Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links for the full articles/ op eds.

In a move that should carry weight in future court battles, former national security officials are declaring the "emergency" to build the manhood edifice of Donald "Rump" Trump a hoax:

A bipartisan group of 58 former senior national security officials will issue a statement Monday saying that “there is no factual basis” for President Trump’s proclamation of a national emergency to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The joint statement, whose signatories include former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and former defense secretary Chuck Hagel, will come a day before the House is expected to vote on a resolution to block Trump’s Feb. 15 declaration.

The former officials’ statement, which will be entered into the Congressional Record, is intended to support lawsuits and other actions challenging the national emergency proclamation and to force the administration to set forth the legal and factual basis for it. 

“Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border,” the group said.  (our emphasis)

The House will pass a resolution of disapproval Tuesday, which will then go to the Senate for a vote.  Spineless hypocrites that they are, the vast majority of Republicans in both houses are expected to support Rump rather than stand up for the Constitution's separation of powers and American democracy.  Remember them.

Color us not surprised:

A top cardinal has admitted that the global Catholic Church destroyed files to prevent documentation of decades of sexual abuse of children, telling the prelates attending Pope Francis' clergy abuse summit Feb. 23 that such maladministration led "in no small measure" to more children being harmed. 

In a frank speech to the 190 cardinals, bishops and heads of religious orders taking part in the four-day summit, German Cardinal Reinhard Marx said the church's administration had left victims' rights "trampled underfoot" and "made it impossible" for the worldwide institution to fulfill its mission. 

"Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible were destroyed, or not even created," said Marx, beginning a list of a number of practices that survivors have documented for years but church officials have long kept under secret. 

"Instead of the perpetrators, the victims were regulated and silence imposed on them," the cardinal continued. "The stipulated procedures and processes for the prosecution of offences were deliberately not complied with, but instead cancelled or overridden." (our emphasis)

The rot runs old and deep.

What happens when an ignorant, threatened, narcissistic demagogue thinks he can do diplomacy with his Big Brain and (vastly bigger) gut?  We're about to find out:

His intelligence chiefs warn that North Korea is unlikely to surrender its nuclear weapons. His advisers fret that a breakthrough could prove elusive and that he might make an impulsive concession to score headlines. And his allies around the world worry he could get easily outmaneuvered. 

Yet, President Trump is steadfast in his determination to meet face-to-face here this week with Kim Jong Un, aides say, because he has an unwavering faith in the power of the pen-pal relationship he has cultivated with the North Korean leader not only to bend the course of history, but to shape his own legacy. [snip]

Trump gloats about the half dozen or so letters Kim has written him as if he were a smitten teenager in possession of valentines from a crush. White House officials refer to the diplomatic correspondence jokingly as “love letters.” Kim addresses Trump as “Your Excellency” and employs flowery language to describe the president’s energy and political smarts, according to people who have read them. Trump has shown the documents to dozens of Oval Office visitors and bragged about them in public. 

“He wrote me beautiful letters — and they’re great letters,” Trump said in September at a rally in West Virginia. “We fell in love.”  (our emphasis)

What. A. Dangerous. Moron.

Elections have consequences, global climate change edition:

The White House plans to create an ad hoc group of select federal scientists to reassess the government’s analysis of climate science and counter conclusions that the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet, according to three senior administration officials. 

The National Security Council initiative would include scientists who question the severity of climate impacts and the extent to which humans contribute to the problem, according to these individuals, who asked for anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. 

The group would not be subject to the same level of public disclosure as a formal advisory committee. 

The move would represent the Trump administration’s most forceful effort to date to challenge the scientific consensus that greenhouse gas emissions are helping drive global warming and that the world could face dire consequences unless countries curb their carbon output over the next few decades. [snip]

... Rear Adm. David Titley, who served as oceanographer of the Navy and chief operating officer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the new initiative could imperil national security by clouding “truthful assessments of the risks stemming from a changing climate.” 

“I never thought I would live to see the day in the United States where our own White House is attacking the very science agencies that can help the president understand and manage the climate risks to security of today and tomorrow,” said Titley, who sits on the advisory board of the Center for Climate and Security, a nonpartisan group focused on climate-related risks. “Such attacks are un-American.” 

More than un- American, they're attacks on human life and civilization, all to wring out more profits for the fossil fuel industry that bankrolls the rotted- out Republican Party. 

As always, we conclude by recommending you check out Infidel 753's link round- up for many more topics of interest.  We would also recommend, if you haven't already, checking out his blog on a regular basis for his comments on politics, philosophy, religion, technology, etc. Always stimulating reading.

Can You Pick Out The Sucker In This Scenario?

Under daily pressure from the looming Mueller report into his ties with Russia and indictments to come, the upcoming Michael Cohen hearing on his family's corrupt business dealings, his inauguration committee's pay- for- play scandals, and his cabinet's incompetence and corruption, all the while facing resistance to his power grab over his manhood wall, Donald "Rump" Trump, who reads nothing, believes Putin rather than his intelligence community, and who's looking for a distraction is getting ready for another "summit" with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.  What could possibly go wrong?

President Donald Trump is eagerly anticipating his second summit with Kim Jong Un, touting his “really meaningful” relationship with the North Korean strongman and insisting he’s ready to give up his nuclear arsenal. 

In Washington, he’s pretty much the only one who feels that way. 

Many, including several of the president’s top advisers, are less excited. Some have expressed trepidation not only that the summit, scheduled to take place next week in Hanoi, may not yield big results. They worry, too, that Trump, eager to declare victory on the world stage, could make big concessions in exchange for empty promises of denuclearization.

The push for a second summit came almost entirely from the president himself, according to current and former White House officials — but Trump remains undeterred. He has gushed about the “wonderful letters” he has received from Kim, as well as the “good rapport” he has developed with the North Korean leader and the enormous media coverage the event in Vietnam's capital is likely to attract. Trump even bragged, in a phone call Tuesday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, that he is the only person who can make progress on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, according to a person briefed on the conversation, and complained about negative news coverage he has received. (our emphasis)

The North Koreans, who aren't led by a moron, know how to get the most from the U.S. without giving up anything:

“If the working-level people were achieving what they wanted to achieve, then I’d feel really good about this, but the North Koreans know that they can get a better deal from the president, so they’d rather talk to just him,” [former NSC official Victor] Cha said. 

“The North Koreans basically won’t deal with anybody other than Trump. They won’t deal with [Special Representative for North Korea Stephen] Biegun, they won’t deal with Pompeo, so if there’s going to be any movement, it’s going come at that level,” said a former administration official. “The summit does have some potential to do good because it can break the logjam. But coming out of the summit, Trump is going to want to declare it a success and a victory and everybody else will be frustrated because nothing really has changed.”  (our emphasis)

Rump's own intelligence community has been telling him over and over that the North Koreans aren't going to denuclearize, and are in fact continuing to conduct a long- range nuclear missile program. What they want is for the U.S. to agree to a peace treaty and, most importantly, the destablilizing removal of American troops from South Korea (the latter something Rump has been amenable to in the past).  Having a narcissistic ignoramus in this fraught situation, who's looking for a "win" in the midst of the daily shitshow of his regime, is needless to say a recipe for disaster, particularly now that the supposed "adults" in the room are all gone, replaced by sycophants and weaklings.  So, the question isn't if Rump will give away something, it's what and at what cost it will be to the security of the U.S. and our east Asian allies.

Somewhere in the Kremlin, Putin is enjoying himself immensely.

North Korea Nuclear Moratorium

Kudos to President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the negotiating team for this:

"Under an agreement reached in direct talks in Beijing last week, North Korea has agreed to allow the return of nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, and has agreed to implement a moratorium on long-range missile tests, nuclear tests, and nuclear activities at Yongbyon, including uranium enrichment activities, the State Department said. In return, the United States will provide North Korea with a large food aid package."

Playboy Kim Disapproves Succession

Kim Jong Nam, the "playboy" 39-year-old eldest son of Kim Jong Il, has spoken out against the hereditary succession of his younger brother ("Young General" Kim Jong Un) to be the next Dear/ Fearless/ Whatever Leader of North Korea. Speaking to TV Asahi from China, the inveterate gambler Kim said he was "against third-generation succession." He also said, "I have no regrets about it. I wasn't interested in it and I don't care." He then said, "Is the craps table open yet?" (No, we made that last quote up.)

Kim Jong Nam fell out of favor with his father when he tried to enter Japan in 2001 with a fake passport. He said he wanted to see Disneyland Japan.

We really only noted this story because we wanted to run this picture of the "playboy" (hee-hee), which only goes to show you how low the standards are in North Korea!

(Photo: Kim Jong Nam: "Hey buddy!")

Son of Dear Leader Ascends

After years of blissful anticipation, Dear Leader Kim Jong Il has set the stage for the eventual succession of his 26- or- 27- year- old son Kim Jong Eun as leader of North Korea. Yesterday, Son of Dear Leader was promoted from civilian to four-star general, a rank acknowledging his glorious battlefield victories at Agincourt, Waterloo, Gettysburg, and Stalingrad. The Kaplan Daily reports that, according to an intercepted 17-page North Korean military document, Son of Dear Leader is said to be "a genius with exceptional talent...Anybody who meets him...wants to worship him."

Well, if he's anything like the old man, we certainly can understand that!

(Photo: The Dear Leader - not photoshopped!)

Kangaroo Verdict

As expected, the kangaroo trial of American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee has ended with their conviction on charges of entering North Korea illegally (question: who in their right mind or not would want to enter North Korea?). The reporters, who were arrested in March near the China/North Korea border, work for Current TV, an Al Gore media venture. Ling and Lee were sentenced to 12 years hard labor, although it's widely thought that their release will be negotiated for "humanitarian" reasons, part of the seemingly endless diplomatic game of back-and-forth between North Korea and the United States. In the meantime, the poor women and their families suffer.