The Russian hackers, in other words, are the modern equivalents of the Watergate burglars in 1972. The only difference is the technology. The Watergate burglars broke into the Democratic campaign offices to tap phones and steal documents; the Russian hackers used malware and “cloud-based accounts” to achieve the same goal.
Did they share this information with the Trump campaign? If so, the timing is interesting. In October, a few weeks after the hackers broke into the DNC servers, New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman observed a major shift in the way the Trump campaign was spending its advertising budget. Access to Democratic Party data would, of course, have been useful in redirecting that spending. At about the same time, Trump also began using a curious set of conspiratorial slogans and messages, all lifted directly from Russian state television and websites. From Barack Obama “founded ISIS” to Hillary Clinton will start “World War III,” Trump repeated them at his rallies and on his Twitter feed. It was as if he had some reason to believe they would work.
It’s important to stop and acknowledge that the evidence we have does not establish this kind of connection between Russian hackers and the Trump campaign; the Mueller probe needs to continue unimpeded to help determine what happened and what did not. But shared data could explain why Russian state media, the Russian Internet Research Agency and the Trump campaign were all doing the same kinds of things at the same time. Shared data could also explain why Trump appeared to feel so indebted to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, why he wanted to speak to him with no aides present, why he is so reluctant to acknowledge Russian interference. It could even explain why he talks so obsessively and inaccurately about the size of his great electoral victory: because he himself believes that the Russians helped him win. He fears that this would make his presidency illegitimate. Which it would.
It was illegitimate on a number of levels. But people would accept that, barring impeachment, there is nothing to be done about it except challenge him in the next election. George W.Bush faced the same issue in 2000 and if 9/11 hadn’t happened he might not have gotten a second term. (As it was in 2004 Ohio barely saved him in the electoral college and he won the popular vote by about the same margin that Hillary Clinton did in 2016.) I guess my point is that if he’s worried about his election being seen as illegitimate, well … yeah. So what? What could we do? It’s pure ego that has him acting out about it, if that’s what’s going on.
But if he did get help from the Russians there’s every reason he would want them to help him out again, right? Whether or not Trump colluded before the election, we know for a fact that he’s colluding now since he has refused to acknowledge that it happened and won’t devote any resources to stopping it from happening again.
That thing where reporters aggregated puppet jokes on Twitter after the Clinton-Trump puppet debate dust-up instead of taking her words seriously as a former SoS talking about geopolitics https://t.co/zq5ZrOV5p6— Garance Franke-Ruta (@thegarance) July 22, 2018
Here was how that exchange was portrayed in the press:
The question as to who is the real “puppet” was unexpectedly raised in the third and final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, giving some onlookers eyes as wide as Muppets.
While Wednesday’s debate was full of interruptions and tense exchanges between the two candidates, few elicited the kind of cynical reaction among viewers as the puppet talk.
Here’s how it went down. On the topic of immigration, Clinton accused Trump of admiring Russian president Vladimir Putin, considered an aggressor by the U.S. government.
On the stage, Trump said “I don’t know Putin, he said some nice thing about me. If we got along well, that would be good. If Russia and the United States got along well and went after ISIS, that would be good. He has no respect for her, he has no respect for our president.”
Clinton responded, “That’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States.”
Trump shot back, “No puppet — you’re the puppet.”
Suddenly, puppets were dragged into a presidential election that has included all sorts of accusations and insults — from Clinton calling Trump supporters “deplorables” to Trump referring to Clinton as “crooked.”
But … puppets, really? Yep
(Sidenote: comparing Clinton’s ONE mild insult to Trump’s ongoing degrading insults against everyone from POWs to disabled reporters was one reason why we ended up with this monster in the White House.It was ludicrous at the time but there was no stopping them.)
The third debate devolved into a playground argument when Clinton said Trump was Vladimir Putin’s puppet. “No puppet. No puppet,” Trump retorted. “You’re the puppet. You’re the puppet.”
At one point the candidates literally devolved into a playground game of “I know you are but what am I?” Clinton called Trump a puppet of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump responded with, “I’m no puppet, you’re the puppet.” The internet responded in turn with muppets, puppets and more muppets.
“A presidential debate that almost seemed destined for serious discussion about policy careened suddenly into shouting and interruptions over Russia’s efforts to influence the American election.”
One company and one family loom large over this city, intertwined for decades. Cummins Inc. is the biggest employer in Columbus, built into a $20 billion heavy equipment manufacturer with the help of Mike Pence, who as governor passed pro-business tax cuts and made trade visits to China on its behalf.
Pence’s older brother Edward joined Cummins after graduating from college and worked there for four decades, running one of its most lucrative engine plants before retiring last December. A second brother, Greg, is running for the 6th congressional district seat and visited Cummins during a recent campaign stop.
But the alliance of the past is being threatened by the administration Mike Pence now serves, as President Trump’s trade war with multiple nations clobbers Cummins and other local companies.
According to the Brookings Institution, the Columbus area is the most export-reliant region in the country, with just over half of its economic output linked to foreign purchases.
“I’m very worried,” said Tom Linebarger, the chief executive of Cummins, who met with President Trump over dinner at the White House in January in a bid to dissuade him from introducing steel and aluminum tariffs or tearing up free trade agreements.
Linebarger, 55, warns of job losses ahead because thousands of jobs at Cummins and elsewhere in the area depend on trade.
“We will do everything we can to mitigate . . . the impact to jobs,” he said. “It’s very clear, though, that we’re not going to be able to mitigate everything.”
Pence’s hometown oozes internationalism: 40 foreign companies have a presence, more than half of them Japanese engines and auto-parts plants, employing almost 10,000 people. The area’s schools collectively speak 51 languages. The city ranks second in the nation in the per capita percentage of H-1B visas for foreign workers.
Cummins plants produced the drill that powered the famous rescue of Chilean miners in 2010 and the emergency generator at the Statue of Liberty.
Now the aggressive pursuit of foreign trade that made this city a recession-busting economic miracle has made it decidedly vulnerable, with businesses already canceling projects and mulling the depth of job losses.
Those are human beings, many of whom voted for Trump. I guess they don’t mind being human sacrifices for an unfit demagogue. I wonder how long that will last.
Meanwhile, here’s the very stable genius on that subject:
President Donald Trump said the stock market rally since his election victory gives him the opportunity to be more aggressive in his trade war with China and other countries.
“This is the time. You know the expression we’re playing with the bank’s money,” he told CNBC’s Joe Kernen in a “Squawk Box” interview aired Friday.
I hope all those Trump voting Indianans know that Trump considers them “the bank.” And that he’s playing with their money…
There’s a new ABC/Washington Post poll out this morning about the Helsinki summit. It’s very interesting to see how the two news organizations frame it. ABC sees Trump weakening because moderates and Independents are appalled. The Washington Post sees no change because his cult is staying with him:
Fifty-six percent disapprove of Trump, in a post-summit news conference with Putin, expressing doubt about U.S. intelligence conclusions that Russia tried to influence the U.S. election; just 29 percent approve. Indeed, 41 percent disapprove “strongly,” vs. just 14 percent strongly approving.
Just 51 percent of Republicans and 44 percent of conservatives approve of Trump questioning U.S. intelligence on the matter, tepid levels of support in his base. In the political center, 59 percent of independents disapprove, as do 68 percent of moderates. Indeed, disapproval of Trump on this issue is as high among moderates as it is among liberals.
In terms of intensity of sentiment, the survey, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates, finds that 70 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of liberals strongly disapprove of Trump questioning U.S. intelligence on the matter, while just 28 percent of Republicans and 24 percent of conservatives strongly approve.
Trump walked back his comments after returning to Washington, saying he misspoke when he questioned U.S. intelligence conclusions that Russia in fact tried to influence the election. But he also seemed to equivocate, saying, “Could be other people also. A lot of people out there.”
Trump’s challenges on this issue are made clear by the more typical partisan and ideological divisions on the broader question of whether he’s strengthened or weakened U.S. leadership in the world. Overall, 47 percent of Americans say America’s leadership has weakened under Trump, 30 percent say it’s grown stronger and 20 percent see no change. While 80 percent of Democrats see a weakened United States, 74 percent of Republicans say it’s stronger.
Again, though, Trump loses the middle, with independents seeing weaker rather than stronger U.S. leadership by 47-22 percent (as do moderates, by 54-17 percent). Moreover, while 72 percent of liberals say the United States has grown weaker in terms of world leadership, fewer conservatives say the opposite, 55 percent.
Better for Trump is that views on U.S. leadership under his presidency haven’t worsened despite the uproar over the Putin meeting. Last November, 53 percent said U.S. leadership had grown weaker; it’s in fact slightly lower now.
In terms of the Trump-Putin summit overall, 50 percent disapprove of how Trump handled it, while, as noted, 33 percent approve. (The rest, 18 percent, have no opinion.) Again Trump has comparative difficulty in his base; 66 percent of Republicans approve while 83 percent of Democrats disapprove, and 58 percent of conservatives approve while 73 percent of liberals disapprove.
In the middle, independents divide by 33-46 percent, disapproving by a 13-point margin. Among moderates this swells to a 45-point margin, 19-64 percent, approve-disapprove.
By wide margins, Americans give President Trump negative marks for his conduct during a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and for his casting doubt on U.S. intelligence conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
But public reaction nationally appears more muted than in Washington where Trump faced withering bipartisan criticism for appearing to side with Putin over U.S. intelligence agencies at a Monday news conference in Helsinki. Most Americans do not feel Trump went “too far” in supporting Putin, and while more Americans say U.S. leadership has gotten weaker than stronger under Trump, his ratings on this question are slightly improved from last fall.
The findings indicate that while Trump was judged critically for his summit performance, the event has not at this time proved to be a significant turning point in his presidency, despite the sharp criticism he received in the hours and days after the meeting and the multiple efforts by White House officials and the president to clarify his remarks in Helsinki. The poll results suggest that overall attitudes toward the president have hardened on both sides and that major events like Helsinki produce only modest changes in his overall standing, if any.
I guess you see what you want to see but if this coming election is a referendum on Trump, then I think the ABC interpretation is more salient. His cult may stay with him, but Republicans in the congress need moderates and Independents. Since they are all acting like cowards and sycophants that’s going to be a problem for them.
Donald Trump will devour the Republican Party from within, warned David Frum. In an excerpt from “Trumpocracy” published in The Atlantic in January, the former George W. Bush speechwriter cautioned (emphasis mine):
Maybe you do not much care about the future of the Republican Party. You should. Conservatives will always be with us. If conservatives become convinced that they cannot win democratically, they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy. The stability of American society depends on conservatives’ ability to find a way forward from the Trump dead end, toward a conservatism that cannot only win elections but also govern responsibly, a conservatism that is culturally modern, economically inclusive, and environmentally responsible, that upholds markets at home and U.S. leadership internationally.
In short, Frum hopes Republicans will outgrow Trumpism and into everything Trump and his followers are working to smash with a mallet. Will reject democracy?
The Frum quote resurfaced a few days ago, in a week one a radio pundit called the longest month in memory. For those who spent it on a beach somewhere, the sitting president of the United States met Monday in Helsinki behind closed doors with Russian president Vladimir Putin, the former KGB officer. No record of their conversation exists (except perhaps at the headquarters of Russian intelligence). Their press conference two hours later left jaws hitting chests across the planet. Donald J. Trump all but made public obeisance before Putin, siding with him in the conclusion that Russia had not hacked U.S. computers and run influence operations during the U.S. 2016 presidential campaign. The rest of the week, including Trump’s follow-up non-walk-back of his slap at the U.S. intelligence community, went about as well.
One cannot help but think Frum is late to his own party. Democracy is like the red, white, and blue bunting it hangs at campaign events and conventions — a political decoration but not a declaration of deeply held principle.
McCay Coppins, also from The Atlantic, conducted a thought experiment on Twitter. He asked if there would be blowback if Trump supporters approved Russia helping Trump defeat Hillary Clinton:
The question was rhetorical. The answers that began trickling in were not.
“No,” said Cassandra Fairbanks, a writer at the right-wing news and conspiracy website Gateway Pundit (and a former Sputnik employee). “I mean, I would be cool with it. Im already there. If russia was involved we should thank them.”
“No,” responded another self-identified Trump voter. “Hillary is a greater threat to our Republic.”
There were more, of course. Frum’s party is deeply committed to law and order so long as it is used to keep the lessers in their place. Otherwise, law and order and democracy are as disposable as “cold shoulder” tops will be next summer.
During a 2012 recount hearing here, the votes of students at a local college determined the outcome of a county commission race. T-party members argued at a hearing that votes of students legally registered at the school should not count. Symm v. United States did not matter. North Carolina statute did not matter. (The Board of Elections chair quoted it to them.) The T-party alleged voter fraud (naturally) and argued, essentially, that the law should be what what they wanted it to be. During the hearing, one GOP supporter turned around to flash a hand-written sign at a student spokesperson standing near me, “You are a law breaker.”
As we have seen modeled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, by GOP-led legislatures across the country, and by Trump himself, Frum’s party has long rejected the norms and practices of democracy except as pageant. They don’t want to govern. They want to rule. Laws exist to be enforced “strongly” … against others.
Jeff Sharlet (The Family) commented on the arrest this week of Marina Butina, the 29-year-old Russian operative, who had become a minor celebrity with the National Rifle Association. We had known the Russians had been using the NRA as a backdoor into U.S. politics, but Butina also involved herself in the National Prayer Breakfast.
Organized by “a private and deeply secretive Christian organization called the Fellowship,” the breakfast is the only public display of a group with a historic affinity to strongmen, writes Sharlet. The group believes in bringing key men to power as a means of shaping society for Jesus:
It’s not just the means that are antidemocratic. God, the Fellowship believes, can be understood through a study of strongmen. “You know Jesus said, ‘You got to put Him before mother-father-brother-sister’?” the late Doug Coe was fond of preaching. “Hitler, Lenin, Mao, that’s what they taught the kids.”
[…]
Putin would be a prize of another order. American fundamentalists admire his anti-LGBTQ crusades, his revival of the Russian Orthodox Church, his “family values” lip service, his bare-chested manliness. The GOP, observed Butina in The National Interest, a conservative foreign-policy publication, “derives much of its support from social conservatives … and those that support an aggressive approach to the war against Islamic terrorism. These are values espoused by [Putin’s] United Russia.”
Right Wing Media Hits Back at Sleeping Giants Founder
by Spocko
Four days ago the The Daily Caller, a site co-founded by Tucker Carlson, revealed the identity of one of the founders of Sleeping Giants. Today the New York Times did a follow up piece on the founder.
Just after the 2016 election, an anonymously run Twitter account emerged with a plan to choke off advertising dollars to Breitbart News, the hard-edge, nationalist website closely tied to President Trump’s administration.
The account, named Sleeping Giants, urged people to collect screenshots of ads on Breitbart and then question brands about their support of the site. Sleeping Giants correctly guessed that many companies did not know where their digital ads were running, and advertisers were caught off guard as the account circulated images of blue-chip brands in proximity to headlines like “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.”
As hundreds of brands blocked their ads from appearing on Breitbart, and the account expanded to put pressure on certain Fox News shows, the people behind Sleeping Giants maintained their anonymity — until this week.
When I read the Daily Caller story I saw threats of violence in the comments section (although many of the worst from 4 days ago have since been deleted), as well as personal information about the founder and his wife (a violation to the Daily Caller’s Terms of Service.) They listed his place of employment and clients he had worked for suggesting they be boycotted and used the phrase “Turnabout is fair play.”
Based on my personal experience and a over a decade of observations, for a large section of people on the right, their idea of “turnabout” is not fair play. Their response to a legal protest action is escalated retaliation.
Death Threats Are Not Fair Play
From the article:
He added that he had received a barrage of threats and harassment in the wake of the Daily Caller article, which also named his wife and friends.
Sending the founder threats of violence–because he wrote polite alerts to advertisers suggesting that they might want to reconsider where they are advertising–is not fair play.
Look at how polite and civil this action is!
How to be a Giant:
1) look on Breitbart & take a screenshot of an ad
2) tweet it to the advertiser with a polite note
3) tag @slpng_giants
The retaliation against people politely alerting advertisers doesn’t just come from unnamed trolls. Sometimes it comes from highly-paid operatives of the right. The New York Times quoted Brian Glicklich as a spokesman for Breitbart. I recognized that name. He was hired by Rush Limbaugh in 2015 for “reputation management” after 1000’s of advertisers left the show after being alerted by people about the sexist comments made by Limbaugh.
What was Glicklich’s method to help Rush’s reputation? Did he suggest Rush stop saying disgusting sexist things? He might have, but based on the public evidence I’ve seen, he went after the people who contacted the advertisers–then threatened and extorted them. These tactics led to his Twitter account being suspended twice. Twitter Suspends Rush Limbaugh’s $900/Hour Fixer For Extortion, Harassment (UPDATE) Not very civil.
When someone on the left runs a successful action that has an impact on the right, one of the tactics used by the right wing media is to identify the leaders of the action so that followers on the right can act. They don’t always say what the followers should do, just vague, “Who shall rid me of this troublesome priest?” suggestions. But other times, as we have seen from the bully-in-chief, he comes comes right out and encourages violence at his rallies. Not very civil.
I don’t have the statistics about number or severity of threats from the right vs the left. I do know that when it comes to threats of violence, the right pretends to be the victim while they actually are the bully. For example, since they couldn’t find a prominent person on the left saying what Trump does, they lied about what Maxine Waters said when she encouraged people to tell Trump cabinet members they weren’t welcome in public spaces. At no time did she call for violence against or harm to come to anyone.
Here is what Sarah Huckabee Sanders had to say about this, “The president in no way, form, or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence.” (I would laugh but I have chapped lips.)
When threats of violence are dismissed or downplayed it sends a message to people that they are acceptable. They are not.
I believe there should be consequences to the people making threats of violence to others, especially “true threats” as defined in the Elonis v. United States case.
I’m currently looking into the SWATTING of Parkland students David Hogg on June 5th, Cameron Kasky on June 6th and Sarah Chadwick on June 11th. I’ve contacted the police and sheriffs in Broward County, Palm Beach and the City of Coral Spring. It’s been over a month and there has been no arrests, but the case is still active and the cities are coordinating their efforts.
I’ve spoken to Florida legislators who are very concerned about these threats and want to ensure the people making the threats are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The good news is that Florida recently changed the state code to make threats a class 2 felony.
When the people who make threats of violence are caught, tried and convicted of felonies it will send a message that there are real consequences for those who make threats of violence.
Is it really mid-July already? For those of us who have a tendency to obsess over the inexorable decline of Western civilization, it’s easy to lose track of the “little things” sometimes like, you know, the time-space continuum. Take a breather, fergawdsake. Grab a little beach time, or a loll in the grass. Barbeque something, enjoy a cold drink. And don’t forget the tunes. Here are my picks for the 25 best summer songs. You’ve heard some of them a bazillion times; others, I’m guessing, not so much. Crank it on up!
First Class – “Beach Baby” – UK studio band First Class was the brainchild of singer-songwriter Tony Burrows, who also sang lead on other one-hit wonders, including “Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes” (The Edison Lighthouse), “My Baby Loves Lovin’” (White Plains), and “United We Stand” (The Brotherhood of Man). This pop confection was a Top 10 song in the U.S. in 1974.
Don Henley– “The Boys of Summer” – Don Henley’s most durable post-Eagles hit also features his finest lyrics. I really like this stripped-down live rendition.
Jade Warrior– “Bride of Summer” – Here’s a summer tune you’ve never heard on the radio. This hard-to-categorize band has been around since the early 70s; progressive jazz-folk-rock-world beat is the best I can do. Sadly, original guitarist Tony Duhig passed away in 1990. His multi-tracked lead on this song is sublime.
Bananarama– “Cruel Summer” – A more melancholy take on the season from the Ronettes of New Wave. I seem to recall a rather heavy rotation of this video on MTV in the summer of ’84. The video is a great time capsule of 1980s NYC.
Pink Floyd– “Granchester Meadows” – This is from one of Pink Floyd’s more obscure albums, Ummagumma. Anyone who has ever sat under a shady tree on a summer’s day strumming a guitar will “get” this song, which is one of David Gilmour’s most beautiful compositions. I love how he incorporates nature sounds.
Joni Mitchell– “The Hissing of Summer Lawns” – The haunting title cut from Joni’s 1975 album, co-written by drummer John Guernin (who also plays moog). The song also features Victor Feldman on keyboards and James Taylor on guitar.
Sly & the Family Stone– “Hot Fun in the Summertime” – A quintessential summer song and an oldies radio staple. And don’t forget…I “cloud nine” when I want to.
Walter Egan– “Hot Summer Nights” – A memorable cut from Egan’s 1977 album Fundamental Roll, which was produced by Lindsay Buckingham. Buckingham contributes the guitar licks (and backing vocals, with Stevie Nicks).
Ray Charles– “In the Heat of the Night” – This sultry, swampy main title theme for the eponymous 1967 Best Picture winner (composed by Quincy Jones, with lyrics by Marlilyn and Alan Bergman) is a perfect marriage of music with a film.
Mungo Jerry– “In the Summertime” – It wouldn’t have worked without the jug.
The Dream Academy– “Indian Summer” – If there are five stages of summer, here’s acceptance: When August and September just become memories of songs/to be put away with the summer clothes/and packed up in the attic for another year.
Chris Rea– “Looking for the Summer” – Wallet, keys…summer? Couch cushion?
Marshall Crenshaw– “Starless Summer Sky” – In a just world, this power pop genius would have ruled the airwaves. Here’s one of many perfect examples why.
The Isley Brothers– “Summer Breeze” – Yes, I know Seals & Crofts did the original version, but the Isleys always had a knack for making covers their own.
The James Gang– “Summer Breezes” – Not to be confused with the previous tune, this is an original song written by the late, great Tommy Bolin, who replaced Joe Walsh in 1973. Catchy, melodic rock with great slide work by Bolin.
The Lovin’ Spoonful– “Summer in the City” – All around, people lookin’ half-dead/walkin’ on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head. Written by John Sebastian, Mark Sebastian and Steve Boone, this 1966 hit is a clever portmanteau of music, lyrics and effects that quite literally sounds like…summer in the city.
The Webb Brothers– “Summer People” – Christaan, Justin, and James Webb started out with a pretty good pedigree-they’re the sons of songwriter Jimmy Webb. This catchy, Who-ish number is taken from their 2000 album, Marooned.
Chad & Jeremy– “A Summer Song” – The biggest hit for this British pop duo (it made the Top 10 in 1964). I always thought it had a Simon & Garfunkel vibe to it.
XTC– “Summer’s Cauldron/Grass” – A mini-suite of sorts, all about summer romance, lazy days, and the uh, things we did on grass. Produced by Todd Rundgren.
Ella Fitzgerald– “Summertime” – This classic George Gershwin song (from his 1935 opera Porgy and Bess) has been covered by many artists (allegedly there are 25,000 recordings), but I feel that Lady Ella’s version is pretty damn close to definitive.
Blue Cheer– “Summertime Blues” – Eddie Cochran wrote and performed it originally, and the Who did a great cover on Live at Leeds, but for sheer attitude, I’ve got to go with this proto-punk (some have argued, proto-metal) classic from 1968.
The Kinks– “Sunny Afternoon” – This poor guy. Taxman’s taken all his dough, girlfriend’s run off with his car…but he’s not going to let that ruin his summer: Now I’m sittin here/ sippin’ at my ice-cooled beer/ lazin’ on a sunny afternoon…
The Drifters– “Under the Boardwalk” – Kenny Young and Arthur Resnick wrote this iconic 1964 Top 10 hit, and Johnny Moore sings the lead tenor vocal. The group has a very strained and byzantine history (over 60 members since 1953), but its legacy is assured by the likes of this tune, “On Broadway”, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, “This Magic Moment”, “Dance With Me”, “Up on the Roof”, and many others.
Central Line– “Walking into Sunshine” – This jazz-funk outfit hailed from the UK and produced three albums from 1978-1984. This 1981 tune was a U.S. club hit.
The Beach Boys– “The Warmth of the Sun” – This song (featuring one of Brian Wilson’s most gorgeous melodies), appeared on the 1964 album Shut Down Vol 2. Atypically introspective and melancholy for this era of the band, it had an unusual origin story. Wilson and Mike Love allegedly began work on the tune in the wee hours of the morning JFK was assassinated; news of the event changed the tenor of the lyrics, as well as having an effect on the emotion driving the vocal performance.
Russia’s Foreign Minister has held a telephone call with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which he complained about the Americans’ arrest of a Russian woman on allegations of being a covert agent.
U.S. prosecutors have accused Maria Butina of working to infiltrate political organizations, including the National Rifle Association, before and after Donald Trump’s election as president in 2016.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “stressed the unacceptability of the actions of the U.S. authorities who arrested Russian citizen Butina on the basis of fabricated charges, and the need for her early release,” the ministry said about the Saturday call.
The two diplomats also “exchanged views on prospects for further building relations” in the wake of the Helsinki summit of Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the ministry said.
A young Trump supporter from central California has lost his wrestling scholarship after being caught happily spewing hate on camera, alongside his father and a friend. On June 30, Bronson Harmon, 18, pictured above, showed up as counterprotesters to the Modesto #FamilesBelongTogether rally with his father, Todd, and an unnamed friend. After the event ended, an attendee encountered the screaming father-son-friend trio, and whipped out his phone.
Abdul Lasaing, who recorded the video, said he heard the men shouting as they approached so he pulled out his cell phone.
“I not once said anything to these guys, I was just walking,” Lasaing told The Tribune on Wednesday. “I’m not sure if I was disrespected for my skin color or my “World Peace” sign. I was shocked.”
Lasaing said he was scared because one of the men, Todd Harmon, was wearing gloves and looked like he was there to fight.
Just as the video begins, Papa Todd can be heard shrieking “Send their asses back!” Apparently unwilling to disappoint his father, the younger Harmon, who knows he’s being filmed, shouts “Fuck you, faggot!” at Lasaing. Bronson then flips him the bird, while a still-unnamed friend smiles for the camera.
Presumably, the Harmons and Bronson’s buddy headed home to do whatever racists do after a long day of hate mongering. Meanwhile, Lasaing uploaded the video to Facebook; as of this writing, it’s been viewed over 41,000 times. In another video, posted to Twitter but since deleted, the younger Harmon was recorded shouting “Take pictures of this! Trump 2020!” The family was later involved in a physical altercation, according to Modesto Police Department spokesperson Sharon Bear.
According to Harmon, he saw a man placing a screwdriver behind the tire of his father’s truck as they were getting ready to leave. The man, who later filed a complaint with police, said he saw the screwdriver and was trying to pick it up to prevent a flat tire.
Bronson and the others confronted the man and allegedly pushed him, according to the complaint, and he fell against a tree and scraped his arm. There was a small amount of blood on his arm and clothing, but he refused medical assistance at that time, Bear said. The victim asked to press charges. Harmon told The Tribune he never touched the man.
Just three days later, on July 2, Jon Sioredas, the wrestling coach at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, called Harmon and told him his wrestling scholarship had been revoked. Cal Poly Athletic Director Don Oberhelman refused to discuss the decision in-depth, but did tell The Tribune that the video had been viewed by school officials before the scholarship was rescinded.
Oberhelman said the offer of financial aid signed by all student athletes says the university can cancel aid for actions that could cause embarrassment to the school at the discretion of the athletic director.
As of Tuesday, Harmon, who was one of the Golden State’s top-ranked wrestlers, still plans to attend the university, and focus on his dreams of being a mixed martial arts fighter. He also expressed something slightly resembling regret, with a healthy scoop of First Amendment victimhood.
“Saying what I said is definitely not the right thing. I am supposed to be there to help the community be the best person I can be and represent the college the best way I can,” Harmon told The Tribune on Tuesday. “But I still feel like my freedom of speech was taken away, and I don’t think my scholarship should have been revoked over something like that.”
The Washington Post has a great insider account of what happened at the White House over the last week. But it’s the lede that says it all:
Executive time began early on Thursday, just after sunrise.
Feeling exasperated and feisty as he awoke in the White House residence, President Trump firedoff his grievances on Twitter about how the media had been covering his Helsinki summit. And, refusing to be cowed, Trump gave national security adviser John Bolton an order: to schedule a second summit and officially invite Putin to visit Washington.
The two presidents had already discussed the likelihood of a follow-up meeting, but at Trump’s direction Thursday morning, Bolton sprang into action to make it official, making an overture to the Kremlin. By midafternoon the White House announced that plans were underway for a fall summit in Washington.
The bulletin landed midway through a remarkably candid interview of Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats at the Aspen Security Forum that underscored the disconnect and tension on Russia policy between Trump and his administration. The intelligence chief criticized Trump’s performance during the Helsinki summit and — taking a deep breath and then offering a prolonged grimace-laugh — made clear that he had no advance knowledge of the follow-up meeting with Putin.
“That’s going to be special,” Coats said wryly, as the crowd in Aspen, Colo., rallied around him in sympathy for being left in the dark.
For Trump and his White House, the days that followed the Helsinki summit amounted to an unofficial Walk Back Week — a daily scramble of corrections and clarifications from the West Wing. Each announcement, intended to blunt the global fallout of the president’s Russophilic performance in Helsinki, was followed by another mishap that only fueled more consternation.
The Giant Toddler had a tantrum after watching TV and decided to show everybody by inviting the foreign leader who sabotaged Hillary Clinton’s election campaign for him to a big summit at the White House.
That’s what we’re dealing with.
I have no doubt that he made some deal with or is under the influence of Vladimir Putin. There’s just no way to avoid that reality anymore. But he’s also a psychologically and intellectually unfit cretin. There’s something very wrong with him. Either of those problems should disqualify him and render him subject to impeachment. Both together represents a clear and present danger to all of us.
