I've got two TVs on and six tabs open on my Internet monitor, flipping around, checking out what the boys (and girls) on the buses and in the "newsrooms" are saying about James Comey's announcement that the FBI is going to reopen the investigation into Shrillery's e-mails. Donald Trump and his supporters are predictably delighted. Mrs Bill Clinton and hers...not so much.
La Clinton's plane sat on the tarmac on arrival at Cedar Rapids IA for half an hour before the front door open and She Who Would Be President came down the airstairs. Questions were shouted at her about the bombshell announcement. Answer came there none. Does that mean that after half an hour or more of thinking, her handlers couldn't think of anything to say? Errr, no. The official excuse is that the plane didn't have wi-fi so they hadn't heard anything about it. Really.
Hellery's running mate [Ed, please insert name here.] said that he needed time to read before he could say anything. What, Walt would like to know, is he going to read? The e-mails?! That would be pretty difficult since, John Podesta says, his team doesn't know what the FBI has, wherefore they hope the FBI will reveal the details so we can all see that there's really nothing there. Yeah, right.
Is this going to make any difference to people's voting intentions, hence to the outcome of the election? One "analyst" for a lamestream TV network said he thought not. Why? Because Mrs Clinton is far ahead in the polls, and millions of Americans have already voted and can't take back their votes, so the issue has already been decided! How's that for unbiased reporting?
Paul Ryan said Crooked Hillary is the author of her own misfortune. And so she is. What Mr Ryan didn't say (but ought to be thinking) is that if The Donald wins, he and all the other rats who deserted the Good Ship GOP will almost certainly turn out to be the authors of their own misfortune. If I were Messrs Ryan, McCain et al., I would issue a statement, right sharpish, saying that much as I was disgusted by Mr Trump's youthful indiscretions, I cannot countenance the election of someone -- Clinton -- whose presidency would be irredeemably tainted right from the get-go. It's my duty as a patriotic American (I would say) to vote for the lesser of the two weevils.
Looks like the next ten days should be lots of fun. I admit I didn't see this coming. (Lifetime pct .992)
Showing posts with label e-mails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e-mails. Show all posts
Friday, October 28, 2016
FBI reopens Clinton e-mails whitewash
Cazart! Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Attorney-General of the United States couldn't make the "nothing to see here, folks" story go down the throat of the American public. So today, in what can only be an unpleasant and huuuuuuge surprise to Hellery, the FBI announced that it will now conduct an additional investigation into e-mails from La Clinton's private email server.
FBI Director James Comey just about nailed the lid down on the case in July, when he tut-tutted at Mrs Clinton for being "extremely careless" in her handling of classified information when she was Secretary of State, but didn't think her deliberate flouting of the laws warranted any criminal charges.
Today, however, Mr Comey sent a letter to Congress -- whose subpoena Shrillery likewise disobeyed -- in which he said the FBI had discovered "in connection with an unrelated case, the existence of e-mails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Imagine that! After all those 1000s of man-hours of meticulous police work, they must have missed something! Mr Comey said his team of dogged investigators would "review these e-mails to determine whether they contain classified information" -- whatever that means -- and "assess their importance to our investigation."
"Although the FBI cannot assess whether or not this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work," the FBI Director concluded, "I believe it is important to update your committees about our efforts in light of my previous testimony."
What Mr Comey did not say was when the Bureau's "further investigation" would be concluded and the "update" given to Congress. If you think it will be before November 7th, Walt has some land in Michigan's Upper Peninsula he'd like to talk to you about.
BREAKING: "Donald Trump will win the U.S. election, AI system says", from PostMedia.
FBI Director James Comey just about nailed the lid down on the case in July, when he tut-tutted at Mrs Clinton for being "extremely careless" in her handling of classified information when she was Secretary of State, but didn't think her deliberate flouting of the laws warranted any criminal charges.
Today, however, Mr Comey sent a letter to Congress -- whose subpoena Shrillery likewise disobeyed -- in which he said the FBI had discovered "in connection with an unrelated case, the existence of e-mails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Imagine that! After all those 1000s of man-hours of meticulous police work, they must have missed something! Mr Comey said his team of dogged investigators would "review these e-mails to determine whether they contain classified information" -- whatever that means -- and "assess their importance to our investigation."
"Although the FBI cannot assess whether or not this material may be significant, and I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work," the FBI Director concluded, "I believe it is important to update your committees about our efforts in light of my previous testimony."
What Mr Comey did not say was when the Bureau's "further investigation" would be concluded and the "update" given to Congress. If you think it will be before November 7th, Walt has some land in Michigan's Upper Peninsula he'd like to talk to you about.
BREAKING: "Donald Trump will win the U.S. election, AI system says", from PostMedia.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Walt scores Shakespearean final debate a draw
"A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." That line, from Shakespeare's Macbeth, pretty much sums up last night's final -- thank goodness! -- presidential debate. Just make that TWO idiots, who spent 90 minutes reciting the same old lines, the same old talking points, the same old bullshit. People here what they want to hear, and I'm sure partisans of both Donald Trump and Crooked Hillary will be talking up their candidate's performance, but I doubt many minds will have been changed by their performances.
The debate was (IMHO) anticlimactic, given all the hype about how we should expect fireworks, surprises and general mayhem. There was less of that last night than in the second round. Credit goes to the moderator -- Chris Wallace of Fox News -- who kept a civil tongue in his head, and politely asked the audience to be quiet on the three occasions (my count) when spontaneous applause broke out following a comment by The Donald. (Example: He called the meeting on the airport tarmac between the Attorney-General and Mr Bill "disgraceful".) Perhaps some day someone will explain why they even both having an audience if they can't ask questions or express emotions. How I wish British-style heckling were part of the American tradition!
The debate was a lot of SOSO (same-old-same-old) including another recitation by Shrillery of he laundry list of women (and others) Mr Trump supposedly insulted. The Donald, to my disappointment, did not reply with what could have been a long list of women who her husband did more to than insult. When Hellery said someone needs to stand up to Donald and stand up for women, I was itching for Mr Trump to say, "Yeah, just like you stood up to your husband when he was leaving the mess on Monica's dress!" But he didn't.
When prodded by the moderator for comment on the 1000s of damaging e-mails revealed by Wikileaks, Mrs Bill Clinton made a sharp pivot. Instead of explaining or defending what was in the e-mails, she claimed that the leaks were all the result of hacking by "the Russians" in an attempt to influence the election and undermine American democracy! "Nice pivot," said Donald, and the crowd could be heard laughing.
The debate started with a comparatively civil discussion on policy disputes ranging from gun rights to abortion to immigration. Mr Trump managed to sound more presidential without appearing subdued. But the evening ended with the candidates hurling a grab-bag of accusations and insults at each other. The Donald called La Clinton a "nasty woman". She called him the "most dangerous person to run for president in modern history".
The only new controversy came on Mr Wallace's last question, when he asked Mr Trump if he would commit to accepting the results of the presidential election if he loses. "I will look at it at the time," said the candidate, citing his concerns about voter registration fraud, the corrupt media and his opponent, who he said "shouldn't even be allowed to run" because she committed a "very serious crime" in destroying 33,000 e-mails after receiving a subpoena from Congress. Pressed again on whether he's prepared to concede if he loses, Mr Trump said, "I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense."
The suspense is building already. Less than three weeks, folks, until we find out whether Donald Trump can defeat the dark forces of Hillary Clinton and all that she stands for. If not, what then? Will Walt and the millions of others who back Mr Trump pick up their torches and pitchforks and take to the streets? Let's see... How do you sharpen a pitchfork?!
The debate was (IMHO) anticlimactic, given all the hype about how we should expect fireworks, surprises and general mayhem. There was less of that last night than in the second round. Credit goes to the moderator -- Chris Wallace of Fox News -- who kept a civil tongue in his head, and politely asked the audience to be quiet on the three occasions (my count) when spontaneous applause broke out following a comment by The Donald. (Example: He called the meeting on the airport tarmac between the Attorney-General and Mr Bill "disgraceful".) Perhaps some day someone will explain why they even both having an audience if they can't ask questions or express emotions. How I wish British-style heckling were part of the American tradition!
The debate was a lot of SOSO (same-old-same-old) including another recitation by Shrillery of he laundry list of women (and others) Mr Trump supposedly insulted. The Donald, to my disappointment, did not reply with what could have been a long list of women who her husband did more to than insult. When Hellery said someone needs to stand up to Donald and stand up for women, I was itching for Mr Trump to say, "Yeah, just like you stood up to your husband when he was leaving the mess on Monica's dress!" But he didn't.
When prodded by the moderator for comment on the 1000s of damaging e-mails revealed by Wikileaks, Mrs Bill Clinton made a sharp pivot. Instead of explaining or defending what was in the e-mails, she claimed that the leaks were all the result of hacking by "the Russians" in an attempt to influence the election and undermine American democracy! "Nice pivot," said Donald, and the crowd could be heard laughing.
The debate started with a comparatively civil discussion on policy disputes ranging from gun rights to abortion to immigration. Mr Trump managed to sound more presidential without appearing subdued. But the evening ended with the candidates hurling a grab-bag of accusations and insults at each other. The Donald called La Clinton a "nasty woman". She called him the "most dangerous person to run for president in modern history".
The only new controversy came on Mr Wallace's last question, when he asked Mr Trump if he would commit to accepting the results of the presidential election if he loses. "I will look at it at the time," said the candidate, citing his concerns about voter registration fraud, the corrupt media and his opponent, who he said "shouldn't even be allowed to run" because she committed a "very serious crime" in destroying 33,000 e-mails after receiving a subpoena from Congress. Pressed again on whether he's prepared to concede if he loses, Mr Trump said, "I will tell you at the time. I'll keep you in suspense."
The suspense is building already. Less than three weeks, folks, until we find out whether Donald Trump can defeat the dark forces of Hillary Clinton and all that she stands for. If not, what then? Will Walt and the millions of others who back Mr Trump pick up their torches and pitchforks and take to the streets? Let's see... How do you sharpen a pitchfork?!
Monday, October 17, 2016
What's actually in the leaked Clinton e-mails?
Walt (and many others) can't under why the attention of the lamestream media is focused on stories about Donald Trump's alleged locker-room banter and slap-and-tickle which go back decades and have nothing to do with business or politics. Meanwhile, while serious political and moral lapses on the part of Shrillery Clinton and her top campaign staffers are being revealed every day through the e-mail leaked by Wikileaks, and no-one cares.
What's the reason for the media's willing participation in this massive misdirection orchestrated by the Democrats? Could it be that people bust their wrists changing channels to see stories about groping, or avoid stories about serious politics? Or could it be that the pundits who are paid to tell us what to think don't really understand the implications of the e-mails? Assuming the latter, Walt's reposting, below, a useful guide to what's in the Clinton e-mails, originally prepared and published by Canadian Press. [We do this under the "fair use" doctrine. Besides, we don't make any money on WWW. We don't even allow advertising! Ed.]
The emails are being released in batches. So far, they mention:
—President Barack Obama: Obama exchanged messages with Clinton on her private email, according to an email purportedly from a senior aide. Obama has said he only learned the same way everyone else did that Clinton never used government email — in the news. To Trump, this is damning. He alleges, without evidence, that the reason Clinton never got charged by the FBI for mishandling classified information is that the FBI’s boss, Obama, also used to email her now-notorious personal account.
—Foreign lobbyists: The Clinton campaign debated whether to accept donations from Washington lobbyists representing foreign interests. They considered making an exception for friendly countries — they cited Canada as an example. In the end, they accepted everything. An email purportedly from Clinton’s communications director says: “Take the money!!”
—Secretary of State Bloomberg? An aide to Michael Bloomberg responded, when asked by a Clinton friend whether the billionaire-ex-mayor was interested in an administration job under Clinton: “Secty of state. Which ain’t gonna happen.” The friend Neera Tanden, head of a progressive think-tank, forwarded the email to campaign chair John Podesta and said: “Something to know for down the road.”
—Qatar connection: The Persian Gulf state donated $1 million to the Clinton Foundation for Bill Clinton’s birthday in 2012. A year later, Hillary Clinton told an audience at Goldman Sachs, according to leaked transcripts, that Qatar and other Gulf states were funding jihadist groups in Syrian’s civil war.
—Primary favours: Leaked emails suggest the Clinton campaign asked the Illinois state government to move back the date of the primary, to hurt Republicans. They feared an early Illinois primary would benefit moderate Republican candidates. A purported email from Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook says the Clintons, “won’t forget,” what friends do for them.
—Obama push poll: Outside groups endorsing Clinton’s 2008 bid conducted a whisper-campaign against Obama. In a January 2008 email, a polling-firm employee tells friends of Clinton that it added anti-Obama questions to a poll “as requested.” The questions refer to his past use of cocaine; his Muslim father; and him not wearing an American flag lapel pin.
—Media relations: A Democratic party official who occasionally comments on CNN told the campaign during the primary that she occasionally gets advance notice of questions for network town-hall events. Donna Brazile now says she never got actual questions. Also, the New York Times went back-and-forth with the Clinton campaign last year over which quotes it could use. In a piece this week, Times writer Mark Leibovich says he’d tried getting Clinton to do an on-the-record interview; she agreed to speak off-the-record; he later convinced her team to let him use some quotes from the off-the-record chat.
—'Get a life,' far left: A transcript says Clinton voiced frustration with her party’s left-wing fringe, in a private event with a union: “They come to my rallies and yell at me.... They say, ’Will you promise never to take any fossil fuels out of the earth ever again?’ No. I won’t promise that. Get a life, you know.”
—'Needy Latinos': Clinton’s campaign chair urged her to call “needy Latinos” who required some attention before endorsing her, include former cabinet secretary and governor Bill Richardson.
—Catholics: Clinton aides are being accused of disparaging Catholics. That’s because an employee at a think-tank emailed Clinton aides disparaging Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, over baptizing his kids as Catholic; he suggested rich conservatives were attracted to Catholicism’s outdated gender roles. Clinton aide Palmieri replied. She suggested the rich might deem Catholicism more socially acceptable than evangelicalism.
—Collusion: Trump says there’s proof of collusion between Clinton and the Justice Department. That’s because her aide, Brian Fallon, wrote that a department contact informed him of a court date related to a freedom-of-information case on Clinton’s records. Fallon says that doesn’t mean collusion; there were also public records and media reports about the upcoming hearing.
—TPP — policy or politics: Opponents accuse Clinton of a cynical flip-flop over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal — she worked on it in government, opposed it in her primary. Clinton says she withdrew her support after seeing the final details. An email exchange among campaign staff suggests a political calculus. It shows a conversation right after the agreement was announced. Clinton would oppose it — yet they discuss whether to wait a few weeks until the final text is released, to use that as a pretext.
—Bank ties: In paid appearances at financial institutions, Clinton vaunted her good relationship with banks. She said she represented them for eight years as a New York senator. She got annoyed at campaign staff when they insisted her husband cancel a speech to Morgan Stanley, the week of her campaign launch. Transcripts also show she told bankers they needed to toughen regulations and respond to public anger after the financial crisis.
—Thoughtful exchanges: Clinton offered candid and detailed analysis of world events, in events at Goldman Sachs. According to transcripts, she discussed hearing a screaming match between Chinese and Japanese leaders; the re-emergence of Japanese nationalism; Russian distrust of the Chinese; how a Syrian no-fly zone could kill civilians; and the multiple causes of U.S. legislative paralysis.
Walt was sorely tempted to add emphasis to certain points, but there were so many of them that it seemed like overkill. Please, dear gentle reader... just read this stuff thoroughly and tell me how on earth any patriotic American concerned about the future of the US of A could possible vote for That Woman.
Footnote: Where IS Mrs Bill Clinton, anyway? The Donald is campaigning in WI today -- a hard row for him to hoe -- but Hellery, according to her staff "has nothing planned". You're running for POTUS, with three weeks to go until Election Day, and you have nothing planned??!! Could it be that La Clinton is being hidden from the people, lest her appearance give more clues as to her serious health problems? Just askin'....
What's the reason for the media's willing participation in this massive misdirection orchestrated by the Democrats? Could it be that people bust their wrists changing channels to see stories about groping, or avoid stories about serious politics? Or could it be that the pundits who are paid to tell us what to think don't really understand the implications of the e-mails? Assuming the latter, Walt's reposting, below, a useful guide to what's in the Clinton e-mails, originally prepared and published by Canadian Press. [We do this under the "fair use" doctrine. Besides, we don't make any money on WWW. We don't even allow advertising! Ed.]
The emails are being released in batches. So far, they mention:
—President Barack Obama: Obama exchanged messages with Clinton on her private email, according to an email purportedly from a senior aide. Obama has said he only learned the same way everyone else did that Clinton never used government email — in the news. To Trump, this is damning. He alleges, without evidence, that the reason Clinton never got charged by the FBI for mishandling classified information is that the FBI’s boss, Obama, also used to email her now-notorious personal account.
—Foreign lobbyists: The Clinton campaign debated whether to accept donations from Washington lobbyists representing foreign interests. They considered making an exception for friendly countries — they cited Canada as an example. In the end, they accepted everything. An email purportedly from Clinton’s communications director says: “Take the money!!”
—Secretary of State Bloomberg? An aide to Michael Bloomberg responded, when asked by a Clinton friend whether the billionaire-ex-mayor was interested in an administration job under Clinton: “Secty of state. Which ain’t gonna happen.” The friend Neera Tanden, head of a progressive think-tank, forwarded the email to campaign chair John Podesta and said: “Something to know for down the road.”
—Qatar connection: The Persian Gulf state donated $1 million to the Clinton Foundation for Bill Clinton’s birthday in 2012. A year later, Hillary Clinton told an audience at Goldman Sachs, according to leaked transcripts, that Qatar and other Gulf states were funding jihadist groups in Syrian’s civil war.
—Primary favours: Leaked emails suggest the Clinton campaign asked the Illinois state government to move back the date of the primary, to hurt Republicans. They feared an early Illinois primary would benefit moderate Republican candidates. A purported email from Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook says the Clintons, “won’t forget,” what friends do for them.
—Obama push poll: Outside groups endorsing Clinton’s 2008 bid conducted a whisper-campaign against Obama. In a January 2008 email, a polling-firm employee tells friends of Clinton that it added anti-Obama questions to a poll “as requested.” The questions refer to his past use of cocaine; his Muslim father; and him not wearing an American flag lapel pin.
—Media relations: A Democratic party official who occasionally comments on CNN told the campaign during the primary that she occasionally gets advance notice of questions for network town-hall events. Donna Brazile now says she never got actual questions. Also, the New York Times went back-and-forth with the Clinton campaign last year over which quotes it could use. In a piece this week, Times writer Mark Leibovich says he’d tried getting Clinton to do an on-the-record interview; she agreed to speak off-the-record; he later convinced her team to let him use some quotes from the off-the-record chat.
—'Get a life,' far left: A transcript says Clinton voiced frustration with her party’s left-wing fringe, in a private event with a union: “They come to my rallies and yell at me.... They say, ’Will you promise never to take any fossil fuels out of the earth ever again?’ No. I won’t promise that. Get a life, you know.”
—'Needy Latinos': Clinton’s campaign chair urged her to call “needy Latinos” who required some attention before endorsing her, include former cabinet secretary and governor Bill Richardson.
—Catholics: Clinton aides are being accused of disparaging Catholics. That’s because an employee at a think-tank emailed Clinton aides disparaging Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch, over baptizing his kids as Catholic; he suggested rich conservatives were attracted to Catholicism’s outdated gender roles. Clinton aide Palmieri replied. She suggested the rich might deem Catholicism more socially acceptable than evangelicalism.
—Collusion: Trump says there’s proof of collusion between Clinton and the Justice Department. That’s because her aide, Brian Fallon, wrote that a department contact informed him of a court date related to a freedom-of-information case on Clinton’s records. Fallon says that doesn’t mean collusion; there were also public records and media reports about the upcoming hearing.
—TPP — policy or politics: Opponents accuse Clinton of a cynical flip-flop over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal — she worked on it in government, opposed it in her primary. Clinton says she withdrew her support after seeing the final details. An email exchange among campaign staff suggests a political calculus. It shows a conversation right after the agreement was announced. Clinton would oppose it — yet they discuss whether to wait a few weeks until the final text is released, to use that as a pretext.
—Bank ties: In paid appearances at financial institutions, Clinton vaunted her good relationship with banks. She said she represented them for eight years as a New York senator. She got annoyed at campaign staff when they insisted her husband cancel a speech to Morgan Stanley, the week of her campaign launch. Transcripts also show she told bankers they needed to toughen regulations and respond to public anger after the financial crisis.
—Thoughtful exchanges: Clinton offered candid and detailed analysis of world events, in events at Goldman Sachs. According to transcripts, she discussed hearing a screaming match between Chinese and Japanese leaders; the re-emergence of Japanese nationalism; Russian distrust of the Chinese; how a Syrian no-fly zone could kill civilians; and the multiple causes of U.S. legislative paralysis.
Walt was sorely tempted to add emphasis to certain points, but there were so many of them that it seemed like overkill. Please, dear gentle reader... just read this stuff thoroughly and tell me how on earth any patriotic American concerned about the future of the US of A could possible vote for That Woman.
Footnote: Where IS Mrs Bill Clinton, anyway? The Donald is campaigning in WI today -- a hard row for him to hoe -- but Hellery, according to her staff "has nothing planned". You're running for POTUS, with three weeks to go until Election Day, and you have nothing planned??!! Could it be that La Clinton is being hidden from the people, lest her appearance give more clues as to her serious health problems? Just askin'....
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