Because Putin Told Me So

The Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize-winning national security correspondent Greg Miller reviewed former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's new book, "The Threat," and noted this chilling anecdote:

"Inevitably, the book includes disturbing new detail about Trump’s subservience to Russian President Vladimir Putin. During an Oval Office briefing in July 2017, Trump refused to believe U.S. intelligence reports that North Korea had test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile — a test that Kim Jong Un had called a Fourth of July "gift” to “the arrogant Americans.”

Trump dismissed the missile launch as a “hoax,” McCabe writes. “He thought that North Korea did not have the capability to launch such missiles. He said he knew this because Vladimir Putin had told him so.”  (our emphasis)

Who knows what else Putin has told this useful idiot that will endanger our national security?

Monday Reading

As always, please go to the links below for the full articles.

You asked for a trade war, you got it!

China is moving forward with its plan to counter President Donald Trump's new tariffs on steel and aluminum, levying duties that will take effect Monday on more than $3 billion in U.S. exports to the country. 

In a statement Sunday, the Chinese government said it would impose the retaliatory tariffs on 128 products, according to an informal translation. 

China will impose a 15 percent tariff increase on goods including American fruit and nuts and add a 25 percent tariff on pork, recycled aluminum and other goods, the government said.

Supporters of nitwit bull(shitter)- in- a- China- shop Donald "Rump" Trump (a.k.a. President Spanky) in central valley California (fruit and nuts) and Iowa (pork) will soon be learning a hard lesson, one on which we're hard pressed to sympathize.

Rump to Putin:  Come see what you've bought!

President Trump told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the two leaders could meet in the White House, a Kremlin aide told Russian media Monday, Russian news agencies said.

But, he heard sumpin' sumpin' on "Fox & Friends," so it must be true!

With a trio of temperamental tweets on Easter Sunday and three follow-ups this morning, Trump announced there will be no deal to save the 700,000 “dreamers” whose futures he put in peril by ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. He also called on Republicans to change the rules of the Senate to pass anti-immigration legislation with a simple majority and threatened to kill the North American Free Trade Agreement if Mexico does not step up border security. 

The president then falsely claimed that there are “big flows of people” who are sneaking into the United States “because they want to take advantage of DACA.” 

In truth, to be eligible for the program created by Barack Obama, immigrants must have lived in the United States since 2007, have arrived in the country before they turned 16 and have been younger than 31 on June 15, 2012. Anyone who came after does not qualify. 

It was Rump's way of saying "Happy Easter!"

From mindless to "a beautiful mind."

The life of renowned physicist and author Stephen Hawking was celebrated Saturday in English city of Cambridge, with hundreds of well-wishers lining the streets for a glimpse of the hearse carrying his remains to a private funeral.

Hawking will be interred in Westminster Abbey, near the remains of Sir Isaac Newton.

Last but never least, check out Infidel's link round-up, where you can get links to rabbits in the movies, the on- going failings of "Christians," innovative transport (hilarious), and how creative people see the world (among many, many interesting links).

Putin's Man In Washington (UPDATED)

(click on image to enlarge)

Nick Anderson, Houston Chronicle

Last Sunday's anti-American statement by unstable demagogue and Putin's man Donald "Rump" Trump defending Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin's assassination of journalists and political opponents (saying it was comparable to what America does) shocked observers and generated outrage across the political spectrum. Once again, it reinforced the suspicion that Rump's being controlled by Russia in some fashion, whether it's a personal / sexual kompromat ("tinkle tinkle little czar") by Russian intelligence services, Russian banks propping up Rump's businesses, or both and more. It's clear that his longstanding refusal to utter one word against Russia or its autocratic (and murderous) leader signals that there's something not normal here, as with his refusal to release his tax returns that might provide evidence of ties to Russia. The FBI is purportedly looking into links between Russian officials and Rump's campaign, but that's utterly inadequate and, given the FBI's partisanship, lacking credibility. We're talking about Rump himself, not the known connections of Russia with former campaign manager Paul Manafort or senior advisor Carter Page or Secretary of State and Putin pal Rex Tillerson and the rest.  This situation represents an increasingly grave threat to our national security, wherein a President of the U.S. shows blind fealty to a foreign adversary and conceals the reasons for it.

UPDATE: Pathological liar Rump has claimed that he doesn't know Putin and has no relationship with him. Who are you going to believe, Rump or Rump?

Full, uninterrupted interview from 2013 where Trump details his relationship with Vladimir Putin. View in light of recent revelations. pic.twitter.com/W1eZT6SOQU

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) January 11, 2017

Today's Cartoon Threefer - The Autocrats' Bromance

Their smoldering bromance makes us wonder, with so much smoke, there must be a raging inferno underneath.

(click on images to enlarge)


(Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star Tribune)


(Matt Davies, Newsday)


(David Horsey, Los Angeles Times)

"A Message To My Doomed Colleagues" From A Russian Journalist

In light of the latest spectacle of media/ Donald "Rump" Trump interactions (see post below), there's an interesting open letter to U.S. journalists by Russian journalist Alexey Kovalev in Medium.com (h/t Raw Story).  Kovalev makes the following main points, where he draws parallels from his experience with Russian autocrat Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin to the emerging American autocrat Rump, and offers his condolences for what the American press is going to experience. Here are excerpts:

"Welcome to the era of bullshit.

Facts don’t matter. You can’t hurt this man with facts or reason. He’ll always outmaneuver you. He’ll always wriggle out of whatever carefully crafted verbal trap you lay for him. Whatever he says, you won’t be able to challenge him...

Don’t expect any camaraderie.

These people are not your partners or brothers in arms. They are your rivals in a fiercely competitive, crashing market and right now the only currency in this market is whatever that man on the stage says. Whoever is lucky to ask a question and be the first to transmit the answer to the outside world wins. Don’t expect any solidarity or support from them...

Expect a lot of sycophancy and softballs from your “colleagues”

...There will be people from publications that exist for no other reason than heaping fawning praise on him and attacking his enemies. But there will also be one token critic who will be allowed to ask a “sharp” question, only to be drowned in a copious amount of bullshit, and the man on the stage will always be the winner (“See? I respect the media and free speech”)...

You’re always losing.

This man owns you. He understands perfectly well that he is the news. You can’t ignore him. You’re always playing by his rules — which he can change at any time without any notice..."

There's much more to the letter, so please check it out at the link.

Looking to the corporate media for consistent, effective push- back against this looming "era of bullshit" is a fool's errand. (See above.) There may be a few dogged souls with a conscience and the courage to speak the truth, but for the vast majority it will be normalize, normalize, normalize. We've already started to see it, and the shitgibbon isn't even sworn in yet.

Quote Of The Day

When conservative pundits start using the "T" word, you can bet there's a roaring fire under all that smoke.  Here's Kathleen Parker yesterday:

In sum, when the president-elect persists in a state of denial, siding with the enemy against his own country’s best interests, one is forced to consider that Trump himself poses a threat to national security. 

In Russia, they’d just call it treason. 

Many of us here in America would call it that, too.  The big question now is, what enormous leverage does Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin have on his new pet poodle?

Putin's Poodle Already Discounting Intelligence Briefing

Neo- fascist Putin poodle Donald "Rump" Trump continues to show all the signs of a guilty man fearful of what the American intelligence community has found out about Russian efforts to install him in the White House.  Consider the latest in a pattern of surpassingly odd eruptions from Cheeto Benito:

The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017

Note the quote marks around Intelligence, and his snark about "more time needed to build a case," to denote he's already prepared to discount whatever findings the intelligence community present.  Has there ever been someone in Rump's position who has publicly and continuously chosen to accept the Russian line over facts presented by American intelligence professionals?  "Very strange!" indeed. There's so much smoke here, the fire must be particularly hot under Rump's rump.

Also, as is being pointed out, the scheduling dis is typical Rump bullshit:

"... [A] senior U.S. intelligence official with direct knowledge of the situation told NBC News Tuesday night that the heads of the NSA, CIA, FBI and the director of national intelligence were always scheduled to meet with Trump on Friday. Another official had previously told NBC News that the briefing was scheduled for Wednesday, but that was apparently wrong."

The American people need to get a "briefing" more than Rump, who likely already knows the extent of Russian sabotage on his behalf.  Keep in mind all you know about this sociopathic villain:  his utter lack of scruples, his monumental narcissism, his brazen flouting of norms of behavior, his breathtaking ignorance, his consorting with the lowest elements in society.  Then imagine the worst has happened, because given who we're dealing with, it probably has.

Photo Of The Day - Heroes Of Motherland Russia

Russian nesting dolls currently on display and for sale in Red Square, Moscow: l. to r. Putin, Trump, Lenin (h/t LGF).

Is good, nyet?

Cyber Action Against Trump's Russian Allies?

News item:

The Obama administration is contemplating an unprecedented cyber covert action against Russia in retaliation for alleged Russian interference in the American presidential election, U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. 

Current and former officials with direct knowledge of the situation say the CIA has been asked to deliver options to the White House for a wide-ranging "clandestine" cyber operation designed to harass and "embarrass" the Kremlin leadership.

We hope they do decide to go after neo- fascist venomous charlatan Donald "Rump" Trump's mentor and handler Vladimir "Vlad the Invader" Putin and his oligarchy for their unprecedented attempts to influence our elections.  If it's going to happen, it should happen in a measured way before the election, and should be accompanied by a warning that far more serious actions would be on the way should Russia continue its cyber meddling in the service of Trump.

Trump and Putin are two sides of the same anti- Western democratic coin.  Standing up to Putin now is the same as standing up to Trump:  it's completely justified and morally satisfying.

Putin's Carnage In Aleppo

Russian and Syrian warplanes launched the heaviest bombing of rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria in months, effectively ending the ceasefire that was already shaken by last Monday's air attack on a column of relief for the city's residents. The bombing reflects a rejection by the Assad regime's Russian allies of pleas by the U.S. and its Western allies to hold to the ceasefire that began some two weeks ago. Despite Monday's attack on the aid convoy, which the U.S. has accused Russia of conducting, the U.N. announced today that it is planning to resume aid convoys to rebel-held areas of Aleppo, following a review of security arrangements. We'll see if that relief effort meets the same fate as Monday's.

The Assad regime exists largely because of the military assistance it receives from Russia. Their mutual strategy is to remove the threat of the Western-backed anti-Assad forces fighting the regime, as the U.S. and its allies take on ISIS in Syria, with Assad eventually being the last man standing. A President Trump, with his cozy relationship with Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin and Russian financiers, would help facilitate Russia's inroads into the Middle East, bringing far greater instability to that region and harm to the U.S.