The 'Helsinki Moment'

Well, there it is; the 'Helsinki Moment' - the turning point from which there is no turning back. Donald J. Trump has chosen to side with a foreign adversary over the government he swore a solemn oath to protect and defend.

If anyone still needs convincing that Trump is putting 'America First', that person has drunk deeply of the poisoned Kool-aid  and beyond hope of hearing the truth. Any palaver about forging a better relationship with Russia is a feckless fiction, an irresponsible prevarication. It's tantamount to suggesting that the rape-victim should just lie back and enjoy the experience. There were also elements of Chamberlain's woe-be-gone pronouncement of 'Peace in Our Times'.  

One does not 'make nice' with dictators and despots, no matter the 'optics'.
One does not suggest that Jack the Ripper should assist in exploratory surgery.  

Trump has suggested as much publicly; Putin should help with the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling in the American electoral process. (!)

WTF!?

We can only imagine with horror what transpired between the two inveterate liars in the private two-hour meeting. As bits and pieces of that prolonged exchange comes to light, we will no doubt be shocked and appalled.

It is long past time to end the travesty of the Trump presidency.
Protect the Mueller investigation.
Move to impeach the president.

Which Hunt are You Referring To...?

Robert Mueller has issued a new set of indictments through the Assistant Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein. This time, a dozen individuals are named, all Russians and all members of the Russian intelligence agency, GRU. 

This is no joke. This is not grandstanding for honors. This is not indicting 'ham sandwiches' as a nuisance tactic. This is the Special Counsel, under the auspices of the DOJ, asserting that the intelligence apparatus of the Russian Federation are culpable actors in the concerted effort by the Russian gov't to undermine the US presidential election of 2016 and more generally to sabotage the electoral process and the democratic system in the west.

In a matter of days, President Trump will meet with President Putin. Parallels to his specious meeting with Chairman Kim Il-sung, are easy to draw. There is one aspect of the Trump/Putin that sets it apart, however. Russia stands accused of attacking the USA whereas the DPRK only made blustering bellicose threats of attack. That might seem like splitting hairs, but it is not. It is the difference between fantasy and reality.

According to all of the US Intel Agencies, Russia has waged sustained cyber-warfare against the USA. Mueller indicted thirteen Russian nationals in February of this year. As a result of that issuance, Alex van der Zwaan, a 33-year-old Dutch citizen pleaded guilty, was sentenced and is currently in prison. Additionally, Richard Pinedo, a California man, pleaded guilty to identity theft and is cooperating with the Mueller probe. Now, twelve additional Russian individuals - members of the GRU, no less - are named in Mueller's indictments. That makes a total twenty-five Russians indicted, so far. 

To re-cap, five people have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the Mueller investigation; Michael Flynn, Rick Gates, George Papadopoulos, Pinedo and Van der Zwaan. Mr. Van der Zwaan, a Dutch national, is serving time. Twenty-five Russians in total have been indicted.

So far...

Time for the gloves to come off. Time to squelch any and all talk of 'fake news'. All the whinging about 'witch-hunts' by the president and his supporters must be dismissed out of hand. 

Time to stand up for the American system. 

Time to end the presidency of Donald J. Trump.

Grilled by Shills

The recent Congressional hearings were an uncivil grilling of a most respectable FBI agent, Peter Strzok. The hearings were a disgrace as the Tea-bagger contingency of the GOP (Gohmert, Jordan, Gowdy, et al.) sought to impugn the witness with personal attacks and unfounded allegations and smears.

Thankfully, Agent Strzok remained composed and did not take the bait of raw meat thrown at him by the Committee members.

This is what Congress has become; a snarling junk-yard dog defending the indefensible.

The entire Intelligence Community of the US gov't confirms that Russian 'actors' in the employ of the Russian security apparatus engaged in nefarious, covert, cyber-actions with the express purpose of perverting the election of 2016. This has been called an attack on our system of government and an attack on democratic institutions, generally.

Trump has refused to address this extremely important matter because he is disdainful of anything that might appear to tarnish or diminish his election to the office of president. Moreover, Trump has cosied up to Vladimir Putin, the very man purported to have ordered the election interference. This is unconscionable and beyond the pale. It must not be tolerated.

Now, to deflect and diminish the investigation into the averred Russian cyber-meddling, Mr Strzok sits as the sacrificial goat, meant to answer for specious allegations while the CEO, the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, plays fast and loose with the truth and the viability of the American election system.

Protect the Mueller investigation and its agents.
Impeach the Putz.

Benedict Donald

A letter I wrote to my government representatives in Washington, DC; Jared Polis, Cory Booker and Michael F. Bennet.

'As your constituent, I strongly recommend an article you should read and then act upon; David Corn's article of exasperation re: the Russian hacking and interference in US elections - in 2016 and on-going by the Congressional testimony of the NSA, CIA and other various US intel agencies.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2018/07/while-america-sleeps-trumps-treachery-and-the-russia-scandal/

Mr Corn's concerns are bolstered and verified by all the intelligence apparatus of the USA. Yet POTUS dismisses all of it as sheer fabrication without any substantive evidence to back his preposterous assertion.

In the mean time, Mr Trump goes to NATO - our closest, most trusted allies - and rails nonsense about energy dependency and chastises member states for 'delinquency' as if he were a slum-lord in Queens again.

Then, after spitting in the communal well, he goes off to Helsinki for a secret meeting with the former KGB general and ruthless despot of the Russian Federation, of whom he has said "Putin is fine. He’s fine. We’re all fine. We’re people.” As if that makes a lick of sense at all.

 
Pol Pot, Sukarno, Idi Amin, Papa Doc Duvalier; they were all 'people'. they were most demonstrably not 'fine' people, no more than the alt/right fascists of Charlottesville were 'very fine people'. The Nazis at Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen were all 'people'. Murderous, debased, banal and evil people for whom no excuse or rationale suffices to exonerate or absolve them of their horrific crimes.

Act to defend our Republic, our fragile democracy, from enemies both foreign and domestic. One such enemy of our system of government is Vladimir Putin. Another now resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Trump is acting as an agent of a hostile, contentious foreign power - sowing discord and disunion amongst our staunchest, most trusted and proven allies; Great Britain, France, Canada, and so on. Trump's campaign to deconstruct the NATO alliance and cozy up to the dictators of North Korea and the Russian Federation must be thwarted.

Protect the Mueller investigation.
Move to impeach the president.'