The wild wars within the Trump White House[Click] “After a crazy 24 hours, sources close to President Trump say he is in a bad place — mad as hell about the internal chaos and the sense that things are unraveling… Everywhere you look inside this White House, top officials are fighting, fomenting, feuding or fleeing, insiders say in conversations with us.” And Mr. Mueller continues to prepare one “surprise” after another for Mr. Trump. Speaking of which, isn’t it odd that just as it becomes blindingly obvious that Mr. Mueller is investigating money laundering and other crimes at the Trump Organization, a row breaks out between the Trump management team at the Panama City Trump Hotel and the majority owners, featuring barricaded offices, destruction of documents, calls to the police, etc? In the big scheme of things a management contract at one Trumpotel more or less should be chump change—but Panama is well known as a conduit for illicit money.
In response to the video of Pres. Reagan saying that civilians should not have access to military-grade weapons, a Facebook friend wrote the following:
George Lindberg Amen. I worry about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. They worry about their second amendment rights. We don't have a conflict of politics. We have a conflict of morality.
That story about the Georgia teacher/gunman was on the Japanese news this morning.
I got to thinking about the time and place where I first lived. It was a hamlet in a remote part of northern California. Some people were too poor to have wooden floors in their houses or shoes for their children. People commonly had guns. It was in the days before government "nutritional assistance"--commodities, and much later food stamps. The only way some people could make it through the winter was by poaching, which of course all the locals winked at. Some men put food on the table directly by hunting, and brought in some money from pelts and bounties. One fellow like that started hitting the bottle, and it go so bad he sold his guns to get money--maybe some for his family, but certainly some for alcohol. That was regarded as REAL bad. Finally he got low enough that he got religion and straightened out. Different times indeed. None of this BS about defending our god-given rights to be armed to the teeth with expensive weapons having no practical purpose. My father did purchase a .38 semi-automatic pistol in case of robbery--our general store was the most obvious target for robbers, and the nearest law enforcement was nowhere nearby. He got it handy once when some rough-looking strangers showed up in town for no obvious reason, but that came to nothing. My folks attributed the fact that the store was never robbed to the fact it was also a post office, and clearly identified as such.
I've been wondering how the NRA ever let itself be transformed from a gun club into the political Juggernaut it has become. Is it the same principle as the frog that would jump out of boiling water but stays quietly in the pot if the temperature is gradually raised? I mean, how and why would an organization for sportsmen and marksmen and hunters become an organization that advocates for unrestricted access to assault rifles? It doesn't make any sense to me.
Our town store is also our post office. Sells also antiques, guns, ammo. Never been robbed, but burgled several times. Last time, several neerdowells arrived, wandered all over the store, bought nothing, but made John nervous enough he went out and got their license plate number. So next morning, the police had the number in hand and showed up before noon, found the guns, ammo, cigs from the store, and bingo!
Great story! I can imagine that scenario here too. Ha!
Hey, I just noted that Snowshoe WVA (37mi from you) had a wind gust of 73mph tonight! Your high wind warning lasts until Saturday morning. I don't like the sound of that. Please post when you can so we know you're okay. Better have Nancy pick up a beer for your phone line guy.
Small town stores rock. They know the people and know who ain't from around here.
Sorry to be so AWOL. It's School Vacation Week here and I'm on Gramie Duty more than usual. Tonight I'll be minding the littles while the 'rents go out.
And off I go. Take care, Cat ... that's one douzy of a storm headed your way. Not even going to mess with us here. Weird.
Well, March does come in like a lion. I'll check out the forecast, though I don't recall seeing anything untoward looming when looking earlier in the week.
Looks like it's going to be terrible in the coastal region! Bad in the hill towns too. But here in the Pioneer Valley, the forecast is less formidable. Still, it's not going to be a fun weekend.
Browsing Audible isn't as easy or as satisfying to all the senses as browsing in a physical bookshop, but it can be rewarding. I just boughtThe Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind and Changed the History of Free Speech in America [click] by Thomas Healy. Looking forward to reading it. First, though, I need to finish Fury of Seduction and The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse: A Cats in Trouble Mystery by Leann Sweeney. So, I probably won't get to the Holmes book till next week. But here's what sold me on it, and why I won't be shoving it too far down the reading list:
Publisher's Summary
No right seems more fundamental to American public life than freedom of speech. Yet well into the 20th century, that freedom was still an unfulfilled promise, with Americans regularly imprisoned merely for speaking out against government policies. Indeed, free speech as we know it comes less from the First Amendment than from a most unexpected source: Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. A lifelong skeptic, he disdained all individual rights, including the right to express one's political views. But in 1919, it was Holmes who wrote a dissenting opinion that would become the canonical affirmation of free speech in the United States. Why did Holmes change his mind? That question has puzzled historians for almost a century. Now, with the aid of newly discovered letters and confidential memos, law professor Thomas Healy reconstructs in vivid detail Holmes's journey from free-speech opponent to First Amendment hero. It is the story of a remarkable behind-the-scenes campaign by a group of progressives to bring a legal icon around to their way of thinking - and a deeply touching human narrative of an old man saved from loneliness and despair by a few unlikely young friends.
Beautifully written and exhaustively researched, The Great Dissent is intellectual history at its best, revealing how free debate can alter the life of a man and the legal landscape of an entire nation.
Critic Reviews "Engrossing... An exceptional account of the development of the Constitution's most basic right, and an illuminating story of remarkable friendships, scholarly communication, and the justice who actually changed his mind." ( Kirkus Starred Review)
Speaking of rolling, it seems more wheels are coming off the Trumppernaut:
TRUMP OFTEN CROSSES LINE IN DISCUSSING RUSSIA PROBE
President Trump’s lawyers “have urged him not to discuss details of the unfolding Russia investigation with people outside his legal team, warning of a conversational ‘bright line’ that could place aides and associates in legal jeopardy,” Politico reports.
“But Trump often ignores that legal advice in the presence of senior aides — including his departing confidante and White House communications director, Hicks.”
Said a senior administration official: “I think the president has put her in a very precarious position.”
“Hicks is not alone. Current and former Trump aides describe a president who often fails to observe boundaries about the Russia probe and who calls staffers into his office and raises the subject without warning.” ================================
CAN THE WHITE HOUSE RESET?
“Rattled by two weeks of muddled messages, departures and spitting matches between the president and his own top officials, Donald Trump is facing a shrinking circle of trusted advisers and a staff that’s grim about any prospect of a reset,” the AP reports.
“Even by the standards of Trump’s often chaotic administration, the announcement of Hope Hicks’ imminent exodus spread new levels of anxiety across the West Wing and cracked open disputes that had been building since the White House’s botched handling of domestic violence allegations against a senior aide late last month.”
The pace of bad-for-Trump news releases is becoming downright frenetic; the following from NPR just noted.--Alan
“A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association, and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain access deeper into American politics,” NPR reports.
“Russian politician Alexander Torshin claimed his ties to the National Rifle Association provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election.”
“These revelations come amid news that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign in 2016.”
Wow! The NRA funded by the Bank of Russia! I wonder how many NRA members know that.
Hey, here's an idear: The bank in Omaha that provided the NRA branded VISA cards has disassociated themselves. Why not get the NRA VISA card from the Bank of Russia?
I was at the West Cook DFA meeting tonight. We had two judicial candidates running against each other in Cook County's 11th subcircuit. Both seemed quite attractive. One thing I learned is that judicial subcircuits are purely electoral, intended to give local (ethnic) communities a voice in who sits on the bench. I think electing judges is a bad idea, but it's what we're stuck with.
We also had a campaign staffer for gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss, who we have endorsed. This gave me an opportunity to sign up for GOTV texting, which I can do from home.
For some reason Blogger is not letting me open "reply" windows, so here they are as a comment.--Alan
Cat--NRA Bank of Russia VISA card--sounds great!
Bill--speaking of GOTV, I just had an image pop into my mind of a volunteer whipping the vote: a big guy with a cat-o-nine-tails shows up at the door and informs the resident that s/he is going to vote. Now. We can do it the easy way or the hard way; your choice.
Georgia Teacher Barricades Himself In Class And Fires Handgun, No One Hurt[Click] No report of whether he is a Republican… [pardon the attempt at black humor]
ReplyDeleteWhite House Scrambling Ahead of Trade Announcement[Click] They’re not scrambling, they’re scrambled.
How Did Melania Trump Score an ‘Einstein Visa’?[Click]
The wild wars within the Trump White House[Click] “After a crazy 24 hours, sources close to President Trump say he is in a bad place — mad as hell about the internal chaos and the sense that things are unraveling…
Everywhere you look inside this White House, top officials are fighting, fomenting, feuding or fleeing, insiders say in conversations with us.” And Mr. Mueller continues to prepare one “surprise” after another for Mr. Trump. Speaking of which, isn’t it odd that just as it becomes blindingly obvious that Mr. Mueller is investigating money laundering and other crimes at the Trump Organization, a row breaks out between the Trump management team at the Panama City Trump Hotel and the majority owners, featuring barricaded offices, destruction of documents, calls to the police, etc? In the big scheme of things a management contract at one Trumpotel more or less should be chump change—but Panama is well known as a conduit for illicit money.
—Alan
In response to the video of Pres. Reagan saying that civilians should not have access to military-grade weapons, a Facebook friend wrote the following:
ReplyDeleteGeorge Lindberg Amen. I worry about our children being gunned down in their classrooms. They worry about their second amendment rights. We don't have a conflict of politics. We have a conflict of morality.
Democrats Ready To Lead On Guns - Click
ReplyDeleteThat story about the Georgia teacher/gunman was on the Japanese news this morning.
ReplyDeleteI got to thinking about the time and place where I first lived. It was a hamlet in a remote part of northern California. Some people were too poor to have wooden floors in their houses or shoes for their children. People commonly had guns. It was in the days before government "nutritional assistance"--commodities, and much later food stamps. The only way some people could make it through the winter was by poaching, which of course all the locals winked at. Some men put food on the table directly by hunting, and brought in some money from pelts and bounties. One fellow like that started hitting the bottle, and it go so bad he sold his guns to get money--maybe some for his family, but certainly some for alcohol. That was regarded as REAL bad. Finally he got low enough that he got religion and straightened out. Different times indeed. None of this BS about defending our god-given rights to be armed to the teeth with expensive weapons having no practical purpose. My father did purchase a .38 semi-automatic pistol in case of robbery--our general store was the most obvious target for robbers, and the nearest law enforcement was nowhere nearby. He got it handy once when some rough-looking strangers showed up in town for no obvious reason, but that came to nothing. My folks attributed the fact that the store was never robbed to the fact it was also a post office, and clearly identified as such.
--Alan
Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if we sold ammunition, but I don't remember. (We left when I was five, going on six, years old.)
DeleteAlan
I've been wondering how the NRA ever let itself be transformed from a gun club into the political Juggernaut it has become. Is it the same principle as the frog that would jump out of boiling water but stays quietly in the pot if the temperature is gradually raised? I mean, how and why would an organization for sportsmen and marksmen and hunters become an organization that advocates for unrestricted access to assault rifles? It doesn't make any sense to me.
DeleteBecause the weapons manufacturers pay them really big bucks to push gun sales. The NRA is in it for the money now, whatever they once were.
DeleteOur town store is also our post office. Sells also antiques, guns, ammo. Never been robbed, but burgled several times. Last time, several neerdowells arrived, wandered all over the store, bought nothing, but made John nervous enough he went out and got their license plate number. So next morning, the police had the number in hand and showed up before noon, found the guns, ammo, cigs from the store, and bingo!
ReplyDeleteGreat story! I can imagine that scenario here too. Ha!
DeleteHey, I just noted that Snowshoe WVA (37mi from you) had a wind gust of 73mph tonight! Your high wind warning lasts until Saturday morning. I don't like the sound of that. Please post when you can so we know you're okay. Better have Nancy pick up a beer for your phone line guy.
As Trump Spirals, Many Of His Staffers Are Looking To Exit[Click] “…they can't get out because no one is really hiring people with Trump White House experience.” Lie down with dogs, rise up with fleas?
ReplyDelete—Alan
LOL They're gonna be spending a lot of time with their families.
DeleteSmall town stores rock. They know the people and know who ain't from around here.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so AWOL. It's School Vacation Week here and I'm on Gramie Duty more than usual. Tonight I'll be minding the littles while the 'rents go out.
And off I go. Take care, Cat ... that's one douzy of a storm headed your way. Not even going to mess with us here. Weird.
Well, March does come in like a lion. I'll check out the forecast, though I don't recall seeing anything untoward looming when looking earlier in the week.
DeleteLooks like it's going to be terrible in the coastal region! Bad in the hill towns too. But here in the Pioneer Valley, the forecast is less formidable. Still, it's not going to be a fun weekend.
DeleteGood point about March coming in like a lion!! 🦁 It really OUGHT to go out like a Lamb, too, the 31st being Holy Saturday!!! 🐏
DeleteA friend just reminded me of something I'd forgotten: In Britain, 'trumpet' or 'trump' can be a euphemism for - wait for it - fart.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, might have to start referring to him as "Old Trump."
DeleteNa, it's Pres. Fart for me. Can't tell you how satisfying saying or even just thinking that phrase is for me. :)
DeleteBrowsing Audible isn't as easy or as satisfying to all the senses as browsing in a physical bookshop, but it can be rewarding. I just boughtThe Great Dissent: How Oliver Wendell Holmes Changed His Mind and Changed the History of Free Speech in America [click] by Thomas Healy. Looking forward to reading it. First, though, I need to finish Fury of Seduction and The Cat, the Quilt and the Corpse: A Cats in Trouble Mystery by Leann Sweeney. So, I probably won't get to the Holmes book till next week. But here's what sold me on it, and why I won't be shoving it too far down the reading list:
ReplyDeletePublisher's Summary
No right seems more fundamental to American public life than freedom of speech. Yet well into the 20th century, that freedom was still an unfulfilled promise, with Americans regularly imprisoned merely for speaking out against government policies. Indeed, free speech as we know it comes less from the First Amendment than from a most unexpected source: Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. A lifelong skeptic, he disdained all individual rights, including the right to express one's political views. But in 1919, it was Holmes who wrote a dissenting opinion that would become the canonical affirmation of free speech in the United States. Why did Holmes change his mind? That question has puzzled historians for almost a century. Now, with the aid of newly discovered letters and confidential memos, law professor Thomas Healy reconstructs in vivid detail Holmes's journey from free-speech opponent to First Amendment hero. It is the story of a remarkable behind-the-scenes campaign by a group of progressives to bring a legal icon around to their way of thinking - and a deeply touching human narrative of an old man saved from loneliness and despair by a few unlikely young friends.
Beautifully written and exhaustively researched, The Great Dissent is intellectual history at its best, revealing how free debate can alter the life of a man and the legal landscape of an entire nation.
Critic Reviews
"Engrossing... An exceptional account of the development of the Constitution's most basic right, and an illuminating story of remarkable friendships, scholarly communication, and the justice who actually changed his mind." ( Kirkus Starred Review)
You are really on a roll here tonight, Cat! 😀😄😂
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of rolling, it seems more wheels are coming off the Trumppernaut:
ReplyDeleteTRUMP OFTEN CROSSES LINE IN DISCUSSING RUSSIA PROBE
President Trump’s lawyers “have urged him not to discuss details of the unfolding Russia investigation with people outside his legal team, warning of a conversational ‘bright line’ that could place aides and associates in legal jeopardy,” Politico reports.
“But Trump often ignores that legal advice in the presence of senior aides — including his departing confidante and White House communications director, Hicks.”
Said a senior administration official: “I think the president has put her in a very precarious position.”
“Hicks is not alone. Current and former Trump aides describe a president who often fails to observe boundaries about the Russia probe and who calls staffers into his office and raises the subject without warning.”
================================
CAN THE WHITE HOUSE RESET?
“Rattled by two weeks of muddled messages, departures and spitting matches between the president and his own top officials, Donald Trump is facing a shrinking circle of trusted advisers and a staff that’s grim about any prospect of a reset,” the AP reports.
“Even by the standards of Trump’s often chaotic administration, the announcement of Hope Hicks’ imminent exodus spread new levels of anxiety across the West Wing and cracked open disputes that had been building since the White House’s botched handling of domestic violence allegations against a senior aide late last month.”
--Alan
The pace of bad-for-Trump news releases is becoming downright frenetic; the following from NPR just noted.--Alan
ReplyDelete“A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association, and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain access deeper into American politics,” NPR reports.
“Russian politician Alexander Torshin claimed his ties to the National Rifle Association provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election.”
“These revelations come amid news that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign in 2016.”
This certainly seem significant, and could spell a treason indictment for DT, as well as taking down the NRA at the same time. Beautiful.
DeleteWow! The NRA funded by the Bank of Russia! I wonder how many NRA members know that.
DeleteHey, here's an idear: The bank in Omaha that provided the NRA branded VISA cards has disassociated themselves. Why not get the NRA VISA card from the Bank of Russia?
Vermont Senate gives nod to gun background check measure
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wcax.com/content/news/Vt-Senate-gives-initial-approval-to-gun-background-check-measure-475585323.html
I was at the West Cook DFA meeting tonight. We had two judicial candidates running against each other in Cook County's 11th subcircuit. Both seemed quite attractive. One thing I learned is that judicial subcircuits are purely electoral, intended to give local (ethnic) communities a voice in who sits on the bench. I think electing judges is a bad idea, but it's what we're stuck with.
ReplyDeleteWe also had a campaign staffer for gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss, who we have endorsed. This gave me an opportunity to sign up for GOTV texting, which I can do from home.
For some reason Blogger is not letting me open "reply" windows, so here they are as a comment.--Alan
ReplyDeleteCat--NRA Bank of Russia VISA card--sounds great!
Bill--speaking of GOTV, I just had an image pop into my mind of a volunteer whipping the vote: a big guy with a cat-o-nine-tails shows up at the door and informs the resident that s/he is going to vote. Now. We can do it the easy way or the hard way; your choice.