Musk's Conflict Of Interest Heading DOD Project

 

Failed Defense Secretary and testosterone pusher Whiskey Pete Hegseth announced yesterday in a speech that looked more like an evangelical revival that South Afrikaner fascist and megalomaniac Elon Musk would be one of a team of three to review future Pentagon weapons systems and technologies of the future.  Joining the South Afrikan white supremacist is far-right loudmouth and failed Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and tech bro MAGAt Palmer Luckey, brother-in-law of the despicable Matt Gaetz and a virtual reality entrepreneur.  From CNBC:

"The initiative, dubbed Project Meridian, will spend 120 days looking years and decades ahead at how warfare could change and what capabilities the U.S. military will need to maintain a technological edge.

'Project Meridian, the future of warfare, is not about developing new strategies or new policies,' Hegseth said. Instead, he said, its purpose is to 'identify the domains that we must conquer, and capabilities we must master.' [snip]

None of the three co-leads has served in the U.S. military. Musk moved to Canada as a teenager in part, he has said, to avoid compulsory military service in South Africa.

The role puts Musk and Luckey in prime position to help identify the military’s future technology needs while their companies compete for billions in DOD business.

Musk’s SpaceX holds a plethora of Pentagon contracts. In May, the Space Force awarded the company a $4.16 billion contract to build satellites designed to track and target airborne threats, just days after awarding SpaceX another $2.29 billion contract for a military satellite communications network.

Luckey’s Anduril develops autonomous weapons and other military technology. The Marine Corps awarded the company a contract worth up to $642 million in 2025 for counter-drone systems." (our emphasis)

The role of Musk and Luckey in this project reeks of conflict of interest with their Pentagon contracts, and would provide them with advance knowledge of the Pentagon's future plans for weapons development.  Moreover, through this project, they would have the ability to steer technology to be used by the Pentagon toward their business interests.  Gingrich is likely there to be the bloviator for the initiative, accustomed as he is to right-wing media and political figures, but he's also likely to find a way to wet his beak along with the others.

For Musk, at least, this is the reverse of his disastrous DOGE foray into viciously cutting Federal programs, many of which had a role in regulating his businesses, and some for just his white supremacist reasons.  Here, he'll be in a position to feather his own large nest with more Federal funding.  The next Congress should put a halt to the three's participation in this project in the next session by whatever means available.

(photo: Luckey, Gingrich and Musk. What could go wrong? DOD X)

Tweet Of The Day -- Ish There A Gingrich, Mr. Problem?

Drunk before 8 p.m.?  Is Callista already at the Vatican?


(screen capture)

The only thing missing is a "hic" or two. Also, you can just hear his lips smacking against Rump's rump, can't you?

(Of course, the self- important defender of Western Civilization and malignant tumor has deleted this and replaced it with a sober re- spelling.)

BONUS:  Fellow blogger Gene tips us to the scorn Newtie is getting on Twitter - here are just a few examples --

Are you high again? He's a 5th grader giving a book report on a book he didn't read.

— bob clendenin (@bobclendenin) October 16, 2017

You just misspelled "President", "Trump", "remarkably", "strong" and "his". You shouldn't comment on others' grasp of intellectual issues... pic.twitter.com/Dulq7Ck9iB

— Pé Resists (@4everNeverTrump) October 16, 2017

Or that's how he sounds with Trump's limp #### in his mouth...

— SeriouslyUS? (@USseriously) October 16, 2017

And this from our distant cousin (father's side):

⁉️WHAT⁉️

Newt Gingrich tweets gibberish about Trump's gibberish.🤪

YO NEWT, try laying off the sauce, at least until Happy Hour at 5pm‼️🍸🥂🍻 pic.twitter.com/lyaTM9fgop

— Dr. Dena Grayson (@DrDenaGrayson) October 16, 2017

Morning Reading

Sarah Posner on Republicans shielding un-indicted co-conspirator Donald "Rump" Trump:

In his testimony before the House Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday morning, former CIA director John Brennan bluntly told lawmakers that during the 2016 election, he reviewed intelligence that showed “contacts and interactions” between Russian actors and people associated with the Trump campaign. By the summer of 2016, Brennan said, he was “convinced” that Russia was engaged in an “aggressive” and “multifaceted” effort to interfere in our election — and as a result, he believed “there was a sufficient basis of information and intelligence that required further investigation” by the FBI. 

With this testimony, Brennan just made it a whole lot harder — politically, at least — for the GOP to continue in its efforts to protect Trump, even as scrutiny of his campaign intensifies on the part of the FBI, and now, special counsel Robert Mueller. Yet if Tuesday’s hearing is any guide, congressional Republicans are still intent on shielding Trump by undermining the investigation in the mind of the public.

This is a party- before- country collection of nihilists; we need to turn as many of them out of office as possible.  Here's a start on the state level:

On Tuesday night, Democrats flipped not one but two state legislative seats in special elections—and both came in deep red territory. In New Hampshire, Democrat Edie DesMarais defeated Republican Matthew Plache by a 52-48 margin in the state House’s 6th Carroll District, a seat Donald Trump won 51-44 last fall. Meanwhile, in the New York Assembly’s 9th District, Democrat Christine Pellegrino beat Republican Thomas Gargiulo 58-42, even though Trump romped to a 60-37 victory there in November. 

Democrats winning at the State and local level over the next 2 - 4 years is extremely important to re-building the party, especially with the 2020 census looming. We've got the special Congressional election in Montana (Rob Quist!) on Thursday and the one in Georgia (Jon Ossoff!) in June, which could be bellweathers for the 2018 mid- term elections.

Margaret Sullivan on the despicable Sean "Heil" Hannity, Newt Gingrich and Fox "News" in their politicizing the death of DNC staffer Seth Rich last summer:

To hear Fox’s Sean Hannity tell it, this was an inside job by the Democratic National Committee, where Rich worked: retribution by the Hillary Clinton camp for his sharing insider emails with WikiLeaks. 

The theory has been thoroughly debunked by Oliver Darcy at CNN, among others, and Rich’s family has demanded that Fox retract and apologize. To the reported embarrassment of its own staff, it took Fox days to do the right thing. (Fox finally retracted the story Tuesday afternoon , and Tuesday night Hannity claimed that “out of respect for the family’s wishes, for now, I am not discussing the matter at this time.”) 

But the damage has been done. On Sunday, former House speaker and Trump insider Newt Gingrich used Fox’s national platform to spread the lies, squandering what remains of his own credibility to make respectable people think it might be so. (Police think it may have been a robbery gone wrong.) 

Decent people should shun both Hannity and Gingrich. 

There's word this morning that Hannity will stop his conspiracy mongering about Seth Rich, ostensibly in response to this direct, heart- wrenching appeal from Seth Rich's parents:

Imagine living in a nightmare that you can never wake up from. Imagine having to face every single day knowing that your son was murdered. Imagine you have no answers — that no one has been brought to justice and there are few clues leading to the killer or killers. Imagine that every single day, with every phone call you hope that it’s the police, calling to tell you that there has been a break in the case. 

Imagine that instead, every call that comes in is a reporter asking what you think of a series of lies or conspiracies about the death. That nightmare is what our family goes through every day.  [snip]

... Seth’s death has been turned into a political football. Every day we wake up to new headlines, new lies, new factual errors, new people approaching us to take advantage of us and Seth’s legacy. It just won’t stop. The amount of pain and anguish this has caused us is unbearable. With every conspiratorial flare-up, we are forced to relive Seth’s murder and a small piece of us dies as more of Seth’s memory is torn away from us. [snip]

There are people who are using our beloved Seth’s memory and legacy for their own political goals, and they are using your outrage to perpetuate our nightmare. We ask those purveying falsehoods to give us peace, and to give law enforcement the time and space to do the investigation they need to solve our son’s murder. 

Reptilians like Hannity and Gingrich are sociopaths who have political agendas that take precedence over facts and human decency. They're wired that way, so it's only a matter of time before they plump another destructive lie into a full- fledged nightmare for another family. Also, let's not forget the collusion of many in the "mainstream media," who delight in "reporting on the controversy," hoping to attract clicks and eyeballs without getting their hands dirty in the process. The sooner this fever dream fades, the better.

Tweets Of The Day - Suckers! (UPDATED)

That yuuge wall Mexico would pay for?

Trump adviser Newt Gingrich: "He may not spend very much time trying to get Mexico to pay for it. But it was a great campaign device." https://t.co/eFwyPcVAM1

— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) November 11, 2016

"We fooled the rubes!" https://t.co/NK1bZK0Vzq

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) November 11, 2016

"We don't need no education!" (musical accompaniment)

How different and more pleasant would it be if we didn't have gullible rubes in this country? (rhetorical question)

UPDATE:  The "populist" shitgibbon who's going to "drain the swamp?"  That's another one he pulled on the rubes:

President-elect Donald J. Trump, who campaigned against the corrupt power of special interests, is filling his transition team with some of the very sort of people who he has complained have too much clout in Washington: corporate consultants and lobbyists.

Suckers!

Bookworm Corner: Newt Gingrich's "Treason"

Fiction lovers rejoice!  It seems serial adulterer and neo- fascist ninny Donald "Rump" Trump surrogate Newt "Poot" Gingrich has a new vanity novel out called "Treason." Since Poot isn't known for subtlety, it's not a shock that a main character is a "ditsy" female President (surprisingly not named Killary Hinton) that he's carried over from his last dud piece of work. To save you the trouble of deciding whether to buy this future cult classic, we're providing excepts from a review by Richard Lipez at the Washington Post (rim shots not provided):

-- One thing can be said for this topical thriller written by former House speaker Newt Gingrich: It’s not quite the lardy snooze-fest its prequel was.

-- To say that the characters in this dud of a novel are cardboard would be an insult to boxes. 

-- There is little actual sex in “Treason,” and what’s there is embarrassing. One character asks another, “Have you bedded her yet?” Bedded! Has anybody in real life ever actually used that term?  [Ed. note: perhaps it's Gingrich's form of locker room talk.]

-- As for the element of suspense, I figured out who the spy was in fewer than 100 pages and read on to write this review and out of mild curiosity. If you are a fan of the publishing arm of the Newt Political-Industrial Complex and wish to help place “Treason” on the bestseller lists, go ahead, but do not expect any surprises — or any good fiction writing. 

We think that's enough of a taste.

"Treason," a new novel by Newt Gingrich, coming to a bargain bin near you!

"The Apprentice" Insiders: Trump's Misogyny Rampant

We know, we know.  Neo- fascist misogynist Donald "Rump" Trump is a serial sexist horndog (Presidential!).  But, as he mounts his smarmy, old- news attacks on the marriage of Bill and Hillary Clinton, it's more than fair to point out what a miserable sack of sh*t he is in his objectification and demeaning of women (warning: you may want to don a Hazmat suit before reading):

NEW YORK (AP) — In his years as a reality TV boss on "The Apprentice," Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to show insiders who said he rated female contestants by the size of their breasts and talked about which ones he'd like to have sex with. 

The Associated Press interviewed more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants — who described crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him. 

The staffers and contestants agreed to recount their experiences as Trump's behavior toward women has become a core issue in the presidential campaign. Interviewed separately, they gave concurring accounts of inappropriate conduct on the set.

Eight former crew members recalled that he repeatedly made lewd comments about a camerawoman he said had a nice rear, comparing her beauty to that of his daughter, Ivanka. [snip] 

Randal Pinkett, who won the program in December 2005 and who has recently criticized Trump during his run for president, said he remembered the real estate mogul talking about which female contestants he wanted to sleep with, even though Trump had married former model Melania Knauss earlier that year: "He was like 'Isn't she hot, check her out,' kind of gawking, something to the effect of 'I'd like to hit that.' "  [snip] 

Former producer Katherine Walker said Trump frequently talked about women's bodies during the five seasons she worked with him and said he speculated about which female contestant would be "a tiger in bed." 

A former crew member who signed a non-disclosure agreement and asked not to be identified, recalled that Trump asked male contestants whether they would sleep with a particular female contestant, then expressed his own interest. 

"We were in the boardroom one time figuring out who to blame for the task, and he just stopped in the middle and pointed to someone and said, 'You'd f... her, wouldn't you? I'd f... her. C'mon, wouldn't you?'"  (our emphasis)

So, meanwhile, Rump and his loathesome surrogates (a.k.a., The Philandering Five) take up the attack on the Clintons. As Bakari says,

Trump, Bannon, Giuliani, Gingrich, and Ailes want to talk about affairs.

That's it. That's the joke.

— Bakari Sellers (@Bakari_Sellers) September 28, 2016

(Photo: Rump with then- teenage Ivanka - with whom he compares all potential bedmates.)

Gingrich, Romney, Ryan Intern Charged in Sexual Blackmail Case

Adam Savader, a former intern to Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the 2012 campaign, has been charged with cyberstalking and extortion in a sexual blackmail case:

The New York Daily News reports that 21-year-old Adam Savader was arrested in Great Neck, N.Y. on Tuesday by the FBI. He was charged with cyberstalking and blackmailing women online, according to authorities.

News 12 Long Island adds that court documents show Savader allegedly used both the Internet and text messages. He claimed he had naked pictures of the women and vowed to send them to friends and family if more were not provided.

This dickhead has a future in the "rebranding" Rethuglican/ Stupid Party, don't you think!?  Maybe women's issues liaison?  Social media coordinator?                                                                            

What is it about the conservative mind-set and philosophy that seems to attract an inordinate share of creeps, perverts, predators, misogynists and, well, just plain felons?

(Photo:  Rep. Paul Ryan with the felonious intern -  type the felonious intern's name in on Google images and see what other Rethugs he's been rubbing elbows with =cough=ScottWalker=cough= TuckerCarlson=cough=MicheleBachmann=cough.)

Florida Primary Results Predicted (Humorously, How Else?)

Wonkette previews the Florida primary results (maybe that should be "presults", kinda like "prebuts"):

"...Mitt Romney is going to win, the pollsters say, because the elderly moderate-Republican condo dwellers outnumber the elderly right-wing Cubans and the Truck Nutz rednecks alternating driving around with clenched teeth and clenched sphincters while fuming along to the Rush Limbaugh AM radio program. Yay, democracy.

"Gingrich, a corrupt and delusional millionaire toad who waddles around shrieking into microphones about people being unfair to him, is seen for exactly what he is by 52% of Florida voters: a crook. Romney, a more polite plutocrat, has had accusations about his decades of corporate raiding and job destruction bounce off like raindrops on whatever chemical coating protects his dyed hair."

'Cause Horndogs Gotta Stick Together

News item: Horndog Herman Cain endorses fellow skirt-chaser (and more) Newt "Fly Me to the Moon" Gingrich, tonight in Florida.

(Photo: "I don't pledge allegiance to my wife..." (AP photo))

Surging in Florida

Sweaty pig-man and serial adulterer Newt "The Swinger" Gingrich has jumped out to an 8 point lead over Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney in the next primary state, Florida, according to an Insider Advantage poll. (A Rasmussen poll also has the Hindenburg's sister ship up by 9 points over Millionaire Mitt.)

Willard is already out with his "Newt is a terrible leader" ads, and we should expect the increasingly panicked Rethug establishment and their water-carriers in the media (Charles "Kraphammer" Krauthammer, George "Quill" Will, Kathleen "Blind Squirrel" Parker, Jennifer Rubin, Bobo Brooks, Ross "I Seriously" Douthat, et al.) to really pour it on poor Newtie in the coming week; meanwhile the uber-crackpots (Rush Limpballs, the teatard nation, martial ass master Chuck Norris , and maybe even snowbilly grifter Sarah Palin?) will rally around Newtie.

I myself am bullish on popcorn futures! Grab a bag, sit back, and enjoy!

(Photo: "A stupid man's idea of a smart man.")

Primary Day in South Carolina

Today is primary day in South Carolina, ancestral home of treasonous secession and unreconstructed racism (Rick Perry and John C. Calhoun, why hast thou forsaken us?). In the course of a week, Willard "What Tax Returns?" Romney's lead has dwindled into, depending on the poll, a dead heat or a solid lead for Newt "The Swinger" Gingrich. One, Public Policy Polling, has The Swinger up by 37%-28% over Millionaire Mitt.

One reason for The Swinger's Up-Schwing (gag) may be that the teabaggers are going for him overwhelmingly: 52%-18% in that same PPP poll. Here's what one numbnut, Karen Martin of the Spartanburg (S.C.) Tea Party, had to say:

"Then our conversation turned to Mitt Romney, and Martin’s sunny countenance darkened. 'I don’t know a single Tea Party person,' she said, slowly drawing out her words, 'who does not despise Mitt Romney to the very core of their being.' I searched her face for levity or compassion, but found neither."

Back in 2008, Oxycontin Rush Limpballs was urging his knuckle-dragging listeners in Texas and Ohio to vote for Hillary Clinton in their open primaries in order to prolong the Democratic race, calling it "too good a soap opera." Now that we have a similar soap opera (or better, a comedy of errors) unfolding in the Rethuglican race, we can only hope it goes on as long as possible, right Rush?

(Image: Tea baggers to the reskew!)

Quote of the Day

"Look can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney?" -- Hired larynx and Mitt-seeking missile Newt "Poot" Gingrich to Willard "Millionaire Mitt" Romney at today's NBC/Facebook Rethuglican debate. Willard had just made another attempt to cast himself as a non-career politician who left office because he wanted to get back into the business world. Riiight! Several pundits have noted that Willard was noticably sweating after taking shots from his Rethuglican rivals -- oh, excuse me, millionaires don't "sweat," they "perspire."

Cartoon of the Day - Iowa Caucus Edition

(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)

Reading Newt's Lips

(Please pardon the ads)

This is the most sense he's ever made.

"NEWT GINGRICH" — a Bad Lip Reading Soundbite - watch more funny videos

Cartoon of the Day - Getting to Know Gingrich Edition

(Click to enlarge)


(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)

Bonus: Poot does have a mean streak, too. But we don't mind when it's applied to Millionaire Mittens Romney (via TPM):

"Asked this morning whether he should give back his Freddie Mac money, as Mitt Romney suggested, Newt responded: 'I would just say that if Gov. Romney would like to give back all of the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain, that I would be glad to listen to him.'"

It's Why We Call Them "Rethugs," Newt Gingrich Edition

Dana Milbank notes:

Nearly two decades ago, Gingrich’s political action committee, with the help of GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz, issued a now-famous memo telling Republican candidates which words they should use to describe their opponents. Among them: “anti,” “betray,” “bizarre,” “corrupt,” “destructive,” “disgrace,” “shame,” “lie,” “pathetic,” “radical,” “self-serving,” “selfish,” “shallow,” “shame,” “sick,” “traitors.”

“These are powerful words that can create a clear and easily understood contrast,” this Gingrich-endorsed memo explained. “Remember that creating a difference helps you. Apply these to the opponent, their record, proposals and their party.”

Wow. And ironically, nearly all of those words apply to today's Rethuglican/ New Confederate Party and to Newtie himself, as in "I'm rubber and you're glue; your words bounce off me and stick to you."

"Mr. Gingrich Requires Two Bathrooms, Please!"

(Click to enlarge slightly - check out second paragraph, first sentence:)

-- from a rider to a contract for a 2010 speaking engagement in Missouri for Newt "Poo or Poot?" Gingrich. As Wonkette points out, that's "because he is just that full of shit."

(h/t Smoking Gun, via Wonkette)

Adulterers Unite!

There are reports that Rethuglican moral compass "Horndog Herb" Cain is set to endorse serial adulterer and "hired larynx" Newt "Poot" Gingrich, perhaps as soon as today. We wonder if they bonded over their common moral weakness as cheating cads, or their common sense of themselves as Great Historical Figures?

(Photo: Members in bad standing of the Rethuglican Liars and Adulterers Club: "I love me more!" "No, I love ME more!"))

Horndog Herb's Opening Line

Today's the day Rethuglican morality template Herman "Horndog Herb" Cain is supposed to announce the results from "reassessing" his campaign for the Rethuglican presidential nomination, assuming he's still alive. You see, last night, Horndog Herb was to have met with his wife Gloria to do some 'splainin' about the 13-year-long relationship with Ginger White. Several listeners to the Tom Joyner radio show offered helpful thoughts as to what the first words out of Horndog Herb's mouth might be upon seeing his wife:

"Don't shoot!"

"Why are my bags packed?"

But comedian Steve Hofstetter had the best advice: "Admit you are cheating on her and cheat on her again. It seemed to work fine for Newt Gingrich!"

UPDATE: Horndog Herb is "suspending" his campaign... and is still denying all, with his wife standing by him. Also, just announced: "Sucker of the Year" - Gloria Cain.

"The Difference Between Willard and Newt"

Charles P. Pierce on Willard/ Flip-Flop/ Mendacious Mitt Romney and the latest not-Romney, Newt "Poot" Gingrich:

"Like Donkey Kong, apparently, it is on. Willard Romney, putative frontrunner and the toughest man who ever sent someone out to fire people rather than do it himself, apparently has determined to do two things: 1) compete seriously in the Iowa caucuses, thereby disturbing even further those nice Iowa Republicans who gather every four years to determine who among them will see Jesus in the three-bean salad; and b) butch himself up as a politician. This is in response to the sudden national surge by Newt Gingrich. Thereby will our man Willard take on the two most chronic and widely held perceptions of himself: a) that he is a smug, tailor's dummy who goes to bed every night wondering why someone can't just appoint him to be president; and b) that, as a politician, he is lily-ed of liver and crystal of jaw. Look out down there on the croquet lawn, beeyotches! Willard's ready to throw down. He'll fk your shit up, just as soon as the market closes, that is.

"Newt, meanwhile, is playing nice. As for Willard, he's got enough money to fool enough people with this latest incarnation. He may fool just enough of them. But, it seems to me, anyway, that he fundamentally misapprehends why the Republican base has gravitated so swiftly to the Senior Love Daddy of the House junior staff. It is not because Newt's the fool who hasn't yet fallen out of the boat. It's not because of his position on the issues. The Republican base does not respond to reasoned debate on public policy. The Republican base is an unreconstructed Id. It responds to emotion. It has pleasure centers that demand to be serviced, regularly. (Down, Herman.) And there is nobody better at nuzzling the party's political G-spots than Newt Gingrich — whether he does it one comely aide at a time or altogether at once."