's in the latest polling average. -15% All time low for new President heading for Nixonion-Bush lows

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html

[fish]

Posted by: Paul Emery | 17 May 2017 at 04:12 PM

OH THANK GOD........

[Don Bessee]

FAKENEWS ALERT @ 349- I was actually on my way here to ask how long would it take the fakenewsers to start the propaganda that a special prosecutor was appointed as opposed to the fact of the appointment of a special counsel.

Po' ol' fakenewsman PE beats me to the punch and even has the hufpo link to the 'special counsel' story below his opening line lie. How pathetically predictable po' ol' PE has become. Sad. ;-)

[Paul Emery]

Who cares Don. I do realize that you have much more experience in the legal system than I do but we won't go into that now.

[Russ]

Quote of the Day:

NICK GILLESPIE: All This Impeachment Talk Is Pure Trump Derangement Syndrome. “For god’s sake, they wanted him impeached even before he was the Republican nominee.”

George and I met Nick a couple of years ago at a George Mason University conference in Arizona. Interesting guy, but was a bit intimidated by our matching western vests. Nick Gillespie is editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason TV, the online platforms of Reason, the libertarian magazine of "Free Minds and Free Markets."

[fish]

Posted by: Russ | 17 May 2017 at 04:55 PM

Interesting guy, but was a bit intimidated by our matching western vests.

Really?

Mr. Gillespie is referred to as "the jacket"....I assumed that a mutual interest in distinctive attire would grease the conversational skids a bit!

[Don Bessee]

Now you have sunk to new pathetic lows po' ol' PE. A fakenewsman who does not know the difference between a special prosecutor and a special counsel and sloughs off the lie with who cares? Well if you think no on cares why bother lying? ;-)

[George Rebane]

For those interested, 'special prosecutor' has historically referred to an individual commissioned to assemble and lead his own investigative team on a given allegation that may lead to criminal prosecution. 'Special counsel' is in this cas an ad hoc designation of an investigative head to assume leadership of an ongoing investigation with established resources that has already made considerable progress in pursuing its objective. Special counsel does not start from scratch or with his own team. Mueller's appointment was just this side of political genius.

[Account Deleted]

Another benefit of a Trump admin is that fed govt computer hard drives no longer crash, folks remember everything, staffers aren't found murdered from 'bungled robberies' and reporters suddenly care about the veracity of officials' statements. So things are better already.
I'm waiting for Paul to announce Trump's poll numbers that show that everyone, including Trump, disapprove of his presidency. But he'll still be president.

[Todd Juvinall]

DonB, Paul Emery does make up a lot of fake news. And his own facts.

[Gregory]

Oh, my. (in my best Mr. Sulu as bass a parody voice as I can muster)
There's dancing in the streets!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ

Now all the new special persecutor has to do is actually find a GOP crime that can be pinned on Trump, the old fashioned way... convincing a majority in the Congress (House and Senate) they should vote to get rid of DJT, when a majority in the Congress are GOP.

Watch out though, as the Grand Inquisitor will, by my hallucinations, also be able to look into the just whether or not the FBI was doing as due a diligence on the possibilites a murdered DNC staffer (said to be a robbery gone bad 'cause the killer(s) forgot to take anything) now thought to be in possession of something north of 40,000 pilfered emails.

In other words, be careful what you wish for. you may get it. At least Nixon's Watergate and the Clinton impeachment had crimes at their center.

[Paul Emery]

Things are going from bad to grim for the ol' Trumpster -day 118 of his ascendancy. Now we find out that Frump knew about the investigation into Flynn and hired him anyway. Another Trump lie. During his interview with Holt he denied knowing about the investigation.

From Fox News:

Weeks before President Trump's inauguration, Michael Flynn told the transition team he was under federal investigation for working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, the New York Times reported late Wednesday.

The disclosure by Flynn on Jan. 4 was first made to then-Trump transition team lawyer Donald F. McGahn II, who is now the White House counsel, two people familiar with the case told the newspaper..........

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/17/trump-transition-team-knew-flynn-was-under-investigation-before-inauguration-report-says.html

[Account Deleted]

Paul at 8:21 - There's nothing in the linked article that backs up your assertion. Could you provide a bit more proof?
And we notice that Fox News is now gospel for Paul.
Gee, what happened to the Bible?
Obama told lies all day long and Paul lapped them like a dog laps up water on a hot day.
My, how the times have changed.
As I foretold, a Trump presidency would re-invigorate the fourth estate. They seem to have awaken from their 8 year slumber. How cute. How hypocritical.

[Paul Emery]

Didn't vote for Obama second time around Scott.

the fact that Trump "hired" Flynn knowing he was under investigation by the FBI is astounding. Once again for you reading pleasure

" Michael Flynn told the transition team he was under federal investigation for working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign, the New York Times reported late Wednesday."

[Gregory]

PE 821

Paul, you seem to be conflating two different pieces of that jigsaw puzzle you carry around in your head. Perhaps if you'd actually quote the relevant statements from the Holt interview that might show the "lie" in the light of the story Fox carried.

If only the left held their own to the same standards of truth and deception, fact and error.

[Gregory]

"Obama told lies all day long and Paul lapped them like a dog laps up water on a hot day"
-SO

"Didn't vote for Obama second time around Scott"
-PE

Scott didn't say or inferred you had voted for Obama the second time around, Paul, and it is my considered opinion that the November presidential election would not have been Trump and Hillary had the NYT and the WaPo have been as anal retentive about statements by Pelosi/Reid/Clinton/Obama as they have been when playing gotcha with Trump and his staff since everyone woke up on Nov 9 to find not only had the undemocratic Democratic Party screwed the pooch the day before, but the GOP was in a position of strength nationwide it had not enjoyed since the days of flappers doing the Charleston.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ7SNTSq-9o

[Don Bessee]

Fakenewsman po' ol' PE is now getting exorcised about Turkey? NATO member Turkey, base to our air war on ISIS in Syria Turkey? Well they are close to Russia on the map, right?

It seems that the former minority counsel for the Watergate investigation called the comparisons to Trump as bordering on the absurd. Lets see our resident fakenewsman dismiss democrat Michael Madigan who was part of Watergate and is now the speaker of the Illinois house of representatives. ;-)

[Piper Laurie's Former Shrink]

Don, Paul touched on this earlier, but can you please explain in further detail your experiences with the US legal system? I think it really may help everyone to understand things better, specially from the perspective of a Flynn or a Manafort as two examples. ie, Who and how many besides those creeps are going down? Stone, Page? How many more months do you think Trump has left as President? Polling shows the majority of Americans think less than 3 years.

[Ronald Raygun]

"Roger Ailes dies." FoxNews lawyers are breathing a sigh of relief...

[Russ]

No prosecutor would bring this case

From the Daily Signal:

Democrats likely know this is not a viable obstruction case, said Jordan Sekulow, executive director of the American Center for Law and Justice.

Even if the Times story is entirely true, he said, “In the words of James Comey: No prosecutor would bring this case.”

Sekulow added:

Obstruction of justice is a loaded term. It’s political to create an impeachment scenario. The bar is lower, but we have a Republican Congress. This is just political warfare. It was enough to get the Washington media talking about it. … During the Obama years, when people would talk about impeachment, we’d always discourage that talk as no way to get things done.

Clearer heads than our local lefty commentators with a questionable understanding of the law and how it works.

[fish]

Posted by: Ronald Raygun | 18 May 2017 at 05:46 AM

Why....! They already paid him to go away!

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

"the fact that Trump "hired" Flynn knowing he was under investigation by the FBI is astounding."

Hell, over 50% of the country voted for a Presidential candidate in the same boat.

Given that almost all of the current uproar concerns information that wasn't available in former years, due to the evolution of a metastasized security state and constant surveillance of everyone by someone, it seems to me that the real story is the presence of a slow motion coup d'etat by the intelligence services.

Stay focused on polls, Russians, and Obama book deals. Everything will be fine.

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

Hang on, 100% of the country voted for a candidate in the same boat. My bad.

[shiningcityonahill]

What ailed Roger Ailes...his butt buddies Donald and oReally getting thier asses kicked?

[John]

HRC's crimes and associated plea bargain are going to sink Team Emery and the Deceietful Dems and they know it. They are simply hoping to keep the attention on Trump with their continued smokescreen. Mueller's investigation will vindicate the phony Trump/Russia collusion deal, and reveal the real source of the DNC leaks was Seth Rich who was killed. That is the real story here. Wait for them to switch gears and claim that Mueller is really a just partisan hack. They are all as dishonest as the day is long. From HRC to our own little leftist operative.

[fish]

Posted by: shiningcityonahill | 18 May 2017 at 08:12 AM

You are the Rebanes Ruminations "Well Crafted Sentence of the Day" winner!

Well done!

[Paul Emery]

John

You've got to deal with it. Hillary lost the election, Trump is still President.

[Don Bessee]

What @ 947?? Has fish taken over po' ol' PE's mind? ;-)

[Account Deleted]

re Paul E. at 9:48 - Yes Paul, you have reminded us several times about the fact that you voted for Obama.
He was lying from the start. The facts were available to anyone who looked at the man's record and associates.
And during his second term, when did you ever rush to this blog to announce any of Obama's failings as you do with Trump? Never.
When did Paul ever rush to this blog to breathlessly announce any of Hillarys' failings? Never.
It's OK, Paul. You have the right to be conned by the folks of your choice. Please don't try to tell us you aren't partisan.

[Paul Emery]

Why should I trumpet Hillarys failings Scott? I made it clear I wasn't going to vote for her. I was highly critical of Obama on this blog especially about Obamacare, is a mess and his mid east foreign policy. I am all for Single payer and Obama made a colossal error when he put together his mish mash of a health care plan. I voteds for Gary Johnson. Who did you vote for?

[Don Bessee]

You can expect crickets from the po' ol' pollhead on the fact that his beloved polls show no one cares about Comey.

What I care about is the business channel breaking the unemployment application number, DOWN 238,000 last week. They called it a generational low, a 28 year low to be specific. Nice note to start the weekend on.

Then the Prez will announce the establishment of a Suni NATO in Saudi Arabia. I saw numbers as high as $200,000,000,000 in arms sales announcements for the Suni NATO that will be highlighted too. Sweet. ;-)

[Account Deleted]

"Why should I trumpet Hillarys failings Scott?"
Answer: because you are partisan, Paul.
It's OK to be partisan, Paul. It's OK.
"Obama made a colossal error when he put together his mish mash of a health care plan."
Obama made it clear his 'mish mash' of a health care program was a deliberate first step towards your cherished 'free health care' plan you are so eager to see instituted.
The notion that you criticized Obama as equally as Trump is laughable. You are always careful to name Dems and the Dem party respectfully while Rs and Trump get the 'funny' little monikers. Which is OK, as we all do that, but please, Paul - you are sooo in love with the Dems it isn't funny. The more you protest that you are non partisan, the goofier you appear.
You are a socialist, Paul. And your politics align far more with Obama/Hillary than any actual Libertarian candidate I've ever heard of.
Voted for Ben Carson. Would have been a wonderful POTUS. His skills as a brain surgeon would have worked perfectly to make Lefties heads explode.

[fish]

Posted by: Scott Obermuller | 18 May 2017 at 12:35 PM

Yeah.....that covers it nicely!

[Bill Tozer]

Make no mistake about it. They are going after the Trump voter, not Trump. From Obama's bitter clinger comment to Hillary's basket full of Deplorables and irredeemable crack to Boardman calling us David Duke racists the day after the election to Hilary Hodge's editorial about who among our neighbors could have voted for Trump...its all about making Trump supporters as unsympathetic and subhuman as possible That is the War and the war is on.

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

re: [email protected]:35PM

"...deliberate first step towards your cherished 'free health care' plan you are so eager to see instituted..."

More precisely, it's the "$3000 deductible and with small stuff you go to Yubadocs" plan, with not a lick of other niggling details, like how it's paid for.

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

re: [email protected]:48PM

"its all about making Trump supporters as unsympathetic and subhuman as possible "

Jump in the untermensch pool, there's plenty of room!

[Paul Emery]

I'm for single payer all he way.

[Paul Emery]

Paid for by taxing everyone like in Denmark. Simple

[Don Bessee]

How many people are out of the workforce in Denmark, refuges not included po' ol' PE? ;-)

[Todd Juvinall]

Singlr payer to me is a commie idea to control people down to their SNA. So PE must be one.

[Gregory]

Paul 122 & 129, it's brain farts like you had there that belies that "green libertarian" claim of yours. While I've had a number of Danish and other Scandinavian friends who are wistful of their old benefits, they also escaped to live in the US to escape the high taxes and lack of choice in so many things. The actual coersion towards conformity and actually working in school and in life is not something that would translate to the US.

The average Nirvana Silly slacker would be aghast... yes, Danes can be bloody judgmental.

[Bill Tozer]

Well, let's see how single payer works here in CA first. Let's see. We have 12% of the nation's population and about a third of all the USA's welfare receiptants. So, those on the dole already have single payer and they don't pay any taxes. Sounds like somebody will be paying up the ying yang for single payer, and it won't be just the rich. It will fall on those who are living check to check.

I played with some figures on Covered California just for kicks.. I dropped the income to about $1,200/month and was shocked to find that poor soul would be paying $600 bucks a month with a hig deductible. Even half that much (300 clams a month) would cut into the gas and food money big time. Or go apply for Medicaid or a Medi-Cal or whatever the broke system calls itself.

Medicaid has to be better than the single payer system known as the VA. It just had to be better even with the bar set on the ground. That free system is an abortion of healthcare. Now, the Feds pickup 90% of CA's Medicaid (the Obamacare 100% reimbursement is phasing out as written) and CA can't even afford the measly 10%.

The solution is to tax the crap out of people. My doc don't take Medicaid nor Obamacare. And he is a bleeding heart Nam Vet. He would darn nearly work for free. Wait, he did. He wanted to keep the lights on and help folks, but with all the Obamacare regs and measly habitually late reimbursements from Uncle Sham, he had to lay off one office gal, another gal who weighs ya and takes your blood pressure, and darn near lost his practice and stayed up late doing paperwork. Live and learn. But that is just a doctor's experience. The tax man cometh and he will be asking for a boatload of money. They will try their darnest to squeeze out every last drop of a penny out of us turnips. It's for da po folks.

Now that CA is screaming they can't make the Medicaid payments, I have a great idea. Why don't we just expand the program, give away the store, and let "the other dude" pay for the ride. Lib logic 101 always pencils out when "the other dude" will pay for it. It will save exactly who money? It will pay for itself? It will be self supporting through its own contribtions? Sure, Socialist Commie bastards, whatever you say. Money grows on trees.

To pay for some of it, we could remove the illegal aliens who suck up 18% of the State's budget. Without those who are not permitted to be here, we might have two coins to rub together so Granny can get her teeth...and fund the Bullet Train that only the well to do could afford to ride on as passengers when all is said and done.

https://www.facebook.com/lastamericapatriots/photos/a.235087906641439.1073741826.235086849974878/850065305143693/?type=3&theater

[Gregory]

Emery?
Emery?
Emery?
Emery?

The latest from Ben Stein:

"There’s no evidence whatsoever of any crime, so expect major convictions.
...The issue was made incredibly clear — inadvertently — by Bob Beckel on Fox News Wednesday night. He was talking about the need for a Special Prosecutor. One of the sane people on the panel said something like, “But there’s no evidence that anything wrong was done.”

Beckel, who says he’s sober now, answered something like, “That’s why we need an investigation.”

But, if we are to investigate everything that’s not proved, as to which there is no evidence, then let’s start looking for zombies or spiders from Mars or flying saucers. Let’s try looking for evidence of wrongdoing by Trump on planets in other galaxies millions of light years away.

What we are seeing now is the physical manifestation of a bunch of high school girls’ hysteria as we saw in The Crucible. Mr. Rosenstein has bowed to the fantasy paranoid hysteria of the mean girls’ sorority known as the mainstream media and appointed a Special Prosecutor to look into — a fantasy. There’s no stained dress. No hollowed out pumpkin. No hollow nickels with microfilm. No, there’s just the mean girls’ sorority determined to get the Pi Phi’s, and somehow getting the deputy A-G to go along with their fantasy and pretend there’s something real about an allegation that a Pi Phi stole another girl’s boyfriend and flew away with him on her broom. And he’s a Special Prosecutor. He’ll find something someone did wrong somewhere. It won’t be about the subject — Russia-Trump collusion in the election. But he will find something and someone will go to prison. That’s what Special Prosecutors do (to Republicans). That’s why they exist. He’ll find something.

https://spectator.org/witch-hunting-for-trump/

Scooter Libby lied to an FBI agent about something immaterial to the issue that Special Persecutor's task (who leaked Plame's name, and the FBI already knew the answer... it was no one they could charge with anything partially because Plame wasn't covered by the statute... so there was no real crime in the first place) but it was just before the November election and it would be damaging once the rabid news hounds started tearing into GHWB. With any luck, the new Special Counsel will be an equal opportunity inquisitor.

[Paul Emery]

So what's the excuse for tromp hiring Flynn to be our top security guy when he's aware that Flynn is under investigation by the FBI ?

[Account Deleted]

From Paul - "I'm for single payer all he way."
And so is the Democratic Party.
It's OK to be a Democrat, Paul. You have that right.
Be proud.
Trump is still POTUS.

[Gregory]

Paul, the witch hunt isn't about Flynn being tapped for a Trump white house job.

Riddle me this: why were people supporting Hillary for POTUS knowing *she* was under investigation by the FBI?

[Paul Emery]

Beats me I didn't support or vote for her.

Obama and the Democrats did not support Single Payer Scott. You know that.

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

re: [email protected]:22PM

"I'm for single payer all he way."

OK, now we're down to "$3k deductible with Yubadocs for the small stuff with only one insurance company".

Dunno how one insurance company is more efficient than two fighting over a contract, but I'll go with that. Maybe "single payer" implies government cash flow from soup to nuts, but that isn't the way that Medicare works now, so I'm not sure if .gov bookkeeping is in the cards.

OK. $10.5k per person per year on average. Let's say an insurance monopoly saves money (no guarantee there), I'll deduct 5% or so due to newfound efficiencies in the single payer plan and ignore the fact that more people will go to the doctor if it's free. A side note is that either everyone gets healthcare equivalent to the very best healthcare, or some people have a decrease in quality. Call it $10k / person / yr.

So, if a family of four has to kick in $40k / yr, is that in their income tax? property tax? Hopefully they get a nice raise when their employers save the money on healthcare. Maybe some sort of new VAT? or business tax?

Honestly, I have no problem with a public monopoly in insurance *or* healthcare itself, as long as you can show that it's a superior answer. What I find objectionable is how adamant people are about something that they haven't even begun to think through. For one thing, none of the financing concepts people present deal with cost reduction aside from inventing a monopsony.

[fish]

Posted by: ScenesFromTheApocalypse | 18 May 2017 at 04:08 PM

Honestly, I have no problem with a public monopoly in insurance *or* healthcare itself, as long as you can show that it's a superior answer.

It won't be.

[fish]

Posted by: Paul Emery | 18 May 2017 at 04:05 PM

Obama and the Democrats did not support Single Payer Scott. You know that.

Good to see that you haven't lost your comedic talent......I'm a little bit concerned about your grasp on reality though.

[Todd Juvinall]

I seem to recall Obama the candidate in 2007-08 telling a group that this was a incremental thing about healthcare and that over time it would become single payer. Sounded like a plan to me. All democrats too.

[Bill Tozer]

When Obamacare was being debated, 85% of the insured got healthcare bennies from their employer and the vast majority were happy with it. Preexiting conditions already covered and you could keep the kids on til 24 years old (in my case). I started a one job with the employer paying around 94-95% of the premiums, down from 96% the year prior. When I left, the employer paid about 81-83% of the premiums, and we complained, but were very happy with it. That is employer sponsored healthcare insurance where most of the people receive healthcare policies. As a nice tax benefit, the premiums were taken out of the check in pre-tax dollars, so your gross income was higher than your taxable income. Sweet. A good deal.

But, we were told that we have to destroy that employer sponsored system to insure the 15% uninsured. Like painters and their families, sole proprietors, folks working for small outfits, and some slackers looking for handouts. It is the INDIVUAL insurance market that is so darn expensive. When we hear of yet another Aetna or United Health pulling out of the market in such and such state, they are only leaving the unprofitable individual market and staying with their business/employer clients.

So, let's destroy the market where 85% of the folks are happy with their quasi-affordable health insurance and spend billions to insure a small minority without the wherewithal to pay for health insurance?????? Destroy the healthcare system of millions upon millions to insure a nutcase like a councilperson in Nevada City who says it's her right because it is part of her "pursuit of happiness"? Beam me up. I think the Chem Trails has befuzzled its mind. Oppps, I said "her". Me bad. Looking at its picture, it's hard to assume it's gender for sure, but I digress.

We have Medicaid in place. They can get food stamps and a free cell phone, assuming of course they have tin foil hats to protected their scrambled noggins against brain tumors. They can get cash assistance, help with housing, have others pick up their trash and litter, so what more do they want. When is enough enough?

All I am saying is let's not ruin a good thing for 85% of the workers happy with their employer sponsored bennies and spend untold pallets of cash to give healthcare away to the less fortunate. Obama bragged that Obamacare now insures 20 million folks. What he did not say is that Medicaid picked up those who lost their jobs, those who became eligible by age, and those who went postal with total stress breakdown after Trump held My Gal's severed head high for all the world to see with his sword in the other hand.

[Paul Emery]

Bill

That's 85% of the insured Bill. How about the millions of uninsured and those unable to get insurance because of pre-existing conditions, And what percent of the "insured" were on Medicare or Medicaid or government insurance of another kind. If you want your argument to have any validity you need to tend to those questions.

[Don Bessee]

Don't you know fakenewsman @501? ;-)

[Bill Tozer]

Punch Drunk,
Pre-existing conditions are outlawed. Millions uninsured? Yes. What, 8-15 percent? Young folks who don't sign up? If you are over 30, you can't even buy a catastrofic policy. That is soooo wrong. Feel free to go to Yuba Docs. They take everyone and they take cash. Meanwhile, I have to pay for breasts exams and pediatric eyecare and probably mental health services for wackjobs boys who think they are girls. That is so wrong as well. Operative words here is "have to." No choice.

[Account Deleted]

"Obama and the Democrats did not support Single Payer Scott. You know that."
Did not when? 20 years ago? Paul - seriously. Read the news.
The Dems are for socialized medical - Obama said he was aiming to do that. California Dems are trying to set up a socialized medical plan NOW. Try to keep up.

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

"and those who went postal with total stress breakdown after Trump held My Gal's severed head high for all the world to see with his sword in the other hand."

lol. OK, you win the internet for the day.

[Paul emery]

Obamacare is not single pair that's what Obama proposed that's with the Dems supported

[Don Bessee]

Can someone translate from quaintycityese @ 720 please. ;-)

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

re: [email protected]:01PM

"That's 85% of the insured Bill. How about the millions of uninsured and those unable to get insurance because of pre-existing conditions, "

Once you slice and dice the groups, what's left is probably manageable. You've got people with employee-based insurance, people on Medi-Cal, military and union retirees, Medicare-ites, self-employed who had reasonably (usually) priced insurance.

What's left is people with pre-existing conditions, who had pretty shitty poorly funded pools, and folks who just don't buy insurance because they can go to the emergency room any old time and don't have assets to protect.

So, do you blow up the whole system just to suit those last two groups? Why not just provide government subsidies for sick people (ie. have a cap on policies to what a healthy person would pay). Dunno what to do about folks who simply won't buy insurance even if they could afford it...have you always bought insurance as a self-employed person? Perhaps we should have tied drivers licenses to having health insurance.

[ScenesFromTheApocalypse]

re: [email protected]:25PM

I believe that "Obamacare is not single pair" actually means single payer, although I'm not convinced that Obama has a single pair.

[Bill Tozer]

Good one Scenes. I think we will have single payer in about 7 years. Can't prove it, just believe it is coming. I want to see how Uncle Jerry and his den of Commie thieves go with single payer in CA first. Let's see how that works. You know, each state doing its experiment in democracy to see what works and what doesn't.

One thing I love about Libertarians is their unshaken belief in limited government. Quite the opposite of what the Alt-Left believes. Kudos to them

[Bill Tozer]

https://geopolitics.co/2017/03/21/fbi-dir-james-comey-board-member-of-hsbc-clinton-foundation-drug-cartel-launderer/

[Account Deleted]

Which is why it probably won't go through just in California. The Dems will push it nation wide so folks like Paul won't realize just how messed up govt run health care is. Once it's national, it will be too late. Obama care was just the first big step towards 'free' national govt run health care. Obama said so.
Don't worry, Paul. We'll have single payer within a few years. But of course it will be a mess and Paul will complain that "they didn't do it right".
Paul's explanation of his master plan for nationalized health care is the equivalent of a 5 year old explaining how to build a space ship.
"It's a big thing with stuff coming out of the back and it goes into space!"
It's way more complex than folks like Paul can ever dream of.