Quick Hit Video: Putin's Echo Chamber (AKA 45)

Great observation.  Trump is a Manchurian Candidate.

The Daily GOP Ignominious: NewsMax CEO Turned Presstitute

If you have a few minutes and didn't catch the following segment of CNN's News Night with Don Lemon, consider watching and listening. Lemon sat with the CEO of Newsmax, Christopher Ruddy, in conversation about Trump's continued disrespect for the family of a US Army sergeant. La David Jonson, killed in the raid in Niger.

Pay particular attention tot he CEO's initial remarks that he has no respect for the widower of Sgt. Johnson.

The GOP's Kochs At Work

If you need a reminder of the fallacy of GOP politician's frequent comments regarding turning human services and social programs over to the states know it is longstanding strategy akin to the functional spider web of a venous spider.

"The states" to the GOP us tantamount to shepherding policy into the slaughterhouse of GOP policy shaped by the Americans Legsistivaive Exchange Council (ALEC).    (The BackRoom video)

ALEX works its corporate proliferation of model legislation to GOP legislators at the state level.  We ask that you keep that word and that reality of "State" in mind as you read further into this piece.

First a revisit with ALEC.

WIKI

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States.^[2][3][4]

ALEC provides a forum for state legislators and private sector members to collaborate on model bills—draft legislation that members may customize and introduce for debate in their own state legislatures.^[5][6][7] ALEC has produced model bills on a broad range of issues, such as reducing regulation and individual and corporate taxation, combating illegal immigration, loosening environmental regulations, tightening voter identification rules, weakening labor unions, and opposing gun control.^{[8][9][10][11]} Some of these bills dominate legislative agendas in states such as Arizona, Wisconsin, Colorado, Michigan, New Hampshire, and Maine.^[12]  Approximately 200 model bills become law each year.^[8][13]ALEC also serves as a networking tool among certain state legislators, allowing them to research conservative policies implemented in other states.^[10] Many ALEC legislators say the organization converts campaign rhetoric and nascent policy ideas into legislative language.^[5] 

ALEC's activities, while legal,^[14] received public scrutiny after being reported by liberal groups in 2011 and after news reports from outlets such as The New York Times and Bloomberg Businessweek described ALEC as an organization that gave corporate interests outsized influence.^[8][9] Resulting public pressure led to a number of legislators and corporations withdrawing from the organization.....

Source Watch 

About ALEC

ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our PRWatch.org site

Support for ALEC

.....Trade Associations and Foundations

Corporate trade groups and other non-profit groups also make donations to ALEC of undisclosed sums. Examples include the NRA, the American Bail Association, and the American Petroleum Institute. There are also others listed here. 

Additionally, ALEC has received millions from right-wing foundations created by corporate CEOs or their heirs over the years and which advance a corporate agenda through donations. Here are some of the foundations that are or have been donors to ALEC:

The Charles G. Koch Foundation and Claude R. Lambe Foundation-- both are Koch Family Foundations that Charles Koch is centrally involved in. Charles Koch is the CEO of Koch Industries, the "largest privately owned energy company in the nation."[12] Other groups it has funded include the Cato Institute, Heritage Foundation, the Institute for Humane Studies, the Heartland Institute and the National Taxpayers Union Foundation. The Koch Associate program of the Charles G. Koch Foundation also provides ALEC and other groups with “Koch Interns” and “Koch Fellows.” Some Koch Fellows go on to become ALEC staffers, such as Jonathan Williams, Director of ALEC's Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force. Research from CMD and Greenpeace documents that the Koch foundations have given ALEC at least $600,000 in the past decade or so, and Koch Industries has donated an untold amount.

Of course, Source Watch lists many more associations of ALEC funding, but our piece is about the continuing misadventures of the GOP's Koch brothers and their behind the scenes maneuvers of the Wichita "oligarchs."

"State" 

Read about the Kochs social/legislative engineering.

Crooks & Liars

Missouri's top GOP Senate recruit huddles with Koch network in New York

NEW YORK — Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley huddled with influential Republican policymakers and donors at a seminar hosted by the billionaire Koch brothers' advocacy group at a posh New York City hotel on Friday, less than a week after Hawley officially launched his U.S. Senate bid. It was the second time this year that Hawley…

Quick Hit: CNN's Trump's Growing Investigation

Everything you need to know about the Russia investigation https://t.co/tlx8rg6hzr pic.twitter.com/8BPwpkr85z

— CNN (@CNN) May 27, 2017

Cable News On Trumpcare And The US House of OZ

On a day when, Trumpcare moved through your House of Representatives and Trump invited GOP House members to the White House for a reality TV appearance, cable media trodded through Trumpcare in a divers manner.

CNN gushed over the optics of a Trump staged reality show. You may notice (in the Rachel Maddow segment below) the reality show is absent any diversity. Most GOP elected officials who wished the Trump reality show visual were baby boomer and older white men stand to sound their celebrity party leader. You will also notice certain key members of the GOP House elected Trumpites strategically avoided the visual.

First, watch CNN entertain its viewer.  Alas, the timing was perfect for CNN. Brooke (Obama didn't have the "guts" to bomb Syria) Baldwin lead the discussion.

Jake Tapper sitting with (Mr. Excitement) Wolf Blitzer also aired their House vote town crier, Jeff Zellney.

Yes CNN relished int he reality show ratings. How crass?

Each the person who spoke about Trump's staged show knows the House bill is a Draconian version of the bill which never received a vote. They also know, if passed through the Congress as Ryan promulgated today's version it will lead to catastrophic financial and health ramifications from millions. 

Now, for another perspective from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow. 

Maddow offer points of consideration totally important to CNN's rating quests and Trump admiration segments. 

Over on Fox News (the crumbling Fox News), things got a bit out of control. Yet, I am certain Fox News viewers loved every second of it all.

As we watch to see how the US Senate handles the Ryan's Trumpcare, how about a perspective on how the number of people in the United States who gained medical coverage via the ACA increased from 2010 forward.

Maps Show A Dramatic Rise In Health Insurance Coverage Under ACA

April 14, 2017

NPR has also run a comparison of who benefits from Trumpcare and who do not derive benefit or how US healthcare will change should the House version become law.

As Trump and his agenda has totally consumed international news, do you recall noticing what is taking place regarding cops who kill black people.  One such case is posted below.

    Have you seen any news coverage of what follows?

Lying Authoritarian Despots

Why is it authoritarian regimes have leaders who so openly and unabashed appear on camera with lies? Lies which are easily countered or lies about which we have seen irrefutable counter-evidence.

Russia's Putin recently misquoted a former US president with the famous: George W Bush "No,,,,,,Read my lips..." quote. The Russian leader spoke as such while responding to a question about cyber interference in the 2016 US General elections.

Seventeen Intel agencies have reported about Russian hacking into the RNC and DNC computer systems with subsequent releasing of information supposed detrimental to the Clinton campaign.  Reports from seventeen INTEL sources when compared against Putin's "NO", places the Russian leader squarely in the liar spotlight.

Syria's Assad recently sat for a BBC interview and openly lie, suggest and generally postulated the most ridiculous spins regarding the recent chemical attack on a Syrian city.  Where the people depicted d in the video actually poisoned Where they actually dead? 

After that exhibition, there is no need for additional comment regarding Assad's lie.

Surely knew there was more to come. 

Trump denies any involvement with Russia via himself anyone associated with him. His comments are being unclothed as bold lies and the lies are falling flat as the days past.

 We really should have approached the 2016 General Election with a greater sense of seriousness.

SNL Does Trump W/ O'Reilly Icing

I am not a Saturday Night Live viewer,. Yegt from time to time, and increasingly so now that you have given Trump the Oval Office, I check for great video on the following Sunday. Well, last night's show was apparently a good show.  The opening segment is linked below via the Daily Motion. After that segment I have embed a classic segment with Alec Baldwin spoofing both Trump and Bill (hands on) O'Reilly.

SNL 4/9 - Video Dailymotion: SNL Alec Baldwin

A great segment.



When a president offers so much material from CNL, one has to know there is trouble in the administration.

If you need perspective, AOL News offers a brief and non detailed synopsis under the umbrella of Ruppert Murdoch's Company will investigate Fox News. A concept which is a bit perplexing since Fox News and O'Reilly have issued $13 million in lawsuit settlements to five women. And that is in addition to Gretchen Carlson walking away with $13 million based on surreptitious tapes of Roger Ailes,former Fox News head, harassment. AOL News

Trump And His White House Team; Absent Honesty

 
Donald J. Trump ✔
@realDonaldTrump
Big announcement by Ford today. Major investment to be made in three Michigan plants. Car companies coming back to U.S. JOBS! JOBS! JOBS!
6:36 AM - 28 Mar 2017

As is frequently the case with Trump and his cabal of information purveyors, he rides a tide of reality via affixing a lie. The jobs coming to the Michigan Ford plants have been in the works since 2015. According to the company CEO, Joe Hinrichs, there is something wrong with the Trup claim. 

“These Michigan Assembly Plant and Romeo Engine plant announcements are consistent with what we agreed to and talked about with the UAW in 2015 negotiations,” said Hinrichs.

Reuters offers a detailed review and report on Ford's Jobs news. 

____________________________

You know by now that Donald Trump is a liar to the level of "bigly." It should also not take a leap of your imagination to know, pathological liar surround themselves with people of the same ilk. Actually, the habitual liar is known to practice the art of lying from morning till night 365 days a year; it is what they are and they can not avoid lying. Another dynamic of the deep liar is his/her need for facilitators.

Trump's family knows he is a habitual liar. Moreover, anyone who works for Trump also know of his psychological deficiency. There is another set of people who will also become immersed in issues related to trump's lies: International leaders, adversaries and commerce professionals other nations. It is a serious matter and with each passing day we are seeing and experiencing the backwash from Trump's lies; some of which are at the level of an ocean tsunami. While, other lies lay at the level of silly and ridiculous.

As I watched last night's Rachel Maddow show, a couple of segments stood out as classic TRMS (research and broadcast delivery), Maddow's "A" Block story was, as is always the case, lengthy, but critical in delivering perspective of our lying White House denizens.

We can not believe anything that emanates from Trump and his cabal. 

Form 300 plus statements The Tampa Bay Times, POLITIFACT illustrates the extent of Trump's lack of veracity.

On another front. Trump went before cameras yesterday with an insane set of proasie regarding the US military and "phantom: forces in Iraq. Is it possible Trump nor his staff know the US only has advisers in Iraq? Does he know that our military may have released a drone attack in Mosul which killed 112 civilians (including women and children)? Once the dust settles on the Mosul investigation which is looking like an US air strike, should we revisit Trump's campaign words of "Kill then, kill their families?"

Regardless of Trump's campaign mantra, the reality is, as Maddow stated, we can not believe one word from anyone who occupies or works at the White House. 

Trump: Does It Ever End? NATO

Repost from The Daily Kos

Does it ever stop?

After Trump tweets embarrassingly inaccurate info, former NATO ambassador publicly educates Trump

By Jen Hayden  

Saturday Mar 18, 2017 · 12:56 PM EDT

Could he get any more embarrassing? Let's hope not.

This morning Donald Trump once again took to Twitter to show his utter ignorance and misunderstanding of how the world operates. On the heels of his widely mocked, embarrassing, petulant, child-like behavior with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he simply couldn’t help himself this morning:

This morning Donald Trump once again took to Twitter to show his utter ignorance and misunderstanding of how the world operates. On the heels of his widely mocked, embarrassing, petulant, child-like behavior with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, he simply couldn’t help himself this morning:

Donald J. Trump Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes.....

9:15 AM - 18 Mar 2017

 

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

...vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!

9:23 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Needless to say, people who know better immediately began correcting the President of the United States about how NATO is funded. The most notable of Twitter teachers who gave Trump a lesson in how NATO works was Ivo Daalder, the former United States Ambassador to NATO:

 Ivo Daalder 

@IvoHDaalder

3/ All NATO countries, including Germany, have committed to spend 2% of GDP on defense by 2024. So far 5 of 28 NATO countries do.

10:25 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Ivo Daalder 

✔@IvoHDaalder

4/ Those who currently don’t spend 2% of their GDP on defense are now increasing their defense budgets. That’s a good thing.

10:25 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Ivo Daalder 

✔@IvoHDaalder

5/ But no funds will be paid to the US. They are meant to increase NATO’s overall defense capabilities, given the growing Russian threat.

10:26 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Ivo Daalder 

✔@IvoHDaalder

6/ Europe must spend more on defense, but not as favor (or payment) to the US. But because their security requires it.

10:26 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Ivo Daalder 

✔@IvoHDaalder

7/ US does provide large military commitment to NATO. But this is not a favor to Europe. It is vital for our own security.

10:26 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Ivo Daalder 

✔@IvoHDaalder

8/ We fought two world wars in Europe, and one cold war. Keeping Europe whole, free, and at peace, is vital US interest.

10:27 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Ivo Daalder 

✔@IvoHDaalder

9/ A strong, united NATO, in which all contribute their fair share to defense, will secure that peace for all Alliance members.

10:27 AM - 18 Mar 2017

Doesn’t Donald Trump have anyone close to him who can explain how the world works? He’s embarrassing the nation:

Sean Kay @SeanKay_Rocket

I've worked on NATO issues or studied them for the better part of 30 years, never seen a more ignorant or uninformed comment about it. https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/843090516283723776 …

9:40 AM - 18 Mar 2017