A Lie By Any Other Name … Is Still A Lie

Posted on March 20, 2017 by jilldennison under Political commentary

The following are excerpts from this morning’s House committee hearing on Russian involvement in the 2016 election (full transcript is available here):

“We have also reviewed whether there is any evidence to support President Trump’s claim that he was wiretapped by President Obama in Trump Tower and found no evidence whatsoever to support that slanderous accusation. And we hope that Director Comey can now put that matter permanently to rest.” – U.S. Representative Adam Schiff

“With respect to the president’s tweets about alleged wiretapping directed at him by the prior administration, I have no information that supports those tweets and we have looked carefully inside the FBI. The Department of Justice has asked me to share with you that the answer is the same for the Department of Justice and all its components. The department has no information that supports those tweets. I’m not to try and characterize the tweets themselves. All I can tell you is we have no information that supports them. I’m not going to characterize or respond to the tweets themselves”. – FBI Director James Comey

Okay, let us put this one to bed now, shall we? It is time to stop playing Trump’s distracting games and focus on the bigger picture of who in the current administration may have played a role in Russia’s interference in the election. As I previously stated, Trump’s allegations were designed to deflect and detract attention from the ongoing investigations into the role of the Russian government in the U.S. presidential election. There was never any basis in fact for his accusations. That the leader of a democratic nation would resort to such nefarious tactics says much, I think, about the values, character and ethics of that person.

The “BIG NEWS” Is Not The Real News

Posted on March 15, 2017 by jilldennison under Political commentary

The big news from last night and this morning is that two pages of Trump’s 2005 tax return were released on television. Two pages. Of a 14-year-old tax return. It is rather like giving a man who is dying of thirst in the desert a 15 cent coupon for a bottle of wine. It is nothing. It tells us nothing. And in truth, though the White House staff pretended righteous indignation, it is extremely likely that Trump himself ‘leaked’ those two pages in yet another attempt to turn the public’s attention from the Russian hacking of the election, the growing claims of Russian connections among Trump’s staff, Monday’s release of the CBO report on the disastrous effects of Trumpcare, and his inane tweets last week saying that President Obama had ‘wiretapped’ his phones. Those two pages are worthless, folks. Yes, I want Trump’s tax returns released, but not two pages from 2005. I want the full returns from 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Full returns. For the past six years. Until that happens, it is not news, it tells us not a single thing about his financial dealings, and it is nothing more than another red herring.

The real news is the news that we did not see on our televisions or online or on the front pages of the New York Times. The real news is what is happening with the investigation into Trump & Co.’s Russian ties, the very thing Trump is trying so hard to distract us from.

So what IS going on with the investigation? On March 2^nd, during a meeting between FBI Director James Comey, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (unfortunate name – leads to confusion), and Senator Lindsey Graham, Comey indicated that he ‘might’ provide a “clearer explanation” of the existence of a Russia-related FBI investigation in advance of an anticipated Senate hearing on Wednesday, March 15^th. The Senate hearing is titled “The Modus Operandi and Toolbox of Russia and Other Autocracies for Undermining Democracies Throughout the World”. That’s a mouthful! The hearing will focus on the FBI’s role in any Russia investigation. According to Senator Whitehouse, “You can’t really be in the position of saying, ‘your congressional oversight will interfere with an ongoing investigation but we’re not going to confirm that we have an ongoing investigation.’ You can’t have it both ways.” In other words, Senators Whitehouse and Graham are still trying to figure out if the FBI has an investigation going. Sigh.

Turning our focus to the House investigation, the two top leaders are Representative Adam Schiff and Representative Devin Nunes. Schiff says Russia’s effort to sway the election for President Donald Trump is one of the most serious issues of our time. Devin Nunes isn’t even convinced Russia tried to help Trump. Obviously this one will go well. Nunes, by the way, was a member of Trump’s transition team, if that tells you anything. THIS, folks, exemplifies why we need an independent investigation. At the very beginning of the House investigation, Nunes claimed he saw no evidence tying Trump officials to Moscow. Schiff responded with, “When you begin an investigation, you don’t begin by stating what you believe to be the conclusion.” Quite so … it would be like a scientist drawing a conclusion, then looking only for data to support his conclusion. This is NOT the way to run an investigation.

In other news, Representative Nunes announced earlier today that he has not seen any evidence that then-President Barack Obama wiretapped Donald Trump last year. “We don’t have any evidence that that took place and in fact I don’t believe — just in the last week of time, the people we’ve talked to — I don’t think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower.” What a surprise, huh? Another red herring bites the dust. I wonder if they checked the microwave oven for hidden cameras?

In still other news, FBI investigators and computer scientists continue to examine whether there was a computer server connection between the Trump Organization and a Russian bank, Alfa Bank, according to a CNN report.

The news that I would like to hear, is what is being done to investigate the ever-widening array of contacts between Trump and Putin via Trump’s businesses, family, and staff/cabinet members. Politico has put together seven charts that best clarifies what we know at this point. Below is the first of the seven, but I encourage readers to check out the others as well, as there are some rather interesting connections that I was not aware of.

It is imperative that we focus on those things that actually have relevance. Two pages of Donald Trump’s 14-year-old tax returns are not relevant and tell us absolutely nothing. His claims of wiretapping are ludicrous. Yet it is these stories that we are force-fed to the exclusion of the more important news. Trump is using diversionary tactics to send us all off chasing moonbeams while ignoring the fires under our feet. There is a reason … always a reason …

Collusion in the White House

Posted on February 24, 2017 by jilldennison under Political commentary

The word for it is ‘collusion’. When the White House Chief of Staff contacts the Assistant Director of the FBI and asks him to comment in a specific manner about an ongoing investigation into possibly illegal activities by White House officials, that is collusion. It is illegal, improper, unacceptable behaviour by a government official.

Reince Priebus

After a 14 February story ran in the New York Times stating that the investigation into the Russian hacking of the DNC last year had turned up conversations between Trump’s campaign aides and Russian officials, Reince Priebus contacted FBI Assistant Director Andrew McCabe, and asked him to de-bunk the Times story. Allegedly, McCabe told Priebus that the story was inaccurate, at which point Priebus requested that McCabe announce that conclusion publicly. McCabe later, presumably after speaking with his boss, FBI Director James Comey, contacted Priebus and told him that he could not make a public statement at this time, but that Priebus could cite “senior intelligence officials” as saying there was “nothing to” the Times story.

Andrew McCabe

The intelligence community, including the FBI, obviously believes, and has stated, that there is something to the story, else they would not be investigating it. Congress has launched its own investigation, thus they obviously believe there is something to the story. Neither Priebus nor McCabe had any right to have that conversation, and both should be terminated. Priebus took his show on the road on Sunday, when during an interview with Meet the Press, he said that the “top levels of the intelligence community” assured him the Times story was “not only inaccurate” but “grossly overstated” and “wrong.”

If White House officials, including Trump, Bannon, Conway, Spicer and Priebus spent half as much time doing actual work, doing what we, their employers, need them to be doing as they spend worrying about what people are saying about them, then people might not have as much to criticize. As best I can tell, the entire past month has been a cluster of ‘he said, she said’, the press is the enemy, the Democrats are our enemies, the public is rude to us, and ranting over every perceived slight.

Trump only made matters worse this morning when he tweeted “The FBI is totally unable to stop the national security ‘leakers’ that have permeated our government for a long time. They can’t even find the leakers within the FBI itself. Classified information is being given to media that could have a devastating effect on U.S. FIND NOW.”

A 2009 memo from then-Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is to advise the White House on pending criminal or civil investigations “only when it is important for the performance of the president’s duties and appropriate from a law enforcement perspective.” When communication has to occur, the memo said, it should involve only the highest-level officials from the White House and the Justice Department.

The FBI is but one of 17 intelligence agencies in the U.S., all of whom have a role in this investigation. One would think Director James Comey would have learned a lesson after his ‘October Surprise’ that cost Hillary Clinton her lead, and likely the election. But apparently, commenting on ongoing investigations is the new normal for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and unfortunately, it casts a shadow on their credibility.

Egg on Their Faces

Posted on October 31, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary, Rants

In the wake of Friday’s ‘Big Broohaha’ over James Comey’s infamous letter, a number of people are left with a huge amount of egg on their faces. I hope the chickens have been laying lots of eggs, else there may not be enough to go around!

Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee who has already vowed to spend the next several years investigating Clinton should she be elected president, quickly rushed to announce the news, falsely claiming that the case had been “re-opened.”

Minutes later, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan repeated Chaffetz’s incorrect assessment and demanded that Clinton’s classified intelligence briefings — something provided to both major party nominees — be ceased:

In a rally in New Hampshire, an almost-giddy Donald Trump told supporters, “The FBI has just sent a letter to Congress informing them that they have discovered new emails pertaining to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s investigation and they are reopening into the case into her criminal and illegal conduct.”

Other Republicans in Congress were quick to make the same false claims:

Republican Representative Blake Farenthold: “BREAKING: FBI Director just told members that the FBI is reopening the Clinton investigation b/c of new emails.”

Republican Representative Tom Price: “BREAKING: FBI reopens Clinton email server investigation. Read my response HERE: → link

Republican Representative Buddy Carter: “The FBI has reopened its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s email server”

Though nothing in Comey’s letter said the case was being reopened, an array of news outlets repeated Chaffetz’ incorrect characterization. NBC News initially posted a story with this framing, later changing the headline and lede to drop the claim. USA Today tweeted, falsely, that the FBI director had said the probe was being reopened. The Hill and Bloomberg also got the facts wrong.

Remember that child’s game called the Telephone Game? One child whispers something to the next, then that child passes it along to the next, and so on. When it gets to the last child, he or she says the phrase and everybody has a good laugh at how much it has changed from the original. Fun for a child’s game, maybe, but not so much fun when it impacts millions of lives, as the careless, malicious, irresponsible messages by House Representatives and the media alike did last Friday.

I believe that disciplinary action for all those who acted irresponsibly in this incident should be immediate. Starting with James Comey. While I have heard some call for “Congress to impeach” Comey, that is not the correct procedure. President Obama has the power to terminate Comey’s employment, and I would call on the president to do so immediately, however that would merely open the floodgate for Republicans to cry “foul”. He could, however, request Mr. Comey’s resignation, and I hope that he will do so. As for the Congressmen involved, each one is on the ballot in their home states on November 8^th. I call for voters to vote them out of office, for not a single one of those who perpetuated this falsity has the intellect nor the temperament to serve in such a high office within our government.

The press, appropriately, cannot be sanctioned by the government. This is as it should be. However, in this situation, I believe those news agencies that ran with the story based on the Republicans’ spin rather than first looking into the facts, should be held accountable. Their disciplinary action is in our hands … yours, mine, every viewer or reader … and our power is enormous if we use it wisely. Politico, Fox News, NPR, USA Today, and all three cable news networks have covered the story non-stop since it broke, often adopting the “re-opening” framing and suggesting the news is a major election bombshell. The only possible means of holding the press accountable is to hit them where it hurts: their profits.

I am disappointed in so many from Comey to certain House members to the media, as well as the public themselves. This was the fiasco that never should have been, and We The People are paying the price. Unfortunately, this puts an additional wedge in the divisiveness that has already done so much damage over the past 15 months, the results of which are scars that may never fully heal.

If this entire fiasco was an attempt to throw the election to Trump, I seriously doubt it will see success. Hillary Clinton, despite dropping poll numbers, continues to have the straightest path to the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election. After 15 months of listening to the rhetoric, researching the candidates and their ideologies, thoughtful voters will have already made their decision and are not likely to be swayed by yet another non-scandal. Those who, after 15 months, are still undecided, are in the minority, although they make the loudest noises of any. In the end, all the bombast will likely have been for naught, and many will slink away with their tails between their legs and a great deal of egg on their faces.

WITCH HUNT!!!!!!!!

Posted on July 12, 2016 by jilldennison under Political commentary

The first witch hunt in what would become the United States, began in March 1662, in Hartford Connecticut, with the sudden and unexplained death of 8-year-old Elizabeth Kelly. Little Elizabeth had been fine just days before when she returned home with a neighbor, Goodwife Ayres. The next night she became ill, and the parents later claimed that she woke up screaming “Father! Father! Help me, help me! Goodwife Ayres is upon me. She chokes me. She kneels on my belly. She will break my bowels. She pinches me. She will make me black and blue.” After Elizabeth’s death, accusations of bewitchment flew, and fingers were pointed at numerous townspeople. Hysteria gripped Hartford. This particular witch hunt would end in 1665, after seven trials, many accusations, and four executions. Thus began the American tradition of witch hunts. Later, of course, came the infamous Salem witch trials, between February 1692 and May 1693, that would end with the executions of some 20 people. But that is another story for another day …

As is the case with most time-honoured traditions, the witch hunt has evolved and changed, though not necessarily for the better. We are now, in the year 2016, in the midst of yet another massive witch hunt. Though this particular “witch” has been proven innocent of all charges more than once, there are those who still call for blood. This particular witch hunt is more a product of the current political environment than it is of any actual crime. The accused? Hillary Clinton, of course. The accusation? That her use of a private email server during her tenure as U.S. Secretary of State was somehow criminal and that she somehow operated with the intention of committing fraud or a breech of national security. The accusers? The “townspeople” of the Republican Party. The victims? The taxpayers of the United States.

The facts of the matter:

When Clinton got to the Department, she opted to use her personal email account as a matter of convenience. It enabled her to reach people quickly and keep in regular touch with her family and friends more easily given her travel schedule.

The laws, regulations, and State Department policy in place during her tenure permitted her to use a non-government email for work. Clinton’s practices complied with laws and regulations,

Clinton only used her account for unclassified email. No information in Clinton’s emails was marked classified at the time she sent or received them. Classified information was handled by a separate, closed email system used by the State Department

Clinton used only one email account during her tenure at State.

Clinton provided all emails that were even potentially work-related—including emails about using a fax machine or asking for iced tea during a meeting—erring on the side of over-inclusion, as confirmed by the Department and National Archives.

There is no evidence there was ever a breach in security of the server.

Given the above indisputable facts, there is no “scandal”, no “email-gate”, no reason for the politicos and the citizens to be up in arms, to be chasing a “witch” with boiling oil and clubs. So, why ….? Because, dear friends, we are only a few months away from a general election in which we will select a new President of the United States. And because the Republican Party has no viable candidate who can even conceivably win that election based on his own merit. Therefore, they find it necessary to create a distraction, a diversion to make it appear that the other candidate must be disqualified.

Make no mistake, the Republican Party is not proud of their presumptive nominee. They are even ashamed to call him their own, as evidenced by the fact that many prominent republicans are finding excuses to stay away from the upcoming nominating convention, and the party has been scurrying to try to find speakers. So, if you have a candidate who cannot possibly win based on merit, what do you do? You do everything you can to make the opponent look even worse, to make her appear to have thrown in her lot with witches and warlocks and even the devil himself! It is what is known as the “last best hope”, or “grasping at straws”. But guess who is paying a high price for these antics? Yes, We The People are paying. Some $30 million, by some estimates.

After a lengthy investigation (read costly) FBI director James Comey announced that there was absolutely no evidence of criminal intent by Ms. Clinton regarding the use of a private email server. He stated that the FBI would recommend that no charges be filed against Ms. Clinton in regards to her use of a private email server. Had there been even the slightest shred of evidence to support further investigation or charges being filed, Mr. Comey, a Republican, would have jumped at the opportunity. That in itself is perhaps the best evidence that there is no scandal, was no criminal intent. At the same time, Mr. Comey seemed unable to resist giving his opinion of Ms. Clinton by saying she was extremely careless, showed poor judgment (which she herself said long ago) and so on and so forth, ad nauseam. It is that opinion, clearly done with purpose and ‘malice aforethought’, that has prompted Republicans far and wide to call for additional investigations, again at taxpayer expense. The results of any such investigations will be the same as the FBI investigation, will not result in charges against Ms. Clinton, and will be nothing more than GOP games to try to keep the non-scandal alive and in the public eye until November 8^th. There is no doubt that, were it not an election year, or were Hillary Clinton not running for president, this matter would have already faded into oblivion. Thus it is nothing more, nothing less, than a witch hunt.

As a result of the FBI investigation, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced that the AG’s office will not file charges against Clinton, which subsequently led to a feeding frenzy among the GOP. This morning, Republican lawmakers grilled the Attorney General at great length, asking for details, asking endless and repetitious questions. To her credit, Ms. Lynch stood firm in her refusal to provide details, stating that it would be inappropriate for her to disclose information about confidential briefings, as is her right and also her responsibility.

It is all over. There can be further investigations, however there will be no new and shocking results. The fact is that there is no scandal, there was neither criminal intent nor negligence, and it is a trumped-up (pun fully intended) witch hunt intended to distract the American voting public. Don’t fall for it, folks.

I leave you with one final thought. The odds are slim-to-none, but what if the Republicans were to actually succeed in getting the Department of Justice to file charges against Clinton? And what if those charges rendered her to be disqualified from the race for president? What would happen? What would happen, my friends, is that Bernie Sanders would in all likelihood become the Democratic nominee, and Bernie Sanders would win against Donald Trump by a landslide! I find it quite humorous to think about … in all this, I doubt that the Republicans actually want Clinton disqualified, I think they merely want to keep this non-scandal alive and well until after election day!

Filosofa's Word

Cogito Ergo Sum

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