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| Daylee Picture: A Spotted Deer reflected in the water in India. From Smithsonian Magazine |
Saturday, February 24, 2018
News Nuggets 1566
TODAY'S BIG NUGGET: The GOP Leaves the Door Open for Russian Interference -- To Win in 2018 They Will Make That Deal
America Is Under Attack and the President Doesn't Care (David Frum) from the Atlantic
"This Mueller indictment references only Russian operations on Facebook. It does not deal with the weaponization of hacked information via WikiLeaks. Or the reports that the Russians funneled millions of dollars of election spending through the NRA’s political action committees. ... Americans once thought it was a big deal that Alger Hiss rose to serve as acting temporary secretary general of the United Nations. This time, a Russian-backed individual was installed in the Oval Office. ... At every turn, Trump has failed to do what a patriotic president would do—failed to put the national interest first. He has left the 2018 elections as vulnerable as the 2016 elections to Russian intervention on his behalf. The president’s malignant narcissism surely explains much of this passivity. He cannot endure the thought that he owes the presidency to anything other than his own magnificence. ... Authoritarian nationalist parties across the western world have outright cooperated with the Russians. Russian money has helped to finance the National Front in France, and the election and re-election of the president of the Czech Republic. In Germany, Russia first created a hoax refugee-rape case—then widely publicized it—in an effort to boost its preferred extremist party in that country’s 2017 election, the Alternative for Germany. Russia supported pro-AfD comment in media favored by Germany’s surprisingly substantial Russian-speaking communities. ... To what extent does President Trump—to what extent do congressional Republicans—look to Russian interference to help their party in the 2018 cycle? ... in front of our very eyes we can observe that they are leaving the door open to Russian intervention on their behalf in the next election. You might call it collusion in advance—a dereliction of duty as grave as any since President Buchanan looked the other way as Southern state governments pillaged federal arsenals on the eve of the Civil War."
Frum gives an excellent "big picture" look at Russia's interference both with the Trump administration and in the larger picture! Well worth quoting at length here! Nuggetsman
"This Mueller indictment references only Russian operations on Facebook. It does not deal with the weaponization of hacked information via WikiLeaks. Or the reports that the Russians funneled millions of dollars of election spending through the NRA’s political action committees. ... Americans once thought it was a big deal that Alger Hiss rose to serve as acting temporary secretary general of the United Nations. This time, a Russian-backed individual was installed in the Oval Office. ... At every turn, Trump has failed to do what a patriotic president would do—failed to put the national interest first. He has left the 2018 elections as vulnerable as the 2016 elections to Russian intervention on his behalf. The president’s malignant narcissism surely explains much of this passivity. He cannot endure the thought that he owes the presidency to anything other than his own magnificence. ... Authoritarian nationalist parties across the western world have outright cooperated with the Russians. Russian money has helped to finance the National Front in France, and the election and re-election of the president of the Czech Republic. In Germany, Russia first created a hoax refugee-rape case—then widely publicized it—in an effort to boost its preferred extremist party in that country’s 2017 election, the Alternative for Germany. Russia supported pro-AfD comment in media favored by Germany’s surprisingly substantial Russian-speaking communities. ... To what extent does President Trump—to what extent do congressional Republicans—look to Russian interference to help their party in the 2018 cycle? ... in front of our very eyes we can observe that they are leaving the door open to Russian intervention on their behalf in the next election. You might call it collusion in advance—a dereliction of duty as grave as any since President Buchanan looked the other way as Southern state governments pillaged federal arsenals on the eve of the Civil War."
Frum gives an excellent "big picture" look at Russia's interference both with the Trump administration and in the larger picture! Well worth quoting at length here! Nuggetsman
What Trump is Up to and the Damage He's Causing
Whatever Trump Is Hiding Is Hurting All of Us Now (Thomas L. Friedman) from the New York Times
"Trump is either trying so hard to hide it or is so naïve about Russia that he is ready to not only resist mounting a proper defense of our democracy, he’s actually ready to undermine some of our most important institutions, the F.B.I. and Justice Department, to keep his compromised status hidden. That must not be tolerated. This is code red. The biggest threat to the integrity of our democracy today is in the Oval Office."
Friedman is using the word "either" here. It is multiple versions of "all of the above."
"Trump is either trying so hard to hide it or is so naïve about Russia that he is ready to not only resist mounting a proper defense of our democracy, he’s actually ready to undermine some of our most important institutions, the F.B.I. and Justice Department, to keep his compromised status hidden. That must not be tolerated. This is code red. The biggest threat to the integrity of our democracy today is in the Oval Office."
Friedman is using the word "either" here. It is multiple versions of "all of the above."
The Russia Probe Starting to Hit Trump's Congressional Cronies
Latest Twist in Russia Investigation Involves Unnamed Member of Congress from Roll Call
"The wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign took an unexpected diversion to Capitol Hill on Friday, when former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about a meeting between his boss Paul Manafort and an unnamed member of Congress. ... Public filings show that the the March 19, 2013 meeting detailed in court documents coincided with a meeting between Manafort and Dana Rohrabacher, a Russia-friendly Republican congressman from California, Bloomberg reported Friday."
With Nunes's nonsense on the House oversight committee, you had to know the Russia probe was going to eventually suck in Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Who is next? Nuggetsman
"The wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign took an unexpected diversion to Capitol Hill on Friday, when former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about a meeting between his boss Paul Manafort and an unnamed member of Congress. ... Public filings show that the the March 19, 2013 meeting detailed in court documents coincided with a meeting between Manafort and Dana Rohrabacher, a Russia-friendly Republican congressman from California, Bloomberg reported Friday."
With Nunes's nonsense on the House oversight committee, you had to know the Russia probe was going to eventually suck in Republican leaders in the House and Senate. Who is next? Nuggetsman
Progressivism Paying Off on the Local Level
The Anti-Trump Movement Has Already Made Profound Progressive Change from New York Magazine
"Elections aren’t everything. The far left is right to insist that workers, tenants, and communities can expand the boundaries of political possibility by organizing and exercising their collective power outside of the ballot box. Nonetheless, through good, old-fashioned electoral politics, progressives can make this country a significantly better place — and in 2018, they already have."
"Elections aren’t everything. The far left is right to insist that workers, tenants, and communities can expand the boundaries of political possibility by organizing and exercising their collective power outside of the ballot box. Nonetheless, through good, old-fashioned electoral politics, progressives can make this country a significantly better place — and in 2018, they already have."
Underlying Beliefs of Young People Driving Them to the Democratic Party
The Kids are all Democrats (David Faris) from The Week
"...the data gets worse for Republicans the deeper you dig into it. In 2016 exit polling, for instance, 18- to 24-year-olds went more heavily for Hillary Clinton than their older millennial counterparts, suggesting that, if anything, the Republican position is falling apart with the tail end of the millennial generation. Had complacency and the wreckage of the bitter Democratic primary not led many millennials to vote for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson, those numbers would likely look much worse. And it gets even worse for the GOP: A 2017 Pew poll found that fully a quarter of young Republicans had defected to the Democrats since 2015. Nor does the increasing progressivism of America's youngest voters seem to be driven by short-term reactions to particular political figures or developments. Instead, the avocado toast and Instagram set is being driven into the arms of Democrats by their underlying beliefs. An astonishing 66 percent of respondents in that youthful age bracket told Pew that they favor single-payer health care. Nearly three-fourths of the youngest Americans favor gay marriage. We are likely witnessing the maturation of the most liberal generation of voters since the New Deal."
"...the data gets worse for Republicans the deeper you dig into it. In 2016 exit polling, for instance, 18- to 24-year-olds went more heavily for Hillary Clinton than their older millennial counterparts, suggesting that, if anything, the Republican position is falling apart with the tail end of the millennial generation. Had complacency and the wreckage of the bitter Democratic primary not led many millennials to vote for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson, those numbers would likely look much worse. And it gets even worse for the GOP: A 2017 Pew poll found that fully a quarter of young Republicans had defected to the Democrats since 2015. Nor does the increasing progressivism of America's youngest voters seem to be driven by short-term reactions to particular political figures or developments. Instead, the avocado toast and Instagram set is being driven into the arms of Democrats by their underlying beliefs. An astonishing 66 percent of respondents in that youthful age bracket told Pew that they favor single-payer health care. Nearly three-fourths of the youngest Americans favor gay marriage. We are likely witnessing the maturation of the most liberal generation of voters since the New Deal."
Gun Activists Nugget
The NRA is being supported by these companies from Think Progress
"Much like AARP or AAA, the organization promotes its discounts for members as a selling point for why people should join. The “valuable 5-star benefits” promised include not just a subscription to an NRA magazine and a gun-owner liability protection policy but also savings on insurance, identity theft protection, hearing aids, car rentals, moving vans, shipping, and even wine. While some of these perks are provided by in-house subsidiaries, many are offered through corporate partners — including some household names."
"Much like AARP or AAA, the organization promotes its discounts for members as a selling point for why people should join. The “valuable 5-star benefits” promised include not just a subscription to an NRA magazine and a gun-owner liability protection policy but also savings on insurance, identity theft protection, hearing aids, car rentals, moving vans, shipping, and even wine. While some of these perks are provided by in-house subsidiaries, many are offered through corporate partners — including some household names."
The Challenge of Having an Honest Debate on Guns
Why is only one side in the gun culture war required to show respect? (E.J.Dionne) from the Washington Post
"Those in favor of reforming our firearms laws are scolded as horrific elitists who disrespect a valued way of life. And as the mass killings continue, we are urged to be patient and to spend our time listening earnestly to the views of those who see even a smidgen of action to limit access to guns as the first step toward confiscation. Our task is not to fight for laws to protect innocents, but to demonstrate that we really, honestly, truly, cross-our-hearts, positively love gun owners and wouldn’t for an instant think anything ill of them. What is odd is that those with extreme pro-gun views — those pushing for new laws to allow people to carry just about anytime, anywhere — are never called upon to model similar empathy toward children killed, the mourning parents left behind, people in urban neighborhoods suffering from violence, or the majority of Americans who don’t own guns."
"Those in favor of reforming our firearms laws are scolded as horrific elitists who disrespect a valued way of life. And as the mass killings continue, we are urged to be patient and to spend our time listening earnestly to the views of those who see even a smidgen of action to limit access to guns as the first step toward confiscation. Our task is not to fight for laws to protect innocents, but to demonstrate that we really, honestly, truly, cross-our-hearts, positively love gun owners and wouldn’t for an instant think anything ill of them. What is odd is that those with extreme pro-gun views — those pushing for new laws to allow people to carry just about anytime, anywhere — are never called upon to model similar empathy toward children killed, the mourning parents left behind, people in urban neighborhoods suffering from violence, or the majority of Americans who don’t own guns."
American Culture in 2018: A Culture "Yearning to Give Up"
The Poison We Pick (Andrew Sullivan) from New York Magazine
"The scale and darkness of this phenomenon is a sign of a civilization in a more acute crisis than we knew, a nation overwhelmed by a warp-speed, postindustrial world, a culture yearning to give up, indifferent to life and death, enraptured by withdrawal and nothingness. America, having pioneered the modern way of life, is now in the midst of trying to escape it."
"The scale and darkness of this phenomenon is a sign of a civilization in a more acute crisis than we knew, a nation overwhelmed by a warp-speed, postindustrial world, a culture yearning to give up, indifferent to life and death, enraptured by withdrawal and nothingness. America, having pioneered the modern way of life, is now in the midst of trying to escape it."
Immigration insanity mainlined in the GOP
CPAC Immigration Panel Goes Off The Rails from Talking Points Memo
"As David Bier, a policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute, attempted to lay out research proving that immigrants actually have lower crime rates than native-born Americans, contribute significantly to the economy and are assimilating just as well or better than past generations of immigrants, his fellow panelists derided his statements as “nutty” and angry audience members shouted him down."
"As David Bier, a policy analyst with the libertarian Cato Institute, attempted to lay out research proving that immigrants actually have lower crime rates than native-born Americans, contribute significantly to the economy and are assimilating just as well or better than past generations of immigrants, his fellow panelists derided his statements as “nutty” and angry audience members shouted him down."
Hollywood Culture Nugget!
Why ‘Black Panther’ Is a Defining Moment for Black America from New York Times Magazine
"Ryan Coogler’s film is a vivid re-imagination of something black Americans have cherished for centuries — Africa as a dream of our wholeness, greatness and self-realization."
"Ryan Coogler’s film is a vivid re-imagination of something black Americans have cherished for centuries — Africa as a dream of our wholeness, greatness and self-realization."
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Well, the gritty, ugly details are FINALLY starting to ooze out from this cesspool of an administration! This week's nuggets begin to open up in detail what Russia's campaign to influence our elections actually looked like on the ground. And if you care about our country, one can only say we look like a country of f#@&ing imbeciles!! The ease with which a group of cyber-slaves in Saint Petersburg was able to screw our politics and play all the right notes to turn us against each other will make you physically ill. I can only say, don't look away. Read the posts below; start to get grounded in what actually happened -- because it is heading our way AGAIN this November! -- Nuggetsman
POWERFUL Big Nugget of the Day: The Anatomy of the Russian "Campaign" of 2016
The 21st-century Russian sleeper agent is a troll with an American accent from the Washington Post
"The secretive, multimillion-dollar disinformation campaign, which U.S. officials said was called the “Translator Project,” sought to undermine Clinton, bolster Donald Trump and turn Americans against each other — all from the remove of thousands of miles away, in an office building in St. Petersburg. ... The Russians involved in the campaign executed it with almost perfect pitch — learning to mimic the way Americans talk online about politics so well that real Americans with whom they interacted found them in no way suspicious. Such deception did not happen by accident. Russian trolls worked hard to sound like Americans and camouflage their political messages in other content."
"The secretive, multimillion-dollar disinformation campaign, which U.S. officials said was called the “Translator Project,” sought to undermine Clinton, bolster Donald Trump and turn Americans against each other — all from the remove of thousands of miles away, in an office building in St. Petersburg. ... The Russians involved in the campaign executed it with almost perfect pitch — learning to mimic the way Americans talk online about politics so well that real Americans with whom they interacted found them in no way suspicious. Such deception did not happen by accident. Russian trolls worked hard to sound like Americans and camouflage their political messages in other content."
Russian Collusion: A Campaign "Bigger Than Jeb Bush's..."
‘Go Donald!’: Inside the Russian shadow campaign to elect Trump from the Washington Post
"The Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 presidential election spanned at least two countries and multiple states, and included fake rallies, false identities and divisive slogans intended to magnify Trump’s message and undermine Clinton’s candidacy, according to a 37-page indictment of a notorious Russian troll farm announced by the Justice Department’s special counsel. “I’m amazed — and I suppose I shouldn’t be — what a widespread campaign it was,” said Republican consultant Doug Heye. “It looks like the size of this was probably bigger than Jeb Bush’s primary campaign.”"
"The Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 presidential election spanned at least two countries and multiple states, and included fake rallies, false identities and divisive slogans intended to magnify Trump’s message and undermine Clinton’s candidacy, according to a 37-page indictment of a notorious Russian troll farm announced by the Justice Department’s special counsel. “I’m amazed — and I suppose I shouldn’t be — what a widespread campaign it was,” said Republican consultant Doug Heye. “It looks like the size of this was probably bigger than Jeb Bush’s primary campaign.”"
Russian Interference: A Russian Operative's Perspective
A former Russian troll speaks: ‘It was like being in Orwell’s world’ (Anton Troianovski) from the Washington Post
"I arrived there, and I immediately felt like a character in the book “1984” by George Orwell — a place where you have to write that white is black and black is white. Your first feeling, when you ended up there, was that you were in some kind of factory that turned lying, telling untruths, into an industrial assembly line. The volumes were colossal — there were huge numbers of people, 300 to 400, and they were all writing absolute untruths. It was like being in Orwell’s world."
"I arrived there, and I immediately felt like a character in the book “1984” by George Orwell — a place where you have to write that white is black and black is white. Your first feeling, when you ended up there, was that you were in some kind of factory that turned lying, telling untruths, into an industrial assembly line. The volumes were colossal — there were huge numbers of people, 300 to 400, and they were all writing absolute untruths. It was like being in Orwell’s world."
The Question No One is Asking
Is Donald Trump a Traitor? (James Risen) from the Intercept
"I find it hard to write about Donald Trump. It is not that he is a complicated subject. Quite the opposite. It is that everything about him is so painfully obvious. He is a low-rent racist, a shameless misogynist, and an unbalanced narcissist. He is an unrelenting liar and a two-bit white identity demagogue. .... At the end of the day, he is certain to be left in the dustbin of history, alongside Father Coughlin and Gen. Edwin Walker. (Exactly – you don’t remember them, either.) ...Which brings me to the only question about Donald Trump that I find really interesting: Is he a traitor? ...One year after Trump took office, it is still unclear whether the president of the United States is an agent of a foreign power. Just step back and think about that for a moment. ... Trump-Russia story is really about treason. They all want to say it’s about something else – what, they aren’t quite sure. They are afraid to use serious words."
"I find it hard to write about Donald Trump. It is not that he is a complicated subject. Quite the opposite. It is that everything about him is so painfully obvious. He is a low-rent racist, a shameless misogynist, and an unbalanced narcissist. He is an unrelenting liar and a two-bit white identity demagogue. .... At the end of the day, he is certain to be left in the dustbin of history, alongside Father Coughlin and Gen. Edwin Walker. (Exactly – you don’t remember them, either.) ...Which brings me to the only question about Donald Trump that I find really interesting: Is he a traitor? ...One year after Trump took office, it is still unclear whether the president of the United States is an agent of a foreign power. Just step back and think about that for a moment. ... Trump-Russia story is really about treason. They all want to say it’s about something else – what, they aren’t quite sure. They are afraid to use serious words."
Looking Forward
Four steps to fight foreign interference in U.S. elections from the Washington Post
"The government can take many steps to improve its cybersecurity, across the many elements of critical infrastructure and parts of our system that underpin our democratic institutions. But with time running out before the 2018 midterms, the Trump administration and Congress should take four steps immediately."
"The government can take many steps to improve its cybersecurity, across the many elements of critical infrastructure and parts of our system that underpin our democratic institutions. But with time running out before the 2018 midterms, the Trump administration and Congress should take four steps immediately."
America and the World; What's Missing Over Here
Here are 9 things Americans just don’t understand — compared to the rest of the world from Raw Story
"To hear the far-right ideologues of Fox News and AM talk radio tell it, life in Europe is hell on Earth. Taxes are high, sexual promiscuity prevails, universal healthcare doesn’t work, and millions of people don’t even speak English as their primary language! ..., lack of foreign travel means accepting clichés about the rest of the world over the reality. And that lack of worldliness clouds many Americans’ views on everything from economics to sex to religion. Here are nine things Americans can learn from the rest of the world. ..."
"To hear the far-right ideologues of Fox News and AM talk radio tell it, life in Europe is hell on Earth. Taxes are high, sexual promiscuity prevails, universal healthcare doesn’t work, and millions of people don’t even speak English as their primary language! ..., lack of foreign travel means accepting clichés about the rest of the world over the reality. And that lack of worldliness clouds many Americans’ views on everything from economics to sex to religion. Here are nine things Americans can learn from the rest of the world. ..."
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
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