It Takes a Village… TGIF Edition

This whole mess we are having to put up with, concerning Trump and his collusion with Russia to subvert our Democracy, has been coming for quite a while. Thought I might  put up some of the back story today and explain just what Putin has been attempting with regards to Trump and our country.

According to NBC News, our Intelligence Community has “a high level of confidence” that Russia’s president ”personally directed how hacked material from Democrats was leaked and otherwise used.” Putin’s motivation was revenge, according to unnamed senior IC officials, since he despises Clinton, plus the Kremlin sought to create confusion in the United States to make us appear an unreliable ally and an ailing global power.The Russian president grew up in the KGB and long worked in counterintelligence. To his core, Putin is a secret policeman, what Russians call a Chekist—a term worn with pride in the Kremlin. It’s an easy bet that Putin was briefed on this most special intelligence operation daily; it was very likely the first item in his morning briefing from Russia’s spy services, a quotidian event that Putin—unlike our president-elect—takes seriously.

The Kremlin has done this sort of thing many times to countries it dislikes or fears, indeed it’s old hat to a seasoned Chekist like Putin. But the Russians have never done anything quite this brazen to their “Main Adversary”—as they called America during the Cold War and today do again. To be clear, Putin ordered his spies to execute strategic Active Measures against the United States and top Democrats in 2016 because Moscow possessed enough stolen information to do so. He didn’t fear retribution.

Knowing this it can be ascertained that Putin cultivated Donald Trump over the many years and times they’ve come into contact regardless of what Donald Trump states as “fake news”. It’s been stated by Donald Jr on a number of occasions that the Trump family has had business dealings with Russia and DJT has a known associate Felix Sater who is a reported mobster and immigrant from Russia. After it was widely publicized that Sater had underworld connections Trump stated…

“If he were sitting in the room right now, I really wouldn’t know what he looked like,” Trump says in court papers from a 2013 law suit.

Yet, even as the Trump administration was preparing plans to ramp up deportations, the president’s longtime personal attorney sat down for coffee in a Manhattan hotel with this Russian immigrant.

According to The New York Times, Trump attorney Michael Cohen and Sater were party to some amateur diplomacy aimed at settling the Russian war on Ukraine with a plan to push Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko out of office.

We know the sordid story about Gen.(ret) Michael Flynn and his past dealings with Putin. His being photoed with Putin and Jill Stein in Moscow, and his taped conversations with Russian intelligence which untimely led to his resignation as head of the NSC.

Now we have Mister Hypocrisy himself Jeff Sessions the AG appointed by Trump, who should never have been confirmed in the first place, getting caught in taped conversations with the Russian Ambassador before and during the election. When he was questioned by the Senate during confirmation he lied about never having any contact with the Russians.AG Sessions is now being regarded as recusing himself and or resigning his post….As for the Russian

All of this is bad enough when taken alone but the one thing that is ticking me off is the disregard of everything regarding Trump and Russia by the not so distinguished Repukes in Congress. The two heads of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees,Repukes, Rep. Nunes and Sen. Burr that are ardent backers of Trump are acting like  it’s just hogwash and need to recuse themselves also. The partisan politics being played in Congress right now needs to be beat down with a stick and they need to get to the bottom of this. If it’s nothing, like the Repukes keep saying, then an investigation will tell everyone that. My take is that it’s something and they all know it and it will ruin their brand if it comes out.

On to the tweets regarding this travesty…

https://twitter.com/EasyBakedOven/status/837461110814990337

As always, I will end my diary with the woman that brought all of us here.

This is your open thread…Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

About Batch 76 Articles
64, Life long Democrat...Kossack ex-pat...fed up with the puritanical leftists wanting to destroy our Party.

49 Comments

  1. Morning everyone…My apologies to anyone that couldn’t find this diary this morning…Forgot to check the damn box again…I believe I’ve fixed the problem though…I hope…

        • {{{{fitz}}} You plucked that from my head…I thought the same thing when I read the caption…I saw her over at Chris and SG’s site last week I think but haven’t seen her in a few days to a week.
          moar{{{{Hugs}}}]

          • I wish she’d join us. We need to stay together to be strong. If I ever manage to get a spare minute, I promise I’ll join the Village at #sob as well – but spare minutes are hard to come by. Most of my online time is actually spent dealing with the community needs stuff and that’s all DK. If I ever manage to clear my list, or at least get it down to fewer and less desperate folks, I will have a lot more time to do other kinds of community-building stuff. Please give my {{{HUGS}}} to ccotenj and SBG when you’re over there. I miss them and I wish they’d come visit us here. We could make both Villages stronger that way. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Thanks, for the in-depth morning roundup Batch!

    Revelations about 45*/Russia and the sewer that is the current administration are coming fast and furious now.

    • Morning ink…YW…Fun seeing the jerks finally getting what’s coming to them…If only people had listened to Hillary we wouldn’t be putting up with the morons.

      • I so thoroughly wish it were so. I also know they would have been waiting in the shadows to snipe and drag her down, and seize the next opportunity for power.

        We have to disinfect the country with the white light of exposure to truth.

  3. Good morning and thanks Batch. Good seeing you.

    Yesterday was a fun day watching the hopefully soon to be inmates losing their minds. Hope it continues today and everyday till they’re gone. Looking forward to seeing “it” and pence gone. They’ve got to get ryan too. Don’t want him as president.

    30 degrees and sunny in Chicago. We’re having winter for a few days till we go back to the 50’s Sunday.

    • Oh hai, broths.

      I too was thinking that “getting” Ryan would be a good idea. Then I got to wondering who’s next in line of succession; lo and behold it’s the Cabinet.

      Vice President Mike Pence (R)
      Speaker of the House of Representatives Paul Ryan (R)
      President pro tempore of the Senate Orrin Hatch (R)
      Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (R)
      Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin (R)
      Secretary of Defense James Mattis (I)
      Attorney General Jeff Sessions (R)
      Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke (R)
      Secretary of Agriculture Mike Young (D)
      Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross (R)
      Secretary of Labor Ed Hugler (I)
      Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price (R)
      Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson (R)
      Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao (R)
      Secretary of Energy Rick Perry (R)
      Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (R)
      Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin (I)
      Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly (I)

      I guess we’ll need to pick off a few more!

      • That list is why we’re better off keeping them “in disarray” than taking them down one at a time. If they can’t function we’re just continuing the “do-nothing” situation of the last few years – and they’re getting an even worse reputation for themselves. If we can organize like mad to get folks registered, IDs if necessary, Dems running in as many races as possible and GOTV while they are in disarray, we take back Congress in 2018 and change the whole dynamic.

    • Great seeing you too broths…Getting shivers all up and down my spine seeing the shit come raining down on top of Dumps fat orange head.

  4. Thank you, Batch, for this roundup!

    I was hiding from the news for a few days–I just felt like I couldn’t take it anymore–but I’m now trying to catch up. :(

    A local cemetery desecration (Rochester, NY) jolted me back into action. We can’t afford to “take time off” when there is so much stuff, ranging from the terrible to the horrendous, going on at all levels of society and government.

      • Thank you, inkaudlay.

        Yes, I saw that about the arrest–hope more will follow. What I’d really like to see is the main instigators in Washington behind bars!

    • Morning barbaraes…Great seeing you…Seems it’s been awhile…We’ve all got to hide from the attempt to destroy our democracy by Dump from time to time…It’s always more fun when we see it unraveling like it has for the last few days.

      I just don’t understand the mind set of these worthless assholes that are desecrating cemetery’s…The old saying..”treat others as you would want to be treated” is not something that crosses the minds of the jerks in the WH, the R’s in Congress or their deplorable supporters.

      • The RightWingers set them loose to senselessly pillage as a distraction. It’s calculated. They want us reacting to many different fronts at the same time to dilute our focus. And to an extent it will have an effect, because we have to respond in order not to lose our decency.

      • “Treat others as you would want to be treated”….isn’t there something about that in that Bible they’re so fond of thumping?

        I don’t know that there is a way of understanding their mindset…do they even think about what they are doing?

        • It’s a very nasty mindset. You see, as far as they are concerned only white male christians are human – nobody else is. Therefore nothing in that bible of theirs pertains to anyone except them. They can abuse, maim, kill anyone who isn’t a white male christian with impunity because we aren’t human. It we “know our place” and serve them well, they magnanimously allow us food, clothing, and shelter suitable to our subservient station in life. If we don’t we’re vermin, like mice, sneaking into their spaces and taking what’s rightfully theirs – to be treated like vermin.

          They are very easy to read. I don’t understand how anyone can be that way, believe that crap – but I know that they do. If you listen to or read what they say and remember that nobody but them is considered human, it will be logical. Evil, but logical.

          And this is why we have to defeat them. We cannot work with them because they will not work with us. We have to get back into the position of controlling policy making and resource allocation – that will isolate them and drive them back under their rocks where they will fantasize killing us all but can’t actually do it.

    • {{{barbaraes}}} – have to take care of yourself or you can’t take care of anybody else. It’s not taking time off, it’s getting rest between shifts. The Resistance runs 24/7 and you can’t do it by yourself. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  5. Good morning, batch, and thanks for the background diary. Excellent read. I can’t say I expect the repugs to admit to their malfeasance but it would be nice, right? 42 right now with a high of 65 forecasted. Rain for the weekend. Off to get more coffee. Must have more.

    • Good morning gorgeous…Repukes will never admit to anything being wrong with their stupidity…Though I’m beginning to think this time they’ve bit off more that can digest and it’s going to give them such bad heartburn they are all going to end up where they belong…The gutter.

  6. 26 in south holland il at this moment as I check in on my mom…. morning folks! Thanks for the round up batch!

    • {{{rto}}} – winter comes and winter goes. These days all in the same week. moar {{{HUGS}}}

    • As the AV guy at the Art Institute used to say (he has white as snow), “Word to your mom, dude!” ;)

  7. {{{Batch}}} – great diary on a very important topic that is totally being blown off by the Deplorables. They all suffered from Ignore Cognitive Dissonance Syndrome. Russia has been our number one adversary for a century minus the 1941-1945 WWII years. It’s always been headed by a strong (and racist) White Male. That didn’t make Russia OK until now. And any foreign national’s interference has never been OK, even with it was just imaginary (like the U.N. “one world government” CT) – now they’re ducky dandy with it.

    Problem comes down to the dynamics of the group in charge. They are white male supremists. Anyone who is not a white male supremist (except sycophants) is the enemy. And they are all totally “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” – they don’t care if the enemy of my enemy is a nest of vipers who are going to kill them – they are totally unable to accept that anything that is good for non-white male supremists can also be good for white male supremists.

    And that is why we are going to have to defeat them. We cannot work with them because they will not work with us. Right now our job is Resist every way and where, any way and where, possible while organizing to take back Congress with all the levels and pieces that entails. And keeping them in disarray is going to be our best hope until we get Congress back.

    How’s that for a cheerful thought this Friday morning? {{{Village Peeps}}}

    • Works for me fitz…The Repukes have all been up front with their “I don’t care about anyone but myself” syndrome since Reagan and have gotten progressively disdainful on whether or not anyone knows it. It all goes back to them and their playing footsies with the Evangelicals and like you state the White Supremacist’s. Why the people with any common sense can’t see they don’t give a shit about them is delusional thinking. Of course if they had any common sense to begin with they would already be Democrats.

    • A lot if not most of the Deplorables are A-OK with Russia because at least Putin is a Christian…uh say what?…yes I actually had one say that to me…they like the way LGBT people and other “misfits” are treated in Russia…no “special” right given to them there…
      Oh thanks Batch…33 and sunny here in Utah…

      • {{{shenagig}}} They seriously – cognitive dissonance again – buy the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” idea. Which to them means the enemy of my enemy believes as I do. Facts to the contrary are “librul propaganda” – they are totally faith-based about it. And no, they don’t have any problem with physically abusing and even killing anyone they regard as an enemy – i.e., anyone who isn’t them.

    • Thanks, Batch. I just came to the Moose Pond to post the link, and you’d beat me to it (with a photo and everything). Great article.

  8. Thanks Batch, great diary, Lock them all up. Hold heartily agree with the Vanity fair article.

  9. Good morning, or well afternoon Meeses! :)

    Batch, thank you, very thorough and informative post! Fridays seem to be awesome post days.

    Not enough coffee in the world today…

    • zzzzzzz….oh! Momentary Grace, I too want to post awesome photos and gifs here at the Moose Pond like the cool kids do….uh how do you do it?

      • I host the pictures on the web, and use the url (web address) along with a little html code.

        Lessee if I can put it here:

        <img src=”http://webaddressofyourpicture” style=”max-width:300px;”>

        I have the max-width set so huge pictures don’t end up distorting the comment thread. :)

        If you have a Tweet that has a picture, just use the Tweet embed code.

        Hope that helped!

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