Three Things: Bad, Worse, and Just Deal Already

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I’ve got to run some errands, only have time for a very quick three things post.

~ 3 ~

Because Trump wants a cheaper Air Force One, the Air Force bought a bankrupt Russian company’s canceled Boeing 747s.

Why does this sound like 1) a crap deal which doesn’t solve the need for an attack-resistant AF1, 2) a bail-out for some entity, whether Boeing or whoever in Russia is holding the bag on the down payment?

~ 2 ~

A few days ago I read yet another right-wing character assassination attempt aimed at Robert Mueller, distributing disinformation related to Russia and radioactive materials. Real story completely stretched beyond recognition to attack the special counsel looking into Trump-Russia.

Meanwhile, the Los Alamos National Laboratory has improperly MAILED radioactive materials repeatedly.

This highlights our long-term problems with outsourcing nuclear sites’ management to private contractors.

Please let’s not allow Trump cut a deal on this matter. It’s bad enough we have Dancing With The Stars’ Rick Perry involved in any way. And watch for more disinfo about Robert Mueller as the Trump-Russia investigation heats up.

~ 1 ~

Baltimore Ravens need to get off it and hire Colin Kaepernick. Baltimore the city needs him. Not only is Kaepernick a good Plan B because of Joe Flacco’s back, the Ravens need a reset on their image — many women still don’t have a high opinion of the Ravens (or the NFL) after the Ray Rice scandal. And Kaepernick is a solid player worth watching; he doesn’t deserve the racist bullshit he’s received from the NFL, quietly blacklisted for exercising his First Amendment rights. Football isn’t slavery demanding forfeit of human rights, after all — or is it?

~ 0 ~

Off to run the roads. This is an open thread. Behave.

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27 replies
  1. Rugger9 says:

    Kaepernick does deserve a look, but also understand he didn’t look all that stellar for the 2-14 Forty Niners last year.  He had comparable numbers with Blaine Gabbert (who opened the season as the starter) who no one would ever compare to Joe Montana or Steve Young or even Jeff Garcia until some things clicked later in the season (BG 68.4 QBR, CK 90.7).  He also looked lost at times or tried to do too much at other times with odd decisions, but how much of that is on him alone or the wretched state of the roster in SF (and the backbiting and clueless management team) and having to run for his life far too many times.  It wasn’t long ago that he was starting in the Super Bowl, leading his team back from the dead for a puncher’s chance to win the game.  That will be remembered if CK can show the skill set, and I see no good reason to not bring him into camp.

    With respect to the political stuff, CK may have been the first, but he was not alone and perhaps we should examine what happened to the others that joined in.  He also took the BS like a man.  It will take an owner with big brass ones to be willing to take the hit from the flying monkeys of the RWNJ, but I suspect that during the season expediency will open the door.

    Los Alamos’ indiscretion is not alone, recall we had lost SAC missiles making the grand tour around the country without detection by the USAF as well as the failures of the Chair Force (I’m ex-USN, so yeah, I’m calling them that) on their readiness exams at several SAC bases.  Much of this was during Shrub’s administration.

    Nonetheless, it is the latest sign that Mueller is making the Trumpies scared, and this is a ham-handed attempt to deflect attention as the circle closes in on Caesar Disgustus.

    On the 747s  it depends upon the price and whether upgrades are in the mix. I don’t see anything on that (which may be classified, especially the latter point).

  2. greengiant says:

    Guest appearance of Stephen Miller at the White House Press Conference.  Caught the last second must search for video. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/miller-endless-flow-of-unskilled-workers-makes-no-sense/2017/08/02/   Still waiting for “you can not deny” any bus drivers or any of the 6,000 bused in out of state voters who voted in New Hampshire in 2016.   According to Miller,  the more public conversation the more support for new [ racist pandering to low skilled Trump supporters ] policy cutting green cards issued. http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/stephen-miller-predicts-unstoppable-momentum-for-trumps-immigration-plan/article/2630443

  3. harpie says:

    Rayne: “And watch for more disinfo about Robert Mueller as the
    Trump-Russia investigation heats up.”

    Clint Watts and some associates unveiled a very interesting new tool today:
    ClintWatts‏Verified account @selectedwisdom;

    Welcome to Hamilton68 Dashboard Tracking Russian Propaganda – Here’s what #Putin wants Americans talking about

    Top Themes

    […] The three most common primary issues out of the 91
    stories analyzed involved US partisan politics, the conflict in Syria, and the investigation of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller. [breaks down the coverage of these issues] The 9 articles targeting Robert Mueller and his investigation were uniformly hostile.

    • Rayne says:

      I like the idea behind the dashboard. I’m squicked out by Michael Chertoff’s and Mike Rogers’ involvement, though. Yeesh.

      But as Willy Shakes said, “Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.”

      • Charles says:

        There are more pod people than those two, like Bill Kristol. But this is a simple project, and these are advisers only.  So probably not an issue.

      • harpie says:

        Hi Rayne, I agree about some of the names on the Advisory Council. It sounds like the people that developed and run this tool are on the technical advisory committee.

        The Advisory Council will be supported by a technical advisory committee that will include experts on disinformation, cybersecurity, illicit finance, and other relevant areas.

        For now, I feel OK about learning about what these people have to share:

        From the FAQ page:

        Q: Who runs Hamilton68? 
        The Hamilton 68 dashboard is the collective research and development of Clint Watts, J.M. Berger, Andrew Weisburd and Jonathon Morgan. This team is working with the Alliance for Securing Democracy in its effort to develop strategies to secure democracies against external assault.

         

      • harpie says:

        Like, earlier today:
        J.M. Berger‏Verified account @intelwire 

        Retweeted Clint Watts [Selected Wisdom]: Fun mix of hashtags trending at the moment on #Hamilton68
         
        @intelwire response: There’s a significant campaign attacking McMaster for purging Flynn’s people

  4. Rugger9 says:

    It was one of the more remarkable parts of the presser, because Miller sidestepped the fact that the Trump Org is bringing in unskilled labor on special visas (I don’t recall if Ivanka was mentioned) by saying that essentially it is a business decision.  He also announced some kind of program to improve the employment prospects of the black population but when asked for details waffled and pivoted to the scourge of immigrants taking away our jobs.  He brought up statistics regarding the quotas in 1970 and 1990 when challenged about whether this policy conformed to what the Statue of Liberty says.   Also, polls polls polls.  We’ll see what the fact checkers have in due course.

    SHS for her part tried to pivot the BSA phone call that C.D. tweeted to “direct statements at the event” which would be nearly unverifiable.  She (of all people) also considered that the reporter’s characterization of the tweet as a lie was unseemly.  Apparently to show that the WH cares about its troops, Ivanka and Melania were holding an open forum to military spouses, doubtlessly drawing upon their vast experience of sending their menfolk off on multiple deployments whilst managing the household.  It may make it on the internet mockery circuit.

  6. Bay State Librul says:

    Tom Brady goes to bed at 8:30 PM and says he will play to age 48
    Blanda played to that age
    I love Brady but hate that arrogant Belichek

  7. person1597 says:

    And there’s good news tonight…

    “Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council, has been dismissed from the White House, two senior administration officials who are not authorized to discuss personnel matters told Conservative Review on Wednesday.”

    Better late than never.

  8. SpaceLifeForm says:

    Bannon next? Is the swamp that wide and deep?

    https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/535725/

    McMaster has also sparred with Bannon, who was removed from the NSC principals’ committee at McMaster’s behest shortly after McMaster became national security adviser following the ouster of Michael Flynn after just 24 days on the job. McMaster’s relationship with Trump himself has likewise been difficult.

  11. person1597 says:

    ECW was the NSC staffer that fed nunu Nunes the classified info which burned the chairman. While that sidelined Nunes, arguably a good thing, ECW became a spent force. Even McGann thought he was an idiot.

    I doubt ECW’s continued NSC tenure would provide further transparency, but maybe he’ll come clean as an ex. As a true believer, that’s doubtful.

    Ergo, how could dumping the dude not be good news… He’s not helping the country find its bearing any more. He has made his contribution to the chaos to the full extent of his capacity. All he can do is remove props under the Bannon wing. That doesn’t seem like a bad thing, but some may disagree.

  12. SpaceLifeForm says:

    Papers please. As in verifiable voting.

    http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/08/02/541129956/venezuelan-poll-tampered-with-says-voting-system-company

    In a further statement on the company’s website, Smartmatic says that the system used in Venezuela is “tamper evident.”

    “[It] self-reports any attempt to interfere with it. This means that the system is designed to protect the votes from any manipulation and to immediately identify and alert of such an attempt,” the company says.

    [Next is not an actual voting machine, but close]

    http://gizmodo.com/personal-info-of-650-000-voters-discovered-on-poll-mach-1797438462/amp

    When 650 thousand Tennesseans voted in the Memphis area, they probably didn’t expect their personal information would eventually be picked apart at a hacker conference at Caesars Palace Las Vegas.

    The strength of the US voting system, according to former FBI director James Comey, is that it’s “clunky”—every state and often every district can choose its own setup and whether to use paper or electronic machines. And there are over a dozen different manufacturers supplying voting machines to electoral districts. While that clunkiness helps prevent large-scale voter hacking, it provides more opportunities for hackers to access polling data.

    [Note that it does not have to be Russia]

    [Fuck computerized voting systems. Paper works. May be too late to even care. It is bridge, and the bid is 7 no-trump now]

  14. orionATL says:

    space life form –

    you use a lot of space here making exotic, actually conspiratorial and goofy, claims about 2016 voting results and democratic party hanky-panky on being hacked and dnc papers being distributed- events more easily and readily explained by simpler, more credible explanations, e. g., republican vote manipulation, russian intervention in the thinking of voters, wikileaks vindictiveness, continuous republican ratfucking, ic concern about protecting the u. s. electoral process.

    and you make those claims in a writing style that is very opaque, perhaps deliberately sparse and ambiguous. that style happens to serve as good protection from criticism for your eccentric claims, but it is a very poor communication style to use if you really want others to understand and learn from your claims.

    i have the sense of a sly troll at work in your dnc/dem party/ russian intervention/ic (intelligence community) comments.

    a less opaque style of communicating would be easier to follow and a reassuring sign of your good intentions.

    it doesn’t improve impressions to switch suddenly to dissembling and “look over there” when you are challenged.

  15. orionATL says:

    person 1597@10:31 and orion@11:00pm

    i just want to re-cite for emphasis person 1597’s cite on goofgball thinking inpolitics:

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/08/a-national-security-council-staffer-is-forced-out-over-a-controversial-memo/535725/

    and add the info from others above about the sacking of another right-wing fanatic, ezra cohen-watkins (described by neighbors and friends who recall him from the past as a really nice person.

    so have antonin scalia and william buckley been similarly recalled.

  16. orionATL says:

    perhaps you know of the interpersonal/training-for-the-job connections between white house chicks ezra cohen-watnick and stephen (dead-fish face) miller and rightwing/leftwing agitator and trump personality-twin david horowitz.

    if not, it is worth looking up. in my view horowitz, now in his 70’s, is essentially a souless political mercenary who has worked both sides of the american political divide for good money.

    • harpie says:

      Ms. Mehretu made her first marks on the canvases in the days right after the November election […] the works “are trying to make sense of where we are in our country right now.”

      Wow, the comments section is really just another manifestation of “where we are in our country right now”.

      • Rayne says:

        Thanks for sharing that, would love to see this latest work once installed. And I can’t recommend reading the comments related to contemporary female artists unless you have a very strong stomach. Mehretu is very talented but unlucky to be a woman of color in a white male dominated art world.

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