Politics, Everyday, All day... morning, noon and night....II

[Simon of the Playa]

And the Department of Justice requested that the first defendant from the January 6 insurrection to be convicted at trial, Guy Reffitt, be sentenced to 15 years in prison. This is an upward adjustment of sentencing guidelines because the department is asking the judge to consider Reffitt’s actions as terrorism, since the offense for which he was convicted “was calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct.”

Reffitt was a leader of the Texas Three Percenters militia gang, which calls for “rebellion” against the federal government. He came to Washington, D.C., for January 6. He attacked U.S. Capitol Police officers and encouraged others to do so before entering the Capitol armed with a handgun, where he targeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and then–Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

A camera on his helmet recorded Reffitt’s words that day. “I’m taking the Capitol with everybody f*cking else,” Reffitt told the people around him. “We’re all going to drag them m*therf*ckers out kicking and screaming. I don’t give a sh*t. I just want to see Pelosi’s head hit every f*cking stair on the way out. (Inaudible) F*ck yeah. And Mitch McConnell too. F*ck ‘em all. They f*cked us too many g*dd*mn years for too f*cking long. It’s time to take our country back. I think everybody’s on the same d*mn wavelength. And I think we have the numbers to make it happen…. [W]e’ve got a f*cking president. We don’t need much more. We just get rid of them m*therf*ckers and start over.”

Afterward, he boasted, “We took the Capital [sic] of the United States of America and we will do it again.”

Back in Texas, Reffitt deleted a thread of messages between him and another planner—the FBI was able to recover it—and threatened to hurt his teenaged children if they reported him. Reffitt has a history of domestic violence, including threatening his wife with a gun.

The hefty sentence request for Reffitt is likely to convince others implicated in the insurrection to cooperate.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ly-15-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

Today, the Secret Service said it had only one new text to provide and that any other texts from its agents around January 6 have been deleted and cannot be recovered. Agents were supposedly told to upload their messages to an internal agency drive before a general reset of cell phones, but many did not do so. A Secret Service spokesperson said that the deletion was not on purpose, but the phone reset began on January 27, eleven days after Congress requested the information be preserved.

Because its agents protected then-president Trump and then–vice president Mike Pence on January 6, their text messages could provide important context for the events of that day including, for example, Pence’s apparent reluctance to get into a vehicle driven by a Secret Service agent, or why agents apparently permitted Trump to record a video outside the White House while the Capitol was under attack.

Like every other branch of government, the Secret Service is required to preserve its records. Today, the chief records officer of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Laurence Brewer, sent a letter to Damian Kokinda, the records officer of the Department of Homeland Security, about “the potential unauthorized deletion” of the texts. Brewer asked the Secret Service to investigate and to send all information about deleted records to NARA within 30 days.

While this seems a bit like locking the door after the horse has left the barn, let me just say that no one with any brains at all messes with archivists. That Secret Service members were willing to purge texts that they knew by law they had to preserve suggests that they calculated it would be better to face the fallout for deleting the texts than the fallout from whatever was in those texts.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ly-19-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

“Russia is installing illegitimate proxy officials in the areas of Ukraine that are under its control. We know their next moves,” Kirby said.

“We want to make it plain to the American people. Nobody is fooled by it,”



https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/19/russia- ... -says.html

[some seeing eye]

One in five US adults condone ‘justified’ political violence, mega-survey finds

As mistrust and alienation from democratic institutions peaks, researchers explore how willing Americans are to commit violence

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... nce-survey

[Simon of the Playa]

when the going gets weird...


https://dailyvoice.com/new-york/capital ... er/838568/

[Simon of the Playa]

"In the House, Republicans voted against federal protection of an individual’s right to choose whether to continue or end a pregnancy and to protect a health care provider’s ability to provide abortion services: 209 Republicans voted no; 2 didn’t vote. That’s 99% of House Republicans.

They voted against the right to use contraception: 195 out of 209 Republicans voted no; 2 didn’t vote. That’s 96% of House Republicans.

They voted against marriage equality: 157 out of 204 Republicans voted no; 7 didn’t vote. That’s 77% of House Republicans.

They voted against a bill guaranteeing a woman’s right to travel across state lines to obtain abortion services: 205 out of 208 Republicans voted no; 3 didn’t vote. That’s 97% of House Republicans.

Sixty-two percent of Americans believe abortion should be legal. Seventy percent support gay marriage. More than 90% of Americans believe birth control should be legal. I can’t find polling on whether Americans support the idea of women being able to cross state lines without restrictions, but one would hope that concept is also popular. And yet, Republican lawmakers are comfortable standing firmly against the firm will of the people. The laws protecting these rights passed through the House thanks to overwhelming Democratic support but will have trouble getting past a Republican filibuster in the Senate."

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ly-23-2022

[FIGJAM]

So, women have less rights than guns??? :?

[mgb327]

So, women have less rights than guns???
[/q

So it seems.

[gaminwench]

I'm past childbirth, but I'm still going to hide in my house, with guns, for the duration.
I will go to the dog park, and the voting place.

I used to be fun.

[Simon of the Playa]

Greene repeated that sentiment over the weekend during a video interview for a conservative online show, a clip of which was shared on Twitter by prominent left-wing pundit and former federal prosecutor Ron Filipkowski.

"We need to be the party of nationalism," the Georgia lawmaker said during the interview. "I'm a Christian, and I say it proudly—we should be Christian nationalists."

She argued that being a Christian nationalist is a positive thing, and urged the young conservatives in attendance to more prominently mix Christianity with politics.

https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylo ... ts-1727445

[Simon of the Playa]

[Simon of the Playa]

On Twitter, lawyer George Conway wrote: “If you had asked me to hypothesize, for illustrative purposes, a set of emails that prosecutors would find helpful in proving a fake-elector fraud conspiracy, I would not have come up with anything nearly as incriminating as the emails that the Times just reported on today.”

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ly-26-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

"Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Maria Sacchetti also broke the news that it is not just the texts of Secret Service agents that are missing from the days before January 6. Also gone are text messages from Trump’s acting secretary of homeland security Chad Wolf and acting deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli, also lost in a “reset” of their phones. "

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ly-28-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

Also today, oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron reported historic profits from the last three months. Exxon made $17.9 billion (not a typo) last quarter, up 273% from the same time last year, while Chevron made $11.6 billion. Exxon’s rate of income was $2,245.62 every second of every day for the past 92 days; Chevron made $1,462.11 per second. Together, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies are expected to announce $60 billion in profits for the past three months. They plan to spend much of the profit not on reinvesting in their businesses, but on stock buybacks, which drives up the price of the stock.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ly-29-2022

[Dr. Pyro]

Then Simon, don't be an idiot. Do like I did: Buy stock in XOM and CHV. As well as 1000 shares of OXY at around $12. They are not going to change their ways, so why not profit from it? And you buying shares in a company does not mean you are "helping" them in any way; you are buying the shares from another individual so the company itself neither gains nor loses in any way. And some people have said "I don't own any stocks" but then I respond with: "Do you have auto/life/homeowners insurance or insurance of any kind?" And of course they, and you, do. You aren't so naive to think that these insurance companies buy T-bills do you? No, they own ExxonMobil, Home Depot, Wells Fargo, Waste Management, and hell, probably even DraftKings. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

[Elorrum]

Then Simon, don't be an idiot. Do like I did: Buy stock in XOM and CHV. As well as 1000 shares of OXY at around $12. They are not going to change their ways, so why not profit from it? And you buying shares in a company does not mean you are "helping" them in any way; you are buying the shares from another individual so the company itself neither gains nor loses in any way. And some people have said "I don't own any stocks" but then I respond with: "Do you have auto/life/homeowners insurance or insurance of any kind?" And of course they, and you, do. You aren't so naive to think that these insurance companies buy T-bills do you? No, they own ExxonMobil, Home Depot, Wells Fargo, Waste Management, and hell, probably even DraftKings. So if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

I had an epiphany today that muslim terrorists are not even on my worry list. This is, in a nutshell, the thing that will kill us all. People who must make money no matter what.

[Simon of the Playa]

Miller declined to comment. Patel and McCarthy did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Defense Department did not immediately respond to CNN's request. The US Army Public Affairs media relations chief, Col. Cathy Wilkinson, said in a statement that, "It is our policy not to comment on ongoing litigation."

American Oversight is now calling for a "cross-agency investigation" by the Justice Department to investigate destruction of the materials.

"It's just astounding to believe that the agency did not understand the importance of preserving its records -- particularly [with regards] to the top officials that might have captured: what they were doing, when they were doing it, why they were doing, it on that day," Heather Sawyer, American Oversight's executive director, told CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/02/politics ... index.html




oh, and Doc, i never want to join you, or your philosophy.

you have fun with that, gordon gekko...

[Simon of the Playa]

During the Trump administration, after an extensive investigation, the Republican-dominated Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that “the Russian government engaged in an aggressive, multifaceted effort to influence, or attempt to influence, the outcome of the 2016 presidential election…by harming Hillary Clinton’s chances of success and supporting Donald Trump at the direction of the Kremlin.”

But that effort was not just about the election. It was “part of a broader, sophisticated, and ongoing information warfare campaign designed to sow discord in American politics and society…a vastly more complex and strategic assault on the United States than was initially understood…the latest installment in an increasingly brazen interference by the Kremlin on the citizens and democratic institutions of the United States.” It was “a sustained campaign of information warfare against the United States aimed at influencing how this nation’s citizens think about themselves, their government, and their fellow Americans.”


https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... ust-3-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

From Hungarian authoritarian Victor Orbán to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon to right-wing extremist Jack Posobiec, Conservative Political Action Committee speakers urged an us-versus-them confrontation, seeming unbound from the constraints of electoral politics.
Bannon, now the host of the “War Room” podcast, brought his bellicose message to CPAC, appearing as the headline speaker at the convention’s Friday night ball. “We are at war,” Bannon told the MAGA faithful. “We are in a political and ideological war.” Repeating the Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump, Bannon insisted that Joe Biden is an “illegitimate imposter.” Calling on Republicans to send “shock troops” to Washington, Bannon promised the crowd they had an opportunity to “shatter the Democratic party as a national political institution.” He alleged that the party has been overrun by “radical, cultural Marxists” and “groomers” who “want to destroy the Republic.” Bannon insisted the GOP must pursue absolute victory over “power-mad and lawless” Democrats, asserting: “There can be no half measures anymore.”

https://apple.news/A31cfnIL5QQigWlHxOUCsUA

[some seeing eye]

Forget Daft Punk at the trash fence. The hot ticket this year is Dark Brandon at the Thunderdome. Photoshop?

[Simon of the Playa]

A Fuck-Ton...

[Simon of the Playa]

88E0517F-1F5C-450F-96C0-E137EC92D7D9.jpeg

[Simon of the Playa]

Tonight, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey, Perry Stein, and Shane Harris at the Washington Post broke the story that the FBI agents at Mar-a-Lago were looking for documents relating to nuclear weapons, underscoring that the search was imperative. We don’t know any more than that, and heaven knows that’s bad enough.

But what springs to mind for me is the plan pushed by Trump’s first national security advisor, Michael Flynn, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and fundraiser and campaign advisor Tom Barrack, to transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. In 2019, whistleblowers from the National Security Council worried that their efforts might have broken the law and that the effort to make the transfer was ongoing. The plan was to enable Saudi leaders to build nuclear power plants, a plan that would have yielded billions of dollars to the investors but would have allowed Saudi Arabia to build nuclear weapons.



https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... st-11-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

Even before the release of the warrant, Trump had offered a number of excuses for taking documents to Mar-a-Lago and then keeping them despite a subpoena for their return. First, he blamed FBI agents for planting them on the premises, riling up his base against the FBI. That effort continued today: before the judge unsealed the documents, it appears Trump leaked them to Breitbart, which published them without blacking out the names of the agents who executed the search warrant, evidently intended to menace them.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... st-12-2022

[Simon of the Playa]

8DE561ED-4C99-4E00-B08A-B162E3A43F08.jpeg

[Simon of the Playa]

"This week brought an “unprecedented” number of threats against FBI personnel and property, law enforcement sources tell CNN. In the days following the search, violent threats against the bureau began surfacing online, with posters writing, “Garland needs to be assassinated” -- referencing Attorney General Merrick Garland, who “personally approved” the decision to seek a warrant -- and “kill all feds.” Additionally, the biography and contact information of the federal magistrate judge who signed the search warrant was wiped from a Florida court’s website after he too became the target of violent threats."

https://www.azfamily.com/2022/08/14/arm ... -saturday/

9C874D67-44CD-4362-BFDA-29CE8A9740A5.jpeg

[Simon of the Playa]

"it would be a shame if anything was to happen to your nice country, you know what i mean?....i'd hate to see it go up in flames...so....why don't we just fuggedabout those silly little national secrets, Capeche?"


https://thehill.com/policy/national-sec ... go-search/

[Simon of the Playa]

fuck around find out, week 2

[Simon of the Playa]

D20C777D-128D-4629-89AA-8835CD3A6746.jpeg

[Simon of the Playa]

Edward Luce of the Financial Times observed today: “I’ve covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career. Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible than today’s Republicans. Nothing close.”

Shocking though that observation was, it was nothing compared to what came next. General Michael Hayden, former director of the Central Intelligence Agency under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, retweeted Luce and commented: “I agree. And I was the CIA Director[.]”


https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.c ... st-17-2022