Patterico's Pontifications

11/23/2019

Weekend Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:19 am



[guest post by Dana]

Feel free to talk about anything you think is newsworthy or might interest readers.

I’ll start.

First news item: Elizabeth Warren has been accused of lying about sending her children to public school:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren told a voter that her children attended public schools despite reporting that claims otherwise.

The 2020 Democrat was confronted by a woman after her Atlanta, Georgia, campaign rally Thursday night who was concerned about school choice. The woman, identified as Sarah Carpenter, referenced reports that Warren’s children attended private schools.

In footage obtained by the Reason Foundation’s director of school choice and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, Corey DeAngelis, the woman told Warren, “We want the same choice that you had for your kids because I read that your children went to private school.”

Warren denied the reports, saying, “No, my children went to public schools.”

Second news item: Power mongers in race for even more access to the levers of power, willing to ignore the law:

Third news item: The epic fail of modern culture summed up in one tweet:

Fourth news item: In spite of his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, Elon Musk is still worth $20 billion:

The bad news just gets worse for Elon Musk, whose design chief smashed what was described as a bulletproof, unbreakable window at the unveiling of Tesla’s cyber truck this week. “It is literally bulletproof to a 9mm handgun,” Musk said as Franz von Holzhausen smashed a metal ball into the driver’s side window, shattering it. “It didn’t go through, that’s the plus side,” he then quipped as von Holzhausen tried it again, causing a second shatter. Forbes reports that fail sent shares in Tesla plummeting 6 percent, sinking Musk’s net worth by $768 million in a single day.

Fifth news item: Why faith?:

Faith is what makes life bearable, with all its tragedies and ambiguities and sudden, startling joys.

Have a great weekend.

(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)

–Dana

133 Responses to “Weekend Open Thread”

  1. Good morning.

    Dana (cb74ca)

  2. Forbes reports that fail sent shares in Tesla plummeting 6 percent, sinking Musk’s net worth by $768 million in a single day.

    Gotta love a vibrant stock market based on market-value of negative book-value stocks.

    nk (dbc370)

  3. IANAL, but there is something in patent law about sovereign rights (after all, a patent is government protection for an idea; without that protection, there is no property). As I understand it, in exigent circumstances (e.g. wartime) government can take a patent and use it, but must (later?) pay the inventor for that use.

    Still, this is a breathtaking assertion on Harris’ part.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  4. That truck is uglier than the Pontiac Aztek. It looks like a reject prop from a Roger Corman film.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  5. compulsory self-touching lessons

    Of course, they may need to be shown, and special teaching assistants are available if needed.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  6. Is lying by a presidential candidate still relevant?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  7. “We just need the will to do that.”

    Leni Riefenstahl could not be reached for comment.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  8. Is lying by a presidential candidate still relevant?

    LOL

    Dave (1bb933)

  9. All great comments, Kevin M.

    Google “march-in rights”. The very rare exception .

    Dana (cb74ca)

  10. The epic fail of modern culture summed up in one tweet:

    Children as young as six are to be given compulsory self-touching lessons that will teach them about touching or ‘stimulating’ their own genitals.

    So today’s kids are so addled by smartphone addiction that they can’t even figure *that* out for themselves?!

    Dave (1bb933)

  11. I won’t click the link because I know they’re not allowed to put it on the internet if it’s not true.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. Dana,

    The thing about “intellectual property” is that the Constitution gives government the power, but not the duty to protect ideas. Without government protecting an invention, all you have is a trade secret. And the moment you tell someone else it’s not even that. The “property” part of IP is almost entirely a legal construct. While the feds don’t run roughshod over patents is more due to economic policy and the political power of patent-holders than to any notion of actual property rights.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  13. So today’s kids are so addled by smartphone addiction that they can’t even figure *that* out for themselves?!

    I’m surprised they haven’t found the instruction sites already.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  14. Is The Talk that hard up for viewers? Oh, look, clickbate for shock TV. Next up: “We should eat people after they die to save the environment. Thoughts?”

    Nic (896fdf)

  15. Antonio García Martínez
    @antoniogm
    Tl;dr: Clinton’s marketing team was incompetent, while Trump’s used every piece of FB targeting gadgetry the commercial world has used for years.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-facebooks-embed-in-the-trump-campaign-helped-the-president-win-11574521712?redirect=amp#click=https://t.co/J51B2LyX5f
    __ _

    will murphy
    @willmurphy
    Media narratives:

    When Obama won: These young, hip, digital natives gave Obama the unbeatable edge that the oldie Republicans don’t even understand.

    When Trump won: These nefarious bad digital people made the wrong person win. We need to change some rules.
    __ _

    Michelle Goldberg
    @michelleinbklyn
    Is there a person on earth who has done more damage to liberal democracy than Mark Zuckerberg?
    __ _
    Stephen Miller
    @redsteeze
    Almost all of Facebook’s power comes from its users, people who decided newspapers like yours were no longer in the journalism & giving information business but in the activist & spin business.

    You guys will wake up and realize this eventually. Or you won’t.
    _ _

    Sircatspaw
    @Sircatspaw
    ·
    The gatekeepers are no longer the gatekeepers and so they lash out.
    __ _

    Todd Lowman
    @tclowman

    Zuckerberg met with Trump and the liberals in my FB feed are apoplectic. Like he wouldn’t rent-seek if it was a Dem administration. They can’t even abide the existence of alternate content.
    _

    harkin (337580)

  16. @6 Technically speaking it looks like she didn’t actually lie. They did both go to public school but the son also went to a private school. It does make me wonder what was going on with her son, because it looks like the daughter was in public HS at the same time and having one public and one private is kind of weird.

    Nic (896fdf)

  17. It was going on with the daughter, more likely. She did not want to be separated from the friends she had made in the public middle school. That was the case with our daughter, anyway.

    nk (dbc370)

  18. In spite of his terrible, no good, horrible very bad day, Elon Musk is still worth $20 billion.

    … and his SpaceX still has failed to even attempt to launch, orbit and return a crew [preferably alive] safely from low earth orbit; something Soviet Russia accomplished nearly 59 years ago. Yet he’s boasted he’ll send people to Mars by 2024; that’s just 48 months from now, more or less. But he can loft a sports car to the stars!

    There’s a heavy scent of Trump to Musk.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  19. could be, just seems unusual.

    Nic (896fdf)

  20. No, not necessarily for several reasons which are more germane to highly stratified bluish areas. Lotteries/testing for public selectives , interest/competence in a sport, whether races/gangs beef, or whether one becomes a “Kardashian”. It does illustrate that perhaps Warren may have used the Native card on one but not the other.

    urbanleftbehind (310a23)

  21. Is that all you got democrats and never trumpers? Presume, assume and imply is not evidence.. Sondheim ask president do you want any thing from ukraine he says NO! That is evidence. Polls show support for impeachment dropping I wonder why?

    asset (1af352)

  22. Elon Musk: 10% Thomas Edison, 90% P.T. Barnum.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  23. As if suing a cow wasn’t enough, a co-sponsor of the Discouraging Frivolous Lawsuits Act is threatening to sue CNN and The Daily Beast for writing something that the GOP Representative didn’t like.

    Nunes—who has been one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest defenders in the committee where Ukrainian “quid pro quo” allegations are currently being considered—faced calls to recuse himself and even to be investigated after it was alleged that he himself met with Ukrainian officials in order to discuss digging up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden.

    This image explains much of Nunes’ content.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  24. Now put a picture of Nunes next to Elise Stefanik.

    urbanleftbehind (c98d85)

  25. 25-We all know where mittens would be kneeling – behind Candy who would have to be surgically removed from Obama.

    mg (8cbc69)

  26. Paul Montagu (00daa1) — 11/23/2019 @ 4:52 pm

    It wasn’t Nunes who was trying to get nude pics of Trump.

    Munroe (dd6b64)

  27. Still, this is a breathtaking assertion on Harris’ part.

    … or would have been, four years ago.

    The current president and his super-fans have worked hard to establish the principle that the president can violate any law he/she wishes with impunity.

    “Then I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president”

    – Tsar Donald, First of His Name

    Dave (1bb933)

  28. Top House Democrat says ethics probe of Nunes is likely over alleged meeting with Ukrainian about Bidens

    A high-ranking House Democrat said Saturday it’s “quite likely” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) will face an ethics investigation over allegations that he met with an ex-Ukrainian official to obtain information about former vice president Joe Biden and his son.
    Rep. Adam Smith (Wash.), the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, appeared on MSNBC where he was asked whether Nunes could face a House inquiry. “Quite likely, without question,” Smith said.
    The allegation that Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, met with a former Ukrainian prosecutor last year to discuss the Bidens came from the attorney for Lev Parnas, one of two Soviet-born associates of Rudolph W. Giuliani who were indicted on charges they broke campaign finance law. …..

    Bondy also said that a top aide to Nunes, Derek Harvey, sometimes joined a group that met frequently in spring 2019 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., to discuss the Biden matter, among other topics. The group, according to Bondy, was convened by Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, and included Parnas, his business associate Igor Fruman, as well as journalist John Solomon and the husband-and-wife legal team of Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing. ……

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  29. Other than the 14.6 million who voted for the Fifth Anenue four-flusher in the primary, what kind of weirdo would want nude pictures of the orange?

    nk (dbc370)

  30. @31. A Fruit?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  31. It wasn’t Nunes who was trying to get nude pics of Trump

    Squirrel!!
    The next question is which of Nunes’ colleagues knew or were in on his scheme.

    Paul Montagu (3fb46b)

  32. ”Squirrel!!“
    Paul Montagu (3fb46b) — 11/23/2019 @ 7:42 pm

    Isn’t it annoying when open threads stray off topic?

    Munroe (dd6b64)

  33. The current president and his super-fans have worked hard to establish the principle that the president can violate any law he/she wishes with impunity.

    To be fair, his predecessor had a phone and a pen, and felt OK “waiving” the parts of complex laws the other side had compromised for.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  34. “Then I have an Article 2 where I have the right to do whatever I want as president”

    Remember when he first got elected and said he had an Article Eleven? I remember. Pepperidge Farm remembers. How long did it take before somebody told him, AND HE UNDERSTOOD, that II is two not eleven?

    nk (dbc370)

  35. Isn’t it annoying when open threads stray off topic?

    Noted, your pretending that that you weren’t responding to my comment. Not honest.

    Paul Montagu (75b564)

  36. Instapundit is becoming Little Green Footballs. I make a couple of comments in the Hong Kong thread and Reynolds deleted them both.
    https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/349312/#respond

    Paul Montagu (852777)

  37. “How long did it take before somebody told him, AND HE UNDERSTOOD, that II is two not eleven?”

    Two Corinthians.

    Davethulhu (fe4242)

  38. … walk into a bar

    Kevin M (19357e)

  39. Paul

    Why bring LGF into the conversation …. this site disappears comments all the time.

    Bendover2 (aa5a9b)

  40. Since this is an open thread, I’m going to discuss at length something that’s been on my mind lately. Follow along, subject to connection.

    I’m reminded of New Coke. Anyone else remember that debacle?

    R. W. Woodruff, CEO for fifty years, had built Coca-Cola into the leading name brand soda on the planet during and after WW II. So much so that even other sodas were referred to as “cokes.” He did it by ordering there be a Coke machine on every military base in the Western theater, throughout Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and Japan, around the globe eventually, so that American servicemen and women could buy a Coke for the same price they would pay at home. At the time, that would be a nickel for an 8 oz. bottle. Foreign civilians living near and/or working as volunteers on bases also had access to Coke machines, and that’s how Coca-Cola spread all over the world. Everyone loved it.

    My mother especially loved Coke. As young teens in the 1940s, she, her sister and girlfriends would walk for miles down a dirt road to the neighboring town, because it had the nearest convenience store that had a Coke machine. Talk about a long walk in the West Texas heat. When they got there, they would each buy two, one to drink there and the other to drink when they got back home. They thought of it as their contribution to the war movement, or something, but she kept telling me this story as I was growing up, saying “There’s nothing better than a nice, cold Coke on a hot summer’s day.” Thus began her lifelong craving.

    I myself had a similar experience. When my parents relocated to South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley was really hot. I’m talking about 95 degrees in the shade on most days, and there was no shade. The temperature rarely got below 70 degrees, and that was just for a few weeks in winter.

    The nearest convenience store that had a Coke machine was downtown, about a mile away. I would make that tortuous walk in the heat, because I was reliving my mother’s story. By then an 8 oz. Coke in a bottle cost a quarter, but I got to tell you she was right. There really is nothing better than a nice, cold Coke on a hot summer’s day. Plus I could buy a nickel roll of peanuts for five cents, and sometimes there would actually be a nickel in the roll, and I could buy another. So for two quarters and a nickel, I could buy two Cokes–one to drink there and another to drink when I got home–and a roll of peanuts, maybe two. Those were the days.

    It was around this time, 1970, Woodruff launched what has to be one of the greatest ad campaigns ever conceived.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VM2eLhvsSM

    I could relate to that song, because I lived it. A nice, cold Coke in a bottle was the Real Thing, on a hot summer’s day, just like my mother always said.

    Coffee in the morning, Coke in the afternoon, that was basically her diet, since she didn’t eat breakfast or lunch. That, along with Kool Menthol cigarettes, kept her energized while she rose to become the Queen of Real Estate.

    When New Coke came out, she took one sip and spit it out. “I can’t drink that!” This was a disaster. She had to have her daily Coke.

    Here’s what happened. In the 1980s, Woodruff resigned, and Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO. He said there were no “sacred cows,” and changed the formula. Coca-Cola had been losing market shares, and he thought a sweeter, less carbonated Coke, more like Pepsi, was in order.

    It was a complete disgrace. There are a lot of conspiracy theories surrounding this debacle. One which has some truth to it, is that the switch from fructose sugar to corn syrup clogged up the soda machines at fast food restaurants. I’ll believe that. But it wasn’t the real reason why New Coke failed. It was because of my mother. She wouldn’t drink it.

    Then she heard that the Coca-Cola plants in Mexico had not changed the formula. So she would sen me to the border to buy crates of original Coke. Are you kidding me? I had to drive to the border, park, walk across the bridge, buy a wooden crate of Cokes, and then carry them back every weekend. It was so senseless and really bothersome. But Mother wanted and needed her Cokes, so I did what I had to do.

    After a few weeks, I got really frustrated. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who wrote a letter of protest to Coca-Cola management, but mine was an open letter, cross-copied to the Monitor. They printed it as letter to the editor, then they printed it as a half-page guest editorial on the Sunday edition, with a Golden Pen award.

    The reason why this is significant is because the owner of the largest Coca-Cola distributer in the Southwest lived in McAllen! No doubt he read my letter to the editor, but no question he read it when it was published as a center-fold editorial with a Golden Pen award. He went to the shareholder’s meeting and told them, “We can’t have this kind of negative publicity.” Three weeks later New Coke was gone.

    Coca-Cola Classic then ensued, supposedly a return to the original formula. No, it’s not.

    The only way to get real Coke is to go to Mexico.

    My mother is satisfied with Coke Classic, but I am not. It’s not real Coke, it’s not the original formula.

    It says a lot that the most American product in the world is no longer made in America.

    Gawain's Ghost (a89947)

  41. What;s the difference between Coke Classic and the original formulas used in Mexico? Is it that Classic coke (usually, except around Passover in certain places) has high fructose corn syrup, while Mexican coke has sugar?

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  42. The legal theory in Israel that seems to be behind the anti-Netanyahu prosecution is that getting favorable news coverage is a bribe (and then you look for favorable treatment of the company, and you’ve got the quid pro quo)

    If that’s a bribe, there’s no end to it, and probably no way of avoiding it, as any sort of political benefit can be interpreted as a bribe, and how many politicians do not make deals of some kind (usually with other politicians) in exchange for political support?

    You can try to restrict or narrow the grounds, but probably not with any principle (principal?)

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  43. Harris, like Warren, tells her audience about using presidential powers to to make drugs cheaper.

    If they resist: “I will snatch their patent so we can take over.

    Extortion?

    Now actually taking over patents is along standing possibility in the law, not used much now.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  44. Tesla’s cyber truck: Bullet proof, but not bowling ball proof.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  45. 30.

    The allegation that Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, met with a former Ukrainian prosecutor last year to discuss the Bidens came from the attorney for Lev Parnas, one of two Soviet-born associates of Rudolph W. Giuliani who were indicted on charges they broke campaign finance law. …..

    Nunes has denied it, and Rudy Giuliani says it is not true. (Does that mean he no longer trusts his ex-Ukrainian clients? What does that say about everything else they uncovered for him?

    Lev Parnas, like Michael Cohen before him, has reason to lie now in an attempt to gain leniency, and the lies that he would calculate would help him, would be ones pleasing to the Democrats. My bet would be is a total falsehood.

    That doesn’t mean that Nunes’ speech at the start of testimony was good. Nunes is confounding the genuine questions that you might ask about Ukrainian intervention (which he gets somwwhat wrong there to anyway) Hunter Biden with the things that Donald Trump is saying about Crowdstrike and the server, still

    https://www.vox.com/2019/11/22/20977752/trump-fox-friends-crowdstrike-ukraine-impeachment-conspiracy-theory

    It’s no good to say there is something worth investigating, or finding out,about official Ukrainian intervention or about Hunter Biden. he question is what did Trump know, and was there a good grounds for his particular suspicions. Trump’s actual claims have not bene repeated much, except in drect quotes from his July 25 phone call, neither by Republicans nor by Democrats.

    I guess Republicans because the argument has been made to them that it is slander, and they’d be slandering people by explaining what Trump was talking about, (and supposedly it lives on the Internet and people will believe that and we must stop it) and by Democratic leaders because they want to show malevolence on the part of Trump and not stupidity. (because Trump might admit his mistake in that case, and because stupidity, or even receiving and believing Russian propaganda, is not grounds for impeachment, at least as long as he, explicitly or by implication, acknowledged that that is what happened.

    They can’t have Trump confessing error.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  46. 42. “New Coke” was actually flavored the same as Diet Coke, but with corn syrup instead of aspartame. People like your mother who showed a preference would often choose the new formula over the new one until they realized exactly what it was they were drinking. It may have been a complete and utter marketing failure, but Goizueta’s mistake was understandable since they had spent years sweating a gradual and subtle loss of market share to “The Pepsi Challenge.”

    Gryph (08c844)

  47. 49. New formula over the old one. My bad.

    Gryph (08c844)

  48. Mexican coke is now made with HFCS.

    NJRob (4d595c)

  49. Gryph (08c844) — 11/24/2019 @ 5:04 am

    “The truth is we’re not that dumb, and we are not that smart”

    So said Coca-Cola President Donald R. Keough in 1985 as the chastened company reintroduced Classic Coke after many consumers panned New Coke. He meant not too dumb to have wasted millions on the new product, and not that smart to have created the controversy merely to generate buzz.

    -Deal Architect
    Vinnie Mirchandani

    felipe (023cc9)

  50. NJRob (4d595c) — 11/24/2019 @ 6:47 am
    I blame the sugar cartel rent-seeking.

    felipe (023cc9)

  51. Why bring LGF into the conversation …. this site disappears comments all the time.

    That is true, but not without explanation.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  52. If your comments don’t appear, the most reasonable explanation is that a word got caught in the filter, or perhaps you had too many links, or our host (or one of the moderators) has already informed you that you are in moderation (and explained why). If your comment hasn’t appeared and you don’t fall into one of the above categories, then all you need to do is mention it in the comments and I’ll be happy to see what’s keeping it from publishing. I can assure you that no moderator is intentionally sending comments to the spam file or deleting them unless they’ve met with our hosts sparingly-used criteria to moderate or ban, about which you would have been informed. Unfortunately, for no apparent reason, some comments just trip the filter. However, we can usually fish them out for you when you ask.

    Dana (cb74ca)

  53. Why bring LGF into the conversation …. this site disappears comments all the time.

    The only comments that I’ve seen actually deleted here are either outright advertising spam (very rare thanks to the aggressive filter), vulgar personal attacks, or the one or two people who were banned but continue posting under VPNs and aliases.

    I have never seen a comment that didn’t fall into one of those categories deleted, even when the commenter was placed in moderation.

    Dave (1bb933)

  54. Interesting that the Secretary of the Navy does not consider a tweet to be a formal order. However, if Trump said in a tweet, “You’re fired, Spencer! Immediately!” I suspect that his desk would be cleared out forthwith.

    Paul Montagu (1814df)

  55. Molly Jong-Fast:

    The queen is Canceling Andy’s birthday party, that will surely show him, I bet he’ll never be involved in a global sex trafficking ring again.

    I just killed my years-long record of not talking about the British royal family.

    Paul Montagu (1814df)

  56. Official says White House gave Navy go-ahead on Gallagher

    The Navy has been notified that the White House will not intervene to stop a disciplinary proceeding that could cost a SEAL his position in the elite unit, a senior Navy official said Sunday.

    Although President Donald Trump had tweeted on Thursday that he would not let the Navy remove Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher from the SEALs, the Navy was given White House guidance on Friday that it can proceed as planned, the Navy official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

    This would seem to have defused a conflict between the president and Navy leaders, although it remained possible that Trump could still use his authority as commander in chief to intervene in the volatile and politically charged Gallagher case, despite assurances received by the Navy.

    Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said Saturday at an international security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that he did not consider a tweet by Trump an order and would need a formal order to stop the Navy review board, scheduled to begin Dec. 2, that would determine whether Gallagher is allowed to remain in the SEALs. ……

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  57. New Documents Reveal Details of Pompeo’s Role in Ukraine Affair

    Internal State Department emails and documents released late Friday further implicate Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a campaign orchestrated this year by President Trump and his personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to pressure Ukraine for political favors.

    The emails indicate that Mr. Pompeo spoke at least twice by telephone with Mr. Giuliani in March as Mr. Giuliani was urging Ukraine to investigate Mr. Trump’s rivals, and trying to oust a respected American ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, who had been promoting anticorruption efforts in the country. Mr. Pompeo ordered Ms. Yovanovitch’s removal the next month. One call between Mr. Giuliani and Mr. Pompeo was arranged with guidance from Mr. Trump’s personal assistant, the documents suggest.

    The documents also show that the State Department sent members of Congress a deliberately misleading reply about Ms. Yovanovitch’s departure after they asked about pressure on her. As part of the effort to oust her, Mr. Giuliani and his associates encouraged news outlets favorable to the president to publicize unsubstantiated claims about Ms. Yovanovitch’s disloyalty to Mr. Trump. ….

    The documents bolstered testimony delivered Wednesday by Gordon D. Sondland, the American ambassador to the European Union and a player in the pressure campaign on Ukraine. He told lawmakers in a public hearing that Mr. Pompeo had full knowledge of the campaign and even approved certain hard-line tactics. Mr. Pompeo and his top aides “knew what we were doing, and why,” Mr. Sondland said, noting that “everyone was in the loop.” He recited email exchanges he had had with Mr. Pompeo on the pressure campaign. ….

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  58. Bloomie’s officially in– this time as a: [ ] Republican [ ] Independent [ X ] Democrat.

    “I’d like to teach the world to sing, in perfect harmony; I’d like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company…”

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  59. Elizabeth Warren has been accused of lying about sending her children to public school:

    Maybe someone should make a blog about all her lies. Apart from the lie about her Native-American heritage, she also lied about being fired from a public-school teacher job in New Jersey for being pregnant. But the public record shows the school board took a special vote to renew her contract and asked her to come back, but she declined.

    See here: https://thefederalist.com/2019/10/07/records-show-elizabeth-warren-lied-about-being-fired-for-being-visibly-pregnant/

    Bored Lawyer (56c962)

  60. https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/11/they-got-caught.php

    Just a reminder that the reason so many are trying to badmouth Nunes is that he is exposing the left getting caught trying to collude with foreign agents.

    NJRob (4d595c)

  61. Maybe someone should make a blog about all her lies.

    Indeed. She only has 13,432 lies to go to catch up with Donald Trump!

    (It’s not really a fair comparison, because they didn’t bother counting all of Trump’s lies before he was elected, and the WaPo apparently stopped counting a month and a half ago…)

    Dave (1bb933)

  62. The queen is Canceling Andy’s birthday party, that will surely show him, I bet he’ll never be involved in a global sex trafficking ring again.

    What is she supposed to do, behead him?

    Dave (1bb933)

  63. Just a reminder that the reason so many are trying to badmouth Nunes is that he is exposing the left getting caught trying to collude with foreign agents.

    Nunes should stick to finding who is impersonating his cow.

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  64. Dave, isn’t that whattaboutism? Trump’s lies excuse Warren’s? Or do Warren’s lies tell us that she is also ethically challenged* and we should look elsewhere?

    ———
    * wanting to steal everyone’s money so that she can force (FORCE!) everyone to go to the doctors of Warren’s choice is another clue.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  65. What is she supposed to do, behead him?

    Hmmm. Maybe she could. She is sovereign; are death warrants no longer within her remit?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  66. For all of you keeping score out there, the way to detect an utter tribalist is how far down in the political pecking order their bile extends.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  67. Why a possible contempt count matters as much as the rest of the impeachment case

    The factual centerpiece of the impeachment counts under consideration in the House will no doubt be the administration’s corrupt holdup of Ukraine to advance President Trump’s personal political interests, which the past two weeks have laid bare, witness by devastating witness.

    But an additional possible count — based on the White House campaign to undermine and obstruct the impeachment investigation itself — is just as important to the health of our democracy, if not more so. And the case for that count is clear. …

    It represents an abuse of power that if allowed to stand would warp and damage the U.S. constitutional structure no less than the grave abuses involving Ukraine.
    ……
    The offense here is rock-solid on the facts and the law.

    The legal theory is straightforward and compelling. Impeachment is the mechanism that the Constitution provides for the most grave abuse of the president’s responsibilities. If the president himself can frustrate that singular remedy, it fundamentally alters the separation of powers and ultimately places the president. …..

    Trump’s conduct in support of an obstruction count has been flagrant. In blocking a series of subpoenas in the spring, the president announced: “We’re fighting all the subpoenas.” He justified his stonewalling based on an assertion that Congress’s demands were political and “ridiculous.” And true to his word, the president has issued a series of countermands to congressional subpoenas and requests, arbitrarily demanding noncompliance from a series of witnesses, often on the basis of preposterous legal arguments.
    …..
    It is not simply that Trump’s intransigence deprives the committee of necessary information. Taken as a whole, Trump’s contemptuous conduct deprives the country of the critical opportunity to take the full measure of what the president did. …..

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  68. Not only will the Ukraine charges prove insufficient to get a conviction, but they suck as impeachment charges to begin with. Presidents have wide latitude on foreign affairs and unless they are committing treason by making deals against their country (like Obama did in Russia), they should not be subject to second-guessing (or anal probes) by their opponents.

    Were this charge to be sustained by the Senate, every future President would have to have all his foreign contacts approved in advance by teams of lawyers. That’s not a good idea.

    I get it that the desire to pin a tail on the donkey results in ANY tail-like object looking good, but they aren’t all the same. Charge him with what he IS guilty of: being unfit. After all, that’s why you’re all hot and bothered.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  69. @42.GG, don’t you know Mad Men icon Don Draper created that spot? 😉 TeeVee told us so!!

    Was at a gig w/BBDO/NY [which was handling Pepsi] when ‘New Coke’ broke and the ‘Cola Wars’ raged. Sweet times; certainly sweeter than Tab. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  70. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said Saturday at an international security forum in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that he did not consider a tweet by Trump an order and would need a formal order to stop the Navy review board, scheduled to begin Dec. 2, that would determine whether Gallagher is allowed to remain in the SEALs.

    That is absolutely correct. Charitably, the twit’s tweet was meaningless noise. Colorably, it was unlawful command influence, a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. What it was not was an order — whether formal or informal, lawful or unlawful.

    nk (dbc370)

  71. From what I’ve seen and heard about Bloomberg’s TV ads, they’re meaningless – just as were his ads when running for Mayor of New York in 2001. Their only worth is to get his name out, which is worth a little, but not that much. It maybe helped in the Republican primary, although there he pobably got some new voters to turn out.

    Bloomberg won in 2001 because of circumstances not under his control, ans finally, Giuliani’s endorsement.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  72. an additional possible count — based on the White House campaign to undermine and obstruct the impeachment investigation itself

    Adam Schiff has said that forcing the House to go to court – except that they’re not doing that – could itself be added to an obstruction count.

    Back in January or February, Donald Trump told Nancy Pelosi: Why don’t you make the government shutdown grounds for impeachment?

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  73. Dave, isn’t that whattaboutism? Trump’s lies excuse Warren’s?

    I don’t recall saying that.

    Or do Warren’s lies tell us that she is also ethically challenged* and we should look elsewhere?

    I’m not 100% convinced some of her “lies” are lies.

    1) Calling her claim of Native American ancestry a lie implies that she knew it was false (or greatly exaggerated). I haven’t seen any evidence of this. It’s not at all implausible that she believed what her relatives told her.

    2) The teaching job story is strange. She had her kid in early September, at the start of the school year, and she had a year-to-year contract. How could they *not* replace her?

    3) Regarding her kids, her daughter went to public school, her son went to public school until fifth grade and then attended private school. The questioner made an inaccurate assertion “…your children went to private schools…” and Warren certainly didn’t tell the full truth in correcting her. But out of the combined 26 years her children spent in primary and secondary education, 18 were in public schools.

    Dave (1bb933)

  74. 31. nk (dbc370) — 11/23/2019 @ 7:30 pm

    Other than the 14.6 million who voted for the Fifth Anenue four-flusher in the primary, what kind of weirdo would want nude pictures of the orange?

    Top HPSCI Democrat, Adam Schiff, because it would constitute compelling evidence hat most or all of what was in the Steele dossier was true, after all.

    The people in charge of Fusion GPS are insisting even today that it was good work by a top Russian expert, who is better and more expert, or a more specialized expert, than Fiona Hill: (they’;re also still sticking with the story that this was one investigation and the first half was paid for Republicans)

    https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-november-24-2019-n1090256

    CHUCK TODD:

    Let me ask this about the, about the Steele dossier. Some of the larger findings, some could argue, have been proven true. Trump is vulnerable to Russian blackmail was one of the allegations. There was a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia. Trump’s team knew and approved of Russian’s plans to provide emails to WikiLeaks. But none of those three allegations have been proven. You still stand by them?

    PETER FRITSCH:

    I mean, first, it’s important to remember who Christopher Steele is. He’s a former British intelligence officer who rose to run MI6’s Russia desk. This is one of the most capable and one of the most knowledgeable experts on Russia in the world today. And he, he’d spent a lot of time going through the dossier to sort out information from disinformation, credible facts from non-credible facts.

    CHUCK TODD:

    But let me ask this, though. You guys, and Glenn, you know, one of the odder coincidences is the Russian lawyer, Veselnitskaya. And I hope I pronounced her name correctly —

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    Veselnitskaya.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Veselnitskaya, who you were working with –

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    Right.

    CHUCK TODD:

    – saw her on the same as the infamous Trump Tower meeting. You claim in the book you did not know it at the time. But you even write in the book that, oh, now you’re starting to wonder, were you sort of drawn in and worked in a way? So if you might have been drawn in and worked in a way, how do you know Christopher Steele wasn’t?

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    Because Chris is a true pro at this. I’m an ex-journalist. He spent his whole life in this area. This is his single focus of expertise, is Russian counter-intelligence and Russian disinformation. So that’s, that’s, we talk about that at length in the book. We also talk in the book very candidly about, you know, let’s be honest. We have to — there are certain things we wonder about.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Yeah?

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    Yeah, we’d like to know more.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Like what?

    PETER FRITSCH:

    Well, I mean, it’s important to remember, by the way, that the past is prologue, right? We’re sitting here today at the end of 2019. Does anyone doubt that Donald Trump would be capable of inciting a foreign or working with a foreign government, to affect the political process here in this country? That’s exactly what the House is looking at right now.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Let me get to respond to Fiona Hill. She called it – most people may know what was said. But here’s what she said.

    [BEGIN TAPE]

    REP. JIM JORDAN:

    Dr. Hill, during your deposition, I asked you was Christopher Steele’s dossier a rabbit hole? Do you remember, do you remember the answer you gave to that question?

    FIONA HILL:

    Yes, I thought it was a rabbit hole.

    REP. JIM JORDAN:

    Yeah, and you also said a couple pages later in the deposition, or in the transcript that I have here of your deposition, that you thought he got played. Is that fair?

    FIONA HILL:

    That is fair, yes.

    [END TAPE]

    CHUCK TODD:

    Fiona Hill’s an expert.

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    She is. Actually, she’s not of the same exact area of expertise as Chris. She’s not a disinformation specialist.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Okay.

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    And so she is a Russia specialist in general. She’s entitled to her opinion. I know she knows Chris and has worked with him for a long time. So I’m not sure that that is very well-understood within that one remark.

    PETER FRITSCH:

    I mean, I was puzzled by her comment, because I don’t really know what a rabbit hole means in that context. I will say, though, that you can’t actually catch rabbits without going down some rabbit holes. So you need to actually follow leads where they take you. And we have full confidence in Chris’ ability to do exactly that.

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    And, and her broader statements about what the Russians are doing, not just in our country but around the world, match up exactly with our work.

    CHUCK TODD:

    One of the things that I think people may not realize is you’re still actively doing an investigation of Donald Trump. Explain what it is.

    PETER FRITSCH:

    It’s actually not an investigation of Donald Trump. What we’re doing is investigating Russia’s efforts to affect and disrupt western democracies. So that’s France. That’s Britain. That’s Hungary. That’s any number of countries.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Who’s paying you to do it–

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    It’s a non-profit.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Is this this Rob Reiner thing, that he’s a part of, an independent — that whole consortium group?

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    It’s called the Democracy Integrity Project —

    CHUCK TODD:

    Okay.

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    — and I don’t know what his connection to it is —

    CHUCK TODD:

    Gotcha.

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    — if he has one.

    PETER FRITSCH:

    It’s run by Daniel Jones, which is all obviously public record. He is the former staffer who wrote the intelligence report on the CIA torture program for Senator Feinstein.

    CHUCK TODD:

    And what are, what is going to happen to these findings? Is it going to be made public? Do you turn it over to law enforcement? Are you giving it to a political campaign?

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    That’s for the, the nonprofit to decide. So it depends on what the information is. But we have tried, you know — I mean, the charter is public education. So in one form or another, we are attempting to educate the public about Russia’s attempts to undermine western democracies, not just in the United States.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Before I go, what kind of toll has this taken on you guys personally? I would assume quite a bit? You’ve been targeted personally, harassed personally online. Talk about it.

    PETER FRITSCH:

    It’s — it was really unpleasant for a long time. You know, we were forced, by various covenants we had with our clients, to remain silent about our role. And that was hard to take, when you have, on a daily basis, Republicans pushing lies about you, much as they’re doing about whistleblowers today and other, you know, patriots who are actually standing up for democracy. It’s really, really unhappy. And we had some legal bills.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Glenn, you had Rudy Giuliani attacking you this week, making claims. And you confronted him.

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    That’s right. I wanted to put him on notice that we’re just not going to let him deliberately lie about us. Let’s be clear. He’s not confused. He’s deliberately lying. We’re going to respond when people deliberately lie about us, especially if it’s the President of the United States’ lawyer.

    CHUCK TODD:

    Peter Fritsch, Glenn Simpson, the book. It is a fascinating read, no matter what you think of the Steele dossier. If you talk about it, you should read this book and then start talking about it again. When we come back, the Democratic race. African American support is keeping Joe Biden’s candidacy afloat. But can he count on keeping it? That’s next.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  75. Dave, isn’t that whattaboutism? Trump’s lies excuse Warren’s?

    I don’t recall saying that.

    You just asserted that Trump has told “13,432” lies, in defense of Warren. Not the same thing at all. And when you said it was an unfair comparison, you weren’t really comparing, either. Got it.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  76. Some of the larger findings, some could argue, have been proven true.

    Some space aliens, some could argue, have been photographed.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  77. Other than the 14.6 million who voted for the Fifth Anenue four-flusher in the primary, what kind of weirdo would want nude pictures of the orange?

    This kind?

    Dave (1bb933)

  78. Trump is vulnerable to Russian blackmail was one of the allegations

    Trump is a space alien.

    This guy passed the bar?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  79. You just asserted that Trump has told “13,432” lies, in defense of Warren.

    I did not defend Warren in that post. It was a criticism of the Trump cult’s double-standard.

    My point was that it is quaint for a Trump supporter to suggest making a website to tabulate Warren’s three lies when Trump has told over 10,000.

    Not the same thing at all.

    Nope.

    And when you said it was an unfair comparison, you weren’t really comparing, either.

    Trump’s lie tally does not include lies before he was elected. If it included lies during the election campaign, like the ones Warren is accused of, the total would be higher. That is simply a fact.

    Got it.

    Color me skeptical.

    Dave (1bb933)

  80. So, Christopher Steele is a disinformation specialist, and this means we should believe him? Takes a crook, etc?

    Then this:

    CHUCK TODD:

    And what are, what is going to happen to these findings? Is it going to be made public? Do you turn it over to law enforcement? Are you giving it to a political campaign?

    GLENN SIMPSON:

    That’s for the, the nonprofit to decide. So it depends on what the information is. But we have tried, you know — I mean, the charter is public education. So in one form or another, we are attempting to educate the public about Russia’s attempts to undermine western democracies, not just in the United States.

    So, “education” and “spreading political propaganda” are synonyms now? I bet you if Trump University did this, there would be complaints.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  81. Somebody’s cranky today:

    So, Christopher Steele is a disinformation specialist, and this means we should believe him? Takes a crook, etc?

    What the story actually says (emphasis added):

    He spent his whole life in this area. This is his single focus of expertise, is Russian counter-intelligence and Russian disinformation.

    Dave (1bb933)

  82. What;s the difference between Coke Classic and the original formulas used in Mexico? Is it that Classic coke (usually, except around Passover in certain places) has high fructose corn syrup, while Mexican coke has sugar?

    Yes. Before New Coke, Coca-Cola in the US was made with sugar. Then it went away for a few months and came back as “Classic Coke” but with HFCS. A truly cynical person would think that “New Coke” was a cynical ploy; not only did it create incredible free advertising (especially for the re-introduction), but served as a palate cleanser to hide the change.

    When I tasted “Mexican Coke” for the first time, my reaction was immediate: It was a taste I had been missing, unaware, for years.

    There is yet another later version: Coke Life, which uses sugar, but 30% less, plus stevia to create a taste hard to distinguish from corn syrup Coke, but reduced carbs.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  83. Yeah, Dave, I read that. I find that entire interview chock-a-block with silly statements, and I was having fun. Still, that the source of that dossier had to be vetted by someone with that specialty does not mean that it isn’t disinformation, just that he got rid of the worst of it.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  84. Chuck Todd was saying that some of the larger findings, some could argue, have been proven true (I’m not sure. Which ones? That Putin supported Trump?)

    But, NOT Chuck Todd means, the following three

    1) Trump is vulnerable to Russian blackmail

    2) There was a well-developed conspiracy of cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia.

    3) Trump’s team knew and approved of Russian’s plans to provide emails to WikiLeaks.

    He then asked if they still stood by “those three allegations”

    They didn’t answer it directly, but Peter Fritsch then praised Christopher Steele, saying, in part, that he “is one of the most capable and one of the most knowledgeable experts on Russia in the world today” and he “spent a lot of time” sorting out “information from disinformation, credible facts from non-credible facts.” Glenn Simpson said: “Chris is a true pro at this” and that “his single focus of expertise is Russian counter-intelligence and Russian disinformation.”

    Chuck Todd then played video of Fiona Hill saying that Christopher Steele’s dossier was a “rabbit hole” and also that it was fair to say that she “thought he got played.”

    Chuck Todd then put forth the proposition that she’s Russia expert. Glenn Simpson said that “she’s not of the same exact area of expertise as Chris. She’s not a disinformation specialist” and that
    she’s “a Russia specialist in general. and then added that she knows Chris and has worked with him for a long time.

    Peter Fritsch then added that he was puzzled by what she said and didn’t really know what she meant there by a rabbit hole. There are real rabbits in rabbit holes. And they have full confidence in Chris’ ability to follow leads where they take you.

    Gllen Simpson added that “her broader statements about what the Russians are doing, not just in our country but around the world, match up exactly with our work.”

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  85. Christopher Steele spent some years in the oughts cultivating Russia sources.

    If he actually believed that Russian sources were willing to be honest with him, without even etting paid, Ptin would not want to disillusion him and would supply him with ansers atp his questions as to why he was supporting Trump. Not the true reasons, though.

    What Putin didn’t know was that Steele was working for the U.S. Democrats, not anybody British.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  86. Blackmail is not the primary vulnerability of sexual deviants. Their primary vulnerability is the fulfillment of their unbearable urges. As long as you provide them with their meat, they’ll do whatever you ask.

    nk (dbc370)

  87. Some of it was just too implausible even for him.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  88. The lies Steele found somewhat plausible were:

    1) The Russians had “compromat” on Trump

    AND

    2) Trump had been supported by Russia for a long time.

    Sammy Finkelman (2f76f3)

  89. Yes. Before New Coke, Coca-Cola in the US was made with sugar. Then it went away for a few months and came back as “Classic Coke” but with HFCS. A truly cynical person would think that “New Coke” was a cynical ploy; not only did it create incredible free advertising (especially for the re-introduction), but served as a palate cleanser to hide the change.

    According to this 1984 NYT article, Coke and Pepsi were both switching over to 100% HFCS in the US before the introduction of “New Coke” in 1985.

    Pepsico Inc. and the Coca-Cola Company, the two giants of the soft- drink industry, said in separate announcements yesterday that they would significantly increase the use of a corn-based sweetener in their regular and caffeine-free cola drinks in the United States.

    Analysts said the decisions underscore the long-building preference of the soft-drink industry for high-fructose corn syrup – which is less expensive than the traditional cane- or beet- based sweetener – as well as the shrinking market of the sugar industry.

    Pepsico said it would exclusively use high-fructose corn syrup to sweeten its bottled, canned and fountain-drawn Pepsi-Cola and Pepsi- Free soft drinks. Since last year the company, whose headquarters are in Purchase, N.Y., had been using high- fructose corn syrup in 50- and 80-percent ratios in its regular products, a spokesman said.

    The Coca-Cola Company announced that it would use up to 100 percent of the corn syrup to sweeten bottled and canned Coca-Cola and caffeine-free Coca-Cola, stating that this would allow it the ”flexibility” to use sugar, or high-fructose corn syrup, or some blend of both as cola sweeteners.

    HFCS only came on the market in the late 1970’s.

    Wikipedia notes that the reintroduction of Old Coke did overlap with the phase-out of cane sugar use at a few production facilities who hadn’t already switched to HFCS:

    Some who tasted the reintroduced formula were not convinced that the first batches really were the same formula that had supposedly been retired that spring. This was true for a few regions, because Coca-Cola Classic differed from the original formula in that all bottlers who hadn’t already done so were using high fructose corn syrup instead of cane sugar to sweeten the drink, though most had by this time.

    Dave (1bb933)

  90. some of the larger findings, some could argue, have been proven true

    You realize this statement means utterly nothing, don’t you?

    “Some of the Flat Earth Society’s beliefs, some could argue, have been proven true” does not imply anything about the Flat Earth Society’s beliefs.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  91. So I skimmed this thread a little quickly. Trump and Putin were responsible for New Coke and the Steele dossier proves it?

    Appalled (1a17de)

  92. Dave, at the time I only drank Coca-Cola in well-chilled 6 1/2 oz bottles, so it’s possible that canned Coke switched sooner. I had 12 cases of those bottles put aside when New Coke came out. I would have noticed any change.

    Yes, I’m a Coca-Cola snob.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  93. So I skimmed this thread a little quickly. Trump and Putin were responsible for New Coke and the Steele dossier proves it?

    Some could argue that.

    Kevin M (19357e)

  94. The Russians had “compromat” on Trump

    What could they have on him that he would find embarrassing? Or that his supporters would find beyond the pale?

    Kevin M (19357e)

  95. Chuck Todd was saying that some of the larger findings, some could argue, have been proven true (I’m not sure. Which ones? That Putin supported Trump?)

    Manafort’s kickbacks and money laundering, the GOP platform committee stabbing Ukraine in the back, DNC hack, Wikileaks and Carter Page’s secret meetings with Putin’s henchmen.

    He was also right about Cohen being in regular contact with the Russians, although some of the details were wrong.

    Dave (1bb933)

  96. What could they have on him that he would find embarrassing? Or that his supporters would find beyond the pale?

    His affair with Hillary?

    Dave (1bb933)

  97. After the second go-round of the Steele dossier, they’ll try collusion, obstruction, quid pro quo and bribery again, plus toss in anything new the Deep State can portray as a crime.

    The Dems have taken the ‘paint the Golden Gate Bridge’ tactic to the Resistance, when you get to the end, you just start over again (and still be oblivious to how it plays outside the TDS bubble).

    harkin (337580)

  98. @98 You are making it too complicated. He’s been getting his funding from Russian and Russian connected sources for a long time (jr. said so in an interview and you can see it in other public financial transactions). It’s about the money.

    Nic (896fdf)

  99. Breaking—- fate Sealed; careers sunk:

    Secretary of Defense fires Secretary of the Navy over Eddie Gallegher end-run.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  100. Oh what a tangled web we weave
    With a criminal traitor commander in chief

    Dave (1bb933)

  101. White House review turns up emails showing extensive effort to justify Trump’s decision to block Ukraine military aid

    A confidential White House review of President Trump’s decision to place a hold on military aid to Ukraine has turned up hundreds of documents that reveal extensive efforts to generate an after-the-fact justification for the decision and a debate over whether the delay was legal, according to three people familiar with the records.

    The research by the White House Counsel’s Office, which was triggered by a congressional impeachment inquiry announced in September, includes early August email exchanges between acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and White House budget officials seeking to provide an explanation for withholding the funds after President Trump had already ordered a hold in mid-July on the nearly $400 million in security assistance, according to the three people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal White House deliberations.

    One person briefed on the records examination said White House lawyers are expressing concern that the review has turned up some unflattering exchanges and facts that could at a minimum embarrass the president. It’s unclear if the Mulvaney discussions or other records pose any legal problems for Trump in the impeachment inquiry, but some fear they could pose political problems if revealed publicly.
    ……
    In the early August email exchanges, Mulvaney asked acting Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought for an update on the legal rationale for withholding the aid and how much longer it could be delayed. Trump had made the decision the prior month without an assessment of the reasoning or legal justification, according to two White House officials. Emails show Vought and OMB staffers arguing that withholding aid was legal, while officials at the National Security Council and State Department protested. OMB lawyers said that it was legal to withhold the aid, as long as they deemed it a “temporary” hold, according to people familiar with the review. …..

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  102. R.I.P. Michael J. Pollard

    ‘Dirt in the fuel line… just blowed it away.’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  103. 50 years ago today- “Three More Like Before”:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdxgXsvC0E0

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  104. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy parties sweeping pro-Beijing establishment aside in local elections

    Pro-democracy parties scored stunning gains in the Hong Kong district council elections Sunday, sweeping aside pro-Beijing parties in a significant endorsement of the protest movement and an indictment of the political establishment seen as responsible for months of unrest in the city.

    Voters took to the polls in record numbers to cast ballots in the only fully democratic election in the Chinese territory, an early sign they wanted to send a strong message to their government and to the Communist Party in Beijing.
    Early results compiled by the South China Morning Post showed pro-democracy parties winning 201 of the first 241 seats to be declared, pro-Beijing parties taking 28, and independents 12. Many prominent figures in the protest movement won; many leading pro-establishment figures were unseated.
    …….
    The pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the largest party in the district councils, had won just 26 races and lost 156. The pro-democracy Democratic Party, in contrast, had won 54 and lost only two.
    The turnout — 2.94 million, or more than 71 percent of the 4.13 million eligible voters — was more than double the 1.4 million who voted in local elections in 2015. Voter registration was also a record high, driven in part by 390,000 first-time voters. ……

    The next sound you hear wii be PLA tanks and soldiers moving into HK to overturn the results while Trump’s “good friend” President Xi saves HK from freedom.

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  105. Trump national security adviser won’t say if president will sign Hong Kong bill

    President Donald Trump hasn’t said he’ll sign a bill in support of the Hong Kong protest movement, despite passing with veto-proof majorities in both houses of Congress.

    And his national security adviser isn’t saying, either.

    On Friday, the president described the months-long protests in Hong Kong as a “complicating factor” in his dealings with China, which he’s pushing to cut the first phase of a trade deal by year’s end.
    “If it weren’t for me, Hong Kong would have been obliterated in 14 minutes,” Trump told the hosts of “Fox & Friends.”

    And he said he had warned Chinese leader Xi Jinping not to crack down on the protesters, which Beijing describes as rioters and criminals. “He’s got a million soldiers standing outside of Hong Kong that aren’t going in,” Trump said, “only because I asked him, ‘Please don’t do that. You’ll be making a big mistake. It’s going to have a tremendous negative impact on the trade deal.’”

    But the president pointedly declined to say whether he’d veto the Hong Kong legislation, which passed the House this week with just one ‘no’ vote. Among other measures, it authorizes sanctions against Chinese officials.

    “We have to stand with Hong Kong, but I’m also standing with President Xi,” Trump said. “He’s a friend of mine. He’s an incredible guy,” the president continued . ……

    Rip Murdock (ff876c)

  106. Trump had made the decision the prior month without an assessment of the reasoning or legal justification, according to two White House officials

    Trump’s “skill” as an executive comes through again.

    Kishnevi (c62fd3)

  107. ecretary of Defense fires Secretary of the Navy over Eddie Gallegher end-run.

    The agreement that led to Defense Secretary Mark Esper forcing Navy Secretary Richard Spencer’s resignation involved the case of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. The official said Spencer had proposed to the White House a review with a secret guarantee that Gallagher would be allowed to keep his status as a SEAL. That would go counter to the ongoing review underway by the Navy to take away Gallagher’s status.
    ….
    https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/24/politics/pentagon-mark-esper-richard-spencer/index.html

    nk (dbc370)

  108. Apparently, “rum, sodomy, and the lash”, which is to say “befuddled poofter boys”, exist at every command level in the Navy.

    nk (dbc370)

  109. But Trump got his wish anyway.
    Esper decided Gallagher would now keep his status because he “has little confidence that Gallagher would get a fair shake now from the Navy,” the official told CNN. Gallagher is now expected to retire from the Navy on November 30.

    Kishnevi (c62fd3)

  110. I don’t understand the beards on SEALs. I thought SCUBA divers needed to be clean shaven so that their breathing apparatus will fit properly. New technology?

    nk (dbc370)

  111. Bad enough to be an expendable risk to the family that took out Princess Di or the family that that took out Jeffrey Epstein….. but being same to both must be brutal.

    harkin (337580)

  112. Esper decided Gallagher would now keep his status because he “has little confidence that Gallagher would get a fair shake now from the Navy,” the official told CNN. Gallagher is now expected to retire from the Navy on November 30.

    Gallagher’s prosecution was never in the Navy’s best interest. While prosecuting Gallagher, the Navy was also prosecuting itself for recruiting, training, arming him, and giving him a license to kill. It would have been better to have eased him out with a quiet retirement in the first place, or for him to have suffered Uriah’s fate died heroically in the service of our country.

    nk (dbc370)

  113. Beards make you an operator; not like a machine operator, or a phone operator, but a high speed tactical operator. You need the appropriate WileyX, or Gatorz, or if you’re operator lite then Oakley’s. Don’t forget you’re Crye shirts and pants, instead of 5.11 poseur gear.

    The breathing “apparatus” goes in your mouth, not on your face, both for the LAR V Draeger or the Mk15/16. They’re rebreather’s, so not technically SCUBA, but they’re both self contained underwater breathing apparati-s-es. The rebreathers filter out the CO2 via various means and stores it, so no bubbles, or very few at least. For normal folks they’re very expensive and not as reliable, but undeniably better if you can afford them, and maintain them.

    Colonel Klink (Ret) (6e7a1c)

  114. Well, Classic Coke is not the original formula; it’s sweeter and less carbonated. The bottlers in Mexico did not change the formula. Up until a few years ago, select stores would import Coca-Cola from Mexico, but they stopped suddenly, don’t know why. However, if you had a Classic Coke and an original Coke from Mexico in a blind test, you could taste the difference.

    All I know is, back in the day, there was nothing better than a nice, cold Coke in a bottle on a hot summer’s day, especially after a long walk.

    Maybe it’s not so much the formula as the bottling. It’s all plastic or cans these days; hardly anyone distributes Coke in glass bottles anymore, which is unfortunate. Same with beer. Heineken in a bottle just tastes better than Heineken in a can. I can’t drink beer in a can.

    You know, back in the early 80s when I was in college, there used to be festivals, Octoberfest and Wurstfest, held in Fredericksburg and New Braunfels. These are German communities, and there were these old German guys who made their own beer, from family formulas going back generations. These guys would brew their beer in wooden casks, then show up at these festivals and serve in frosted mugs with a head. They had a rule. If you couldn’t draw a smiley face on the head with your finger, it wasn’t real beer.

    That’s what I’m talking about. These guys were very serious about their beer, and it was really good beer. The kind you can’t buy in stores. It wasn’t served in plastic bottles or cans. No, the only way it was served was in a frosted mug, right out the cask. Real beer, that’s what I’m talking about.

    Real Coke too. You can’t buy that in stores today. Not in a bottle.

    There are many conspiracy theories surrounding New Coke. One is that it was a marketing ploy to introduce Classic Coke, which I doubt. Another is that the switch to corn syrup in the formula clogged up the fountain machines at fast food restaurants, which made Coke less serviceable and less profitable. That I can believe.

    Either way, I don’t care. I had to go to Mexico to get original Cokes every weekend, because my mother would not drink New Coke. It was very bothersome, took half a day. So I wrote an open letter to Coca-Cola, cross-copied to the Monitor. It was a furious letter. I’m sure that numerous others wrote letters, but none of them were published as a half-page centerfold guest editorial, with a Golden Pen award, in the newspaper where a major share holder and distributor lived. Three weeks later, New Coke was dead.

    The point is, if it ain’t broke, why fix it? Yes, Coca-Cola was losing market share to Pepsi-Cola, and other non-soda drinks, but the answer to that is to launch a better advertising campaign, not change the formula to disastrous effects.

    I’m looking at you, Republicans. What happened to limited government, fiscal responsibility? It went the way of all things with the nomination of Trump. The New Republican is the same as New Coke, which didn’t survive three months. A lot like most Trump businesses.

    The Republican party has become New Coke under Trump. They’ve change the formula and think they can win by name brand.

    It is true that Coca-Cola recovered from their misdirection, but not without consequence. The question is, can the Republicans recover from their misdirection with Trump? I don’t know, but I don’t think so. Changing the formula, compromising principles, costs a lot.

    Gawain's Ghost (a89947)

  115. Vielen Dank, Herr Oderbezirksschornsteinfegermeister.

    nk (dbc370)

  116. Entschuldigen Sie mich! Herr Oberbezirksschornsteinfegermeister.

    nk (dbc370)

  117. 118. It was always my understanding that before New Coke, Coca Cola was sweetened with sugar. After it went back to “Classic Coke,” it was sweetened with HFCS. Even if that was the only difference, it can make for a pretty big difference.

    Gryph (08c844)

  118. It works for me, and I think some of you will like it.

    And yes, “le’s” is a word. Next question!

    nk (dbc370)

  119. Yeah, I barely was a coke drinker (more of a Pepsi and RC family) and could tell that Coke pre ’85, new Coke and Coke Classic were 3 distinct drinks with different sweetening. New Coke did linger and was rechristened as Coke II sold exclusively in 2 liter as a budget competitor to RC and “generic/local” brands up to the mid 90s – it was a fave at several carniceria type small stores.

    urbanleftbehind (9ba380)

  120. Regarding the sacking of the SecNav, let’s be clear out what’s going on: Trump is sending the message to the armed forces that it’s okay to commit war crimes, and Spencer is trying to keep our forces from the lowest common denominator. His resignation letter is not that different from the one Mattis penned. The relevant part:

    As Secretary of the Navy, one the most important responsibilities I have to our people is to maintain good order and discipline throughout the ranks. I regard this as deadly serious business. The lives of our Sailors, Marines and civilian teammates quite literally depend on the professional execution of our many missions, and they also depend on the ongoing faith and support of the people we serve and the allies we serve alongside.
    The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Good order and discipline is what has enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and again, from Captain Lawrence’s famous order, “Don’t Give up the Ship”, to the discipline and determination that propelled our flag to the highest point on lwo Jima.
    The Constitution, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, are the shields that set us apart, and the beacons that protect us all. Through my Title Ten Authority, I have strived to ensure our proceedings are fair, transparent and consistent, from the newest recruit to the Flag and General Officer level.
    Unfortunately it has become apparent that in this respect. I no longer share the same understanding with the Commander in Chief who appointed me. in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag and my faith to support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

    Mr. Spencer was right to not let a war criminal not face his peers.

    Paul Montagu (00daa1)

  121. A nice little piece here that encapsulates my feelings on Trump quite well.

    Gryph (08c844)

  122. Spot on, Paul. Article 2 (formerly Article 11) might make the orange the Commander In Chief, but Article I, Section 8 (appropriate, eh?) gives Congress the Power

    To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

    To provide and maintain a Navy;

    To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

    It’s the United States Navy, not the Fifth Avenue 4-F Navy.

    nk (dbc370)

  123. Gryph (08c844) — 11/24/2019 @ 9:00 pm

    Williamson does a good job of cataloging the obvious dysfunction in this wet-fart of an administration, but I think he misses the point at the end.

    The problem is not that Donald Trump exercises too little control over his administration’s policies.

    The problem is that Donald Trump is an imbecile with no understanding of the matters he’s required to make decisions about.

    Dave (1bb933)

  124. Boosh is the number one war criminal in my lifetime. string him up.

    mg (8cbc69)

  125. 128. Perhaps Williamson just needs to take it a step farther. Donald Trump exercises so little control over his administration’s policies because he’s an imbecile with no understanding of the matters he’s required to make decisions about.

    Regrettably, there’s no convincing the Trump humpers of that.

    Gryph (08c844)

  126. The rule of law is what sets us apart from our adversaries. Good order and discipline is what has enabled our victory against foreign tyranny time and again, from Captain Lawrence’s famous order, “Don’t Give up the Ship”, to the discipline and determination that propelled our flag to the highest point on lwo Jima.

    No, the “Rule of Law” is NOT what sets up apart. LOL! Our former Secretary of the Navy sounds like a “Sea Lawyer”. We didn’t win at Midway because Torpedo 8, believed in “The rule of law”. nor did win at Guadalcanal because Edison thought our adherence to legal procedures was the best in the world.

    Like all self-important gasbags, Mr. Spencer is just using rhetoric to justify his wrongful actions. Trump is Commander in Chief and Mr. Spencer is subordinate to both Him and the Secretary of Defense. If he disagreed with the President, he had two alternatives. Resign. Or present his disagreement to the secretary of defense in PRIVATE. And if the Sec of DoD/POTUS overruled him, to salute, say “yes, sir” and carry out the order.

    Instead Mr. Spencer decided to go “Maverick”. And was fired, quite rightly. And I was personally disgusted with the leaks to the NYT and the whole Johnny McCain/sally Yates Egotism. Why can’t Trump find military leaders/cabinet members who will obey orders? Everyone is a Primma Donna.

    rcocean (1a839e)

  127. He bashes a prisoner of war, a purple heart recipient and a Gold Star family. Then, of course, he intervenes to help three military men involved in war crimes.

    That, my friends, is really f****d up.

    noel (f22371)


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