After getting yesterday’s articles published, I set up a new spreadsheet for tracking my 2017b blood sugar readings, and two new One Note Notebooks for 2017 PP articles and 2017 household records. I reordered prescription meds. I planned my grocery order for this week. Then I made all the graphics and collected all the data for today’s Monthly Report. Winter has returned to Portland with sub-freezing highs at least until Sunday.
Jig Zone Puzzle:
Today’s took me 2:31 (average 4:36). To do it, click here. Hoe did you do?
Short Takes:
From The Rachel Maddow Show: Trump business entanglements survive Indonesian mining scandal
Rachel Maddow follows the intertwined threads of an Indonesian corruption scandal, an American mining company, and the business conflicts of Donald Trump and a new member of his administration, Carl Icahn.
Welcome to Fascist Republican Rectum Reich of Ameristan, a country where one Indonesian criminal is about to have more influence with the government than all the combined fools that voted for Fuhrer Drumpfenfarten.
From The Last Word: Did Donald Trump commit treason?
Lawrence addresses questions of whether Trump’s praise of Putin is treasonous with a look at history – specifically, an accusation of treason against presidential candidate Richard Nixon in 1968. Author John A. Farrell joins.
It’s a very complex issue. I have repeatedly said war must be declared for treason to take place, but when I said it, I was not considering that a foreign cyber-attack on our election is an act of war, even if we do not choose to retaliate militarily. On that basis, I would consider Trump a traitor. Furthermore, treason, as a way to obtain the Oval Office, seems to be an ongoing Republican tactic.
From NY Times: House Republicans, overriding their top leaders, voted on Monday to significantly curtail the power of an independent ethics office set up in 2008 in the aftermath of corruption scandals that sent three members of Congress to jail.
The move to effectively kill the Office of Congressional Ethics was not made public until late Monday, when Representative Robert W. Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that the House Republican Conference had approved the change. There was no advance notice or debate on the measure.
The surprising vote came on the eve of the start of a new session of Congress, where emboldened Republicans are ready to push an ambitious agenda on everything from health care to infrastructure, issues that will be the subject of intense lobbying from corporate interests. The House Republicans’ move would take away both power and independence from an investigative body, and give lawmakers more control over internal inquiries.
The "top leaders," now joined by the Fuhrer, are merely posturing to effect a pretense of ethical concern. Corruption is the only modus operandi of the Republican Rectum Reich.
Cartoon:
A flashback to the happier days of 2013, when the worst we had to worry about was Drill Baby Dingbat.
17 Responses to “Open Thread – 1/3/2017”
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4:25 I don't think that Cheezburger is real, but there might be goodies inside.
RMS – And a CEO calls the US a "company" (instead of a "country"). And Kelly Anne Conway refers to "constituents" as "consumers." There it is, folks. They are coming out into the open now.
TLW – Yes, treason is understood (defined by the Supreme Court) as a wartime activity exclusively. But either Congress must declare that war (and this one won't) or the President must use extrardinary powers (which I believe is still available, but I hardly even have to say that this one won't!) BTW you don't mention Reagan and Iran hostages. Although you do say it's an "ongoing Republican tactic." So I assume that was in your mind.
NYT – Apparently they have backed off – I assume because they couldn't keep it secret enough to avoid considerable blowback – which tells me it will be on again as soon as they think it is safe. We must keep vigilant.
Cartoon – Bloody Bullseye Barbie.
RESIST !!!
Yes. All those.
Ah, those start-of-a-new-calender-year tasks. Dreary but necessary, and it's good to start with a clean slate 🙂 You must be glad you've got through the bulk of them (?), including the monthly reports, TomCat.
TRMS: Darn…you know the score by now. ABC News had an item here on Drumpf's Indonesian business partner (who is a local Drumpf version in all but the way he looks). The man is in the process of building a yughe new Drumpf's golf course, a resorts and two or towers for (with) him over there, but "of course" has full access to Drumpf, day and night and fully expected that to continue after the 20th of January…So that makes it two Indonesians who have more influence on Drumpf than any American not part of his entourage.
Can't comment on TLW
NYT: The Office of Congressional Ethics was independent as far as it had free reign, which is not a good thing when there's too many Republicans or DINO's involved, but it will now fall under the Republican driven House, which of course will make it only worse and give Drumpf and Republicans free reign in everything they do.
Cartoon: Happier days indeed
I hope you get upside-down Internet soon.
RMS: WOW! Un.believable! Crooked is, as crooked does. This is horrible!!!!
Last Word: If he's not a traitor, then he's in violation of the Logan Act. imho. He does not have the Nation and citizens in his best interests. (never has, imho.) It's all about him. No one else. He needs to be investigated at a minimum. Seriously.
See: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/953
NYT: And…so it begins. Sad.
Cartoon: ICK!
We're supposed to be in the low 20's at the end of the week. Brrrr….hope that you stay nice and warm. Enjoy your evening, take care, and Thanks, Tom.
Here's another one: re: the Logan Act
Stopping future Trumps with 'One President at a Time Act' | 5 days ago:
http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/stopping-future-trumps-with-one-president-at-a-time-act-843214915730
Very disappointed the right-wing media is giving credit for the turnaround to the Mango Mussolini Tweets rather than the 100s of thousands of calls to Reps pushing back on the Rethuglicans gutting the Ethics Watchdog.
Just how many voters did those Rethuglican idiots think went to the polls in November saying. “Boy, the first problem they need to solve is that ethical scrutiny of Congress is just too damn tough?"
Were there more than one tweet? The one I saw is telling – it only said the Ethics Watchdog probably shouldn't have been their first priority, even though it is "unfair." Yeah, right.
Well, it was a two-part Tweet:
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/01/house-gop-ethics-watchdog-donald-trump-twitter
I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Tweeting Twit.
Puzzle — 3:09 That burger might be hard to chew Puddy Tat! Don't break a tooth.
TRMS — Trump certainly seems to be in a conflict of interest as well as holding hands with a corrupt foreign politician. He is conducting his own business when he clearly should not be, and he is enriching himself through his presidency. As far as this goes, I see no difference between president or president-elect.
Resist!!!
The Last Word — Technically, if the hackers were Russian as the CIA etc say, then the hack constitutes an act of war, and Trump's little make nice with Putin constitutes an act of treason. Interesting, in an article I read earlier today, Assange says Russia had nothing to do with the hack but he knows who did. I'm not buying that fish story. Trump needs to be reeled in and start acting like a president elect instead of a thug. I thought back to the campaign and how Trump said that Clinton wasn't presidential. A great mirror you have Trump.
Resist!!!
NY Times — According to the CBC (also saw it from Reuters), Republicans have back tracked on this after Trump weighed in on the matter.
Fear and intimidation from Trump seems to work even on his own party . . . for now.
Resist!!!
Cartoon — Russia should have sold Alaska to Canada and then you wouldn't have had to deal with Bullseye Barbie!
I'll go inside to eat!!
Cartoon: "Bullseye Barbie"
The number one hit in Google search engine showed this link:
https://www.7thstep.org/blog/2016/01/24/maher-slams-bloody-bullseye-barbie/
.
That's because the term "Bloody Bullseye Barbie" is a TomCat original Jim.
LOL! Awesome!
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Thanks all! Hugs!!