He said other senators ask him why he has all these town halls. "People just get mad at you," they tell him. Granted, this is liberal Portland, but people love him and many expressed gratitude to him for doing town halls. He always says democracy happens from the bottom up, not the top down, and he loves to come home, do town halls, and see people involved.

He vowed when he was elected to hold a town hall in every county in Oregon each year, and has kept that promise. This years he's held about double that because, as he said, "desperate times..."

Anyone who wants to ask a question gets a ticket and they pull numbers out of a container. He spends the whole time answering questions.

There was a 16 year old HS student who asked what he is doing to encourage youth involvement. He said he holds all his town halls in high schools and involves the students. He asked the kid some questions about thing that were important to youth, and then asked if the kid would like an internship at his local office. The kid was super excited. Wyden asked him to explain net neutrality, and he did a great job. Wyden then asked if he could start his internship right away! His number to ask a question got drawn, just like everyone else's, and then this really cool thing happened. The whole audience clapped for him.

I talked to the kid afterward; he had connected with staff and had a meeting set up. He was so excited and happy. He was on his way to call his parents and tell them what had just happened. Turns out he'd applied earlier for an internship with Wyden, but didn't get it, so this was an amazing thing to happen.

Wyden has never stopped working to get Trump's tax returns released and is still hammering on it every chance he gets. He's on the finance committee and said it is getting closer to happening. He is also very conscious of the challenges facing our elections and doing a lot of work on that.

Every time I go to one of these, I come away so grateful for having two really good senators and feel better because of what they are doing. Wyden and Merkley are a great team.

Kids sometimes funny, sometimes brilliant, answers to test questions:





































http://www.giveitlove.com/hilarious-kid-answers-to-test-questions/

They are talking about all the questions about what is it that P has on T- kompromat - that people have been wondering about for so long - how it has been hiding in plain sight all along: Putin helped him win. This seems to be a startling new insight for the pundits who were talking about it!!

Finally someone is saying it out loud....they didn't go so far as to say they stole it, but at least that P helped him win.

Wonder if they will ever say out loud that he was aided and abetted by a lot of GOP.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/dan-coats-and-rod-rosenstein-defy-trump

Long snip

A lifelong Republican who is close to Vice-President Mike Pence, Coats seems to embody the struggle of serving Trump. On Monday, hours after Trump challenged the intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, Coats issued a public statement defending the findings. Asked by Mitchell why he issued the statement, Coats said, “I was just doing my job.” He later warned that the meddling was continuing in 2018. “It’s undeniable that the Russians are taking the lead on this,” he said. “Basically, they are the ones that are trying to undermine our basic values and divide us with our allies. They are the ones trying to wreak havoc over our election process.” Coats called Russia “by far” the U.S.’s most aggressive cyberattacker.

snip

Coats then openly questioned two central assumptions underlying Trump’s summitry with Putin and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un. Coats said that he doubted that Putin has enough influence to pressure Iran to withdraw its forces from Syria—a goal of Trump’s summit with Putin. And Coats said that he was skeptical that North Korea would abide by an agreement to give up its nuclear arsenal. “I’m a Reagan guy,” he said. “Trust and verify.”

Later that day, Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General and the Justice Department’s chief protector of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, delivered a speech that differed dramatically from Coats’s comments in terms of style but was similarly pointed. Dressed in a navy-blue suit and a pink-striped tie, Rosenstein announced that the Justice Department would now alert the American public if a foreign government was attempting to undermine an election.

Unequivocal in his language and tone, Rosenstein gave a full-throated endorsement of Coats and his warnings about Russia. “As Director Coats made clear, these actions are persistent, they are pervasive, and they are meant to undermine America’s democracy on a daily basis, regardless of whether it is election time or not," Rosenstein said. He added, “The American people have a right to know if foreign governments are targeting them with propaganda.”

Coats and Rosenstein, who has defied pressure from Trump to fire Mueller, both spoke truth. Both received standing ovations. Both are likely to lose their jobs if they keep it up.

***

Those two are true patriots. I am grateful to them and for them.

"You know, I'm a low key, understated guy, but that should not be mistaken for what my spine is made of."

Do we ever need people with spines right now. This was very reassuring.

He was fantastic.

This was just on from an earlier interview with Lester Holt- transcript should be up soon - it's been referred to several times on All In, and they said they will be talking about it more. Really made me feel more hopeful.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028865654
From March 2017

O'Donnell tonight: Ryan at center of Nunes scandal. R in as deep as N; this why R won't remove Nunes

O'Donnell again tonight showed clip of Ryan saying he "had to brief the speaker first" before going to WH. Asks, "Why are no reporters picking up on Ryan involvement in Nunes scandal? I’ve showed this clip three times of Nunes saying he had to brief the speaker before he did anything else, and yet no one is picking up on it."

"Ryan is at the center of the scandal. The press apparently didn’t hear it when he said it in the WH driveway when he said he first went to Ryan before going to the WH. Everything he did after that would have been at the direction of Ryan. "

"The Nunes scandal is Paul Ryan’s scandal. That is why Ryan won’t remove him. Ryan is in it as deep as Nunes is. If Nunes can lose the chairmanship over it, Ryan can lose the speakership over it. "

I have wondered myself why more aren't picking up on this, even on DU. See this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028850749
for O'Donnell show video and transcript from Thursday where he raises this question of why no one seems to be picking up on Ryan's involvement and says Nunes is covering up for Ryan; that Nunes fell on his sword for Ryan.

This is very important; it means Ryan is colluding as well as Nunes! Not only colluding, but directing Nunes. Much more in the thread from the Thursday show linked to above, but O'Donnell feels it so important that he brought it up for the third time tonight.

He also had former CIA director on telling why it was critical to Nunes and Ryan to stop Sally Yates testimony.

*******
And of course we know many more GOP are complicit and protecting themselves.

I remember reading something awhile back about GOP house intel members being investigated but don't know if that was ever verified.

That's my prediction. Speculation based on past history.
Anyone else have a prediction?

.

Listening to all the news today, still most keep attributing GOP obstruction to catering to their base, and many still are asking why is GOP/ WH /congress not doing anything about protecting our elections. So few STILL get it that they are trying to cover their own collusion and criminal involvement, and that it's to their advantage to keep elections rigged.

Malcolm Nance gets it and a few others...but I heard so many asking "why" today, once again, when it is and has been so obvious to many of us. I hope Rachel has someone like Nance on who will call it like it is.

Edited later to add: Lawrence just said, "We still don't know why Trump is meeting with Putin." Arggh. We can make some really good guesses. Planning...more of the same. And what was with all those GOP senators going to Russia? Does whatever Trump is up to with Putin have their blessings? And Ryan's and McConnell's? Not a peep out of any of them today.

A cat lit by sunlight diffracted through an aquarium in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. | (REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin)

One of my mental health strategies, particularly in trying times, is to look for uplifting and inspiring things and share them. These photos struck me as particularly relevant in today’s climate. These animals live beyond any species boundaries or traditional ideas about who should get along with whom, and just love each other as fellow beings. Inspiring. And cuteness overload, as well!

https://animalencyclopedia.info/16-unusual-animal-friendships-you-wont-believe/

16 Unusual Animal Friendships