Knock Knock

Blagojevich Free

Impeachment: The Next Chapter

Rudy Waits For His Bus

Eating Crow

Mission Accomplished

The bill to fund the federal government that looks after a 19 Trillion Dollar economy showed it's dysfunction when political infighting and posturing caused a shortfall of the required 60 votes by the deadline on Friday night.

Without delay, Trump accused the Democrats of putting politics above the interests of the American people, and the Democrats blamed him for rejecting bipartisan compromise proposals. And the Democrat insistence to staple a DACA requirement to the continued funding of the government.

Both teams claim they will keep talking, and the White House budget chief has expressed optimism that a resolution will be found before Monday.

When that doesn't happen, hundreds of thousands of federal workers face the prospect of no work and shuttered offices at the start of the working week.

The last government shutdown was in 2013, and lasted for 16 days. However, any thoughts that a shutdown will actually save taxpayers, it will, in fact, do the opposite. According to Senator Rand Paul - it actually cost taxpayers more. Here's an article, if you care.

Fire And Fury Hits Bookstands

Michael Wolff calls Trump the, 'least credible person who has ever walked on earth' in his new book, ‘Fire and Fury.’ 

His new book that gives a behind-the-scenes account Trump's White House, said he spoke with The Donald on-record. 

Wolff, added on NBC's "Today," said that everyone he spoke to for the book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," described the president the same way. 

"I will tell you the one description that everyone gave, everyone has in common: They all say he is like a child, and what they mean by that is, he has a need for immediate gratification. It is all about him." 

Wolff added that "100 percent of the people around" Trump, "senior advisers, family members, every single one of them, questions his intelligence and fitness for office."

Don't know why they didn't stick with the original title.

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch Plans to Retire

Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah (83), the longest-serving Senate Republican, announced on Tuesday he will retire at the end of the year. He's rebuffing Trump who pleaded with him to seek an eighth term. His leaving paves the way for Mitt Romney, a noted NeverTrumper, to run for Utah's chair.

Playing him like a Grand Piano

                  

That old turtle Mitch McConnell has played Chuck Schumer like a grand piano.

What started 15 years ago, now ends - with a decisive victory for the old turtle. Turtle, known for patience and the long game has become apropos. 

McConnell ends the fight against Charles Schumer - a fight Chuck started by rallying the first-ever partisan filibuster of a judicial nominee to the D.C. Circuit Court - Miguel Estrada. Before, the Senate’s “advise and consent” role was vigorously deployed with fierce partisan tensions but ultimately settled with simple up-or-down majority votes. Little did Chuck know that he had set in motion a series of events that would upturn the filibuster option.

Granted, that happened when Harry Reid played the 'nuclear option' when the Democrats controlled the Senate. Republicans blocked all of Obama's judicial nominees. To be fair, it's because the Democrats had blocked most of Bush's nominees. But as with most Democrat politicians, the unintended consequences weren't discussed, thought through, or cared about when Reid hit the button to do away with the long-standing rules.

Now, today, it looks like Schumer is going to attempt the first ever filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee, and when he's defeated - it'll open the door wide open for the next Supreme Court nominee to walk right in on a 49-51 vote.

And more importantly, is that these same rules will apply to the next one... after Gorsuch.

Anyone Tired of all the Winning Yet?

It's been a busy week for the new President.

If you followed Trump, even a little bit, in the two years leading up to last week - nothing he did should be a surprise to you. That is, unless you took him and his rhetoric metaphorically. Or even figuratively.

Apparently, no one took him literally.

ObamaCare D.O.A. - new plan TBD.
Federal hiring freeze.
But not the military. That's going to get bigger.
A whole pile of State Department folks quit/fired ... it was a race to the door.
Tears at the EPA, PBS and NPR.
No more regulations. Or, you can have a new one, but you have to take 2 away.
No more abortion talk for global health assistance groups.
TPP is just T.P. (that's Toilet Paper for you folks not into acronyms) now.
Green light for the Dakota and Keystone Pipelines.
Domestic Steel for those pipes.
Green light for new manufacturing facilities.
Sanctuary Cities are on notice, but it won't matter too long...
He's going ahead with the wall. Yes, that's a physical wall.
And there's "Extreme vetting" - in case you made it over the wall. Maybe in an airplane?

That last one might be the brick too far for some folks. There's still a judiciary branch of the government, but apparently it's no longer a page in the White House.gov's website. There's a few other pages missing now. Some people noticed these omissions.

And no one has noticed how busy the Pentagon has been this week... And they've been really busy.

It's been a good week of fundraising at the ACLU and Planned Parenthood though. And folks who make signs for protesters. A banner year. Pun unexpected.

Nancy (With the stretchable face)

Ms. Pelosi, the 76-year-old San Francisco 'progressive', was expected to easily win re-election when her colleagues voted on Wednesday. She has become the lightning rod for complaints that Democrats have failed to offer a compelling, broad-based economic message to the working-class voters in the Midwest and South who helped them capture the House 10 years ago and made Ms. Pelosi the first woman speaker.

Judging by the House Democrat's vote, it seems they've not listened or still don't understand why they're not doing well with the voting public.

(Picture lovingly borrowed from Terry Gilliam's Brazil, played by the wonderful Katherine Marie Helmond)

Quote of the Day

CHEZ

"The two sides are not only polarized these days, but there are so many media outlets now that there's always one guaranteed to tell you only what you want to hear, regardless of your viewpoint. The political media has become like porn: whatever your particular fetish, there's something to satisfy you. The problem with this is that people meet to discuss politics and each person comes equipped not only with his or her opinion but his or her supposed "facts" -- and that means no one budges on anything. There is no common ground anymore."

From the comment section of the anti-tea party comment from his original post. Yeah, that's probably a feedback loop.

I would retort, "it's the stupid spending." But that's only adding to the false partisan divide that keeps us distracted while 5 shooting wars are being engaged. Each Tomahawk missile aimed at Quadaffy is another couple schools or 60 teacher's salaries... and since three of those wars are kind of illegal, but yet, are still being funded by our broke ass Congress -- I think we CAN come to some common ground, Chez. They're all crooks!

The Vote Tally

PELOSI voted yes!

VAN HOLLEN voted yes!

CLYBURN voted yes!

HOYER voted yes!

WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ - The Chairman Of The Party - voted yes!

JACKSON-LEE voted yes!

DINGELL voted yes!

Even CLIFFORDS voted yes - and she get's slack only because she got shot in the head!

The so-called die-hard Liberal Left put up a phony front and then folded like a wet napkin!

What is the use of the Democratic Caucus in the Congress to Obama if they only bend over like a $10 hooker?

The Progressive Caucus complains about the control of the Tea Party Caucus on Congress and tie up the works - why don't THEY have the balls to assume control and tie up the works?

The Democrat solution is to turn Congress back over to the Republicans. Well, why not crank up the momentum for the clean sweep?

The Democrat Party song should be Adele's "We Could'a Had It All.... Rolling in the Deep!"

What a Dick

Yep. It was his crotch.

Rep. Anthony Weiner appeared before the press to tearfully confess a series of “inappropriate communications”with six women he met online. He stressed that his relationship with these women had no physical component whatsoever, but refused to elaborate on the exact nature of the exchanges.

Weiner further admitted that the now-infamous underwear pic was in fact tweeted by him, and the hacking fabrication his used to cover it up was meant to protect his loved ones.

Calling his behavior “a destructive thing,” Weiner offered the media no clear-cut explanation for his actions, but said he knew what he was doing was a mistake. The congressman said he has no intention of resigning his post, believing he did not violate any law nor break the oath to his constituents.

Asked about how his marriage would fair in light of his admission, Weiner said he loves his wife “very much” and they two “have no intention of splitting up over this.” He later added that his wife had knowledge concerning some of these relationships “since before we were married.”

Meanwhile, ABC News posted an interview it conducted with Meagan Broussard, a 26-year-old woman who claims to have been one of the women with whom Rep. Weiner engaged in “a sexually-charged electronic relationship.”

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Nancy Pelosi says she's "deeply disappointed," and has called for Ethics Committee investigation; Perhaps she forgot that she's not running the place and there actually WILL be an investigation. Its about the lies and the cover-up. The ridiculous, half-assed, cover-up.

Ben Smith: “Can Weiner keep his seat?”; The Hill‘s Ballot Box: Weiner’s seat “unlikely to fall to GOP.” Hell, he'll still probably run for mayor of New York, and he'll probably still win.

My comment - Even after he is caught, continued to lie, (poorly) and then only until pictures OF HIM came out did he even consider owing up to it. It was probably the worst cover up I've seen since Senator 'Wide Stance'. Like IL's Blago - Weiner has unchecked political ambition without anything to back it up, meaning no ideas or actual ability in the political arena.

Anthony Weiner's Weinergate

"Anthony Weiner hires attorney in Twitter incident"

New York Rep. Anthony Weiner has retained an attorney to advise him “what civil or criminal actions should be taken” after a lewd picture was sent from his Twitter account.

Weiner, who has represented part of New York City since 1998, says online hacking led to a close-up shot of a man’s underwear being sent from his official Twitter account Saturday night.

Dave Arnold, a spokesman for Weiner, said the Congressman’s staff is “loathe to treat” this incident as more than a prank “but we are relying on professional advice.”

“At a time when the GOP is playing games with the debt limit, a member of the Supreme Court is refusing to recuse himself from matters he has a financial interest in, and middle class incomes are stagnant, many want to change the subject,” Weiner said in a statement emailed to POLITICO by his office. “I don’t. This was a prank, and a silly one. I’m focused on my work.”

Weiner’s office did not answer specific questions about the photograph, whether he has contacted authorities or the Seattle woman who received the photograph. He has said that his Facebook was hacked and if his Twitter had the same password, that too could be vulnerable.

Also, check the #Weinergate hashtag on Twitter, where the essential coverage has been developing.

Image Credit: The People's Cube.

Ahmadinejad to Hang Up His Member's Only Jacket?

Ahmadinejad row with Khamenei intensifies - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

A political dispute between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader is reported to have intensified.

Ahmadinejad is said to be contemplating resigning after Heidar Moslehi, the intelligence minister he had sacked, was reinstated by Khamenei.

The president is understood to have shirked some of his duties and skipped cabinet meetings for the past ten days in anger over the decision.

Mehrdad Khonsari, an analyst with the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies in London, told Al Jazeera on Friday that the dispute, which began last month, had become "serious".

"It shows the level of disunity at the very top of the Iranian [political] hierachy [with] Ahmadinejad having already polarised the internal political scene as a result of fraudulent election results that were announced more than 20 months ago," Khonsari said.

"He is now beginning to encroach on the powers and privileges vested in the supreme leader, and he and his constituency - mainly among the Revolutionary Guards - have tried to do this.

"And, of course, the supreme leader has tried to make a stand and in this stand he has been joined by many people from the ruling establishment who have been cast aside by Ahmadinejad."

A VERY interesting development, indeed. But before we get TOO excited... Mock-Mood hasn't been pushed out yet.

What's going on here is an epic power struggle between Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his allies. Ahmadinejad allies all 25-30 of them, have been jailed for witchcraft - as a result of their intransigence in the face of clerical power. Way to go, Mr. Wizard. This situation has emerged out of Ahmadinejad's refusal to keep a pro-Ayatollah Intelligence Minister and his earlier firing of the Foreign Minister. And you thought American politics were stupid and confusing?

Shaping the Narrative

Bin Laden’s Daughter Confirms Her Father Shot Dead By US Special Forces In Pakistan
-- Al Arabiya News

Senior Pakistani security officials said Osama bin Laden’s daughter had confirmed her father was captured alive and shot dead by the US Special Forces during the first few minutes of the operation carried out at the huge compound in Bilal Town, Abbottabad. 
 


Besides recovering four bullet-riddled bodies from the compound, Pakistani security agencies also arrested two women and six children, aged between 2 and 12 years, after American forces flew toward Afghanistan. Some reports suggest 16 people, including women and children, were arrested from the house, most of them Arab nationals.
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Sure, not the most un-biased person in the world to quote. But, for the Muslim world, this will become the narrative of what happened to Osama Bin Laden. He will be treated as a martyr who was murdered by American crusaders. Which was probably inevitable anyway. At least there's no doubt what happened, right? Right?

Hold on, the White House is changing the "official story" again --

The Slippery Story Of The Bin Laden Kill
-- Garance Franke-Ruta, The Atlantic

The early narrative of the assault on Osama bin Laden had him using his wife as a human shield and firing from behind her. Now we learn he wasn't armed.

The White House Tuesday blamed "the fog of war" for conflicting statements in its recounting of the events surrounding the Abbottabad raid that killed Osama bin Laden, but the history of misstatements from U.S. government officials about various combat operations raises questions about whether briefers also were subjecting us to a counter terrorism strategy and not just completely confused in their initial statements.
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Hold on, weren't they WATCHING it, LIVE? Perhaps, and this is not just my own opinion here, perhaps the White House shouldn't politicize things that should not be politicized? Ooops. Too late on that one. The general politic out of the Obama Administration has been incompetent, and that's on their best day. If they don't get a handle on this quickly, it's going to spin out of their control. (Pun noticed, and moving on)

Meanwhile, the Secret SEAL Team will likely be honored in Secret for their Secret Raid. No ticker tape parade for the GI Joe Team.

The team that killed Osama bin Laden will likely be honored in the only way such a covert group can be: in private with nobody but themselves and their commanders in the know.

Quietly recognizing heroic actions for clandestine operations is not new in the military. Some service members wear war decorations but refuse to talk about how they earned them. Others stash away their medals, either because they've been ordered to hide them or they have chosen to for their own security.
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It's not over. It's the end of the beginning.

Birther Card Played Too Soon

The White House released President Barack Obama’s original “Certificate of Live Birth” from Hawaii amid persistent questions about his citizenship.

The long-form birth certificate, which the White House requested, says Mr. Obama was born at 7:24 p.m. on Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. The White House said Hawaii doesn’t generally release long-form birth certificates but did so at the president’s request.

The administration previously released a less detailed version of Mr. Obama’s birth certificate.

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said the decision to release the document came because “the president was struck by how this was crowding out the debate” on the budget.” He added that “it became an issue that transcended” the Internet and conspiracy theorists and had moved into the mainstream.

“The president decided to do this…because this was a sideshow that’s distracting from” significant issues, Mr. Pfeiffer said.

Mr. Obama has just demonstrated, again, that he and his team are terrible politicians. This ends what could have been played for two more years, allowing the GOP to tear itself apart. The fringe on the right has been eating this up for three years now. It's an incredible waste of the GOP resources and anyone who even talks about it looks like an absolute nut case, or at least, are painted as nut case fringe by the main stream. What was a non-issue for most of the actual Purple States of America, has been smoked out and played out. Everyone folds.

Sure not everyone, "it's a forgery, it's a fake, what took you so long..." can already be heard echoing. But why would they play this card now? It's a bad move, politically. Perhaps they felt that two years was all it was worth. Maybe it was the growing threat of the Trump card?

Eh.

Can we finally start talking about real issues? How about that laser guided sight on Jobs? How about the three wars we're engaged in?

How about that wedding I keep hearing about?

Winds of Change in the Middle East

The issues in Tunisia, Lebanon, and Egypt differ, but yesterday anger boiled over in all three countries as grievances were brought to the streets.

In Tunisia, where protests have already overthrown President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, continued demonstrations sought to depose his allies still in their positions. Meanwhile Tunisia's interim government has issued an international arrest warrant for the former president and members of his family.

In Lebanon, Sunni supporters of ousted Prime Minister Saad Hariri took to the streets in a "day of rage", burning tires and blockading roads in Tripoli and Sidon.

It was in Egypt where the most dramatic events unfolded as the largest protests in a generation rocked Cairo. Demonstrators, many inspired by events in Tunisia, called for an end to nearly 30 years of rule by President Hosni Mubarak.

Protesters in Egypt Defy Ban as Government Cracks Down

By KAREEM FAHIM and LIAM STACK

Protesters marched against President Hosni Mubarak for the second straight day. In Suez, protesters set fire to a government building.

• Photographs
• Warily Eyeing Egypt, Israelis Feel Like Spectators
• The Lede: Egyptian Bloggers Report on New Unrest

Egypt's Young Seize Role of Key Opposition to Mubarak

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and MICHAEL SLACKMAN

Hosni Mubarak's traditional foes have been displaced by the leaderless tens of thousands of young Egyptians who turned out this week to demand an end to his 30-year rule.

I'm at first, very excited to see pro-democracy boom in the Middle East (whoa, isn't that what George Bush said we were fighting for over there, and EXACTLY what would happen if we took out Sadam?!) My hesitation to get really super excited is that, well, who's to say they won't 'elect' a crazy imam to replace their totalitarian masters?

Of course, this author is quick to note that the GOP has backed crazy imams (Pat Robertson, Mike Huckabee) too!

Eh, screw it: Viva Revolution!

Winning Candidate Arrested in New Jersey Voter Fraud Case

The candidate who was declared the winner in May was arrested Thursday on a charge of witness tampering in a voter-fraud investigation being conducted by the state attorney general and the state criminal justice director.

The candidate, Rigo Rodriguez, 38, was arrested at his home in Paterson on Thursday morning along with his wife, Lissette, 31. His campaign manager, Juan Jimenez, 45, was also arrested. They were taken into custody by the New Jersey State Police and issued summonses before being released. They were ordered to appear at the Passaic County Superior Court, but a date has yet to be scheduled.

Criminal Justice Director Stephen Taylor said in a news release that each of the three was charged with third-degree witness tampering but that additional charges may be brought. On Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 people were arrested on charges of voter fraud.

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This would have never happened in Illinois or Louisiana... because they would have done it better.