Thursday, November 04, 2021

Another Russia-gate liar goes up in smoke (and off to jail)

CNN reports:

 

Igor Danchenko, a Russian analyst who was a source for the 2016 dossier of allegations about former President Donald Trump, was arrested and indicted Thursday for allegedly lying to the FBI, as part of Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the origins of the FBI's Russia investigation.

Danchenko was charged with five counts of making false statements to the FBI, according to the indictment that was unsealed Thursday.

Danchenko will appear in the Eastern District of Virginia later Thursday.

Attorneys for Danchenko did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Good. A lot more people connected to that hoax -- and criminal conspiracy -- need to be arrested. It hijacked the country and it harmed the people. I think a number of FBI agents should be in prison and that people pimping this lie to this day need to be loudly rebuked. Yes, that would include Hillary Clinton herself. Would and should.

BBC NEWS notes:

 

Mr Danchenko worked with ex-UK spy Christopher Steele on the so-called Steele Dossier.
Appearing after the 2016 US presidential election, the dossier made a number of unverified claims linking Donald Trump to the Kremlin - including that Russia had compromising material on the Republican candidate. Mr Trump has emphatically denied all the allegations.
Mr Steele was hired to conduct the research through a law firm on behalf of Mr Trump's political opponents, including the campaign of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate in the 2016 election. He has previously defended his work.


There is no defense for the lies that were spread.

 

Here's Jonathan Turley on the whole thing:

Washington was recently rocked by the indictment of Michael Sussman, former counsel for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee, for his alleged role in spreading a false Russia conspiracy theory.

Now Danchenko is being charged with five counts of making false statements.

Danchenko is widely referenced as the sub-source for former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele for his controversial dossier. That dossier, funded by the Clinton campaign, served as the basis for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants against Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Danchenko told the FBI that the dossier was “unsubstantiated” and said that Steele asked him to look for any “compromising” information on Trump. Mr. Danchenko worked for the Brookings Institution, a liberal Washington think-tank that often produced reports critical of Trump.

Danchenko is not someone who immediately comes across as an apex defendant — the highest target in an investigation. He was a key source used by others to advance false or unsubstantiated claims against Trump. He is the type of defendant that prosecutors pressure to flip against those who retained him or used him in this effort. In other words, he strikes me as someone who can be used as a building block to apex defendants.

Potential apex targets above him in the investigation range from Steele himself to Clinton general counsel Marc Elias to Clinton campaign officials.

The indictment circles around an unnamed figure called PR-Executive-1 who was a close Clinton adviser who held high positions in the Democratic party and prior Clinton campaigns. Most embarrassing are references to the Clinton adviser meeting with possible Russian intelligence figures and other Russian sources, including this line:

PR Executive-1 gifted to Russian Sub-Source-1 an autobiography of Hillary Clinton, which he signed and inscribed with the handwritten message, “To my good friend [first name of Russian Sub-Source-1], A Great Democrat.”

That is one book I think Hillary Clinton would like back.


Repeating myself from earlier in this post: I think a number of FBI agents should be in prison and that people pimping this lie to this day need to be loudly rebuked. Yes, that would include Hillary Clinton herself. Would and should.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

 Thursday, November 4, 2021.  The vote is still not official in Iraq and Jackson Hinkle asks who someone is so we provide the answer (and there's no reason for him to have known who she is, she's a disgraced whore).


First up, Diana Ross' "I Still Believe."


This song is from her new album THANK YOU which is released tomorrow:


In 2021, Diana Ross sings `Thank You' to the world. Her new album is a gift of songs about the love she wants to share. Recorded in her home studio, `Thank You' offers a powerful, inclusive message of love and togetherness. It wholeheartedly acknowledges that we are in this all together; family, friends and her loyal and loving fans all around the globe. With its songs of happiness, appreciation and joy, `Thank You' asks our world family to `let love lead the way'.  


Diana Tweets:


Thank you from my heart to everyone for the appreciation that you have given me all my life. For the love that you've given this little girl from Detroit who began with nothing, to be able to sing to the world, I send so much love and gratitude. In love I Still Believe Red heartout now
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Diana Ross' first new studio album in fifteen years will likely come out before Iraq gets the final, official vote for their October 10th elections.


Kamaran Palani Tweets:

Join us today at 5 pm (Baghdad time) to discuss what the Iraq election results mean for the region and also the country's foreign relations.
Quote Tweet
Al Sharq Strategic Research
@SharqStrategic
·
This Thursday Nov, 4th, our distinguished speakers @GalipDalay, @RanjAlaaldin, @LahibHigel, @MariaFantappie, @hasanahmadian, & @KamaranMPalani will discuss the impact of Iraqi elections on regional politics. Stay tuned & Register now through this link bit.ly/31lIUWL
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I believe that's 10:00 am EST.  It's too early for me to do math but I believe that.

ARAB WEEKLY notes this AP article:


More than three weeks after Iraqis voted in parliament elections, pro-Iran Shia militias that emerged as the biggest losers are still rejecting the outcome of the vote, thrusting the country into uncertainty and political crisis.

Militia supporters have pitched tents near the entrance to Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, threatening violence unless their grievances are addressed.

With tensions running high, Iraqi President Barham Saleh abruptly cancelled his planned attendance at the UN climate summit in Glasgow Tuesday citing the security situation at home.

Saleh decided to cancel “at the last minute in light of security developments in Diyala and Kirkuk and the political crisis linked to the recent parliamentary election,” a close aide of the president said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Unsubstantiated?


The charges are being investigated.  In fact, the commission called for more charges to be made this week.  As to the lack of substance?  No.


They do have a complaint.  I loathe the militias.  I've loathed them and been quite clear on that.  But under the system created, they have a right to vote and they have a right to vote with the other security forces.  The Iraqi government folded the militias into the country's official security forces.  It was a stupid move and we called it out for years, starting with the first time it was proposed.  But it did come to be -- and we still called it out and still do -- so it is the system.


The militias had to provide security on October 10th to protect the voters.  They were deployed around the country.  For this reason, the Friday before the elections, the security forces were allowed to vote early.  Except some of the militias.  The electoral commission decreed that some of their paperwork was not in order.  The Iraqi army didn't have to file paperwork to be eligible to vote.  And yet the Iraqi government made the militias part of the military.


So they were denied the right to vote.  They could not be sent to a polling station miles away to provide protection for the voters from the start of voting to the end of voting and also vote at their own neighborhood polling station.


That's not a claim.  That's reality.  It's what happened.  I don't like the militia.  I have no reason to lie for them.  But fair is fair and reality is realtiy.

So it looks we'll have Diana Ross' new album before we have a final vote in Iraq.  


Staying on videos, let's note this Jackson Hinkle video.



If you're going to whore, who better to do it with than Laura Whora Flanders.  


Jackson Hinkle:  I know her name but some of you are saying she went down hill.  Was she good at some point?  Who the f**k is she?


She was a voice for change -- or at least posed as one.  In the Bay Area, we knew her from YOUR CALL -- a radio program.   She had worked for FAIR and others.  Her relatives include the late Alexander Cockburn, the living and useless Paddy Cockburn, failed actress Olivia Wilde who is attempting to reinvent herself as a director and Andrew Cockburn.  Except for Alex, the whole lot is worth forgetting.


Laura went to AIR AMERICA RADIO and delivered a strong program called THE LAURA FLANDERS SHOW.  It aired Saturday and Sunday nights for three hours each night.  She was also a part of their political coverage -- such as the night of the 2004 election when she was on that night well into the morning.   She was forced into RADIO NATION WITH LAURA FLANDERS where her show was reduced to once a week, and only one hour in length, and she was merged with THE NATION magazine.  Her fault or not, the show then became nothing but a weekly promoting for the latest content in THE NATION magazine (they were building up their website but still didn't have enough content their to rate a weekly promotion).  It's then that the downtrend really starts.


She became a charter member of The Cult of St. Barack.  She loathes Hillary (Laura's sister worked for Hillary when Hillary was First Lady).  And that's when people started noticing that Laura from FAIR wasn't fair.  She lied for Barack, she whored for him.  At the same time, in San Francisco, various graffiti started popping up about how Laura had gone back into the closet.  And that's true.  As a host of YOUR CALL, she was out.  Over to AAR and you never heard about her personal life again, even when she was filling six live hours a weekend, you didn't hear about it and in profiles at the time, there was no mention of the woman she shared her life with (her wife Elizabeth Streb -- they've been together for decades).  She was a liar and she was a whore at that point.


In February 2008, Ava and I covered her 'coverage' 'of' a debate between Hillary and Barack in "Radio: Panhandle Media."



Twenty-five minutes in, Barack supporters Laura Flanders and Clarence Lusane will join the broadcast and comment throughout the first hour and the second hour. Larry Bensky will never note that they are Barack Obama supporters despite the fact that both have published repeated columns on just that fact. KPFA will, however, do everything possible to create an echo chamber that spins everything in Bambi's favor. Not surprising when you only invite Obama supporters, is it? While not surprising, that action is the sort of thing that can get KPFA in trouble when it attempts to renew its FCC charter -- can get and, in fact, should get KPFA in trouble.



Though they presented nothing of value, we should note Clarence Lusane offered up one of the most girlish and feminine voices a grown man may ever posses. Laura Flanders may have been handicapped by the fact that she was on radio and not TV so not able to resort to her usual "tight t-shirt, no bra, make my aggressive points with my thrusting nipples" approach. Lusane tittered and Flanders just came off smug.



Did Hillary get done what she needed to get done tonight, Larry Benksy pretended he wanted to know. But if he, or KPFA, really wanted to know that, they wouldn't have invited on only Barack supporters, would they? For any who've forgotten or don't know, KPFA is a California radio station and Hillary Clinton won the California primary. So it was twice as troubling that Bensky's tired act (which always includes sexism) was hauled out of mothballs. Along with being amused with himself on air, at this point, sexism is all he has to offer. He pimped a single poll, one poll, a Washington Post-ABC poll, found Clinton and Obama "essentially tied in Texas". One poll. Laura Flanders -- who was Whoring big time and that's the only word for it -- would inflate it to "those latest polls" because she never knows what she's talking about. It's how she also got it wrong on when early voting in Texas would start (it had already started on Tuesday). How a poll is news, a single poll, goes to the problems with media -- the problems FAIR regularly criticizes MSM for.



You can be sure that if the poll had found Hillary in the lead, KPFA wouldn't have pimped it Thursday night. Just as they ignored all the polls with Hillary in the lead on Thursday night.



Clarence Lusane, a reported academic (and don't most academics pursue the intersection of jazz music and international relations?) immediately replied to Bensky's query of whether or not Hillary achieved in the debate, "No, she didn't." Lusane would go on to declare "she lost" and when it was Flanders' turn she would begin with, "Well, you're absolutely right." Of course, two Little Media Whores agreed, they are both supporting Barack. This wasn't a discussion -- informed or otherwise -- it was a fan club meeting for Obama groupies aired on free speech radio under the guise of being fair and free wheeling.



The news at the start of last week, even making it onto ET, was that Barack Obama was passing off the words of Patrick Devlin (aka Governor Who -- another pretty talker who can't deliver) as his own. That's plagiarism. Laura Flanders -- the lesbian who couldn't call out Barack's use of homophobia as a campaign strategy -- disgraced herself further (there's funny graffitti throughout the Bay Area on Laura Flanders these days, by the way, and our favorite is "Gay when she wants to be"). She shamed herself by dismissing ethics with her silly excuse (it's the Obama's campaign's excuse too but that's where the Uncle Tom of the LGBT set gets all her talking points) that it's okay for him to use other people's words without crediting them because Barack's friends with ("his very good friend") the man he stole from. It should probably be noted that KPFA broadcasts from California -- which went to Hillary -- and neither Lusane or Flanders is in California. It should probably be further noted that when Lusane's name-checking American Idol, he never needs to be invited back on as an expert for anything.



And Larry Bensky never needs to be invited back as a host. He loves his voice, true. But he's out of date, he's hopelessly sexist and he is KPFA's past. (Bensky retired last spring.) Though a pro-Hillary voice wasn't allowed on the two hour special, we could hear Benksy yet again whine about changes in Pacifica as he does every time he's given the mike. On this special he got in his dig about the 'decay' of Pacifica by lamenting how they used to report -- "when we did such things" -- and he always gets those digs in. Everyone's tired of it. Everyone's tired of his self-glory and his self-love and his pretending that he did something groundshaking in the last decade at Pacifica when all he proved is he knows how to read The New York Times and The Washington Post and accept both as gospel while wanting to be considered "independent" media.



Back to the 'experts.' Maybe Laura Flanders' f**ked up sense of right and wrong allows this as a 'disclosure': "I've not been a Hilliary supporter"? No, it wasn't 'disclosure.' Self-disclosure is disclosing on air that you endorsed Barack Obama on Super Duper Tuesday. Flanders didn't offer that up and many listeners may have assumed she's the typical a pox-on-both-their-houses KPFA guest. That is not truth. And truth is not what Laura Flanders (or KPFA) offered up Thursday night. Whora Flanders wanted to offer that even though she's not a Hillary support (she outrights hates Hillary Clinton) "I felt sad." Whora Flanders has engaged in non-stop trashing of Hillary.





She wasn't "sad." A sad person doesn't cackle gleefully (as she did) when she twice mentioned -- in one response -- that Hillary was "booed." That's one of the reasons that the Whores are out in full force, by the way.



See, if you actually saw the debate, you saw that when Hillary pointed out the shallowness of Bambi, she was booed, yes, and she was also applauded. (Both for the line that Bambi offered "change you can Xerox.") You probably didn't hear about the applause after, did you?



Because for those who've Whored Out for a candidate, it's not about what actually happened, it's about what they can push, what they can spin. After a debate ends, that's where the battle lies and that's where the LIARS peddle it. Which is how applause and boos is reduced -- twice -- by Flanders to "boos." She pushes that lie and tries to dab a concealer around it by claiming to be "sad." It was evident when Larry Bensky asked her specifically what grand design was missing from the Barack Obama campaign and Flanders immediately went to, "I'll tell you what grand design is missing on the Hillary Clinton side . . ." Later on Flanders would cackle again to mock Hillary as she tossed out, "Can you tell the difference?" Yet we're supposed to believe she felt "sad"? (We gladly agree she is sad. And embarrassing.)



Three minutes into the second hour, Tom Hayden joins the proceedings for a bit. That would be the same Tom Hayden who endorsed Barack Obama in the leadup to Super Duper Tuesday -- as did his 'organization' Pathetic Democrats of America (despite the fact that the actual members of Progressive Democrats of America weren't supporting Bambi -- but 'leadership' makes the call 'for them' when they want to). Hayden blathered on non-stop and none of the allegedly Iraq remarks were worth hearing. The 'anti-war' Hayden has blown his credibility repeatedly on the issue of the Iraq War.


For those late to the party, KFPA was supposed to air the debate with commentary -- which is what they promised they would do.  But then they couldn't.  So you didn't hear the debate, you just heard hours of commentary.  And, again, there were two candidates on stage and KFPA brought on multiple guests but all were Barack supporters who had endorsed him.  That's not how you do commentary.  And failing to disclose on air that they have endorsed Barack is unethical.  


They were supposed to get the opinions of the listeners as well via call ins.  But they also had a live blog.  And the listeners weren't putting up with the crap that 'free speech radio' was airing.  Which led to admonishments from Larry Piss Priss Bensky.  He then concluded, when he finally took a call, hours into the program, that callers could only ask a question, not share their opinion.  Yes, this was done on PACIFICA aka free speech RADIO.


It was a huge embarrassment to the radio station and to the network (all PACIFICA outlets carried the live nonsense).  And they took down the blog within 24 hours so that there wasn't evidence of how their own listeners were calling them out.


They took down the blog to hide reality.


That might have worked.  But I know too many people at KPFA.  And as soon as the decision was made to take it down, a friend copied and we reposted it at THIRD where it remains today, see "KPFA Blog from their debate coverage."


Jackson Hinkle has no idea who Laura Flanders is.


There's no reason he should.  She doesn't speak to him or for him.  He's going to tell the truth.  If he's supporting candidate A and candidate B wins a debate, Jackson's not going to lie on air.  


But that's what Laura did.  She did much more.


In 2008, she cajoled, shamed and lectured the left.  Do you remember?  At first it was the primaries.  Barack was putting homophobes on stage at rallies, he was standing with psycho paths who promoted  'conversion' 'therapy' that would turn you straight.  Kevin Alexander Gray could, and did, call that out.  He was the only nationally known leftist who did.  Laura didn't.  Laura told everyone it was the primary and we couldn't criticize Barack, we had to be silent so he could get the nomination.  After he had the nomination, she said over and over, then we could hold him accountable.  Then Barack got the nomination.  Guess what?  It was now too important for him to get the presidency (Democrat in a coma would have won the race in 2008) so we couldn't criticize him.  We couldn't hold his feet to the fire the way Laura said we would when he got the nomination.  But, she insisted, when he was president, he would have his feet held to the fire.


Now Laura's tired act had cost her audience.  So she ended up doing a video podcast that she called GRIT TV -- does she still call it that?  Some of her die hard fans gave her a year after the election to hold Barack's feet to the fire before bailing.  She never did.  She whored for him the whole time.  She disappeared the Iraq War -- remember when she'd grandstand and pretend to care about the Iraqi people?  Apparently, they all left the planet in January 2009 when Barack was sworn in as president.


Who is Laura Flanders?


There's a reason Jackson doesn't know.  She was a well known name years ago (with some problematic coverage for FAIR) but she destroyed her reputation and she ran off her fan base.  


Jackson doesn't know who she is because few remember aging whores.


And she continues her whoring so she has on AOC and Noam Chomsky.  What a sad little life Laura's lived -- or pretended to.  


The following sites updated:



Wednesday, November 03, 2021

That low Joe blow Biden

Poor Joe Biden.  He was never up to the job.  He wasn't up to it physically and he wasn't up to it mentally.  So now where does that leave us?

With NEWSWEEK asking, "Can Joe Biden Save His Presidency?"  Probably not.  As C.I. outlined in the snapshot this morning, we've got inflation, rising gas prices, rising food prices and so much more.  There's another point that C.I. makes and she made it last week too.  I meant to note that last week.  She is completely right that it makes no sense to mandate vaccines because of a pandemic and then for the same government to do nothing to help the people during a pandemic.  The measures needed -- no evictions, stimulus checks, etc. -- are being cut and we needed far more than the government was ever willing to do to begin with.

VOX notes:

Democrats’ loss in Virginia’s governor race and a closer-than-expected contest in New Jersey this week came as a surprise to many. But in retrospect, there was one glaring warning sign: President Joe Biden’s declining approval rating. When presidents have bad approval ratings, their party tends to do poorly in downballot races.

In FiveThirtyEight’s average of polls, Biden’s approval is down to 42.9 percent, with his disapproval rating up to 50.7 percent. It’s obviously not good to be nearly 8 points underwater, but with historical context, Biden’s situation looks even worse.


At THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, S.E. Cupp argues:

The new NPR-PBS NewsHour-Marist poll shows Democrats are split 41 to 41 on whether Democrats have a better chance of holding onto the presidency in 2024 if Biden’s the nominee or if someone else is. When Democratic-leaning independents are included, only 36% say he’s the best choice, and 44% say someone else is.

Upon first glance that is a jarring and slightly embarrassing revelation, especially considering Biden’s only been on the job for just under a year.

But stalled negotiations in Congress, two unwieldy Democratic senators, a divided Democratic Party, an intransigent Republican Party, a disastrous and deadly exit from Afghanistan, border visit gaffes, a clumsy deal on submarines, an inconsistent vice president, and, perhaps most importantly, rising inflation, have all made Biden’s first year far from a success.


THE NEW YORK POST reminds:

Before departing Europe for the trip back home Tuesday, the president conceded, “I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the House and Senate majorities and my presidency will be determined by what happens in the next week.”


While CNN describes his reaction to the results from Tuesday's elections:


Returning to the White House in the dark, Biden declined to answer questions about the race, which he'd incorrectly predicted Democrats would win eight hours earlier. The results had been called a half-hour before Biden touched down at Joint Base Andrews. Aboard Air Force One, people familiar with the matter said the mood was grim as a weary team returned to what has become a swirl of recrimination and second-guessing. 


Maybe 2024, the Democratic Party can try running someone actually qualified to be president?


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, November 3, 2021.  A Virginia election should sound a warning, in Iraq vote counting continues.


Starting in the US where a much watched race for governor was decided at the polls yesterday.  Jake Johnson (COMMON DREAMS) writes:


After Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe—a conservative whose campaign was flush with billionaire cash—fell to Republican private equity mogul Glenn Youngkin in Virginia's closely watched gubernatorial race on Tuesday, establishment Democrats wasted no time pinning the blame on progressives.

The finger-pointing started days before the polls opened in Virginia, a state that has trended blue in recent years and that President Joe Biden won by 10 percentage points in 2020.

Several conservative Democrats, including Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana, suggested leading up to the contest that progressive lawmakers' refusal to allow a bipartisan infrastructure bill to pass the House without simultaneous approval of a broader reconciliation package could be at least partially to blame for a McAuliffe loss.

"I've got to tell you, in Virginia, where we've got a gubernatorial race tomorrow, that would have really helped Terry McAuliffe a lot if we had been able to notch that win," Warner—who, like McAuliffe, previously served as Virginia's governor—said in an appearance on MSNBC, referencing Democrats' inability to secure an infrastructure vote last week amid progressive opposition.


I've got to tell you, in Virginia or anywhere else, what could have helped Terry McAuliffe the most was a personality transplant.


A non-descript and out of touch man who offered nothing of value.  


Near the end of the race, he started talking about . . . race.    50% of students, he proclaimed, were people of color but 80% of teachers were White-Anglo.  


Where does he get his figures?  Most recent statistics place the number of White-Anglos in Virginia at 67.6% and the most recent estimate is 69.4%.

Wait, wait, he's talking about schools and their percentages and --


Which is the mistake.  He's the last one to talk about schools.  He looked like the hypocrite he was on the campaign trail talking about public schools and praising them while he sends all of his children to private schools.


Schools were never going to be a winning issue for Terry because he couldn't explain publicly why, if he believed so strongly in public schools, he didn't send his own kids to them.


And race?


If anyone should have lost it was Terry.  If we're talking scales of justice, the loser should have been Terry.


Last week, as the campaign was winding down, White nationalists/KKK-ers showed up at his opponents rally and his campaign and various Democrats (Eric Sewall) condemned the supporters and the candidate.  


But they weren't really supporting his opponent and they weren't what they self-presented.  They were paid performers.  Paid by The Lincoln Project.  In their effort to elect Terry, The Lincoln Project perpetuated a hoax.  They lied to voters.


After they got exposed, they come up with some b.s. about performance theater and how they were making a point.


The only point that they made was that Terry's campaign would lie about and exploit race.


Terry's campaign?


Yes.  He needed to get his fat ass in front of microphone and loudly denounce those actions.  If he had, he might have done better in the polls.  Leaving it to a minor campaign underling to 'decry' what The Lincoln Project did was not enough.


He was the candidate.


The voters were lied to and it was a planned effort to trick them.  


Terry probably wasn't involved in it and probably only found out it was fake when everyone else did.  That doesn't change the fact that he had an obligation to denounce what The Lincoln Project did.


There are certain basics that we expect and that's one of them.  If he believes in the voters and the voting process, he owed it to everyone to loudly denounce The Lincoln' Project's actions.


It was a vicious smear of another candidate, yes.  More to the point, beyond this election, it was an attempt to exploit very real concerns over racial justice and, in doing so, increase tensions around this issue.  


The Lincoln Project insulted anyone who believes in racial justice.


Their action was outrageous and Terry should have been on the news of every broadcast saying, "We're better than that in Virginia."  Instead, it was send out an underling and hope I can still benefit from it and win the election.


Terry may have still lost but he would have looked like someone who had ethics.


Chances are he would have lost regardless.


We've noted here what the reality is for the country and the do-nothing Democrats in Congress better wake up.  


Christmas is approaching.  Do they speak to anyone who's not a millionaire?  Excuse me, do they speak to anyone who's either not a millionaire or on their payroll?


Doesn't appear so.  


For months now, in the Zooms we've been doing,  we've heard about how people are being effected.  That's healthcare.  That's everything.  And it matters even more right now because the holidays are approaching.  The economy is out of control.  Gas prices are too high, food prices have risen.  We have no UBI (Universal Basic Income).  We have no stimulus checks.  What the American people got under Donald Trump wasn't much but as parents scale back, for example, Christmas, you bettter believe that the money from Trump's administration will be remembered.  (And don't talk about Joe's check.  First off, it was supposed to be delivered under Donald but Nancy Pelosi delayed it and we all know that story, second, Joe ensured that some didn't get the check or get all of it by allowing various entities to withold from those checks.)


Nancy knows where to buy her pricey ice cream, she just doens't shop with regular people.  


Gas is up a little?  Tell it to the woman we spoke with last week, a single-mother in Louisiana who takes a cab to her morning classes because she can't take the bus in the morning (it doesn't deliver to her campus early enough).  So after Joe became president, instead of raising the official price due to rising gas prices, they tacked on a surcharge of $1.50 and then, two weeks ago, they tacked on another $1.50 surcharge.  Since Joe Biden has been sworn in, her morning commute to campus costs her $3.00 more a day, five days a week.  That's $15 more a week, $60 more a month.  


This is the sort of thing that real people are dealing with and the Congress shows no acknowledgement of that.


I've said all along that the pandemic is not over -- comments echoed by the World Health Organization this week.  And I've also made the point that if it's so important that people get vaccinated, it's just as important that the government takes care of them.


"We feed them!" Nancy blustered on CNN and it's her most often quoted remark in Zooms.  Every one knows the remark and everyone knows that it's not true.  Everyone outside the millionaire class is suffering.  You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows?  Bob Dylan wrote that line and Bernardine Dohrn and others were so impressed that they used it to name The Weather Underground.  But Nancy can't stick her finger in the air to see which way the wind's blowing when she's forever got that finger up her ass.




When the money's gone?  For some, that day has already arrived in this country.  For many more, their fear is that it's around the corner.  And Congress and the White House?  They do nothing to alleviate these fears, these very real fears.


And We The People are noticing.  Get back to work, get your shots and get back to work.  But the pandemic is still here.  There's no concern for safety.  Nor do the vaccines prevent you from getting COVID, as Jen Psaki's demonstrated to the nation.  Young, healthy and vaccinated.  She still got it.  Supposedly while taking all precautions.


There is no leadership and there's no real concern for the American people  If I were an incumbent of either party running for re-election in 2022, I'd be worried, very worried.  


Pete Buttigieg has every right to take paternity leave.  But there's something to be said about setting the tone.  He took an appointment in the administration to serve the American people.  Was paternity leave really needed for him in a time of crisis?  As we have people being warned that Thanksgiving items may not be available and as we can already see certain items not on the grocery shelves or on the menu because of problems in the supply line should the Secretary of Transportation being taking weeks off for paternity leave.


And I'm really offended by this topic because I know for a fact that if Pete was  Patricia and she was taking weeks off, some idiot would be saying that proved women couldn't serve in public office.


Tucker made a stupid remark (that, again, seemed like it was really Tucker Carlson's secret wish) but that doesn't mean a conversation should not have taken place.  Is Joe, as president, entitled to paternity leave?  Is he able to take weeks off?  


We're in an emergency situation, a pandemic, and the country didn't have the Secretary of Transportation overseeing the department and now there are supply issues.  It was a dumb move.


There are first responders who have already sacrificed so much.  There's our own Trina who until the last few weeks was still pulling her clinic duties as a nurse and, on the weekends, having to work in the hospital.  Not because she needed money but because of shortages.  Even now, a 40 hour paid work week would be a dream for Trina.  But she's still having to give evenings to a second shift during the week.  She's a nurse.  You're telling me that the on-salary Secretary of Transportation isn't expected to make certain sacrifices. 


A new baby?  Okay, let's try a reduced work week for the Secretary.  But weeks of leave?  During the pandemic?  It looks out of touch.  And it looks that way because it is that way.


We The People are living in a very different world than their elected officials.  The Democrats ran in 2020 promising damn little.  They thought all they had to do was say "Trump" over and over.  They haven't delivered what little they promised and things are worse economically for Americans than they were when Donald was in the White House.  


That should be very worrying to the Democratic Party.


I guess they could, as a victory strategy, try setting up Donald Trump to be the GOP nominee in 2024.  I guess they could try that.  But they might want to first ask Hillary Clinton and her campaign how that worked out for them in 2016?


Iraq held an election last month, the worst turnout since the 2003-invasion.  Despite the election being held October 10th, they're still waiting on the final official tally of votes.  Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) reports


More than three weeks after Iraqis voted in parliament elections, pro-Iran Shiite militias that emerged as the biggest losers are still rejecting the outcome of the vote, thrusting the country into uncertainty and political crisis.

Militia supporters have pitched tents near the entrance to Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone in an ongoing sit-in, threatening violence unless their grievances are addressed.

The unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud are casting a shadow over an election that was praised by the United States, the U.N. Security Council and others for being the smoothest in years and without major technical glitches. The standoff is also increasing tensions among rival Shiite factions that could reflect on the street and threaten Iraq’s newfound relative stability.


Meanwhile, THE NEW ARAB notes a new claim that politicians are being poisoned:


Iraqi authorities are investigating three cases of poisoning of political figures in the country, after a leader of a Kurdish party claimed on Tuesday that he was subjected to an assassination plot.

Mala Bakhtiar, who heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), claimed an assassination attempt against him was carried out by "comrades" in his own party. He claims there have been numerous attempts to end his life.

Bakhtiar had to be transported to Germany last week after being poisoned but is now in stable condition. He was a presidential candidate in 2018.

Hours after falling ill, Wasta Hassan Nuri, a PUK member and former director of the Asayish - the leading security and intelligence agency in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region -was also poisoned.

His condition has also stabilised.

Lawmaker Yasser Al-Husseini from southern Iraq’s Babil governorate was also reportedly poisoned. He won a seat in the recent parliamentary elections and his son died as a result of the poisoning.


It is not a claim, it's the truth, that activists and journalists have been murdered in Iraq.  Yesterday's snapshot noted the conviction of police officer Hamza Kadhim al-Aidani for the murders of journalists Ahmed Abdul Samad and Safaa Ghali.  Now Layal Shakir (RUDAW) reports:

An Iraqi court on Monday handed a death sentence to a man accused of killing a TV crew during the nationwide anti-government protests that broke out across Iraq in late 2019. Dozens of activists and journalists were murdered in the protests.

The Criminal Court of Basra issued a death sentence for the alleged killer of journalist Ahmad Abd al-Samad and photographer Safaa Ghali, reported state media.

Dijlah reporter Samad and his cameraman Ghali were shot dead whilst covering the Tishreen (October) protests in the southern port city of Basra last year.

Protests broke out in central and southern Iraq in late 2019, calling for an end to corruption, unemployment, and the provision of basic services. Since then, journalists and activists have been a target of militias and armed forces that operate with impunity.


Note that yet again, the court is not releasing the name of the person convicted of murder.  

Hassan Ali Ahmed (AL-MONITOR) covers the the case of the two journalists noting:


Aidani confessed to being the driver in the death squad responsible for killing Abdessamad. He said the squad also consisted of Ahmad Twaisia as the team leader, Abbas Hashim to track the victim and shooter Ahmad Abdul-Karim. Aqeel Hadi, another member of this squad, was allegedly responsible for killing Mujtaba Ahmad, a 14-year-old protester in Basra. 

Only Aidani and Hadi have been arrested. The other members remain at large and have yet to be prosecuted.

Twaisia was officially affiliated with Katai’b Hezbollah (KH). His photo beside late Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and current leader of the PMU parliamentary bloc Hadi al-Amiri has circulated in social media.

A source in criminal court informed Al-Monitor that Aidani confessed that the squad received their orders from their superiors in KH to systematically target and kill activists, journalists and also members of Iraqi security forces. The superiors convinced their followers that the orders were fatwas issued by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

The members of the squad worked inside different security forces institutes, using their positions and relations to carry out their operations. 


 

The following sites updated: