Meadows calls for Rosenstein to resign immediately
Apparently they learned something new from James Baker's testimony yesterday. "Lack of candor" is how the FBI usually describes someone they have just fired.
Operation Choke Point finally getting exposed as illegal
This same "Choke Point" operation was also deployed against firearms businesses, and regulators of the financial industry in New York State (and possibly other anti-gun jurisdictions) are pressuring companies they have authority over to stop providing financial services (and sometimes even other services, such as YouTube banning firearms videos) to firearms companies.
Robert "Beto" O'Rourke is trying to sell Texans on gun control. That seems an unlikely sale to close. Is he trying to angle for more donations from Dem big shots like Bloomberg in light of new polling showing him down by almost ten points?
Decorated military veteran gets 7 years for missing tax paperwork
He managed to go 40 years without hurting anyone with it. Since he evidently could pass a background check due to his other firearms, the only offense here is that he neglected to pay an extra $200 tax stamp, and possibly a missing serial number.
This case seems like a good candidate for Supreme Court review. Especially if it takes a while to get there and the Notorious RBG kicks the bucket or retires before then.
James Baker testified for the second time Thursday. On Friday, Nellie Ohr will testify. And Rosenstein has now agreed to very, very limited testimony. Whatever he's going to be asked about, he's very very embarrassed about it getting out. Probably for good reason.
Why are gun control groups and causes popular with billionaires?
Look at, for example, Bloomberg. He's practically kept the gun control cause alive for the last 5 years on his own personal wallet. And his "gun control" groups are running ads on abortion, healthcare, and tax cuts, not gun control. They seem to have learned that gun control is not a winning issue, but that politicians can sometimes be pressured into voting for gun control after being elected, particularly if they got elected with the help of some smokey-back-room donations from gun control groups.
I think I may have figured out the scam.
When a billionaire like Bloomberg donates large amounts of money to a gun control PAC closely associated with him, like say Everytown, the gun control issue itself is a front. Anyone asks about the donations, it's obvious they come from an issue advocaacy group. But the issue advocacy group is heavily funded by one guy. And if needs any other favors, well, he's already made the donation on record and attached to a specific topic.
That doesn't explain the ballot initiatives. But it explains donations to politicians.
Democrats do it and Republicans do it. But they do it differently.
Democrats lie to hide their unpopular positions, like gun control (and more gun control). They lie to the people and then vote more towards their base once elected.
Republicans, on the other hand, lie in the opposite direction. They lie to their base, and then when elected, vote more like Democrats.
This tells us that the true "center" of political opinion lies to the right of how elected officials of both parties vote. They lie in the same direction.
I have little to say about it because I know little about it. What I do know is that what's alleged to have happened is pretty terrible, but we don't seem to have a lot of evidence for that. We don't even have a body. What we do have are claims coming from the government of Turkey, who I don't trust, alleging a murder by some official group of Saudis, that happened in a Saudi Arabian consulate in Turkey.
Because of where it happened, my basic reaction is that I don't really care. Lots of people are murdered by government forces in both Saudi Arabia and Turkey. If the Saudi prince recently touted as a reformer is responsible, that would be a stain on his record. It doesn't, by itself, change the strategic calculus for the region.
I get that journalists are all wigged out about this because the victim was one of them and that's scary. Fine. But it's not like journalists get universal immunity. And this journalist in particular appears to have some uncomfortable connections in his past, so I'm not prepared to treat him like a saint. Of the other players, Erdogan/Turkey is trending downwards towards an Islamic dictatorship, and Saudi Arabia under the current leadership is starting pretty low as an Islamic monarchy but has lately been trending positive.
The connection all of this has to Trump is extremely nebulous and probably a symptom of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Our reaction should be to push for an investigation into what happened, carefully evaluate the evidence, and take notes of the results for use in future diplomacy.
But pointing to a specific candidate who is lying specifically to get elected when the election is in two weeks? Yeah, that's not going to work out well for Ms. McCaskill.
I think this hints at the beginning of the end for the Russian collusion conspiracy. Mueller will undoubtedly be shading his report a little bit based on the outcome of the midterms, but that represents a significant climb-down from the earlier plan. If Mueller had the goods, he'd make the report before the midterms for maximum political impact. (What's that you say? The FBI are supposed to be apolitical? Bullshit). But since there are no goods to have, he'll hold off until after the midterms. If the Democrats win a majority in the House, he reports something ginned up to look impeachable if he possibly can and lets the Dems decide what to do. If they don't -- and that seems likely at the moment, based on polling -- then he turns in a report that whitewashes the issues at the FBI and says "mistakes were made" in the passive voice a lot.
The implicit deal here is that Trump doesn't declassify and expose the whole scheme and make the FBI, DOJ, CIA, NSA, etc, look bad as institutions. In return, Mueller goes away quietly without calling for impeachment. That deal should hold so long as the Democrats stay out of power. If they win the House or the Senate, they can (and almost certainly will) try to renegotiate from a stronger position.
Another fly in the ointment is that the source seems to have said Mueller will wrap up "most" of his investigation at that time, specifically the obstruction of justice and Russian collusion components. What does that leave? I guess we'll find out, but Mueller will keep his "investigation" active for FBI and DOJ to hide behind until Trump is out of office, I think.
Actually, we can be pretty sure they haven't -- just witness the leak of confidential identity information about Senators in a clear attempt at political infiltration from a "fellow" paid by an external entity engaged in criminal hacking.
Immigration seen as most important issue of this election
Strangely, Republican politicians talking about how they are having trouble motivating their base haven't been talking about immigration or passing legislation to build a wall.
And you know what, Amy? They voted for Trump, and they are afraid to tell you, because they know you will disagree with them and freak out. Not, "Hey, let's have a discussion about this." But freak out, probably throwing glassware and engaging in emotional blackmail, even destroying your relationships because of Trump. Because, as you yourself have written in your article, that's what you are doing. Having a hysterical, emotional freak out over a man in the White House who never has and never will grab your pussy.
There's not a single hint of self-reflection in this article. Not a single moment of consideration that maybe all these nice men who loved their wives and girlfriends might have a point about how disruptive, unpleasant, and downright insane the feminist reaction to Trump has been.
Heitkamp campaign publishes ad with names, addresses of victims
Not only did the ad include the names and addresses of victims, they didn't bother to ask anyone whether they wanted to be included, and at least some of the people are saying they aren't victims at all. Others are pissed that their names and locations were listed in a political advertisement without their permission, which may put them at risk.
Red Guard of Austin leaves severed pig heads at campaign offices
It's hard to see this as anything other than a terrorist threat of violence. It's worth noting that although this "Red Guard" is presumably coming from the communist left -- hell, they were celebrating some sort of Maoist life event -- but these people seem to be attacking both Ted Cruz and Robert O'Rourke.
So I guess my takeaway is that the hard left isn't buying Beto's hispanic-of-the-people schtick any more than the rest of us. And that I better buy more ammo.
Turns out she finally took a DNA test. Apparently, her DNA "suggests" that she may have a single Indian ancestor within the last 6 to 10 generations. That's somewhere between 1/64th Indian and 1/1024th Indian. Most likely, according to her own report, it's 1/256th.
Note that she sent it to a Harvard professor rather than a standard professional test company. (I have to wonder what results she got back from the standard companies?)
Note that she was claiming her grandmother or great grandmother was the Indian. That's solidly disproven by her own test. Her great-grandmother would be 3 generations back. So we're talking great-great-great-great grandmother.
Warren has less Indian heritage than the average European.
And what do the actual Indians think of this claim?
Go home, Elizabeth. You're drunk, and you're going to lose your election.
