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Author: Spocko

9 Ways You Can Help Stop Kavanaugh’s Appointment @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on September 29, 2018

9 Ways You Can Help Stop Kavanaugh’s Appointment

By Spocko

One of the things I know about fighting people and organizations with real power is the need to have multiple strategies and tactics working at the same time.

The reason is that you can’t count on just a single angle to work. The other side isn’t stupid. They know how to fight back. What looked like a sure thing can be destroyed in ways you don’t expect.

We must keep using multiple tactics. I tell people to look at their own skill sets and think, “How can I help in a way that is unique to me?”  

Here are some groups of people with areas they can help:

1) Lawyers: What kind of lawsuits can be filed? Were there laws broken people should know about?
2) Journalists: What investigation angle can you do?
3) Politicians: What does it take to start impeachment hearings?
4) Accountants: Is there a financial angle to expose that people should know about?
5) Activists: Is there something new for the media to see?
6) Researchers: What hard evidence can you bring to investigators?
7) Law enforcement: Do you have records of arrests that others don’t know about?

Good strategies allow your tactical moves to build on each other. It’s true that some tactics help, and others hurt. But we have to use multiple tactics because it’s hard to know which will work.

“But I’m not anyone special Spocko, I’m just a regular Jane or Joe.” So ask yourself:
8) Do I have access to information that others don’t?
9) Do I have a skill or position that will allow others to be more effective?

Here are two examples for regular folks like you and me:

Let’s say, for example you work in HR, payroll or IT for a retail store. What can you do? Remember when Dr. Ford wanted to know when Mark Judge worked at Safeway? Maybe your retail store is Safeway! This weekend you can be ready to provide the FBI with Mark Judge’s official employment records AND do it in a way that follows all the corporate HR guidelines to the letter so it is official hard copy evidence.

Did you live in the area in question and had a camera in 1982? Maybe you took photos of a group of boys and girls posing together in 1982 who say now they didn’t know each other. Check your files!

From the FBI new employee’s page. Note the core values poster.

I was a photographer for my yearbook. I have hundreds of photos that I developed but never published. Maybe the people who worked on the yearbooks in and around the area have photos for the FBI. (Here is a link to contact them.) Or get them to the media. Check your files!

A quick word of caution.There will be evidence that looks like it will help Dr. Ford, and it will turn out to be faked. 

One of the techniques of propaganda and “fake news” is to put out something that LOOKS like the perfect thing you want to see. People will forward it everywhere, then it will be shown as fake.  Remember the “kerning” of the letter about George W Bush from the Texas Air National Guard?

During the Bush-era people knew that real evidence existed, so they put out the evidence in a way that would discredit where it came from and the person who brought it forth. They sometimes use a sophisticated technique that combines fake evidence with real evidence to discredit everything. “If this part is fake, how can I trust all the other parts?”

Don’t get suckered. ALWAYS ask for a full and complete investigation before you trust something. 

  • Think like a good journalist. “Are there multiple sources?”
  • Think like a good prosecutor. “What is the credibility of the witness?”
  • Think like a good cop. “Is there a chain of custody of the evidence?”

Keep working on this. You never know which one of the snowflakes will be the one that breaks the tree branch, but if the snow stops the bough might never break.

Go snowflakes!

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Sen. Hirono: FBI Should Investigate Death Threats to Dr. Ford As Witness Tampering @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on September 21, 2018
Sen. Hirono: FBI Should Investigate Death Threats to Dr. Ford As Witness Tampering

by Spocko

On Rachel Maddow on Wednesday Sen Hirono of Hawaii called out the death threats and intimidation of Dr. Ford as witness tampering and said the FBI should “do its job” and investigate.

 Since July Senator Feinstein’s office honored Dr. Ford’s wishes to remain anonymous. But then the press found out who Dr. Ford was so she identified herself publicly. At that point Senator Feinstein’s obligation to keep her identity secret was dropped. However, as a constituent of Feinstein, an American citizen, and a key witness in an important government decision, Feinstein still has an obligation to Dr. Ford to protect her and defend her rights. 


Feinstein’s office should have been prepared for the attacks on Dr. Ford and had a plan. There should have been a physical protection plan, a law enforcement plan, a secure communication plan, a media plan and a social media plan. But it looks like Feinstein’s office left it all up to Dr. Ford and her people. The good news is that they aren’t clueless, Lawrence O’Donnell has been praising their work all week.  Also, my new favorite Senator, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, has publicly called for the FBI to investigate the witness tampering.   

At this point I don’t think Feinstein’s office or Hirono’s office needs to officially tell the FBI,  “Look into the threats to Dr. Ford as part of a federal witness tampering case.” since crimes have been committed. But they could.

Senators Need To Proactively Protect Dr. Ford 

Democratic Senators can do more than wring their hands, “What can we do about these mean people attacking Dr Ford now — and during the hearings?”

I don’t know how witness protection works in the real world. I believe there are protocols and processes. Maybe Kamala Harris can help since she dealt with witnesses and she has a reason to keep Dr. Ford safe until it’s time to talk to the committee. 

On TV when someone from a government agency tells a witness, “We can protect you.”  I turn to Mrs. Spocko and say, “No they can’t!” Because usually two seconds later they cut to a scene where the witness is attacked. I believe protecting witnesses in real life is more successful, which is good for the people involved, but would be bad for TV ratings. I’m glad Mark Burnett isn’t in charge of witnesses. 

What I do know about witness tampering and death threats is the technical process used for tracking threatening phone calls and email like the ones Dr. Ford has received.


If Sen Feinstein’s office was on the ball, (and they might have been) when Dr. Ford got the first phone call,  email or in-person threat the resources of the Federal government should have been used to trace and track the people making the threats. 

When there is a good cause for tracing a call (such as death threats) and there is support from law enforcement, technically speaking tracking the call or email back to the source has a very high success rate.  It’s not like on TV, “We need another 30 seconds to triangulate the source of the call! Keep him on the line!” Forensic tracing is quick, especially when you are prepared and the people making the threats aren’t technically sophisticated.

Then the judicial system needs to determine if it is a “true threat” (see Elonis vs. United States), the intent of the person making the threats, and if the communication constitutes witness tampering. All of these decisions are a separate part of the process.  (18 U.S. Code § 1512 – Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant)

This is something Senators Hirono, Feinstein, Harris can announce right now.

“We will track, trace and investigate all credible threats against Dr. Ford and prosecute the perpetrators.”

Sure we can send, “I believe you Dr. Ford!” tweets and write FB posts that we “have her back” but it will be the arrest and prosecution of the people making threats that will show the seriousness of the defense of the witness.

I love to flip the narratives to point out just how serious these threats are. Imagine that a candidate for the Supreme Court was worried about death threats. He or she could be prepared, they could ask to have their calls traced. We KNOW that those callers would be found almost instantly.

When the level of the threat is determined someone would spend days explaining their intent and, if it was determine it was a threat, they would go to jail. That would be appropriate due process. I always demand due process for cases involving people I like or don’t like. It’s the only way to ensure a modicum of fairness.
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This same level of investigation and due process for a Supreme Court nominee should be made available for Dr. Ford right now.

I’m now a big fan of Sen. Hirono ever since she called out Grassley’s office for their lame attempts to contact Dr. Ford.

“I would like us to come together and figure out what is the best way to proceed,” Hirono told ABC News on Wednesday evening. 

“Not this seat-of-the-pants stuff,” she added. “The latest, being a letter from the chairman to the Democrats saying, ‘We have done everything we can to contact her.’ That is such bullshit, I can’t hardly stand it.”

Thank you Sen. Hirono for calling out bullshit. You were right about Grassley’s office then and are right about the role of the FBI now.

Sen. Hirono on Grassley’s office inability to reach Dr Ford.
 “That is such bullshit, I can’t hardly stand it.”

The FBI doesn’t need the President’s permission to investigate death threats against Dr. Ford. Crimes have already been committed.



Now the next question to ask the FBI is, “How many people have you arrested for death threats and witness tampering?”

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Elections in the land of ice and snow and universal healthcare @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on September 10, 2018
Elections in the land of ice and snow and universal healthcare

 By Spocko
I’m in the land of ice and snow and universal health care. It’s been a great trip. No headlines about 45 in the papers! Woo hoo!
Beer Garden above Stockholm 

Yesterday I happened to be in Stockholm during their main election. The results aren’t final yet, but the center left current ruling party has a slim lead. Guardian story

I was visiting my friend Dan M, I’ve known him since the early Atrios days, but never met in person. He had lots of great stories and insight into the political scene there. l’ll write more about the fun part of the trip soon, and try not to bore people with my vegan meal adventures, 399 shots of Viking ships, mittens and statues. (Oslo’s Statue park is Amazing!)

Viking Burial Ship (non-burned variety) 

I asked him about the rise of the anti-immigration party (called Sweden Democrats). He explained that their roots were with the Nazi skin heads, and to not listen to the English speaking press about them, because they get it wrong. I’m glad I talked to Dan, because that night I watched the BBC do a story about “The New Sweden” and it was clear they were pushing the following narrative: “Sweden thinks they are so great and egalitarian but they are becoming racists and bigots, just like America and England.They aren’t so great after all!” Luckily, during one of his interviews with unemployed people saying how crummy Sweden was, a refugee/immigrant came up and talked about how fair Sweden was and how happy he was here. That kind of shut the reporter up, but not before he took the complaints of three unemployed people to the current political leader.

The reporter pushed the politician about problems with immigration and asked if the problems of the people he talked to was, “fake news.” Luckily the politician was skilled enough to push back on the faulty premise. (Dear BBC, please don’t use Donald Trump words in your interviews it makes you sound stupid, even with your British accent)

The immigration issue is real, but Dan M explained that as Sweden has taken a lot of refugees the right wing party has used the situation to blow the same racist dog whistles as in America. One of the politicians on the far right said the immigrants, “just need to learn to be more Swedish!” (as in change their skin color)

When I saw the “Queers Against Borders”
I knew I had found my people 

We actually walked into a political rally the previous day. Although I couldn’t understand the language, the pacing and the cheering just SOUNDED like a fascist speech or Trump rally (Do they all listen to Hitler’s speeches to practice?) I wasn’t sure until I spotted the protesters penned in by the police who were holding a Queers Against Borders sign. The place they were speaking was an astroturfed location that Rick Steve’s said “Latte Dad’s” hang out. That’s because of the intelligent family leave policies of the Swedish government. I saw a lot of Dads with strollers and kids in carriers. Like this guy!

Fit hot guys hold babies too! 

Why is the idea that you should invest in the health and safety of the people in your country so hard for Conservatives to get? What is that about? (There are multiple books that explain it better than I can, ask your local progressive.)


The thing that I noticed (and Dan confirmed) is that having health care makes a huge difference in the quality of people’s lives. Imagine a world where everyone feels better and is less concerned about their health care. I’m visiting it now. Why don’t we take a chance on it?

Why are Conservatives so against this? Earlier i I checked in with Digby and saw this piece
https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2018/09/theyre-still-trying-to-kill-us.htm about how 20 state AGs are tying to kill the ACA insurance pre-existing condition section. What a horrible policy these people are pursuing.

The smell of sweaty nervousness of Americans
People kept telling us how expensive it is in Scandinavia, but with the cost they get something we don’t, a removal of the undercurrent of “sweaty nervousness” that Americans feel about health care.


l realize I may be projecting based on a small sample size of everyone I know in American and the people I’ve talked to on our trip, but Dan confirmed that observation sounds right and he liked the term. It also might be because I know 3 people right now who are in financial crisis because of health care issues, so it has really focused my attention.

The right wing media in the US pushes the resentment that someone out there has something they don’t. They also tap into the feeling many people have, “I work hard for my crappy-anxiety filled life, so everyone else should too!’ People try to understand how politicians can be so nasty about providing health care to all. Are they just mean? Hateful racists? Sure, some of them.


But politicians, and rich Conservatives with great health care, also believe that “sweaty nervousness” in people is a good thing. They believe it makes them more productive. They also know it makes them stick to a job.

They see it as a benefit that health care is tied to employment. They believe it’s good for people to not get too cocky, otherwise they would quit their job and
and run off to protest like a dirty fng hippie!

When we destroy our planet, THEN we will learn
I’m reading a great book by Becky Chambers, in which the humans have had to leave the planet we messed up. But as they moved to the stars they realized that they couldn’t view their generation spaceships as having unlimited resources. They needed to see them as closed systems. They also understood that massive inequality in resources bread resentment. On “The Fleet” all the people know they have a place to stay and food to eat. (I’m not to the health care part yet). They see they are part of the whole system.

Now is the time to push for Universal Health care. If the stock market is good, and the unemployment rate is low, the excuse “We can’t afford it!” is false, it’s only driven by the health care for profit people and the desire to keep some folks more miserable than others as a motivational tool to stick to a job.
But when the unemployment goes up again, that health care goes away. That’s why the ACA and its insurance reforms are so important. There are millions of us in the “gig economy” who can’t count on future money for housing and food and who don’t have health care from a job job. Contrary to politicians like Paul Ryan, we will still be motivated to work hard even if we have health care.


We end our trip in Canada, the home of the great Tommy Douglas, who brought universal healthcare to Canada. If Americans don’t want to learn from Scandinavians, maybe we can learn from Canadians. I know I listen to the wisdom of Canadians as often as possible. Because, as you know, William Shatner is from Canada.


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Manafort Found Guilty. Cohen Pleads Guilty. Who’s Next? @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on August 21, 2018

Manafort Found Guilty. Cohen Pleads Guilty. Who’s Next?

 By Spocko

 I’m not going to try to analyze the breaking news, there will be plenty of people who will do this
See these stories in the Rolling Stone:

Michael Cohen Pleads Guilty, Admits Trump Directed Election Influence

Paul Manafort Found Guilty on Eight Counts in First Major Russia Investigation Case

What I want to note is that these two cases SHOULD signal a change in how the media talks about this case. But there will be one group that will not, Fox “News.”

People who advised the president during the election have been found guilty and have plead guilty of crimes related to the campaign. Who else could fit into this category? People at Fox News.

Recently Ellen at Newshounds pointed this out from Omarosa’s book
Omarosa: Fox Sent Daily Talking Points, Spin Suggestions, Resources To Trump Campaign and this from Buzzfeed editor Tarini Parti.

Federal election laws aren’t only about money, some of them are about disclosure. Others are about providing assistance and reporting that assistance to the authorities.

What is the value of this Fox News producer’s work?

 It’s time to stop looking at Fox News as a legitimate news organization and start looking at them as a propaganda arm of the GOP. 

Should we start looking at individuals as unindicted co-conspirators in campaign election law violations?

We know who the producer is who has been feeding the Trump White House info. Who gave them their marching orders? Bill Shine is on the inside now, what was he doing before when he was on the outside at Fox? (Besides covering up sexual harassment for decades?)

Suzanne Scott, left, chief executive of Fox News who should know about the producer helping Trump. She is shown, in 2014, with the model Carol Alt and Bill Shine, a former co-president of the network who was forced out in 2017.Credit Larry Busacca/Getty

If people at Fox, like Suzanne Scott and Bill Shine, helped Trump in ways that violated FEC rules, who is going to investigate them? Legitimate media will probably defend them, because they want to believe Fox is legit, but as they can now see people are actually going to jail for violations. This are not just fines. Other news organizations might want to stop classifying Fox News as the media, when especially when Fox execs knowingly break the law.

 Hey Hey NRA, How Much Russian Money Did You Take Today?

The other organization, and set of individuals, to look at related to violating Federal election laws is the NRA. The NRA took money from foreign entities and used it to help Donald Trump and number of other Republicans.  (See my Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony Pulitzer award nominated video)

If Manafort’s and Cohen’s cases lead to FEC violations, shouldn’t the groups and individuals who had similar violations also be charged?

Rachel Maddow pointed out last night that Maria Butina was moved to the same prison that held Manafort. But no reason was given why. Maybe it’s because they both have reason to fear from Russian oligarchs and this is a safer place. 

Sometimes I think I don’t believe anyplace is safe because of all the spy movies I watch.  Then I read about the poisoning of Russian spies in the UK. This stuff is real folks.

[Updated 4:06 pm from draft version.)

Today I’m grateful for Don Jr.’s arrogance @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on August 17, 2018

Today I’m grateful for Don Jr.’s arrogance.

By Spocko

The rich and powerful are used to working the refs, greasing the skids, changing the laws, getting rid of the evidence and undermining the Justice system when all their other tricks fail.

Donald Jr. has tried to copy his father’s moves, but he never had the same feral understanding of the world as his father. He also didn’t have the layers of lawyers, accountants and fixers that have assisted his Dad for years.

People say that Trump doesn’t care about anyone but himself or money, but I think he cares about his kids.  Jr’s mistakes and blunders, and his dad’s attempt to fix them, are giving the case against Trump Sr. some solid evidence and leverage needed for impeachment.

It won’t be the whole case, but because the Don Jr. part can be linked to the election, Russia and his Dad, it is strong.

Think about the need for approval that Donald Trump Sr. has shown. It extends to the whole world! It’s a hole he can’t fill. Does his son have the same pathology, or just the need to get his father’s approval that many sons have?

What would the son do to win his dad’s approval? Look at his actions.

I envision Don Jr. as a 5-year old in his father’s workshop.  He holds up a power saw. “Look daddy! I’m helping. I’m helping!” 

“Put that down, you’ll hurt yourself!”
After getting yelled at the boy goes off and sulks, “I’ll show him!”

If Don Jr. was dedicated and smart he could have gone on to learn the trade and rules (and how the crooked break them.) But he took the shortcuts the rich and arrogant use. For this I am grateful.

The good news is that Don Jr.’s desire for approval, combined with his stupidity, laziness and arrogance has made it easier to bust him, and then his father.

We are fighting rich powerful people who lie constantly and break the few laws they haven’t changed to be legal. They have been getting away with it for years.

I can see now that the case against Trump will use the son’s attempt to impress his father, then use the father’s attempt to protect his son to bring down the father.

In another era this would be a Homeric tragedy. In ours it’s an episode of the Simpsons.

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Carrying A Gun Didn’t Protect Rep. Collins From Insider Trading Indictment @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on August 9, 2018

Carrying A Gun Didn’t Protect Rep. Collins From Insider Trading Indictment 

by Spocko

Today Rep. Chris Collins (R) NY was arrested for insider trading.  Last year he wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post that was carried in major papers around the country. The title of the OpEd was:

I’m a member of Congress and I’m going to start carrying a gun 

I wrote about it here Does Rep. Collins have insurance for a gun accident?  

Rep Chris Collins (R) photo Michael Mroziak, WBFO

My point was to question two narratives pushed by the gun lovers:
1) A good gun with a gun will protect you from a bad guy with a gun
2) Concealed carry gun owners are law abiding and responsible

For the first I pointed out that guns can’t protect you when you are caught unaware. Only something like body armor or bulletproof glass can do that.

For the second I wrote about all the ways that people who break the law don’t expect to be caught, and when they do, there should be penalties and consequences.

You decide to break that law and carry your gun concealed into the gun-free zone then BANG!  You didn’t intend to have an accident, but you did intend to break the law by bringing your gun into a place it was prohibited.  Violating that law could mean you are not covered by insurance.

For people like Collins, breaking a law, such as bringing a gun in a gun-free zone, is an acceptable action because of the explanation given — self protection. Even though scientific data from active shooter cases will show this explanation to rarely be the case, the “self defense” explanation is still used.  An more accurate explanation would be:

“Carrying a gun makes me FEEL safe and like a tough guy. I want to be able to shoot people who I think are threatening me or my loved ones.” 

If I had followed Collins around after his op-ed I’m pretty sure I could have caught him violating the law and entering private businesses where guns were not allowed. If he was busted, and the business wanted to press charges, it would have been a misdemeanor. He probably would have claimed he forgot and that the problem was the law, not him breaking it.

False Statements Made “Knowingly and Willfully” 

Collins allegedly broke several laws in this insider trading case: Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud, Securities Fraud, Wire Fraud, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and False Statements.

We see people complaining about politicians lying to the public and to the media.But lying to the public or the media is not a crime. If it was, President Trump would be indicted 48 times an hour.

If proved, Christopher Collins false statements are violations of  Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1001 and 2.  It carries a fine and a prison term of up to 5 years.

When you read the indictment it appears that, based on the evidence, Collins”knowingly and willfully” made a false statement to the FBI.  Here is what Mr. Collins’ lawyers, Jonathan Barr and Jonathan New, said in statement.

“We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name,”  “It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share” of the company’s stock.

If Collins ends up being convicted, this will send a shock wave though political circles. How many other Congresspeople, Senators spouses, children and friends have acted on insider knowledge?

The Republicans will demand that a Democrat be indicted “to be fair” and will scream that they are being picked on by the State of New York because they supported Trump. (See NRA whining)

To muddy the waters the conservatives will push the, “both sides do it.” and “It’s a witch hunt to hurt Trump supporters” followed by it’s only an isolated case of a “bad apple.”

Even though the odds are that there are 100’s cases of Republican insider trading and financial shenanigans to one Democrat one, I expect that the media will be searching for (and will be served up on a platter) cases of Democrats who should be charged for securities fraud.

The Democrats attacked will be the ones the conservatives are most worried about. BE PREPARED!  It will be important to not jump to conclusions. The appropriate response for crimes needs to first be:  “There needs to be through and transparent investigations.” and Due process needs to be carried out for all involved.

We know that the Republicans will aggressively go after Democrats in this area, since they assume everyone is as corrupt as they are. In some cases they will be correct! But the people who will be digging up charges and making accusations aren’t going to play fair. They will just want to hurt Democrats and distract from the massive corruption at the top.

Unfortunately, the Democrats will NOT go after Republicans for these kind of crimes. Maybe they are hoping that if they don’t go after the Republicans the Republicans won’t go after them.  That’s not how it will play out.

 If more financial crime cases start popping up on the Republican side, the temptation is to paint all politicians with the same brush, so BE PREPARED.

Always Demand Due Process and Complete InvestigationsI expect a situation like with Al Franken and the allegations of sexual harassment will happen. There will be demands for resignations before all the facts are known.   suggest we demand due process for ALL cases of political financial shenanigans no matter which party. It’s the rational thing to do and politically smart.

If the accusations turn out to be true, then we were fair, and the person well have to accept the consequences. If it turns about to be BS, we can show how the false accusations were politically motivated.

Think about all the investigations of the Clintons that didn’t yield indictments. Those accusations created a sense of “something is wrong there” that has had a long lasting impact.

As much as I would like the Democrats to go after Republican financial chicanery, I don’t think that will happen, but the least we can do is to be aware that the RW alt-media will use a case of their corruption to attack Democrats to set up the mainstream media for their standard “both sides do it” narrative.
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Follow the NRA Rubles: Or Hunting Russian Honey Pot Election Money @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on August 5, 2018

Follow the NRA Rubles: Or Hunting Russian Honey Pot Election Money

by Spocko

“Follow the rubles,” said the modern day Deep Throat.  But following money is boring!  Who cares if you find the connections between Russia, the NRA and the 2016 elections of Republican politicians and campaign finance law violations?

Luckily we have Maria Butina. Everyone wants to know about her and her leader’s plan to influence the US elections.

In the same way the Stormy Daniels case gave the media an eye catching hook to look into the corrupt dealings of Michael Cohen and Donald Trump, so too will the Maria Butina case give the media a way to look deeper into the Russian connection to the NRA and the influence they have had on the Trump campaign as well as MULTIPLE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGNS.

Because the mainstream media needs to look serious, they won’t just cover this “unregistered foreign agent” they will also report on the multiple campaign finance violations committed by the NRA over the years. But we all know it’s the sexy spy that will lead the coverage. Which is fine with me, as long as the NRA involvement is fully exposed.

Following the FBI and Mueller investigations, there should be big fines for the NRA, lots of them. Because the NRA knew what they were doing. For years the NRA has used shell games and parsed the language of campaign finance law to avoid reporting and detection. As Howie Klein pointed out back in January of this year.

“There are two other clear grounds for federal campaign finance law liability: soliciting a “thing of value” from a foreign national, and “substantially assisting” the foreign national in spending to influence an election.”

The money from Russian to the NRA then to Trump will be the white whale story (orange wail?), but there are many more down ticket races where Republicans were helped by NRA/rubles. I made a video to point some of them out.

When the NRA campaign finance violations become known by the politicians who were helped, what should happen?

Fun fact: It’s illegal for foreign funds to be spent in American elections.

The NRA has a pattern of other types of campaign-finance violations too. Mike Spies of the Trace did a great piece looking into other violations, The Mystery Firm That Became the NRA’s Top Election Consultant but sadly he noted:

“The FEC is widely considered a toothless agency, paralyzed by partisan infighting, and campaign-finance laws are often honored in the breach.”

This is why I’m happy about Butina. Her involvement will highlight a lot of great reporting about the financial and personal connections between Russia, the NRA and Republican politicians. Here’s a few for those interested.

For an excellent overall timeline see Ladd Everitt‘s very through work that is still being updated.

Denise Clifton and Mark Follman in Mother Jones have many stories on the case like, The Very Strange Case of Two Russian Gun Lovers, the NRA, and Donald Trump wherein we learn about Alexander Torshin (who really should be played by Patton Oswalt in the movie. )

Once again McClatchy was head of the pack with this piece by Peter Stone and Greg Gordon from January 18, 2017, FBI, 5 other agencies probe possible covert Kremlin aid to Trump. In their recent work they have been “following the rubles” with this story about  Cleta Mitchell,  Lawyer who worked for NRA said to have had concerns about group’s Russia ties  

David Corn of Mother Jones asked the question, Did Alleged Russian Spy Maria Butina Cause a Leadership Shake-up at the NRA? The quick installment of Oliver North as NRA president becomes  much more interesting if it involves a sexy Russian operative.

(BTW, as someone who has watched thousands of spy movies I always roll my eyes when I see female spies working on straight guys. Men soooo easily get sucked into these schemes. Then add in a bunch of old white guys who like to carry around guns as proof of their manhood? As the slaughter lobby members might say, it’s a “target rich environment.” )

As more about the Butina case becomes revealed in court, it will be good to keep looking at the money and people connections but also to “things of value” and who was “substantially assisting” the foreign national in spending to influence an election.

 If the Russian plan wasn’t so effective, it might seem like something out of a cartoon show.  But we need to see that this was a long-term, multimillion dollar plan by the Russians to interfere with our elections and the NRA was an eager and willful participant.  

There needs to be serious consequences for NRA for their actions.

Right Wing Media Hits Back at Sleeping Giants Founder @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on July 22, 2018

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.

The founder’s story is very similar to mine. (About Spocko. Here is the link to my story in the New York Times from 2007) I won’t go into detail here since I’ve told this story before.

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!

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.

On the other side threats of violence from Trump led to actual violence at a Kentucky rally. In that case Trump is being sued for incitement and the suit has been allowed to move forward.

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 write about activism and have written about the death threats to gun-control activists, especially those from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

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.

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Holy Family Caged Just Like In ICE Detention @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on July 3, 2018

Holy Family Caged Just Like In ICE Detention 

by Spocko

“We will not stand by while children are being taken from their parents, and families are being taken from our communities and congregations,” explains @CCCathedralIndy Dean Rev. Stephen Carlsen. #EveryFamilyIsHoly #CadaFamiliaEsSagrada

Christ Church Cathedral, is an Episcopalian church in Indianapolis. It got me thinking. What would a border interview be like for The Holy Family? I think it would go a little something like this:

Border Agent: So his first name is Hey-Zeus. How do you spell that?

Middle initial? What does “H” stand for? Could you spell that?

Last name? Spelling?

Look Lady, if you don’t want us to lose your kid, tell us his real name and yours too. “The Virgin Mary” seems like a fake name.

Father’s name?

That’s not what I have. I’ve got Joseph T. Carpenter.
Oh, the husband’s not the Father. Got it.

What happened, did He Ghost on you? Okay, so eh, who’s the baby daddy?

Could you spell that? YHWH? No vowels? Is that some kind of Middle Eastern name? What do you mean you don’t know?

Look Lady, if this kid was born in [checks paperwork] Bethlehem, which is [checks Wikipedia] in PALESTINE, that sounds pretty goddammed Middle Eastern to me.

If the Baby Daddy’s Palestinian we need to know. We might have to deport Him. He might be a terrorist.

Does the Baby Daddy live in Palestine or does He reside in the United States?
He’s in the heart? You mean the heartland? Like Nebraska?

Mary, you are making this process very difficult. I don’t know what you are afraid of. If the Father entered the heartland legally there shouldn’t be any problem. I can’t believe that He would abandon His Son.

Now if you had gotten legally married to the Father you wouldn’t be having this problem. I’m just sayin.’

Okay, well that’s all I need. Now this nice lady agent is going to take little Hey Zeus H. Christ for a bath. Don’t worry He’ll return soon. I can’t tell you when. It’s not up to me. I don’t make the rules. I’m just following orders.

Are Milo’s threats protected speech? @spockosbrain

Published by Spocko on June 30, 2018

Are Milo’s threats protected speech?

by Spocko

Following the mass shooting at The Capital Gazette newspaper office yesterday where journalists were gunned down, Milo Yiannopoulos went on Facebook to blame journalists for whipping up hysteria about killing journalists. Two days prior Milo had texted this to New York Observer reporter Davis Richardson, “I can’t wait for the vigilante squads to start gunning journalists down on sight.“

   Yiannopoulos Encourages Vigilantes to Start ‘Gunning Journalists Down

The old, “I was joking!” bit doesn’t really work when there are multiple other cases of Milo saying similar things. David Neiwert of the Southern Poverty Law Center Hatewatch blog wrote about Milo’s history of threats.  Milo wants vigilantes to start killing journalists, and he’s not being ‘ironic’

But this wasn’t simply a toss-off remark. Yiannopoulos appears to be dead serious – that is, he sincerely believes that right-wing assassins should begin taking out targeted reporters. He’s been saying so on a number of forums, and it’s clear that he isn’t being simply “ironic” in the classic alt-right hall-of-mirrors fashion.

People often get caught up in the technical issue of threats as it relates to free speech. I understand this. Is it a “true threat” as defined by the court? Can we determine if this threat is going to incite people? What if someone acts on a general threat? What if the person wasn’t given specific instructions about a specific person, just general comments about a category of people like journalists?

These are all good questions to have, because we know that not all cases are clear cut.  The SPLC has a piece from 2007 titled, When Are Threats Protected Speech?   They look at several cases, some in which the threats were ruled “true threats” while others where they were not.


It’s important to know the distinction.

In the end, each case will turn on its own facts. But one thing is clear: Racist talk show hosts and Internet bloggers who make specific threats against individuals or call on others to do so and who intend to put their targets in fear of being attacked may indeed be held both criminally and civilly liable.

–When Are Threats Protected Speech?   SPLC Fall 2007

Based on personal experience some people know how to walk the line when it comes to threats. Others don’t. Recently there was a call for “civility” during protests involving shaming and shunning.

I fully expect that the right will overreact to our protests with an out of proportion response to any protest action.

Here is their thinking:

“The libtards protested the actions of one of our people!! We need to threaten the lives of some of their people!”  (They will then think they are clever by saying something about knives and gunfights and Chicago.)

Based on past history, they will “double down” in response to our protests. Some will launch illegal and felonious responses. The good news is they are not mob bosses or the President of the United States who can get away with threats of violence. They are penny-ante operators, low-level thugs.

When they overreact here are steps to take:

1) Capture the threats. (A.B. R. ALWAYS BE RECORDING. Use that video camcorder, audio recorder and electronic message collector in your pocket! Pro tip: It’s good to make sure it’s legally recorded so you can use it in court in a civil suit. See this guide for laws on recording in your state.)

2) Determine the source of the threats. (There are tools to help you do this you might not be aware of, check with your hacker friends.)

3) Confirm their intent. (This is important for later actions, see my link to Elonis v. United States.)

4) Use their overreaction against them 

If their responses cross the line into ‘true threats” and you captured their comments and death threats, make them available to the appropriate authorities.

  •  Sometimes law enforcement is the place to go, especially with local threats. (See Elonis v. United States about what is a true threat in a case about Facebook threats)
  • For out of state threats, go to a private attorney who handles civil lawsuits. The people threatening you might have to pay you damages. (For example, if you were threatened with death by police proxy, SWATTING, there are lawyers who will sue the people who arranged your house to be SWATTED.)
  • If you have determined their intent and they refuse to retract it and stop, their employer may need to know what they were doing during work hours using company resources.
  • Got a death threat or suggestions of violent rape from a self proclaimed Christian? Go to the head of the church that they worship at with your evidence.
  • Is there is an important woman in their lives? That woman can be copied on the threatening letter along with evidence of their threats. It should be noted that the person who shot up The Capital Gazette had a history of domestic violence.
Some of these responses are more difficult to carry out than others, and it really depends on the willingness of the person who has been threatened if they are willing to engage further with the people doing the threatening. 
Standing up to bullies and making sure that there are consequences for their threatening speech isn’t for everyone, but it is for some. The right wing conservatives have a choice in how they respond to our peaceful protests. You have a choice on how you respond to their actions, especially if their actions cross the line into threats of violence.

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