Honeycombe8
Honeycombe8's JournalRep. Sheila Jackson - Strzok Hearing
Rep. Sheila Jackson - Strzok Hearing. Wow, she's a force to be reckoned with. Good goin', Rep. Jackson! She packed in a lot of information in her short time to ask questions.
Why Trump lies (Garry Kasparov on Preet Bharara show)
Ever been aghast at the gall of Trump to lie every time he moves his lips? Even with videos, written statements, and real observations to prove that what he says is a lie? Why would he not be ashamed? Why would he not care that he hurts his credibility? Is he insane? Okay, that's not a fair question.
Preet Bharara had a Russian guest on his podcast talk show ("Stay Tuned with Preet" ) on 6/28/18. Garry Kasparov, a Russian chess player and vocal Putin critic. He made some interesting statements about Putin and gave some insights about what makes Putin tick and how things work in Russia.
One of the points he covered was lying. Putin lies about everything. And pushes propaganda. It's not any particular lie that's important. It's that everything is questionable. It's destabilizing.
It's not pushing a particular truth. It's making people believe you can't trust in anything. It destroys the notion of truth. If nothing is true, then everything is relative.
Putin is a merchant of doubts. Truth is relative. Everyone's corrupt. Everyone's bad. There's just Russia, surrounded by the evil countries. Only Putin can protect Russia.
It's easy to poison people with an abundance of false information. If truth is relative and can't be relied upon, then there is confusion and general doubt about everything. Chaos.
What is going on in the U.S. is absolutely like what Putin has done, Kasparov said. It seems "they" have succeeded in spreading doubts among the American public. If the public can't believe a special prosecutor, "they" have succeeded.
He also said that Putin looks strong only because the opposition is weak. It's all about looking invincible, not actually being invincible. It's all pushing an agenda, looking successful, not allowing himself to look weak, the image. Everything depends on his image of strength. (I thought about the internationally distributed photo op of a bare chested Putin on a horse.)
I thought this was very interesting, as it relates to Trump. It explains a lot.
While Kasparov was talking about Putin's blueprint of lying and making people believe that truth is relative, I thought of the book/movie "1984." There's a grueling scene where the Party "teaches" Winston to see that 2 plus 2 equals 5, if the Party says so. Or sometimes 3.
https://tunein.com/podcasts/Political-News/Stay-Tuned-with-Preet-p1018528/?topicId=122812620
(If you want to listen to Kasparov yourself, he starts talking about Russia & Putin at about 20:55.)
Kaspersky, leading anti-virus program in America, is Russian.
It is still being pushed on the internet by various techie sites.
Kaspersky, a leading anti-virus cyber security program in America:
***
Kaspersky has faced controversy over allegations that it has engaged with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)—ties which the company has actively denied. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security banned Kaspersky products from all government departments on 13 September 2017. In October 2017, subsequent reports alleged that hackers working for the Russian government stole confidential data from the home computer of an National Security Agency contractor via Kaspersky antivirus software. Kaspersky refuted the allegations, reporting that the software had detected Equation Group malware samples which it uploaded to its servers for analysis in its normal course of operation. The company has since announced commitments to increased accountability, such as soliciting independent reviews and verification of its software's source code, and announcing that it would migrate some of its core infrastructure for international customers from Russia to Switzerland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Lab
I heard this some time ago. I assumed that it would not STILL be widely used in the U.S., but while checking on recommendations for a new anti-virus program for my home use, I was surprised to see Kaspersky still being pushed. Gee, I wonder how Russia got access to so many government and organization computers across the world so easily?
You would think that the U S gvt would have thought twice about using a Russian cyber security protection program written, sold, managed, and owned by an adverse foreign govt known to conduct cyber spying.
Rosenstein gave a good statement on the indictments.
A man of ethics. If they get rid of him, that would be a crime (figuratively). This is the kind of person a democracy wants in govt.
Wish he'd given a press conference for the last indictments.
The rise of the Repub Messaging Machine (or how we got HERE)...
The producer of the video "The Brainwashing of my Dad," saw a change in her father after he started listening to talk radio and watching Fox. Even the wife says she noticed a change. He turned into ...you know what. So she examined how this happened, and in such a short period of time. The Repubs have been finetuning their messaging system for decades. It's been very successful. "Liberal media." "Liberals are weak." "Liberal elite." And so on...general phrases used repeatedly by numerous conservatives over decades have had an effect. (the video is just a 5 minute trailer)
It does seem to be a form of brainwashing, or something like it.
So, as soon as Kavanaugh takes the bench, a lawsuit will be filed to stop the investigation...
if the investigation isn't over.
Because Kavanaugh has stated in court opinion that a President should not be burdened with criminal prosecutions, civil lawsuits, or investigations, because being President is hard enough as it is.
It might be the Trump team that files the lawsuit, or it might be another group on behalf of them.
Or maybe Congress will pass a law stating that the President can't be sued or prosecuted or investigated, and make it retroactive. Then the other side will have to sue to stop that law.
Any lawsuit like that will go to the Supreme Court. Thomas, Gorsuch, Alito and Kavanaugh will side w/Trump's argument. Roberts may or may not. Probably so. Sotomayor, Ginsburg, Kagan, & Breyer will vote against the Trump argument.
President Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court
Source: CNN
President Trump announced from the White House East Room that he is nominating Brett Kavanaugh to replace Justice Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
Kavanaugh was confirmed to his position on the Court of Appeals for DC on May 26, 2006, about 12 years ago. The 53-year-old worked in the Bush administration and also for independent counsel Kenneth Starr in the investigation that eventually led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Kavanaugh has a history of conservatives votes in areas concerning presidential authority, the Second Amendment and religious liberty.
However, some social conservatives — while refusing to go on the record — criticized two of his opinions: one dealing with the Affordable Care Act and a second about an undocumented pregnant teen who sought an abortion.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-supreme-court-nominee/index.html
He worked on the Starr Report. Look him up in Wikipedia. It says in part, "Kavanaugh was nominated to the D.C. Appeals Court by Bush in 2003. His confirmation hearings were contentious and stalled for three years over charges of partisanship. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed in May 2006 after a series of negotiations between Democratic and Republican senators."
He comes from a wealthy background. A prep school kid. An only child.
On the plus side, he is Catholic. Catholics have been discriminated against in our country in the past. One negative side, devout Catholics are strongly anti-abortion and even anti-birth control.
Damn Yankees - Whatever Lola Wants
Gwen Verdon and Tab Hunter (Verdon plays a demonic temptress, who is aiming to "get" Tab Hunter's character):
Extended family relative upset about cuts to healthcare....
My brother tells me that an extended family relative (and wife), who are big users of Obamacare (back surgeries, medications, diabetes, you name it), are upset about Trump's cuts to healthcare.
After he tells me this, I say, well...it's not surprising. He ran on the repealing of Obamacare, after all. What did they think would happen? Who did they vote for (I say, knowing full well they wouldn't have voted for Clinton)?
My brother says he doesn't know.
I tell my brother that I think it's unlikely they voted for Clinton. Brother agrees there's no way they would have voted for Clinton.
So I tell him..well, then. Either they voted for Trump or they didn't vote. So they don't have a right to complain.
(Those relatives are hard core far-righters...Medicaid users are deadbeats, libruls are evil, gay rights are sh*t, it's fine to incarcerate kids of illegal immigrants - it's their own fault, the Clintons kill children and are evil and those emails!)
But when their healthcare is threatened by Trump (pre-existing conditions, subsidies from govt to ins cos have been temporarily halted, etc.), NOW they are upset? Nothing he's done to other people before now has given them pause? The grabbing of women, the misogyny, the "fine people" comments about Nazi sympathizers, the hiring of racists into the administration, the alienation of our allies, praising dictators who murder and starve people, etc. None of that gave them pause? Disgusting.
This shows how much attention they paid to Trump's campaign. They just heard the rhetoric about brown people, and America First, and a wall, and jobs, and didn't hear or pay attention to anything else.
I'm seeing increased incidents where lefties "hit" back against MAGA people.
One video a man named "Jimenez" throws his coke on someone wearing a MAGA hat (the video is only part of the information, since it doesn't show how it started). These things are increasingly happening.
Oh, my goodness, the whining and shock! by Trumpers at such inhumanity and criminal behavior being perpetrated on innocent MAGAs! It's just a hat! (yeah...and a white hood is just a hood.)
My response: Trump has set the tone in the country. Violence, hitting, punching, disrespecting others' opinions, calling people "animals" that "infest" the country, etc. Why are they surprised that many citizens on both sides are following suit?
Methinks that they are so used to those on the left taking the high road that they are shocked to see them finally giving it back. The guy just threw a coke, for gosh sakes. It's not like he marched in a white supremacist parade and beat up black people or drove a car into a crowd, or shot and killed some newspaper people.
Things in the country are insane! But it's about time the lefties are speaking out and getting off that high ground pedestal. We're in a battle for the country. I can't do much, but I do try to not let even casual comments pass w/o saying something. It's unpleasant. But to be quiet is to imply agreement. The Trumpers are shocked!
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