The Kentucky Colonel's Eleven Chickens

Senator Mitch McConnell's eleven he-men on the Senate Judiciary Committee talk tough, sound tough, and act tough.  After toying with Christine Blasey Ford, she has accepted their terms: a deal to testify on her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were in high school.  She was fifteen, he seventeen. 

Of course they plan to shame her, but they don't want women voters to see them do that!  So proving just how tough they really are, they hired a woman to ask the hard questions: not just any woman but a prosecutor from Maricopa County. 

That is the county that re-electedJoe Arpaio several times.  Arpaio, you may recall, is the notorious Sheriff recently pardoned by President Trump.

So here is how things stand: Every Senator will be given five minutes to ask questions. The eleven “”Chickens” will not ask questions but will hide behind the skirt of a woman who has been given all of the fifty-five minutes that were granted to the Republicans. The ten Democrats who oppose the nomination will each have five minutes to ask their questions and listen to the testimony. 

The majority vote for a lifetime job of Justice of the Supreme Court for Brett Kavanaugh will then be passed along to the entire Senate some time next week.  (At least that is the script they have written).

That may sound fair on Fox News: an experienced prosecutor with an uninterrupted hour gets to ask Ms, Ford questions, challenge, and then ask questions again and again for an additional fifty-five minutes.  Ten opposing Senators each get to ask whatever for five minutes. 

 It proves that the “Chickens” have no respect for their colleagues, for their interviewee’s donors, for their base, or for the American electorate! 

Al

 

Al's Blog - More Treachery

During the 2006 Election, Rudy Giuliani appeared on several TV channels, proclaiming that '"the FBI hates Hillary". Sometimes he was accompanied by Chris Christie, discussing their joy in the prospect of seeing Hillary Clinton humiliated by that agency.

But it is now clear that the FBI was more concerned about Russian interference on behalf of the Trump campaign.  The hypocrisy of Trump's puppets in the House Intelligence and Oversight Committees attacking top FBI agents, all Republicans, is beyond comprehension.  Maybe there was something even more pernicious about their “show trials" (as in the Nazi show trails In the late 1930's) Ifwe consider the fact that several secret files were shared with Congressmen who ordinarily had no right to see them.  What else might they be looking for?

1.  Of course we still don't know, but Strzok ran a 10-year undercover operation that broke the back of a major Russian spy ring! How many names of his assets made it to the Kremlin? How many of them were tortured and murdered?

Now they are working on Bruce Orr. When a Russian lawyer for one of Russia’s most powerful reputed crime bosses arrived at F.B.I. headquarters one day around 2006, he wanted to cut a deal. The Russian, Semion Y. Mogilevich, had been indicted three years earlier by the department on charges of defrauding a company outside Philadelphia out of $150 million and could not travel for fear of arrest.  

2.    “As the lawyer made his pitch, a supervising F.B.I. agent and a senior career Justice Department official, Bruce G. Ohr, both listened intently, according to a former bureau official who described the meeting. The case was significant for American law enforcement. It had made headlines and laid the groundwork for Justice Department efforts to combat Russian organized crime overseas. Finally, the F.B.I. agent spoke, “No deal”, he said; “Mr. Mogilevich must surrender”. Mr. Ohr said little, but his unwillingness to negotiate was signal enough: The Justice Department would not compromise with the Russian mafia.

How much are his de-classified secret files worth to Vladimir Putin?

Did the hearings make our country safer, or did they serve Russian Intelligence?   Who else will be tortured and murdered (or poisoned?)

Were the hearings a matter of national security, or a smoke screen to do just the opposite?

Al

Manafort and Trump and Antisemitism

  There has been much debate over whether Chump is antisemitic. I will get to that below.  Manafort's plea deal detailed  in despicable  language his antisemitism.  This lead me to think about Chump.

       First Manafort.  Yulia Tymoshenko was the duly elected president of The Ukraine.  In 2010 Victor Yanukovich, a Russian puppet, beat Tymoshenko's bid for reelection.  Within a year, Yanukovich had Tymoshenko thrown in jail on phony corruption charges.  As an aside, does that sound familiar?  Remember the disgusting "lock her up" chants led by Trump.  It turns out that Chump was following Yanukovich's play book. And it started when Manafort joined the Chump campaign.

        After Yanukovich's election, he hired Manafort at a cost of tens of millions of dollars to spread lies so that the Obama administration would favor Yanukovich  At the time, the Obama administration opposed the jailing of Tymochenko.  So in a correspondence Manafort said he wanted "Obama's Jews"  to support Yanokovich.  To do this Manafort created a false story that Tymoshenko was antisimitic.  Manafort was able to plant the false story in an Israeli communication which was picked up by Brietbart News.  This is how Manafort tried to manipulate "Obama's Jews".  It is a bit convoluted, but one thing that Manafort admitted to was that he used the term, "Obama's Jews"   Now Manafort's client has fled to Russia and Tymochenko is out of jail.

        So is Chump antisemitic?  I think his antisemitism is complicated but in plain sight.  There are many who will say that he cannot be  antisemitic.  Here is how the argument goes.  His daughter and grandchildren are Jews, so it is impossible for him to be antisemitic.  Also he has appointed several Jewish cabinet members.  His former bankruptcy lawyer, who is now ambassador to Israel is Jewish.  He moved the Embassy to Jerusalem.  He is such a strong supporter of Israel that he just cut off all aid to Palestinians, including aid to promote peaceful relations between Israelis and Palestinians.

       Here are the indications of his antisemitism.  When he owned casinos he said he only wanted Jews to handle his money because they knew how to do it.  In his campaign he approved pictures of Hillary with dollar signs and stars of David.  He went on Alex Jones's radio show and sang the praise of Jones.  Jones is an unrepentant racist, antisemitic bigot. He said that the Neo Nazis who marched in Charlottesville were good people.  And finally,  Chump is supported by neo nazi, fascist organizations.

       So how can the two sides be reconciled?  Here's how.  As I have written before, and as has been written by numerous mental health professionals, Chump is a classic sociopath.  He cares about no one.  People are merely objects to be used or discarded  at will.  So Chump doesn't hate Jews the way Hitler did.  Even if he read books, he would not be reading The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion. He merely hates Jews in the same way he hates media people, he hates Obama, he hates Muslims, he hates shithole countries, etc. He is an equal opportunity hater.  And if the occasion arises that he needs to pander to Neo Nazis he will do it without a second thought.    So that's my curbside analysis of our bigot in chief.  Again, thanks for listening.

                                                                       Richard

The Republicans have absolutely no shame

  First,  by now I assume you have heard Chump declare that  Puerto Rico disaster relief was an "Incredible success".  I guess he thought that keeping the death toll below 4,000 was an incredible success.  He also said that he got A Plus ratings for responses to hurricanes in Texas and Florida.  Pardon my ignorance, but I was unaware that there is a rating agency for hurricane response. Trump went on to say that FEMA is "TREMENDOUSLY" prepared for Hurricane Florence.  My inside contacts tell me that means that Chump will have a truckload of paper towels to throw at hurricane victims.

      Second, Jonathan Chait of New York magazine wrote an outstanding  piece about  how the Republicans in Congress have totally abandoned any pretext of integrity.  One of the examples Jonathan cited was the Republican failure to name a Senate office building after John McCain.  I think I wrote about the building before, but it is worth revisiting.

   Over the last five years or so I have spent a lot of time in Washington visiting my son and his family.  My morning walk takes me past the Russell ;Senate Office Building.  The building is named after Richard Russell, an unrepentant racist segregationist who did everything he could to oppose civil rights legislation.  Every time I walk past the building I am revolted at the thought  that Russell's name is attached to a senate office building.  

       After John McCain's death, Chuck Schumer proposed changing the name of the Russell building to the McCain building.  I thought the idea was both brilliant and appropriate.  Despite many disagreements I had with McCain's policies, I thought very highly of him as did many Democrats.  Joe Biden, John Kerry and Barack Obama had high praise for him. McCain personally ask President Obama to speak at his funeral.  He also gave very clear instructions that Trump was not to attend.  I thought that naming the building after McCain was a no brainer.  This would be one instance where Democrats and Republicans could work together.  Guess what?  Chump didn't like the idea of honoring McCain.  So the Senate Republicans refused to back the renaming.  

          The Republicans have absolutely no shame.  It is possible the Democrats can take control of the /Senate.  If they do, I hope one of the first orders of business is a resolution to rename the senate office building.  Let's see the Republicans vote "no".  

            Finally, Chump has caused a new definition of the "F" word.  We know the old definition.  The new definitions include Fire, Fury and Fear.  I would add feckless and fool.Thanks for listening.

                                                                            Richard

                                                                            248-561-3113 

please meet Haley Stevens

  Kathryn and I are honored to be a co hosts for an event for Haley Stevens.  Haley is the Democratic nominee for Congress in a district that includes Franklin, Berkley,Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Novi, Milford, Livonia and other communities.  We do not live in Haley's district, but we feel that this race is one of the most important in the country.

       The seat is currently occupied by David Trott.  He has announced his retirement.  Haley won the primary election against several very well qualified opponents.  Haley, herself, is incredibly qualified.  Her most impressive accomplishment was being chief of staff for Steven Rattner who was in charge of the task force which saved the  auto industry.

         The district is considered flippable by all political observers. I view this race as important, not only because Haley can win, but also because of Haley's opponent, Lena Epstein.    Epstein is a unabashed sycophant for Trump.  She is proud of the fact that she headed the Michigan For Trump campaign.  She advocates "repeal and replace" Obamacare  which is code for REPEAL.  After the Access Hollywood tape she said that she would not want Trump to be her child's Sunday school teacher, but he was not running to be a Sunday school teacher.  I could go on.  I am horrified by the thought that Epstein could represent, my friends, neighbors and Michiganders in general. 

       Please see the invitation  below.  I hope  you can make the event. If you can't make it, please consider contributing to Haley at Haleystevensforcongress.com. I am asking even my non Michigan contacts to support this race which has national importance. There are other important things you can do,  First, of course,volunteer.  Second, let every one you know who lives in Haley's district know about this race and encourage them to help get out the vote.  Third, pass this message on to everyone  you know outside of the district who might be interested..

        There is only one pathway out of the national nightmare we are living through, namely win in November.  Haley and others like her can make it happen if we all pitch in.  Thank you in advance for your support.

                                                       Richard

                                                        248-561-3113

PS:  We are blessed with another incredible congressional candidate from this area, Elissa Slotkin.  She, too, can and will flip her seat.  Kathryn and I have never worked harder for  two candidates with one exception, Barack Obama.  Hopefully our meager efforts will help our candidates win just as we got President Obama elected.