bigger

bigger https://www.dailykos.com/news/bigger News Community Action Copyright 2005 - Steal what you want Sun, 26 Jan 2020 04:18:27 +0000 Sun, 26 Jan 2020 04:18:27 +0000 Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) Daily Kos rss@dailykos.com (Daily Kos) The Review: Fire and Fury, Treason, Money Laundering and a Very Stable Genius https://www.dailykos.com/story/2018/1/6/1730445/-The-Review-Fire-and-Fury-Treason-Money-Laundering-and-a-Very-Stable-Genius Perhaps the big news of the week was the release of Michael Wolff's book on Trump, “<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/01/03/new-trump-book-bannons-treasonous-claim-ivankas-presidential-ambitions-and-melanias-first-lady-concerns/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_fix-trumpbook-1237pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.f936d9fa37ba">Fire and Fury</a>”. It is based on 200 conversations over the past 18 months with Trump, members of his senior staff and others they had spoken with. Presumably the title is taken from Trump’s August 9, 2017 remarks that North Korea would be “<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-vows-north-korea-could-be-met-fire-fury-n790896">met with fire, fury</a> and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before." In the book, Steve Bannon, former Trump White House chief strategist, said that the infamous June 2016 meeting by Donald Trump Jr. and his father's top campaign officials with a group of Russians was "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/01/03/us/politics/03reuters-usa-trump-russia-bannon.html" title="">treasonous</a>”. We were wondering how to characterize that meeting. Bannon also predicted that special counsel Robert Mueller would focus on <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bannon-trump-tower-meeting-treasonous">money laundering and would prosecute Donald Trump Jr., Paul Manafort and Jared Kushner</a>. Given Trump’s unusual business dealings with various Russians over the years, that would not be a surprise, but we shouldn’t discount the other claims of collusion with Russia to influence the 2016 election and obstruction of justice. In a separate piece, Wolff said that he spoke to a number of people close to Trump. “My indelible impression of talking to them and observing them through much of the first year of his presidency, is that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/01/04/we-already-know-the-alarming-truth-about-trump-michael-wolffs-book-just-confirms-it/?utm_term=.33aadac47e5b">they all — 100 percent — came to believe he was incapable of functioning in his job</a>.” That’s certainly what many others believe as well. Trump’s response was that he was “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/06/us/politics/trump-genius-mental-health.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0">a very stable genius</a>,” because of course that’s what very stable people always say. Speaking of which, earlier in the week Trump tweeted that someone should inform North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that “I too have a Nuclear Button, but <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/01/03/daily-202-north-korea-my-button-is-bigger-brinkmanship-again-spotlights-trump-s-fixation-on-size/5a4c5c9e30fb0469e883fea7/?utm_term=.b0f68f2cd19a">it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his</a>, and my Button works!” Subtle double entendre, Don. Also, the Washington Post continues to compile Trump’s lies. As of Monday, the total stood at 1,950 false or misleading claims in 347 days, or an average of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2018/01/02/president-trump-has-made-1949-false-or-misleading-claims-over-347-days/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_fact-check-trump-505am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&tid=sm_tw&utm_term=.07c3490ce0f5">5.6 false or misleading claims a day</a>. The <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=FPo_nS1Ce1sC&pg=PA79&lpg=PA79&dq=%22prince+of+lies%22+satan&source=bl&ots=U4LqgNbknb&sig=tgphB0ObUobm6uL7HN1rPuhXB3U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwifxumwrcTYAhXJTCYKHSj3A9g4ChDoAQgtMAE#v=onepage&q=%22prince%20of%20lies%22%20satan&f=false">Prince of Lies</a> has a contender for that title. Republican Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) announced he would not run for re-election, opening the portal for Republican Mitt Romney to run for Senator there in 2018. He’ll very likely win, so we’ll have Mittens back on the national scene again. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/06/the-idea-of-senator-mitt-romney-should-scare-donald-trump/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_fix-romney-325pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.1ddce5049ec4">Romney has been an extremely harsh voice against Trump</a>; that may make for interesting times in the Senate in 2019. Apparently in response to California’s legalization of recreational marijuana taking effect January 1, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-is-rescinding-obama-era-directive-for-feds-to-back-off-marijuana-enforcement-in-states-with-legal-pot/2018/01/04/b1a42746-f157-11e7-b3bf-ab90a706e175_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_sessions-1036am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.7fdc0d8b7d48" title="">Attorney General Jeff Sessions revoked</a> President Obama’s directive discouraging federal prosecutions in states where marijuana has been legalized. It’s not clear federal prosecutors will be interested in using their limited resources for marijuana prosecutions and it’s possible that at least some juries might refuse to convict. Sessions’ action is also likely to motivate younger voters to turn out for the 2018 mid-term elections, which will make it harder for Republicans to win. It won’t be <a href="https://hightimes.com/">high times</a> for all. Meanwhile, Congress still faces a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/congress-returns-to-a-full-slate-of-difficult-issues/2018/01/01/7cb5da3a-ecdd-11e7-b698-91d4e35920a3_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_congress-340pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.ffdb24dd9628">January 19 deadline</a> to fund the government and avoid a shutdown. This time <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/367158-itching-for-a-fight-dems-vow-to-hold-the-line">Democrats are insisting that a number of their issues be addressed</a>. Those include raising non-defense spending by the same amount as military spending, new funding for disaster relief, veterans, pensions, the opioid crisis, health research, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), along with a fix for the DACA (“Dreamers”) program that Trump terminated. The Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate and could fund the government by themselves. Still, Republican tea-party members of the House, aka the House maniacs, are again unlikely to cooperate, making Democratic votes essential. This will get very interesting. And, of course, no week would be complete without further news regarding the Russia investigation. In an op-ed in the New York Times, the founders of Fusion GPS, the firm that compiled the Steele dossier alleging connections between Trump and Russia, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/02/opinion/republicans-investigation-fusion-gps.html?mtrref=www.politico.com&assetType=opinion&_r=0" title="">asked Congress to release their testimony before Congress to the public</a>. “We suggested investigators look into the bank records of Deutsche Bank and others that were funding Mr. Trump’s businesses. Congress appears uninterested in that tip…. We told Congress that…we found widespread evidence that Mr. Trump and his organization had worked with a wide array of dubious Russians in arrangements that often raised questions about money laundering. Likewise, those deals don’t seem to interest Congress.” We’ll see if the Republican-controlled committee allows this. rss@dailykos.com (bmethven) 2018 bannon bigger button donald Election Elections Fire Funding fury Fusion Genius Government GPS Hatch House Jared Jeff Jr kushner Laundering Lies manafort Marijuana Meeting Michael MittRomney Money Orrin Paul Review romney Russia Russians Senate Senator sessions Shutdown stable steve Testimony thereview treasonous trump Wolff _1730445 Sat, 06 Jan 2018 22:47:31 +0000 Arianna Nails It on "BitterGate" https://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/15/496124/-Arianna-Nails-It-on-BitterGate Over at the Huffington Post, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/john-mccain-should-go-on_b_96577.html">Arianna</a> nails it man. The title of the post is "John McCain Should Go on Vacation, Hillary Clinton is Doing His Job for Him". And she gets right into it: rss@dailykos.com (Hkingsley) 2008Primaries Barack Obama BarackObama bigger Hillary Clinton HillaryClinton Huffington _496124 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:11:01 +0000