Wow, Nay, Double Dog Wow: The FBI (Again) Needs to Examine Itself Post Haste

FBI: Truly the RED and Up to Their Eyeballs in the Muck

MAJOR UPDATE WITH THIS HEADLINES from here:

FBI clears Clinton -- again

Highlight:   (CNN) FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers Sunday the agency hasn't changed its opinion that Hillary Clinton should not face criminal charges after a review of new emails. “Based on our review, we have not changed our conclusions that we expressed in July, Comey wrote in the new letter to congressional committee chairmen.

From Huffington Post, in part from here.

Three days before a historic election, a disturbing twist has emerged: the possibility that agents in the country’s preeminent investigative service are attempting to swing the outcome.

Reuters reported on Thursday that FBI Director James Comey wrote his unprecedented letter to Congress last week in part because he feared his own employees might leak word of the Hillary Clinton email investigation to the press. Two sources told Reuters that investigators in the FBI’s New York field office are “known to be hostile” to Clinton. On Thursday, The Guardian reported its sources described the FBI as a “Trumpland,” where agents have “deep antipathy” toward Clinton.

Those reports follow a whirlwind week of leaks from the FBI that appear intended to cast a shadow over Clinton.

On Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that FBI investigators had looked into the Clinton Foundation and were frustrated that senior law enforcement officials and career anti-corruption prosecutors were not impressed by the results. So frustrated, it seems, that details of their investigation ended up in a news report less than 10 days before Election Day.

The leaks continued days later. A story in the Journal on Wednesday revealed more information about the investigation.

Fox News reported on Wednesday that FBI sources said that the Clinton Foundation case is moving toward “likely an indictment.” The story was widely refuted by other media organizations. (Fox anchor Bret Baier apologized for the report on Friday, calling it a “mistake.”)

On Friday, Donald Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani, who claims deep connections to the FBI, admitted that the Trump campaign knew about the FBI’s review of additional emails before Comey’s letter. “I thought it was going to be about three or four weeks ago,” he said of the FBI director’s announcement. 

Hours later, Giuliani backpedaled and said he knew nothing of FBI leaks. 

The leaks would be alarming under any circumstances. The Department of Justice typically does not comment on ongoing probes. “Except in exceptional circumstances, the department will not even acknowledge the existence of an investigation,” former Attorney General Eric Holder wrote on Sunday.

For such leaks to occur so close to an election is a further breach of DOJ guidance, which advises officials with questions “regarding the timing of charges or overt investigative steps near the time of a primary or general election” to contact the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division.

This whole story and now a huge mess, at least on the surface is mind-boggling to say the least … it will not end with the election … the FBI internal affairs must check out these things… and post haste.

Stay tuned. Thanks for coming by. Stay tuned.

Standing With the Liars and Behind Their Lies: Are We There Yet – The Bottom of the Barrel

Trump Backers, Surrogates, Loyalists, Mouthpieces, Former Foes All Back Him  

This is video mix is related to and introduces the post that follows:

The worst of the worse in this crazy wild presidential election is the following fine article which is a catalog of key Donald J. Trump insults we have seen over the past 18 months of so during his run for the presidency. It is a great piece put together and posted by Yahoo. News. It is truly worth reviewing. It can also be read an seen here (each of the 16 examples are linked there). They label it:

“16 people who shaped the 2016 election”

The hardest and perhaps worst part about seeing and hearing all this again is that Trump always denies anything he said or has done that we have seen and heard him say or do that has been captured on video or in print. 

Trump always denies those things after the fact with a strong defense by blaming someone or something else (e.g., the biased media, a broken or lousy microphone, background noise, and now we have “a rigged election system” (unless he wins), and more, or something else just as pathetic and wild to dismiss or whitewash his original quote or act that we all saw and heard, and pathetically, he expects people to believe those denials despite what we saw and heard, simply because he says so. 

It is incomprehensible that anyone like Trump actually seeks or could win the White House. I define him this way:

Donald J. Trump is a chronic liar; a serial liar; a pathologically compulsive liar without exception, who is a rude and crude, yet very clever and slick con artist like a flim-flam man who flies into town, says crazy stuff while playing to an audience it appears, hungry for what he says as the gospel not realizing he is doing it for ratings and his own elevation and enjoyment and not much else. In short, his supporters are played for his enjoyment thoroughly like a violin that he enjoys.

Vote next Tuesday. Thanks for stopping by.

Major Update: FBI Director's Blunder About “New” (or maybe not) Email Discovery

Battle Between AG and FBI About What? Who in Hell Knows - That is The Problem

We still don’t know all the details of that shocking FBI Director’s announcement, but we the public need to know since that proverbial cat is out of the bag. Consider this and the following post below:

“No, there is no ‘new’ Hillary Clinton email scandal; the FBI ‘did not reopen’ its old closed (last July) investigation, and this ‘new story’ has absolutely ‘nothing to do with’ Hillary Clinton period.”

Four Facts for Those Inclined to Deal in Logic and Honest Review About this Latest Email Flap and Not More Hype and Utter Speculation:

1.  FBI investigative matters are not publicly disclosed in advance of their completion, and their “targets” are not publicly released, period (longstanding DOJ/FBI policy).

2.  The FBI in fact has not obtained a federal search warrant (which is required by law) to examine the “new” Abedin/Weiner documents and devices, period.

3.  The discussed on-going whatever (not yet started) may not discover anything new; may in fact reveal previously discovered and examined emails and documents, or not.

4.  Demand is great for full disclosure since have no idea what those emails are or contain, Plus, Director Comey himself noted they may not even be significant and now we learn that he himself has not even seen the ‘new’ emails.

Wow!!! These four key point underscore the immediate and full disclosure of the ‘new’ data (if ‘new’ at all) since the target is clear: Hillary Clinton and the purpose is run her, and it’s playing out half-ass over the media favorable to Trump in the fashion we all see and hear since the Comey letter was released. It is now in the hands of partisan hacks, whom we have heard and seen on the Sunday shows and continue to hear from Trump in his new recycled speeches and from others on his behalf.

Another possibility based on this breaking story that I note: Maybe Anthony Weiner used his wife's PC (laptop) to hide his nasty stuff from her so she would not suspect it was on her computer – it is therefore a strong possibility that even Ms. Abedin did not see or know about him using her PC for his sneaky subterfuge past her.

So, the Bottom Line as They Say: Get out the full info and let the public know now. This election is historic and critical and they public does have a right to know all the facts – not more rumor, speculation, innuendo, and conspiracy after conspiracy.

I believe that in the end and as quickly as possible that we all see that there is no there there (to coin an old cliché). 

However, stay tuned – our future is at stake. Thanks for stopping by. Vote your heart and conscience on November 8th …

FBI Director Comey Clinton Email Blunder: He Broke DOJ Rules and Procedures — Not Logical

Under Fire Again and Again and Again and Again 

and Now Again While in the Homestretch

 I Swear This Time I Will Nail Her Ass

(My fellow Republicans: You can thank me for this gift later off camera)

This just today from CNN which clearly shows the nastiness of this campaign and the latest GOP and now FBI stunts to impact and throw this election to the GOP in total:

Washington (CNN):  Vulnerable down-ballot Republican candidates seized on the news that the FBI was reviewing new emails tied to the investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private server, arguing the GOP must remain in charge of Congress so they can keep check on a potential Clinton presidency some like this sample from a key GOPer who said:

“This decision shows exactly why we need strong watchdogs in Congress to ensure thorough oversight of the executive branch.” (Veteran Republican Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) who has been one of President Obama and Clinton's most spirited investigators over the years, and who is in an unexpectedly tough re-election battle). 

Issa has vowed that if re-elected “I would ensure the FBI completes its investigation thoroughly and impartially this time around.”

NOW, THIS UPDATE from the Washington Post, in part: (My emphasis and the 12 key points are in red and below. They are what I consider the most critical and pertinent to this unfolding mess.

WaPo lead-in:

“There is a lot of new reporting out there this morning about the letter that FBI director James Comey sent to Members of Congress, notifying them about newly discovered emails that may be pertinent to the FBI’s previous investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server. Those emails reportedly could number in the thousands and were discovered on a laptop used jointly by former Congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife, Huma Abedin, a top aide to Clinton, and were discovered in the course of an unrelated probe into Weiner’s sexting. Unfortunately, the latest reporting is often contradictory and confusing.”  

Now my 12-point summary from my point of view and all I have read and heard:

1.  Senior DOJ officials warned the FBI that Director James B. Comey’s decision to notify Congress about renewing the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server was not consistent with long-standing practices of the department.

2.  Those officials told him (Director Comey) the department’s position is that “we don’t comment on an ongoing investigation. And we don’t take steps that will be viewed as influencing an election.”

3.  Director Comey understood our position. He heard it from Justice Leadership. It was conveyed to the FBI, and Director Comey made an independent decision to alert the Hill (GOP committee chairs). He is operating independently of the Justice Department. And he knows it.

4.  Director Comey cited two reasons for his decision: (1) a sense of obligation to lawmakers and (2) a concern that word of the new email discovery would leak to the media and raise questions of a cover-up.

5.  An unnamed official told the Associated Press that the new emails did not come from Mrs. Clinton's private server.

6.  The news of all this prompted a gleeful response from Donald Trump, who told his supporters the development is “bigger than Watergate.” (I note: No, it is not – there is no presidential abuse of power like Nixon used).

7.  Hillary Clinton has demanded full disclosure and a reason why only the GOP was notified and not her side of all this “new” stuff.

8.  Director Comey didn't actually provide any information to the public - all he said is that they're reviewing something new. So, now the voters are left to look at this, and they don't know what to make of this – they have no idea what it is they're looking at.

9.  This situation has created one in which Republicans can hurl innuendo after insult and speculation without any basis of fact – and there's no way for Hillary Clinton to defend herself with all this secrecy that probably as many believe also, there is nothing new in those new or possibly copies of old emails … simply stated: we do not know and Director Comey has tainted this whole election process and possibly handed Trump the White House in false claims and hype and conspiracy after conspiracy.

10.  Officials familiar with Comey’s thinking said the director on Thursday faced a quandary over how to proceed once the emails, which number more than 1,000 and may duplicate some of those already reviewed, were brought to his attention.

11.  Comey had just been briefed by a team of investigators who were seeking access to the emails. The director knew he had to move quickly because the information could leak out.

12. Summary of those 12 Key Points (in my view): In July, Comey had testified under oath before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that the FBI was finished investigating the Clinton email matter and that there would be no criminal charges. Comey was then asked at the hearing whether he would review any new information the FBI came across – the question was this: “Would you reopen the Clinton investigation if you discovered new information that was both relevant and substantial,” asked Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX).

Director Comey said then which I believe is the most- critical right now: “It’s hard for me to answer in the abstract. We would certainly look at any new and substantial information.”

This last part is critical and the public has a compelling immediate right to know now and not see it drip, drip, drip until the eve of November 8^th …

Finally, I add: All this happening now is sad, very, very sad and overall, it is extremely and perhaps forever the end of American democracy that we all say we love and cherish it. Why? Quite simply, right now, we just do not know, and that’s is the problem. At this juncture, this is unheard of in American election history – and it stinks.

Thanks for stopping. Is it over yet? Boy I hope so, but not the election part. Stay tuned. Next week will be the worst in our history I am afraid, and regretfully so.

Europe Prepping for War; Vlad Touts New "Satan-2" Nuke — Shock and Awe Crap Moment

Vlad Putin's Day Off

Vlad's View for the West

The New “Western Front” 

The headlines are startling – prep for World War III – 

Europe on war-footing: Britain sends tanks, drones, and 800 troops to Estonia as part of the biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War one day after Putin reveals “Super-nuke” which could wipe out the UK

• Britain is preparing to send up to 800 troops to Estonia in the spring
• Drones and Challenger-2 tanks to be sent for “reassurance and deterrence”
• Comes as Russia completed nuclear drills for 40 million of its citizens 
• NATO wants allies to contribute to its biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War

By Julian Robinson for Mail Online

Published: 6:51 EST, October 26, 2016 | Updated at 10:02 EST, October 26, 2016

All this comes a day after Russia unveiled chilling pictures of its largest ever nuclear missile - Satan 2 - which is capable of obliterating the UK.

The United States hopes for binding commitments from Europe to fill four battle groups of some 4,000 troops, part of NATO's response to Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and concern it could try a similar tactic in Europe's ex-Soviet states.

France, Denmark, Italy, and other allies are expected to join the four battle groups led by the United States, Germany, Britain, and Canada to go to Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, with forces ranging from armored infantry to drones.

Tensions are high between Russia and the West after an escalation in posturing between President Vladimir Putin and Western leaders. 

Last week Putin sent an aircraft carrier on a bombing mission to Syria in a fleet that passed through the English Channel.

In the past week, Britain has deployed RAF fighter jets to intercept Russian bombers nearing UK airspace twice in four days. 

Earlier this month the Kremlin evacuated 40 million people in drills to prepare for nuclear war.

My Summary: Seems like Putin is preparing for some sort of war with the West (that he may or may not honestly want), and if the West acts or overreacts, then he will have someone to blame (just not himself). He sounds just like North Korea: “We will wipe you out if we are attacked since we are prepared to retaliate.”  

Story continues here. 

Thanks for stopping by and reading this gloomy news.

Trump: Paranoid, Out of Control, Totally Wacky, On the Edge of Complete Insanity

Trump's Campaign Train

Trump's Rating on Voter Fraud and Election Rigging

This infamous tweet among the thousands of Donald Trump tweets probably ranks #1 to introduce this post and his famous or in this case, infamous rating (PANTS ON FIRE rated here).

“Of course, there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before Election Day.” — Donald Trump, (Monday morning, October 17, 2016 in a tweet)

Historical Background from the New Yorker here:

As stated all over the news, the paranoid Donald J. Trump is very concerned that there will be (in his words, not mine): “large-scale voter fraud” on Election Day, especially in “certain communities.”

He later clarified that “certain communities” ID marker meant predominately African-American urban centers like St. Louis, Philadelphia, and Chicago.

Thus, to prevent these “other communities” from helping “international bankers” rig the election, Trump has instructed his supporters to “pick some other place” on Election Day “and go sit there with your friends and make sure it’s on the up and up.” In other words, Trump instructed his gun-loving NRA supporters to monitor the behavior of black voters at polling places.

To head up that effort will be a GOP operative whose claim to fame is stoking outrage over a video that showed two members of the gun-loving “New Black Panther Party” … monitoring the behavior of white voters at a polling place awhile back – remember that seen here in a short FOX clip (via YouTube).

A DOJ investigation of that incident failed to turn up a single voter who said he or she was or had been intimidated by the “New Black Panthers,” which is to say, the only act of intimidation that was established was the mere presence of two black men in uniforms, one wielding a nightstick.

Nonetheless, GOP operative and Breitbart contributor Mike Roman found that behavior to be a dire threat to the legitimacy of our democracy. Now, he’s the newly-appointed head of “Trump Election Protection Unit” for a candidate who has essentially advised his supporters to perform that exact same behavior, as the Guardian reported.

One Trump supporter said: “I’ll look for … well, it’s called racial profiling. Mexicans. Syrians. People who can’t speak American” that Trump supporter said while describing his marching orders to the Boston Globe.

He continued: “I’m going to go right up behind them. I’ll do everything legally. I want to see if they are accountable. I’m not going to do anything illegal. I’m going to make them a little bit nervous.”

(NOTE: Trying to make voters “who can’t speak American” nervous at a polling place is illegal - FYI).

Why someone like Mike Roman — a man passionately opposed to voter intimidation — would work for a candidate who is all but demanding his supporters engage in that same intimidation is a developing mystery.

It is almost like Roman believes that black people intimidating white voters is bad, but white people intimidating black voters is a defense of America’s democratic traditions.

As Jim Carrey would say:

Thanks for stopping by. And stay tuned – it will or can only get worse or better depending on your view until Election Day 2016. A hoot either way.

Election 2016: A Race About Important Issues or Race to Bottom of the Barrel — Easy-Peasy

MAJOR UPDATE ON THE FOLLOWING POST FROM THIS SHORT VIDEO PRESENTATON – A MUST WATCH. SEE WHAT YOU THINK… IT IS ABOUT 6 MINUTES

Here is the proof positive extract published by WikiLeaks re: the John Podesta hacked personal email account by the Russians and published by Russian media (Sputnik) (on the left and note the date) compared to the original article (on the right and, again, note the date), AND note the one word difference between the original and the Russian "edited" release for American consumption... 

Hint: The word “the” is missing in the Russian hacked copy that was in the original article. The overall purpose: To taint Clinton via Podesta’s email, which is NOT Podesta's email at all and thus gives ammo to GOP voters, however, falsely and thus to try and influence the outcome of the election to favor Trump...!!!

Now, Donald J. Trump peddles this vicious attack and outright lie as the truth kinda of acting like Russian operative. So, where is the outrage now, Mr. and Mrs. GOP?

The original post starts from here:

The Two Finalists in this Trump-Dominated Reality Show

The level of discourse and tactics in at least one of these campaigns has reached all-time lows. Warning: It's not pretty — hide the children (smile).

Question: When (or why) should private emails become public business and disclosure?

At least two operatives who’ve worked for Donald Trump have connections inside the Russian government and help answer that question:

For example, trusted and close Trump adviser, Roger Stone, sent out tweets this summer alerting (or warning, I guess) that John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, was about to become embroiled in a scandal.

Bingo!!!

Stolen (hacked and published by WikiLeaks) email from Podesta’s personal G-mail account began showing up last week on WikiLeaks and other hacker sites. Note: Those emails have nothing to do with official government business. Instead are the property of a campaign strategist (Mr. Podesta) and they came from his personal email account (Gmail); not from servers owned or operated by any government entity.

Is there really some sort of alliance between the Russians, the hackers and the Trump campaign? An absolute 100%.

The whole article is great and yes, I took parts of it to make it fit this blog without any malice intended. The whole piece is here in total. Matt Bai is one the top journalists in the country who is fair, honest, very smart, and a darn good writer. Enjoy.

My final observations on this whole WikiLeaks, Russian hackers, Trump denials on top of denials, and other crazy campaign stuff:

1.  No, Mr. Trump and your supporters, all men don’t act the way you did and do, whether in a locker room or not.

2.  Yes, the public does have a high expectation of privacy in our lives and that includes mail, email, personal conversations, wireless, and home phones (unless under court order).

3.  Hackers, anywhere in the world, once caught and tried, should get the maximum punishment possible.

4.  The media, as much as a lot of the time I dislike their slant or pitch, is not to blame except for the errors in judgment that Matt Bai uses in his summary, which I think hits the proverbial nail on the head in his summary.

Matt Bai concludes in his summary:

“Maybe in an editor’s chair, embroiled in complex and fast-moving events, I’d have made the same decisions. But in a few months, when this “Jackass” movie masquerading as a presidential campaign has finally come to an end, we’d do well, as an industry, to think more deeply about where to draw that line between pressing news and prurience in the age of hackers — if not for the public interest, then at least for our own. Because sooner or later, you can be sure, it’ll be our private email, our candid notes to colleagues and friends and children that end up plastered on digital billboards by some nefarious hacker with an agenda. I wonder how enthusiastically we’ll report it then.”

Finally, I really like this part from Frank Bruni, New York Times, re: the Trump tape and the crude remarks and how some, if not many Republicans have been framing their criticism of Donald Trump speaking to Billy Bush around their daughters and wives. He concludes:

“The behavior is objectionable in and of itself. When you say I have a wife and I’m offended, I have daughter and I’m offended. It’s almost as if you’re saying, ‘If I didn’t have a daughter and I didn’t have a wife, I wouldn’t be offended.’ There’s also a seed when you say, ‘I have a wife, I have a daughter,’ that an issue only matters when it comes to my doorstep, and the definition of public service and political leadership is caring about things that go well beyond your doorstep.”

I agree 100% with both Matt Bai and Frank Bruni on their fine articles … it’s very good stuff.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation: World's Most-Pressing Issue Not Political Posturing or Fake Concern

Photo from the BBC: Russian Warheads (Topols)

American Nuclear Bomb (B61-12)

Background information on the two nukes shown above:

1.  Russian Topol.

2.  American B 61-12.

Now the main story from the BBC (with my slight editing to fit the blog) that caught my attention and hopefully yours, too. The background and key parts from this story are these:

In a decree, President Vladimir Putin accused the US of creating “a threat to strategic stability, as a result of unfriendly actions” towards Russia.  Moscow also set pre-conditions for the US for the deal to be resumed.

Under the 2000 deal, each side is supposed to get rid of 34 tons of plutonium by burning it in reactors.  It is part of cuts to nuclear forces. The State Department said the combined 68 tons of plutonium was “enough material for approximately 17,000 nuclear weapons.”  Both sides had reconfirmed the deal in 2010.

In the decree (in Russian), Putin said Russia had to take “urgent measures to defend the security of the Russian Federation.”

Back in April, Putin said the U.S. was failing to fulfill its obligations to destroy plutonium. Instead, he argued, they were “reprocessing method allowed plutonium to be extracted and used again in nuclear weapons.”

Putin also submitted a bill (in Russian) to his parliament setting a series of pre-conditions for the US for the agreement to be resumed, including:

1.  Reduction of U.S. military infrastructure and troops in countries that joined NATO after September 1, 2000.

2.  Lifting of all U.S. sanctions against Russia and compensation for the damage they have caused to date.

Each side had build special facilities for disposing of the surplus plutonium as Putin concluded: “We fulfilled our duties, we built that enterprise. But our American partners did not.”

Meanwhile we rejected that Russian claim, insisting that our disposal methods did not violate the agreement.

Continue the BBC story.

As I said, this I believe is the most-pressing and serious problem facing mankind. This back and forth must be stopped – how? That is the critical question, isn’t it?

Thanks for stopping by.

Trump Prepping Strategy for Debate #2 and Possibly Debate #3: Go for the Jugular and Pray for Votes

Standing Firm and Resolute Pretty Much Like a Chameleon

Trump's next big move is to go for the kill to keep his misguided base in tow as well as happy as it were. That story introduction and highlights are from here (NY TIMES).

Trump lashed out today in the aftermath of his disappointing first debate with Hillary Clinton: (1) scolding the moderator, Lester Holt; (2) criticizing a beauty pageant winner for her physique, (3) and raising the prospect of an all-out attack on Bill Clinton’s marital infidelities in the final stretch of the campaign.

Having worked assiduously in recent weeks to cultivate a more disciplined demeanor on the campaign trail, he apparently is willing to cast that aside and go for Hillary's jugular as he told a NC crowd venting his grievances in full public view.

Trump criticized Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor, for asking “unfair questions” during the debate, and then he speculated that someone might have tampered with his microphone. Trump then repeated his charge that Clinton lacked the “stamina” to be president, a claim critics have described as sexist, and he suggested that in the future he might raise former President Bill Clinton’s past indiscretions. 

Continue at link.

Thanks for stopping by.

Time to Hold Donald J. Trump Accountable for his Lies on Top of More and More Lies

The Envelope, Please; and the Winner is ....

And Proud, too Thank You, Thank You, Thank You ...

Liar, liar, pants on fire…!! Let’s count the critical lies by Donald J. Trump, shall we? From Politifact.org and others reported here in part from Media Matters.org.

PolitiFact Found That 70 Percent of Donald Trump’s Assertions Are “Mostly False; False; or, Pants on Fire.”

Moreover, Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler wrote that because Trump “never takes anything back — and often repeats the same false claims, voters are likely to hear these time and again during the campaign season.” [PolitiFact, accessed 9/21/16; The Washington Post, 3/22/16]

Donald Trump Falsely Claimed That “The Birther Movement Was Started By Hillary Clinton In 2008.” Trump has asserted on numerous occasions that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton “started and was all in” on claims that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. In September 2015, Trump tweeted, “The birther movement was started by Hillary Clinton in 2008. She was all in!" At the time PolitiFact rated the statement “false, noting there is no record that Clinton herself or anyone within her campaign ever advanced the charge that Obama was not born in the United States.” Trump has continued to push the lie, most recently during a September 16 speech, where Trump stated, “Hillary Clinton and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy.” PolitiFact once again rated the claim “false, noting that while “Trump has repeatedly claimed that Clinton began the whole issue in the first place … PolitiFact and our friends at FactCheck.org and the Washington Post Fact-Checker have debunked this zombie claim multiple times.”

Trump Falsely Claimed That He “Finished” Conspiracy Theories about Barack Obama’s Birthplace, Which PolitiFact Rated “Pants on Fire.” In September 2016, Trump finally admitted that “President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period,” but added Clinton’s campaign was the source of the claim, and that he “finished it.” PolitiFact rated Trump’s claim “Pants on Fire,” writing “in no credible sense is this true,” and noting that Trump continued “fanning the flames of birther conspiracies … for at least another three and a half years” after Obama released his birth certificate. 

Trump Has Repeatedly Falsely Claimed That He “Was Totally Against The War In Iraq.” Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that he “was totally against the war in Iraq," most recently during NBC’s September 7 Commander-In-Chief Forum. However, in 2002, a year before the invasion of Iraq, when asked by Howard Stern if he was “for invading Iraq,” Trump said “I guess so.” Multiple fact-checkers have called out Trump’s claim that he was “totally against the war in Iraq,” with PolitiFact rating it “False.” The Washington Post fact-checker gave it “four Pinocchios” because despite documentation of Trump’s “bogus claim, Trump repeatedly claims he opposed the war from the beginning.”

Trump Has Falsely Claimed That Clinton “Soundly Slept In Her Bed” During The 2012 Attack In Benghazi, Libya. Trump has repeatedly claimed that, while secretary of state, Clinton “soundly slept in her bed” during the 2012 Benghazi attack. However, as PolitiFact noted, the attack “took place at about 9:30 p.m. Benghazi time, or 3:30 in the afternoon Washington time on a Tuesday and that Clinton was at her State Department office at the time.” Moreover, according to PolitiFact, Mrs. Clinton “worked late into the night on September 11, 2012, and none of numerous congressional investigations into the attacks faulted Clinton for her actions as the attacks unfolded that day.”

Trump Lied That Clinton Wants To “Abolish The Second Amendment.” Trump has repeatedly lied that Clinton wants to “abolish the Second Amendment” and the right to bear arms, saying Clinton “wants to take your guns away.” That is not true. PolitiFact rated the claim false, saying, “We found no evidence of Clinton ever saying verbatim or suggesting explicitly that she wants to abolish the Second Amendment, and the bulk of Clinton’s comments suggest the opposite. She has repeatedly said she wants to protect the right to bear arms while enacting measures to prevent gun violence.” Clinton has repeatedly explained that the country can regulate guns while respecting the Second Amendment. [PolitiFact, 5/11/16; New York Times, 9/17/16, Media Matters, 9/21/16]

Trump Claimed That “Inner-City Crime Is Reaching Record Levels, Which Is False.” In an August 29 tweet, Trump asserted that “Inner-city crime is reaching record levels.” But, according to PolitiFact, “the trend in crime statistics from large cities is unmistakable: The frequency of violent crime has declined since the early-to-mid 1990s, adding that patterns for homicide are the same as they are for violent crime generally – they have been declining.” [PolitiFact rated Trump’s assertion “Pants on Fire”].

Trump Has Falsely Claimed That “It Could Be 30 Million Undocumented Immigrants Currently Residing in the United States.” And, has said that the government has “no idea what the number is.” His most recent attempt to peddle this false claim was during an August 31 speech in Arizona. But, according to PolitiFact, “HSD last estimated the size of the undocumented immigrants at 11.4 million in January 2012, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007.” Moreover, as PolitiFact notes, “Every credible estimate” approximates that the population of undocumented immigrants in the United States is “in the 11 million range, with a margin of error of around 1 million.”

Trump And His Campaign Have Frequently Falsely Claimed That Trump’s Tax Returns Are Not “A Burning Issue to Most Americans.” Trump, his campaign, and his surrogates have repeatedly claimed that Americans “don’t care” about his tax returns. Trump’s campaign manager claimed on September 13 that Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns wasn’t “a burning issue to most of Americans,” while Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, declared “I don’t hear a lot of people talking” about it. However, a recent Quinnipiac University poll revealed that 62 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of all voters want Trump to release his tax returns. [Politico, 9/6/16; Media Matters, 9/13/16] 

Trump Has Lied That, Because His Taxes Are Under Audit, He “Can’t” Make Them Public. Trump and his campaign have asserted that Trump “can’t” make his tax returns public because he is being audited by the IRS.” But, as The Washington Post noted, the IRS has “said nothing, including an audit, prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information.” Moreover, the Post pointed out that Trump’s own tax lawyers have said Trump’s tax “returns from 2002 to 2008 are no longer being audited, and President Richard Nixon released his tax returns while under audit.”

Trump Has Repeatedly Falsely Claimed That the “Real Unemployment Rate is 42 Percent.” Trump has asserted that the unemployment rate reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is “one of the biggest hoaxes in American modern politics, and claimed that the real unemployment rate is 42 percent.” (Think Progress: “calculating the unemployment rate doesn’t change between presidential administrations and, to get anywhere close to Trump’s 42 percent figure, you’d have to count everyone who is out of the labor force, in other words is not working, which would include: Retirees, college students, and stay-at-home parents who don’t want a job”). Ergo: More grossly inflated numbers from Trump.

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned and watch the 1st debate on September 26th…

* Presidential and VP Candidates' debate schedule is here.

SWAT and Police Do Great Work No Doubt About That: But, Why The Military Look, Tactics, and Gear

Hard to Tell the Diff Isn't It

Really Hard to Tell the Diff

Taxpayers Pay for Military Hardware

(DOD in turn gives a lot to Law Enforcement)

I have been wanting to write on this subject for some time and this fine article gives me a lead in that direction for this post – I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. It’s a good topic for more discussion.

The American Civil Liberties Union has released the results of its year-long study of police militarization. The study looked at 800 deployments of SWAT teams among 20 local, state and federal police agencies in 2011-2012.

Among the notable findings are these:

1.  62 percent of the SWAT raids surveyed were to conduct searches for drugs.

2.  Just under 80 percent were to serve a search warrant, meaning eight in 10 SWAT raids were not initiated to apprehend a school shooter, hostage taker, or escaped felon (the common justification for these tactics), but to investigate someone still only suspected of committing a crime.

3.  In fact, just 7 percent of SWAT raids were “for hostage, barricade, or active shooter scenarios.”

4.  In at least 36 percent of the SWAT raids studies, no contraband of any kind was found. The report notes that due to incomplete police reports on these raids this figure could be as high as 65 percent.

5.  65 percent of SWAT deployments resulted in some sort of forced entry into a private home, by way of a battering ram, boot, or some sort of explosive device. In over half those raids, the police failed to find any sort of weapon, the presence of which was cited as the reason for the violent tactics.

6.  Ironically (or perhaps not), searches to serve warrants on people suspected of drug crimes were more likely to result in forced entry than raids conducted for other purposes.

7.  Though often justified for rare incidents like school shootings or terrorist situations, the armored personnel vehicles police departments are getting from the Pentagon and through grants from the Department of Homeland Security are commonly used on drug raids.

8.  SWAT tactics are disproportionately used on people of color.

Continue reading here (Washington Post) >>>

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Wisconsin Weasel: Gov. Scott "Koch-Clone" Walker (R): Corruption Comes to Light No Surprise

His Scam Kitty Comes to Light

Documents released by the Guardian indicate that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) may have solicited and received corporate checks for the 2011 Senate recall fight and his own 2012 recall election.

The checks – cut from corporate treasuries, not granted by individuals – were deposited into the account of the dark money group Wisconsin Club for Growth, which prosecutors viewed as a “subcommittee of Walker's campaign” in violation of the state statutes (11.10 (04)) as they were written at the time. 

Moreover, it appears that Walker and the GOP-controlled legislature later took actions to benefit a number of these secret, corporate contributors and the public was none the wiser.

The Guardian expose focused on the shocking story of one corporate giver, lead pigment manufacturer Harold Simmons, who gave a $500,000 corporate check on top of $250,000 in personal contributions and was rewarded with a change to the law which would retroactively cancel the lawsuits of 173 children poisoned by lead paint. But other corporate donors got special treatment as well.

Wisconsin has had an absolute ban on corporate contributions in politics since 1905, “when Republican Governor ‘Fighting Bob’ LaFollette and the Wisconsin legislature” were battling the corrupt stranglehold of railroad and timber barons on state government.

Continue the story here from Truth Out.org.  

As many people say, the truth always comes out – it may take time, but it always comes out. This classic example.

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