Honestly the biggest thing about this report is that we've known all of this for years. We had handwritten notes from the 'bigwig' meeting where they are discussing if they want to question Flynn or set him up. (They did the latter)
The years of breathless Russiagate coverage was ALWAYS a lie, and everybody knew it. The only question is -- is the Republic so far gone that they get away with it?
2024 was already 'fortified' via the 2022 midterm 'fortification' that kept the swing states in blue control, ensuring no Florida-style election reform. As long as we keep littering the cityscape with 'legal' ballots, it'll be far too easy to cheat.
And that's the way Democrats (and their Uniparty Republican friends) want it.
Yes, anyone outside of the establishment of either party must never be allowed to steal the presidency from it's rightful owners. Oh wait, that's nothing new at all.
Yeah. Biden literally says they won't allow Trump to take power........but nobody in the world is worried about Trump losing and trying to force his way into office -- they're talking about preventing Trump from taking office IF HE WINS.
"When asked at a post-midterms press conference how other world leaders should view this moment for America, with Trump potentially running for the presidency again, Biden said he will make sure Trump doesn’t take power.
And now we’ve reached the point where they don’t just go after the little people who can’t defend themselves against the full force of the government, they literally go after the leader of the opposition party in order to prevent him from being elected by the voters. Nobody is worried that Trump is going to lose the election in 2024 and try to force his way into the White House. This “plan” is to prevent Trump from taking office SHOULD HE ACTUALLY WIN THE ELECTION.
I have been wondering where they got the nerve to run a senile loser against a man who can beat him in a fair fight easily. It really looks like they plan on sweeping Trump off the board and simply installing a drooling, willing puppet.
Think about the cynicism of the Clinton campaign, knowing they were setting up a lie; you can see why they thought they would coast to victory. It is really astonishing even for a cynical bastard like me.
Which still cracks me up. You'd think after she private jetted into Iowa in '08 assuming that she had it locked up from the get go, only to have the proles decide they'd rather have a first term Senator instead, that she would have been a bit more cautious and humble next time around. Nope, she doubled down and locked up all of the money and superdelegates and sat on her fat ass in Malibu guzzling champagne while Trump flew into flyover country and talked to the deplorables. And still can't figure out how and why she is so loathed by the electorate. But the clues were there from way back in '08.
Everybody could see Hillary Clinton was cooked in Iowa. So when, a week-and-a-half out, the Service Employees International Union started hearing anxiety out of Michigan, union officials decided to reroute their volunteers, giving a desperate team on the ground around Detroit some hope.
They started prepping meals and organizing hotel rooms.
SEIU — which had wanted to go to Michigan from the beginning, but been ordered not to — dialed Clinton’s top campaign aides to tell them about the new plan. According to several people familiar with the call, Brooklyn was furious.
Turn that bus around, the Clinton team ordered SEIU. Those volunteers needed to stay in Iowa to fool Donald Trump into competing there, not drive to Michigan, where the Democrat’s models projected a 5-point win through the morning of Election Day.
Michigan organizers were shocked. It was the latest case of Brooklyn ignoring on-the-ground intel and pleas for help in a race that they felt slipping away at the end.
Actually, the clues were there from way back in ’98. At that time, First Lady Hillary appeared on The Today Show and claimed all allegations against Bill Clinton were a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
That short phrase became the endless loop that has dominated Democratic Party strategy, US politics, and corporate media to this day.
Yes, but it was absolutely delightful watching Clinton lose along with the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
It was not about anything but winning the election. The Clintons had escaped the issue of the FBI doing background checks on their enemies and then making those files available, Monica perjury, Whitewater, and a nearly endless series of abuses.
The move to exert political control over the internet dates back to the Obama years when his team talked of "curating " the internet to suppress dangerous ideas and information not favorable to the left. While "official" curating died as the result of public exposure, the left found a way through pressure and intimidation plus benefits to seriously censor what appeared on many of the major sites, perhaps most importantly Google. If this sounds strange take a few seconds to search for the contents of the Biden Laptop which were searchable and findable for a short period of time. Gone without a trace ......
It sure looks like it. There won’t be any justice. We know this. The current regime spies on opponents, uses the intelligence community and law enforcement against dissidents and political enemies, and rigs elections—all openly, without ever being held accountable for such egregious abuse of power. The elites play by one set of rules, we peasants by another, and the deep state is comprised of Democratic Party loyalists.
The question is what happens when the Rs are in charge once again. Do they clean up the FBI so that it is nonpartisan? Do they seize the levers of power and use them against the Ds? Or do they just make a big stink and not do anything? I vote for door number three.
I'd say both parties are Generals while Big Money is the Globetrotters. Since these are often multinational corporations, they literally trot the globe.
We know both houses are populated with unprincipled, venal small frys, but the alphabets are another matter. They may be bunglers when it comes to Castro's beard and Patriot Front marches, but they have been deadly effective in ending the JFK, Nixon, Carter and Trump presidencies with maximum unhappiness.
Let's hope that if he is inaugurated on January, 2025 - that DJT hires some ADULTS to help choose and vet Cabinet. I loved what Trump did as a president - but he sucks as a personnel manager. Take a look at the Clown Car that was DJT's first cabinet: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/politics/donald-trump-administration.html It's embarrassing. Except for Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross, Mike Pompeo and Mike Mulvaney - the rest were at best C or D level talent for the job. If you're going to eliminate the Swamp - you need to hire the 'A' Team - not the Mr. T 'A' team.
My God. What was it you loved? The infants in concentration camps? The enormous tax give-away to the ultra-wealthy? The unending racial slurs? The ongoing poisonous deadly sanctions against sovereign nations for choosing their own leaders? The ball-sucking sycophancy in Saudi Arabia and Israel (at least the man pays his debts)? The election of absolutely unqualified right-wing jurists to the Supreme Court?
The man was a fucking horror show. Still, better than Biden, and that's the crying shame of it all.
Yep - I loved all of that. But you forgot to mention RUSSIAN COLLUSION, INSURRECTION and TWO FAILED IMPEACHMENTS. (I didn't love those so much). But you do get extra points for recognizing that Biden is a total Shit Show! Good for you!
The first thing they should do is prosecute everyone who signed the letter dismissing the Hunter. laptop as it was clearly using federal resources to campaign for a political candidate.
What the RNC will do is take every cent they possibly can from the US citizens (social security, all medical benefits which are little to begin with, retirement savings, anything for children, pensions, unemployment insurance, sick leave, eliminate unions, etc.) . What's worse, that? ...or the Dems murdering millions of innocents in other countries that have no intentions of attacking us? Hmmmm.....
Y'all ought to take a look at inflation under Biden and see what it has done to the savings of Americans. . The hundreds of billions used to bail out Silicone Valley Bank. The press can't seem to mention that the Bank would hold gatherings of their most wealthy clients that were really fundraisers for major Democratic figures. An evening with 50 tech guys who have no problem writing very large checks, especially when their banker it makes the magic possible.
Steve, I agree with you. Both parties are despicable, neither wants regular people to have a cent when it can be taken for the oligarchs/war machine. I say, let's elect Robert Kennedy Jr.
I keep getting phone calls asking me to privatize my Medicare Insurance Plan as if they think we the people are too dumb to know what they are up to. Also I have heard that social security funding has been all spent years ago.
In fact, my brother-in-law, whom my sister assures me is one of the most informed people there is, told me exactly the opposite of SimulationCommander. He said, "Everyone knows Trump colluded with the Russians."
That’s the thing, these lies are always prefaced with “everybody knows” so that lies become established fact without any evidence ever having to be produced.
Yes-there is no one in my family, circle of friends/neighbors that I could talk to about this. I have tried and it's like how I imagine being in the Scientology headquarters questioning Scientology.
Yea, they believe what they want to believe. Also, it takes courage and honesty to admit they were wrong all along. Who wants to look like a fool? And the propaganda mainstream media employs is relentless and shameless. Don’t underestimate the brainwashing level. As my late supervisor used to say: “you underestimate the moron factor”.
I was a fool. I believed it all the way to Hunter Biden's laptop. But when they started saying Glenn Greenwald was an alt-right conspiracy theorist I finally said hey wait a minute. Some of us are thicker than others
One of the reasons they believe it is that Facebook, Google and a host of others have erased all of the trails leading to the Hunter Biden computer materials . There was a European site that had them but there are no trails left.
Anybody actually following the story knew everything that Durham laid out already. It's not about "being fooled" -- it's about already knowing the evidence that exists.
There's no excuse for ignorance, ESPECIALLY in a media market as toxic as ours was in 2016-2020.
If you disagree, what in the report do you think is new?
Not much new to you or me maybe. Some bits. But the value of the report is that it should set a pretty much irrefutable cannon of facts and evidence that the media will consult. Some media, possibly...
Most people do not have the time, the energy or the tools to sort through all the lies. I see this every day talking to my neighbours, people on the bus, and the like. They spend about 20 minutes a day, on a good day listening to, and then, astonishingly at this point, still believing everything that their teevees tell them.
I wish it were otherwise.
The internet, which should have been the greatest fact checker in history, is now used almost exclusively for literal mind control.
Do you think any of this came as a surprise to Matt? I'm just a part-time hack and I knew everything already. How could anybody following this story -- not just the media spin -- NOT know this information?
"Following the story" means "knowing what's happening", and we knew all this was happening long ago.
I dare say that you, I, and Matt are outliers. My earlier life was sheltered in university towns. Only during this past decade have I gotten an appreciation of how relatively obtuse, how unperspicacious most people are. George Orwell had it right, that most don't get beyond chanting "four legs good, two legs bad." Even very smart people will do this. It's too bad, but that's the way it is. Many to most people are conformists and won't deviate no matter what. We don't have to like it, but this is why propaganda is so effective.
I look at the Russia blew up its own pipeline story and cannot understand how anyone could be fooled by that. But many are.
Earlier i read the NYT piece on the Durham report. And a few of the comments - the koolaid is sloshing around in there as much as it ever does, it seems that people were buying hteir spin.
I'm a lot lowlier than you are, and i knew it right away. The first clue for me was Donna Brazile's book that kept banging on about the Russians. Next clue i remember was Hillary throwing a big bash for all her big donors to make excuses and banged on about Comey and the Russians. I'll give you that i had a bias of absoluteluy loathing her, but all i could think is like, oh this is how they're going to spin this loss then.
They are STILL hammering on Russiagate. The George W. Bush "never admit you were wrong" style dominates these days. I think H will take it with her to the grave.
What's happened is that the world of Orwell's 1984 has been transformed by the presence of electronic media so that no longer do you need a vast army of bureaucrats sifting through books , mail , speeches, etc. It is all electronic AND you have willing gatekeepers of the information highway controlling the flow of traffic and exterminating those whom they deem to be not accepting of their need to control.
Put me in the easily duped category. Probably because I have always loathed Trump personally. Still do. I was ready to believe he was guilty of some or all of the allegations and that is his campaign would play fast and loose with the rules based on that opinion. But when it unfolded, I found out I was wrong and had let my personal bias effect my opinion.. the difference is, I, changed my mind, those in charge doubled down.
Thanks. It does stand to reason you will think the worst of those you do not like. Which is why we have to see past our emotional response. As i said elsewhere. the irony is wouldn't it have be that the guy who finally ripped of the mask of the establishment was Trump? we just can't win.
The people who believed the Russia lies were anti-Trump. The most deranged nutcases in media calling for Trump's head were Keith Olbermann (that sack of offal who also used his dwindling airtime to berate the unvaccinated) and Rachel Madcow, who will be remembered as the most disgusting liar ever to assault viewers with her self-righteous histrionic garbage. She will also be lionized by those with terminal TDS as a heroine. There are those among us who still believe Trump conspired with Russians to sabotage the Clinton campaign and take over the US from the White House as Putin's stooge and will never believe otherwise, no matter how much factual evidence to the contrary is waved in front of their squeezed-shut eyes.
Skeptics could be found among disinterested journos. Taibbi is one. Trump loyalists obviously never believed a word. Most Americans didn't give a shit and still don't.
I'm surprised that "diligent reporters" covering the Russian Dossier story did not think back to a prior Democrat stunt to discredit George Bush jr. Remember the damming letter from his Air National Guard commander that challenged his integrity and competence. There was no interest from the FBI in looking at it but an individual did a simple check. The typeface used in the forged letter did not exist until years after the report was supposedly prepared. This was back in the pre computer era when letters and reports were typed on typewriters that left a signature typestyle.
The most minimal questions about the Russian Dossier
Who initiated it - Clinton campaign,
Who delivered it to DOJ - Clinton's campaign attorney
Who prepared it - Clinton operative with a very questionable background
Who paid for it - Clinton campaign
The funds to pay for the "Dossier". most likely came from DNC funds ( diverted under a secret agreement made by the DNC's then Chmn. Debbie Wasserman) to Hillary's control in violation of federal election laws (source - Donna Brazelle - Chmn DNC. and author of "Hacks" )
They didn't think back to the Bush letter, as they wanted this. They wanted to believe that Trump was guilty, they wanted to believe that Clinton was the best choice, they wanted to believe that destiny was putting the first woman president in place.
What they were going to be diligent about was denying Trump.
Hillary that was the force getting Bill to look beyond the daily commitment his "jobs" program . When Hillary gained control of the DNC through Debbie Wasserman things really began to roll. Sadly for our nation so many in DC believed that the end (election of Hillary) justified breaking so many laws. Ironically it was Donna Brazile , the DNC Chairwoman who replaced Wasserman-Schultz , who was saddled with the secret "deal" Wasserman made with Hillary to give her campaign control of the DNC and the DNC funds. Bernie was lynched by his own party. Highly recommended read Hacks, by Donna Brazelle ... https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/fpUAAOSwYMFg0wkd/s-l500.jpg
Somehow the multiple federal election law violations documented in her book were never of interest to the DOJ which was , in the words of Agent Strozk committed to the extermination of Trump through any means necessary.
When the Clintons went to DC two California attorneys close to the Democratic party moved to DC to serve their interests. McAuliffe stayed while the other attorney left in disgust with the Clinton admn. It was McAuliffe who provided Agent Strozk's wife around $500,000 allegedly for her campaign for a minor political office. The Agent then provided his mistress (another FBI employee) with the assurance that there was a Plan B in case Trump was elected. None of this seems to be of interest to the mainstream press.
It is difficult to find a clearer case demonstrating the corruption in the DOJ than to look at three cases involving retention of classified information . Hillary - a) had a vast trove of classified information after she left the State Department. The information was shared with Huma who had left US government work and was an independent consultant, selling her expertise to foreign nations, not all of whom were friends. Huma's husband was the legendary Carlos Danger prowling the internet for young women. Hubby was tasked by Huma for a variety of tasks including printing classified information provided by Hillary on the same computer with which he prowled the internet. The DOJ cleared Huma and ignored Carlos over a weekend while at the same time they were relentlessly. pursuing Trump. Later the same team would look the other way at the classified information on Hunter's laptops copies of which almost certainly fell into the hands of the Russians providing him with cocaine and hookers - per Hunter in his rants.
Except... the damning letter was a set up. It was a forgery of a REAL letter leaked to Dan Rather in order to kill a story that would have ended the Bush Dynasty with the added benefit of f*cking over a relatively honorable journalist.
Good Sir, you are not supposed to recall facts that do not compliment the "alternative fact" narrative❗
👀Speaking of the "Bush Dynasty", it seems that one might do well to recall the fact that Jeb Bush was the initial instigator ("initiator") of the so-called "Russia Dossier"⁉
Only the story about George W. "cocaine" Bush being AWOL from the National Guard was accurate. The corporate media's story about the typewriter font was debunked many times over. Dan Rather and CBS simply caved to the neocons and threw Mary Mapes under the bus for reporting the truth about GWB, a story that had been vetted many times over, unlike the Trump-Russia BS: https://www.democracynow.org/2006/2/9/fired_cbs_producer_stands_by_documents
The irony is that the people who ran the GOP then are running the Democratic Party today. In both cases, the neocons got away with their lies and never had to pay a price for it.
There's all the reason(s) in the world to believe that the 2020 election was rigged by the Democrats & employees of the federal gov't & social media bigwigs. We the people have lost the power of the vote. It's that simple.
The powers that be have been rigging elections for the far-right more and more aggressively since they got away with it in 2000 and 2004. By the time Bush/Cheney were preparing to leave office, they'd trashed the Republican brand, and Obama welcomed the neocons and Wall Street with open arms. Since 2008, the powers that be have been brazenly rigging elections for the Democrats, as they have become the party of the far-right, especially since Trump pulled so many Republicans leftward.
"is the Republic so far gone that they get away with it?"
Yes, and they (the Security State) already have gotten away with it. They succeeded in smearing and bogging down Trump's term in office with all this nonsense, even if they failed to prevent him from taking office the first time. Then, in 2020, they succeeded in keeping him from office. There does not seem to be any accountability aside from a couple dragged out and suppressed reports. The Durham report is just another report. The Mueller report has been out for years and was pretty clear that there was no collusion, but that did nothing to move the needle either. The MSM is long gone and will subdue and suppress this report so it never reaches the masses consciousness. They have fully gotten away with it.
You say "we've" known all of this for years, but that "we" is a very limited slice of the population in my estimation. The vast majority of people I know do not dig into information gathering the way you and I (and most folks reading stacks like this) seem to. Most people I know have no clue about most of these issues when I raise them in conversation. A great many people I know do not know what the Twitter files are or, if they do, what they have showed. It has been my experience that most people do not have the time or inclination to work as hard as is required to dig in and discover the truth. They do not understand that MSM is lying to them on the regular and is mainly a propaganda machine. They consume what they are fed and they go about their lives having absorbed the propaganda as "truth". This is why it works. This is why they will get away with it. When I attempt to explain the truth to these folks (and this seems to be most people) in conversation, it merely cements my status as the anti-vax conspiracy theorist that they see me as.
I wonder though. I think a majority of Republicans saw through it all early on. My husband, sister & BIL, and Mom did. But we were also reading Kimberly Strassel at WSJ, Nat'l Review, Victor David Hanson, Real Clear Politics & watching Tucker some. I voraciously consumed print media in 2016-2020. I first found Matt in an article about the Media have lost their integrity and souls, I can't remember when that was but years ago----it made me so happy that there was at least one liberal reporter who could see truth through the lies. Some of my family bought every single word the MSM told them & still do. I naturally think of them as the less intelligent ones (even though well-educated), and man do they love some virtue signaling. I do have friends who are pretty moderate & who just don't care that much----politics isn't that important to them. I think they think Whatever----don't all politicians lie? Hasn't it always been rigged? What can I do to make any worthwhile change? And I totally get why they think that way, but I guess I'm just too much of a fighter to accept that. I believe in the traditional morals & values of America, the Founding Fathers, & I refuse to just bend the knee to these outright criminals. I am stunned the government is this deeply corrupt but I have to think the American people are good people. I would trust most common criminals over Hillary Clinton & every single person who participated in this. I wish they could all be tried and thrown in jail where they belong, but they won't because they have the DC jury pool to save their slimy asses. At least Durham investigated & wrote the report. Only the blackest heart could look at the evidence & say but but but Trump!
You might want to change “and everybody knew it “ to “everyone with any sense knew it.” My guess is about 25 to 30% will always believe these flagrant lies.
Honestly I just rewatched the Game of Thrones episode where Cersei doesn't go to her trial and blows up the sept where it's held. End of season 6. And there's a point where Margaery says to the septon 'she knows the consequences of not coming and she isn't here anyway. Which indicates she doesn't intend to suffer those consequences.' Sorta reminds me of this. These people just do as they please, confident that they won't face consequences. So far they're right. We'll see if Republicans actually hold them accountable. I wouldn't bet on it.
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer: Republicans "have made it quite clear they want to eliminate what they call the Deep State.
The Deep State is a cadre of professionals dedicated to honoring the Constitution (LOL) and the laws of this country.. He opens with the usual "projection" and then describes what they used to say was a conspiracy theory; the Deep State.
Well. Nova Scotia had a madman on the loose who killed 22 people 2 years ago. The only people he encountered that survived were waiting at their front door with a loaded gun. Not a pop gun .
It's "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with a twist. In this version, there really IS a wolf, but no matter how much the boy points to the dead and bloodied sheep and fresh wolf tracks, no one believes him; after all, the credentialed members of the Amalgamated Shepherd's Guild are nearly unanimous in dismissing the boy's fantastic tales. Eventually though, after the damage is done, one member of the guild finally gets around to saying, "You know, the boy had a point." To which the villagers just yawn and call it "old news".
At this point, I'm almost rooting for the wolf to eat 'em all and be done with it.
Anyone that’s been paying a minuscule bit of attention to this fiasco for the last 6 or so years isn’t surprised by this report - at all. And the mainstream media will bury it faster than a dead cat’s carcass. Nothing will change and no one will be held accountable. Good reporting as always, Matt.
Just like "our democracy was at stake" in the midterm elections. Anyone doing shots to the number of times this hypnotic suggestion was repeated by a talking head got knee-walking drunk.
Did you ever think in our lifetime that we would see the venality of a political party as has been displayed by the Democrat Party?! This is WAY BEYOND Watergate.....
One of the most enlightening books was written by a devout democrat, Donna Brazile , in which she recounts finding that her position as DNC Chairwoman has been neutered by a secret (and probably illegal) agreement which gave Hillary control of most of the DNC and State Party funds. It is a really worthwhile read, written by a passionate Democrat of high integrity. Hacks was the very appropriate title.
Thing is, after 4 years, Durham found no one broke the law. He tried two indictments but failed to get convictions. He’s a respected attorney, did a thorough investigation and while finding many problematic issues with FBI behavior, no one broke any laws. Yet, many reading this would dismiss Mueller’s report resulted in (?)37 indictments, (?)17 of Russians and numerous indictments and convictions of Trump’s closest aids. That problematic behavior by Trumps cronies stinks as much as the FBI’s behavior.
LOL masterclass spin. "getting no convictions" in DC is a lot different than not breaking the law and you know it. When the judge disallows text messages that prove you did it, or when the jury just says lying to the FBI shouldn't be a crime........
This is how it goes when you’re a Friend of the Swamp. (Or at least useful to it) Michael Sussmann lied to the FBI. We have the receipts. But when you’re a Friend of the Swamp, that doesn’t matter because ‘lying to the FBI shouldn’t be a crime’.
After the verdict, the jury forewoman, who declined to give her name, spoke to the media. She said charges should never have been filed against Mr. Sussmann in the first place.
“I don’t think it should have been prosecuted,” she said of the case. “There are bigger things that affect the nation than a possible lie to the FBI.”
I mean that this was the intent of the Founding Fathers, now sadly in abeyance. We even have things like the espionage law which forbids a public interest defense. That's what juries are for, to protect the public interest.
Durham chose not to find charges. He is known to cabinet investigations. All of those mentioned deserve prosecution with the intensity given Assange. While Assange should be freed. The fbi lying to spy on one a campaign at the behest of another is very different from some minor campaign finance issue (that obama and clinton did at a greater scale and settled for a low dollar amount.)
If you read the book HACKS by Donna Brazelle , DNC Chairwoman during much of Hillary's campaign there was a vast abuse of election finance laws as the former Chmn , Debbie Wasserman, who executed a secret agreement with the Clinton campaign that gave Clinton access to and control of contributions made to the DNC. This was a major violation of campaign finance laws as contributions to the DNC were not limited. It also served to sink Bernie .
Even on your twisted narrative. Indictments don't count. How many in the Trump campaign were convicted of charges relating to colluding with the Russians? How many of the Clinton inspired operation should be in jail?
So your standard is as follows- if it isnt criminal its ok?
You realize that racism, sexism, age discrimination, slander, and scores of other offensive activity isnt “indictable” . In your view can we then just say all of that is “ok” . Please fire all DEI employees, stop protesting over sexist and racist conduct.
I think we have better standards than .. hey its not illegal.
The FBI, Clintons, DOJ. etc scoured the world to find anything they could use to charge and prosecute those associated with the Trump organization. At the same time the FBI had the Hunter laptop FOR A YEAR and simply hid it, neglecting to followup on the dozens and dozens of felonies. Again they hid the truth that they had verified the laptop was genuine.
No, never said that. I just see many apologists for Trump and his misdeeds, probable illegal and not illegal, before, during and after his presidency. Those are overlooked while the FBI is, perhaps rightly so, is raked over the coals. Trump is always the victim. Trump may not be a member of the so called swamp many comments refer to, but he leads another just as corrupt.
Y'all apparently suffer from amnesia........ Trump was charged with high crimes and acquitted. But the FBI hid all the felonies associated with democrat operatives including Hillary . Just as the FBI looked the other way at Hillary's gross violations of classified information handling , her transfer of classified information to Huma ( after she left the govt and had no clearance) and Huma having her husband who prowled the internet as Carlos Danger, assigned to print classified information which Huma sent to his computer. Finally there is the issue of Huma receiving classified information with no security clearance and promoting her international consulting business using classified information. And Hillary giving her maid access to the Secure Communications facility in her home so the maid could download and copy classified materials.
Yes, but Trump was never charged for his actual crimes, only for made up ones. Investigate his relationship with Epstein? Uncover photos of other ex-presidents. Tax fraud? Stuff they all do.Campaign fraud? Well, look at the Clinton campaign. Trump is a dirty dog; no one becomes rich by being ethical and above board. To prosecute him for his real crimes would have been opening a window on the swamp they all bathe in.
Of course there were "misdeeds". There was tax fraud in New York (he came from a racketeering family), there were multiple rape allegations, including a child at Epstein's house (the child retracted then vanished); there were rip-offs of cancer and veteran charities; there were the multiple affairs where he was cheating on current wives, pay-offs to hookers; the countless workers and contractors he screwed over throughout his career - Trump is a pig, has always been a pig -even when he was on the cover of magazines as a man we were supposed to aspire to be. The problem for the ruling class was never about his morality - the Clinton's were guilty of many of the same 'misdeeds,' and Joe Biden is equally corrupt and disgusting. The problem for Trump was his lack of taste, polish and manners.
And God help me, but Trump would probably be better than Biden, because at least the brunching liberals would be fighting against some of the same depredations that they are applauding when Biden does them.
In the end, Durham was too loyal to the FBI. The prosecutions were predicated on the FBI being the victim of lies, which was impossible to prove because the FBI was in on the lies instead of being mislead by them.
That is unfortunately not true. Tons of people I know followed this story endlessly, breathlessly; on the pages of the NYTS, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, etc. These are not stupid people, and they were paying attention. They were simply overwhelmed by the informational warfare conducted by the media of record and institutions they believed were trustworthy. We can pretty much count on these same news outlets to make certain that their audiences never understand or read the Durham report.
Agreed. My social circle goes from high proles (engineers, doctors) to managerial class (lawyers, finance). 100% of the managerial class people bought into Russiagate whereas 75% of the high proles did. Overall, every single person I know who is more intelligent than me believed it.
Exactly, it will come and go, and it will have zero impact on the fervent beliefs of the afflicted.
I have yet to talk to someone who even heard of Hersh's report on the pipeline. When I told my neighbour, an upper class Brit who is studying International Relations, he had never heard about it. When I proffered the details he called me a "Russia apologist". He also said that if it it true that's a good thing as Russia and China are evil and must be stopped. He clearly has a superiour IQ too. Not that that matters, as people like Maddow demonstrate.
I have long thought it strange that the most popular "news" broadcast in the USA is not considered mainstream media. Not only that, it is the leading channel, as the rest of big media has adopted its methods. So.."mainstream media" is one of the many phrases I no longer use.
I’ll never vote Democrat again. I’ll never trust the FBI again. It was probably naive to trust them in the first place. DC is truly a rotten shitty cesspool of evil, unethical monsters and Hillary Clinton is most certainly among the slimiest and evilest. Now watch as this information is dismissed by some, ignored by others, and Durhams character will be destroyed everywhere with claims that will have not a single iota of evidence to support them.
The point of the russiagate conspiracy theory was never to prove the conspiracy theory. Every one of the perpetrators knew from the outset that it was bullshit.
The point was to hamstring Trump’s foreign policy, and give the spooks a de facto veto over policies they didn't like.
In this, the russiagate conspiracy theory was a complete success.
Trump even tried to placate them. He demanded for instance, that the Nato vassal states double their aspirational contributions from 2% to 4%. He also tore up the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a bilateral arms control agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union (later Russia) signed in 1987 which prohibited the production, testing, and deployment of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. All that to the benefit of those looking for preemptive strike capability against the Russians. He flew B52's right up to their borders. He imposed sanctions on Russia. Trump also withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, an arms control agreement that allowed participating countries to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over each other's territories.
None of that was enough though, as the MIC wanted the war that Hillary surely would have started right away.
All this was exactly what the MIC and the Deep State wanted for their long planned war on Russia, the one 'we' are in now.
Thanks. This is only a partial list too. I don't know of a definitive one anywhere though.
The criticism of Trump for his drone murders is almost non-existent too, that despite the fact that he employed even more that Obama, who himself used them ten times more than buhs.
People need to stop saying “everyone knew all this information for years.”
As incredible as it sounds most democrats (57% according to a poll) believe to this day that the Russians colluded with Trump and helped him win the election. And I guarantee you that a majority of the so-called mainstream media also believe that the Russian collusion story is true (stone!!! Manafort!!! Flynn!!!).
These people are sick and deranged. They will go to their graves thinking Trump stoke the ‘16 election. And they are too entrenched in their cult to think any differently.
That's what my friend, a wapo victim, told me too. He laughed when I suggested that Bezos sticks his nose in, or the CIA has any influence there.
They have a canned answer for everything.
He said the same thing about the referendums and surveys in Crimea. Crimea, which is apparently under "brutal occupation".
The annexation of Crimea, sold to them as a crime of historic proportions, killed 3 Crimeans and 3 Russians. Obama killed more babies than that on just his third day in office, and then never stopped!
Lying and self-deception is so prevalent, it is difficult to try to ascertain what people "really" think. There's only one way to really know. This is to find what they do 1) when they believe no one else will ever find out and 2) something substantial is at stake.
This is usually impractical. So I pay no attention to what they say, look at what they do, and go with that. That's the best you can do.
Yep! Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words. Which is why I've learned to evaluate a candidate on his/her past record, not on their campaign "promises." And I watch debates purely for their entertainment value, not to inform my vote. Can't even imagine how different this country (and the world) would be if most of the electorate could rise above the partisan muck in order to do the same.
So no one is named as culpable, the FBI is institutionally protected with a few tsk-tsk's and Comey is actually allowed to skate away without having to answer a single question.
Well, aren't we glad we have all of that behind us!
So the FBI agents were willing to travel halfway around the world to chase down a vague conversation that turned out to be groundless but were apparently not willing to perform any review or analysis of the Hunter Biden laptop with its vast documentation of bribery , foreign cash, security risks associated with the lost computers (Hunter thought the Russians stole them) and of course the quantity of drugs Hunter was receiving. The FBI had been given the material and issued a receipt for it when received from the computer shop owner. Instead the FBI hid the laptop and failed to admit they had it when the copied files were released . We can be pretty sure the FBI agents studied the videos including Hunter gaining carnal knowledge with his toes while the young lady was snorting cocaine from a large pile provided by Hunter on the nightstand. And of course there were all the financial records which would have certainly raised questions given the sources.
In an ordinary world where judges followed the rules the computer store owner would have not problem. a) Hunter had assigned the computer to the repair facility in exchange for their work, should be bill not be paid and the computer abandoned. b) the owner surrendered the actual computer and hard drive to the FBI without any payment or making any representations other than it was something the FBI should look at. The FBI reacted quickly, not to use the information, but to protect Joe Biden.
A third grade student would understand that the content of Hunter's laptop could not be fabricated. The calls from Joe, the perfect matching of the accounts with verifiable information that was not public at the time, many witnesses to Hunter's relentless pursuit of dirty money, cocaine and ladies who would put up with his perversions , including his love of video. There's also the bigger than life Hunter ranting that the Russians are stealing his computers, calls from Joe, bank records, endless emails.
Defund the FBI. It's a corrupt organization. Break it up into smaller pieces.
My proposal is to lower every DOJ & FBI executive position in DC one pay grade as a cost saving measure. If DOJ & FBI comply with all Congressional subpoenas during the time the budget is in force, the pay grades will be retroactively restored. Non compliance means everybody suffers personally. Holding executive pay hostage in defense of liberty is no vice.
Maybe I'm being negative, but every time I read so and so should be "held accountable" I think, that person's moxie is going to get them a promotion. I present Gina Haspel as Exhibit A.
When your being paid millions under the table, stolen from the American taxpayer, your paycheck is not something anyone can use as leverage. Arrest them all, start the water boarding at the top. You'll find out who, what, where, when, why,what color, what day.
Crimes were committed but Durham lacked leverage to get the FBI mobsters to rat out their boss. Congress has that leverage. The GOP needs to use this report as an outline for questioning all the key players. Watergate wasn't a scandal until Congress started asking questions.
One of the fbi guys left a congressional interview as he “had to catch a flight” on an fbi plane. “Presumably for a criminal matter right?” Turns out he took the plane to go to a family holiday. It helped buy time to slow progress. And if you’ve watched their testimony, they answer every question with non answers.
Read the Mueller report someday. Mueller ((a lifelong Republican) believed there was a good possibility of criminal misdeeds but taking the opinion of the OLC as to his prosecutorial abilities, decided not to prosecute.
I dunno. I honestly don't think Mueller was terribly engaged. His report was a masterpiece of saying what they knew but then aggressively conjuring up all the facts they didn't know and were unable to ascertain ("we knew he was guilty, we just couldn't prove it").
D's have to back away from keyboard. They saw how Fox worked in the '90s and said, hold my beer. That's not how persuasion works and just as folks were catching on to Fox, they got a triple dose of the same from the D outlets. The harder the D's message, the more they reinforce resistance to their (sigh) brand.
D's need to purge their party from top to bottom. Next cycle everyone should resign, every position and seat should be up for grabs. It would change everything forever. Same true of R's but I'd rather see the country guided by the folks the D's kicked out vs the folks the R's marginalized.
AI is fake news. Its not replacing people any faster than EVs are replacing gas cars. Its not happening anywhere like the dreams of the deluded elites, if it happens at all. AI sounds like a dumb liberal so far. not really a basis for anything intelligent.
Well if the NY legislature can redefine the statute of limitations for Carroll to bring her case against Trump. Gop should introduce a bill that expands statute of limitations for cases that were assigned to a special prosecutor. 😳
I'm sure she will. But she got caught with her undies down in the immigrant child labor thing. With reciepts. Which is probably why she's exiting fast.
The deputy SOS just resigned too, got caught out playing footsie with China.
Samantha powers should have been charged with treason, where is she now? Has herself another high paying gov title. "Thanks daddy, for keeping me off the noose and getting me this great job!"
Oh, I see. Our federal bureaucrats know what's best for us They went all in to elect the "right" candidate with lies, more lies and the fawning complicity of media hacks, but the stupid voters didn't do as they were told, and so the effort will continue to be orchestrated out of Washington, D.C., the biggest, smuggest and most overlarded bureaucracy in world history.
It's all over now, but we should not expect anything to change.
All you have to do is read Ann22, to realize nothing, not even the sound of the trap door dropping, will change their minds. They are right, and just, just like Jesus, in their own eyes.
Honestly the biggest thing about this report is that we've known all of this for years. We had handwritten notes from the 'bigwig' meeting where they are discussing if they want to question Flynn or set him up. (They did the latter)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/29/michael-flynn-case-fbi-goal-was-get-him-lie-bombsh/
The years of breathless Russiagate coverage was ALWAYS a lie, and everybody knew it. The only question is -- is the Republic so far gone that they get away with it?
Likely, yes. The 2024 election results will be the final determinate. And possibly the final crucifixion nail in America as we once knew her.
2024 was already 'fortified' via the 2022 midterm 'fortification' that kept the swing states in blue control, ensuring no Florida-style election reform. As long as we keep littering the cityscape with 'legal' ballots, it'll be far too easy to cheat.
And that's the way Democrats (and their Uniparty Republican friends) want it.
They didn't bank on NY state fucking them out of the majority though.
Yes, anyone outside of the establishment of either party must never be allowed to steal the presidency from it's rightful owners. Oh wait, that's nothing new at all.
Yeah. Biden literally says they won't allow Trump to take power........but nobody in the world is worried about Trump losing and trying to force his way into office -- they're talking about preventing Trump from taking office IF HE WINS.
For democracy, of course.
Could you please cite a source or provide a link?
"When asked at a post-midterms press conference how other world leaders should view this moment for America, with Trump potentially running for the presidency again, Biden said he will make sure Trump doesn’t take power.
'We just have to demonstrate that he will not take power if he does run, making sure he — under legitimate efforts of our Constitution — does not become the next president again,' Biden said." https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3728174-biden-suggests-trump-will-not-take-power-again-if-he-runs-in-2024/
Dementia Joe was lucid enough to awkwardly include the qualifier.
Thanks for posting the link.
https://rumble.com/embed/v2dm33o/?pub=ztma8
This was just after the midterms.
Edit: https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/the-walls-close-infinally
And now we’ve reached the point where they don’t just go after the little people who can’t defend themselves against the full force of the government, they literally go after the leader of the opposition party in order to prevent him from being elected by the voters. Nobody is worried that Trump is going to lose the election in 2024 and try to force his way into the White House. This “plan” is to prevent Trump from taking office SHOULD HE ACTUALLY WIN THE ELECTION.
I have been wondering where they got the nerve to run a senile loser against a man who can beat him in a fair fight easily. It really looks like they plan on sweeping Trump off the board and simply installing a drooling, willing puppet.
My god.
Except in 2016 when someone actually did, which is what this whole Russia pseudo-drama was all about.
Never again! Oh wait, wrong injustice.
Think about the cynicism of the Clinton campaign, knowing they were setting up a lie; you can see why they thought they would coast to victory. It is really astonishing even for a cynical bastard like me.
"...they thought they would coast to victory."
Which still cracks me up. You'd think after she private jetted into Iowa in '08 assuming that she had it locked up from the get go, only to have the proles decide they'd rather have a first term Senator instead, that she would have been a bit more cautious and humble next time around. Nope, she doubled down and locked up all of the money and superdelegates and sat on her fat ass in Malibu guzzling champagne while Trump flew into flyover country and talked to the deplorables. And still can't figure out how and why she is so loathed by the electorate. But the clues were there from way back in '08.
You would have to accuse Hillary of having some self-awareness, and I suspect that her ego leaves no room for that in her cognitive warehouse.
Everything you talk about is perfectly described here:
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/michigan-hillary-clinton-trump-232547
Everybody could see Hillary Clinton was cooked in Iowa. So when, a week-and-a-half out, the Service Employees International Union started hearing anxiety out of Michigan, union officials decided to reroute their volunteers, giving a desperate team on the ground around Detroit some hope.
They started prepping meals and organizing hotel rooms.
SEIU — which had wanted to go to Michigan from the beginning, but been ordered not to — dialed Clinton’s top campaign aides to tell them about the new plan. According to several people familiar with the call, Brooklyn was furious.
Turn that bus around, the Clinton team ordered SEIU. Those volunteers needed to stay in Iowa to fool Donald Trump into competing there, not drive to Michigan, where the Democrat’s models projected a 5-point win through the morning of Election Day.
Michigan organizers were shocked. It was the latest case of Brooklyn ignoring on-the-ground intel and pleas for help in a race that they felt slipping away at the end.
“But the clues were there from way back in '08.”
Actually, the clues were there from way back in ’98. At that time, First Lady Hillary appeared on The Today Show and claimed all allegations against Bill Clinton were a "vast right-wing conspiracy."
That short phrase became the endless loop that has dominated Democratic Party strategy, US politics, and corporate media to this day.
Yes, but it was absolutely delightful watching Clinton lose along with the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
I love that you used "the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments" -- so, so apt
And with Hillary's garments, that takes a lot of rending.
It was not about anything but winning the election. The Clintons had escaped the issue of the FBI doing background checks on their enemies and then making those files available, Monica perjury, Whitewater, and a nearly endless series of abuses.
The move to exert political control over the internet dates back to the Obama years when his team talked of "curating " the internet to suppress dangerous ideas and information not favorable to the left. While "official" curating died as the result of public exposure, the left found a way through pressure and intimidation plus benefits to seriously censor what appeared on many of the major sites, perhaps most importantly Google. If this sounds strange take a few seconds to search for the contents of the Biden Laptop which were searchable and findable for a short period of time. Gone without a trace ......
It sure looks like it. There won’t be any justice. We know this. The current regime spies on opponents, uses the intelligence community and law enforcement against dissidents and political enemies, and rigs elections—all openly, without ever being held accountable for such egregious abuse of power. The elites play by one set of rules, we peasants by another, and the deep state is comprised of Democratic Party loyalists.
https://euphoricrecall.substack.com/p/the-durham-report
The question is what happens when the Rs are in charge once again. Do they clean up the FBI so that it is nonpartisan? Do they seize the levers of power and use them against the Ds? Or do they just make a big stink and not do anything? I vote for door number three.
They continue being the Washington Generals of the Uniparty.
I'd say both parties are Generals while Big Money is the Globetrotters. Since these are often multinational corporations, they literally trot the globe.
We know both houses are populated with unprincipled, venal small frys, but the alphabets are another matter. They may be bunglers when it comes to Castro's beard and Patriot Front marches, but they have been deadly effective in ending the JFK, Nixon, Carter and Trump presidencies with maximum unhappiness.
Nailed it.
Only Trump could clean out the Washington Swamp - the first go-round he had no clue what was working against him - this time he knows.
Let's hope that if he is inaugurated on January, 2025 - that DJT hires some ADULTS to help choose and vet Cabinet. I loved what Trump did as a president - but he sucks as a personnel manager. Take a look at the Clown Car that was DJT's first cabinet: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/politics/donald-trump-administration.html It's embarrassing. Except for Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross, Mike Pompeo and Mike Mulvaney - the rest were at best C or D level talent for the job. If you're going to eliminate the Swamp - you need to hire the 'A' Team - not the Mr. T 'A' team.
My God. What was it you loved? The infants in concentration camps? The enormous tax give-away to the ultra-wealthy? The unending racial slurs? The ongoing poisonous deadly sanctions against sovereign nations for choosing their own leaders? The ball-sucking sycophancy in Saudi Arabia and Israel (at least the man pays his debts)? The election of absolutely unqualified right-wing jurists to the Supreme Court?
The man was a fucking horror show. Still, better than Biden, and that's the crying shame of it all.
Yep - I loved all of that. But you forgot to mention RUSSIAN COLLUSION, INSURRECTION and TWO FAILED IMPEACHMENTS. (I didn't love those so much). But you do get extra points for recognizing that Biden is a total Shit Show! Good for you!
I recommend everyone write to their congressmen about overhauling the out of control intelligence apparatuses.
The first thing they should do is prosecute everyone who signed the letter dismissing the Hunter. laptop as it was clearly using federal resources to campaign for a political candidate.
It's easy to do and it can't hurt.
What the RNC will do is take every cent they possibly can from the US citizens (social security, all medical benefits which are little to begin with, retirement savings, anything for children, pensions, unemployment insurance, sick leave, eliminate unions, etc.) . What's worse, that? ...or the Dems murdering millions of innocents in other countries that have no intentions of attacking us? Hmmmm.....
Y'all ought to take a look at inflation under Biden and see what it has done to the savings of Americans. . The hundreds of billions used to bail out Silicone Valley Bank. The press can't seem to mention that the Bank would hold gatherings of their most wealthy clients that were really fundraisers for major Democratic figures. An evening with 50 tech guys who have no problem writing very large checks, especially when their banker it makes the magic possible.
Steve, I agree with you. Both parties are despicable, neither wants regular people to have a cent when it can be taken for the oligarchs/war machine. I say, let's elect Robert Kennedy Jr.
I keep getting phone calls asking me to privatize my Medicare Insurance Plan as if they think we the people are too dumb to know what they are up to. Also I have heard that social security funding has been all spent years ago.
Oh come on. Everybody didn't know that. Millions of people were fooled by Russiagate.
I thought it was phony from the getgo, but if nothing else this last decade has taught me that most people are more easily duped than am I.
In fact, my brother-in-law, whom my sister assures me is one of the most informed people there is, told me exactly the opposite of SimulationCommander. He said, "Everyone knows Trump colluded with the Russians."
(Yes, that's pretty much an exact quote.)
That’s the thing, these lies are always prefaced with “everybody knows” so that lies become established fact without any evidence ever having to be produced.
And tens of millions still believe it.
Yes-there is no one in my family, circle of friends/neighbors that I could talk to about this. I have tried and it's like how I imagine being in the Scientology headquarters questioning Scientology.
Yea, they believe what they want to believe. Also, it takes courage and honesty to admit they were wrong all along. Who wants to look like a fool? And the propaganda mainstream media employs is relentless and shameless. Don’t underestimate the brainwashing level. As my late supervisor used to say: “you underestimate the moron factor”.
I was a fool. I believed it all the way to Hunter Biden's laptop. But when they started saying Glenn Greenwald was an alt-right conspiracy theorist I finally said hey wait a minute. Some of us are thicker than others
It takes strength and self-confidence to make an admission like that, instead of doubling-down or just walking away.
I hope I can follow the example of people like you when faced with my errors.
Using critical thinking is a disappearing skill. They no longer teach it. I am glad you have it.
One of the reasons they believe it is that Facebook, Google and a host of others have erased all of the trails leading to the Hunter Biden computer materials . There was a European site that had them but there are no trails left.
Anybody actually following the story knew everything that Durham laid out already. It's not about "being fooled" -- it's about already knowing the evidence that exists.
There's no excuse for ignorance, ESPECIALLY in a media market as toxic as ours was in 2016-2020.
If you disagree, what in the report do you think is new?
Not much new to you or me maybe. Some bits. But the value of the report is that it should set a pretty much irrefutable cannon of facts and evidence that the media will consult. Some media, possibly...
Or future historians.
Thank you Susan Schmidt for your reporting here
Most people do not have the time, the energy or the tools to sort through all the lies. I see this every day talking to my neighbours, people on the bus, and the like. They spend about 20 minutes a day, on a good day listening to, and then, astonishingly at this point, still believing everything that their teevees tell them.
I wish it were otherwise.
The internet, which should have been the greatest fact checker in history, is now used almost exclusively for literal mind control.
"I don't have time" is simply fluffy-speak for "This is not a priority to me."
This is truth.
There is an excuse for ignorance. Most people don't have the time, interest, or inclination to root through all of this stuff.
So they work under the vague assumption that the "truth" is something they will never know but is loosely reflected in the media.
They may watch a couple debates and *might* vote. And if they do vote it will be based on where/how they live and who their parents voted for.
I object to "everybody" and "anybody" as obviously untrue.
Do you think any of this came as a surprise to Matt? I'm just a part-time hack and I knew everything already. How could anybody following this story -- not just the media spin -- NOT know this information?
"Following the story" means "knowing what's happening", and we knew all this was happening long ago.
I dare say that you, I, and Matt are outliers. My earlier life was sheltered in university towns. Only during this past decade have I gotten an appreciation of how relatively obtuse, how unperspicacious most people are. George Orwell had it right, that most don't get beyond chanting "four legs good, two legs bad." Even very smart people will do this. It's too bad, but that's the way it is. Many to most people are conformists and won't deviate no matter what. We don't have to like it, but this is why propaganda is so effective.
I look at the Russia blew up its own pipeline story and cannot understand how anyone could be fooled by that. But many are.
Mick Wallace of Ireland has spoken about this at the EU.
Earlier i read the NYT piece on the Durham report. And a few of the comments - the koolaid is sloshing around in there as much as it ever does, it seems that people were buying hteir spin.
I'm a lot lowlier than you are, and i knew it right away. The first clue for me was Donna Brazile's book that kept banging on about the Russians. Next clue i remember was Hillary throwing a big bash for all her big donors to make excuses and banged on about Comey and the Russians. I'll give you that i had a bias of absoluteluy loathing her, but all i could think is like, oh this is how they're going to spin this loss then.
They are STILL hammering on Russiagate. The George W. Bush "never admit you were wrong" style dominates these days. I think H will take it with her to the grave.
What's happened is that the world of Orwell's 1984 has been transformed by the presence of electronic media so that no longer do you need a vast army of bureaucrats sifting through books , mail , speeches, etc. It is all electronic AND you have willing gatekeepers of the information highway controlling the flow of traffic and exterminating those whom they deem to be not accepting of their need to control.
Put me in the easily duped category. Probably because I have always loathed Trump personally. Still do. I was ready to believe he was guilty of some or all of the allegations and that is his campaign would play fast and loose with the rules based on that opinion. But when it unfolded, I found out I was wrong and had let my personal bias effect my opinion.. the difference is, I, changed my mind, those in charge doubled down.
Thanks. It does stand to reason you will think the worst of those you do not like. Which is why we have to see past our emotional response. As i said elsewhere. the irony is wouldn't it have be that the guy who finally ripped of the mask of the establishment was Trump? we just can't win.
The people who believed the Russia lies were anti-Trump. The most deranged nutcases in media calling for Trump's head were Keith Olbermann (that sack of offal who also used his dwindling airtime to berate the unvaccinated) and Rachel Madcow, who will be remembered as the most disgusting liar ever to assault viewers with her self-righteous histrionic garbage. She will also be lionized by those with terminal TDS as a heroine. There are those among us who still believe Trump conspired with Russians to sabotage the Clinton campaign and take over the US from the White House as Putin's stooge and will never believe otherwise, no matter how much factual evidence to the contrary is waved in front of their squeezed-shut eyes.
Skeptics could be found among disinterested journos. Taibbi is one. Trump loyalists obviously never believed a word. Most Americans didn't give a shit and still don't.
I'm surprised that "diligent reporters" covering the Russian Dossier story did not think back to a prior Democrat stunt to discredit George Bush jr. Remember the damming letter from his Air National Guard commander that challenged his integrity and competence. There was no interest from the FBI in looking at it but an individual did a simple check. The typeface used in the forged letter did not exist until years after the report was supposedly prepared. This was back in the pre computer era when letters and reports were typed on typewriters that left a signature typestyle.
The most minimal questions about the Russian Dossier
Who initiated it - Clinton campaign,
Who delivered it to DOJ - Clinton's campaign attorney
Who prepared it - Clinton operative with a very questionable background
Who paid for it - Clinton campaign
The funds to pay for the "Dossier". most likely came from DNC funds ( diverted under a secret agreement made by the DNC's then Chmn. Debbie Wasserman) to Hillary's control in violation of federal election laws (source - Donna Brazelle - Chmn DNC. and author of "Hacks" )
They didn't think back to the Bush letter, as they wanted this. They wanted to believe that Trump was guilty, they wanted to believe that Clinton was the best choice, they wanted to believe that destiny was putting the first woman president in place.
What they were going to be diligent about was denying Trump.
Hillary that was the force getting Bill to look beyond the daily commitment his "jobs" program . When Hillary gained control of the DNC through Debbie Wasserman things really began to roll. Sadly for our nation so many in DC believed that the end (election of Hillary) justified breaking so many laws. Ironically it was Donna Brazile , the DNC Chairwoman who replaced Wasserman-Schultz , who was saddled with the secret "deal" Wasserman made with Hillary to give her campaign control of the DNC and the DNC funds. Bernie was lynched by his own party. Highly recommended read Hacks, by Donna Brazelle ... https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/fpUAAOSwYMFg0wkd/s-l500.jpg
Somehow the multiple federal election law violations documented in her book were never of interest to the DOJ which was , in the words of Agent Strozk committed to the extermination of Trump through any means necessary.
When the Clintons went to DC two California attorneys close to the Democratic party moved to DC to serve their interests. McAuliffe stayed while the other attorney left in disgust with the Clinton admn. It was McAuliffe who provided Agent Strozk's wife around $500,000 allegedly for her campaign for a minor political office. The Agent then provided his mistress (another FBI employee) with the assurance that there was a Plan B in case Trump was elected. None of this seems to be of interest to the mainstream press.
It is difficult to find a clearer case demonstrating the corruption in the DOJ than to look at three cases involving retention of classified information . Hillary - a) had a vast trove of classified information after she left the State Department. The information was shared with Huma who had left US government work and was an independent consultant, selling her expertise to foreign nations, not all of whom were friends. Huma's husband was the legendary Carlos Danger prowling the internet for young women. Hubby was tasked by Huma for a variety of tasks including printing classified information provided by Hillary on the same computer with which he prowled the internet. The DOJ cleared Huma and ignored Carlos over a weekend while at the same time they were relentlessly. pursuing Trump. Later the same team would look the other way at the classified information on Hunter's laptops copies of which almost certainly fell into the hands of the Russians providing him with cocaine and hookers - per Hunter in his rants.
Except... the damning letter was a set up. It was a forgery of a REAL letter leaked to Dan Rather in order to kill a story that would have ended the Bush Dynasty with the added benefit of f*cking over a relatively honorable journalist.
@ Shaun L. 🎯
Good Sir, you are not supposed to recall facts that do not compliment the "alternative fact" narrative❗
👀Speaking of the "Bush Dynasty", it seems that one might do well to recall the fact that Jeb Bush was the initial instigator ("initiator") of the so-called "Russia Dossier"⁉
EA☠
It's all one big club, and we ain't in it. (Thank you George Carlin)
That's a Bingo!
Only the story about George W. "cocaine" Bush being AWOL from the National Guard was accurate. The corporate media's story about the typewriter font was debunked many times over. Dan Rather and CBS simply caved to the neocons and threw Mary Mapes under the bus for reporting the truth about GWB, a story that had been vetted many times over, unlike the Trump-Russia BS: https://www.democracynow.org/2006/2/9/fired_cbs_producer_stands_by_documents
The irony is that the people who ran the GOP then are running the Democratic Party today. In both cases, the neocons got away with their lies and never had to pay a price for it.
"is the Republic so far gone that they get away with it?"
to ask the question is to answer it
There's all the reason(s) in the world to believe that the 2020 election was rigged by the Democrats & employees of the federal gov't & social media bigwigs. We the people have lost the power of the vote. It's that simple.
The powers that be have been rigging elections for the far-right more and more aggressively since they got away with it in 2000 and 2004. By the time Bush/Cheney were preparing to leave office, they'd trashed the Republican brand, and Obama welcomed the neocons and Wall Street with open arms. Since 2008, the powers that be have been brazenly rigging elections for the Democrats, as they have become the party of the far-right, especially since Trump pulled so many Republicans leftward.
"is the Republic so far gone that they get away with it?"
Yes, and they (the Security State) already have gotten away with it. They succeeded in smearing and bogging down Trump's term in office with all this nonsense, even if they failed to prevent him from taking office the first time. Then, in 2020, they succeeded in keeping him from office. There does not seem to be any accountability aside from a couple dragged out and suppressed reports. The Durham report is just another report. The Mueller report has been out for years and was pretty clear that there was no collusion, but that did nothing to move the needle either. The MSM is long gone and will subdue and suppress this report so it never reaches the masses consciousness. They have fully gotten away with it.
You say "we've" known all of this for years, but that "we" is a very limited slice of the population in my estimation. The vast majority of people I know do not dig into information gathering the way you and I (and most folks reading stacks like this) seem to. Most people I know have no clue about most of these issues when I raise them in conversation. A great many people I know do not know what the Twitter files are or, if they do, what they have showed. It has been my experience that most people do not have the time or inclination to work as hard as is required to dig in and discover the truth. They do not understand that MSM is lying to them on the regular and is mainly a propaganda machine. They consume what they are fed and they go about their lives having absorbed the propaganda as "truth". This is why it works. This is why they will get away with it. When I attempt to explain the truth to these folks (and this seems to be most people) in conversation, it merely cements my status as the anti-vax conspiracy theorist that they see me as.
You got it.
I wonder though. I think a majority of Republicans saw through it all early on. My husband, sister & BIL, and Mom did. But we were also reading Kimberly Strassel at WSJ, Nat'l Review, Victor David Hanson, Real Clear Politics & watching Tucker some. I voraciously consumed print media in 2016-2020. I first found Matt in an article about the Media have lost their integrity and souls, I can't remember when that was but years ago----it made me so happy that there was at least one liberal reporter who could see truth through the lies. Some of my family bought every single word the MSM told them & still do. I naturally think of them as the less intelligent ones (even though well-educated), and man do they love some virtue signaling. I do have friends who are pretty moderate & who just don't care that much----politics isn't that important to them. I think they think Whatever----don't all politicians lie? Hasn't it always been rigged? What can I do to make any worthwhile change? And I totally get why they think that way, but I guess I'm just too much of a fighter to accept that. I believe in the traditional morals & values of America, the Founding Fathers, & I refuse to just bend the knee to these outright criminals. I am stunned the government is this deeply corrupt but I have to think the American people are good people. I would trust most common criminals over Hillary Clinton & every single person who participated in this. I wish they could all be tried and thrown in jail where they belong, but they won't because they have the DC jury pool to save their slimy asses. At least Durham investigated & wrote the report. Only the blackest heart could look at the evidence & say but but but Trump!
Yes they’ll get away with it! Jake Sullivan on the JB team now.
Finken Blinken has been doing Joe & Hunter's dirty work for quite some time now...
You might want to change “and everybody knew it “ to “everyone with any sense knew it.” My guess is about 25 to 30% will always believe these flagrant lies.
Everybody who was actually looking into the issue instead of passing off their thinking to the MSM?
Honestly I just rewatched the Game of Thrones episode where Cersei doesn't go to her trial and blows up the sept where it's held. End of season 6. And there's a point where Margaery says to the septon 'she knows the consequences of not coming and she isn't here anyway. Which indicates she doesn't intend to suffer those consequences.' Sorta reminds me of this. These people just do as they please, confident that they won't face consequences. So far they're right. We'll see if Republicans actually hold them accountable. I wouldn't bet on it.
Boom.
Yes, yes it is. Since the only solution is to defund and close down all of the federal agencies involved and Congress ain’t gonna do that.
I believe that's what adds to their fear of Trump,
Jul 23, 2022 - Politics & Policy
Inside Trump '25
Trump's revenge
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/23/donald-trump-news-schedule-f-executive-order
Updated Jul 23, 2022 - Politics & Policy
How Trump could reimpose "Schedule F" in 2025
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/22/trump-presidency-schedule-f-federal-employees
Jul 22, 2022 - Politics & Policy
Inside Trump '25
A radical plan for Trump’s second term
https://www.axios.com/2022/07/22/trump-2025-radical-plan-second-term
Creating the Monster: The American Bureaucracy
https://afnn.us/2022/08/14/creating-the-monster-the-american-bureaucracy/
This monster,
Evidence of the above; Capitol Protest - Federal Employees Zoom Call Re: Breaking Windows Plans;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrPXiz4m7nk&t=11s
House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer: Republicans "have made it quite clear they want to eliminate what they call the Deep State.
The Deep State is a cadre of professionals dedicated to honoring the Constitution (LOL) and the laws of this country.. He opens with the usual "projection" and then describes what they used to say was a conspiracy theory; the Deep State.
https://rumble.com/v1k7fbv-september-15-2022.html
No they will not get away with it. Americans are more intelligent than many give them credit for and the population is still armed.
Don't be silly. The armed population of the US is mostly interested in killing poor people and school children.
Hilarious.
Well. Nova Scotia had a madman on the loose who killed 22 people 2 years ago. The only people he encountered that survived were waiting at their front door with a loaded gun. Not a pop gun .
Sorry. A cop also survived. With a slug in his guts.
Good like fighting a Marine division with your popguns.
That and you are not the Taleban.
It's "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" with a twist. In this version, there really IS a wolf, but no matter how much the boy points to the dead and bloodied sheep and fresh wolf tracks, no one believes him; after all, the credentialed members of the Amalgamated Shepherd's Guild are nearly unanimous in dismissing the boy's fantastic tales. Eventually though, after the damage is done, one member of the guild finally gets around to saying, "You know, the boy had a point." To which the villagers just yawn and call it "old news".
At this point, I'm almost rooting for the wolf to eat 'em all and be done with it.
Don't underestimate the possible crack up of this Admin looming
They've gotten away with it.
Unless you or I do it, it won't get done. Water boards might work to get a tiny crack of integrity started.
Anyone that’s been paying a minuscule bit of attention to this fiasco for the last 6 or so years isn’t surprised by this report - at all. And the mainstream media will bury it faster than a dead cat’s carcass. Nothing will change and no one will be held accountable. Good reporting as always, Matt.
"Nothing will change and no one will be held accountable."
Which is doubly hilarious because Democrats just spent the last month telling us that nobody is above the law..........
No One Is Above The Law*
*some exceptions may apply. See your Congressman for more detail.
Just like "our democracy was at stake" in the midterm elections. Anyone doing shots to the number of times this hypnotic suggestion was repeated by a talking head got knee-walking drunk.
Some are more equal than others…
It's all hot air to the Democrats - they truly don't believe in democracy - they are power hungry
Did you ever think in our lifetime that we would see the venality of a political party as has been displayed by the Democrat Party?! This is WAY BEYOND Watergate.....
One of the most enlightening books was written by a devout democrat, Donna Brazile , in which she recounts finding that her position as DNC Chairwoman has been neutered by a secret (and probably illegal) agreement which gave Hillary control of most of the DNC and State Party funds. It is a really worthwhile read, written by a passionate Democrat of high integrity. Hacks was the very appropriate title.
Thing is, after 4 years, Durham found no one broke the law. He tried two indictments but failed to get convictions. He’s a respected attorney, did a thorough investigation and while finding many problematic issues with FBI behavior, no one broke any laws. Yet, many reading this would dismiss Mueller’s report resulted in (?)37 indictments, (?)17 of Russians and numerous indictments and convictions of Trump’s closest aids. That problematic behavior by Trumps cronies stinks as much as the FBI’s behavior.
LOL masterclass spin. "getting no convictions" in DC is a lot different than not breaking the law and you know it. When the judge disallows text messages that prove you did it, or when the jury just says lying to the FBI shouldn't be a crime........
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/16-committee-highlights-deficiencies
This is how it goes when you’re a Friend of the Swamp. (Or at least useful to it) Michael Sussmann lied to the FBI. We have the receipts. But when you’re a Friend of the Swamp, that doesn’t matter because ‘lying to the FBI shouldn’t be a crime’.
After the verdict, the jury forewoman, who declined to give her name, spoke to the media. She said charges should never have been filed against Mr. Sussmann in the first place.
“I don’t think it should have been prosecuted,” she said of the case. “There are bigger things that affect the nation than a possible lie to the FBI.”
After 4 years and something like 3000 pages reviewed, Durham himself found no reason to even indict anyone, except those two.
three. Clinesmith, Sussmann and Danchenkp.
The whole point of a jury trial is to let someone off if the jury thinks their actions were just.
I take no position as to whether the jury was right in this case.
You're talking about Jury Nullification, and you should do a little research into how much the state encourages it.
Hint: Not at all, unless it helps them.
I mean that this was the intent of the Founding Fathers, now sadly in abeyance. We even have things like the espionage law which forbids a public interest defense. That's what juries are for, to protect the public interest.
Durham chose not to find charges. He is known to cabinet investigations. All of those mentioned deserve prosecution with the intensity given Assange. While Assange should be freed. The fbi lying to spy on one a campaign at the behest of another is very different from some minor campaign finance issue (that obama and clinton did at a greater scale and settled for a low dollar amount.)
If you read the book HACKS by Donna Brazelle , DNC Chairwoman during much of Hillary's campaign there was a vast abuse of election finance laws as the former Chmn , Debbie Wasserman, who executed a secret agreement with the Clinton campaign that gave Clinton access to and control of contributions made to the DNC. This was a major violation of campaign finance laws as contributions to the DNC were not limited. It also served to sink Bernie .
Not only that the DNC got sued for fraud. They got off when the judge declared the DNC a right-to-lie organization.
Even on your twisted narrative. Indictments don't count. How many in the Trump campaign were convicted of charges relating to colluding with the Russians? How many of the Clinton inspired operation should be in jail?
So your standard is as follows- if it isnt criminal its ok?
You realize that racism, sexism, age discrimination, slander, and scores of other offensive activity isnt “indictable” . In your view can we then just say all of that is “ok” . Please fire all DEI employees, stop protesting over sexist and racist conduct.
I think we have better standards than .. hey its not illegal.
The FBI, Clintons, DOJ. etc scoured the world to find anything they could use to charge and prosecute those associated with the Trump organization. At the same time the FBI had the Hunter laptop FOR A YEAR and simply hid it, neglecting to followup on the dozens and dozens of felonies. Again they hid the truth that they had verified the laptop was genuine.
No, never said that. I just see many apologists for Trump and his misdeeds, probable illegal and not illegal, before, during and after his presidency. Those are overlooked while the FBI is, perhaps rightly so, is raked over the coals. Trump is always the victim. Trump may not be a member of the so called swamp many comments refer to, but he leads another just as corrupt.
Y'all apparently suffer from amnesia........ Trump was charged with high crimes and acquitted. But the FBI hid all the felonies associated with democrat operatives including Hillary . Just as the FBI looked the other way at Hillary's gross violations of classified information handling , her transfer of classified information to Huma ( after she left the govt and had no clearance) and Huma having her husband who prowled the internet as Carlos Danger, assigned to print classified information which Huma sent to his computer. Finally there is the issue of Huma receiving classified information with no security clearance and promoting her international consulting business using classified information. And Hillary giving her maid access to the Secure Communications facility in her home so the maid could download and copy classified materials.
Yes, but Trump was never charged for his actual crimes, only for made up ones. Investigate his relationship with Epstein? Uncover photos of other ex-presidents. Tax fraud? Stuff they all do.Campaign fraud? Well, look at the Clinton campaign. Trump is a dirty dog; no one becomes rich by being ethical and above board. To prosecute him for his real crimes would have been opening a window on the swamp they all bathe in.
I agree. That’s the point I was trying to make. Trump is not the answer…he leads a swamp as corrupt as any.
Because there were no "misdeeds". And those were found, were proven to be lies. Your confirmation bias is blowing up all over your face.
Of course there were "misdeeds". There was tax fraud in New York (he came from a racketeering family), there were multiple rape allegations, including a child at Epstein's house (the child retracted then vanished); there were rip-offs of cancer and veteran charities; there were the multiple affairs where he was cheating on current wives, pay-offs to hookers; the countless workers and contractors he screwed over throughout his career - Trump is a pig, has always been a pig -even when he was on the cover of magazines as a man we were supposed to aspire to be. The problem for the ruling class was never about his morality - the Clinton's were guilty of many of the same 'misdeeds,' and Joe Biden is equally corrupt and disgusting. The problem for Trump was his lack of taste, polish and manners.
And God help me, but Trump would probably be better than Biden, because at least the brunching liberals would be fighting against some of the same depredations that they are applauding when Biden does them.
I guess we live under differing moral compasses.
In the end, Durham was too loyal to the FBI. The prosecutions were predicated on the FBI being the victim of lies, which was impossible to prove because the FBI was in on the lies instead of being mislead by them.
Well who appointed Durham? Neither side is accusing him of being loyal to the FBI. And his report was quite critical of the FBI.
How many people did Mueller charge for conspiracy to steal the election? Were any of them Americans or Trump affiliates? No? Huh.
You're funny, Ann.
That is unfortunately not true. Tons of people I know followed this story endlessly, breathlessly; on the pages of the NYTS, Politico, CNN, MSNBC, etc. These are not stupid people, and they were paying attention. They were simply overwhelmed by the informational warfare conducted by the media of record and institutions they believed were trustworthy. We can pretty much count on these same news outlets to make certain that their audiences never understand or read the Durham report.
Agreed. My social circle goes from high proles (engineers, doctors) to managerial class (lawyers, finance). 100% of the managerial class people bought into Russiagate whereas 75% of the high proles did. Overall, every single person I know who is more intelligent than me believed it.
Exactly, it will come and go, and it will have zero impact on the fervent beliefs of the afflicted.
I have yet to talk to someone who even heard of Hersh's report on the pipeline. When I told my neighbour, an upper class Brit who is studying International Relations, he had never heard about it. When I proffered the details he called me a "Russia apologist". He also said that if it it true that's a good thing as Russia and China are evil and must be stopped. He clearly has a superiour IQ too. Not that that matters, as people like Maddow demonstrate.
Somehow all these intelligent people failed to learn a simple but profound dictum that would have saved years of anguish:
Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
Surely the claim that a US President was a Russian asset would fall into the category “extraordinary claim”.
You can fool all of the people some of the time, someone once said
Excuse me?!?
Do you need a safe space or a hug?
I don't want emotional support. I want humans to leave cats alone.
I have long thought it strange that the most popular "news" broadcast in the USA is not considered mainstream media. Not only that, it is the leading channel, as the rest of big media has adopted its methods. So.."mainstream media" is one of the many phrases I no longer use.
It's a meaningless phrase.
I prefer, corporate media, deep state media and/or complicit and controlled media. Fox for instance is MSM, so is Democracy Now.
I’ll never vote Democrat again. I’ll never trust the FBI again. It was probably naive to trust them in the first place. DC is truly a rotten shitty cesspool of evil, unethical monsters and Hillary Clinton is most certainly among the slimiest and evilest. Now watch as this information is dismissed by some, ignored by others, and Durhams character will be destroyed everywhere with claims that will have not a single iota of evidence to support them.
Agree wholeheartedly!
The point of the russiagate conspiracy theory was never to prove the conspiracy theory. Every one of the perpetrators knew from the outset that it was bullshit.
The point was to hamstring Trump’s foreign policy, and give the spooks a de facto veto over policies they didn't like.
In this, the russiagate conspiracy theory was a complete success.
And to distract from the fact they WERE spying on his campaign
Trump even tried to placate them. He demanded for instance, that the Nato vassal states double their aspirational contributions from 2% to 4%. He also tore up the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, a bilateral arms control agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union (later Russia) signed in 1987 which prohibited the production, testing, and deployment of ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. All that to the benefit of those looking for preemptive strike capability against the Russians. He flew B52's right up to their borders. He imposed sanctions on Russia. Trump also withdrew from the Open Skies Treaty, an arms control agreement that allowed participating countries to conduct unarmed surveillance flights over each other's territories.
None of that was enough though, as the MIC wanted the war that Hillary surely would have started right away.
All this was exactly what the MIC and the Deep State wanted for their long planned war on Russia, the one 'we' are in now.
Thanks. This is only a partial list too. I don't know of a definitive one anywhere though.
The criticism of Trump for his drone murders is almost non-existent too, that despite the fact that he employed even more that Obama, who himself used them ten times more than buhs.
It would probably make an interesting article but since I get (almost) zero feedback I don't see the point. Thanks!
It has forever always been about war and specifically conflict with Russia
Yes, you got it again.
Russia and China are in The Empire's way.
So, "They. must. be. destroyed."
Global domination is why America gets out of bed in the morning.
Thanks!
People need to stop saying “everyone knew all this information for years.”
As incredible as it sounds most democrats (57% according to a poll) believe to this day that the Russians colluded with Trump and helped him win the election. And I guarantee you that a majority of the so-called mainstream media also believe that the Russian collusion story is true (stone!!! Manafort!!! Flynn!!!).
These people are sick and deranged. They will go to their graves thinking Trump stoke the ‘16 election. And they are too entrenched in their cult to think any differently.
They really DO think Trump cheated!
Amazingly, many are celebrating the Durham report and claiming that it "exonerates" Clinton and the FBI.
https://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1658199529592868864?s=20
What do you expect from professional Democratic Twitter grifters.
This is purely routine tactics. If you've got a complete cult-like grip on your audience you can get away with that.
Like the people who insist that Putin is a dictator.
A dictator who was elected. A dictator who has over 85% support, a number that Western leaders can only dream about.
I mentioned this to someone. He responded that Putin had intimidated the Russian populace into pretending they approve. I gave up.
That's what my friend, a wapo victim, told me too. He laughed when I suggested that Bezos sticks his nose in, or the CIA has any influence there.
They have a canned answer for everything.
He said the same thing about the referendums and surveys in Crimea. Crimea, which is apparently under "brutal occupation".
The annexation of Crimea, sold to them as a crime of historic proportions, killed 3 Crimeans and 3 Russians. Obama killed more babies than that on just his third day in office, and then never stopped!
I heard Condoleeza Rice say back then that the Crimea referendum was legit. It was at the Aspen Institute and is on Youtube.
And if you had pushed him to provide evidence he would tell you that "everybody knows that!"
99% of Republicans (and plenty of Democrats) never read the Mueller report.
Neither did Mueller.
Neither did I, even though I read some original documents. I knew the whole thing was BS a priori. I've got better things to do.
Then you don’t know shit.
FUAHO. Go know shit. You oughta be real good at that. Comes naturally, as they say.
Are you the same guy who said he writes a "newsletter about love" and who claims to be a "fan" of Taibbi?
So what do you know that Patrick does not?
Please be specific.
Thanks.
Those are the folks trained like circus animals to only respond to the voices of their Democrat masters.
Lying and self-deception is so prevalent, it is difficult to try to ascertain what people "really" think. There's only one way to really know. This is to find what they do 1) when they believe no one else will ever find out and 2) something substantial is at stake.
This is usually impractical. So I pay no attention to what they say, look at what they do, and go with that. That's the best you can do.
Yep! Actions ALWAYS speak louder than words. Which is why I've learned to evaluate a candidate on his/her past record, not on their campaign "promises." And I watch debates purely for their entertainment value, not to inform my vote. Can't even imagine how different this country (and the world) would be if most of the electorate could rise above the partisan muck in order to do the same.
Over half of Americans believe in literal Guardian Angels.
So no one is named as culpable, the FBI is institutionally protected with a few tsk-tsk's and Comey is actually allowed to skate away without having to answer a single question.
Well, aren't we glad we have all of that behind us!
And he enriched himself by writing a book on "ethical leadership."
Their should be a campaign for everyone to return the book for a refund
"Comey declined to be interviewed by the Durham team." Huh? How is this possible?
Agreed. How can it be that Durham didn't subpoena the witness at the core of his investigation?
Wondered the same thing when I read it.
Right, get that Comey "declined to be interviewed."
So the FBI agents were willing to travel halfway around the world to chase down a vague conversation that turned out to be groundless but were apparently not willing to perform any review or analysis of the Hunter Biden laptop with its vast documentation of bribery , foreign cash, security risks associated with the lost computers (Hunter thought the Russians stole them) and of course the quantity of drugs Hunter was receiving. The FBI had been given the material and issued a receipt for it when received from the computer shop owner. Instead the FBI hid the laptop and failed to admit they had it when the copied files were released . We can be pretty sure the FBI agents studied the videos including Hunter gaining carnal knowledge with his toes while the young lady was snorting cocaine from a large pile provided by Hunter on the nightstand. And of course there were all the financial records which would have certainly raised questions given the sources.
Correct. Known as a "DC coincidence."
Sadly, the computer shop owner; ( a hero) is being sued by Hunter Biden. Where is the outcry about that?
In an ordinary world where judges followed the rules the computer store owner would have not problem. a) Hunter had assigned the computer to the repair facility in exchange for their work, should be bill not be paid and the computer abandoned. b) the owner surrendered the actual computer and hard drive to the FBI without any payment or making any representations other than it was something the FBI should look at. The FBI reacted quickly, not to use the information, but to protect Joe Biden.
A third grade student would understand that the content of Hunter's laptop could not be fabricated. The calls from Joe, the perfect matching of the accounts with verifiable information that was not public at the time, many witnesses to Hunter's relentless pursuit of dirty money, cocaine and ladies who would put up with his perversions , including his love of video. There's also the bigger than life Hunter ranting that the Russians are stealing his computers, calls from Joe, bank records, endless emails.
Note that Hunter did not act until. the democ-rat internet lapdogs had erased all links to the laptop content.
Defund the FBI. It's a corrupt organization. Break it up into smaller pieces.
My proposal is to lower every DOJ & FBI executive position in DC one pay grade as a cost saving measure. If DOJ & FBI comply with all Congressional subpoenas during the time the budget is in force, the pay grades will be retroactively restored. Non compliance means everybody suffers personally. Holding executive pay hostage in defense of liberty is no vice.
Brennan as well should be accountable. He has written galling things that should make anyone recognize his ability and willingness to abuse power.
Maybe I'm being negative, but every time I read so and so should be "held accountable" I think, that person's moxie is going to get them a promotion. I present Gina Haspel as Exhibit A.
He's horrible. But all they wanted was war with Russia, and now they've got it
When your being paid millions under the table, stolen from the American taxpayer, your paycheck is not something anyone can use as leverage. Arrest them all, start the water boarding at the top. You'll find out who, what, where, when, why,what color, what day.
Crimes were committed but Durham lacked leverage to get the FBI mobsters to rat out their boss. Congress has that leverage. The GOP needs to use this report as an outline for questioning all the key players. Watergate wasn't a scandal until Congress started asking questions.
One of the fbi guys left a congressional interview as he “had to catch a flight” on an fbi plane. “Presumably for a criminal matter right?” Turns out he took the plane to go to a family holiday. It helped buy time to slow progress. And if you’ve watched their testimony, they answer every question with non answers.
I thought that was Chris Wray.
Read the Mueller report someday. Mueller ((a lifelong Republican) believed there was a good possibility of criminal misdeeds but taking the opinion of the OLC as to his prosecutorial abilities, decided not to prosecute.
I dunno. I honestly don't think Mueller was terribly engaged. His report was a masterpiece of saying what they knew but then aggressively conjuring up all the facts they didn't know and were unable to ascertain ("we knew he was guilty, we just couldn't prove it").
D's have to back away from keyboard. They saw how Fox worked in the '90s and said, hold my beer. That's not how persuasion works and just as folks were catching on to Fox, they got a triple dose of the same from the D outlets. The harder the D's message, the more they reinforce resistance to their (sigh) brand.
D's need to purge their party from top to bottom. Next cycle everyone should resign, every position and seat should be up for grabs. It would change everything forever. Same true of R's but I'd rather see the country guided by the folks the D's kicked out vs the folks the R's marginalized.
Really, I think this is the worst attempt to defy the free choice of the voters since the South seceded.
Egh, I think the assassinations of JFK and MLK are higher up there.
I think you mean RFK since MLK never held political office.
True, but MLK was becoming a very significant political threat. Probably much more so than RFK. But yeah, throw RFK in there too.
i cant wait until 2030 when we find out the 2020 election was rigged.
Probably won’t be public elections by then, it will have been decided that using AI will be a more efficient way to do it.
AI is fake news. Its not replacing people any faster than EVs are replacing gas cars. Its not happening anywhere like the dreams of the deluded elites, if it happens at all. AI sounds like a dumb liberal so far. not really a basis for anything intelligent.
But then they'll say they've cleaned the whole thing up so it is no longer a problem. That's what they always do.
Brilliant
The problem is, most people I know shut their ears to this. They simply won't read it. Or entertain it.
Kudos to you for continuing to lift the veil.
Well if the NY legislature can redefine the statute of limitations for Carroll to bring her case against Trump. Gop should introduce a bill that expands statute of limitations for cases that were assigned to a special prosecutor. 😳
“Damn, That’s Thin,” “I know,” “It sucks”: The Untold Story of the Trump-Russia hoax
Democrats only know one way to fail: Fail Up™️
After hounding a duly-elected President for...
*checks notes*
6-years and counting, both Podesta, and Sullivan have high-paying govt jobs in the Biden admin.
The whole recycled Dem swamp has jobs. Sullivan, Podesta, Tanden, Blinken, Rice, etc, etc, etc. (ok, Rice is leaving).
And Psaki hit the jackpot by using that Democrat to media revolving door (3 year contract at $12M a year).
She’s getting $12 million a year? I almost admire that. A head of lettuce would probably get the same ratings.
A head of lettuce did better than Liz Truss. https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/10/20/british-prime-minister-liz-truss-lettuce/10550743002/
And may exhibit better cognitive abilities than a certain head of state.
Didn't know Liz Truss was also trying her hand in journalism
So many of them did.
Yeah she did❗️
Rice is cashing out.
I'm sure she will. But she got caught with her undies down in the immigrant child labor thing. With reciepts. Which is probably why she's exiting fast.
The deputy SOS just resigned too, got caught out playing footsie with China.
Yeah, I saw that. Slow walking the spy balloon punishments to appease the ChiComs.
Tsk-tsk-tsk.
Interfered in legislation too apparently. Can't remember exactly what, but something about refusing to prevent Uyghur slave labor.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19653/biden-china-aggression
Samantha powers should have been charged with treason, where is she now? Has herself another high paying gov title. "Thanks daddy, for keeping me off the noose and getting me this great job!"
Oh, I see. Our federal bureaucrats know what's best for us They went all in to elect the "right" candidate with lies, more lies and the fawning complicity of media hacks, but the stupid voters didn't do as they were told, and so the effort will continue to be orchestrated out of Washington, D.C., the biggest, smuggest and most overlarded bureaucracy in world history.
It's all over now, but we should not expect anything to change.
Personally, I don't take much comfort from this.
Committed Trump haters will never accept that this was all BS seeded by non other than the dragon lady herself. Facts don’t matter anymore.
America is a sick country run by criminals.
What a shit show.
May I suggest, instead of "dragon lady," which suggests a certain degree of class, "reptile woman"?
All you have to do is read Ann22, to realize nothing, not even the sound of the trap door dropping, will change their minds. They are right, and just, just like Jesus, in their own eyes.