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Dec 12 2019 01:03AM
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Conservatives can relax
Even though Comrade Trump will be impeached next week, there is nothing to worry about.
The rich, will not pay any taxes this or next year. They will not pay one cent. See:
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/57794?in=30:22
Your dreams have been realized. Since you have no plans for health, love extending Bush's wars in Afghanistan, want to have the homeless mentally ill locked up in jails, love the rising stock market (even though most of you own no stock), and have a trailer at the River, things are looking good. Climate change is not an issue since you do not live at the beach.
This is looking like a banner year for conservatives. Putin is happy and so are you.
41 comments
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Dec 4 2019 11:16AM
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Illusions of the Year
Fantastic examples for this year.
1 comment
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Oct 28 2019 10:21PM
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Bolton Deputy Stabs Trump in the Front
Opening Statement of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman
Before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform
October 29, 2019
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, thank you for the opportunity to address the Committees concerning the activities relating to Ukraine and my role in the events under investigation.
Background
I have dedicated my entire professional life to the United States of America. For more than two decades, it has been my honor to serve as an officer in the United States Army. As an infantry officer, I served multiple overseas tours, including South Korea and Germany, and a deployment to Iraq for combat operations. In Iraq, I was wounded in an IED attack and awarded a Purple Heart.
Since 2008, I have been a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Eurasia. In this role, I have served in the United States's embassies in Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia. In Washington, D.C., I was a politico-military affairs officer for Russia for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs where I authored the principle strategy for managing competition with Russia. In July 2018, I was asked to serve at the National Security Council.
The privilege of serving my country is not only rooted in my military service, but also in my personal history. I sit here, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army, an immigrant. My family fled the Soviet Union when I was three and a half years old. Upon arriving in New York City in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs to support us, all the while learning English at night. He stressed to us the importance of fully integrating into our adopted country. For many years, life was quite difficult. In spite of our challenging beginnings, my family worked to build its own American dream. I have a deep appreciation for American values and ideals and the power of freedom. I am a patriot, and it is my sacred duty and honor to advance and defend OUR country, irrespective of party or politics.
For over twenty years as an active duty United States military officer and diplomat, I have served this country in a nonpartisan manner, and have done so with the utmost respect and professionalism for both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Introduction
Before recounting my recollection of various events under investigation, I want to clarify a few issues. I am appearing today voluntarily pursuant to a subpoena and will answer all questions to the best of my recollection. I want the Committees to know I am not the whistleblower who brought this issue to the CIA and the Committee's attention. I do not know who the whistleblower is and I would not feel comfortable to speculate as to the identity of the whistleblower.
Also, as I will detail herein, I did convey certain concerns internally to National Security officials in accordance with my decades of experience and training, sense of duty, and obligation to operate within the chain of command. As an active duty military officer, the command structure is extremely important to me. On many occasions I have been told I should express my views and share my concerns with my chain of command and proper authorities. I believe that any good military officer should and would do the same, thus providing his or her best advice to leadership.
Furthermore, in performing my coordination role as a Director on the National Security Council, I provided readouts of relevant meetings and communications to a very small group of properly cleared national security counterparts with a relevant need-to-know.
My Service on the National Security Council
When I joined the White House's National Security Council, I reported to Dr. Fiona Hill, who in turn reported to John Bolton, the National Security Advisor. My role at the NSC includes developing, coordinating, and executing plans and policies to manage the full range of diplomatic, informational, military, and economic national security issues for the countries in my portfolio, which includes Ukraine.
In my position, I coordinate with a superb cohort of inter-agency partners. I regularly prepare internal memoranda, talking points, and other materials for the National Security Advisor and senior staff. Most of my interactions relate to national security issues and are therefore especially sensitive. I would urge the Committees to carefully balance the need for information against the impact that disclosure would have on our foreign policy and national security.
I have never had direct contact or communications with the President.
The Geopolitical Importance of Ukraine
Since 2008, Russia has manifested an overtly aggressive foreign policy, leveraging military power and employing hybrid warfare to achieve its objectives of regional hegemony and global influence. Absent a deterrent to dissuade Russia from such aggression, there is an increased risk of further confrontations with the West. In this situation, a strong and independent Ukraine is critical to U.S. national security interests because Ukraine is a frontline state and a bulwark against Russian
aggression.
In spite of being under assault from Russia for more than five years, Ukraine has taken major steps towards integrating with the West. The U.S. government policy community's view is that the election of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the promise of reforms to eliminate corruption will lock in Ukraine's Western-leaning trajectory, and allow Ukraine to realize its dream of a vibrant democracy and economic prosperity. Given this perspective and my commitment to advancing our government's strategic interests, I will now recount several events that occurred.
10 comments
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Oct 28 2019 09:49PM
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Smoking Gun Testimony 10-29
Opening Statement of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander S. Vindman
Before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House
Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the House Committee on Oversight and
Reform
October 29, 2019
Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member, thank you for the opportunity to address the
Committees concerning the activities relating to Ukraine and my role in the events
under investigation.
Background
I have dedicated my entire professional life to the United States of America. For
more than two decades, it has been my honor to serve as an officer in the United
States Army. As an infantry officer, I served multiple overseas tours, including
South Korea and Germany, and a deployment to Iraq for combat operations. In
Iraq, I was wounded in an IED attack and awarded a Purple Heart.
Since 2008, I have been a Foreign Area Officer specializing in Eurasia. In this role, I
have served in the United States� embassies in Kiev, Ukraine and Moscow, Russia.
In Washington, D.C., I was a politico-military affairs officer for Russia for the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs where I authored the principle strategy for managing
competition with Russia. In July 2018, I was asked to serve at the National Security
Council.
The privilege of serving my country is not only rooted in my military service, but
also in my personal history. I sit here, as a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States
Army, an immigrant. My family fled the Soviet Union when I was three and a half
years old. Upon arriving in New York City in 1979, my father worked multiple jobs
to support us, all the while learning English at night. He stressed to us the
importance of fully integrating into our adopted country. For many years, life was
quite difficult. In spite of our challenging beginnings, my family worked to build its
own American dream. I have a deep appreciation for American values and ideals
and the power of freedom. I am a patriot, and it is my sacred duty and honor to
advance and defend OUR country, irrespective of party or politics.
For over twenty years as an active duty United States military officer and diplomat,
I have served this country in a nonpartisan manner, and have done so with the
utmost respect and professionalism for both Republican and Democratic
administrations.
Introduction
Before recounting my recollection of various events under investigation, I want to
clarify a few issues. I am appearing today voluntarily pursuant to a subpoena and
will answer all questions to the best of my recollection.
I want the Committees to know I am not the whistleblower who brought this issue
to the CIA and the Committees� attention. I do not know who the whistleblower is
and I would not feel comfortable to speculate as to the identity of the
whistleblower.
Also, as I will detail herein, I did convey certain concerns internally to National
Security officials in accordance with my decades of experience and training, sense
of duty, and obligation to operate within the chain of command. As an active duty
military officer, the command structure is extremely important to me. On many
occasions I have been told I should express my views and share my concerns with
my chain of command and proper authorities. I believe that any good military
officer should and would do the same, thus providing his or her best advice to
leadership.
Furthermore, in performing my coordination role as a Director on the National
Security Council, I provided readouts of relevant meetings and communications to
a very small group of properly cleared national security counterparts with a
relevant need-to-know.
My Service on the National Security Council
When I joined the White House�s National Security Council (�NSC�), I reported to
Dr. Fiona Hill, who in turn reported to John Bolton, the National Security Advisor.
My role at the NSC includes developing, coordinating, and executing plans and
policies to manage the full range of diplomatic, informational, military, and
economic national security issues for the countries in my portfolio, which includes
Ukraine.
In my position, I coordinate with a superb cohort of inter-agency partners. I
regularly prepare internal memoranda, talking points, and other materials for the
National Security Advisor and senior staff.
Most of my interactions relate to national security issues and are therefore
especially sensitive. I would urge the Committees to carefully balance the need for
information against the impact that disclosure would have on our foreign policy
and national security.
39 comments
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Oct 9 2019 10:38PM
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Comrade Bone Spurs Betrays our Allies to help ISIS.
US allies, the Kurds, have been betrayed by Comrade Trump. In the fight against ISIS, the Obama administration worked with the Kurds to defeat ISIS. The US lost 6 troops in that battle while the Kurds suffered the loss of 11,000 fighters.
In a deal with Turkey, Comrade Trump removed US troops from Northern Syria opening the way for a Turkish invasion.
Talk about cut and run and stab your friends in the back. Oddly, Comrade Trump did not commit a crime in this action.
We can expect two outcomes. First, there will be a Russian and Turkish air bombardment of the Kurds followed by their genocide.
Next, no one will be left to guard the 11,000 ISIS fighters and their 70,000 wives and children the Kurds have been guarding. Those fighters will either form a new fighting unit or return to Europe to wreck havoc in their home countries.
Nice work for an infallible stable genius who has infinite wisdom.
Any country or local group who thinks the US will ever keep its word or honor its treaties can now be sure it will not.
Of course, they could have just asked the native Americans.
31 comments
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Apr 17 2017 01:16AM
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16 Complete Reversals Made by Our Idiot President
Donald Trump has made so many promises, from wiping out the national debt � a pledge dismissed last week by his own budget director as �hyperbole� � to changing the name of the Denali peak back to Mount McKinley, that it can be hard to keep track of how many he�s breaking. So here�s a partial list of his reversals and revisions, large and small, to date:
SYRIA In 2013, when Barack Obama sought congressional approval for military action in response to President Bashar al-Assad�s use of chemical weapons in Syria, Mr. Trump rejected any intervention, in a storm of tweets. On April 6, without consulting Congress, the administration attacked Syria, with the surreal explanation that Mr. Obama�s �weakness and irresolution� made it necessary.
RUSSIA Mr. Trump has lavished praise on Russia, complicit for years in Mr. Assad�s brutality; he has even encouraged its meddling in the affairs of other nations, like the United States. On April 5, under heavy fire for his campaign�s ties with Russia, he declared relations with Russia worse than ever, �because they�re aligned� with Syria. In another reversal, he denies knowing Vladimir Putin.
NATO For months, Mr. Trump condemned NATO as �obsolete,� falsely claiming that it doesn�t fight terrorism. Last week, after meeting with NATO�s secretary general, Mr. Trump declared, �It�s no longer obsolete � they made a change and now they do fight terrorism.� NATO didn�t change; Mr. Trump�s mind did.
HEALTH CARE Mr. Trump vowed not to cut Medicare or Medicaid, then embraced a Republican Obamacare replacement that would drastically raise costs for older Americans. It failed. Now he says he�ll force Democrats to negotiate by cutting Obamacare�s health insurance subsidies for seven million poor people.
TAX REFORM After his health care overhaul failed, Mr. Trump said he�d pivot to tax reform. Last week he roiled markets by saying he might pivot back to health care (see above).
TRAVEL Criticizing Mr. Obama�s summer vacation, Mr. Trump said that as president he �would rarely leave the White House because there�s so much work to be done.� Thanks to his weekends in Mar-a-Lago, he�s on target to ring up more bills for travel in his first year than Mr. Obama did in eight years. (And, yes, he used to accuse the Obamas of extravagantly spending taxpayer money.)
PRESCRIPTION DRUGS In December, the newly elected president pledged to use his fabled deal-making powers to �bring down drug prices.� After he met with drug company chiefs in the White House in January, that promise evaporated.
TAX LOOPHOLES Mr. Trump said last year that he would close "special interest loopholes that have been so good for Wall Street investors, and people like me, but unfair to American workers.� He then picked Stephen Schwarzman, a financier who has compared closing those loopholes to Hitler�s invasion of Poland, to lead a White House �strategic and policy forum.�
CHINA Mr. Trump targeted China throughout the campaign, saying that on his first day he�d label it a currency manipulator and act to reverse its entry into the World Trade Organization. Last week, after his first meeting with the Chinese president, he declared that China is no longer a currency manipulator, and said little about its trade practices.
NAFTA Mr. Trump told workers in Michigan that on Day 1, �A Trump administration will renegotiate Nafta and if we don�t get the deal we want, we will terminate Nafta and get a much better deal for our workers and our companies. 100 percent.� He�s failed to take any action.
THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION Mr. Trump repeatedly vowed that as president he would give up his business. Instead, he passed day-to-day operations to his oldest sons, while he continues to receive regular updates; is able to withdraw profits; and travels to promote his properties, at taxpayer expense, through high-profile visits.
THE FED Last year, Mr. Trump blasted the Federal Reserve for keeping interest rates low for political purposes. Last week, he told The Wall Street Journal that he respects Janet Yellen, the Fed chairwoman, adding, �I do like a low-interest-rate policy.�
INCOME TAXES Mr. Trump first said he�d release his taxes after an audit, and then, after he was president. Two days after his inauguration, he reneged.
EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS As a candidate, Mr. Trump made up his own numbers, putting unemployment rates as high as 42 percent, calling the government�s statistics �phony.� As president he touts the official numbers, when they�re good.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK In 2015, Mr. Trump slammed the export financing agency as �featherbedding� for politicians and big corporations. Last week, he called the Ex-Im Bank �a very good thing,� saying that �lots of small companies are really helped.�
In some instances, President Trump has adopted, for the moment, more sensible positions than the sweeping, outlandish ones he took during the campaign. Some commentators point to the comforting possibility that his reversals mean that Mr. Trump is growing in office, adapting postures born of ignorance or political calculus as he meets the realities of governing.
But then you�d have to overlook the nasty positions he�s stuck to, as he caters to the oligarchs who surround him, builds his personal fortune and stirs the darker passions of his base. Why else would he break his promise to release his taxes or relinquish control of his business? Mr. Trump now surrounds himself with the bankers he once lambasted; he�s lagged behind on promises of infrastructure jobs, manufacturing revival and health care, while opening up bidding on the wall. He�s decried Syria�s gas attack on �beautiful babies� but continues to bar Syria�s children from America.
To attribute the president�s pirouettes to personal growth would also require ignoring what�s actually staring us in the face � that there is no foundation to this presidency. With his all-important ratings tanking, the reality-TV maestro is rewriting the script, enthusiastically swapping out any position in pursuit of a �deal.� He is revealing himself to be a tactical, transactional president, with no guiding convictions or principles beyond �winning.� Not winning for everyone, as he so famously promised. Winning for Mr. Trump.
Democrats or House Freedom Caucus members, NATO members or Middle East dictators, potential allies or adversaries � all must be deeply unsettled by the one clear pattern emerging here, a pattern that is consistent with Mr. Trump�s treatment of others in private life, from his stiffing of his creditors to his swindling of students at Trump University: betrayal.
And where does that leave the working-class voters who pinned their hopes on this man? They can live with what Mr. Trump calls successes, and hope that his interests align enough with theirs to achieve some peripheral benefit. Or they can press their legislators, and demand from Mr. Trump himself, that he stop spinning and start delivering.
31 comments
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