peggysue2
peggysue2's JournalMaria Butina, Red Sparrow extraordinaire!
I've included a thread reader link to a fascinating rundown on what Maria Butina's plea today means, how her confession(s) link in to the overall puzzle that is Trumpski/Russia/NRA/GOP.
The ship is going down to the bottom of the Deep Blue Sea. And it's taking all hands on deck with it.
https://twitter.com/threadreaderapp/status/1073273681416212480
Beautiful!!!
Whoosh! Just in time for Christmas. Oh, goody!
Sorry if this is a repeat but I just ran across this ad, presumably airing on Fox News:
https://twitter.com/jaredlholt/status/1062076740573544449
From what I gather at other sites? This is in fact real as in horror time real--The Trumpy Bear.
The Rewrite Is In-Process But the Script Belongs To Us
Amazing how fast the Republican’s soft whisperings of empathy for Dr. Ford has turned. We’ve gone from: yes, we believe Dr. Fprd was assaulted to the whole thing was a terrible hoax (Trump just this morning). Or Susan Collins having voted for Kavanaugh’s confirmation now saying she believes Dr. Ford but surely the woman is mistaken about Bart O’ and how the whole event has a silver lining—women will more likely report sexual assaults.
Really, Senator Collins?
After driving a shiv into the back of American woman, you have the gall to talk silver linings. Here’s a silver lining just for you: your skinny ass will be defeated in 2020. Enjoy!
I know, Senator, you feel the money raising and the outrage is a form of domestic terrorism and blackmail. But here’s the point:
It isn’t.
Rather, it’s Democracy in action, something you and your Republican colleagues have decided is troublesome, quaint, soon to be replaced by a model more manageable where the Minority rules the Majority. Or as Colin Powell said Sunday morning: where the We the People is short-circuited, replaced by Me the President.
That being said, it’s unfair to attack Collins alone because the entire Republican Senate voted the same way, excoriating Democratic pushback as unseemly. According to the GOP’s edit, we acted like savages, uncivilized, blind and deaf to the rules of decorum and civility. Oh, the irony! Let us not forget Judge Kavanaugh’s obfuscations, his slip and slide answers to reasonable questions or the pitching of snarky answers back to Judiciary Committee members. To underscore the attitude, McConnell sent out a tweet congratulating the women protesting Kav’s confirmation, thereby winning it for the GOP. He referred to those protesting women as:
Clowns.
I’ve mentioned Medusa several times in the last few days. Typically people think of Medusa as a monstrous deity whose only service was to turn good men into stone. Until Perseus arrived, the man who cut off Medusa’s head with the help of Athena and a shiny shield.
But did you know that Medusa, one of the only mortal Gorgons of Greek myth, was once a beautiful maiden? She was raped by Poseidon within Athena’s temple and Athena, so outraged by the desecration, cursed the young Medusa for her crime.
Her crime. Because some things never change and annoying victims must be punished.
The Medusa myth is, however, multidimensional in nature. Throughout centuries, Medusa has been pointed to whenever the patriarchy is threatened, used to undermine women who seek power. It’s no coincidence that Hillary Clinton, Theresa May, Angela Merkel have been depicted as 'monsters' during political battles because Medusa is regarded as the original . . .
Nasty Woman (see Elizabeth Johnston’s comments in the Atlantic).
But over those same centuries, Medusa has been regarded as a protector, a redeemer, the last of the Earth Goddesses who were so reviled by patriarchal societies, a threat to law and order. Of the masculine kind.
Despite all howls from the Right-Wing, the upcoming election on November 6th favors the Democrats, particularly in the House. With less than a month to go, we have the opportunity to sweep Republicans from the House, State legislatures and Governor’s mansions, as well as more local, down-home races. If the Senate comes along for the ride, all well and good. In addition, we have a historic number of women running this cycle.
And we have Medusa’s story echoing over millennia, a story, a script that belongs to us, not to the pretenders or imposters or Perseus wanna-be’s.
We are the women with snakes in our hair. We are coming in droves, along with the men who love and respect us.
Watch for it. Mark it down. On November 6th, our opponents and accusers, their high-fives, their smirks will turn to stone.
And I for one will revel in it!
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/10/8/1802715/-The-silver-lining-of-Collins-Kavanaugh-vote-Her-moderate-mask-is-off
https://www.newsweek.com/colin-powell-donald-trump-america-we-people-madeleine-albright-constitution-1157119
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/11/the-original-nasty-woman-of-classical-myth/506591/
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/women-dominated-2018-primary-season-here-are-numbers-n909571
Poll to Dispel the Doom & Gloom
WaPo published the results of a poll in 69 House battleground districts where Dems lead by an average of 4 points. And before anyone says O.M.G., only 4 points! Please note the following:
By way of comparison, in 2016 these same districts favored Republican candidates over Democratic ones by 15 percentage points, 56 percent to 41 percent.
Yeah, that's a definite shift in our direction, in a race where we need 23 seats to gain the majority. The biggest change?
Women are driving Democratic support in the battleground districts, favoring the party’s candidates by 54 percent to 40 percent.
We can do this! And anyone saying that the Kavanaugh debacle will bring women home to the GOP is flat-out daft.
November 6th. We drive these suckers into the sea.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/survey-of-battleground-house-districts-shows-democrats-with-narrow-edge/2018/10/07/f45e13f2-c812-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.15fb1d7370fa
In A Truly Stunning Stretch, Republicans Are Now Comparing Themselves to . . .
Atticus Finch from Harper Lee's memorable novel, To Kill A Mockingbird.. And in absurd fashion, Kavanaugh is compared to Tom Robinson, unjustly accused of rape by that woman Mayella Ewell.
Because there is no limit to the Republican's ridiculous justifications, even highjacking a novel that they no doubt would've banned back in the day for its unpleasant truths, primarily hatred, racism and the unequal distribution of justice.
Talk about flailing as they defend the indefensible!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/04/republicans-are-calling-themselves-atticus-finch-its-hard-square-kavanaugh-with-tom-robinson/?utm_term=.2c0dfc3aaba5
Now That The Missing Man Formation Has Flown Over Annapolis, The Air Is Still and Calm
However John McCain orchestrated his funeral services, the ultimate effect was remarkable, powerful. Admire him or detest him, McCain left his mark on the world. His final mark was on the country’s consciousness, a poignant reminder regarding our responsibility to one another and to America, a nation we’ve frequently taken for granted.
He chose his orators/chorus with care and purpose to actively demonstrate, I think, what it looks like, sounds like, feels like to come together despite our differences. It was a clarion call to regain our footing, get back on the path, take up the burden of citizenship, statesmanship, common decency.
McCain's memorial has underscored a change in the wind, a true weariness, even disgust with the bombastic strutting, the endless lies coming out of Trump and his zombie supporters. In comparison to what we've witnessed this past week, the Trumpster’s churlish clan looks small, even more crass than before. Trump's early morning tweets/complaints yesterday were pathetic, hardly a blip on the radar.
Something has started to shift after months of revelations and investigations. The sheer cruelty, the petty meanness, the disloyalty, the greed, the gross incompetence have piled up and are now being exposed. Maybe not as quickly as we want. Yet the lid to Pandora’s box is sliding open.
In contrast, we have McCain speaking from the grave demanding that we be better, are better, must be far better for our children and grandchildren and the future of the Republic.
I listened to an old man down in Texas the other night. He'd put together a meet&greet for Beto O'Rourke. He said, "Listen, I'm a conservative. But I'm not so conservative that I think being inhumane is okay. We need to treat one another better. We need to get back to being generous and big-hearted."
Now, that's what I call a shift! One for the greater good.
John McCain managed to pull this final performance together from his death bed. With a little help from his friends, of course. But still, I think this was his last gift to his family, his colleagues and countrymen. I wonder if he regarded the effort as a leaning-in to Lincoln’s line in the Gettysburg Address:
“. . . the last full measure of devotion.”
Don’t know why but those words have been tumbling inside my head all week.
The Russians, I understand, were very happy, even giddy to hear about McCain’s passing. They considered him an arch-enemy, a constant thorn in their side. On their version of 60 minutes, they purportedly said, “Good, he’s gone. There won’t be another like him because the United States is over, done.”
I wouldn’t place bets on that statement. In fact, I predict those Russian broadcasters will rue the day they said it. As Trump et al will rue the many days ahead.
I never voted for John McCain. His political positions often left me bewildered and angry. But this week he earned my respect. So . . .
Godspeed, Senator. Godspeed.
There Will Be Blood
According to the Trumpster in a meeting with leading Evangelicals. If the GOP loses the House, there will be violence because his opponents are violent people.
From the article:
“They will overturn everything that we’ve done and they’ll do it quickly and violently, and violently. There’s violence. When you look at Antifa and you look at some of these groups — these are violent people,” the president said at the Monday meeting.
“The level of hatred, the level of anger is unbelievable. Part of it is because of some of the things I’ve done for you and for me and for my family, but I’ve done them,” he continued.
The IMPOSTER-IN-CHIEF is predicting an American uprising if he doesn't get his way.
How far is too far? What is the limit? And how can an American political party support this sort of trash talk that incites the worst instincts in people.
As far as I'm concerned, the Trumpster crossed that Rubicon 1000x already. But if Christian leaders buy into this, spew it in their churches, they are damned forever.
Never forget.
BTW, the Trumpster saved Christmas, the whole Merry Christmas nonsense. He received wild applause when he mentioned it.
Sickening.
https://nypost.com/2018/08/28/trump-to-evangelicals-therell-be-violence-if-we-lose-the-house/
And This is Why Putin Will Never be Warm and Fuzzy
The Trumpster has dismissed Putin's KGB/violent background as unimportant or on other occasions has offered a whataboutism excuse:
You think we're so innocent? We kill people, too.
However, the last time I checked we--meaning the US government--were not knocking off journalists doing their jobs, investigating awkward or politically charged material. I have no doubt the Trumpster would have no problem trying his hand at this because he has demonstrated his MiniMe proclivities and has a boy-crush on Vlad. He also hates the press. I think he's quite capable of ordering a kill on an enemy. If he thought he could get away with it, that is. Which is far harder in this country (at least so far) to pull off successfully, particularly when you've totally pissed off your intelligence community.
But in Putin-World, journalists and nay-sayers winding up dead happens at a mysterious, alarming rate. Journalists, dissidents, diplomats and critics of every shape, size and gender have died from gunshots, falls, inexplicable heart attacks and strokes, self-inflicted poisonings or mysterious beatings/assaults. The nature of these unfortunate 'accidents' always have a common denominator: the victims all have a critical eye on the Kremlin and/or possess information that could bury Putin's grand expectations.
Or maybe coincidence hangs around Putin like a bad smell. Poor guy.
Today's headlines of three dead Russian journalists is a case in point. They were in Central Africa putting together a documentary on a mercenary group linked to Putin. The sort of mercenary group that attempted to storm a US installation in Syria, a group Putin has never acknowledged. Because if you don't acknowledge it, it never happened.
The journalists' car was ambushed. All three were shot dead while their driver was left alive. Robbery is being broadcast as the official motive.
So strange though. How these incidents keep bubbling up, only to be tamped down with: Nothing to see here, people. Move long.
Another coinky-dink, I guess. Or not.
https://themoscowtimes.com/news/russian-journalists-killed-central-africa-republic-ambush-reports-62404
Shakedown Nation
Hullabaloo has an interesting article up today regarding the current tariff snafu and the Trumpster's willingness to partially bailout US farmers. It's obvious that the move is for political reasons--the November elections, tumbling poll numbers and the blowback the Trumpsters are getting for their sheer incompetence. But the Hullabaloo piece pulls the threads together into a recognizable garment--the nature of the grift that is Trump:
The major challenge the Trump administration faces in creating Shakedown Nation is to properly calibrate the amount of protection. It's essential that the protection never be complete, making those "protected" ever more desperate to prove their loyalty in order to get what they can from a too-small pool of goodies. But it's also important that the protection not be so inadequate as to create an organized revolt.
Interesting theory considering all we know about the Trumpster: The Grift has always been the point because the Imposter-in-Chief knows no other way.
https://digbysblog.blogspot.com
Scroll down to second article
Putting the Pieces Together
Hectic days of seemingly inexplicable events. But there are people out there putting the pieces and people together in this political clusters*ck. Picked up this extended thread over at Eric Garland's twitter feed. If Louise Neufy is correct, the warnings that Hillary Clinton tried to give us in 2016 were because . . . she absolutely knew what was going on and was willing to take a knee for the country.
Think about that.
Just another reminder: Vote for America in November. Vote for our principles and ideals, even though we don't always reach them. Vote for our better angels.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1019070469624991744.html
Profile Information
Name: PegGender: Female
Hometown: New Jersey
Home country: USA
Current location: Wilmington, DE
Member since: Sat Feb 6, 2016, 08:31 PM
Number of posts: 10,826
