Journalists were once eager to hear secrets. As they proved again this week, they're now primarily gatekeepers, helping corrupt officials hide the ball
The best thing Obama & the Dems have going for them is the audacity of their corruption. Most people simply can’t wrap their heads around the idea that these people in power could be so venal and dishonest. Obama brought the worst of Chicago gutter politics to the national stage.
Hopefully under water very soon would be well deserved. In looking back, the reason Obama was always talking so slowly and analyzing every word, is because he was lying so much he had to speak slowly or get caught in a lie.
He announced his candidacy at the old state capitol in Springfield. His Rev. Wright was in the building, according to reporting, but — oopsie, polling says white folks don’t get the whole black liberation/chickens home to roost thing. So, no Rev. W giving an invocation, or anything else. Probably got a private plane ride home to sweet home Chicago.
Even worse, the minute Rev. Wright became a political inconvenience by accusing the US government of helping spread AIDS in Africa (Imagine that!), Obama sold him down the river.
Not even so much bringing the "worst" of Chicago politics (which is a tall claim), "gutter" or otherwise, but not even adding any panache or class to the matter.
Here in Chicago, there's little that can surprise, at least in terms of "conventional corruption". One almost gets suspicious if there isn't any!
But, true to the city's culture, it's both greasy and pretty standard. Almost adds to the charm of the city (as long as it's within bounds).
But the 2016-coverup-gate seems so surreally buffoonish. There's nothing that even hints at any cleverness or thought-through-subterfuge.
From the revelations of open rumors of Loretta Lynch's putative interference in the FBI investigation (cf. Wasserman-Schulz), to the stalling of the original ICA so it wouldn't be released and thus visible to team Trump, notably Michael Flynn, "Based on some new guidance", to Brennan's insistence on including the "Steele dossier" (man, it sounds so much cooler when you call it a "dossier"), to the overclassification...it was so ham-fisted and transparent as to make even the lowest precinct captain in Chicago shake his head.
Susan Rice's email-to-self on the last day of the Obama admin was the cherry on top.
I would like to see her subpoenaed to explain that gem.
Also, I think "Russiagate" now sounds dated, I think we need a new name, though I'm not saying my suggestion is good.
In interviewing Mr. Taibbi recently, Kennedy said point blank it was unfortunate that every D.C. scandal has become a "gate," and thinks the Steele dossier-intelligence community debacle should have it's own term, which can be adapted for future scandals. Because she says, correctly, that this mess is much, much worse than the crime(s) involved in Watergate.
This is true. "Iran-Contra" was an exception to the rule...and a catchy one at that!
Your point is taken. While Thucydides' suggestion of "Obamagate" works...it's concise and has a ring to it (!!!!!)...ideally, one might want a new "standalone" version.
On the other hand, and to support the use of "Obamagate", there has not been a scandal in DC of the magnitude (much greater, actually) of Watergate and that is so closely tied with election shenanigans.
In fact, Watergate -- which may have ultimately proven to be a set-up on Nixon, ironically -- only involved election espionage. Nixon won the 1972 election with a genuinely massive landslide. The break-in was completely unnecessary.
So, while I agree that, and have observed myself, the use of the suffix "gate" has been overused, this might be a situation where it really fits.
The irony of the high-and-mighty, "above it all" Obama torching his "legacy" (cough, cough -- even Wasserman-Schulz put it in quotes) at the very last minute in such a clumsy, blundering fashion, and that this half-assed sedition is now being revealed after the RE-ELECTION of the man whose administration he sought to kneecap is....pretty freaking juicy.
Simply because it fits the sentiment of the thread:
I just read that on the release of news of Chicago's financial mess, Andrew Cuomo posted, "Chicago is proof that incompetent leadership can turn a deep-dish city into a half-baked mess."
Maybe we could call his museum “Obymandius.” Weak, yes, but it made me smile.
The oldsters understand that gating this multi-conspiracy-filled criminal blob doesn’t do it justice—we remember the original. But the youngsters just nod when they hear X-gate, bc all they know is it’s something bad bc of mysterious reasons related to a former Republican president.
This beast cries out for a good name and it damn well deserves one. But “grand conspiracy” isn’t sexy. It’s not interesting. Worse, it runs people off—it sounds too complicated to pause and bother with—and they’ll look to fringe media for a breakdown. We must do better!
It brings to my mind an octopus: powerful and scary, it has a big head, eight long arms, and a siphon that expels ink (to confuse or distract predators) and isht that comes out in a long, probably appealing spaghetti strand. And get this (yes, I looked this part up): it can make its confusing ink resemble another octopus! (A/K/A a “pseudomorph”!) It’s visual and it fits these criminals to a T.
And for those reasons, I hereby officially therefore and therewith nominate “The Octopus Conspiracy” in the hopes it will spur some of you to think of something better. We really must name this, ASAP, and name it well. A lot of their activities look “ham-handed,” to be sure. But when it comes to framing things, we are often outmatched (e.g., “collusion” instead of “conspiracy”; “gender affirming care” was another masterpiece). You can be sure the rascals are focus-testing names right now. “He who frames it nails it.” We must frame this if we are to nail it.
PS — quite new here. Can anyone tell me what it means to check the “Also share to Notes” box? I’m checking it here bc I suspect an extra person might see my beseeching entreaty to name this hydra headed gelatinous hairball of conspiracies—but I really have no idea what it does, so please forgive any etiquette breaches. Thanks very much—and especially for reading this to the end.
Excellent description - "He who frames it nails it" is very good!
Both the "Obymandius" and "octopus" references are also excellent.
I would only note that octopi are apparently very intelligent and "Ozymandias" has two interesting meanings:
1.) The subject of the Shelley poem of the ruins of a great emperor. Two "trunkless legs" standing with the head lying half-buried in the sand being the only remnants of some long-lost empire.That does fit nicely.
2.) The "Watchmen" analogy maybe not as much: Ozymandias was supposed to be "the smartest man in the world". Obama was sold as an academic -- a self-described "constitutional law professor -- and that veneer has completely worn off. His pre-politics "career" turned out to be hollow -- no academic work in the twelve years on the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School and no record of a single client. But Ozymandias may work here as well in that no constitutional law professor can feign ignorance of the meaning or possible consequences of the various transgressions identified in the document releases!
Last, I too am ignorant as to the meaning of "save to my notes". Haven't used that feature. I'm guessing (and forgive me if I'm wrong) that it allows one to bookmark posts for future reference and for sharing. As such it might be useful in the context you mentioned. Found this:
Thank you! Now I don’t feel quite as techno illiterate, which is quite a nice surprise.
Re naming the “grand conspiracy,” I like “The Octopus Conspiracy” bc it conveys complexity in a visual fashion without repelling mildly (or not at all) curious people. The picture speaks for itself, and it’s intriguing in a spy-novel way. And, it’s fun* to say. Finally (though few will know it), its ability to create a pseudomorph with its ink, through its dual-purpose siphon, takes the cake. Because that’s EXACTLY what these criminals are doing on television nearly every day: expelling isht or pseudomorphic clouds of ink.
*PS—the “pus” in “octopus” is my little jab at these conspirators. Trump’s “grab em by the _ussy” Access Hollywood tape saved his bacon. (I wish he’d said “uvula” instead—bc both are impossible to grab.) Obama & Crew were moving full steam ahead on Russia! Trump! (see Undead FOIA’s recent post). FULL STEAM! Indeed they made their first big reveal on 10/7/16 with a splashy DNI/DHS press release. The Access tape dropped a few hours later that same day, to their great (initial) dismay. But they quickly regrouped and figured the tape alone had done Trump in, and they could ease up on the Russia! gas. But they figured wrong. Bwahahaha.
Pharaonic. When the design was released, I sought the review of the resident architecture commenter in the Chi Trib, or maybe it was the other paper. Anyway, that is the word they used to describe the design, lovingly of course, because nothing he is associated with can be in poor taste, right?
While executive immunity will probably protect him from arrest and conviction, the mere existence of that hideous monument might be an ironic form of justice.
They'll think it has to do with the cozy relationship he created with the CEO's of Aetna, United Health, Kaiser Permanente and Cigna back when ACA was passed.
Yes -- the trick is to combine what I'd say are at least four salient factors:
1.) It started with the Clinton email scandal -- a scandal that (maybe big surprise) got little attention. Anyone who's worked in any sizable company that might be subject to Sarbanes-Oxley types of concerns (e.g., financial/document related disaster recovery, etc.) or has a legal staff aware of the liability inherent in official business communications would know that diverting official communications to a private server would get you instantly terminated and likely the subject of legal consequences. To boot, it's not like Clinton could get this implemented without help from government IT support (e.g., DNS changes for MX records, etc.). The email scandal really was a big deal.
2.) That the Clinton campaign paid for opposition research to "collect" (i.e., fabricate) "evidence" with the goal of accusing Trump of being compromised by or colluding with elements of the Russian government. Again, a big deal by itself: attempting to influence an election by essentially "bearing false witness".
3.) That the Obama administration sought to influence the FBI in order to downplay or dismiss the investigation of the private email server and the associated mis-handling of classified information. That would seem to constitute obstruction of justice. You know, the offense that would have potentially been leveled at Richard Nixon and prompted his resignation. Again, a big deal.
4.) Finally, that after the election the Obama administration stifled and quashed already-completed assessments that found no collusion or untoward interactions with Russian assets by the Trump campaign and instead pivoted to use the "research" (cough, cough) paid for by the Clinton campaign as the basis of launching investigations into the incoming Trump administration. Notably, in Susan Rice's email-to-self on the last day of the Obama administration, she writes that, "The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said that he would." Now, at this point, Obama is leaving the White House and will no longer have any agency or authority to direct federal law enforcement. It is stunning both that Obama would be asking whether information should be shared with the incoming (Trump) administration and that Susan Rice would be so fantastically dense as to document it. At this point, the bearing-false-witness angle potentially takes on a much bigger scale as it's not being committed by a candidate for office but by a sitting US president.
Soooooooooo....the trick is the include all these factors in one term. I have no problem using the "gate" suffix as the similarity with the original Watergate. This transgression is similar in involving election mischief but is much, much more serious in the extent and consequences. Trump's first term was hobbled as a result of this effort. It consumed huge amounts of resources and time and thwarted Trump from executing his office.
But, yes, I agree; by itself, "Obamagate" is arguably too general as it could refer to a host of other scandals: the ACA, "Fast and Furious" and Solyndra, arguably among others.
Not to mention the impossibility of Pelosi and the D's winning 40 house seats in 2018 under the fog of Russia Russia Russia while Robert Mueller drug his feet until well after that election....already knowing a year earlier he had nothing to find in his investigation other than to do downfield blocking for the AntiTrump forces in the federal Government and Congress.
I sincerely hope Mueller and Biden share a room at at Dementia Unit they're both going to be occupying in a few months.
That wouldn't make us whole, but it would at least be just.
The "downfield blocking" football metaphor is good -- appreciated!
And with which you raise a great point -- yes, one cannot discount the effect of the fog of the "Russia, Russia, Russia" ginned-up hysteria had on the mid-term elections.
So that's election interference in what, three elections? The initial ploy was 2016, but then it almost certainly had an effect in 2018, and then it was resurrected via ginned-up impeachment inquiries in 2020.
they dont want to show sources, because they fabricate or are their own sources, and their methods are a circle jerk and a bag of dildos they use on each other.
There may be some hate but there are a lot of female seniors that still admire her and ignore all the bad stuff mostly through willful ignorance. Many many boomer women also still admire her. It is a cognitive dissonance on a level never before seen.
We can only hope she chokes on a cork while chugging down another bottle of Sam's Club Chardonnay while walking deep in the woods haunted by her own history.
Wow. That's excellent. And true. Going to have to look for the Latin on that one.
Don't have to look hard to find plenty of examples, that's for sure!
The sentiment is not unlike the line of Paul Newman (Henry Gondorff) to Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker) in "The Sting" regarding conning Doyle Lonnegan (played by Robert Shaw): You gotta keep his con even after you take his money. He can't know you took him.
The best part of Dems is their screaming about Fascists and Authoritarians. Their complete lack of vision and intelligence is truly astounding. I actually have to raise my glass to them. The sheer level of absolute unawareness is something to behold.
I think they are well aware of how dishonest and corrupt they are. I think they laugh themselves silly over how easily they get away with it and "put one over on the rubes."
You give them WAY too much credit. You may be speaking of the Dems in power rather than the wee little folk with their degrees in Liberal Arts crying that they can't get a job that pays $200k per year right out of college.
Mind you. I do feel bad for those kids today. They were sold that they MUST have a college degree, and it was sold to them by one of the most morally bankrupt systems in our wealth of those such systems. While I don't think tuition should be free, I do feel it should be interest free or managed by something other than pure evil. I am fortunate that when my wife and I got to a point we just pulled $22k from our retirement to pay it. It was worth the penalties and then some. The Math on Student loans is unlike any other math out there.
They are essentially giving these kids 75 year mortgages. My wife had paid her loan for almost 20 years and was still getting hit for $200 interest on a $250 payment, and the interest rate was listed as 4%... I have never figured out the math on that, and I was a math major.
The core resource --(We the People)-- for building the fabled "city on a hill" example of what a free society can be consistently provided the greatest GDP and resources for innovation and advancement--the greatest economy in the world-- while the best--brightest and most courageous Americans died and suffered on battlefields in the name of freedom and liberation. Where is the "city"? Destroyed and looted.
What were WE given? Soros lawfare--the Cheney torture factory--the Obama/Wall Street gutting of our Republics economy---Covid lockdowns--20,000,000 illegals at treasury (our $$$$$) expense and a deep rotten hubris that poisons every American life and makes an industry of the LIE. With every tool for success and victory at hand the D.C. plague chose to stuff its pockets--distort every opportunity and lay waste to every dream.--Now backs to the wall--the perps call for mass surveillance--persecution for thought and speech crimes--an entire rewriting of history and the reduction of all things human to the dystopian sterility that defines the twisted psyche of the totalitarian elite. The drug addled economic chaos and collapse surrounding the lives of free peoples across Planet Earth is the result of the amoral psychopathy of the cut throat economic slaver and looter.
"Getting away with it" is what the grift does best. We the People exist crisis to crisis--no solutions forthcoming --while the grift hums along in the background. Caught red handed? You go to jail for the smallest infraction. Not the perps." Too big to fail" means somebody got a house in the Hamptons. You got to give yours back to the bank. The boys running the torture chamber got a great big bonus in the millions. But--the school system you pay billions for can't produce a child who can read. Who failed who?
Yes--without question--the RACKET fight to bring truth back to American journalism should be supported at every turn. Truth/fact based journalism is our first step to the truth/fact based reality our Republic needs in order to survive. Russiagate is only one dimension of the LIE that has subsumed American life. The perps who held our Republic thrall to the ten year emotional roller coaster under discussion should be jailed.
I agree (with a few exceptions) and I think it is important to understand this. To quote Harrison Koehli from his Substack on political evil (Political Ponerology): "Human predators are incapable of seeing themselves in a negative light."
I was thinking about 5 people I could send this column to and then had to stop, telling myself..."none of them knows about any of this and they all believe that Putin got Trump elected in 2016 because Putin hated Clinton."
I couldn't forward it...these people are so lost in the fog these IC people have created that they are indeed brainwashed and immune from facts and data that Matt, Mate and others are providing on a regular basis.
Because, like all commies, they believe they are elite, that they are in some way righteous in their endeavors, and they can therefore not be touched. And if they are touched, lying is a perfectly acceptable defense.
Your and Walter’s hypothesis that the media has a secondary motive to push bullshit into the AI algorithms is so deeply troubling I literally cannot take anything they say as honest. Incredibly insightful…and terrifying.
The mechanized actualization of that hoary chestnut: If you repeat a lie often enough....
Somewhere I read that the Truth shall make you free. It was mocked of course with the acidic question, "What is truth?" Quench the speech, kill the dissenters, censor the reading, curate the boards, rig the AI. They always think they have found a new way around the truth. And for a time, it looks like they have. But they never do.
Not new, and not mere hypothesis. In scientific terms it is a theory, it accounts for almost all the known facts and nothing we know contradicts it. Like Relativity or Evolution or Quantum Physics--you can never really PROVE something, and there can be gaps or gray areas that need more work, but an explanation that makes useful predictions and fits the known facts without contradiction is what you go with until there is something better.
In a nutshell. Yes. And I don't know whether the greater danger is that that's exactly what's going on, or that it's a plague innocently unleashed. Because it is likely, either way, to spell the end of human flourishing, if not of the species altogether.
What an anti-human life world this has become! Abortion is lauded over raising children, those who have children find their offspring encouraged in school to have themselves mutilated and/or sterilized before they are past the stage of wondering whether they want to grow up to be a police officer or a dinosaur, we are to forego expansive movement as well as basic comfort to "save the planet," for which privilege we are to pay a king's ransom.
Children are raised to look for all challenges removed from their paths by parents, teachers, bosses, spouses. Never by their own efforts to cut a path of their own.
It's those very challenges and efforts which make an adult of a child.
"I think, therefore I am," wrote Rene Descartes. If that is true, and I believe it is, when/if AI successfully breaks us of what remains of a habit of thinking nowadays, we will not be.
Or at least, we won't be recognizably human at all.
Remember when Matt and Walter discussed that Woody Allen short story about "What if Impressionists Were Dentists?" Matt mentioned another from the same book, "The Whore of Mensa." There's a line when the man who has hired the woman for intellectual stimulation (only he's a private investigator) notes, "She faked a response."
We must remember that is all AI can ever do. AI has no soul, no feelings, no real mind, and no conscience. It can no more love than it can be loyal. It is ultimately manipulable, for the purpose of manipulating us.
But it's more manipulable than some of us, at least. If we don't believe it nor believe in it, and we never let anything overrule our own minds in those minds, we at least will die, if die we must, unconquered of soul.
Be careful drawing absolutes. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, people working on machine intelligence worked with psychologists to figure out what, exactly, "consciousness" is, which they hoped to be able to then reproduce. They eventually gave up on this as the psychologists couldn't define human consciousness even in soft, psychology terms, thus were nowhere near being able to define something potentially replicable on a computer. As processing power continued to grow, eventually an alternative appeared, large language models and the huge data crunching capabilities of hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs working in tightly bound clusters.
You might consider the saying that when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. When all you have is the ability to crunch immense amounts of data through parallel processing units, the goal of artificial intelligence looks solvable by running immense amounts of data through parallel processing units. Even if that is changing the goal, keeping only the nomenclature.
THAT AI, the current paradigm, I would agree will never have "a real mind," as you put it. It just identifies patterns and responds with patterns of its own based on enormous volumes of data.
But, that old original path was never proven impossible, it was simply beyond our abilities at the time. It could come back, more successfully.
Oh, has someone recently defined consciousness for us? I didn't think so. I would have heard or seen the congratulatory parades led by Elon and friends. This AI business is the most massive exercise of hubris since the Tower of Babel, and I suspect it will have the same result or maybe worse. Imagine the future comeuppance:
Fight it, fight it, fight it with all of your might, but they'll beat it, even in court, on their brilliant manipulation of the meaning of words.. As an an example, the meaning of "aspire." See what I mean? All this will pass, until the meaning of bullets, once we get into all this deep enough. Unless we surrender without a fight.
Controlling the words, indeed. They are good at it, and conservatives, who believe in fixed rules, are very bad at recognizing when they are being played, let alone turning the tables. Part of why the Old Guard Republican Party died--it could not survive in the new environment. MAGA seems better suited for the fight--whether it is good enough, I don't know. But better than the old GOP, which was quite useless in this fight.
I believe the Left, which also means Democrat Party, can be crushed out of business with mocking, because everything they do is a joke. Mock the imagery of their behavior, mock their "stars," even go racial on Obama and mock his whiteness and his blackness -- maybe show him as the half-assed person he is. Mock 17 year old black girls with three little brats clinging to her skirts, mock the boys with pistols in their belts. Mock the mostly unattractive protesting white women, go after all of their women's weight, and harshly -- get them crying. Stop me, I could think up stuff forever.
Yeah, I saw Grok write a summary of Jan6 that was obviously sourced from the media.
It's like Wikipedia: we know for a fact that the CIA/FBI/NSA leak stories to bootlicking media who write stories and then they use the stories to justify further investiation.
The secondary motive is more than likely to save their asses from idk, let's say bias, journalistic laziness, being an extension of the dem party, culpability... the list goes on
Even if that were true- that this is some sort of AI algorithm play-why? What’s in it for the journalists? I get the Marxists stop and nothing and have been playing the long game for decades but what is compelling these so called independent journalists to play along?
The NYT published an op-ed by Clapper and Brennan last week. I'd say 90% of the comments thanked those "true patriots" for setting the record straight.
This is the audience of #resist, the modern American liberal, praising the heads of the CIA and the DNI for their honest assessments and shedding light on what's REALLY going on in Washington.
Even when I think the median Dem partisan of today is the most contemptible shit-piece I could have as a neighbor, Times commenters are here to remind me that the true blue partisan is the most useful of fucking idiots.
To be fair to the NYT subscriber base, only the comments that pass the NYT own moderators get shown. While there are indeed #resist fanatics, the NYT just won't publish anything remotely critical of their sacred cows.
They'll publish some of mine that are seriously critical of their sacred cows. Just to let Democrats pile on me, and hold back on publishing my replies.
There was an awesome comment on that Brennan / Clapper thread by a commenter that said they lied to congress, he(?) saw them. and went on from there. Got a lot of recommends, was surprised that they published it. But is was gone the next morning when i checked. Afaik, my comment was never published there. (Something kind of benign like "Who am i going to believe, you two or the investigative reporter who has the actual receipts? Let me think about that for a minute and i'll get back to you).
My reply, which to paraphrase was "Why would anyone believe the head of any intelligence agency from any country, when their entire role is to lie, cajole, and manipulate?"
It did get posted. I mean, eight hours after I submitted it, but...
There is not a single liberal quality or attitude left on the left. Call them progressives; these have been authoritarian, expert-driven, and full of contempt for the citizen as such, for over a century, just as today.
For years, I have advocated losing the term "progressive" to describe the neo-communists on the left. We associate the term "progressive" with progress, a virtuous concept. In reality, they are anything but righteous. They are viruses infecting the body politic.
Progress arising from humans' inventions is a great thing, at least often it is. But "progress" as an agenda devised by soi-disant "experts" to be rammed down the throats of an unwilling citizenry must by its very nature be abhorrent to anyone with a shred of respect or affection for this nation's founding principles. Which are dear to me, and for which my forbears fought, starting with the American Revolution but not ending there.
Merçi, Ellen: Bravo! "Soi-disant experts" = "Soi-disant progressives." Still, they cling to ideas that have long been discredited by history as false and productive of nothing but failure because, in their hyper-intellectual theorizing, they ignore the realities of human nature. They are regressives rather than progressives. Neo-communists.
Je suis femme, on peut dire brava, n'est pas? Mais, merci bien.
Yes, though, that's the true zealot's stance: that if reality will not confirm itself to the theory, then reality is at fault, as the theory is perfectly correct.
Merçi pour la correction. (I'm embarrassed because I'm actually 1/2 French.) But you are so right on many levels. I take it you're from New Orleans, n'est pas?
Thank you! Working on my third novel, but political stuff there has to be measured judiciously and with great care.
Nonetheless, my principals are churchgoers, gun owners, hunters. The hero has little patience for being told what he may and may not do on his own land.
I did work in a neat bit of gun-as equalizer in a self-defense incident (small woman getting the drop on large male with ill intent).
But I comment more on this site than all others I visit put together. This is a fun place, and I think while most of us contribute to that, it is Matt Taibbi who sets the tone, ably assisted by the also-fun Walter Kirn.
I had guns for awhile but was always told to not pull the gun unless you intend to use it.
Agree about Matt. Matt has provided a wide playing field and seeing the comments makes me realize I’m part of a community much larger and smarter and braver than I realized.
My husband insisted I keep one when he was traveling for work. It's in the drawer by my bed. I should probably buy new ammunition; what's loaded may be too old to be safe. Never needed it - up here many don't lock their doors, you can leave your car running while you pop into a store. Dropped my wallet in the supermarket parking lot once, called the store, it had been turned in with not a card, nor a penny, missing.
Yes, Matt's followers are the best to wear motley these days. I've commented before this site, these articles, these podcasts, make it clear that either I'm not insane or at least I am in mostly excellent company, if I am.
We canceled our NYTimes subscription years ago, as it was like reading a comic book - entirely fictional. Talk to any ‘liberal’ and it’s quickly revealed how uninformed they are, ignorant even.
I never worked in government, certainly not the intelligence services. But if I make clear my intentions, and people lower than me on the org chart refuse to comply or try to screw around, some motherfuckers are going to be out of work by close of business.
If Tulsi is being denied by people further down the chart, she should publicly fire them and tell us why they're now former spooks.
Yeah, and there are undoubtedly lines on intel org charts that resemble a night at octopus Fight Club. Like some corporations.
But those that are technically subordinate shouldn’t have to be reminded of that last line of their job description: Other duties as assigned by supervisor.
And Americans don’t mind hearing about people getting fired for gross insubordination. And Gabbard’s boss certainly has a fondness for “you’re fired!”
You are correct you've never worked in govt. Elected and appointed are temporary hires, the permanent bureaucracy endures, and they know that.
I personally worked on a document that ended up classified when the only classified material was in an annex (and the base document should've remained unclass while the annex was properly classified). Instead the entire document became classified - because it contained some material that would be embarrassing to certain high-level bureaucrats (the actual data didn't support the conclusions). Officially I was supposed to challenge that, even blow the whistle, but I was a contractor and would've been kicked out the door for doing so. That's how the system works.
Just to really put the lie in perspective, the HSCPI does not conduct tradecraft. It has no sources and methods, just what the executive agencies give it, and that is going to be sanitized so no bureaucrat is ever at risk.
What is truly amazing, and scary, is that all of the media Outlets have determined that if they keep quiet about everything, it will just go away. Which, if Matt Taibbi and Racket news, and true sources, don't keep on this, will be true. We must keep their feet to the fire, incessantly, relentlessly.
Shine the light, Tulsi, and watch the roaches scatter. What’s going on now is that simple. These cretins don’t want their dirty tricks exposed to the voters to whom they are supposed to be accountable.
And she's drawn a bead on Lord Ohbhama, which will make her a target of all the "we elected a Black President" admirers. His race-baiting and his "no American exceptionalism" tour (otherwise known as the "apology tour") are the starting points to realizing that his actual subversion of Trump with patently false evidence further shows his racist arrogance against patriots that elected "the WHITE guy that I (Ohbhama) didn't want to get elected after me because it represents a foundational criticism of me."
See: Evans Wroten's scribbles on TFP's Nellie Bowle's TGIF -- says the same.
-With apologies to Evans, I include his latest on TFP TGIF:
"Evans W
Evans’ Ramblings...
Nellie kicking things off with making fun of The White House State Ballroom having gold finishes is hilarious. I encourage her to look at the equivalent formal rooms in England/France/Italy. Furthermore, its pretty obvious that Nellie has never stayed a any of Trumps properties. Mar-a-Lago is simply second to none, especially the interiors. Relax Nellie.....there's 3 1/2 more years to go. https://x.com/rivatez/status/1905306705032085918
While we're on the topic of the White House Rose Garden, none of the actual rose beds were disturbed. Drainage of the area had been an issue since it was built. Trump had limestone from the state of Indiana specially cut and fabricated for this project and all of the laser cut limestone perimeter drains resemble American flags with the presidential seal located at each corner. It has just enough class to make a progressive lose their fucking minds, so as far as I'm concerned, that makes the renovation perfect. https://x.com/KylieJaneKremer/status/1951430101553520777
Tim Cook/Apple story is just one more example of what is possible if you put a business guy in the White House instead of a 50 year criminal politician with alzheimer's or a cackling DEI lunatic. Two dozen companies have pledged nearly $4 trillion in investments to the U.S. economy in 200 days under Trump and he's just getting started. Only a retard is incapable in seeing the clear positive impact this has to our economy and the working class. https://x.com/SantaSurfing/status/1923087676099657758
Most of us are hoping for a speedy recovery for Big Balls. He's the type of man most parents would be proud to have raised. Smart, successful, and brave. Meanwhile over on CNN there seems be some progressive fatigue as they tell Scott Jennings that rather than being a victim of street thugs, he's guilty of stealing all of our 'information'.....whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. CNN is insufferable. https://x.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1953463691401171304
Has MAGA found its new celebrity with Sydney Sweeney? Nah.....normal people are just responding positively to health and beauty rather than normalizing shit like this. https://x.com/DramaAlert/status/1920195451178881520
In case you missed it......Chuck Schumer is having a rough week. Masked pro-Palestine lunatics occupied his office in Manhattan late last week. I'm predicting that the Democrats are gonna have a rough midterm next year......but what the hell do I know. https://x.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1951316034578948467
Catherine Herridge is a stone cold gangster of a journalist. She published the full FOIA 60 Minutes Kamala Harris complaint and boy is it ugly. You'll need half a dozen adderall and 2 bottles of Kaopectate to get through this thing. Bari and Nellie may wanna noodle a bit on selling out to Skydance Media....just sayin. https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1953235454079246510
I know Nellie and Bari don't like talking about the stale ole Russiagate hoax, but I just wouldn't be going into this weekend on the right foot if I didn't post this little gem between MSNBC's Ari Melber's & Glen Greenwald from back in 2016. It's just simply fucking delicious. https://x.com/Evans_Wroten/status/1953048119756636213
Stephen Colbert, still simping for Big Pharma, goes on a tirade against RFK Jr for pulling half a billion tax dollars from mRNA vaccine manufacturers. It appears he's just going to trash what’s left of his bed shitted career in the next 10 months. https://x.com/chrismartenson/status/1953435908532846699
Its' 2025 and dildos being tossed onto the court of WNBA games has become a thing. You can even place wagers on Polymarket what color the next dildo will be. Last night it was purple and some dude won $6,000 on his bet. This is the America that I love! https://x.com/claytravis/status/1953812348478620045?s=46
Haha, I was thinking the same thing as I read this piece. I have plenty of friends/acquaintances - some are blue team but many are red team. None of them, save one, even knows who Matt Taibbi is. I find that a bit disconcerting.
Perhaps PragerU needs to put Matt on. Their 5-minute videos are widely and frequently watched by millions of concerned citizens, both the left (for education) and the right (for exhortation).
Since the election we have books coming out about the cover up of Biden’s mental health. From the media, Tapper, or from people in the administration, St Pierre etc. But they refuse to cover possibly the biggest story ever in American politics. Because without the media there would have been no “Russia collusion “ hoax to begin with. They would have to admit that.
There actually was a video tape taken in Russia - of a man named Pyotr, walking his dog, which did its business for the camera. Now, whether misapprehension regarding the tape's contents, and its informal nomenclature, came from the man's name, or from his canine's activities, we may never know.
The best thing Obama & the Dems have going for them is the audacity of their corruption. Most people simply can’t wrap their heads around the idea that these people in power could be so venal and dishonest. Obama brought the worst of Chicago gutter politics to the national stage.
He was coached by the best: hard core lefties like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers. Obama's standing among American presidents is plummeting.
As it should.
Hopefully under water very soon would be well deserved. In looking back, the reason Obama was always talking so slowly and analyzing every word, is because he was lying so much he had to speak slowly or get caught in a lie.
He announced his candidacy at the old state capitol in Springfield. His Rev. Wright was in the building, according to reporting, but — oopsie, polling says white folks don’t get the whole black liberation/chickens home to roost thing. So, no Rev. W giving an invocation, or anything else. Probably got a private plane ride home to sweet home Chicago.
Even worse, the minute Rev. Wright became a political inconvenience by accusing the US government of helping spread AIDS in Africa (Imagine that!), Obama sold him down the river.
What do white folks get? most of them didn't understand why slavery, lynchings and Jim crow needed to end either.
His library in Chicago looks just like him.
Tall...skinny...ugly.....standing there with no character or soul.
We pray
you forgot those other hard-core lefties Allen Dulles and J Edgar hoover.
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Not even so much bringing the "worst" of Chicago politics (which is a tall claim), "gutter" or otherwise, but not even adding any panache or class to the matter.
Here in Chicago, there's little that can surprise, at least in terms of "conventional corruption". One almost gets suspicious if there isn't any!
But, true to the city's culture, it's both greasy and pretty standard. Almost adds to the charm of the city (as long as it's within bounds).
But the 2016-coverup-gate seems so surreally buffoonish. There's nothing that even hints at any cleverness or thought-through-subterfuge.
From the revelations of open rumors of Loretta Lynch's putative interference in the FBI investigation (cf. Wasserman-Schulz), to the stalling of the original ICA so it wouldn't be released and thus visible to team Trump, notably Michael Flynn, "Based on some new guidance", to Brennan's insistence on including the "Steele dossier" (man, it sounds so much cooler when you call it a "dossier"), to the overclassification...it was so ham-fisted and transparent as to make even the lowest precinct captain in Chicago shake his head.
Susan Rice's email-to-self on the last day of the Obama admin was the cherry on top.
I would like to see her subpoenaed to explain that gem.
Also, I think "Russiagate" now sounds dated, I think we need a new name, though I'm not saying my suggestion is good.
In interviewing Mr. Taibbi recently, Kennedy said point blank it was unfortunate that every D.C. scandal has become a "gate," and thinks the Steele dossier-intelligence community debacle should have it's own term, which can be adapted for future scandals. Because she says, correctly, that this mess is much, much worse than the crime(s) involved in Watergate.
This is true. "Iran-Contra" was an exception to the rule...and a catchy one at that!
Your point is taken. While Thucydides' suggestion of "Obamagate" works...it's concise and has a ring to it (!!!!!)...ideally, one might want a new "standalone" version.
On the other hand, and to support the use of "Obamagate", there has not been a scandal in DC of the magnitude (much greater, actually) of Watergate and that is so closely tied with election shenanigans.
In fact, Watergate -- which may have ultimately proven to be a set-up on Nixon, ironically -- only involved election espionage. Nixon won the 1972 election with a genuinely massive landslide. The break-in was completely unnecessary.
So, while I agree that, and have observed myself, the use of the suffix "gate" has been overused, this might be a situation where it really fits.
The irony of the high-and-mighty, "above it all" Obama torching his "legacy" (cough, cough -- even Wasserman-Schulz put it in quotes) at the very last minute in such a clumsy, blundering fashion, and that this half-assed sedition is now being revealed after the RE-ELECTION of the man whose administration he sought to kneecap is....pretty freaking juicy.
I'll take a glass of schadenfreude, please. It will be an excellent complement to the gentleman's entree of crow.
NOINTELPRO 😆
Just so. That may be the scariest thing about this fiasco.
Read Jim Hougan's Secret Agenda and see if your opinions about Watergate hold.
Theres a Mitchell and Webb bit for this: https://youtu.be/vB9JgxhXW5w?si=vn89APD7XmRnHj3J
Obamagate?
That does have a good ring but I (possibly mistakenly) was thinking to somehow tie in both the election interference AND the email coverup.
But you're probably right. Brevity is the soul of...sources and methods?!?
:-)
That Obama's theme-park-temple-to-self is set to open in early-middle 2026 is looking like a (public relations) disaster in the making.
What? You're not going? I got a pair of free tickets when I bought a leaf blower.
Simply because it fits the sentiment of the thread:
I just read that on the release of news of Chicago's financial mess, Andrew Cuomo posted, "Chicago is proof that incompetent leadership can turn a deep-dish city into a half-baked mess."
Should any Cuomo be throwing dirt?
...for the hot air?
Maybe we could call his museum “Obymandius.” Weak, yes, but it made me smile.
The oldsters understand that gating this multi-conspiracy-filled criminal blob doesn’t do it justice—we remember the original. But the youngsters just nod when they hear X-gate, bc all they know is it’s something bad bc of mysterious reasons related to a former Republican president.
This beast cries out for a good name and it damn well deserves one. But “grand conspiracy” isn’t sexy. It’s not interesting. Worse, it runs people off—it sounds too complicated to pause and bother with—and they’ll look to fringe media for a breakdown. We must do better!
It brings to my mind an octopus: powerful and scary, it has a big head, eight long arms, and a siphon that expels ink (to confuse or distract predators) and isht that comes out in a long, probably appealing spaghetti strand. And get this (yes, I looked this part up): it can make its confusing ink resemble another octopus! (A/K/A a “pseudomorph”!) It’s visual and it fits these criminals to a T.
And for those reasons, I hereby officially therefore and therewith nominate “The Octopus Conspiracy” in the hopes it will spur some of you to think of something better. We really must name this, ASAP, and name it well. A lot of their activities look “ham-handed,” to be sure. But when it comes to framing things, we are often outmatched (e.g., “collusion” instead of “conspiracy”; “gender affirming care” was another masterpiece). You can be sure the rascals are focus-testing names right now. “He who frames it nails it.” We must frame this if we are to nail it.
PS — quite new here. Can anyone tell me what it means to check the “Also share to Notes” box? I’m checking it here bc I suspect an extra person might see my beseeching entreaty to name this hydra headed gelatinous hairball of conspiracies—but I really have no idea what it does, so please forgive any etiquette breaches. Thanks very much—and especially for reading this to the end.
Excellent description - "He who frames it nails it" is very good!
Both the "Obymandius" and "octopus" references are also excellent.
I would only note that octopi are apparently very intelligent and "Ozymandias" has two interesting meanings:
1.) The subject of the Shelley poem of the ruins of a great emperor. Two "trunkless legs" standing with the head lying half-buried in the sand being the only remnants of some long-lost empire.That does fit nicely.
2.) The "Watchmen" analogy maybe not as much: Ozymandias was supposed to be "the smartest man in the world". Obama was sold as an academic -- a self-described "constitutional law professor -- and that veneer has completely worn off. His pre-politics "career" turned out to be hollow -- no academic work in the twelve years on the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School and no record of a single client. But Ozymandias may work here as well in that no constitutional law professor can feign ignorance of the meaning or possible consequences of the various transgressions identified in the document releases!
Last, I too am ignorant as to the meaning of "save to my notes". Haven't used that feature. I'm guessing (and forgive me if I'm wrong) that it allows one to bookmark posts for future reference and for sharing. As such it might be useful in the context you mentioned. Found this:
https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/14673287580436-Where-do-my-Substack-notes-appear
Velvet Insurrection.
Thank you! Now I don’t feel quite as techno illiterate, which is quite a nice surprise.
Re naming the “grand conspiracy,” I like “The Octopus Conspiracy” bc it conveys complexity in a visual fashion without repelling mildly (or not at all) curious people. The picture speaks for itself, and it’s intriguing in a spy-novel way. And, it’s fun* to say. Finally (though few will know it), its ability to create a pseudomorph with its ink, through its dual-purpose siphon, takes the cake. Because that’s EXACTLY what these criminals are doing on television nearly every day: expelling isht or pseudomorphic clouds of ink.
*PS—the “pus” in “octopus” is my little jab at these conspirators. Trump’s “grab em by the _ussy” Access Hollywood tape saved his bacon. (I wish he’d said “uvula” instead—bc both are impossible to grab.) Obama & Crew were moving full steam ahead on Russia! Trump! (see Undead FOIA’s recent post). FULL STEAM! Indeed they made their first big reveal on 10/7/16 with a splashy DNI/DHS press release. The Access tape dropped a few hours later that same day, to their great (initial) dismay. But they quickly regrouped and figured the tape alone had done Trump in, and they could ease up on the Russia! gas. But they figured wrong. Bwahahaha.
Here’s a link to a Yahoo article and a 30-minute video chronicling that fateful October day. https://www.yahoo.com/news/64-hours-october-one-weekend-blew-rules-american-politics-2-162827162.html
Pharaonic. When the design was released, I sought the review of the resident architecture commenter in the Chi Trib, or maybe it was the other paper. Anyway, that is the word they used to describe the design, lovingly of course, because nothing he is associated with can be in poor taste, right?
It's certainly exhibits the modesty and humility of a pharaoh!
While executive immunity will probably protect him from arrest and conviction, the mere existence of that hideous monument might be an ironic form of justice.
O-bomb-a-thon.
They'll think it has to do with the cozy relationship he created with the CEO's of Aetna, United Health, Kaiser Permanente and Cigna back when ACA was passed.
Yes -- the trick is to combine what I'd say are at least four salient factors:
1.) It started with the Clinton email scandal -- a scandal that (maybe big surprise) got little attention. Anyone who's worked in any sizable company that might be subject to Sarbanes-Oxley types of concerns (e.g., financial/document related disaster recovery, etc.) or has a legal staff aware of the liability inherent in official business communications would know that diverting official communications to a private server would get you instantly terminated and likely the subject of legal consequences. To boot, it's not like Clinton could get this implemented without help from government IT support (e.g., DNS changes for MX records, etc.). The email scandal really was a big deal.
2.) That the Clinton campaign paid for opposition research to "collect" (i.e., fabricate) "evidence" with the goal of accusing Trump of being compromised by or colluding with elements of the Russian government. Again, a big deal by itself: attempting to influence an election by essentially "bearing false witness".
3.) That the Obama administration sought to influence the FBI in order to downplay or dismiss the investigation of the private email server and the associated mis-handling of classified information. That would seem to constitute obstruction of justice. You know, the offense that would have potentially been leveled at Richard Nixon and prompted his resignation. Again, a big deal.
4.) Finally, that after the election the Obama administration stifled and quashed already-completed assessments that found no collusion or untoward interactions with Russian assets by the Trump campaign and instead pivoted to use the "research" (cough, cough) paid for by the Clinton campaign as the basis of launching investigations into the incoming Trump administration. Notably, in Susan Rice's email-to-self on the last day of the Obama administration, she writes that, "The President asked Comey to inform him if anything changes in the next few weeks that should affect how we share classified information with the incoming team. Comey said that he would." Now, at this point, Obama is leaving the White House and will no longer have any agency or authority to direct federal law enforcement. It is stunning both that Obama would be asking whether information should be shared with the incoming (Trump) administration and that Susan Rice would be so fantastically dense as to document it. At this point, the bearing-false-witness angle potentially takes on a much bigger scale as it's not being committed by a candidate for office but by a sitting US president.
Soooooooooo....the trick is the include all these factors in one term. I have no problem using the "gate" suffix as the similarity with the original Watergate. This transgression is similar in involving election mischief but is much, much more serious in the extent and consequences. Trump's first term was hobbled as a result of this effort. It consumed huge amounts of resources and time and thwarted Trump from executing his office.
But, yes, I agree; by itself, "Obamagate" is arguably too general as it could refer to a host of other scandals: the ACA, "Fast and Furious" and Solyndra, arguably among others.
But it is catchy-sounding!
Not to mention the impossibility of Pelosi and the D's winning 40 house seats in 2018 under the fog of Russia Russia Russia while Robert Mueller drug his feet until well after that election....already knowing a year earlier he had nothing to find in his investigation other than to do downfield blocking for the AntiTrump forces in the federal Government and Congress.
I sincerely hope Mueller and Biden share a room at at Dementia Unit they're both going to be occupying in a few months.
That wouldn't make us whole, but it would at least be just.
The "downfield blocking" football metaphor is good -- appreciated!
And with which you raise a great point -- yes, one cannot discount the effect of the fog of the "Russia, Russia, Russia" ginned-up hysteria had on the mid-term elections.
So that's election interference in what, three elections? The initial ploy was 2016, but then it almost certainly had an effect in 2018, and then it was resurrected via ginned-up impeachment inquiries in 2020.
Excellent point, thank you!
I've been calling it obamagate ever since the whole mess started.
they dont want to show sources, because they fabricate or are their own sources, and their methods are a circle jerk and a bag of dildos they use on each other.
👏🏻
If you remember Hilary's "Bernie Bro" smear campaign, it's not much of a surprise.
That woman is unique in history. Most hated candidate ever. Trump was kind when he called her "Crooked Hillary". She's much worse!
There may be some hate but there are a lot of female seniors that still admire her and ignore all the bad stuff mostly through willful ignorance. Many many boomer women also still admire her. It is a cognitive dissonance on a level never before seen.
Because it's no longer about candidate flaws or policies. It's just Blue Team vs Red Team.
We can only hope she chokes on a cork while chugging down another bottle of Sam's Club Chardonnay while walking deep in the woods haunted by her own history.
Surely Sam’s Club Chardonnay is more cardboard and less cork.
Let's agree: Obama is an exemplary jowl flapper. Always has been and always will be. History will not treat him well. Bank on this.
Agreed. But as they say, depends on who writes the history.
👏🏻👏🏻
When Obama beat Romney I characterized it as "Obama won the speech contest". He was the least qualified of any presidents EVER.
"Crime once exposed has no refuge but in audacity." - Tacitus
Wow. That's excellent. And true. Going to have to look for the Latin on that one.
Don't have to look hard to find plenty of examples, that's for sure!
The sentiment is not unlike the line of Paul Newman (Henry Gondorff) to Robert Redford (Johnny Hooker) in "The Sting" regarding conning Doyle Lonnegan (played by Robert Shaw): You gotta keep his con even after you take his money. He can't know you took him.
Thank you!
I haven't read Tacitus in years--it's time for a revisit. Thanks. :)
The best part of Dems is their screaming about Fascists and Authoritarians. Their complete lack of vision and intelligence is truly astounding. I actually have to raise my glass to them. The sheer level of absolute unawareness is something to behold.
I think they are well aware of how dishonest and corrupt they are. I think they laugh themselves silly over how easily they get away with it and "put one over on the rubes."
You give them WAY too much credit. You may be speaking of the Dems in power rather than the wee little folk with their degrees in Liberal Arts crying that they can't get a job that pays $200k per year right out of college.
Mind you. I do feel bad for those kids today. They were sold that they MUST have a college degree, and it was sold to them by one of the most morally bankrupt systems in our wealth of those such systems. While I don't think tuition should be free, I do feel it should be interest free or managed by something other than pure evil. I am fortunate that when my wife and I got to a point we just pulled $22k from our retirement to pay it. It was worth the penalties and then some. The Math on Student loans is unlike any other math out there.
They are essentially giving these kids 75 year mortgages. My wife had paid her loan for almost 20 years and was still getting hit for $200 interest on a $250 payment, and the interest rate was listed as 4%... I have never figured out the math on that, and I was a math major.
The core resource --(We the People)-- for building the fabled "city on a hill" example of what a free society can be consistently provided the greatest GDP and resources for innovation and advancement--the greatest economy in the world-- while the best--brightest and most courageous Americans died and suffered on battlefields in the name of freedom and liberation. Where is the "city"? Destroyed and looted.
What were WE given? Soros lawfare--the Cheney torture factory--the Obama/Wall Street gutting of our Republics economy---Covid lockdowns--20,000,000 illegals at treasury (our $$$$$) expense and a deep rotten hubris that poisons every American life and makes an industry of the LIE. With every tool for success and victory at hand the D.C. plague chose to stuff its pockets--distort every opportunity and lay waste to every dream.--Now backs to the wall--the perps call for mass surveillance--persecution for thought and speech crimes--an entire rewriting of history and the reduction of all things human to the dystopian sterility that defines the twisted psyche of the totalitarian elite. The drug addled economic chaos and collapse surrounding the lives of free peoples across Planet Earth is the result of the amoral psychopathy of the cut throat economic slaver and looter.
"Getting away with it" is what the grift does best. We the People exist crisis to crisis--no solutions forthcoming --while the grift hums along in the background. Caught red handed? You go to jail for the smallest infraction. Not the perps." Too big to fail" means somebody got a house in the Hamptons. You got to give yours back to the bank. The boys running the torture chamber got a great big bonus in the millions. But--the school system you pay billions for can't produce a child who can read. Who failed who?
Yes--without question--the RACKET fight to bring truth back to American journalism should be supported at every turn. Truth/fact based journalism is our first step to the truth/fact based reality our Republic needs in order to survive. Russiagate is only one dimension of the LIE that has subsumed American life. The perps who held our Republic thrall to the ten year emotional roller coaster under discussion should be jailed.
(Thanks for the space T.F.)
Yeah, the Dems in power. Their voters are mostly what Lenin allegedly referred to as "useful idiots."
I agree (with a few exceptions) and I think it is important to understand this. To quote Harrison Koehli from his Substack on political evil (Political Ponerology): "Human predators are incapable of seeing themselves in a negative light."
P.S. It isn't only human predators who are incapable of seeing themselves in a negative light!
I was thinking about 5 people I could send this column to and then had to stop, telling myself..."none of them knows about any of this and they all believe that Putin got Trump elected in 2016 because Putin hated Clinton."
I couldn't forward it...these people are so lost in the fog these IC people have created that they are indeed brainwashed and immune from facts and data that Matt, Mate and others are providing on a regular basis.
It's worth a try. The longest journey begins with the first step, or something like that.
I can only conclude that they, to a one, are psychopaths
I sure hope that Trump and his team have kept a bunch of additional details in their ammo clip.
He's gonna need it before the midterms and general in 2028
We'll see. They had him dead to rights, what now, 50 times plus? 2026 is an eternity away.
Most people are unaware of these crimes against America. Too many people still believe the press.
Official Washington is gutter enough he didn't need to bring anything from Chicago.
The new media aphorism is, “If your mother says she loves you, tell her to shut up unless she has dirt on Donald Trump.”
Because, like all commies, they believe they are elite, that they are in some way righteous in their endeavors, and they can therefore not be touched. And if they are touched, lying is a perfectly acceptable defense.
Bravo!!!
The ones that can wrap their heads around it condone and support it.
Hubris
Your and Walter’s hypothesis that the media has a secondary motive to push bullshit into the AI algorithms is so deeply troubling I literally cannot take anything they say as honest. Incredibly insightful…and terrifying.
The mechanized actualization of that hoary chestnut: If you repeat a lie often enough....
Somewhere I read that the Truth shall make you free. It was mocked of course with the acidic question, "What is truth?" Quench the speech, kill the dissenters, censor the reading, curate the boards, rig the AI. They always think they have found a new way around the truth. And for a time, it looks like they have. But they never do.
If you want a good laugh listen to NPR CEO Katherine Maher talking about "truth" on a TED talk.
Not just any lie, but the grösselugen! The bigger the better, which forces denial of reality.
Denying reality always ends in the bunker. With a startling alacrity once the unraveling picks up downhill speed.
The days of being publicly feted are beginning to seem like a fevered dream to the professional liars.
Not new, and not mere hypothesis. In scientific terms it is a theory, it accounts for almost all the known facts and nothing we know contradicts it. Like Relativity or Evolution or Quantum Physics--you can never really PROVE something, and there can be gaps or gray areas that need more work, but an explanation that makes useful predictions and fits the known facts without contradiction is what you go with until there is something better.
In a nutshell. Yes. And I don't know whether the greater danger is that that's exactly what's going on, or that it's a plague innocently unleashed. Because it is likely, either way, to spell the end of human flourishing, if not of the species altogether.
What an anti-human life world this has become! Abortion is lauded over raising children, those who have children find their offspring encouraged in school to have themselves mutilated and/or sterilized before they are past the stage of wondering whether they want to grow up to be a police officer or a dinosaur, we are to forego expansive movement as well as basic comfort to "save the planet," for which privilege we are to pay a king's ransom.
Children are raised to look for all challenges removed from their paths by parents, teachers, bosses, spouses. Never by their own efforts to cut a path of their own.
It's those very challenges and efforts which make an adult of a child.
"I think, therefore I am," wrote Rene Descartes. If that is true, and I believe it is, when/if AI successfully breaks us of what remains of a habit of thinking nowadays, we will not be.
Or at least, we won't be recognizably human at all.
Yes. We have to fight it, and this may be the what defines us for many years.
Remember when Matt and Walter discussed that Woody Allen short story about "What if Impressionists Were Dentists?" Matt mentioned another from the same book, "The Whore of Mensa." There's a line when the man who has hired the woman for intellectual stimulation (only he's a private investigator) notes, "She faked a response."
We must remember that is all AI can ever do. AI has no soul, no feelings, no real mind, and no conscience. It can no more love than it can be loyal. It is ultimately manipulable, for the purpose of manipulating us.
But it's more manipulable than some of us, at least. If we don't believe it nor believe in it, and we never let anything overrule our own minds in those minds, we at least will die, if die we must, unconquered of soul.
Be careful drawing absolutes. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, people working on machine intelligence worked with psychologists to figure out what, exactly, "consciousness" is, which they hoped to be able to then reproduce. They eventually gave up on this as the psychologists couldn't define human consciousness even in soft, psychology terms, thus were nowhere near being able to define something potentially replicable on a computer. As processing power continued to grow, eventually an alternative appeared, large language models and the huge data crunching capabilities of hundreds of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs working in tightly bound clusters.
You might consider the saying that when all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. When all you have is the ability to crunch immense amounts of data through parallel processing units, the goal of artificial intelligence looks solvable by running immense amounts of data through parallel processing units. Even if that is changing the goal, keeping only the nomenclature.
THAT AI, the current paradigm, I would agree will never have "a real mind," as you put it. It just identifies patterns and responds with patterns of its own based on enormous volumes of data.
But, that old original path was never proven impossible, it was simply beyond our abilities at the time. It could come back, more successfully.
Or, simply put, "Never say 'never'."
Oh, has someone recently defined consciousness for us? I didn't think so. I would have heard or seen the congratulatory parades led by Elon and friends. This AI business is the most massive exercise of hubris since the Tower of Babel, and I suspect it will have the same result or maybe worse. Imagine the future comeuppance:
God: I told you not to do that.
Fight it, fight it, fight it with all of your might, but they'll beat it, even in court, on their brilliant manipulation of the meaning of words.. As an an example, the meaning of "aspire." See what I mean? All this will pass, until the meaning of bullets, once we get into all this deep enough. Unless we surrender without a fight.
Controlling the words, indeed. They are good at it, and conservatives, who believe in fixed rules, are very bad at recognizing when they are being played, let alone turning the tables. Part of why the Old Guard Republican Party died--it could not survive in the new environment. MAGA seems better suited for the fight--whether it is good enough, I don't know. But better than the old GOP, which was quite useless in this fight.
I believe the Left, which also means Democrat Party, can be crushed out of business with mocking, because everything they do is a joke. Mock the imagery of their behavior, mock their "stars," even go racial on Obama and mock his whiteness and his blackness -- maybe show him as the half-assed person he is. Mock 17 year old black girls with three little brats clinging to her skirts, mock the boys with pistols in their belts. Mock the mostly unattractive protesting white women, go after all of their women's weight, and harshly -- get them crying. Stop me, I could think up stuff forever.
“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’
’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’
’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
― Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass
And it seems pretty clear just who the masters are intended to be.
And who's doing the intending, fat eggs?
Yeah, I saw Grok write a summary of Jan6 that was obviously sourced from the media.
It's like Wikipedia: we know for a fact that the CIA/FBI/NSA leak stories to bootlicking media who write stories and then they use the stories to justify further investiation.
It’s well established that Grok’s algos and source materials possess a strongly leftist slant…even worse than other LLM’s.
The secondary motive is more than likely to save their asses from idk, let's say bias, journalistic laziness, being an extension of the dem party, culpability... the list goes on
They are in the eyeballs business, not the truth business.
Even if that were true- that this is some sort of AI algorithm play-why? What’s in it for the journalists? I get the Marxists stop and nothing and have been playing the long game for decades but what is compelling these so called independent journalists to play along?
The NYT published an op-ed by Clapper and Brennan last week. I'd say 90% of the comments thanked those "true patriots" for setting the record straight.
This is the audience of #resist, the modern American liberal, praising the heads of the CIA and the DNI for their honest assessments and shedding light on what's REALLY going on in Washington.
Even when I think the median Dem partisan of today is the most contemptible shit-piece I could have as a neighbor, Times commenters are here to remind me that the true blue partisan is the most useful of fucking idiots.
To be fair to the NYT subscriber base, only the comments that pass the NYT own moderators get shown. While there are indeed #resist fanatics, the NYT just won't publish anything remotely critical of their sacred cows.
They'll publish some of mine that are seriously critical of their sacred cows. Just to let Democrats pile on me, and hold back on publishing my replies.
There was an awesome comment on that Brennan / Clapper thread by a commenter that said they lied to congress, he(?) saw them. and went on from there. Got a lot of recommends, was surprised that they published it. But is was gone the next morning when i checked. Afaik, my comment was never published there. (Something kind of benign like "Who am i going to believe, you two or the investigative reporter who has the actual receipts? Let me think about that for a minute and i'll get back to you).
My reply, which to paraphrase was "Why would anyone believe the head of any intelligence agency from any country, when their entire role is to lie, cajole, and manipulate?"
It did get posted. I mean, eight hours after I submitted it, but...
Absolutely correct. I have tried. Censorship at its best
The easiest people to con are those who think they are too smart to be conned.
There is not a single liberal quality or attitude left on the left. Call them progressives; these have been authoritarian, expert-driven, and full of contempt for the citizen as such, for over a century, just as today.
For years, I have advocated losing the term "progressive" to describe the neo-communists on the left. We associate the term "progressive" with progress, a virtuous concept. In reality, they are anything but righteous. They are viruses infecting the body politic.
Progress arising from humans' inventions is a great thing, at least often it is. But "progress" as an agenda devised by soi-disant "experts" to be rammed down the throats of an unwilling citizenry must by its very nature be abhorrent to anyone with a shred of respect or affection for this nation's founding principles. Which are dear to me, and for which my forbears fought, starting with the American Revolution but not ending there.
Merçi, Ellen: Bravo! "Soi-disant experts" = "Soi-disant progressives." Still, they cling to ideas that have long been discredited by history as false and productive of nothing but failure because, in their hyper-intellectual theorizing, they ignore the realities of human nature. They are regressives rather than progressives. Neo-communists.
Je suis femme, on peut dire brava, n'est pas? Mais, merci bien.
Yes, though, that's the true zealot's stance: that if reality will not confirm itself to the theory, then reality is at fault, as the theory is perfectly correct.
(Cue tragic consequences.)
Merçi pour la correction. (I'm embarrassed because I'm actually 1/2 French.) But you are so right on many levels. I take it you're from New Orleans, n'est pas?
Their promotion of ethnic tribalism is in fact very regressive, and that's just one example.
You write good stuff Ellen. Please keep doing it.
Thank you! Working on my third novel, but political stuff there has to be measured judiciously and with great care.
Nonetheless, my principals are churchgoers, gun owners, hunters. The hero has little patience for being told what he may and may not do on his own land.
I did work in a neat bit of gun-as equalizer in a self-defense incident (small woman getting the drop on large male with ill intent).
But I comment more on this site than all others I visit put together. This is a fun place, and I think while most of us contribute to that, it is Matt Taibbi who sets the tone, ably assisted by the also-fun Walter Kirn.
I had guns for awhile but was always told to not pull the gun unless you intend to use it.
Agree about Matt. Matt has provided a wide playing field and seeing the comments makes me realize I’m part of a community much larger and smarter and braver than I realized.
My husband insisted I keep one when he was traveling for work. It's in the drawer by my bed. I should probably buy new ammunition; what's loaded may be too old to be safe. Never needed it - up here many don't lock their doors, you can leave your car running while you pop into a store. Dropped my wallet in the supermarket parking lot once, called the store, it had been turned in with not a card, nor a penny, missing.
Yes, Matt's followers are the best to wear motley these days. I've commented before this site, these articles, these podcasts, make it clear that either I'm not insane or at least I am in mostly excellent company, if I am.
We canceled our NYTimes subscription years ago, as it was like reading a comic book - entirely fictional. Talk to any ‘liberal’ and it’s quickly revealed how uninformed they are, ignorant even.
I never worked in government, certainly not the intelligence services. But if I make clear my intentions, and people lower than me on the org chart refuse to comply or try to screw around, some motherfuckers are going to be out of work by close of business.
If Tulsi is being denied by people further down the chart, she should publicly fire them and tell us why they're now former spooks.
That’s not quite what’s happening, but there are agencies technically subordinate to the DNI stalling delivery
Yeah, and there are undoubtedly lines on intel org charts that resemble a night at octopus Fight Club. Like some corporations.
But those that are technically subordinate shouldn’t have to be reminded of that last line of their job description: Other duties as assigned by supervisor.
And Americans don’t mind hearing about people getting fired for gross insubordination. And Gabbard’s boss certainly has a fondness for “you’re fired!”
“Retire” them, like in the movies.
You are correct you've never worked in govt. Elected and appointed are temporary hires, the permanent bureaucracy endures, and they know that.
I personally worked on a document that ended up classified when the only classified material was in an annex (and the base document should've remained unclass while the annex was properly classified). Instead the entire document became classified - because it contained some material that would be embarrassing to certain high-level bureaucrats (the actual data didn't support the conclusions). Officially I was supposed to challenge that, even blow the whistle, but I was a contractor and would've been kicked out the door for doing so. That's how the system works.
C'mon now, Matt. Maybe Gabbard didn't give away all our "tradecraft, sources, and methods" secret.
But doesn't it ring true?
Listening to WK define psychopath, where it is described as you don’t have to feel, just mimic real people who do — “doesn’t it ring true . . .” Hmmm.
and he strikes again! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2HH7J-Sx80&list=RDF2HH7J-Sx80&start_radio=1
Thanks man. I was hoping for a like from Matt, but this is better!
R the man! :) :) :)
Niiice
ha
Just to really put the lie in perspective, the HSCPI does not conduct tradecraft. It has no sources and methods, just what the executive agencies give it, and that is going to be sanitized so no bureaucrat is ever at risk.
What is truly amazing, and scary, is that all of the media Outlets have determined that if they keep quiet about everything, it will just go away. Which, if Matt Taibbi and Racket news, and true sources, don't keep on this, will be true. We must keep their feet to the fire, incessantly, relentlessly.
Shine the light, Tulsi, and watch the roaches scatter. What’s going on now is that simple. These cretins don’t want their dirty tricks exposed to the voters to whom they are supposed to be accountable.
And she's drawn a bead on Lord Ohbhama, which will make her a target of all the "we elected a Black President" admirers. His race-baiting and his "no American exceptionalism" tour (otherwise known as the "apology tour") are the starting points to realizing that his actual subversion of Trump with patently false evidence further shows his racist arrogance against patriots that elected "the WHITE guy that I (Ohbhama) didn't want to get elected after me because it represents a foundational criticism of me."
One CANNOT hate the media enough.
I’m trying.
See: Evans Wroten's scribbles on TFP's Nellie Bowle's TGIF -- says the same.
-With apologies to Evans, I include his latest on TFP TGIF:
"Evans W
Evans’ Ramblings...
Nellie kicking things off with making fun of The White House State Ballroom having gold finishes is hilarious. I encourage her to look at the equivalent formal rooms in England/France/Italy. Furthermore, its pretty obvious that Nellie has never stayed a any of Trumps properties. Mar-a-Lago is simply second to none, especially the interiors. Relax Nellie.....there's 3 1/2 more years to go. https://x.com/rivatez/status/1905306705032085918
While we're on the topic of the White House Rose Garden, none of the actual rose beds were disturbed. Drainage of the area had been an issue since it was built. Trump had limestone from the state of Indiana specially cut and fabricated for this project and all of the laser cut limestone perimeter drains resemble American flags with the presidential seal located at each corner. It has just enough class to make a progressive lose their fucking minds, so as far as I'm concerned, that makes the renovation perfect. https://x.com/KylieJaneKremer/status/1951430101553520777
Tim Cook/Apple story is just one more example of what is possible if you put a business guy in the White House instead of a 50 year criminal politician with alzheimer's or a cackling DEI lunatic. Two dozen companies have pledged nearly $4 trillion in investments to the U.S. economy in 200 days under Trump and he's just getting started. Only a retard is incapable in seeing the clear positive impact this has to our economy and the working class. https://x.com/SantaSurfing/status/1923087676099657758
Most of us are hoping for a speedy recovery for Big Balls. He's the type of man most parents would be proud to have raised. Smart, successful, and brave. Meanwhile over on CNN there seems be some progressive fatigue as they tell Scott Jennings that rather than being a victim of street thugs, he's guilty of stealing all of our 'information'.....whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. CNN is insufferable. https://x.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1953463691401171304
Its great that NPR & PBS are finally getting off the taxpayer tit. People have been calling for that for decades now. Let them support themselves. As Greg Collard over at Racket News reported this past week, these organizations are far from broke. Make sure you catch Greg's story....it's outstanding. https://www.racket.news/p/why-would-media-report-on-public?r=jaf0z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Has MAGA found its new celebrity with Sydney Sweeney? Nah.....normal people are just responding positively to health and beauty rather than normalizing shit like this. https://x.com/DramaAlert/status/1920195451178881520
In case you missed it......Chuck Schumer is having a rough week. Masked pro-Palestine lunatics occupied his office in Manhattan late last week. I'm predicting that the Democrats are gonna have a rough midterm next year......but what the hell do I know. https://x.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1951316034578948467
The 'No Kings' protests seem to be going swimmingly. Make Insane Asylums Great Again. https://x.com/KaitMarieox/status/1949971884260393236
Catherine Herridge is a stone cold gangster of a journalist. She published the full FOIA 60 Minutes Kamala Harris complaint and boy is it ugly. You'll need half a dozen adderall and 2 bottles of Kaopectate to get through this thing. Bari and Nellie may wanna noodle a bit on selling out to Skydance Media....just sayin. https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1953235454079246510
I know Nellie and Bari don't like talking about the stale ole Russiagate hoax, but I just wouldn't be going into this weekend on the right foot if I didn't post this little gem between MSNBC's Ari Melber's & Glen Greenwald from back in 2016. It's just simply fucking delicious. https://x.com/Evans_Wroten/status/1953048119756636213
Stephen Colbert, still simping for Big Pharma, goes on a tirade against RFK Jr for pulling half a billion tax dollars from mRNA vaccine manufacturers. It appears he's just going to trash what’s left of his bed shitted career in the next 10 months. https://x.com/chrismartenson/status/1953435908532846699
Southern university admissions are booming. I wonder if someone over at The Free Press could look into what's causing this? https://x.com/JoeKinseyexp/status/1953172578819854562
Its' 2025 and dildos being tossed onto the court of WNBA games has become a thing. You can even place wagers on Polymarket what color the next dildo will be. Last night it was purple and some dude won $6,000 on his bet. This is the America that I love! https://x.com/claytravis/status/1953812348478620045?s=46
Unfortunately I saw this, so now you have to. https://x.com/RichardAngwin/status/1826571633882026254
You don't hate the media enough - you think you do, but you don't."
https://x.com/Evans_Wroten
https://substack.com/@evanswroten
Good stuff.
I never tire of the effort.
Controlled media….
Where are all you people who read Taibbi in my day to day life? 😂
Haha, I was thinking the same thing as I read this piece. I have plenty of friends/acquaintances - some are blue team but many are red team. None of them, save one, even knows who Matt Taibbi is. I find that a bit disconcerting.
Same here. Seemingly intelligent, informed people and they are oblivious
Perhaps PragerU needs to put Matt on. Their 5-minute videos are widely and frequently watched by millions of concerned citizens, both the left (for education) and the right (for exhortation).
And mine.
Restack Matt!
Shocking: members at intelligence agencies argue against releasing evidence that makes the intelligence agencies look bad.
Since the election we have books coming out about the cover up of Biden’s mental health. From the media, Tapper, or from people in the administration, St Pierre etc. But they refuse to cover possibly the biggest story ever in American politics. Because without the media there would have been no “Russia collusion “ hoax to begin with. They would have to admit that.
Thank you, Matt, for all your hard work on this story. Keep going!! All these bad actors must be held accountable!
So the pee tape isn’t real?
LOL
Oh no, It’s real. Don’t you remember Colbert’s special trip to the hotel? What a moron.
There actually was a video tape taken in Russia - of a man named Pyotr, walking his dog, which did its business for the camera. Now, whether misapprehension regarding the tape's contents, and its informal nomenclature, came from the man's name, or from his canine's activities, we may never know.
This is basically act 2 of uncle vanya.
LOL, literally, until I'm tearing and coughing. It sort of almost is. Thank you for the giggle. Much enjoyed.
Perkins Coie = methods and sources!
If ever an ENTIRE LAW FIRM could be disbarred, P & C deserves it.
Why does “sources and methods” remind me of “thoughts and prayers”?
Is using "evil" too harsh a word, like in, "What the deep-state and the MSM have done and continue to do is downright "evil"?
You have to be just incredibly awful human beings to push these lies onto the public over and over and over again.
Thank God for people like Matt Taibbi.