January 29, 2019

"Psychopaths and sociopaths view the world as an instrument to fulfill their desires."

Narcissist, Psychopath, or Sociopath: How to Spot the Differences
by psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula.

"They discard someone when they don’t have use for them."

Good presentation. Hits the nail on the head.

January 28, 2019

McConnell / Deripaska connection: new significance. How deep does this go?

This is a re-post of Va Lefty's post from two weeks ago. Even more relevant with all the recent events and Senate vote to lift sanctions on Deripaska.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211668442

"...the Chao family had by far the most significant effect on McConnell’s personal life and career. Thanks to second wife Elaine and her family, McConnell became a millionaire many times over and forged ties with contacts at the highest echelons of Chinese government and business.
Elaine Chao’s father is shipping magnate, James Chao.
As McConnell’s acquaintance with Elaine Chao developed into a serious relationship, contributions began to pour into his campaign from the Chao family and their business associates. Their wedding ensured that the spigot was never turned off."

"Fast forward to 2018: McConnell retains his position as senate tyrant after the midterms; Elaine Chao is the Secretary of Transportation in Trump’s cabinet, and the Chao family maintains extensive contacts and business investments in China including a seat on the Board of the Bank of China which is partnered with the Russian VTB Bank that is part-owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska who shares ownership in Rusal with Viktor Vekselberg whose business partner Len Blavatnik donated $3.5million to McConnell’s Senate Leadership Fund.
It’s little wonder then that he’s blocked every bipartisan bill to protect the Special Counsel’s investigation."

"...It’s hardly surprising when you realise how enmeshed he is in corruption. He must be terrified of being caught — so the last person he’d want to protect is Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
This also explains why he was so aggressively opposed to President Obama going public with warnings regarding Russia’s attack on American democracy in 2016."


"Because the tyrant in charge of the Senate isn’t just flawed, isn’t just inadequate to the enormity of the situation, he’s also corrupt. No honorable man would subject his fellow citizens to such privation and misery if he had the power to prevent it."

"Addison Mitchell McConnell is without conscience, without benevolence and without honor."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/13/1825790/-McConnell-and-the-Agents-of-Power-and-Influence?utm_campaign=recent

Excellent breakdown of McTurtle's ties to Chinese and Russian oligarchs.

This explains a whole lot of behavior.
Wonder what Adam Schiff might be doing with this?

January 27, 2019

Important message for those fortunate to have GOOD senators and reps:

I am very fortunate to have two wonderful senators: Wyden and Merkley. Senator Wyden did a bunch of town halls when he was back last week. I always go to his town halls when I can. He loves doing them also; it is very important to him to be accessible to his constituents. He does them in every county in Oregon every year, but has been doing them more often since the 2016 election, I assume because people are much more anxious.

He said they are constantly working to try to find ways around all the obstruction and essentially (my words) do damage control. It really struck me how exhausting it must be for them; they are working double time and a half just to try to keep up with the chaos and everything constantly shifting.

In 2017, shortly after this current administration started, I asked both Wyden's and Merkley's staffers if it was important to call even if we agree with what they are doing, and they said YES. They need to know they have constituent support to back them up in Congress. AND his staff has told me it really helps to know they are appreciated. So every month or so I call and ask their staff to tell them how much I appreciate them and how grateful I am to have senators who actually represent me. Staffers are ALWAYS very appreciative.

So at the town halls, they give numbers to anyone who wants to ask a question and then draw them randomly. For the first time in the two years, I've been going to these, my number got called to ask a question. I started by saying how much I appreciate all the town halls he does and I always feel better about the state of our country when I go to one, and how much I appreciate him and Senator Merkley and the quality of leadership they provide. I said sometimes I call and talk to his staff just to say that because I think he needs to hear it. Then I asked my question about McConnell and the shutdown.

This town hall wasn't as well publicized as normal because it was scheduled on short notice due to things in DC being so chaotic, so it was much smaller than usual.
Usually, when one of his town halls is over, there is a throng of people around him waiting to talk to him, but not this time. I walked right past him, and he said, "Thank you for what you said. It made my day." I said thank you; we are so fortunate in Oregon to have you and Sen. Merkley. But his words made me acutely aware of the importance of letting them know that what they do is noticed and appreciated.

THEN I talked to a staffer on my way out and she said it really helps the staff too when people call and express appreciation. She said interns will sometimes ask why so many people don't like the senator (because his regular staff all really like him), and permanent staff has to explain that people tend to call when they are unhappy and not so much when they are not.

So my point here is hopefully obvious. If you are one of the fortunate ones to have good representation, call and thank them. Or email. Or whatever you do to let them know that you know they are working extra hard for us these days and that you appreciate them. They need to know we support them, now more than ever.

January 26, 2019

Witch Hunter. You are so right. (great Mueller meme.)

Best witch hunter ever.

January 25, 2019

Faye Smith on Lawrence: You show more love for Putin. Stop it! Show your love for us.

FAye is the furloughed fed contractor who went to McConnell's office yesterday to talk about how she was going to be evicted. It went viral. Lawrence just had her on. THIs will go viral too.

https://twitter.com/11thHour/status/1088645679558344704/video/1

January 24, 2019

Katie Hill on "All In" just said "not gonna happen that this freshman class will ...

sit down and wait their turn. " New rep from CA - very impressive. I have to say that these new reps getting inspired to run and getting elected are one really good thing to come out of all the craziness.

I have been really impressed with how articulate and direct they are. No canned talking points; no politician speak. Just clearly articulated sensibility. WHat a breath of fresh air. They certainly don't seem to be the radical activists that Faux likes to paint them.

January 23, 2019

Up next on Chris Hayes: McConnell just now coming out of hiding and what's he up to?

January 22, 2019

Rachel: easy way to really screw up the FBI's ability to function is to take away their

paychecks and put them under serious financial strain. She is opening with this. Spelling out the ripple effects of this.

We all know the wall has nothing to do with border security.

January 17, 2019

Chris Hayes: Rep. Dan Kildee just said Mitch has made Trump the majority leader of the Senate.

CHris Hayes opened referring to the shutdown as"The Ann Coulter Shutdown."

AOC was just on talking about how Mitch is nowhere to be seen.

And Dem REp. Dan Kildee just said Mitch has made Trump the majority leaders of the Senate.

EVeryone talking about how MItch is hiding.

January 16, 2019

Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo belong to a doomsday cult -- and may be trying to bring on the apocalypse

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/mike-pence-mike-pompeo-belong-doomsday-cult-may-trying-bring-apocalypse/

President Donald Trump’s vice president and secretary of state appear to have a conflict between their private religious beliefs and their public duties, according to a financial journalist.

Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo are each a “genuine, end-of-days, believer in the apocalypse,” and Financial Times journalist Edward Luce said their religious beliefs about the end times exerts a troubling influence on their duties.

“Generally I believe a public figure’s beliefs should be irrelevant to their job,” Luce wrote. “Whether they’re atheist, Opus Dei, Buddhist or Muslim, should have no bearing on our assessment of their fitness for office. Yet I can’t help but feel anxious that both of Donald Trump’s main global envoys, Pompeo and Pence, have a conflict between their private beliefs and what they publicly claim to be doing.”

Luce argued that both Trump administration officials were part of a “millenarian cult,” and he worried their “militant creed” would influence their public policies to spark a “final conflagration in which the righteous will vanquish the wicked.”

“Call me a serial fretter, but I don’t take comfort from the fact that Pence is a heartbeat away from being commander-in-chief,” Luce wrote. “Nor do I see Pompeo as one of the grown-ups restraining Trump. He’s an enabler, not a preventer. Where Trump goes, Pompeo will follow. Let’s hope Trump never gets religion.”