All purpose news and politics thread part v: The quickening

[Tami]

Justice Dept. Investigating Years-Old Leaks and Appears Focused on Comey

WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors in Washington are investigating a years-old leak of classified information about a Russian intelligence document, and they appear to be focusing on whether the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey illegally provided details to reporters, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a “leaker.” Mr. Trump recently suggested without evidence that Mr. Comey should be prosecuted for “unlawful conduct” and spend years in prison.

The timing of the investigation could raise questions about whether it was motivated at least in part by politics. Prosecutors and F.B.I. agents typically investigate leaks of classified information around the time they appear in the news media, not years later. And the inquiry is the latest politically sensitive matter undertaken by the United States attorney’s office in Washington, which is also conducting an investigation of Mr. Comey’s former deputy, Andrew G. McCabe, that has been plagued by problems.

Law enforcement officials are scrutinizing at least two news articles about the F.B.I. and Mr. Comey, published in The New York Times and The Washington Post in 2017, that mentioned the Russian government document, according to the people familiar with the investigation. Hackers working for Dutch intelligence officials obtained the document and provided it to the F.B.I., and both its existence and the collection of it were highly classified secrets, the people said.

[Tami]

Intelligence leaders ask Congress to cancel national security hearings to avoid angering Trump

This is unbelievable—and yet not. United States intelligence officials are "quietly" asking the House and Senate to cancel public hearings on this year's World Wide Threats Assessment, the report outlining the major risks to United States security as identified by the nation's intelligence community, so as to avoid angering Donald Trump.

The problem, reports CNN, is Trump's furious reaction last year when top members of the intelligence community gave testimony to Congress during last year's hearings that conflicted with Donald Trump's own public claims. In particular, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who was forced out of his position soon afterward, and CIA director Gina Haspel testified that there was no evidence Iran was attempting to build nuclear weapons; this was met by sputtering tweets from Trump calling them "wrong" and telling them to "go back to school!"

So U.S. intelligence officials are asking that hearings on the top national security issues not take place so that they will not anger Donald Trump by disputing his own evidence conspiracy theories.

Profiles in courage this ain't. But it is yet another step down into authoritarian territory, in which the government of a nation begins to sweep facts that may counter Dear Leader's own personal, possibly entirely made-up whims out of public view. Trump's Twitter proclamations, many of which are not only brazen lies but tinged with paranoia and conspiracy, are now being elevated over the analyses of the nation's collected intelligence infrastructure because nobody in his administration dares publicly contradict him when he's lying to the American people.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Intelligence leaders ask Congress to cancel national security hearings to avoid angering Trump

What the hell is this ****? It’s not like Trump can order people shot for saying things he doesn’t like to hear. Those spineless clowns need to man up and do their goddamn jobs!

[numberthirty]

Since I don't believe this has been mentioned...

https://www.commondreams.org/news/20...dorses-vermont

Calling Bernie Sanders a 'Champion' for Immigrant Families, Make the Road Action Endorses Vermont Senator for President

Immigrant rights group Make the Road Action on Wednesday announced its first-ever presidential endorsement for Sen. Bernie Sanders' Democratic bid, saying the Vermont lawmaker's 2020 run "reminds us every day that progressive values and issue priorities are both the right thing to do and the right way to beat Trump."

"We can and we must fight for a country where members of our communities are free to stay, free to move, and free to thrive," said Make the Road co-executive director Javier H. Valdés in a statement. "And we are proud to fight alongside Bernie Sanders to realize that vision."

Make the Road Action is one of the nation's largest immigrant rights groups, with tens of thousands of members across the country and a particularly strong presence in Nevada, one of the early states in 2020 Democratic primary voting. The organization has members as well in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

[Tendrin]

The commonwealth of Virginia this afternoon voted to amend the U.S. Constitution, becoming the 38th and final state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Virginia's action could be a momentous day in the nation's history, heralding far-reaching changes in the law and capping a nearly century-long fight to enshrine women's equality in the Constitution. Whether the Constitution has actually been amended for the 28th time—and for the first time in more than a quarter century—is now officially in question and a matter for the courts to decide.

Could be big but I don't expect the supreme court to do much with it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...tution/605002/

[worstblogever]

Could be big but I don't expect the supreme court to do much with it.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...tution/605002/

Not this Supreme Court, sadly.

[Tendrin]

Not this Supreme Court, sadly.

Ayep. Yep yep yep yep.

[Tendrin]

YIKES

It’s the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act, or House Bill 2044, which was introduced Jan. 8 into the Missouri House of Representatives by Rep. Ben Baker (R). He is a minister, missionary and former dean of students at Ozark Bible Institute and College, and, his biography says, also owns a small construction business that specializes in artisanal trim work.
Baker’s office did not immediately respond to a query about why he thinks such a law is necessary and why he believes jail is an appropriate penalty for library personnel who violate it

.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...uld-be-jailed/

If this guy isn't already on WBE's radar, I am gonna imagine he'll be on the list as soon as he sees this.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Parnas Says He’s ‘Scared’ Of DOJ, Claims Trump’s Power Has Grown Under AG Barr

The indicted former associate of Rudy Giuliani compared the president to a “cult leader” who’s been bolstered by his attorney general. Yeah, the growth of the Cult of Trump has grown to frightening proportions, frightening to both the country and to democracy as a whole.

**********

Eleven American Troops Injured In Iran Attack On Iraqi Bases Used By U.S. Military

The United States military originally said no service members had been hurt in Iran’s Jan. 8 missile attack on the al-Asad and Erbil military bases in Iraq. Would that be considered a lie, or simply an omission? My money's on the former.

**********

Ex-RNC Chair Exposes ‘Un-American’ Hypocrisy Of GOP Senators In Donald Trump Trial

Michael Steele ripped Republican lawmakers who raised “their damn hand to swear an oath that they know they’re not going to defend nor uphold.” Even worse is that those assholes publicly said they're not going to do their duty. Deplorable!

**********

GOP Senator Dodges Impeachment Questions, Calls Reporter A ‘Liberal Hack’

Arizona Sen. Martha McSally sneered at CNN’s Manu Raju after he asked her if the Senate should consider new evidence as part of Trump’s impeachment trial. Oh, WBEEEEEEEE....!

**********

Trump Preens About Getting Fireworks Back To Mount Rushmore In Time For Fire Season

What mysterious “environmental reasons” could possibly block July 4th fireworks in the dry pine forests of South Dakota, Trump wonders. I'm gonna assume Trump hasn't paid a second's worth of attention to the fires scorching Australia. Yeah, fireworks near a forest guarantees an unhappy ending.

[worstblogever]

YIKES
.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/educa...uld-be-jailed/

If this guy isn't already on WBE's radar, I am gonna imagine he'll be on the list as soon as he sees this.

Gonna have to do some digging, but I'm expecting this guy to have supported the dumbest legislation ALEC uses Missouri as a breeding ground for during his tenure...

*checks* Huh. He's new. Just got elected for the first time in 2018. His predecessor couldn't run again due to term limits.

Expecting to hear more fundamentalist lunacy from him.

GOP Senator Dodges Impeachment Questions, Calls Reporter A ‘Liberal Hack’

Arizona Sen. Martha McSally sneered at CNN’s Manu Raju after he asked her if the Senate should consider new evidence as part of Trump’s impeachment trial. Oh, WBEEEEEEEE....!

I've profiled McSally already, but yeah, I'll be including this moment in her update in a couple months.

[Tendrin]

Gonna have to do some digging, but I'm expecting this guy to have supported the dumbest legislation ALEC uses Missouri as a breeding ground for during his tenure...

*checks* Huh. He's new. Just got elected for the first time in 2018. His predecessor couldn't run again due to term limits.

Expecting to hear more fundamentalist lunacy from him.

I mean, if your first big legislative push is a 'jail the librarians bill', I think that's a safe bet.

[Tami]

Trump threatened UK with 25% car tariffs unless it agreed to accuse Iran of breaking nuclear deal

Donald Trump threatened the UK with a 25 per cent tariff on its cars unless the British government officially accused Iran of breaking the 2015 nuclear deal, it has been reported.

The secret threat last week, first reported by The Washington Post, which cited unnamed European officials, would have seen the tariff imposed on all European automobile imports to the US unless Britain, France and Germany agreed to the ultimatum.

It came days before the three European Union powers on Tuesday triggered a dispute mechanism under the agreement which does amount to a formal accusation against Tehran of violating its terms. It could lead to the reinstatement of United Nations sanctions, but is being framed by the Europeans as the last chance to save the nuclear deal.

Iran said on Thursday the European countries had succumbed to a “high school bully”.

“Appeasement confirmed. E3 sold out remnants of #JCPOA to avoid new Trump tariffs,” Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote on Twitter, using the acronym of the 2015 accord's official title.

[worstblogever]

I mean, if your first big legislative push is a 'jail the librarians bill', I think that's a safe bet.

It's a question of when, not if Mr. Baker appears in the news cycle out of Missouri again.

[worstblogever]

On this date in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day posted profiles of Bo Watson, the President Pro Tempore of the Tennessee State Senate, and bowtie-clad extremist of the highest order. We noted that among the bills Watson supported were failed or often unconstitutional conservative staples like drug-testing welfare recipients, arresting transgendered citizens for using the "wrong" bathroom, allowing creationists to challenge evolution when its taught in school classrooms, blocking the Medicaid Expansion, bringing the electric chair back as a form of the death penalty, and to see to the creation a public list of "abortion statistics" that included the names and addresses of women who had sought out an abortion, presumably so they could be harassed or attacked by hard-right pro-life terrorists. He also is noteworthy for saying he would rather a local Volkswagen factory move to Mexico than have their employees join a union, which is one of the most jaw-droppingly stupid and petty anti-union statements you will ever hear a member of the GOP say. Watson also was calling for the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to be investigated because the Director of UT's Office of Diversity and Inclusiveness website offered up the idea of using the pronoun "ze" to professors with transgender students to use, as an alternative to "he" or "she", and during the initial roll call in their first class, to find out which pronoun students preferred, and outrage that the school had a “Sex Week” to educate its students about safe sex and the prevention of STDs. By no means, is that the dumbest argument Bo Watson has ever unleashed, as we told the story of the time the Tennessee state legislature was talking about lifting a ban on mothers breastfeeding children in public over the age of one, and he started rambling on about people aged 14 or 35 with weird fetishes still being breast-fed in bars, because he's so terrified of a mother's nipple.

In September of 2018, Watson flipped out when finding out Nike had released a new ad campaign with Colin Kaepernick, and wanted to rescind the contract the University of Tennessee’s athletic department had with Nike in retaliation, because this ***hole just cannot go a year without finding a new battle in the culture wars.

Bo Watson was up for re-election in 2018, and since the 2014 elections, when he actually founded his own SuperPAC to extend his own electoral fortunes, Watson easily won re-election with 65% of the vote. He was rather quiet through 2019, and that may have had something to do with the fact that the Tennessee state legislature had enough issues with Republican leadership, what with the environment of sexual harassment and improper behavior that resulted in the Tennessee Speaker of the House, Glen Casada, to step down.

Going into an election year, we’re curious to see what faux-controversy Watson tries to stir up as November approaches.

[worstblogever]

I mean, if your first big legislative push is a 'jail the librarians bill', I think that's a safe bet.

It seems he's also very distressed by Drag Queen Story Hours being hosted.
https://www.news-leader.com/story/ne...ll/4488236002/

Oh yeah, this guy's a Christian Taliban member waiting to happen.