February 17, 2025

We're going to have to move our collective

arse's to try to stop him. He's moving at break-neck speed this time.

November 15, 2024

Flabbergasted

First time in a very long time I’m poking my head out to say something here on DU. Thanks democrats and indies for being my sanctity here, and for sharing a Democratic bond, which keeps me/US sane!!! ☺

US dems: we felt the need for the world to feel real. Some of us still remember the four years of gas-lighting as we tried to make sense of the world. We were shamed and blamed when we pushed back against the multitude of lies, and tried to bring the truth to the forefront. We were chastised because we doubted that a former president faced an assassination attempt that simply marred his ear for one week, then the scar/scab disappeared completely from human sight, sparing his life as he held up his arm in defiance!

You teach people how to treat you, if poor or bad behavior is rewarded, it continues.

We went through an election where tRump beat the women candidate, with the help of reported election interference. Even so, his quest for the presidency was left unchallenged, and he was cast as leader of the US. He was rewarded mightily for his fraudulent endeavors. We did not call for a re-count, we gave him the job. Nor, did we take measures to eliminate election fraud. We knew it happened and that we were vulnerable, but we decided not to act.

Some on this very platform call vociferously for us to STOP spreading conspiracy theories, all the while knowing that we were gas-light daily for a minimum of four years. We were told that we didn’t see things that we witnessed with our own eyes, that the situation was ideal and the powers that be had it all under control, only to leave us dumped on our ear, fending for ourselves amid a pandemic.

Hey, but sure, by all means STOP spreading conspiracy theories! Just accept that Kamala won New Hampshire but lost every other swing state, and that naturally we lose both the House and Senate, giving tRump uninhibited (and by God, praise SCOTUS) unchecked immunity from prosecution.

STOP! tRump received 312 electoral college votes, while out on bail awaiting sentencing! There’s no conspiracy, he won! There was no interference from oligarchs or foreign nationals, just accept it!

There was no election interference in 2016 (forget about those pesky Russians). Sure, an intelligence agent (Comey), other foreign nationals interfered in our elections. We threw a couple’a sanctions their way, and made sure the white male candidate was rewarded again & crowned King.
Minorities, STOP! tRump is here for you! Ladies over forty, why concern yourself about abortion bans, our laws won’t affect you, or your bodies?!

We command you/STOP: lie down in your show of complicity.

For Joe: You are the only man who can who can save our Democracy. Will you hold the candidate who acquired another shot at what we know will be an inadequate and corrupt leadership to hold office? Or will you DO something? For a small window in time, you have unchecked power.

Here’s the backbone that I imagine from you: Judge Merchan will NOT delay sentencing again. He sentences him, and tRump serves jail time. If not, Merchan goes to jail (because yes, Betty was right - the judge by his delay in sentencing (until after the election) appears to have been bought off)! Sentence tRump, or judge goes to jail.

In four years, the democrats will be encouraging us to vote for them again. Guess what, if America can no longer guarantee that our elections are free and fair, then fuck you!

Nancy’s husband was bashed in the head with a hammer and when she learned of another tRump presidency, she cried!
Democratic president Joseph Robineau Biden, if you let this election interference and next presidency fly unchecked, I will never vote for another Democrat for the remainder of my lifetime! Because, what would really be the point of voting? From this point forward, the Republicans learned how to win, every time, and you let them!

Merrick, you took too long in your initial response to tRump’s criminality! You owe US a huge apology for wasting money & resources, and for dashing our hopes. All while you’re humbling yourself (I saw his X post yesterday, he gets it), apologize to Jack Smith while you’re at it, for wasting his time and efforts. What’s the point of holding the low-hanging jug-heads to account, only to let the titular head slither his way back to the throne?

You could have, and should have done better! To date, both you and Juan have failed US.

October 25, 2022

P Diddy attempted to guide him in the right direction Re: emotional maturity

https://www.humortimes.com/104185/335996-andy-marlette-for-oct-24-2022/

March 24, 2022

Resignation letter by Mark Pomerantz, who had investigated TFG @ SDNY - but later resigned as DA

March 23, 2022 ~ Updated 6:58 p.m. ET

Mr. Pomerantz resigned because Alvin Bragg halted the combined efforts to seek an indictment.

Dear Alvin,
I write to tender my resignation as a Special Assistant District Attorney and to explain my reasons for resigning.
As you know from our recent conversations and presentations, I believe that Donald Trump is guilty of numerous felony violations of the Penal Law in connection with the preparation and use of his annual Statements of Financial Condition. His financial statements were false, and he has a long history of fabricating information relating to his personal finances and lying about his assets to banks, the national media, counter-parties, and many others, including the American people. The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did.

In late 2021, then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance directed a thorough review of the facts and law relating to Mr. Trump’s financial statements. Mr. Vance had been intimately involved in our investigation, attending grand jury presentations, sitting in on certain witness interviews, and receiving regular reports about the progress of the investigation. He concluded that the facts warranted prosecution, and he directed the team to present evidence to a grand jury and to seek an indictment of Mr. Trump and other defendants as soon as reasonably possible.

This work was underway when you took office as District Attorney. You have devoted significant time and energy to understanding the evidence we have accumulated with respect to the Trump financial statements, as well as the applicable law. You have reached the decision not to go forward with the grand jury presentation and not to seek criminal charges at the present time. The investigation has been suspended indefinitely. Of course, that is your decision to make. I do not question your authority to make it, and I accept that you have made it sincerely. However, a decision made in good faith may nevertheless be wrong. I believe that your decision not to prosecute Donald Trump now, and on the existing record, is misguided and completely contrary to the public interest. I therefore cannot continue in my current position.

In my view, the public interest warrants the criminal prosecution of Mr. Trump, and such a prosecution should be brought without any further delay. Because of the complexity of the facts, the refusal of Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization to cooperate with our investigation, and their affirmative steps to frustrate our ability to follow the facts, this investigation has already consumed a great deal of time. As to Mr. Trump, the great bulk of the evidence relates to his management of the Trump Organization before he became President of the United States. These facts are already dated, and our ability to establish what happened may erode with the further passage of time. Many of the salient facts have been made public in proceedings brought by the Office of the Attorney General, and the public has rightly inquired about the pace of our investigation. Most importantly, the further passage of time will raise additional questions about the failure to hold Mr. Trump accountable for his criminal conduct.

To the extent you have raised issues as to the legal and factual sufficiency of our case and the likelihood that a prosecution would succeed, I and others have advised you that we have evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, and we believe that the prosecution would prevail if charges were brought and the matter were tried to an impartial jury. No case is perfect. Whatever the risks of bringing the case may be, I am convinced that a failure to prosecute will pose much greater risks in terms of public confidence in the fair administration of justice. As I have suggested to you, respect for the rule of law, and the need to reinforce the bedrock proposition that “no man is above the law,” require that this prosecution be brought even if a conviction is not certain.

I also do not believe that suspending the investigation pending future developments will lead to a stronger case or dispel your reluctance to bring charges. No events are likely to occur that will alter the nature of the case or dramatically change the quality or quantity of the evidence available to the prosecution. There are always additional facts to be pursued. But the investigative team that has been working on this matter for many months does not believe that it makes law enforcement sense to postpone a prosecution in the hope that additional evidence will somehow emerge. On the contrary, I and others believe that your decision not to authorize prosecution now will doom any future prospects that Mr. Trump will be prosecuted for the criminal conduct we have been investigating.

I fear that your decision means that Mr. Trump will not be held fully accountable for his crimes. I have worked too hard as a lawyer, and for too long, now to become a passive participant in what I believe to be a grave failure of justice. I therefore resign from my position as a Special Assistant District Attorney, effective immediately.

Sincerely,
Mark F. Pomerantz

Article Source | NYT ~ https://archive.ph/Pyai7

March 10, 2022

Jayson Boebert: 2004 indecent exposure, public lewdness, four days jail-time, bonded out, probation.

Yes, Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert's husband, whipped out his muscle at Fireside Lanes Bowling Alley, and exposed himself to a 16 y/o and 20 y/o women.

From their police statement:

Trish and I were standing at the snack bar, and she came up and looked at my tattoo on my back, and she pulled down her sock and said, 'look, mine is fading, she said. "Then Jayson said 'I have a tattoo on my d*ck."

"Trish and I said 'ya, whatever' and turned away to ignore him," Coombs continued. "Then Jayson came up behind us and pulled his penis out of his pants. His thumb was covering the head, and all I saw was the shaft. Trish and I turned away and went and told Larry." That refers to Larry McCown, the owner of Fireside Lane in Rifle, Colorado, who called the sheriff's department.

https://www.salon.com/2021/08/31/lauren-boeberts-husband-did-jail-time-for-lewd-exposure-in-a-bowling-alley-she-was-there/

Let's forego the discussion that Lauren said yes to Jayson after being charged for this when he asked for her hand in marriage!

But really, do Republicans do a simple Google search before voting for a candidate, or does the integrity and morals of a family unit no longer matter?

March 10, 2022

Narrative: Putin may get desperate enough to use chemical weapons. War Crime accountability?

March 10, 2022 | Washington: The Biden administration publicly warned that Russia might seek to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine as the White House rejected Russian claims of illegal chemical weapons development in the country it has invaded.

| https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/putin-may-use-chemical-weapons-in-ukraine-white-house-warns-20220310-p5a3eb.html |

War Crimes ~ August 21, 2013
Nearly nine years ago, on the early morning of August 21, 2013, the Assad regime released the nerve agent sarin on its own people in the Ghouta district of Damascus, killing more than 1,400 Syrians, many of them children. Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime carried out 98 percent of it, dropping chlorine gas, sarin and sulfur mustard gas on Syrian civilians. Russia supplied Syria with the chemical weapons, and SoS John Kerry negotiated with Sergey Lavrov after the fact, to have the toxic war chemicals transported out, and destroyed.

| https://www.npr.org/2019/02/17/695545252/more-than-300-chemical-attacks-launched-during-syrian-civil-war-study-says |

George W. Bush/Human torture — The invasion of Iraq is often spoken of in the United States as a “blunder,” or even a “colossal mistake.” It was a crime. Those who perpetrated it are still at large. Some of them have even been "rehabilitated" thanks to the horrors of Trumpism and a mostly amnesiac citizenry.

(rehabilitated/i.e. ~ John Bolton/Gina Haspel) Sure!

The pundits and “experts”who sold us the war still go on doing what they do. I never thought that Iraq could ever be worse than it was during Saddam’s reign, but that is what America’s war achieved and bequeathed to Iraqis.

| https://www.inquirer.com/philly/columnists/will_bunch/george-w-bush-iraq-war-john-bolton-no-one-held-accountable-20180327.html |

So tell me again if Putin uses chemical weapons that he will stand trial for war crimes? ~ Or is this more journalistic sabre rattling?


| Photo: A rescue worker sent Human Rights Watch a photo of a deformed yellow gas cylinder that he said hit the Latamina hospital roof in Syria, on 25 March, of 2017

March 2, 2022

MTG/Boebert re-election 2022 Time to stop promoting shock

Twitter is blowing up today with disdain for MTG/Boebert's antics at the SOTU address last night. Both House Representatives are up for re-election this year, and instead of promoting their names and shock antics, it's time to take a look at their opponents.

Meet Alex Walker. Alex is running in Colorado's 3rd Congressional district, hoping to unseat his incumbent, Lauren Boebert.

Walker obtained a degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University where he served as class president — his only prior political experience. He proceeded to work as an engineer until this recent decision to turn his attention towards politics.

“I don’t think races like this are about policies anymore. I think they are about values because both parties have gotten so extreme in their viewpoints and those viewpoints, by the way, often are internally inconsistent,” Walker said. “For example, Republicans believe in personal liberties when it comes to responsible gun ownership, but do not believe in personal liberties when it comes to abortion. And I think there’s hypocrisy on both sides when it comes to things like that.”

“My bipartisan or even, I would say, nonpartisan policies are meant to reframe some of these issues in a broader framework, which actually makes sense,” he said.

He supports personal liberties when it comes to gun ownership as well as abortion access and a person’s right to choose their own health care in general, adding that “the government has no business telling you what to do with your body.” Giving subscribers more agency in choosing their health care means providing a mix of strong private and public options, Walker said.

His other priorities include protecting the district’s water rights, conserving public lands and finding solutions to the high cost of living that plagues many communities in Congressional District 3 or “CD3.”
“Cost of living in our district is skyrocketing and we can’t keep up,” Walker said. “Folks in CD3 make 15% less than the average American. That is insane. We are the backbone of American industry. We are the backbone of American agriculture. We are the corridor between the two sides of a fractured Nation.”
“I believe we can turn CD3 into a clean energy superpower and in the process, boost household income by 20% or 25%,” he said.

The policy page of his campaign site promises to “protect legal immigrants” while advocating for “humane borders.” It promises living wages for teachers and increased support with the challenges of remote learning.
“The irony of my campaign is that I’m running to try and be part of a new class of change makers who do not blindly subscribe to Republican ideology or Democratic ideology,” Walker said. “I believe in tolerance. I believe in small efficient government. I believe in personal freedom, and these are things which straddle party lines.”
A big part of making this work within the current structure of the U.S. Congress will be to listen first and, as a self-proclaimed introvert, Walker said he feels ready to do just that.

“I’m thinking about, over the next 20 years, how do I play a meaningful and constructive role in turning Congress into an efficient body? And that’s not about me. …That’s about how I slot into a bigger picture full of people who disagree with me and people who agree with me,” Walker said.

https://www.steamboatpilot.com/news/avon-resident-alex-walker-takes-no-bull-approach-in-run-for-lauren-boeberts-seat/

Walker's shock campaign video/warning, falling turds:

February 28, 2022

Zelensky: "I need ammunition, not a ride."

What a new and altogether foreign concept to all of us. The President, fighting right alongside his fellow country people.

I think of this dynamic in relatable terms. At work our managers (most of them anyway), stay out daily operations, electing to make adjustments to the graphs and figures. They devise ways to improve profits, filtering down information to a few key people involved with the associates and key leads.

If you think of it, the presidency runs much like that same pyramid. Everyone listens to, and protects the cocooned leader, as his main function is to run the country. Basically, the collective thought is that this man or woman is so important that they are above doing the humdrum and minutiae of the day to day task of actual toiling - or physical labor. They are seen as being above such things.

But are they? Example after example shows us that the more involved with your people, the more you understand (first hand, and not through reporting), what matters to them, and what make them tick. In essence, the more you forge relationships from people (by stepping away from the ivory booth), you gain an understanding of the dynamics of your core organization.

This tiktok war is disturbing and frightening, and a great tragedy. But, the Ukrainian people have given us a glimpse of their humanity, in a way that we've never seen before. We've seen the puppy Rambo, the soldier's sentinel - their watchdog. We've witnessed a Grandma in a babushka raising a middle finger in defiance. A Grandpa at 80 carrying his weapon in a leather bag, ready to lose everything, in order to defend his country. The best instance of push-back was the lady who stood in front of a soldier, offering him sunflowers - so that beauty would take another form, after he perishes. You can not help but love the Ukrainian people, their resolve, and their fortitude.

I admire President Zelensky and his willingness to die alongside his people. But, my structured past makes me wonder, if this is such a good idea? Sure the second, and third in line will step up in his stead, if the worst happens. But will the general consensus of love among the citizens that is helping them get through this crisis still remain, without Volodymyr? I'd like to think that as President if I was going to lose it all anyway, that I would want to give every effort up and until my dying breath, defending my democracy, my people and my country. That model sure is different than all others - where they send the sons and daughters of the the lower classes as sacrifice to do the country's bidding. And as a reward for risking life and limb, if they survive, they get a spiff consisting of a free, paid education. ~ WOW, some great trade-off!

I pose, that the President is not the whole heart of the people, but he is certainly a driving influence. What a man, what a people!

February 27, 2022

Du'ers know this story, it's been discussed here, but let's refresh...

... in the context of today's world events.

Party loyalty is often cited as the reason that GOP leaders have not been more outspoken in their criticism of President Donald Trump and his refusal to condemn Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. Yet there may be another reason that top Republicans have not been more vocal in their condemnation. Perhaps it's because they have their own links to the Russian oligarchy that they would prefer go unnoticed.

Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank.

During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonard "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators. Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and OpenSecrets.org.

Marco Rubio's Conservative Solutions PAC and his Florida First Project received $1.5 million through Blavatnik's two holding companies. Other high dollar recipients of funding from Blavatnik were PACS representing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker at $1.1 million, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham at $800,000, Ohio Governor John Kasich at $250,000 and Arizona Senator John McCain at $200,000.

In January, Quartz reported that Blavatnik donated another $1 million to Trump's Inaugural Committee. Ironically, the shared address of Blavatnik's companies is directly across the street from Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York.

Len Blavatnik, considered to be one of the richest men in Great Britain, holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and the U.K. He is known for his business savvy and generous philanthropy, but not without controversy.

In 2010, Oxford University drew intense criticism for accepting a donation of 75 million pounds from Blavatnik for a new school of government bearing his name. Faculty, alumni and international human rights activists claimed the university was selling its reputation and prestige to Putin's associates.

Blavatnik's relationships with Russian oligarchs close to Putin, particularly Oleg Deripaska, should be worrisome for Trump and the six GOP leaders who took Blavatnik's money during the 2016 presidential campaign. Lucky for them no one has noticed. Yet.


Oleg Deripaska is the founder and majority owner of RUSAL, the world's second largest aluminum company, based in Russia. Len Blavatnik owns a significant stake in RUSAL and served on its Board until November 10, 2016, two days after Donald Trump was elected.

~ Now, twelve years later, after the SCOTUS ruling of Citizen's United v FEC tell me why this ruling was favorable for the people? And tell me again please, why funding from foreign nationals and Russian oligarchs, is an existing crime, that has yet to be punished.


https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/09/gop-operatives-funneling-russian-money-trump-latest-foreign-straw-donor-scheme/

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/03/gop-campaigns-took-7-35-million-from-oligarch-linked-to-russia/

http://qz.com/1521847/major-gop-donor-len-blavatnik-had-business-ties-to-a-russian-official/

February 23, 2022

(Can't hold it in today): We're supposed to be patient and let AG Garland do his work...

... don't scream "will somebody arrest TFG, already!!!" ~ Mmmm-hmmm. Sure!

How about this: we HAVE been abundantly patient!


What about the emotional damage that all of this plundering is doing to all of us, and to our psyches? We have to live here! We're worrying about democracy being chipped away, and slowly burnt down, but hey! ~ Sit tight folks, while Garland works his magic! (I keep remembering the big nothing burger of the Mueller Report, and how that turned out!).

We can't read a newspaper or an online publication these days without hearing about how the Democrats are going to lose the House and Senate seats, because Republicans own these industries and can't stand the thought of having to pay more out of their profits. And now, since Putin has provided a distraction that will potentially kill and harm people, Trump and his guilty cronies have all but disappeared from the daily news coverage. It's like in lock-step, they all took a page out of the Putin play book!

Someone please point out the obvious to Trump, the news, publishers and the GOP: no one who has one scintilla of sanity left is buying any of this 'alternate realty' nonsense that they are attempting to craft.

No! We are NOT voting for liars, crooks, obstructionists and power mongers! Because, they have allowed their brand to become severely tarnished. As such, the current party is disintegrating! This is wholly due to their fear and fealty to a known crook, and fraudster!

Let them go live on an island somewhere with the overfed, juvenile-minded, bloviate, since they think he's so great! It was, and is, our America first, and I'm tired of making concessions for them - and frankly for all of it!


Where is the end of the road? Someone needs to put a "we have accountability"spin on this, and soon! ~ Sorry, ladies and gents - I must have sunk into the abyss today.