381 Comments
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Yuri Bezmenov's avatar

Another mean Mr. Mustache. Couldn’t happen to a nicer warmonger. Bill Kristol and The Bulwark are in full meltdown mode.

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badnabor's avatar

I know my Friday seems a little brighter now! I can hardly wait for the TDS sufferers to twist themselves in knots praising this swamp rat!

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Matt L.'s avatar

Wait, I don’t understand. There wasn’t a CNN crew parked across the street, and the FBI agents weren’t armed.

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Eileen Thornton Renda's avatar

True dat, lol!

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Reno Mussatto's avatar

No CNN and they didn't do it at 3:00 AM with helicopters and spotlights. LOL

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Nobody's avatar

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. But what did Bolton do exactly other than be a warmonger and terrible advisor? What was his role in the russia hoax?

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Sidney Reilly's avatar

His role? Betrayal and treason from the inside.

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Nobody's avatar

OK, but can you give me some things that Bolton specifically did? It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn he did something unethical and/or illegal, I just have no idea what this is all about.

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Matt L.'s avatar

I think Bolton’s security clearance was pulled in Jan 2025. Would it be a crime if he continued to hold onto classified documents? I don’t know how it all works. It’s that, or this raid was part of running down Russia hoax leak. Perhaps Bolton knew about the hoax by documents when he served as National Security Advisor under 45, but failed to disclose it to his boss.

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wrknight's avatar

Yes, it is a crime to hold on to classified documents after your clearances have been pulled.

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Sidney Reilly's avatar

LOL

Your friendly, cozy and comfortable backyard turning into a wilderness of mirrors, Nobody?

The feel of good Manila rope on your neck is unforgettable, if only for a few minutes.

I may be dumb and lying in the Moscow snow with a bullet in my head, but I ain't stupid or reckless.

Stand with the rest of the proletariat and wait to get taught a lesson by the great modern Machiavelli prince and Attila the Hun, the Orange Devil.

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P.S.'s avatar

LOL Payback is a Bitch..

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Reno Mussatto's avatar

At least you didn't call him Hitler. I'll give you 2 points for knowing some history.

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Michelle Dostie's avatar

He was denied permission to publish his book after termination by NSC (?). My guess is that he had an NON-disclosure Agreement that didn’t allow publication of books about his position or the Principals. He released classified info in the book.

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Han's avatar

**allegedly** he was sent the hoax newsletters and policies from comey brennan etc while he was in the administration and concealed it from trump.

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Enticing Clay's avatar

We know very little about the military side of RussiaGate. We know very few names. Very little of what was done and what happened.

Bolton was in on the military side of RussiaGate.

The military is in a very tough place because they can legally be put in prison just for talking back.

That is one hell of a big stick to swing.

The military side of RussiaGate very well may be the best fissure in the wood grain to aim that maul.

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Ann Robinson's avatar

I don't know if there's anything "there" there but i am full of misgivings at glimpses of inappropriate possibility. The sight of upper level military used as political tools really bothers me.

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Bizarro Man's avatar

We do know that Gen. Thoroughly Modern Milley talked to foreign counterparts behind the President's back contradicting Trump's statements. And that generals disobeyed direct orders to remove troops from Syria and then lied about it to Trump. Those ought to be worth court martials and prison sentences.

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Ann Robinson's avatar

It takes a lot to shock an old lady but such behavior from the military shocked me to my toes.

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Thomas Hennigan's avatar

Bolton’s mustache over Friedman’s in two falls out of three.

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Eileen Thornton Renda's avatar

Beautiful comparison of the mustache men and throwing Kristol and The Bulwark in is the cherry on top! Nicely done.

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Frank Lee's avatar

Kristol needs to be toasted too for his Hamilton 68 fraud.

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ResistWeMuch's avatar

need a new lyrics contest.

Mustache Man by CAKE.

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Matt L.'s avatar

Muffin Man by ZAPPA.

Girl, you thought he was a man

But he was a muffin

He hung around till you found

That he didn't know nuthin'

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baker charlie's avatar

Some people, SOME PEOPLE, like cupcakes better. I, for one, care less for them.

I first heard that on a 3 AM radio show hosted by a guy named 'Captain Skillet Weasel' while on the down slide from drug-fuelled evening. Surreal doesn't even describe it...

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Matt L.'s avatar

Zappa was in his prime when I was a kid. But I’ve discovered his music and it blows me away. Check out this live set from over 50 years ago. What a showman.

https://youtu.be/r7fyyhhuE7c?si=Jv6MqBqw-QtAGARb

‘Dickey’s such an Asshole’ is the topper and starts around 11:05 which is appropriate for today:

“The FBI… gonna get your number!”

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baker charlie's avatar

One of my exes turned me onto Zappa in the mid eighties. He had been a fan since the 70's and raved about their live performances. I do think some of his live albums are better than his studio stuff- which is true for many in his generation.

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Matt L.'s avatar

For sure the live stuff of past generations tops the album work. This is especially true of the Grateful Dead if you're into the Boys. Since we're talking live music of the 70's check out Copeland's percussion work on this 1979 classic... before they toured America. The punk / ska energy was really coming through here

https://youtu.be/30Gi8vTfOWc?si=1tSJHnQTUNvIoJ1T

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Hektor Bleriot's avatar

"The crux of the biscuit 🍪 is the apostrophe."

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Thomas Graves's avatar

I thought you died in 1993.

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James Higgins's avatar

Good news. Even if it all results in nothing, these people are getting a taste of “the process is the punishment” that they used on so many others.

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Patrick's avatar

Remember Pelosi slushing through her dentures: "No one is above the law".

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Daisy's avatar

Let's hope she's next.

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J. C. R.'s avatar

Please!!! Do California a favor and start cleaning house…there are too many nasty spiders 🕷️ running around out here!

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Terry Hildebrand's avatar

Well Adam Schiff is a great start! Right?

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Patrick's avatar

She and Schiff can have adjoining cells. She can have her hair done, and Schiff, whatever. What they did was just wrong, regardless of what Trump is.

oh, and they can listen to "Like a Rolling Stone" in a loop.

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Daisy's avatar

Perfect scenario!

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Patrick's avatar

"aaaaahhh how does it feel?"

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Perkins's avatar

Kash isn't selling any alibi's.

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Mike R.'s avatar

:)

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Nathan Woodard's avatar

right? Sure is getting warm in here....but it's not the heat...it the hypocrisy.

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P.S.'s avatar

True, let us enjoy just a little...You have to admit Obama & his thugs were really bad & deserve a little shade.

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Nathan Woodard's avatar

Oh hell yeah. I'm just taking my sauna while the intensity of their hypocrisy thermally disintegrates the Bridges of Malebolge into loose rubble. Throw a little more water on those loose rocks, please.

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P.S.'s avatar

LOL

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NNTX's avatar

Recall that Kash Patel went through the proper channels before he published his book...and the various agencies that had to grant permission took quite a long time--iirc 14-15 months.

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Nathan Woodard's avatar

yes. the hypocrisy of the Demoncrats is absolutely breathtaking. Pelosi's moral character could only be properly described by Dante himself. And we are absolutely talking level 8 here--panderers and seducers, flatterers, simoniacs, sorcerers and false prophets, corrupt politicians and grafters, hypocrites, thieves, false counselors, sowers of discord, and falsifiers.

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Michelle Dostie's avatar

Great book

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NNTX's avatar

Agreed.

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Skenny's avatar

Today is a great day for some grand jury indictments. Just sayin'.

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Cooper's avatar

Going after Trump people is bad, and going after anti Trump people is bad.

The high level CIA and FBI people re Russiagate is another story: going after them may be justice.

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Fergus's avatar

I didn’t see this raid on CNN. What gives!?!

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Bryan J. B.'s avatar

I saw the notification and was like "I'm sure CNN knew about this raid and set up cameras, right?"

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Kathryn Hill's avatar

I would have watched CNN for the first time in over a decade just to see that sleazebag perp walked out.

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DarkSkyBest's avatar

Does Bolton have a pet cat? We know Roger Stone does. Thanks, CNN.

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Mrs. McFarland's avatar

lol!

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Kathryn Hill's avatar

NYTimes melt down now! Retribution and power play in their “analysis?” LMAO.

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Thunder Road's avatar

Authoritarianisms!!!!

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Steve's avatar

FBI conducts search at John Bolton’s home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRyMKPgnU4g

Aug 22, 2025 #CNN #News

The FBI conducted a court-authorized search at John Bolton’s home as part of a national security investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. CNN observed FBI personnel near the former US national security adviser’s house in the Washington, DC, area. FBI were seen speaking to a person on the porch of the house, and at least four to six agents were seen going inside

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Jim M's avatar

Just watched the CNN clip and of course they are framing this as a vendetta that Trump has for Bolton. And that Bolton had been cleared in an investigation on this matter of leaking private conversations between Trump and Bolton. All of a sudden, Bolton is the good guy and not some war mongering loon.

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Lis's avatar

I love how they introduce Bolton as a "very VOCAL CRITIC" of President Trump, a "very very VOCAL critic," so "VOCAL" ten times over, as if to say he's being busted for simply criticizing the President and nothing more.

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Hillary's avatar

It was the same on NPR. Poor Bolton...this is what fascism looks like!

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Billy Bob's avatar

What’s with so many news presenters now wearing big eye glasses on air? An image consultant told them to wear them to portray a “smart look” or a copy cat fad? Hardly anyone wore eye glasses on air in prior years. A sign of aging? But even younger presenters wear them…

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NickD's avatar

Psuedo-intellectuals are almost forced to affect that stern bookish look with the librarian vibe. Not unlike the endless interviews of obvious hacks with well stocked bookcases prominently visible in the background; in most instances either fake or stuffed with the titles they've never read and never will. Not unlike the people who have a coffee table stacked 8" high with esoteric, high sounding works never cracked open. Fakery, everywhere.

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DarkSkyBest's avatar

The Elton John Collection.

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baker charlie's avatar

LOL!

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DarkSkyBest's avatar

Or, Fearless Fly. Now I am showing my age.

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baker charlie's avatar

I used to work on a campus and it used to give me a chuckle that a few of the students (mostly girls) wore those large glasses with no literally no lenses in them. A few others wore them with plain glass. I think it is a fad to think you look smart like that.

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Billy Bob's avatar

Glasses used to be a “nerdy” look so those who needed them switched to contacts, even the smart students. 🤭

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Efferous's avatar

I like it. Their politicians do it too. It makes it easy to pick them out for what they are without any other context, which I've found very useful for "nonpartisan" positions in local elections. Otherwise it's often a chore to figure out their true views.

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Billy Bob's avatar

Don’t forget the folks wearing eyeglasses, then take them on and off during their presentation to make sure the viewer sees that they are wearing glasses… a symbol of their authenticity? 🤭

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Fergus's avatar

A poor attempt at disguise….

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Thunder Road's avatar

A sure indication of an unserious person.

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Bill G's avatar

Thanks

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Bob's avatar

It was covered by CNN. They've lost another one of their experts (as defined by people who tried to send Trump to prison).

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Marie Silvani's avatar

They weren’t given the heads up

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Nathan Woodard's avatar

It was in the morning? Before the crack of noon?? They were still sleeping off their hangovers?

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cgetzan's avatar

tough week for staches

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James Schwartz's avatar

Bolton first. He’s weak. He will roll over on everyone and become a state witness to avoid jail time. Here we go!

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badnabor's avatar

Who knows if he'll even get the chance to "roll over"? I'd bet the Brennan's CIA buddies are "working" on the security cameras at the jail for him right now.

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James Schwartz's avatar

Haha, you may in fact be correct there.

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Barry Lederman, “normie”'s avatar

If not Bolton, then there will be another canary. I think Kash is wearing his “sorting hat” and we will see who are the real believers in this ultimate fraud case.

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Lawyers Guns & Money's avatar

I like Clapper’s odds.

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Reelin’ In The Fears's avatar

My money is on Comey going all John Dean.

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Treeamigo's avatar

Bolton has few friends or confidants. This is just a vendetta unrelated to Russiagate.

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Tommy T's avatar

THANK YOU MATT and all the others, when it’s all said and done🤞🏻America will owe yall a debt of gratitude ❤️❤️❤️

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Tommy T's avatar

Go figure, from austin😂😂😂😂

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Karen's avatar

No we won’t. Taibbi is a fascist and enthusiastically enabling fascism.

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Tommy T's avatar

TDS much Karen 😂😂😂😂perfect name BTW STFU

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Han's avatar

i decided to be nice to that ghastly fetid hag when i found out she drinks $3.00 a quart gin out of styrofoam cups while wearing a greasy wifebeater and listening to Like a Virgin from 40+ years ago.

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Deb Hill's avatar

Come on, man, she's just supplementing her monthly SS check to afford $4.00 gin and plastic cups.

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baker charlie's avatar

Ewww, a Madonna fan.

There goes any respect for her I had. No self-respecting troll would listen to that crap.

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Random Shmo's avatar

Just out of curiosity, what would a self-respecting troll listen to? And for that matter, are there really any trolls that actually have self-respect? After all, being a troll requires a lot of hate-reading and responding; it seems to me (naively, perhaps?) that would entail a lot of self-loathing.

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Skenny's avatar

TDS = Taibbi Derangement Syndrome....... no known cure.

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MD's avatar

TDS is definitely a disease, but so is TBS, Trump Beatification Syndrome. Whoever thinks that Trump has at heart the interest of anyone other than himself has not really paid much attention throughout all these years. All those rightly claiming that Pelosi and Schiff are corrupt, but Thune and Johnson are not (or the other way around) are just signaling their desire to keep getting deceived for years to come

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Skenny's avatar

It is true that in the Congress, it's hard or impossible to find a handful of patriots who aren't corrupt.

It is also true that no recent president, except Trump, has been willing reduce the size of the government. In fact, Trump is not in the job to enrich himself at the expense of taxpayers, like other recent presidents.

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MD's avatar
Aug 26Edited

It is really a systemic problem that has nothing to do with liberal or conservative. That is just the smokescreen. If to get elected someone needs and receives millions of dollars from the donors, whose interests would he take care of once in office? If someone who tries to advocate for the voters of his district against the interests of powerful donors, immediately finds millions of dollars financing the campaign of a primary challenger, will he inspire anyone to follow in his footsteps? This is the reason we are left with a political class of crooks who does not care about voters, has all the interest in eliminating any dissenting voice and protest and will fight against others not for political ideals but just to keep his seat at the table. Whoever believes one side is better than the other has just to look back at the last 40 years to realize how many changes of administrations there have been and how very little has changed for common people, who have been screwed from left and right.

About Trump, respectfully, do you really think he has tried to reduce the size of the government? To me he has simply reshuffled it in the way that he preferred. He eliminated agencies and policies who had little impact on the size of the federal machine and did it not on the basis of a rational reform process but just in the pursuit of the culture wars that satisfy his MAGA base. Then he turned around and strengthened both the reach and the grip of the federal government by ballooning the budget and the personnel of DHS, repeatedly stepping over local governments and using the military to control citizens. And so far has done little to nothing to keep his promise to end these gdamned wars that drain our tax dollars

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Skenny's avatar

600 fired at CDC.... Just the latest...

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Dave Slough's avatar

lol

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WilliamD's avatar

All my fellow fascists agree, this is a good thing!

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Egbar's avatar

OMG - Why are you even here? Seriously, that is one serious disorder….

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Reelin’ In The Fears's avatar

What’s the matter Karen too hot under that rock that you live under? Had to slither out for some fresh air?

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TeamOfRivals's avatar

So that's why you're here? You like reading fascist's fascistic articles that enable all of us fascists? More likely you're worried about your NeoCon ally, taking down all of your other NeoCon allies when he spills his guts. Sleep well.

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Dave Slough's avatar

The end of the deep state is near

Bolton - FAFO

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NDDV's avatar

Mussolini & Malaparte, Karens

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Jonathan's avatar

Him and Sydney Sweeney, amirite?

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Joner's avatar

Karen don’t you like to know the truth? Matt Taibbi is the real deal!

He adds a twist of humor to soften the blows against the Empire. The USA is number 1 in world terrorism

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Scott Siegling's avatar

We live in interesting times made moreso by legacy media’s fingers in their ears. Will they have to report this?

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Katie Andraski's avatar

It was on this morning. I believe CBS. Didn’t pay attention to their take on it.

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mhj's avatar

It is hard to believe, after 9 years of this, that we are only in the second inning of this game. But, at least now both sides are playing for real.

With any luck--well, really, a lot of luck--we will get an education on what happened to the intel and related agencies since the Church Committee, and in particular since Obama politicized them along with everything else he touched, starting in 2009.

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Mike R.'s avatar

Any basic family dynamic would include the understanding that members of the household could not live healthy lives if their every action was motivated and controlled by a lie. Distrust-suspicion-manipulation-fear and paranoia would poison their every move. That's what a psyop does. Russiagate is only one snake in a basket of poisonous snakes. -- Hannah Arendt's "banality of evil" is on full display as these investigations proceed.

Russiagate--like the (worldwide) Covid lockdowns--the gutting of American industry--the '08 looting of the American treasury--endless unwinnable wars at a profit-- was/is business as usual for the grift. So much comes at We the People it is almost impossible to keep track. The depth of corruption revealed in the DOGE USAID reveal remains hidden. But the poison still flows through the American bloodstream.

The knowing perpetration manufacture and imposition of lies by our nations elected political leadership-- over and over and over again--has damaged us all. The American landscape bears testament to that reality. Boil Bolton--or any political perp present in oil--but the fact remains that the responsible party in this mess--as enshrined in our Republic's Constitution is us. As Benny Franklin said: "Join or die."

(Not aimed at you mhj.)

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mhj's avatar

I pretty much agree--when in doubt I also assume THE GRIFT is the primary motivation.

And, yes, in some sense we get the government we vote for---to an extent. But when we cannot get good information and the politicians lie all the time, and the education blob ensures that most of us know nothing of political relevance against which to measure the lies, the connection between what we (collectively) vote for and what we get is often pretty tenuous.

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Mike R.'s avatar

You bet!! :)

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VanishingTribe's avatar

Bolton, really? I mean, we have Clapper, Brennan, et al. on video lying and yet The Walrus gets raided? Is this some kind of 4-D chess? We're back to that?

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Victoria Bell's avatar

Surely there are enough prison cells for everyone?!? I don't want to see a single one of these asshats fall through the cracks.

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Patrick's avatar

koo koo ka Choo

The eggman is Clapper

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Marie Silvani's avatar

No, they’re going to get the back stabbing, enemies from within first. That would be my play. Then let the dominos begin to fall. Eventually, someone will cut a deal.

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Jonathan's avatar

Makes sense to go after a Republican neocon first. Then when they start going after Obama's goons, it'll look more even handed. That's not even chess, it's just checkers.

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shannon's avatar

It’s a good start! Very much looking forward to indictments

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Substack Reader's avatar

I've got to see jail time. A lot of people doing a lot of it. If it amounts to nothing more than "that's a bad look for them for the election" I will see it as utter failure. Absolution, even.

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Brigattista's avatar

"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue." Leslie Nielson, Airplane.

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ah-clem's avatar

Lloyd Bridges :-)

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Brigattista's avatar

Yep you're right. Classics.

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AHNC_Hat's avatar

[Cue video of falling dominoes.]

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michael Griffin's avatar

As Matt said. There’s more coming. The more documents they release the more I am convinced that the conspiracy is more widespread than I had imagined

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Voltaire's Ghost's avatar

I'm lost. What does Bolton have to do with Trump and Russia?

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Steenroid's avatar

Couldn’t happen to a better pus filled meat bag. His holier than thou attitude makes me puke.

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Doohmax's avatar

I note that CNN wasn’t there to cover the activity live as it unfolded.

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RioRosie's avatar

Perhaps that means the raid never happened.

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E J Hermann's avatar

Throw the Neocon asshole in jail.

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