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Shit's hot in my country of birth

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25 dead since the protests have started. We will not become Venezuela.

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bolton-anti-muslim-group-chair

John Bolton Chaired Anti-Muslim Group Shortly Before Joining Trump Admin

National Security Adviser John Bolton served as the chair of an anti-Muslim nonprofit, the Gatestone Institute, through March 2018, NBC News revealed in a Monday morning report.

Bolton began as chair of the group based in New York in 2013 and only left the month before he started as President Donald Trump’s third national security adviser.

The Gatestone Institute has published articles warning that “jihadists” may be “taking over Europe” and peddled pieces with headlines like “Germany Confiscating Homes to Use for Migrants,” as NBC News noted. The organization has also published pieces insisting that “no-go zones” exist in Europe, a myth parroted by anti-Muslim conservatives.

Bolton himself did not author the anti-Muslim posts on the Gatestone Institute’s website, but he still chose to associate himself with the group.
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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckr...tacks-liberal-media-wake-second-felony-charge

On Heels Of Second Felony Charge, Greitens Bashes ‘Liberal Media’


Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens promised supporters that he’d continue to fight for conservative policies in a Saturday speech that came on the heels of his second felony charge.

“We have been viciously attacked by the liberal media and their allies,” Greitens told a crowd at the Texas County Lincoln Day dinner, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Though the audience appeared receptive, Greitens’ ability to lead the state is in serious jeopardy as the scandals swirling around him continue to metastasize.

The governor was charged Friday evening with felony computer tampering, for allegedly using a donor list from the veterans’ charity he founded to raise funds for his 2016 gubernatorial campaign. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office, which brought that charge, is already pursuing a separate felony charge against Greitens for allegedly taking a nonconsensual nude photo of a woman and threatening to leak it.

As the twin scandals have played out in recent months, the governor has remained defiant, insisting he only engaged in an affair with the woman and committed no crime. In a Friday night statement, he also defended his work with the veterans’ charity.

“We helped thousands of veterans, won national awards for excellence, and became one of the finest veterans’ charities in the country,” Greitens said. “I stand by that work.”

Legislative leaders and Attorney General Josh Hawley, all Republicans, have called for Greitens to resign immediately. Republican Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard announced that he’s even planning discussions with Democratic leadership about keeping pieces of legislation passed by both chambers off the governor’s desk. Minority Floor Leader Gina Walsh has cast Greitens as an illegitimate leader, saying she doesn’t believe bills he signs should become law, according to the Associated Press.
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These politicians that were Navy Seals / Navy officers are seriously unhinged......there are more but thats crazy:

- Steve Bannon
- Eric Grietens
- Ryan Zinke
 
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...lice-surplus-military-gear-fizzles/536228002/

Trump executive order fails to boost flow of military gear to local police departments


The President floated the idea of throwing journalists in jail in order to stop leaks from the White House. Veuer's Nick Cardona has that story. Buzz60

The amount of surplus military equipment sent to local police departments across the nation has sharply declined in recent months despite an executive order President Trump signed that was intended to increase those transfers, a USA TODAY analysis has found.

Shipments of military gear in the first three months of 2018 fell by half compared with the same period last year, Department of Defense data show. The amount of armored vehicles, high-caliber rifles and other equipment measured by dollar value also slid.

Trump’s executive order, signed last August, rescinded limits imposed on the program by the Obama administration after the battlefield-style response to the Ferguson, Mo., riots in 2014 caused an uproar. Some police officials said they are approaching the program cautiously despite robust support from Trump.

“If you have a long rifle or you have a military vehicle, it looks bad,” said Sgt. Stephen Wells, a spokesman for the Kern County Sheriff’s Office in California, which ordered about 90 military items from the Pentagon in 2015 but only one last year. “We’re not an occupying force.”

Since 1991, the program has recycled about $6.8 billion in military equipment purchased by federal taxpayers.

It came under scrutiny amid the riots in Ferguson that followed the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police. Images of officers wearing tactical gear standing alongside armored vehicles flashed across network news and drew bipartisan criticism in Congress.

In response, Obama placed limits on some kinds of equipment in 2015. The show of force, Obama said then, opened a rift between the police and the community at a time when both would have benefited from better relations.

But Trump administration officials said the restrictions went too far, limiting police from obtaining equipment that could help them meet modern challenges. Trump’s order was touted by those officials at the time as a way to increase the flow of “lifesaving gear” to police.

Announcing the order last year, Attorney General Jeff Sessions criticized Obama for the limits and vowed that the Trump administration would not “put superficial concerns above public safety.”

The data show a bump in shipments in September, the month immediately following Trump's action, but that appears to have been an anomaly. The average monthly value of military gear shipped to local departments in 2016 was just over $17 million. So far this year, the average monthly value stands at $5.2 million.

A White House spokeswoman referred questions to the Justice Department. A spokeswoman at Justice referred questions to the Defense Department.

A spokeswoman for the Defense Logistics Agency, which oversees the program, said this year's decline is “likely due to those … items not being available.”

The spokeswoman, Michelle McCaskill, described the change ushered in by Trump's executive order as "minimal."

But while some police departments are more aware of the public relations concerns associated with the equipment, Wells and others suggested that local law enforcement is unlikely to abandon the program entirely. The equipment, he said, remains crucial for dangerous situations such as an active shooter.

By far the most common item transferred to police last year were military rifles, followed by weapon sights and night-vision goggles.

Attention to appearances

James Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, said he believes Trump’s order has put police across the nation in a stronger position. Both Trump and Sessions closely aligned with rank-and-file police during the presidential campaign.

Pasco speculated that the drop-off is a coincidence, though he also acknowledged that some local political leaders have been reluctant to embrace the program with zeal.

“If there’s a spate of additional unrest, then I predict that there’ll be a greater demand,” he said.

Critics pounced on the program again last year when the Government Accountability Office created a fictitious agency and obtained more than 100 military items worth $1.2 million, including night-vision goggles and simulated pipe bombs.

USA TODAY’s analysis focused exclusively on equipment the Department of Defense altered, or “demilitarized,” before transferring it to a local government. That means rifles, armored trucks, night-vision sniper scopes and other war-fighting equipment was included, but not radios, boots and printers.

The Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-based watchdog group, predicted last fall that Trump’s order would have little effect on the shipments. The more significant change, experts said, has been on how the government oversees the program.

“Trump did not make a huge difference in what is or is not allowed, despite statements from some in the administration,” said Peter Tyler, a senior policy analyst with the group. “Mostly what the Obama-era order did was put in some very helpful accountability steps.”

Rick Myers, executive director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association, said he was not surprised Trump's order didn't result in a sustained increase in demand. The problem with the program isn't the equipment, he said, but how some departments used it.

“Police chiefs across the country are a little more sensitive to the optics," Myers said. "I think we’re just maybe a little smarter about it."
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/blog...umps-authoritarianism/?utm_term=.90f0fda36d97

GOP candidates are now mimicking Trump’s authoritarianism. That’s ominous.

Around the country, Republicans embroiled in tough primaries are increasingly emulating President Trump — by echoing his xenophobia, his veiled racist appeals, his attacks on the news media, and even occasionally his calls for imprisoning his political opponents.

Meanwhile, all indications are that Trump is heading for a serious confrontation with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III or Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein over the Russia investigation.

So how long until multiple GOP primary candidates begin seriously running on the message that the Mueller probe is part of an illegitimate Deep State coup that justifies Trump shutting it down by any means necessary — that is, on a message of unabashed authoritarianism?

Two new articles — one in the New York Times, the other in National Journal — illustrate what’s happening in many of these GOP primaries. The Times piece, by Jeremy Peters, reports that in West Virginia, GOP Senate primary candidate Don Blankenship is running an ad that says: “We don’t need to investigate our president. We need to arrest Hillary … Lock her up!”

In multiple GOP races across the country, the Times piece reports, candidates are employing phrases such as “drain the swamp,” “build the wall,” “rigged system” and even “fake news.” The GOP Senate candidate in Tennessee ran an ad that promises to stand with Trump “every step of the way to build that wall,” and even echoes Trump’s attacks on African American football players protesting systemic racism and police brutality: “I stand when the president walks in the room. And yes, I stand when I hear ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.'”

Meanwhile, National Journal’s Josh Kraushaar reports that in the Indiana Senate GOP primary, Mike Braun, the candidate who is most vocally emphasizing Trump’s messages — on trade, the Washington “swamp” and “amnesty” — appears to be gaining the advantage. Braun’s ads basically recast true conservatism as Trumpism in its incarnation as populist anti-establishment ethno-nationalism.

It gets worse. As the Indianapolis Star recently reported, one of the Indiana GOP Senate candidates has bashed “Crooked Hillary Clinton,” and all three have cast aspersions on the Mueller probe. One called it a “fishing expedition,” and another claimed: “Nothing’s been turned up except that Hillary Clinton is the real guilty party here.”

The question all this raises is whether there is a large swath of GOP primary voters who are fully prepared to march behind Trump into full-blown authoritarianism. The original plan was for Republicans to make tax cuts the centerpiece of their midterm campaign agenda. But in the Virginia gubernatorial race, the Republican candidate resorted to Trumpian xenophobia and a defense of Confederate statues to activate the GOP base, and in the Pennsylvania House special election, Republicans cycled the tax cuts out of their messaging. There just doesn’t appear to be much of a constituency for Paul Ryan Republicanism among today’s GOP voters.

The retirement of the House speaker himself has brought this recognition to a head. Figures such as Ryan and Sen. Marco Rubio were supposed to create a youthful, forward-looking aura around limited government, constitutional conservatism and tax-cutting, safety-net-shredding plutocracy, broadening their appeal to (and edging the GOP into a new accommodation with) 21st-century diversifying America. But Trump won, Ryan is retiring to spend more time with his faded college Ayn Rand poster, and on his way out Ryan has acquiesced to Trump’s nativist nationalism and has lent his tacit support to the weaponization of Congress’ oversight machinery against the investigation into Trump, furthering his assaults on our institutions and the rule of law.

What happens if Trump fires Rosenstein or makes a serious effort to remove Mueller? It is not hard to envision many GOP candidates siding with Trump as a way to energize Republican voters, thus further rallying them against the investigation and making it even less likely that GOP lawmakers intervene. In other words, the GOP’s slide into authoritarianism could get a whole lot worse.
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Sean Hannity is a 'welfare queen'

https://edition.cnn.com/2018/04/23/opinions/sean-hannity-is-a-welfare-queen-begala/index.html

The controversial performance artist, host of the eponymous unreality TV show, has been revealed by The Guardian as a beneficiary of a federal mortgage guarantee program.
The Guardian found that Hannity owns millions of dollars of real estate through more than 20 shell corporations, which shield his identity. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, The Guardian notes, insured the mortgage loans with which Hannity purchased the properties. Let's be clear: This is a subsidy. This is a benefit. This is big government aiding a very wealthy man. This is welfare.
On his state-run media platform, Hannity can be found decrying welfare. He once expressed shock as he interviewed a California surfer and musician who received $189 a month in food stamps, as well as government health insurance. "Welfare Wave" the graphic blared. In 2012, comedian Jon Stewart slammed Hannity for promoting the fiction that President Barack Obama had created "an entitlement society."
In 2013, Hannity complained that an African-American man in Tennessee had allegedly fathered 22 children who were receiving welfare. A Hannity guest called for sterilizing the man. Another Hannity guest opined that "the women should have kept their legs closed."
But when it came to accepting government support for his real estate investments, Hannity didn't keep his wallet closed. The ethic of rugged individualism gave way to the desire to have the federal government help line Hannity's pocket.

The ugly welfare stereotypes that Hannity advances -- an indolent African-American, a long-haired California hippy -- feed the grievances of his audience. Little do they know it is actually Hannity with his hand in the welfare cookie jar.
He is not alone. One of the biggest welfare queens of all is living large in public housing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. By one account, President Donald Trump has received $885 million in tax breaks from the government of New York alone. That doesn't count the federal goodies Trump scarfs up, most recently the millions he stands to gain from the tax cut he signed into law. (We won't know for sure until he releases his taxes. My guess is that will happen just after the hockey game played in hell.)
President Ronald Reagan, who popularized the concept of a welfare queen, understood the outrage many folks feel when people who don't need government assistance take it anyway. "The truly needy," he said in his 1983 State of the Union Address, "suffer as funds intended for them are taken not by the needy, but by the greedy."
Hannity issued a statement Monday: "It is ironic that I am being attacked for investing my personal money in communities that badly need such investment and in which, I am sure, those attacking me have not invested their money," he said. "The fact is, these are investments that I do not individually select, control, or know the details about; except that obviously I believe in putting my money to work in communities that otherwise struggle to receive such support."

Yes, Sean, I'm sure it's your own money. But it's being guaranteed with taxpayers' money. That's a government subsidy. And my guess is you used shell corporations to keep your name out of the documents because you didn't want your hypocrisy exposed.
Sean Hannity is a lot of things. Needy isn't one of them. Greedy, in President Reagan's framing, seems more like it. Perhaps the program that guarantees Hannity's investments is a wise one. Perhaps, on the other hand, it is a wasteful welfare program. That's not the point. It's the hypocrisy, stupid.
Hannity is a very wealthy man. So is Donald Trump. It appears that part of the way they became rich was by decrying welfare for poor folks, then grabbing it for themselves. They view their voters, their viewers, as saps. Stooges. Suckers. As another great huckster said, there's one born every minute. And Hannity is laughing all the way to the bank.
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


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That writer (Paul Begala) did a masterful job ether'n the shit outta that boy and his followers (the very last part of the article).
 
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This segment on Morning Joe is full of whiteness god damn.. some cacs stupid book on "tribalism" and the dwindling of democracy Suicide of the West

this whole segment was some latte sipping bullshit
 
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-va-pick-on-rocks-allegations

Trump VA Pick On Rocks Over Allegations Of ‘Hostile Work Environment,’ ‘Excessive Drinking’

President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs’ may be on the rocks as senators mull whether to delay his confirmation hearing to probe “hostile work environment” allegations against him, according to several reports.

The ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs committee, Sen. John Tester (D-MT) is reviewing allegations against Trump’s nominee, White House physician Admiral Ronny Jackson, according to reports from Politico, CNN, CBSand The Washington Post.

Sources who spoke with CBS said current and former White House medical staffers have accused Jackson of “excessive drinking on the job, improperly dispensing meds.” Tester told CNN that the allegations against Jackson would be troubling “only if true.” Tester has reportedly called for the hearing to be delayed, according to CBS.

The Associated Press and the Post previously reported that senators were mulling delaying Jackson’s confirmation hearing in order to discuss his lack of experience running an agency as large as the VA. The hearing was originally set for Wednesday, but the timing is now uncertain, according to the Post and Politico.

Republicans and Democrats on the committee spoke about the allegations over the weekend and met in person on Monday to discuss whether the accusations would derail Jackson’s nomination, according to Politico. Sen. Tom Tillis (R-NC) told Politico that the discussions were mostly “conversational” and that the hearing may be “pushed back pending a review of some of this stuff that, like I said, I’ve only heard on a conversational basis. I think that’s where we’ll spend our time this week.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal told several outlets that the allegations will require “very close and careful scrutiny.”

“There’s a need for very exacting and close scrutiny and vetting,” he said. “And some questions that need to be answered. I’m not going to comment on any of the specifics, except to say we’re going to be doing very close and careful scrutiny.”

Trump nominated Jackson to run the VA after he fired former secretary David Shulkin, who was ousted after facing allegations of expensive travel and misconduct by at least one of his staffers.
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