Polluters To Be Rewarded With Oil Pipeline

Reversing President Obama's decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline, the State Department is reported to be poised to sign the cross-border permit with Canada to allow the pipeline as soon as next Monday, according to reports. The 1.200 mile pipeline would carry oil sands crude from Canada across the center of the U.S. to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast, and on to the world oil market. The oil pipeline company TransCanada has sought construction of the project for a decade. It would move the crude oil across some of the most environmentally vulnerable parts of the U.S., including across major rivers and tributaries, and will likely boost oil sands development in Alberta, Canada with dire consequences to the environment in the form of increased carbon emissions.

Former Exxon CEO and recipient of Russia's Order of Friendship Secretary of State Rex "Rexxon" Tillerson recused himself from the decision to approve the pipeline, an empty gesture since sociopath and environmental predator Donald "Rump" Trump would have found someone in the State Department to approve the construction of the pipeline. Interestingly, Rump has recently promised to his gullible cult members that he would insist on U.S.-supplied steel pipes for the pipeline, a promise which he's already broken (not that his cult will notice or care about). Oil industry hacks tried to sell the pipeline on the basis of job creation, touting many thousands of jobs, a claim that fact-averse Rump was happy to repeat. In fact, the number of intermittent, temporary jobs created would be between 1,950 and 3,900, with only 35 full-time permanent jobs to manage the pipeline once built.

This is a big windfall for the big carbon polluters. Our environment will suffer in many ways now and in the future from this decision.

"A Closer Look" At The Last 48 Hours

Seth Meyers talks Russia- Trump scandal, Devin Nunes, Paul Manafort and Neil Gorsuch in a sharp 10 minutes or so:

Stop TrumpCare! (UPDATED)

Today, Republicans are planing to bring the so- called "American Health Care Act" (TrumpCare) to the floor of the House for a vote. While only a day ago it appeared opposition from the farthest right Republicans (the Freedumb "Freedom" Caucus) plus a few endangered Republicans in swing districts might have caused the bill to fail, things may have changed over night. To placate the hard right members, the bill has been made even more cruel and farcical than it was originally.

Jon Chait summarizes the benefits in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) that the hard right Republicans may have succeeded in stripping from "essential benefits" health insurance must provide:

• Outpatient care without a hospital admission, known as ambulatory patient services
• Emergency services
• Hospitalization
• Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care
• Mental health and substance use disorder services, including counseling and psychotherapy
• Prescription drugs
• Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices, which help people with injuries and disabilities to recover
• Laboratory services
• Preventive care, wellness services, and chronic disease management
• Pediatric services, including oral and vision care for children

Needless to say, this would open up a new market for cut- rate, no- coverage insurance, creating a Social Darwinist redistribution of health care costs. As Chait goes on to describe:

... Eliminating essential health benefits does not lower the cost of health coverage, it redistributes it. If men, or women past childbearing age, no longer share the cost of childbirth in their insurance premiums, then the cost of insurance for somebody who might have a baby would become wildly expensive. Healthy people can save on costs by buying plans that don’t cover all sorts of chronic diseases, but then people who do have those conditions would be stuck paying for their own treatment. 

A system without essential benefits would make the law’s protections for people with preexisting conditions meaningless. Insurers couldn’t turn you away if you had a pricy condition, but the only people who wanted to buy plans covering them would be sick and expensive, making covering their conditions unaffordable — just like before Obamacare existed. Eliminating these reforms would enable young, healthy people to enjoy lower premiums, as long as they remained young and healthy. It would essentially jack up the massive redistribution from the old and sick to the young and healthy already in Trumpcare to new heights.

There's still time to make a call today to your Representative (especially if he/she is a Republican). Calls matter a lot.  They affect votes. The House of Representatives switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Ask for your Representative's number and when you get through, tell them to vote NO.

UPDATE:  Once again, public opinion is on our side --

American voters disapprove 56 - 17 percent, with 26 percent undecided, of the Republican health care plan to replace Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Support among Republicans is a lackluster 41 - 24 percent.  

If their U.S. Senator or member of Congress votes to replace Obamacare with the Republican health care plan, 46 percent of voters say they will be less likely to vote for that person, while 19 percent say they will be more likely and 29 percent say this vote won't matter, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds.  

Disapproval of the Republican plan is 56 - 22 percent among men, 56 - 13 percent among women, 54 - 20 percent among white voters, 64 - 10 percent among non-white voters, 80 - 3 percent among Democrats, 58 - 14 percent among independent voters and by margins of 2-1 or more in every age group. (our emphasis)

Pretty definitive.

Villain Rep. Devin Nunes Tips Off Trump To Investigation Intercepts

So, this happened in the midst of everything else this afternoon (our emphasis):

Investigators don’t normally brief the people they’re investigating. But on Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the Republican who’s leading a congressional investigation into whether President Donald Trump’s team colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election, went to the White House to talk to the president. 

U.S. intelligence agencies had intercepted Trump associates’ communications ― and perhaps those of Trump himself ― in the final three months of the Obama administration, Nunes said he told Trump. 

Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a close Trump ally, said the intercepted communications didn’t mention Russia and were therefore unrelated to his investigation. But the subject matter ― the intelligence community’s investigation of Trump and his associates’ connections to foreign powers ― overlapped. And Nunes’ objective appeared political: Deflect attention from Trump and his associates’ ties to Russia, and back up Trump’s claim that he is a victim of “deep state” loyal to former President Barack Obama. 

Nunes’ gambit failed. In attempting to put out the Trump-Russia fire, he made much of it worse: In two press conferences on Wednesday, he confirmed that Trump’s surrogates ― and maybe the president himself ― were subjects of legal surveillance, implied that they may have had suspicious contact with agents from a country other than Russia, and potentially disclosed classified information. 

And by choosing to brief the president, who’s so closely tied to the investigation, before sharing his new information with his Democratic counterpart, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Nunes also raised doubts about his own ability to lead his committee’s probe.
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said that Nunes “will need to decide if he is the chairman of an independent investigation or if he’s a surrogate for the White House.”

“If a Democrat had done this, Republicans would have been asking for him to be investigated both for disclosing classified information and for obstructing justice,” said Matthew Miller, a Department of Justice spokesman during the Obama administration. “It is so far beyond the pale for the person who is conducting an investigation to both brief the subject of that investigation and potentially jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation being conducted by the FBI.” 

That would be one of our bumbling villains, Rep. Devin Nunes, formerly a dairy farmer and more recently a member of neo- fascist un-indicted co-conspirator (maybe!) Donald "Rump" Trump's transition team, making a strong case today for (at the very least) his removal from the chair of the House Intelligence Committee and the appointment of a Special Counsel to continue the investigation of the Russia- Trump connection. Whatever doubt of this remained after Nunes and his fellow enabling Republicans on the committee lobbed defensive or distracting questions at FBI Director James Comey at Monday's hearing should now be now entirely dispelled. He is Rump's man on the committee (among many others) and cannot be trusted in any way, shape or form.

Some selected reactions:

For those still not getting it: Nunes and now White House are manipulating language to make it seem like Trump wiretapping true. It isn't.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) March 22, 2017

Nunes, who wants leakers hunted down and thrown in prison, talked about a lot of classified information today https://t.co/Ih6OYAt3YT

— Matthew Rosenberg (@AllMattNYT) March 22, 2017

NUNES: Hey, don't look at Paul Manafort working to undermine democracy on behalf of Putin! Look over here! Yoo-hoo!

— Jake Vig (@Jake_Vig) March 22, 2017

7. It shows how much pressure Team Trump is feeling, including #DevinNunes himself, who was on the Trump transition team. SCREWS TIGHTEN.

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) March 22, 2017

Hot Take: Devin Nunes may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) March 22, 2017

Perhaps feeling liberated by Nunes' actions, Intelligence Committee Ranking Minority Member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) upped the ante on the villain:

Schiff on collusion btw Trump associates and Russians: "I can't go into the particulars, but there is more than circumstantial evidence now" pic.twitter.com/JvPv74ROiM

— David Mack (@davidmackau) March 22, 2017

Lock him up! Lock him up!

BONUS:  Steve Benen has a good read about Nunes' bizarre actions.

You'll Always Hear Chuck Berry: Mid-Week Song

When the iconic father of rock and roll Chuck Berry died on March 18 at the age of 90, someone commented that that "was the day the music died." Not true. His music is woven in the DNA of every rock song that came after him, and will outlive everyone reading this post. Whether it's Bruce Springsteen, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys, and on and on ad infinitum, Berry created a beat, a musical lexicon, and a universal sound not unlike ones created by the fathers of jazz, of country music and of other musical genres. If you want a simple example, listen to the Beach Boys hit "Surfin' U.S.A." and notice how they literally and unabashedly took the melody directly from our song choice today, "Sweet Little Sixteen." His songs were covered by every living rock legend, and a few mainstream artists as well. Of course he'll be sorely missed, but his legacy will survive the generations, as well it should.

As the late Dick Clark says in this 1958 performance, "let's turn him loose."

Hair Crimping Diversion: Cartoon of the Day

(click on image to enlarge)

(P. Byrnes, The New Yorker)

Count on this demagogic unPresident to use today's despicable attack in London as a made-to-order diversion.

"Folksy Sycophant" Neil Gorsuch (UPDATED)

Credit where due:  Dana Milbank, among others, noted the demeanor of neo- fascist judge- basher Donald "Rump" Trump's Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch during yesterday's hearing.  It reminded him of someone:

The nomination of Neil Gorsuch presents the Senate with a constitutional dilemma: Is this nation prepared to have Eddie Haskell serving a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court? 

The most noteworthy thing to emerge from Gorsuch’s testimony Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee wasn’t his judicial philosophy (conservative), his credentials (considerable) nor even the likelihood of confirmation (virtually certain). What stood out was his aw-shucks, good-golly manner: Gorsuch played a folksy sycophant straight out of the 1950s. 

No fewer than eight times he punctuated his testimony with “Leave It to Beaver” exclamations of “goodness” — “goodness, no!” “oh, my goodness!” — and, though only 49 years old, spoke in archaic phrases: “since I was a tot,” “a fair and square deal,” “doesn’t give a whit.”  (our emphasis)

"Eddie Haskell," for anyone not familiar, was a teenage character in the '50s-'60s television series "Leave It To Beaver," who's seen as the "archetype for insincere sycophants."

If it's possible to be a sycophant and condescending at the same time, that was Gorsuch yesterday. But more important than his oleaginous persona is his obnoxious, far- right judicial philosophy, said to mirror that of the late, unlamented Antonin Scalia. He certainly has the patter of the movement conservative down (our emphasis):

In a 2005 article published by National Review, Gorsuch argued that "American liberals have become addicted to the courtroom, relying on judges and lawyers rather than elected leaders and the ballot box, as the primary means of effecting their social agenda" and that they are "failing to reach out and persuade the public". Gorsuch wrote that, in doing so, American liberals are circumventing the democratic process on issues like gay marriage, school vouchers, and assisted suicide, and this has led to a compromised judiciary, which is no longer independent. Gorsuch wrote that American liberals' "overweening addiction" to using the courts for social debate is "bad for the nation and bad for the judiciary".

This is the insincere sycophant who, in the hearing yesterday, was bemoaning a politicized judiciary - selectively ignoring why he was sitting in the hearing room yesterday =cough= Merrick Garland =cough=, and eliding his long history of right- wing conservative writing and activism. Apparently, a politicized judiciary is golly- gee super when it's a right- wing politicized judiciary, but not when it's a liberal one.

Make no mistake, if this Eddie Haskell is confirmed he'll be just as viciously reactionary as was Scalia. And he's just 49 years old.

UPDATE:  The Supreme Court just unanimously rejected the premise of an opinion Gorsuch wrote on a case involving the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, in which he took a cramped, narrow view of the responsibility of school districts toward disabled students (surprise surprise).

It's Not "Take Your Daughter To Work Day And Give Her A Job"

News that first daughter / erstwhile first lady Ivanka "Complicit" Trump is getting her own office in the White (Supremacist) House in order to "advise" daddy and perhaps shill for her business marks a new low in nepotism. Not only has she been sitting in on several meetings with international leaders (e.g., Shinzo Abe, Justin Trudeau and Angela Merkel), she's getting top secret security clearance. There's something wrong with that picture. As we noted the other day, this is beginning to look like a restoration of the Romanov dynasty, complete with Russian overtones. Perhaps neo-fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump's goal is to set his favorite daughter up as a future political candidate to carry on his malignant movement, or simply to keep a fresh face on the toxic "brand". We found some commentary on this latest outrage:

They should give Ivanka some made up title for appearances. How about Secretary of Nepotism? Special Advisor on Unethics?

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 22, 2017

Women shouldn't take job advice from a woman whose career depends on daddy. Looking at you, Ivanka. https://t.co/FRd8ZVU2r7

— Amanda Carpenter (@amandacarpenter) March 21, 2017

There is no evidence that she is a moderating influence. Her father launched a campaign predicated on bigotry and she hopped on board. https://t.co/E25KsFgNV0

— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) March 21, 2017

This arrangement for a president's relative is totally normal in other places where I've worked, such as Beijing and Cairo. https://t.co/hPU6Gizbrs

— Evan Osnos (@eosnos) March 21, 2017

Tillerson To Visit Mother Russia

The Russian Federation has been described as a gas station masquerading as a nation. Oil and gas reserves give the Kremlin most of its clout in the world, despite sagging oil prices on the world market. Before he was Secretary of State, plutocrat and Russophile Rex "Rexxon" Tillerson was the head of Exxon Mobil, and he was up to his double chin in negotiations with Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft for a potential $500 billion deal to drill in the Russian Arctic's Kara Sea. Then, in 2014, Russia invaded Ukraine's Crimea province, and the U.S. organized economic sanctions against the Russian Federation, which blocked Exxon from further exploration in the Kara Sea. Exxon is estimated to have lost $1 billion as a result of the sanctions.

Fast forward to 2017. Tillerson is now Secretary of State, presiding over a key Department that's facing deep cuts in its budget, and having few senior positions filled to allow it to operate effectively. The sanctions against Russia remain imposed, and the campaign of Putin puppet Donald "Rump" Trump is under investigation by the FBI for collusion with Russia. Last Monday's hearings with FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers brought a feeling of urgency for Rump's agenda, to move it forward before the investigations into his dealings with Russia threaten to spin out of control. Part of that agenda appears to be reassuring the Kremlin that Rump will remain a friend to their petrostate, despite the investigations and growing suspicion, and that he will work on lifting those sanctions. Tillerson is the man to deliver that message, as he undoubtedly will when he visits Moscow next month, after blowing off a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels to discuss alliance business. Although his job title reads "Secretary of State," you can be assured after 41 years at Exxon, he sees the world (and Russia) through oil goggles.

Rump's personal entanglement with Russian oligarchs and bankers remains shrouded, at least as long as his tax returns remain undisclosed. In 2008, his son bragged that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.” Are the entanglements significant loans from Russian oligarchs to prop up his business? Are they his investments in oil companies that expect to do major business with Rosneft after a lifting of the sanctions? A combination of that, and more? The FBI investigation may turn over some unanticipated rocks hiding some fatal facts for Rump, so time is of the essence for him, Tillerson and their Russian co-conspirators to get Russian deals done while they still can.

Tweet Of The Day - The Three Pronged Obamacare Repeal

Neo- fascist sociopath Donald "Rump" Trump and Ayn Rand acolyte/ weasel Rep. Paul "Lyin'" Ryan (R- Galt's Gulch) are furiously whipping votes to pass their TrumpCare/ RepubliCare bill in the House. There's a core of Republicans who feel that 24 million Americans losing their health insurance and gutting Medicaid in the process isn't enough pain; then again there are people like this meathead who'll vote for the bill since Rump blew him a kiss.

Punching down at the afflicted is just the appetizer. Always keep in mind what this is all about.

1st prong: Take health insurance from the middle class, poor, sick and elderly.

2nd: Give huge tax cuts to the rich.

3rd: Freedom, baby. pic.twitter.com/BPDM2CWgho

— David Leonhardt (@DLeonhardt) March 21, 2017

Quote Of The Day - What's That Smell?

“There’s a smell of treason in the air. Imagine if J. Edgar Hoover or any other FBI director would have testified against a sitting president? It would have been a mind-boggling event.” -- Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley in the Washington Post, March 20, after the House Intelligence Committee hearing on Russia's interference on their asset Donald "Rump" Trump's behalf in the 2016 election.

Today's Cartoons

(click on images to enlarge)


(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


(Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune)


(Steve Benson, Arizona Republic)


(Matt Davies, Newsday)

There Go The Judge

After claiming on Fux that "intelligence sources" told him that the British intelligence agency GCHQ tapped neo-fascist buffoon Donald "Rump" Trump's phone in Trump Tower, Fux Channel "legal" expert and human/woodchuck hybrid "Judge" Andrew Napolitano's inflammatory charge was picked up by White (Supremacist) House paid liar Sean "Spicy" Spicer and read to reporters in a press briefing last week. The British government was not pleased, and GCHQ issued a rare public statement, slamming Napolitano's spurious statement as "nonsense" and received assurances from the Rump administration that the charge wouldn't be repeated.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Napolitano has been pushed off the air at Fux indefinitely after creating an international incident with his reckless behavior. He hasn't appeared on air since last Thursday, prompting speculation that the injudicious judge may be on long-term suspension (or dismissal). Napolitano apparently got his "information" from a discredited ex-CIA agent who made the false allegation on -- wait for it -- Russia's state-owned network RT. Dots, so many to connect.

Trump's Net Worth Declines. SAD!

Forbes is reporting that fraudster con artist and demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump's net worth has fallen from $4.5 billion to $3.5 billion in the past year, causing him to drop 208 spots on the list of the world's billionaires, now ranking an unimpressive 544. According to the report, Rump's losses tie directly to the mid-Manhattan real estate market slump, where much of Rump's assets are located. Rump has long falsely claimed that his net worth is around $10 billion, a claim that Forbes has repeatedly debunked.

While we're on the subject of Rump's wealth, it's a good time to remind you to avoid supporting Rump's numerous scams and holdings, and businesses that carry his "products."  Go to grabyourwallet.org for a list of companies that sell Rump's dreck or are otherwise supportive of him through campaign contributions, etc.

Happy Tweet And Story Of The Day

In the midst of the imploding Trump-Russia scandal, this tweet and story warmed our hearts:

I finally got to meet four-year-old Mushkaad, who @amyklobuchar & I helped reunite w/ her family in MN after @POTUS exec order kept
her out. pic.twitter.com/yGZhZQ2yoH

— Sen. Al Franken (@SenFranken) March 17, 2017

From CNN:

US Sen. Al Franken has met with a young Somali girl whose reunion with her mother was delayed by President Donald Trump's travel ban on immigrants from seven countries. 

Mushkaad Abdi, 4, had been separated from her mother and older sisters since she was just a few months old. 

She finally got a visa to come to the United States, but President Trump signed the executive order barring citizens of seven countries, including Somalia, from entering the country, before she could rejoin her family in Minnesota. 

Mushkaad was allowed to come to the United States and rejoin her family on February 2, after a couple of anxious days. 

Franken, among those who championed the reunion, met Mushkaad for the first time on Thursday and tweeted a picture of the little girl laughing while shaking his hand.

 That's the difference between Democrats and Republicans, right there.