36 thoughts on “News/Politics 1-19-21

  1. Revenge of the Neocons

    Revenge of the Neocons

    “The conflict between neoconservatives and the Trump base sets up a major battle for which faction will control the Republican Party in the post-Trump era.”

    ——–

    “But being a neocon, or the progeny of a neocon, means never having to say you’re sorry.

    Quite the opposite, in fact. The younger Cheney possesses all the hubris, myopia, and pseudo-intellectualism her father displayed during his 50-year presence in Washington. In the waning days of the Trump Administration, however, the elder Cheney finally found a conflict unsuitable for the deployment of U.S. troops: Responding to rumors the president might use the military to stay in office, Cheney rallied his former counterparts to object to the alleged scheme.

    “Our elections have occurred,” the self-appointed junta emeritus commanded from his safe bunker at the Washington Post. “Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted. The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.”

    The op-ed was the latest in a thick catalog of missives authored by Beltway aristocracy, especially crusty neocons, aimed at the man who long ago called their bluff.

    Trump earned the lifetime enmity of that crowd when, on a debate stage in 2016, he directly confronted Jeb Bush, his Republican primary opponent at the time, for his brother’s ill-conceived war. Bush flailed in his response; a week later, despite a $100 million war chest and the backing of the GOP establishment, Bush dropped out of the race.

    Trump also is in the crosshairs of trigger-happy neocons for the mortal Langley/Foggy Bottom sin of not only failing to launch an unnecessary war but also for trying to end the ones we already have on the books. Rep. Cheney has spent most of her four years on Capitol Hill attempting to thwart the president’s desire to bring troops home from the Middle East and has found willing partners on the other side of the aisle to help her.

    Without irony, Cheney issued a statement last year defending her amendment to halt Trump’s planned exit from Afghanistan because terrorist groups, including the Taliban and al-Qaeda, still had a foothold in the country—an unintentional confession of her father’s failed military pursuits.

    Much of her rhetoric is indistinguishable from that of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Congress’ biggest pimp for overblown Russia hysteria. When Trump announced plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Germany, Cheney claimed the move was “in Russia’s best interest, not America’s.” She also flipped out over the now-debunked Russian “bounty” story, demanding to know how Trump would “hold Putin accountable.”

    Cheney’s fellow neocons have gleefully joined the post-January 6 political siege of Donald Trump.

    Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), at risk of losing his seat after Illinois Democrats eliminate one congressional seat next year, has been on a nonstop publicity tour blasting the president for violating his oath of office. “He used his position in the Executive to attack the Legislative,” Kinzinger wrote. (Neocons, it must be noted, are major drama queens.) Kinzinger was one of 10 House Republicans to vote in favor of impeachment.

    Jeb Bush took some jabs at the president, accusing Trump of “inciting insurrection” and urging him to “go home to Florida and let our elected officials do their jobs and rebuild confidence in our democracy.” Nikki Haley, a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate and Trump’s former U.N. ambassador, insisted her former boss’ behavior since November “will be judged harshly by history.”

    This event, just like so many events over the past five years—the Russian collusion hoax, the first impeachment, and Charlottesville, to name just a few—has highlighted the deep gulf between establishment neoconservatives and the MAGA-loyal Right that has widened once again. Neoconservatives disguise their grudge against Trump as some sort of faux moral superiority, we-are-better-than-this-it-isn’t-who-we-are preening while the overwhelming majority of the Republican base stands agape at their tediousness.

    For now, the Cheney family is enjoying a brief reputational rehab in the national media and among Democrats. The same news organizations and lawmakers who once demanded war tribunals for top Bush officials suddenly view Liz Cheney as the voice of reason. CNN swooned this week that Cheney is the “conscience of Republicans;” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) praised Cheney more than a dozen times during Wednesday’s impeachment debate.

    But many of her Republican colleagues are not so smitten. Several GOP congressmen, including Rep. James Jordan (R-Ohio), want Cheney stripped of her conference chairmanship.

    The conflict sets up a major battle for which faction will control the Republican Party in the post-Trump era. But considering the track record of neoconservatives, the ultimate winner is pretty easy to predict.”

    ————

    There will be no party left.

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  2. All kinds of interesting stuff is being declassified by Trump.

    Now we know why Comey hated him so much, because Trump saw him for the fraud he was.

    https://www.yahoo.com/gma/scathing-draft-letter-never-made-144932572.html

    “In scathing draft of letter never made public, Trump chided James Comey for ‘erratic,’ ‘self-indulgent’ conduct”

    “In the days before President Donald Trump fired James Comey as FBI director — one of the most defining moments of his presidency — Trump penned a scathing letter to Comey that has never been publicly released.

    In fact, the four-page letter was never even sent to Comey because White House lawyers quickly determined it should never see the “light of day,” Special Counsel Robert Mueller later recounted.

    Mueller reviewed the May 2017 letter as part of his wide-ranging investigation and mentioned parts of it in his final report, but the letter has remained largely hidden from the public nearly four years later.

    Now, a source connected to Mueller’s probe has relayed the contents of the letter to ABC News, which — especially in light of recent events — offer a telling look at how Trump viewed the then-leader of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.

    “Your conduct has grown unpredictable and even erratic – including rambling and self-indulgent public performances that have baffled experts, citizens and law enforcement professionals alike – making it impossible for you to effectively lead this agency,” Trump wrote to Comey.

    The letter then chastised Comey for “spen[ding] too much time cultivating a public image, and not enough time getting your own house in order.”

    Almost half of the letter focused on Comey’s handling of the investigation into then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, including Comey’s testimony to Congress days earlier defending his decision to publicly announce a year before that Clinton had been “extremely careless” with classified information but should not face charges.

    That testimony was “another media circus full of unprofessional conjecture, bizarre legal theories, and irresponsible speculation,” Trump’s letter stated.”

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  3. The walk back, because it was always a lie used to justify their crackdown on dissent.

    “DOJ Officials Walk-Back Assertion That MAGA Rioters Wanted to ‘Capture and Assassinate Lawmakers’”

    DOJ Officials Walk-Back Assertion That MAGA Rioters Wanted to ‘Capture and Assassinate Lawmakers’

    “Michael Sherwin, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters during a press conference on Friday that there is no “direct evidence of efforts to capture or assassinate lawmakers” during the riot.

    “We don’t have any direct evidence of kill capture teams,” said Sherwin.”

    “During a hearing in Arizona Friday, a federal prosecutor reportedly asked a magistrate judge to strike that line in a court filing regarding defendant Jacob Anthony Chansley, the “Q-Anon Shaman” who allegedly led Trump supporters into the Capitol while carrying a spear and wearing a horned fur headdress.

    The entire line the prosecutors want to omit from their court filing is: “Strong evidence, including Chansley’s own words and actions at the Capitol, supports that the intent of the Capitol rioters was to capture and assassinate elected officials in the United States Government.”

    Chansley will remain in jail as he awaits trial, a judge decided on Friday, after the Justice Department portrayed him as a particularly belligerent leader among the rioters. Chansley’s case eventually will move to the federal court in DC.

    The line was a chilling description yet of rioters who seized the Capitol last week, writing in a court filing that the intention was “to capture and assassinate elected officials.”

    Before the overwrought language was walked back, Senator Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) rushed out a statement condemning the MAGA rioters as domestic terrorists.

    “Every American needs to understand what the Department of Justice has just made public: Investigators have strong evidence to suggest that some of the rioters who stormed the United States Capitol planned to kidnap and possibly assassinate the Vice President,” the Nebraska Republican said in a statement promoted on Twitter by CNN’s Jim Acosta.”

    “Seasoned politicos however instinctively suspected that the language was designed to politically damage Trump supporters.

    “This is almost surely more fake FBI/DOJ info ops, feeding bullsh-t to credulous senators rather than putting evidence on the table,” tweeted national security expert David Reaboi.

    After the last four years, it was a painfully easy call.”

    ———-

    Sasse is a liar too. Again. Still.

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  4. Joe built this.

    https://legalinsurrection.com/2021/01/biden-official-tells-honduran-migrant-caravan-dont-come-now-migrants-demand-biden-honor-his-commitments/

    “Biden Official Tells Honduran Migrant Caravan Don’t Come Now, Migrants Demand Biden Honor His Commitments

    Except his commitments are for those already in America.”

    “President-elect Joe Biden promised to ease immigration rules put in place by President Donald Trump.

    A Honduran migrant caravan with thousands of people started making its way to the border, which could cause Biden to break a promise at the start of his administration.

    Biden’s Plan
    People within Biden’s team has said the new president wants to offer “a pathway to citizenship for an estimated 11 million immigrants who are in the country without legal status.”

    The plan also offers “a shorter pathway to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of people with temporary protected status and beneficiaries of” DACA.

    Team officials did not comment, but The Los Angeles Times reported:

    But on Saturday, Biden’s incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, sent a memo to the administration’s senior staff that said the new president’s agenda includes “the immigration bill he will send to Congress on his first day in office,” which Klain asserted would “restore humanity to our immigration system.”

    Biden’s proposal lays out what would be the most sweeping and comprehensive immigration package since President Reagan’s Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which granted legal status to 3 million people who were in the country without documentation.

    Under Biden’s plan, immigrants would become eligible for legal permanent residence after five years and for U.S. citizenship after an additional three years — a faster path to citizenship than in previous immigration bills.

    The Caravan
    People believe 9,000 Hondurans have set out towards the border. Over 2,000 migrants made their way past Guatemalan authorities on Friday night.

    Guatemala set up a roadblock to stop the Hondurans, but not out of hatred. President Alejandro Giammattei refused any caravans due to COVID-19. Many of the people did not wear masks, have documentation, or proof of a negative test.

    The Hondurans tried to use the sympathy card by “appealing to the soldiers as fellow South Americans.”

    The Guatemalan soldiers began to use force over the weekend after the 2,000 migrants got through on Friday night. They used tear gas and batons.

    One migrant said he “didn’t come with the intention of looking for problems with anybody,” nor are any of them “looking for trouble.”

    But as stated above, Guatemala has strict rules about coming into the country like other countries, including the United States.

    It turns out “that 21 of the migrants sought medical attention at health centers and tested positive for the coronavirus.”

    Guatemalan officials demanded Honduran officials “contain the mass exit of its inhabitants.””

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  5. Sure…..

    What could go wrong, especially with Dems in charge.

    ————

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  6. Biden nominates the confused transvestite freak show Health Sec from PA.

    https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2021/01/biden-nominates-pas-dr-rachel-levine-for-assistant-secretary-of-health.html

    “President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine to serve in his cabinet.

    On Monday, Biden announced he wants Levine to serve as the assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services. The president-elect cited Levine’s work on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

    If approved, Levine would be the first openly transgender senate-confirmed federal official.”

    ————

    Should be a hoot. Call it a dude and any press conference becomes a 20 minute lecture on made up genders.

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  7. Aj @ 8:26
    The purpose of an agency is to exist and extend it’s authority.
    If there isn’t a problem, they will find on.
    Best we leave it alone. There is nothing we can do to improve things now.

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  8. A follow-up interview with American hero Maria Zack. She starts in at 9:52, but they had some audio issues from about 15:45-21:25 if you’d like to skip ahead.

    At 50:30 Zack said that the key whistleblower Arturio D’Elia asserted that Pres. Trump actually won with huge numbers – it was a landslide! A week ago, 10 people were arrested at Leonardo.

    The Italian lawyer with an affidavit affirming the veracity of Arturio D’Elia’s testimony and the vote-switching from Trump to Biden:

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/LS2wchM2C3rn/

    It was clearly a stolen election, with foreign interference (an act of war!) – there should be no inauguration.

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  9. Better say it now, because tomorrow US policy goes back to kissing China’s butt, right Joe?

    ———

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  10. ———–

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  11. A response to the reprehensible, un-American Cohen.

    ——–

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Sorry, but to quote Austin Powers…..

    It’s a man, Baby!

    A seriously mentally ill one at that.

    ———-

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Isn’t it odd that there is a massive buildup of troops around an event that hardly anyone will be attending? It’s as though they know that they’re illegitimate and are expecting a major backlash.

    When you need this much protection for an inauguration, you must know that you didn’t actually win the election in the first place. It’s a fraudulent inauguration for a fraudulent president!

    Liked by 2 people

  14. They do know they have succeeded with their coup thanks to much of the propagandize media. They build walls about themselves but will tear down the wall built to keep our borders secure🥴

    Liked by 2 people

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