14 Term Congressman Peter King Joins in the R-Exodus.

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Monday November 11, 2019 · 3:49 AM PST

2019/11/11 · 03:49

14 term Republican Congressperson Peter King, of NY’s 2nd District (Long Island), who was once Chairman of the powerful Homeland Security Committee in Congress and currently sits on The Select Committee on Intelligence, joins more than two dozen other Republicans this year diving for the door to spend more time with with his or her family.

This is a developing story but we do have this:

Rep. Peter King retiring. IRA hardest hit. https://t.co/8W55XqxFjG pic.twitter.com/187J4HwCSn
Ã¢ÂÂ southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) November 11, 2019

A strong supporter of the Tangerine Tyrant , King has earned his spiral into ignominy.

Let me be among the first here to say…

Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

CORRECTED: Lt. Colonel Vindman's Status at the NSC Remains Unclear

durrati

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Sunday November 10, 2019 · 1:22 PM PST

2019/11/10 · 13:22

Admin note: Diary title edited by Admin after diarist refused 
to correct with accurate title.

TPM

(Bolds mine)

“On Sunday, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who gave a bombshell testimony in the House impeachment investigation last month on President Donald Trump’s Ukraine scheme, will be removed from his post at the White House National Security Council…

...The national security adviser said Vindman, who currently serves as the council’s Director for European Affairs, will be removed as a part of the White House’s “streamlining” efforts.

“My understanding is he’s–that Colonel Vindman is detailed from the Department of Defense,” O’Brien said. “So everyone who’s detailed at the NSC, people are going to start going back to their own departments and we’ll bring in new folks.”

When Brennan asked O’Brien to confirm that the decision is not retaliation against Vindman, whom Trump has baselessly accused of being a “Never Trumper,” the national security adviser’s response was that he personally had never retaliated against anyone.”

What bugs me even more than the firing of Vindman for just doing his job, protecting the national security of the U.S., is the continued gaslighting, saying that the firing was not retaliation, but just a routine personnel move.

This is so patently a lie, that one would think O’Brien would be ashamed to let it out of his mouth.

But you check your integrity at the door to stay in the employ of the Orange Mousseolini.

durrati

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Sunday November 10, 2019 · 12:09 PM PST

2019/11/10 · 12:09

Anyone with even just sufficient powers of observation can see that Trumpists have a inherent aversion to acquiring knowledge, and at least one in Coeur D’Alene, Idaho is determined that no one else will be able to obtain any on their watch.

NY Times

“COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho — From her office next to the public computer terminals, Bette Ammon finds herself peering through a window to watch patrons moving through the Coeur d’Alene library’s nonfiction stacks.

Someone has been hiding books lately — specifically, those that explore politics through a progressive lens, or criticize President Trump. They wind up misfiled in out-of-the-way corners where readers will be sure not to find them.

“I am going to continue hiding these books in the most obscure places I can find to keep this propaganda out of the hands of young minds,” the mystery book relocator wrote in a note left for Ms. Ammon, the library director, in the facility’s comment box. “Your liberal angst gives me great pleasure.”

This is not the library’s first battle with book hiders - after white supremacists invaded the area in the 1980s, the city was awarded the prestigious Raoul Wallenberg Award for Civic Courage for its efforts in resisting the racists. With the money presented with the prize the city augmented their library’s catalogue of books on human rights, women’s’ issues, LGBTQ rights and such. The books started to go missing with such regularity they had to be locked away in a glass case.

Library Director Bette Ammon.…

… and Commander In Cheat author Rick Reilly are determined, however not to let the current opponents of education win the day:

“Through it all, Ms. Ammon said, the library has managed to maintain the diversity of its shelves. In the nonfiction stacks, a book by Al Franken, the former Democratic senator, sits right next to one by Newt Gingrich, the former Republican congressman.

“The Dewey decimal system is a great equalizer,” Ms. Ammon said.

After the author Rick Reilly learned that his book, “Commander in Cheat,” about President Trump’s tendency to cheat on the golf course, had gone missing, Mr. Reilly announced that he was planning a visit to Coeur d’Alene to do an event.

He said he is going to bring 10 copies of his book to hide around the library for people to discover.”

LOL. Alabama Fans Cheered drumpf and Lost at Home for the First Time in Four Years. ETTDs.

durrati

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Saturday November 09, 2019 · 6:06 PM PST

2019/11/09 · 18:06

pic.twitter.com/VSk2rm0dxH
Ã¢ÂÂ Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) November 10, 2019

#Bama won 31 straight home games over 4 a year span

Then Trump came to see a game.... #ETTD pic.twitter.com/4P3fpneMR9
Ã¢ÂÂ Danny Ocean (@The_UnSilent_) November 10, 2019

Bama cheered for Trump and lost to LSU. Nationals booed the shit out of Trump and won the World Series. IÃ¢ÂÂll take what justice I can. #LSUvsALA #ImpeachTrump
Ã¢ÂÂ JJVill (@jjvill1) November 10, 2019

oh look, there are some smart ones at #bama pic.twitter.com/dGi4rO8aJC
Ã¢ÂÂ what (@buttercuprules1) November 10, 2019

Trump goes to the Game and roots for Bama, Bama loses! #LSUvsALA pic.twitter.com/SwS8d8LLbE
Ã¢ÂÂ Leroy The Lobster (@LeRoyTheLobster) November 10, 2019

Please invite Trump to all Bama games. #ETTD #LSUvsBAMA pic.twitter.com/1R7kUBxQCm
Ã¢ÂÂ James Madison (@JamesMad_Resist) November 10, 2019

LOL.
This is real America too, Charlie...https://t.co/Bm8Z0oeDAD
Ã¢ÂÂ durrati Ã°ÂÂÂ (@durrati) November 10, 2019

Berliners Send drumpf a Piece of Their Wall...and a Piece of their Mind.

durrati

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Saturday November 09, 2019 · 10:46 AM PST

2019/11/09 · 10:46

This is good:

These Berliners sent Trump a 2.7-ton piece of the Berlin Wall in protest of his own proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border pic.twitter.com/dp1DKubCAu
Ã¢ÂÂ NowThis (@nowthisnews) November 9, 2019

Houston Elects 19 Black Women Judges, so Texas Gov. and Legislature Move to End Judicial Elections.

durrati

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Saturday November 09, 2019 · 5:23 AM PST

2019/11/09 · 05:23

This is simply reprehensible:

Facing South.org

“Voters in Houston, Texas, elected 19 black women to local judgeships last year. The new judges, all Democrats, have instituted wide-ranging reforms to the county's bail system. Voters also sent Democratic judges to the state appeals court.

A few months later, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott — a former Texas Supreme Court justice — suggested that he wanted to change his state's system of choosing judges in partisan elections, citing concern about the courts' independence. Abbott has also appointed several judges that voters rejected last year to seats on higher courts.

This year Republican legislators introduced a bill, supported by Abbott, that would have replaced judicial elections with a system in which the governor appoints judges, subject to Senate confirmation. Every four years, voters would decide whether to keep the judges in office through a nonpartisan "retention" election.

However, the bill would have ended elections only in counties with more than 500,000 people, targeting urban areas like Houston. That would mean the governor would choose judges in the state's larger, more diverse counties, while rural, conservative counties could keep choosing their own judges.”

Democrats in the minority somehow managed to stop passage of the bill (my reading of the article does not enlighten me as to the tactics they used) so Gov, Abbot has set up a commission to “study” how judges are chosen, or, just as likely, to study how Republicans can more successfully subvert the will of the voters.

If left to the voters, ending judicial elections would almost certainly fail.

The author notes that Republicans in North Carolina tried to pass a referendum just last year to accomplish this but it was roundly defeated:

“Then last year, North Carolina legislators put an amendment on the ballot that would have ended judicial elections, which were instituted when the state constitution was rewritten during Reconstruction, and set up a nominating commission controlled by the legislature. But the people voted overwhelmingly against it.”

Just another example that shows Republicans do not support Democracy.

GOP Appoints Gym Jordan to Intel Comm. for Impeachment, As a New Witness Outs Him in Sex Abuse Case.

durrati

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Friday November 08, 2019 · 4:13 AM PST

2019/11/08 · 04:13

On the same day House GOP leadership boots an Arkansas Republican off the Intel Committee to bring in their favorite rodeo clown Gym Jordan for impeachment proceedings, a new witness has filed a lawsuit in Jordan’s home state swearing he told Jordan of sexual abuse he suffered while Jordan was a wrestling coach at Ohio State and Jordan responded with…. a shrug.

NBC News

“A professional referee says in a lawsuit filed Thursday that disgraced doctor Richard Strauss masturbated in front of him in a shower after a wrestling match at Ohio State University, and he reported the encounter directly to Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who was then the assistant coach.

“Yeah, that’s Strauss,” Jordan and then-head coach Russ Hellickson replied, according to the lawsuit, when the referee, identified in court papers as John Doe 42, told them about the incident. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Ohio, implies that Jordan's response to the incident, which the referee said happened in 1994, was essentially a shrug.

John Doe 42 is the second person to say he told Jordan directly about either being approached or molested by Strauss, who was found by independent investigators to have sexually abused 177 male students over two decades.

Jordan, a powerful Republican congressman and a top defender of President Donald Trump in the ongoing impeachment inquiry, has repeatedly denied knowing anything about what Strauss did to the wrestlers he helped coach from 1986 to 1994. He has said the allegations against him were politically motivated.

John Doe 42 said that when he informed Jordan and Hellickson about what happened, their response was, “Yeah, yeah, we know.”

Jordan, a powerful Republican congressman and a top defender of President Donald Trump in the ongoing impeachment inquiry, has repeatedly denied knowing anything about what Strauss did to the wrestlers he helped coach from 1986 to 1994. He has said the allegations against him were politically motivated.

John Doe 42 said that when he informed Jordan and Hellickson about what happened, their response was, “Yeah, yeah, we know.”

So, instead of the Republicans swapping Jordan for Nunes and debating whether it is better to have for a Ranking Member of House Intel during the impeachment hearing a Congress Critter distracted by his own lawsuit against an imaginary cow, or one distracted and fending off charges of complicity in ignoring accusations of sexual assault against young men in his charge, they boot a junior member.

Having to make the other decision would have been a real conflict for modern Republican Party, as it is one part whinging entitlement and the other part complicity in sexual abuse.

I guess the combination of the two will be the ideal mix of defenders for this particular *Resident.

durrati

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Thursday November 07, 2019 · 3:55 PM PST

2019/11/07 · 15:55

Thanks, Rick, you said it better than I could.

Never Trump Republican Rick Wilson has a way with words (especially salty ones) and he let some fly at the vanity campaigns of Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer and their efforts to derail progressive Democrats and re-elect Trump.

As per usual I will paste his first tweet, in case you want to follow the comments, and then provide the a Twitter Thread Reader unroll for easy reading:

1/ If you want to point a finger at two men with absolute certainty of guilt when Trump gets re-elected by Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.

I can't explain to you even a tenth of their resources would do to alter the battlefield in this campaign.
Ã¢ÂÂ Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) November 7, 2019

“1/ If you want to point a finger at two men with absolute certainty of guilt when Trump gets re-elected by Bloomberg and Tom Steyer.

I can't explain to you even a tenth of their resources would do to alter the battlefield in this campaign.

2/ If they really cared about defeating Trump both of those men would be up on the fucking air right now with a massive tv and digital campaign nuking the living shit out of him in the 15 swing States.

But no. They have to jerk themselves off in public.

3/ In my new book Running Against the Devil I talked about the danger of third party and vanity candidates in an equation where the forces arrayed against Trump cannot afford to lose a single vote.

The groups these men fund on the outside currently will be put to their service.

4/ And honestly, Steyer rankles me more than Bloomberg and some ways. Mike at least made a fuck ton of money and was Mayor.

There is no Democratic party leadership that can stop these two men but if there was Tom Perez would be bringing down the wrath of God.

5/ they're popping corks in Trump headquarters right now.”

The thing I don’t get is- where do these to egoists think the votes to nominate them are gonna come from?

If their goal is to stop Warren or Sanders, as most seem to think... again, who is gonna vote for either one of these two?

If they are setting up runs as independents, I don’t think they will siphon many votes from the Dem nominee.

What do you think?

Melania Trump Met With Protest at Boston Med. Center, Whose Sick Patients drumpf Tried to Deport.

durrati

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Thursday November 07, 2019 · 4:17 AM PST

2019/11/07 · 04:17

Melania Trump traveled to the Boston Medical Center yesterday to seek a warm and fuzzy photo-op with children in its care who were born addicted to drugs, a worthy enough project where one might expected to be greeted warmly, if one is oblivious to the fact that just a couple of months ago hubby tried to end the care there of some of it's most loved patients by kicking them out of the country — effectively stopping their treatment.

While some of the Hospital’s senior administrators and Lauren Baker, wife of Massachusetts’ Republican Governor Charlie Baker, met Melania with a welcome mat, some 250 of the folks who actually interact with the refugee children were less than thrilled with her visit.

Newsweek

“First lady Melania Trump was faced with a rare protest during her visit late afternoon Wednesday to the Boston Medical Center (BMC), as hospital employees stood in silence but mocked her with signs including one that read, "We Care Do U?"

Trump visited the medical center to support treatment for babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome as part of her Be Best initiative aimed at helping children, but about 250 employees planned to protest her visit.

A video by Boston 25 News reporter Scott McDonnell showed a sizable crowd of people standing outside the facility not shouting, but making statements with signs they were holding. One read, "We care do u?" a play on Trump's infamous "I Really Don't Care Do U?" jacket she wore while visiting migrant children at the Texas-Mexico border in summer 2018.”

Medical professionals standing in solidarity at Boston Medical center in protest of First Lady Melania Trumps visit.
First lady visiting cuddle program at Boston hospital for babies born on drugs.@boston25 pic.twitter.com/DPDaFxnI5j
Ã¢ÂÂ Scott McDonnell (@ScottMcDonnell_) November 6, 2019

“A couple of protesters went as far as wearing white medical-looking jackets with, "We Really Do Care Do U?" written on the back.”

@JanetWuNews covering Melania Trump's visit to Boston Medical Center today...protesters are mocking the controversial coat she once wore... pic.twitter.com/OofD8LGZmv
Ã¢ÂÂ Bloomberg Bay Biz (@bloombergbaybiz) November 6, 2019

While not massive, this is certainly the largest group of organized protest that @FLOTUS has experienced on a solo trip. Most of the signs were messages about administration immigration policies. Melania Trump is @The_BMC to learn about babies born with opioid addiction. https://t.co/eTP6hrvC0R
Ã¢ÂÂ Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) November 6, 2019

Pro tip to Melanie and her handlers:

Before travelling to a location to use sick kids to bolster your sh**heel husband’s re-election campaign, you might check to see if his policies have tried to kill anyone the folks there really care about.

Just sayin’.

Breitbart Follows Don Jr. in Outing Whistle Blower and Lewandowski Can’t Wait to Retweet Them.

durrati

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Wednesday November 06, 2019 · 4:45 PM PST

2019/11/06 · 16:45

Scum and scummier. Or is it the other way round?

Welp, it didn’t take long for Breitbart to join the parade of potential felons in publishing the name of the purported NSC whistle blower, after Russian media and Don Jr. shouted it from the roof tops, and former Trump campaign chairman Corey Lewandowski couldn’t wait to put the man in danger also…

I won’t link to the Lewandowski retweet as it contains the alleged whistleblower’s name, nor will I link to the Breitbart article for the same reason.

But I will quote Brietbart’s lead paragraph in the their piece which accuses the imagined whistleblower, who while serving as a staffer on the NSC, heaven forfend, engaged in NSC work.

Parens mine.

(WB name redacted by diarist) whom Real Clear Investigations suggests is the likely so-called whistleblower, was part of an Obama administration email chain celebrating the eventual signing of a $1 billion U.S. loan guarantee to Ukraine.

OMG! A member of the National Security Council, whose specific responsibilities include Ukraine, CCed on an scary Obama era emailz chain about a loan guarantee to an American ally!

Such perfidy!

What did the NSC do next?

Praise NATO?

I will however include the text of some responses to Lewandowski’s tweet to show there are sane people watching.

Replying to

@CLewandowski_

Congrats on being a truly reprehensible person.

Replying to

@CLewandowski_

Everything he said was right. You should go to prison for this.

Replying to

@CLewandowski_

I just reported you.

Replying to

@CLewandowski_

And so? Every, repeat EVERY, claim made by the whistle blower against Trump has been verified by multiple witnesses as FACTS. So, quit gas lighting gullible people

Replying to

@CLewandowski_

The Complaint has been 100% confirmed...So STFU

My reply would be:

Don Jr.and Lewandowski should rot in prison.

LOL. Loudoun County (Va.) Supervisor Flips Off Donald Trump.

durrati

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Tuesday November 05, 2019 · 6:28 PM PST

2019/11/05 · 18:28

Looks like the lady that flipped off Trump's motorcade and lost her job as a result is about to get a new one, as the Loudoun County Supervisor representing....wait for it....the district that's home to Trump's golf course. #VAelections
Ã¢ÂÂ Mike Hettinger (@Hettinger_Tech) November 6, 2019

there is a god! and she has a sense of humor!
Ã¢ÂÂ Bruce Kirkland (@drbkirk) November 6, 2019

Evening = Made.
Ã¢ÂÂ No One of Consequence (@hedkickboy) November 6, 2019

durrati

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Tuesday November 05, 2019 · 4:27 AM PST

2019/11/05 · 04:27

Oh, you crazy, Devin, just not crazy enough:

BREAKING: Republicans consider moving Jim Jordan to House Intelligence Committee https://t.co/2qdwDArfJq pic.twitter.com/vDQG4IYCTs
Ã¢ÂÂ CBS News (@CBSNews) November 4, 2019

CBS News

“Washington — As the impeachment inquiry enters its public phase, top Republicans in the House are weighing whether to temporarily assign Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the panel that will conduct the initial public hearings. Discussions about adding Jordan to the committee are "active and serious," a senior Republican involved in the process told CBS News.

Jordan, currently the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee and an outspoken defender of President Trump, has essentially led Republican efforts in the closed-door impeachment proceedings thus far, where three committees have been able to participate. His top investigator, Steve Castor, has conducted the bulk of witness questioning.

If Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy were to temporarily assign Jordan to the Intelligence Committee, he would have to make room for him by removing a current member. The move would also undermine Devin Nunes, the committee's top Republican. McCarthy has sole discretion over Intelligence Committee assignments…

….Jordan is viewed by some Republican colleagues as better equipped than Nunes to be the Republican face of the inquiry because of his experience running investigations on the Oversight Committee. He has also been a fiery supporter of the president since the inquiry began, regularly holding press conferences and appearing on television.

..."To defend this president, you have to live in his alternative universe," a Democratic lawmaker who has attended the depositions said. The lawmaker stressed that Nunes has only attended a short portion of each deposition "to b--ch about this and then he leaves."

Apparently McCarthy thinks you are too busy suing an imaginary cow to properly bring the cray-cray to the impeachment proceedings, Devin.

What is needed is some of that old fashioned blue-collar shirtsleeve industrial strength crazy that Gym Jordan exudes like flop-sweat… at least you’ll have a front row seat to the circus.

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14 Term Congressman Peter King Joins in the R-Exodus.

CORRECTED: Lt. Colonel Vindman's Status at the NSC Remains Unclear

Somebody’s Hiding Books Away In the Coeur D’Alene Idaho Public Library.

LOL. Alabama Fans Cheered drumpf and Lost at Home for the First Time in Four Years. ETTDs.

Berliners Send drumpf a Piece of Their Wall...and a Piece of their Mind.

Houston Elects 19 Black Women Judges, so Texas Gov. and Legislature Move to End Judicial Elections.

GOP Appoints Gym Jordan to Intel Comm. for Impeachment, As a New Witness Outs Him in Sex Abuse Case.

Rick Wilson Levels His Word Cannon at Bloomberg and Steyer.

Melania Trump Met With Protest at Boston Med. Center, Whose Sick Patients drumpf Tried to Deport.

Breitbart Follows Don Jr. in Outing Whistle Blower and Lewandowski Can’t Wait to Retweet Them.

LOL. Loudoun County (Va.) Supervisor Flips Off Donald Trump.

LOL. CBS News: GOP Moving "Gym" Jordan to Intel Committee Would Undermine Devin Nunes.