Tweets Of The Day -- Let The Gaslighting Begin!

YOU'RE TRYING TOO HARD, Very Stable Genius!

I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 24, 2018

That may work with a certain endlessly gullible segment of the population (identifiable by their red hats), but for sentients, it clearly doesn't pass the smell test.

Simplest guess: some one showed him some bad 2018 polling and he’s laying the foundation for explaining away the losses https://t.co/adZmIpPPPb

— Sam Stein (@samstein) July 24, 2018

Like this one, perhaps?

New Q-poll:

Trump's approval slides to 38-58.

51% say Trump has "weakened" America's position in the world.

By 53-42, voters say Trump wants to do what's best for himself, not USA.

Voters trust intel agencies over Trump to tell them the truth, 63-25.https://t.co/O4PFlFUajI

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 24, 2018

Also from new Q-poll:

75% say Russian sabotage of election is a very (53) or somewhat (22) important issue.

59% disapprove of Trump's handling of Putin.

55% say Mueller probe is "fair."

54% say probe of Trump/Russia collusion is "legitimate."

Trump is losing every argument.

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) July 24, 2018

Or this, updated today;  the last iteration was 71/ 29 Dems (click on to enlarge):



Sad!

Today's Cartoons

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(Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer)


(Jeff Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune)


(Steve Benson, The Arizona Republic)


(Chris Britt, Illinois Times)


(Jim Morin, Miami Herald)

Ding-Dong, FBI Calling

The far-right is gearing up for a massive smear and conspiracy-mongering campaign against Special Counsel Robert Mueller, ranging from Trump reichsmarschall Sean "Heil" Hannity to the furtherest reaches of the wingnut fever swamps. Some of the effort is just the banal lying that we've come to expect from the likes of consigliere Rudy "Ghouliani" Giuliani and others around conspirator Donald "Rump" Trump. Some, however, is so deranged and dangerous that it may be criminal. Cue porcine Sandy Hook "truther" lunatic and frothing gas bag Alex "Civil War!" Jones.

After predicting a second civil war to begin this past July 4 and getting roundly mocked for it,  Jones is turning to violent, physical threats against Mueller. Here's part of the deranged rant:

"People say, 'Well, God, aren't you scared of [Mueller]?' I'm scared of not manning up. I'm constantly in fear that I'm not being a real man, and I'm not doing what it takes, and I'm not telling the truth. And so, call it whatever you want, I look at that guy, and he's a sack of crap. That's a demon I will take down, or I'll die trying. So that's it. It's going to happen, we're going to walk out in the square, politically, at high noon, and he's going to find out whether he makes a move man, make the move first, and then it's going to happen. It's not a joke. It's not a game. It's the real world. Politically. You're going to get it, or I'm going to die trying, bitch. Get ready. We're going to bang heads. We're going to bang heads." (our emphasis)

A couple of points: "I'm constantly in fear of not being a real man..." displays his fears about his own masculinity, something that he tries to compensate with his loudmouth, phony tough style (remind you of someone else?). Then, there's the suggestion that he's going to "get" Mueller ("politically", he keeps hedging), but the threat is real, and his listeners understand his real meaning with a wink and nod. Perhaps he thinks the "politically" dodge will spare him a visit from his local FBI office, but the overwhelming drift of his rant is violent action against the Special Counsel, who by the way is a decorated Marine Corps combat veteran. Jones never served his country for a hot second.

Maybe Jones' weasel wording will save him from a visit from law enforcement; we hope not. But there are unhinged people in his audience that don't do subtle, and who are armed and angry, waiting for his orders.

BONUS:  Remember, Jones isn't alone by any means in his unhinged, violent posturing. It's time for law enforcement to stop temporizing with these violent crackpots and haul them in.

Very Stable Genius: "Tariffs Are The Greatest!"

Tweeting earlier this morning that "tariffs are the greatest," unstable buffoon Donald "Rump" Trump is threatening our closest allies with punishing new tariffs on their imports, in advance of a meeting tomorrow with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. Rump's bluster, if carried through, will certainly provoke reciprocal tariffs on U.S. exports, from agricultural products to machinery and aircraft. The European Union countries together were the number one export market for U.S. goods in 2016, with nearly $270 billion in exports.

As with China's smart, targeted tariffs on pork and soybeans, any EU retaliatory tariffs are expected to target those products produced primarily in the red states that voted for Rump, so that's an upside. As we've noted in the past, as tariffs on U.S. exports get imposed, Trumpists are feeling it in the wallet and are starting to feel like suckers (more here) conned by their cult leader, the great businessman with several bankruptcies under his long belt.

We'll see how tomorrow's meeting goes with Mr. Juncker, but we're predicting puffed-up statements from the White (Supremacist) House about how "great" the meeting went and how we're "winning." Only to be followed in a day or two by more unhinged tweets from the Very Stable Genius about the need for more tariffs.

BONUS:  Whirlpool, whose CEO loved Rump's tariffs last January, is now seeing his company's stock value whirlpooling down the drain thanks to Rump's steel and aluminum tariffs. Sad!

Lies, Spies And Tapes (And ALL CAPS!)

Seth Meyers covers the most recent news concerning Putin puppet and world- class nitwit Donald "Rump" Trump.  (It's exhausting, we know.)

Flying The Flags Of Treason

The racist treason-in-defense-of-slavery Confederate flag flies along with a flag for Russian asset and demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump, whose #treasonsummit in Helsinki should have convinced all but the most delusional of his cult that the Kremlin has something on him, and he knows what it is. Traitors stick together.

(photo: Jessica Rinaldi, Boston Globe/Getty Images. Flags flying above an RV encampment near Bristol, TN)

Twit Tweet, Thwap (UPDATED)

After defending the Helsinki #treasonsummit performance of too- big- an- idiot- to- be- a- useful- idiot Donald "Rump" Trump, ultra- right light Kentucky flake Sen. "Ayn" Rand Paul (R-Aqua Buddha) wanted to do Rump another solid by going after one of Rump's most credible antagonists.

Twit Tweet:

Is John Brennan monetizing his security clearance?  Is John Brennan making millions of dollars divulging secrets to the mainstream media with his attacks on @realDonaldTrump ?

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 23, 2018

Thwap:

When faced with a president shredding civil liberties who may force an actual constitutional crisis, Rand Paul uses his platform to attack a private citizen with no evidence. https://t.co/CsRNTBa7g1

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) July 23, 2018

Where's your neighbor when we need him.

— Eric Foster (@EricFos19716724) July 23, 2018

"Ayn" Rand is also supposedly asking Rump to revoke the security clearance of former C.I.A. Director Brennan, someone who served his country with far more distinction for far longer than the ultra- light flake from Kentucky.

Yeah, where is "Ayn" Rand's neighbor when we need him?

UPDATE:  Oh, the foul irony -- repulsive White House Spokesliar Sarah "Hucksterbee" Sanders says Rump is considering pulling the security clearances of a whole raft of anti- Rump former intelligence and law enforcement officials (but not "at this point" the clearances of President Obama and Vice President Biden).  Yeah, they're exactly the ones who need to have their clearances pulled...

Bannon's European Mischief

Although he's left the Trump White (Supremacist) House after serving as "chief strategist," sinister alt-right guru and delusional derelict Steve "Loose Cannon" Bannon hasn't been idle in fomenting discord among our democratic allies. Reports indicate that Bannon, partnering with a former aide to neo-fascist British politician Nigel Farage, has formed a nationalist/anti-immigrant group of sociopaths in Brussels called "The Movement" (we'd say bowel) that seeks to undermine and destroy the European Union, a longstanding goal of the Russian government. A glaring irony here is that the aforementioned partner with Bannon is a character by the name of Raheem Kassam, whose parents immigrated to the UK, and who is a former Muslim ("OK, I'm on the boat boys! Pull up the ladder!").

According to Kassam, who also edited the UK edition of Breitbart:

“The Movement will be our clearing house for the populist, nationalist movement in Europe. We’re focusing attention on assisting individuals or groups concerned with the matters of sovereignty, border control, jobs, amongst other things. We decided to headquarter out of Brussels because it is the heart of the European Union — the most pernicious force against nation state democracy in the West today. The organization is already a structured foundation with a significant annual budget and we have started to staff up.”

What are the odds that their "significant annual budget" includes lots of laundered rubles? Bannon recently met in London with Farage and Louis Aliot, an associate of French fascist Marine LePen who ran against Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential race last year, to plot their activities. Their first target will be next May's European Parliament elections, in which they hope to sow discord and derail the EU, again a principal goal of the Kremlin. The current Parliament has roughly 100 seats out of 751 held by anti-EU nationalist extremists.

We hope that Europeans have their own "blue wave" next May, soundly reject alt-right and xenophobic candidates, and flush The Movement.

(photo: J. Liebman, Bloomberg Businessweek)

Today's Tomorrow Cartoon

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(Tom Tomorrow, via Daily Kos)

Monday Reading

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

We're starting off with E.J. Dionne, Jr., on who Putin puppet and world- class dolt Donald "Rump" Trump was from the get- go, but who many refused to see what was right in front of them:

In 2016 and for much of 2017, those warning that Trump was exactly the dangerous scoundrel he appeared to be were accused of missing his fundamental genius and his deep connection with discounted Americans. Trump’s detractors were said to be “out of touch” and “elitist,” as if only those with exquisitely elevated tastes in society’s upper reaches could possibly worry about his indifference to truth, his contempt for women and immigrants, his disdain for a free press and his flouting of the expectations we have of those on whom we confer power. 

Was it only an elite thing to be concerned that Trump might be hiding something in those tax returns that he refuses to release? Was it out of touch to wonder why he praised Putin again and again, at one point saying that Putin was far more of “a leader” than President Barack Obama?

Michelle Goldberg writes about the implications of the National Rifle Rampage Association being used as a Russian money launderer for the Republican Party. The recent arrest of accused Russian spy Maria Butina, who was living with her patsy Republican operative Paul Erickson, must have shaken the rotted out party to it's core:

If the N.R.A. as an organization turns out to be compromised, it would shake conservative politics to its  foundation. And this is no longer a far-fetched possibility. “I serve on both the Intelligence Committee and the Finance Committee,” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, told me. “So I have a chance to really look at this through the periscope of both committees. And what I have wondered about for some time is this whole issue of whether the N.R.A. is getting subverted as a Russian asset.” 

This is not a question that Republicans are eager to answer. Before Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee abruptly closed their investigation into Russian election interference, committee Democrats wanted to interview both Butina and Erickson. Their Republican colleagues refused. “If there were efforts towards a back channel towards the N.R.A., they didn’t want to know,” Representative Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who is the  ranking member on the  committee, told me. “It was too hot to handle.”

As you might expect, the desperate cover- up continues, with help from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue:

On Monday, a few hours after news broke of Butina’s arrest, the Treasury Department announced a new rule sparing some tax-exempt groups, including  the N.R.A.,  from having to report their large donors to the I.R.S. Wyden called the move “truly grotesque,” saying it would “make it easier for Russian dark money” to flow into American politics. You might ask who benefits. The answer is: not just Trump.  

These are criminals and traitors (but you already knew that).

As if more evidence were needed for the imperative of removing Republicans from power, Emily Stewart writes about yet another craven act by Congressional Republicans in service to Rump's "odd" affinity for doing the bidding of a foreign autocrat:

Republicans are siding with President Donald Trump in easing penalties on Chinese telecom company ZTE. Negotiators in the Senate and the House of Representatives removed language from a must-pass defense bill that would have banned United States companies from selling parts or providing services to ZTE, which the Commerce Department says made illegal sales to Iran and North Korea in defiance of US sanctions. 

Here's a pot, meet kettle tweet from the Very Stable Genius himself, up way past his bedtime last night:

To Iranian President Rouhani: NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 23, 2018

Well, Rump knows all about DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE AND DEATH.  "FIRE AND FURY!"

Finally, you're encouraged to go over to Infidel 753's link round- up for a much broader offering of items of interest.  If you haven't partaken, you should.

Today's Cartoon Threefer

(click on images to enlarge)


(Tim Eagan, via gocomics.com)


(Jeff Darcy, Cleveland Plain Dealer)


(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)

Across The Universe, Cont. -- Major Merger

(click on image to enlarge)



From NASA/ESA, July 16, 2018:  At first glance, it may seem as though this image was taken through a faulty lens, but the mind-bending distortions visible in this Hubble Wide Field Camera 3 impressive image are actually caused by a cosmic phenomenon.

The bright object at the centre of the frame is the galaxy cluster SDSS J1336-0331. The enormous gravitational influence of the cluster warps the very shape and fabric of its environment (the spacetime around it) creating an effect known as strong gravitational lensing. Through this the light from background galaxies in the line of sight to the observer are bent into fantastic arcs. This effect is very useful for studying distant background galaxies.

Moreover SDSS J1336-0331 is interesting in itself: the cluster was part of a study of star formation within 42 of the Brightest Cluster Galaxies (BCGs — the brightest galaxies within their host clusters, as the name would suggest). Typically located in the centres of their clusters, BCGs are among the most massive and luminous galaxies in the Universe. They are generally huge elliptical galaxies and are likely to host active galactic nuclei (AGN) in their cores. The study found evidence to suggest that BCGs are fueled by cold gas from the galaxy. It also showed that star formation in older BCGs no longer significantly contributes to the galaxy’s growth; instead, the stellar growth occurs through mergers, the collision of two galaxies. Violent, gas-rich major mergers can trigger intense bursts of star formation in their aftermath.

Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA

Oversight Weakened For Nuke Facilities

Part of the disgraceful strategy of the Trump administration is to deregulate those entities that have proven in the past that they pose a risk to the public health -- which is why they were regulated in the first place. Some of the deregulation stems from unfit sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump's vindictive desire to tear down every accomplishment of President Obama, but much of it seems to stem from a warped right-wing laissez-faire ideology and from corporate greed. The most egregious examples can be found in the Rump gang's assault on the Environmental Protection Agency, with virtually each week bringing new attacks on clean air and clean water regulations. It doesn't stop there: reactionary policies affecting endangered species, climate monitoring, opening up national monuments to mining and timber interests, and more have altered or eliminated important regulations that the general public benefits from.

While it's not on many radar screens, the Rump gang has just issued orders to curb the independence of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, which oversees safety issues for the nation's nuclear defense facilities. According to ProPublica and its partner The Santa Fe New Mexican, the Energy Department has quietly issued orders:

"....preventing the board from accessing sensitive information, imposing additional legal hurdles on board staff, and mandating that Energy Department officials speak “with one voice” when communicating with the board."

DOE's defense nuclear sites have a very checkered history at best regarding nuclear safety. For decades, the Rocky Flats site in Colorado was infamous for significant radiological contamination, as is the Hanford Nuclear facility in eastern Washington which is under environmental remediation. Most recently, New Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory was cited by the Board for "major deficiencies" in a building housing plutonium production facilities, given the seismic risks identified for the area.

We don't expect this thoroughly corrupt and cynical administration to do anything but continue to expose us to danger out of greed, ideology, vindictiveness or incompetence. That's another reason why the November elections -- and every election thereafter -- is vital to reining in those forces.

Tweet Of The Week -- "Too Big An Idiot"

From the Council on Foreign Relations' Prof. Stephen Sestanovich:

It's dawning on them that an idiot who's too big an idiot can't be a useful idiot. (They still don't get that they've made the problem worse, but that may come...) https://t.co/zdLAB4hyNq

— Stephen Sestanovich (@SSestanovich) July 19, 2018

F.B.I.: Trump Advisor Carter Page Was Conspiring With Russian Government

Heavily redacted Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court materials used to justify wiretapping former Trump campaign foreign policy advisor Carter Page were released yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information request by news organizations.  The takeaway is that U.S. intelligence agencies had ample reason, well beyond the Steele dossier and dating back to 2013, to consider Page to be "collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government."  From The New York Times:

On Saturday evening, those materials — an October 2016 application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to wiretap Mr. Page, along with several renewal applications — were released to The New York Times and other news organizations that had filed Freedom of Information Act lawsuits to obtain them. Mr. Trump had declassified their existence earlier this year. 

“This application targets Carter Page,” the document said. “The F.B.I. believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government.” A line was then redacted, and then it picked up with “undermine and influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election in violation of U.S. criminal law. Mr. Page is a former foreign policy adviser to a candidate for U.S. president.” [snip] 

Visible portions showed that the F.B.I. in stark terms had told the intelligence court that Mr. Page “has established relationships with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligence officers”; that the bureau believed “the Russian government’s efforts are being coordinated with Page and perhaps other individuals associated with” Mr. Trump’s campaign; and that Mr. Page “has been collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government.”

Efforts by Putin puppet and useless idiot Donald "Rump" Trump and Republican co- conspirators like smarmy Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Kremlin) to smear the F.B.I. and other agencies as having made false, politically motivated claims in the Page FISA application are seriously undercut by the plain language of the application itself -- though they will continue in their desperate lies and distractions.  An un- redacted version would undoubtedly shed more light and make the collaborators' spin even less credible, but its would also tip off the Russians and dishonorable Russo- weasels like Nunes to what the intelligence community really has on their (and Moscow's) man in the White (Supremacist) House and others in his rotted- out circle.  They'll leave that for the indictments -- which can't come soon enough.