QOTD -- Kenneth Starr

 

"How did Starr’s perverse style of conservatism, supposedly motivated by Biblical rectitude, inform his abuse of the heroic [Monica] Lewinsky and his subsequent excusal of rapes and rapists? Apparently, he justified it all in the name of his godly mission. But now we have the whole sordid record of how he used virtue as a cover for vice. It is impossible to find in this reactionary figure even a trace of respect for female dignity and equality.

"And now we know just how deeply embedded his pious misogyny is in the modern Republican Party that still admires Ken Starr." -- Joe Conason in The National Memo, on the recently deceased Kenneth Starr, prosecutor- cum- ratfucker of the Clintons and self-righteous defender of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump. If anyone deserves to be spoken of unkindly, it's this unctuous hypocrite, as Conason demonstrates.

Dossier: Russian Payoff To Rump And Co.?

With the firehose of outrageous actions and statements coming out of the White (Supremacist) House and the Rethuglican Party these days, it's hard to keep up. However, the most critical issue at the core of neo-fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump's political existence is uncovering what ties him to his almost slavish loyalty to Russia and its autocratic leader. We can be certain that little, if anything, will be thoroughly and independently investigated by the party-before-country Rethugs in the House or Senate, despite being shamed in countless town hall sessions with angry and suspicious constituents. Senate Rethugs, with the possible exception of the McCain/Graham show, predictably will shirk their duties also, especially with amoral clown Mitch "Missy" McConnell controlling the agenda as Majority Leader.

In his article at AlterNet, Joe Conason explains that the Rump-Russia connection has much more to be revealed, and that the dossier compiled by former British intelligence official Christopher Steele is gaining more credence with our intelligence agencies (and those of Western allies) as some elements of that dossier are gradually being corroborated by those agencies. Among the tangle of confidential meetings and interplay with shady Russian oligarchs described in the dossier, Conason notes one major allegation: that state-owned Russian energy giant Rosneft was prepared to give Rump and his associates/partners 19% of the company in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. The money would be laundered through a number of fronts and shell companies so as to conceal the ultimate recipients. What makes the allegation resonate is that Rosneft privatized 19.5% of its shares late last year, roughly a year after the Steele dossier was compiled, making Steele either clairvoyant or the allegation believable.

There's increasingly more fire than smoke appearing in the Rump-Russia connection, and it needs to be investigated independently before the party-before-country Rethuglicans have a chance to bury it.