#Drumpf is a Putin operative

[socialjusticeinamerica]

[republikkkanorcs]

[malenipshadows]

+ The CDC had wanted to start helping states plan in June how to get people vaccinated. But officials at Operation Warp Speed rebuffed the agency’s plan for distributing vaccines. They adopted a similar plan in August only after exploring other options—and then held the release of the CDC’s playbook for states for two weeks for additional clearance and to put it out with another document, the officials said. + Operation Warp Speed was supposed to be a high-water mark of the Tr*mp administration’s coronavirus response, but it stumbled at the finish line because of problems in federal planning and foresight. Now, the public-private partnership is scrambling to speed up vaccinations, adjusting eligibility guidelines while states race to increase their abilities to administer doses on a large scale.

[ritchiepage2001newaccount]

#CorpMedia #Idiocracy #Oligarchs #MegaBanks vs #Union #Occupy #NoDAPL #BLM #DACA #SDF #Humanity

THE PANAMA PAPERS, THE PARADISE PAPERS AND RELATED REVELATIONS

WATCH The true story behind the secret 9-month Paradise Papers investigation

https://news.vice.com/story/the-true-story-behind-the-secret-9-month-paradise-papers-investigation

After nine months of secret collaboration, a global team of over 380 investigative journalists released the findings of one of the largest troves of leaked documents in history last week: the Paradise Papers...

[VIDEO] The True Story Behind The Secret Nine-Month Paradise Papers Investigation (HBO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8mdNahdo4M

This segment originally aired on November 6, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO...

The Panama Papers · ICIJ

https://panamapapers.icij.org/

[VIDEO] About the Panama Papers

http://panamapapers.sueddeutsche.de/articles/56febff0a1bb8d3c3495adf4/

Paradise Papers: Secrets of the Global Elite - ICIJ

https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/

Panama Papers: a special investigation

https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/panama-papers

Paradise Papers: a special investigation

https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/paradise-papers

Panama Papers

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-35934836

Panama Papers

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/panama-papers

THE PANAMA PAPERS, THE PARADISE PAPERS AND RELATED REVELATIONS - A TIMELINE

June 22, 2010 'The greatest libertarian show on earth' will feature 'Escape from America' financial advice

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-now/2010/06/the_greatest_libertarian_show.html

FreedomFest, the annual libertarian gathering in Las Vegas, will offer a seminar titled “Escape from America: The Five Steps to Financial Freedom,” conducted by the Sovereignty Society. No surprise or scandal here -- this is a topic libertarians have discussed for years. But it's an amusing difference between libertarians and the rising “tea party” movement, which will be saluted at several other Freedom Fest events. The Sovereignty Society's site is chock-full of tips on which sovereign funds to invest in ("If you retreat to these 6 Ponzi-Proof investments right now, your wealth could multiply 3-5 fold, even as millions of Americans watch their retirement accounts go up in smoke.") and essays like this one from "wealth preservation and privacy expert" Mark Nestmann on the financial benefits of giving up American citizenship...

(((((((((((( The above article contains links to sources that have been moved or hidden by the authors, but were not all that hard to track down elsewhere:

FreedomFest 2018

https://www.freedomfest.com/

October 2009 The BEST Tax Break for U.S. Citizens

http://sovereignsociety.com/archives/the-sovereign-society-october-2009/#tax

June 16, 2010 Why I gave up my U.S citizenship

http://www.thedominican.net/why-i-gave-up-my-us-citizenship.html ))))))))))))

Apr 23, 2015 Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/cash-flowed-to-clinton-foundation-as-russians-pressed-for-control-of-uranium-company.html

The headline on the website Pravda trumpeted President Vladimir V. Putin’s latest coup, its nationalistic fervor recalling an era when its precursor served as the official mouthpiece of the Kremlin: “Russian Nuclear Energy Conquers the World.”...

3 April 2016 Revealed: the $2bn offshore trail that leads to Vladimir Putin

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/panama-papers-money-hidden-offshore

A massive leak of documents shines new light on the fabulous fortunes of the Russian president’s inner circle...

5 April 2016 What are the Panama Papers? A guide to history's biggest data leak

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers

What is Mossack Fonseca, how big is it, and who uses offshore firms? Key questions about one of the biggest ever data leaks...

Apr 6, 2016 Panama Papers: The Real Scandal Is What's Legal

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/04/panama-papers-crimes/477156/

Mossack Fonseca kept its clients largely on the right side of the law. Indeed, that’s entirely the point...

Apr 07, 2016 Podesta Group Connected to Bank Named in Panama Papers

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/4/7/1512166/-Podesta-Group-Connected-to-Bank-Named-in-Panama-Papers

Whatever the fallout that comes, John and Tony Podesta are connected with a shady Russian Bank named in the Panama Papers...

04/07/16 Panama Papers Reveal Clinton’s Kremlin Connection

http://observer.com/2016/04/panama-papers-reveal-clintons-kremlin-connection/

John and Tony Podesta aren’t fooling anyone...

Apr 8, 2016 With Saudi and Russian ties, Clinton machine’s tentacles are far reaching, according to Panama Papers

http://www.salon.com/2016/04/08/with_saudi_and_russian_ties_clinton_machines_tentacles_are_far_reaching_according_to_panama_papers/

The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm headed by Clinton operatives, has made a pretty penny working for Saudi & Russia...

05/10/2016 Panama Papers Leak: Donald Drumpf, Vladimir Putin and Others on the List

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gobankingrates/panama-papers-leak-donald_b_9897812.html

On Monday, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released a searchable database of its Panama Papers. The database allows users to search through the Panama Papers and other records for individuals and corporations that might be using foreign shell companies and offshore accounts to keep financial information private...

JUNE 5, 2016 Panama Papers Show How Rich United States Clients Hid Millions Abroad

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/us/panama-papers.html

Over the years, William R. Ponsoldt had earned tens of millions of dollars building a string of successful companies. He had renovated apartment buildings in the New York City area. Bred Arabian horses. Run a yacht club in the Bahamas, a rock quarry in Michigan, an auto-parts company in Canada, even a multibillion-dollar hedge fund...

Aug 17, 2016 Shady Foreign Lobbying Effort Implicates Drumpf AND Clinton Campaign Chairmen

http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/17/shady-foreign-lobbying-effort-implicates-trump-and-clinton-campaign-chairmen/

Donald Drumpf’s campaign chairman Paul Manafort reportedly helped route more than $1 million in secret from a pro-Russian group in Ukraine to a Washington D.C. lobbying firm co-founded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta...

08/19/16 Podesta Group retains outside counsel over Manafort-related scandal

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/podesta-group-paul-manafort-russia-ukraine-227215

A prominent D.C. lobbying firm has hired outside counsel over revelations that it may have been improperly involved in lobbying on behalf of pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians who also employed former Donald Drumpf campaign chairman Paul Manafort...

Sunday 16 October 2016 As Donald Drumpf made clear, smart businesses know only idiots pay tax

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/16/taxes-panama-papers-trump-tax-havens

The revelation that the US presidential candidate paid no federal taxes for 18 years will come as no surprise to the global corporations who funnel billions through tax havens...

12 December 2016 Donald Drumpf and Russia: a timeline

http://meta.ath0.com/2016/12/trump-russia-timeline/

I kept reading about Drumpf’s many ties to Russia, but none of the news outlets ever presented a timeline, so I decided to assemble one myself with links to the source articles. I started in 2016, but I’ve been updating it every day or two as events unfold...

13 December 2016 Rex Tillerson: an appointment that confirms Putin's US election win

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/dec/11/rex-tillerson-secretary-of-state-trump-russia-putin

The president-elect has chosen Exxon Mobil CEO as secretary of state but experts say Senate may bridle over realpolitik choice that would benefit Russia...

Dec 19, 2016 Follow The Money: Panama Papers Motherload of Ties Between Drumpf and Russian Mobster Oligarchs

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/12/19/1612741/-Follow-The-Money-Panama-Papers-Motherload-of-Ties-Between-Drumpf-and-Russian-Mobster-Oligarchs

This lengthy but enlightening article with a forward by David Cay Johnston and written by James Henry, shows just how important the Panama Papers were, if people had wanted to delve into the links between Russian oligarchs and Drumpf. Too bad people were all focused on “trade deals” that weren’t there to haunt us. All of this information should have been front and center. These people have been Drumpf’s business cohorts for decades. Some of them are apparent family friends. The kids hang out with them, too. It’s a long article and the source allows one free article, so take your time and read it. If only investigative journalists had been doing what James Henry has done and not gone for that shiny object...e-mails. There should be a massive Church Commission to investigate these relationships. Crimes and misdemeanors look like shiny objects to me...

24 January 2017 We broke the Panama Papers story. Here's how to investigate Donald Drumpf

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/24/panama-papers-media-investigation-next-donald-trump-hold-accountable

We were successful because we collaborated with other journalists. Now it is time for the media to join forces once again – especially given the threat Drumpf poses...

February 2 2017 The Russian 'philosopher' who links Putin, Bannon, Turkey

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-dugin-trump-putin-turkey-20170203-story.html

The Russian ultra-nationalist dubbed "Putin's Rasputin" by Breitbart News when it was run by President Donald Drumpf's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, has emerged as an unlikely foreign-policy fixer for the Kremlin...

Feb. 11, 2017 The timeline of Drumpf's ties with Russia lines up with allegations of conspiracy and misconduct

http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-russia-ties-michael-flynn-dossier-2017-2

President Donald Drumpf and several associates continue to draw intense scrutiny for their ties to the Russian government...

02/14/17 Putin has Drumpf on ropes early as Flynn resignation rattles world politics

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/the-administration/319591-putin-has-trump-on-ropes-early-as-flynn-resignation

Michael Flynn’s abrupt resignation as national security adviser, and the admission that he misled the vice president about his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, raises the clear question of whether Flynn was rogue or authorized. Far from cauterizing the wound, Flynn’s departure puts more blood in the Senate waters, and rattles diplomats at the United Nations. The Watergate refrain, “What did the president know, and when did he know it?” is the tune of the day on Capitol Hill...

FEB 14, 2017 Drumpf's Russia Reset Will Survive Flynn's Ouster

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/02/mike-flynn-russia/516735/

But the uncertainty that Drumpf has brought to the United States is spilling into even the places that he hoped to do business with...

15 February 2017 Boris Akunin, Russian dissident, explains how democracy died under Putin—and what the US can still do to resist

https://qz.com/910971/boris-akunin-russian-dissident-explains-how-democracy-died-under-putin-and-what-the-us-can-still-do-to-resist/

Grigory Chkhartishvili is one of Russia’s most popular novelists. Published under the pen name Boris Akunin, his books—many of which trace the adventures of a 19th-century sleuth— have sold over 30 million copies worldwide...

Oct 16 2017 Bomb Kills Panama Papers Reporter, Malta’s Prime Minister Says

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/panama-papers/bomb-kills-panama-papers-reporter-malta-s-prime-minister-says-n811221

A Maltese investigative journalist who had exposed her island nation's links with the so-called Panama Papers document leak was killed Monday when a bomb destroyed her car as she was driving near her home, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said...

NOV. 5, 2017 Paradise Papers Shine Light on Where the Elite Keep Their Money

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/05/world/paradise-papers.html

It’s called the Paradise Papers: the latest in a series of leaks made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shedding light on the trillions of dollars that move through offshore tax havens...

Nov 6, 2017 The Paradise Papers present a serious challenge for democracy

https://news.vice.com/story/the-paradise-papers-present-a-serious-challenge-for-democracy

The Trump administration’s billionaire commerce secretary Wilbur Ross owns a stake in a shipping company that does large amounts of business with another firm partly owned by Vladimir Putin’s son-in-law and a Putin ally sanctioned by the U.S. government...

November 6, 2017 [VIDEO] What you need to know about the Paradise Papers

http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/05/news/paradise-papers-trump-twitter-facebook/index.html

A trove of leaked documents made public Sunday purport to show financial ties between Russia and a member of President Trump's cabinet...

NOV. 6, 2017 After a Tax Crackdown, Apple Found a New Shelter for Its Profits

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/world/apple-taxes-jersey.html

The tech giant has found a tax haven in the island of Jersey, leaving billions of dollars untouched by the United States, leaked documents reveal...

NOV. 7, 2017 How Business Titans, Pop Stars and Royals Hide Their Wealth

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/offshore-tax-havens.html

Records from an offshore hideaway show how an American billionaire grew one of the world’s largest trusts and another owned part of a company accused of exploiting the poor...

Nov 7, 2017 Governments Don’t Stand a Chance Against Rich People Who Don’t Like Taxes

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/11/paradise-papers-panama-taxes/545198/

After each big financial leak, individuals suffer the brunt of the consequences, but the system remains intact...

10 November 2017 [VIDEO] Paradise Papers: Everything you need to know about the leak

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-41880153

The Paradise Papers are a huge leak of financial documents that throw light on the top end of the world of offshore finance...

November 11, 2017 ‘Paradise Papers’ expose fake populism

https://www.newsday.com/opinion/commentary/paradise-papers-expose-fake-populism-1.14902510

Trump administration officials are implicated in a shady world of offshore tax havens...

11.11.2017 Paradise Papers reveal the rise of a new class: The global oligarchy

https://www.salon.com/2017/11/11/paradise-papers-reveal-the-rise-of-a-new-class-the-global-oligarchy/

Bono, the Queen and Wilbur Ross belong to a new class, untethered to nation or party. How can we fight back?

NOV. 12, 2017 Paradise Papers Show How Misguided the G.O.P. Is on Taxes

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/12/opinion/paradise-papers-republicans-taxes.html

A treasure trove of documents given the name of the Paradise Papers was unveiled last week, giving us a clearer idea of how rich people and powerful companies keep their money from the prying eyes of the Internal Revenue Service...

Nov 13, 2017 The True Story Behind The Secret Nine-Month Paradise Papers Investigation (HBO)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8mdNahdo4M

This segment originally aired on November 6, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO...

Jan. 5, 2018 Justice Department Probes Clinton Foundation

https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-probes-clinton-foundation-1515176878

Investigation into whether donors got preferential treatment when Clinton was secretary of state...

[fapangel]

I can’t WAIT to cover this Trump Jr. Thing because the lefties are pissing themselves like an excited chinchilla and its just so *precious* III We both know how short, murky, and 'he-said-she-said' the anti-Trump evidence has been, so when one of the few folks Big T trusts outright says he'd love to have an enemy of the US support the campaign with secrets on Hilary... you can see why they'd be excited. What Trump Jr. did by even replying positively to that message was High Quality Stupidity.

So before anything else, let’s take a long momentto enjoy that hysterical chinchilla-pissing, starting with thecomments in my own inbox:

Drumpf has only three options here. Disown hisson and send him on an all-expenses paid trip to NSGB, step down, orget impeached.

(BBC)world-us-canada-40571914 Welp. Donald’s son just screwed himself andhis dad over big time. Meeting someone described as a Russiangovernment official to get dirt on Hillary. And, well, “part ofRussia and its government’s support for Mr Trump”. Ruse or not,the intent from the campaign’s side is clear, and motive goes a longway in an investigation and court. Seems like the best thing to dowould be to throw Goldstone, and maybe Jr., to the investigators anddeny Trump had any awareness?

Now for The Left: After their hysterical, rabidpersecution of Trump failed to turn up anything formonths on end, theiranti-Russian obsession has reached “McCarthy” levels of paranoia(oh, the irony,) soplacing Trump Jr. in the same roomas a living Russian person from Russia fortwenty entire minuteshas them stroking off sofuriously it’s a wonder they haven’t given newly literal meaning to“liar liar pants on fire” yet. TimKaine, Rep.Seth Moulton (D-Mass), thereliably retarded NewYork Timesand theusual sniping from the never-Trump neocon camp are all calling ittreason. That’s aclaim so moronic that Salon.com (yes, Salon) hasan article pointing it out beforehurriedly burying the “vast right-wing collusion conspiracynarrative” theirown site’s been pushingwith the old “all Republicans are morons” line like a wee dogfuriously kicking sand over its scat. Meanwhile, CNN is once again ina class of its own - not because of their hysteria but becausethey’re nowreporting on what their right-wing news competitors are saying:

Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of BreitbartLondon, reacted to the story of Donald Trump Jr.’s newly-releasedemails in a way that wouldn’t typically be expected from someone atthe far-right outfit, which is a reliable supporter of PresidentTrump.

“So like, this is straight up collusion,”he wrote in the news outlet’s internal Slack, according to atranscript of the conversation obtained by CNN. “Right?”

Yes. Somehow, CNN knows what Brietbart is sayingon their own fucking internal Slack account. I guess hacking is okaywith CNN when they’re doing it - that is, assuming they’re not justmaking shit up again. But the best lines in that “coverage of thecoverage” were these:

Fox News’ first response was relative silence.While CNN and MSNBC went into full coverage on the story, Fox Newsonly briefly visited the topic before moving on to other news, thenreturning to it later.

Eventually, as the story developed, Fox beganto cover the revelations more aggressively. But the network neverwent into non-stop breaking news coverage as CNNand MSNBC did.

Non-stop, indeed. Given that thefacts can be related in literally 23 words (shady Russian lobbyistscores meeting by promising Trump Jr. Hillary dirt, babbles aboutadoption treaties for twenty minutes before being shown the door,) weall know that it was the same as CNN’s usual “non-stop breakingnews coverage” of anything:

But not that fucking Fox News, oh no! Theyreported the facts,and then moved on and came back later,afterthey’d found more facts,toreport those. Andthey call themselves journalists.Tsk.Therealjournalists are hunting down everyonewho was standing in the room,everyone who might have possibly known someone standing in the room,andlabeling them “mastersof the dark arts.” That is not a joke. That is the actualfucking headline. YERA WIZARD, DONNY! THE VODKA DRINKERSARE COMIN FOR YA! Finally,an immigrant the Democrats don’t like. Maybe extreme vetting would’vefound his DarkMarktattoo in time, eh? Or maybe the Azkabanstamp in his passport? Isthat a wand in yer pocket or do you have Hillary’s e-mails for me? Oh, man. But the absolute bestpart of all this is how they’re pawing at everyone’s shins andwhining and spinning little circles because nobody else wants to play- theWaPo is whining about how Trump’s still bullying them as Fake Newsand CNN’s whiningabout those damn pro-Trump media outlets doubting the meeting evenhappened. How can they keep getting away with it? Maybe becausethe mainstream media is sodistrusted nowthat morethan half of Trump’s supporters don’t even believe the meetinghappened, despite Trump Jr. verifying it andreleasinghis e-mails about it.

Allof this - all the tail-chasing, frenzied yapping and excitedurination - is absolutely hilarious,becauseit all amounts to fucking nothing.If Vladamir Putin himself had been lowered from the sky by a chorusof singing angels, moonwalkedto the top floor of Trump Tower and handed Trump all of Hillary’ssecrets engraved on sacred stone tablets, it’d still amount to jackshit.It’sthe same basic fact that’s undermined the left’s vague “collusion”narrative from the beginning - itdoesn’t matter one damn bit who dug up Hillary’s misdeeds in theelection, because theevidence proves it’s true. Hillarywas damaged by her owncampaign’s internal e-mails - youknow, the bald and unvarnished truth of a fawningmedia’s collusion, solicitations of multimillion dollar campaigndonations from the heads of foreign governments and what Democratsreally think of minority voters. 1 + 1 still equals 2 even ifHitler’s the one drawing it on the blackboard. That’s precisely whythe left has relied on constant dark rumor-mongering using a specificscary word, “collusion,” that connotes all manner of shadydealing and wicked deals on the docks at midnight - even though“collusion”literally isn’t a crime. In other words, Robert Mueller - whomeven WaPo admits is trapped in a rad bromance with Comey, andwho’s staffing his Special Probe withlawyers that donated almost exclusively to Democrats -literally has nothing to investigate. Buteven the court of public opinion can’t convict, because no matter howyou look at it, standing in the same room as two Russians for 20minutes isn’t collusion.

Thedefinition of collusion, accordingto Merriam-Webster, is “secret agreement orcooperation especially for an illegal or deceitful purpose.”Note the agreementor co-operation bit. Assenior CNN producer John Bonifield was caughton tape openly admitting, it’s common knowledge that governmentsare alwaystrying to influence politics - and even elections - in othercountries. After all, aCongressional investigation found that Obama’s State Department gavehundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to an Israeli advocacygroup trying to oust Prime Minister Netanyahu (who refused tokiss Obama’s ass on the Iran nuclear deal,) so it’s not a bigsurprise or anything. Nor is meeting with agents of a foreigngovernment, considering that a Ukrainian-American Democratic NationalCommittee operative was caught meeting with theUkrainian embassy in Washington to try and sabotage Trump. Thepredictable justifications (Ukrainians are the Good Guys and Russiaare the Bad Guys) ignore that Ukraine is a big,ugly, corrupt mess, and that the pro-Russian rebels that Putin’spretending his regular Russian army units are actually doexist (just not nearlyin those numbers) and that the Russian intelligence services - andcrony capitalism oligarchy - doubtlessly have tentacles everywhere inthe beleaguered nation. Afterall, left-wingers were whining about Trump’scampaign manager Manafort meeting with Ukrainian businessmen, anda senior Democratic PAC adviser was attacking Scott Walker forreceivingdonations from a “pro-PutinUkrainian businessman,” so clearly they’re not above suspicion- according to theexact same people who were chumming with them, at least!

Lefties havealways known this all amounts to jack diddly shit, which is whythey’ve been using the word collusion,specifically. As I’vesaid before, the way the media get onto the same page - nay, theexact same buzzword, nighinstantly, is never an accident. “Collusion”by definition means “agreement or co-operation.”Governments influencingothers elections by slipping favored candidates tips on theiropponents dirty laundry is nothing new. Governmentsaiding one campaign in return for agreed-upon favors at a later dateis another. Democratsare alleging that Trump and co. sold out to the Russians, so nowthey’re in Putin’s pocket. Thatwas the point of the lurid fanfiction document about Russian hookerspissing on Trump, to allege that he was “vulnerableto Russian blackmail,” and that’s why Democratsand the US intelligence community deliberately spread that pack oflaughable lies around. And they knowthisisan impossibly ludicrous thing to sell, which is why they keeprepeating vague ominous nothings about “collusion” and keepreporting on everything Trump does in the context of the imaginary“ominous cloud” they’ve industriously created themselves for the express intent of throwing shade.

I delayed this post for a bit just to collect morecommentary in my inbox - and not just because it was hilarious(DRUMPF BLOWN OUT ZOMG LOL) but because I hoped it’d be revealing.And indeed it was: consider this one again: 

And, well, “part of Russia and itsgovernment’s support for Mr Trump”. Ruse or not, the intent fromthe campaign’s side is clear, and motive goes a long way in aninvestigation and court.

Every single news story I’ve seen on it havequoted almost those exact lines - the Russian’s email proclaiming hispotential offer as “part of Russia and its government’s support,”and Trump Jr’s skeptical approval, “if it’s what you say it is, Ilove it.” This is what they’re trying to spin as “intent tocollude.”

So how about wereadthe actual goddamn emails, eh?

On Jun 3, 2016, at 10:36 AM, Rob Goldstonewrote:

Good morning

Emin just called and asked me to contact youwith something very interesting.

The Crown prosecutor of Russia met withhis father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered toprovide the Trump campaign with some official documents andinformation that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings withRussia and would be very useful to your father.

This is obviously very high level and sensitiveinformation but is part of Russia and its government’s support forMr. Trump - helped along by Aras and Emin.

What do you think is the best way to handlethis information and would you be able to speak to Emin about itdirectly?

I can also send this info to your father viaRhona, but it is ultra sensitive so wanted to send to you first.

Best

Rob Goldstone

There it is, inas many words - an offerto expose Hillary’s shady connections with “Russia.” That’san outright offer to provide dirt - and as LizPeek points out, this offer came shortly after the book “ClintonCash” was published, which exposed a shit-ton of the ClintonFoundation’s lucrative dealings with Russian businessmen. Even theHillaryapologists at politifact couldn’t deny that Bill Clinton receiveda half millionfucking dollar speaking fee forgiving a speech - from a Russian investment bank calledRenaissance Capital which isvery, very much tight with the Kremlin:

Personal connections and a commitment to Russiahave proved critical to Renaissance. Jennings and other execs got toknow many junior officials in the early 1990s who have risen tosenior positions in the Kremlin and at the central bank. RenaissanceDeputy Chairman Robert Foresman has advised state-owned Gazprom,giving him access to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.At a Renaissance investor conference in June speakers includedFinance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Arkady Dvorkovich, aide to RussianPresident Dmitry Medvedev.

Andlet’s not forget Sergei Magnitsky, a Russan lawyer whofingered Renaissance Capital as part of a massive government-involvedtax fraud scheme, was arrested by said government, then murdered inprison to keep him silent. These guys are dirty as hell.

Nospeech, not even from God himself, is worth a half-millionfucking dollars a pop. That’sa hefty ass-kissing “donation”, any way you look at it - and beforeHillary became Secretary of State, Bill pulled down that half-miljust twice. After she became SecState, he got a half-mill forspeeches eleventimes.

Anddid I mention that Bill wasbeing paid a half-million dollars for fucking nothing around the sametime Hillary was pushing for approval for Russiato buy a controlling interest in Uranium One, one of the largesturanium mines in America?

Nowconsider that - given Russia’s crony capitalism/mafia stylegovernment (as exemplified by Renaissance Capital’s tight ties withthe Kremlin) and the constant murder of journalists or anyone elsewho could spill the details on these things (including Magnitskyhimself,) the only people who wouldhave this informationwould be “The Russian Government.” That’sexactly why the email offer mentioned it - it was mandatory to bebait the hook.

Andthis is why the media have very, very carefully omitted that lineabout Hillary’sconnections with Russia, andexactly why Trump Jr. tweeted out the emails himself - becauseit makes it screamingly obvious that his “intent” was to getproof of Hillary’s shady dealings and misdeeds. Hedidn’t promise any favor trading with the Russians, he didn’t promiseto to give them “special consideration,” and he didn’t promise tohost Putin’s fucking birthday party, either. That isn’t“collusion,” by definition.

Mindyou, the Russians were definitely up to no good. The lawyer,Natalia Veselnitskaya, spent all her time in Washington and environslobbying against anti-Russian sanctions -after receiving special clearance to enter the country fromLoretta Lynch herself. (Gee,ain’t that funny?) Oncethere, she spent most of her time trying to lobby for “making itlegal for Americans to adopt Russian orphans again,” banned by aRussian law that was retaliation for what she reallywanted to lobby against, the Magnitsky Act - economic sanctions onRussia, named after the whistleblower murdered after he ratted on thecompany that later stuffed 500 million dollars into Bill Clinton’ssticky pockets. Thiseditorial details why the Magnitsky Act really chaps Putin’s ass,but that act itself,likethe orphans/adoption thing, just a way to open up the topic ofanti-Russian economic sanctions. Considering that the ~masterof the dark arts~Americancitizen lobbyist that translated for her is ex-KGB, and thatNatalia droppedher promised Evidence On Hillary to launch right into her lobbyingspiel, it’s pretty clear what the goal was. Most likely, she wasshilling the same Kremlin bullshit she’d pushed everywhere else, withthe promised Evidence Of Hillary’s Crimes a bullshit lie to get inthe door. Or at absolute worst, she was trying to dangle a potentialpromise of ~evidence~ in return for potential or implied promises ofTrump’s future administration to lower sanctions on Russia (whichhe’s refused to do, by the way.) At best she was wasting TrumpJr’s. time, and at worst she was trying to solicit a deal - i.e.,collusion.

Andthat’s about when Trump Jr. showedher the door.

Evena fucking dog figuresout that you didn’t actually throw that ball after a few seconds oflooking for it, but the media’s still yapping like they finallycaught that invisible car they’ve been chasing. They’reso completely and utterly absorbed by their own narrative thatthey’ve come to believe it themselves. It’d be cute if they weren’tgrown adults with collegedegrees, you know? IfSatan himself had slithered out of a flaming crevasse andhanded Trump Jr. Hillary’s banking statements on a dead-babyparchment scroll, it still wouldn’t fucking matter unless they hadTrump Jr. signature on a contract selling his soul for it. Andwhat they’ve got now is a campaign operative saying “fuck yes Iwant an October surprise to dunk my opponent with!” Andthis is before you getto the Democrats colluding with Ukrainians at the same time they wereattacking Ukrainians on Trump’s side for being evil andsuspicious, before you weigh theClintons having a corrupt Kremlin-complicit bank stuffing cashin Bill’s pocket as Hillary sells out our biggest fucking uraniummine to the Russians, and before you weigh Loretta Lynch personallygiving that Evil Russian Lawyer permission to enter the country inthe first place.

Andthey honestly don’t understand why nobody believes them. Thegiggles that keep on giving. It’s amazing. 

[rfschatten]

They say; If You Elect a Clown...expect a Circus!

Non-better words fit this Orange Humanoid Clown that pretends to pass himself off as President of the United States...and his Circus Atmosphere for every single event he ever participates in! From Cabinet Meetings, praising & hailing Heir Führer!... to all his Foreign Visits and Gaffes!...from his "Re-Elect" Rallies 4 years before Re-Election!...down to his ridiculously bombastic Tweets!

Irony?? Elephants were always associated with the Circus and the Republicans. Now, the "Circus" Elephant is becoming extinct...just like that White Elephant once known as the Grand Old Party.

To collaborate in a "joint" venture with Russia on a tight impenetrable Cybersecurity Unit, to protect "Americans" from Voter Fraud by the Russians?? W...T..F...!?!? Are we all really that stupid or naive, and not realize what's really going on?? Who's fooling who??

An Administration that its primary operational policy is the systematic use of Lies...will die an ugly death!

Disclosing Voter Information? Name, Address, Date of Birth, Social Security, Religious Affiliations, Party Affiliations, Voting History...and Felony Convictions!! All to ensure a 'clean' & 'fair' Election and protect Americans?...ahh, right!! and with their Russkie partners-in-crime, together making sure 'who' is and 'who' is not on that Database? An "Impenetrable Cybersecurity System", one that only American GOP Hackers...and Russian Hackers...jointly, could get into!

And now, the Trump State Dept. issues 150+ Visa requests from 150+ Russians...like in; with Diplomatic Immunity? All permitted to enter this Country, travel and see whatever their schtick is all about, anywhere? ...no problem! they're just Russian Spies!!...you know? our Cybersecurity Comrades!! While Trump demeans our US Intelligence Community, this man "Honors" and 'accepts' Vladimir Putin's "word"; that he's a totally innocent creature of God, always misunderstood by the Evil Press? (Which is why Vlad just kills them off, instead!). Shamelessly Trash Talking our own Intelligence Community on Foreign Soil, and on the World Political Stage?...while praising and appeasing a known cold blooded killer, Vladimir Putin! and our natural Enemy...Russia?!?! Chalk-up another World Embarrassment, which America can now thank Donald Trump, for...again!

No President in American History has ever sold out his country!..till an Immoral Degenerate character, with the blessings of his cast of mentally deficient Minions...did it!! Just ask them!! In Trump's Voter Friendly Nashville, they love Russians cause Trump loves them...they don't understand jacksh*t about Russian History or about their Culture or how they even tick!...but if The Donald says they're OK, when the "Wisest" Man on this Earth, tells them?? Ahhyup! At least, Nashville trusts the Russians. "It's perfectly fine to trust the Russians"! 'That' coming from the very same people who grew up, listening to all their families, friends, and part of their tradition; to always look under your bed and make sure there's no "Commies" hiding!

A Traitor who handed over his Soul for the lure of monetary bribes...and then, proceeds to allow the hostile Electronic takeover and infiltration of the United States of America by a hostile Foreign Power!! 150 Visa Requests?? Now America can truly say they have a Commie...or, as in this case...a Russian Fascist, under every bed! A good reason for Trump's Voter Information? A Database to find all of Trump's Enemies and those who don't pledge their Loyalty. A Database mutually shared by our new Russian Cyber-partners and Trump's phony-baloney "Distinguished" Voter Fraud Commission.

Dear America! with an Autocrat determined to Make America, Great Again into his own Image...my suggestion is you pick up a copy of "Learning Russian for Dummies", or "Rosetta Stone". Only a Traitor would literally invite and permit another Nation to invade and undermine our Democracy, and undermine our Democratic process...our Elections...and then at the G-20 meetings, give Russia the green light to do it again?!?!

Yes! Yes! Yes! The Reality, Political Correctness, and an angry pissed-off GOP greeted Trump when he arrived from his Polish & German Tours de Farce...and they read him the Riot Act! He quickly announced the cancellation of 'his' idea (or was it Putin's?) for a joint US/Russian Cybersecurity Unit. Like "The Wall", an Impenetrable Cybersecurity System is another of Donald Trump's games of illusion...but, he can't even fool, a fool anymore! Yet his Fanatic Minions, who are truly a serious insult to all fools and really stupid people, around the world...will follow him right off into Oblivion.

BUT!! What if Putin and his Boy Toy could have pulled it off?? What would happen next? Would it be OK with the Trumpster's base? YES! Of course! they suspect everyone in this Planet...not Lilly White, or not Stupid...of being their Enemy, and because We, the Taxpayers will foolishly fund Right Wing Americans and Russians to mutually spy on our Nation!...on all of us!!! Naturally, these not too astute Trumpsters don't realize they're going to fill a major portion of the Casualty List in Heir Drumpf's America! The Continued Operability of Foreign Intelligence inside the US is a very real and very serious issue...and an extremely dangerous situation for this Country to ever be in!!!

This American Administration's continuing policy of being Russia's Apologist, appeasing them at every step of the way, and their continued massive efforts to block the Trump/Russia Criminal Investigation, is more than enough proof We, the People were sold out to Moscow, Russia!

The Fact: Trump has been a despicable and deplorable crook all his Life, the lower the bar of immorality, the more obscene his life becomes! He also has a big fat mouth, opens it way too often, and talks more through his ass than anyone on this Earth alive, today. The Fact: Vlad's ultimate Goal is to destabilize our Democracy and isolate America, both Financially and Militarily...and with the weakest, poorest "Leadership" in American History? Vlad never expected "The Joint Cybersecurity Project" to really be accepted by the United States! Not even a minor setback for Putin...cause, the G-20 proved he owns Trump! The danger? Trump is a very lowly Amateur, playing with seasoned Professionals in the very serious Game of Politics...if there's any way possible for Russia to make an 'impact' in our Federal, State, and Local Governments, in our Economy and our Society...with a stooge like Trump? Vladdy would be spying his Russian ass off!...or, at least more plausible than what the Russians are already doing to us!!

Returning to normalcy after the Shocktrauma of Donald Trump's Presidency, won't be easy...but it's an attainable goal! Though! sooner or later, if Trump isn't prosecuted and is still in office? Yes! you 'will' see deep Russian Political Influence and Money, deep inside our Government...there's no doubt at all, about that!! America is becoming a Russian satellite, right in front of our very own eyes!...just like the 3rd World Country, we're also becoming ...cause the Immorality, Cowardice, and the unbelievable sheer Stupidity of today's Republicans have become too great!

Republicans just don't have the Cojones! or a Spine! that it takes to put their Country ahead of their Party and/or their financial $Interests$!! What can we do?? Continue to Resist! Resist! Resist!...let your voices be heard by everyone on that Right Side of the Aisle...in their DC Offices! in their State and Home District Offices! at Town Hall Meetings!...even in front of their homes! both in DC and their Family Homes! Hit the Front Lines in the Streets, and join them! And don't stop or ever give up! don't 'ever' surrender!

Or, you can sit on your lazy derrière, wait till the GOP finally 'grows' something!...and stops the Madness of this King!

[dhpdaedalus]

Week 2 of Drumpf: Believe Me: The Last Thing We Need is Trump to Drop Dead from Natural Causes

Typically the Republican Party, the GOP, the Conservatives of this country propound the preservation and importance of religion. This last election was unique in that both parties--the religious right and liberal (sometime secular) left perceived the candidates on the poles of good and evil. Thus, the failure of the Democratic party and many Clinton supporters was not just an election, but the victory of evil over good. The question of civil society and civil rights is the domain of the liberal left, but why is the fight against Trump being framed as a right/wrong, good/bad concern? 

What are the dangers of viewing politics on a good/evil axis? I think it’s useful to look at two dissenting voices from the left of center and right of center to see how nimble the debate around Trump policies can be, whether seeing them as ethical or judicious makes sense strategically. 

A recent email exchange between Noam Chomsky and Sam Harris can serve as an example of how framing something in the context of good and bad (via good and evil, see Nietzsche “Beyond Good & Evil) can predetermine the sorts of answers that appear to force a concession of one moral value for another. (I didn’t follow the entire stunt of email bating/debating with Chomsky, but the entire discussion seemed to inappropriately concede to Harris’ desired framework, which is a binary between Western values and “non-Western values.” I should stipulate that I actually haven’t read any of the books, in their entirety, that these two authors have produced pertaining to politics. On one hand the dispute between them is an exchange of both referring the other to a book the former wrote, on the other hand the exchange comes off as a PR stunt on behalf of Harris to garner more attention to his platform from Chomsky fans and/but on a third, prosthetic hand that forces the hands of both of the other hands, and on which I’m qualifying my admitted lack of reading either of their books, both have an excess of non-literate media sharing their political perspectives, media that has communicated in the very least that it isn’t necessary to read their books because, if this media is purposeful, effective, and functional, it (the media--interviews, podcasts, speeches, et al.) can disseminate their political perspectives at least as sufficiently as their books. )

A Generalization of Chomsky & Harris Perspectives on American Foreign Policy as It Pertains to the Point of Trump Dropping Dead by Natural Causes

Noam Chomsky’s critique of American foreign policy is that it’s imperialistic. We uproot dissent in foreign countries through covert CIA and/or overt military operations for the goals of imperialist domination and subsequently economic benefit. The banner under which the U.S. government declares its violence against other people--Terrorism, Freedom, Democracy--as part of the manufacturing of the domestic population’s consent, may change but the motivation is constant. The inaccurate rhetoric of American foreign policy is found not only in the inconsistency of how these banner themes are applied across the globe--i.e. some Muslim countries being our enemies while other being our allies--but also in how our own country does not adhere to its own rallying dogma. While U.S. politicians wage war in the name of Democracy, the same politicians may be countering democratic processes at home. Chomsky’s repeated references abroad are to the CIA interventions in Nicaragua, military support of the genocide of East Timor by Indonesia, the invasion of Iraq under the guise of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and World War II. 

Sam Harris’ stance on U.S. foreign policy is that it’s the U.S.’s duty to police the world, to protect civil society and this can and may and at times must be done through militarization and tough love (i.e. secret missions, assassinations, et al.). To secure civil society, we must fight against those who oppose it, e.g. Putin. Because there are regimes that do not recognize human rights, its the duty of HR proponents to fight against the tyranny of the opposition in order to affirm women’s rights, create secular governance and end dictatorships. In the debate with Chomsky he emphasizes the “good intention” of the American foreign policy. His references abroad are much narrower than Noam’s, focusing on the Middle East and Russia since the Cold War until the present. 

Harris’ argument is pretty close to Samuel Huntington’s “Clash of Civilizations,” which was the popular framework around the 9/11, Iraq War. It’s a world picture that appealed to George W. Bush. We, the West (Western Europe & North America), are culturally incompatible with the non-West, but really they mean Islam. Asia’s fine. They make our stuff. This clarification is the first of many. It’s not just Islam, but Middle East, and just Middle Eat but Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Egypt at times...who else...Yemen? Ok, it’s ad hoc. They could have said, “They’re in our way to drive to Kazakstan and must be destroyed,” and it would have been more accurate. You’ll notice, this is the basic road map for Trump’s “Muslim travel ban,” and it’s echoed by many European nationalists. But before I get to how this doesn’t float as a logical argument, I want to return to the fantasy of some good grace shining upon North America, just below the 48th parallel. 

Trump & the Grim Reaper

Ok, so with the context of these two interpretations--Chomsky & Harris--‘twer Trump to drop dead, flat out on the floor of the oval office, not resting but stone dead, deceased of natural causes the entire opposition, the rational center, the apprehensive Michiganders that cast no Presidential vote, the Left and Ultraleft would have no other alternative but to revive the idea and belief of Divine Intervention. There would be no room for secular belief. It would simply not be tenable to have the electoral college hand to leave this flaming paper bag on our doorstep and then, suddenly, not have to deal with it. It would be none other than “miraculous.” Thus, both the right and left in the U.S. would collide in religious fervor. The discord of U.S. politics since the mid 20th Century would simply evaporate, having reached a boiling point with in an orange burst of 5th Avenue egocentricity of smoke and mirrors. You think I’m kidding, but there would be no protection for civil society through/on the grounds of secular or non-belief; there would be only “believers.” Civil society would equate to Christian society in the U.S. The conservative right would simply continue their born-againing, and the left, well, they would born again also. The illogic would be...illogical. Here’s how. 

The claim that defending Muslims or Islam in America or the rest of the world by the liberal left while aspiring to secularism, human rights and equality, or at least separation of church and state, is contradictory, according to Harris. (More than Chomsky Harris engages in debate with the religious and spiritual communities as part of the New Atheist movement.) But first and foremost, this is a stereotype about any religious society, not just Islam. What about Buddhists? Are Confucians ‘ok’? Second, to view a society solely by their religious makeup is anti-intellectual, as it discards any other valuable assets of that society. I watched the first Sean Hannity interview with Trump, you know, the one where Sean basically tricks the old fart into agreeing to pardon some people he knows, and what’s more interesting than any of that hour rehearsed interview is that a youtube commercial by the Islamic society directly followed the video. It correctly explained the many contributions to the world that Islam has made. For example, the idea of zero. Where would be without zeros? But the point is that any society, regardless of their origin stories, afterlife beliefs or distinctions between “science” and “religion” (this is a Western distinction, BTW. See ‘China’) have great contributions to the world, knowledge, food, history, language. Third, can you secure secularism while securing a freedom of religion? *(And I should clarify that I’m an atheist, more over secular). The answer is ‘yes,’ and it’s possible only through example, at probably through law, which is what most of these countries that are worried about Muslims already have. They have a higher standard of living which sets the example for people in poorer countries to say, hey, maybe it would be a good idea to go there, or, ‘wait, no one is getting killed there, that’s an example of my kind of neighborhood.’ As for laws, you vote on them. It’s democracy. For those of us who cling to secular society just because we believe it’s superior than sharia law, well that’s is just as dogmatic as those who cling to another belief system. 

Having given the Harris-teria a few nods, it’s important to return to Islamophia directly, because it’s pertinent in not just the U.S. What is actually going on here? That is, what’s really at stake right now: is there an overtaking by Islam, or an ebb of civil rights? I’d say, ‘no.’ There is no coordinated effort for Islam to finish the job of the Crusades. In real numbers, no European country crosses 11% of Muslims.  What’s the bigger danger, some head garb or fascism turning against the civilian population. Fascism is alive and well in the U.S. and Europe. Why is this a bigger concern? Well, discriminating against 100% of society because you have 10% you don’t like is sad math. 

As pointed out during the Weapons of Mass Destruction campaign and Bush: Deux, Islam isn’t the enemy, as we have allies in Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco...actually, most of them, at some time. If you’re worried about Islam, go make a friend who’s Muslim and you’ll be happier. If you’re worried about extremist--whether black, brown, or white--the answer is to improve their standard of living. In fact, for you Europeans who are thinking of protecting your country against the influence of refugees, just know that that’s exactly what George W. Bush would have said. You hated that guy. So did I. Don’t fall for him. You’re better than that. Use your creativity and innovation to deal with this in an un-Bush-ly manner. 

And when compared to our current and recent allies, the Clash of Civilizations model simply doesn’t hold water. I didn’t buy the rhetoric during Bush Deux and I don’t buy it via S. Harris. Reagan didn’t buy it either, as he sent weapons to Afghanistan to fight the clash with the other spectre: Communism. Not even Trump really buys it. Actually, most of the countries we are fighting in, have been fighting in, funding military conflict, or have special operations aren’t Muslim, they’re Christian. As of 2014, the U.S. had around 134 countries that SOCOM, SOF, training of foreign militaries that was going on. Central & South America. Southeast Asia. Pacific Islands. 

(Christian countries)

Apart from their selective cartographic interpretation, they (Bush, Harris, Huntington, but not CIA) also completely omit the civil rights issue pertaining to discriminating against Muslim Americans, which can be traced back to Civil Rights movement, Louis Farrakhan, Malcom X, et al. Discrimination against Muslims is not only illegal under Constitutional right to  the Freedom of Religion, but it savagely and disproportionately effects people of color. If Harris preferred a logical, historical continuity, the lines of discrimination are much more ardent than the clash between civilizations in this country and others. And so, calling it the BS that it is catalyzes the liberal left’s defense of Islam: that it’s a false pretense. 

The contradiction of Harris, and much of what’s come to be the Nationalist movement across many European countries, that declare the inhumane treatment of outsiders (refugees, immigrants, even citizens of other cultures), is quickly shown outlined in the uncivil actions necessary to maintain the alleged civil society. (But then, is it still civil? Was it ever?) Logically, it’s congruent to the camp that believes the death penalty is necessary to ensure that killers don’t kill in a society where killing isn’t allow or you have to bomb to get peace. What’s curious about Harris and Nationalists who advocate violence to ensure peaceful society is that they never advocate for greater support of non-military organizations whose missions more acutely align with these proposed ideals: Amnesty International, for example, works for human rights not only abroad but also within these “civil societies.” They are just one of the many organizations, non-military organizations, that work to do exactly what this contradictory camp suggests, though without contradiction. 

[smartshopperteam]

Sam Bee's Interview With Expert On Authoritarianism Is Must-Watch

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Long gone are the days of Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert eviscerating some hapless target in their opening monologue. Stewart has gone to pasture and Colbert is busy at CBS. Instead, we’re left with watching Trevor Noah and John Oliver literally thinking that “Drumpf” was funny.

So that leaves us only with Samantha Bee. The late-night host has been a small shelter in the shitstorm that has defined American political discourse over the last two years. And her interview with journalist Masha Gessen, an expert on authoritarianism, is as eye-opening as it is horrifying.

Her chief fears include: Nuclear war, irreperable damage to the environment, and the end of American democracy. So basically she thinks we’re all gonna be fine.

If you don’t know Gessen by now, you really ought to. She wrote this indispensable guide to surviving autocracy in the days after the election. She’s also written about her family fleeing Nazi Germany, how Vladimir Putin operates, and another about how Putin views America. If you hadn’t guessed, she’s Russian but fled the country.

Her archive is a good place to start. Watch the interview below.

Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?

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from Sam Bee's Interview With Expert On Authoritarianism Is Must-Watch

[malenipshadows]

“Peter W. Smith, GOP operative who sought Clinton's emails from Russian hackers, committed suicide, records show,”

By Katherine Skiba, David Heinzmann, Todd Lighty; The Chicago Tribune.  Published online 7-13-2017.  

   A Republican donor and operative from Chicago's North Shore who said he had tried to obtain Hillary Clinton's missing emails from Russian hackers killed himself in a Minnesota hotel room days after talking to The Wall Street Journal about his efforts, public records show.    In a room at a Rochester hotel used almost exclusively by Mayo Clinic patients and relatives, Peter W. Smith, 81, left a carefully prepared file of documents, which includes a statement police called a suicide note in which he said he was in ill health and a life insurance policy was expiring.    Days earlier, the financier from suburban Lake Forest gave an interview to the Journal about his quest, and it published stories about his efforts beginning in late June. The Journal also reported it had seen emails written by Smith showing his team considered retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, then a top adviser to Republican Donald Trump's campaign, as an ally. Flynn briefly was President Trump's national security adviser and resigned after it was determined he had failed to disclose contacts with Russia.

At the time, the newspaper reported Smith's May 14 (2017) death came about 10 days after he granted the interview.  Mystery shrouded how and where he had died, but the lead reporter on the stories said on a podcast he had no reason to believe the death was the result of foul play and that Smith likely had died of natural causes.

However, the Chicago Tribune obtained a Minnesota state death record filed in Olmsted County that says Smith committed suicide in a hotel near the Mayo Clinic at 1:17 p.m. on Sunday, May 14 (2017).  He was found with a bag over his head with a source of helium attached.  A medical examiner's report gives the same account, without specifying the time, and a report from Rochester police further details his suicide.

In the note recovered by police, Smith apologized to authorities and said that, "NO FOUL PLAY WHATSOEVER" was involved in his death.  He wrote that he was taking his own life because of a "RECENT BAD TURN IN HEALTH SINCE JANUARY, 2017" and timing related "TO LIFE INSURANCE OF $5 MILLION EXPIRING."

One of Smith's former employees told the Tribune he thought the elderly man had gone to the famed clinic to be treated for a heart condition.  Mayo spokeswoman Ginger Plumbo said Thursday she could not confirm Smith had been a patient, citing medical privacy laws.

The Journal stories said it was on Labor Day weekend in 2016 that Smith had assembled a team to acquire emails the team theorized might have been stolen from the private server Clinton had used while secretary of state.  Smith's focus was the more than 30,000 emails Clinton said she deleted because they related to personal matters.  A huge cache of other Clinton emails were made public.

Smith told the Journal he believed the missing emails might have had been obtained by Russian hackers.  He also said he thought the correspondence related to Clinton's official duties. He told the Journal he worked independently and was not part of the Trump campaign.  He also told the Journal he and his team found five groups of hackers - two of them Russian groups - who claimed to have Clinton's missing emails.

Smith had a history of doing opposition research, the formal term for unflattering information that political operatives dig up about rival candidates.  For years, Democratic President Bill Clinton was Smith's target.  The wealthy businessman had a hand in exposing the "Troopergate" allegations about Bill Clinton's sex life.  And he discussed financing a probe of a 1969 trip Bill Clinton had taken while in college to the Soviet Union, according to Salon magazine.

Investigations into any possible links between the Russian government and people associated with Trump's presidential campaign now are under way in Congress and by former FBI chief Robert Mueller.  He is acting as a special counsel for the Department of Justice.  Mueller spokesman Peter Carr declined to comment on the Journal's stories on Smith or his death.  Washington attorney Robert Kelner, who represents Flynn, had no comment on Thursday (7-13-2017).

Smith's death occurred at the Aspen Suites in Rochester, records show.  They list the cause of death as "asphyxiation due to displacement of oxygen in confined space with helium."  Rochester Police Chief Roger Peterson on Wednesday (7-12-2017) called his manner of death "unusual," but a funeral home worker said he'd seen it before.

An employee with Rochester Cremation Services, the funeral home that responded to the hotel, said he helped remove Smith's body from his room and recalled seeing a tank.  The employee, who spoke on the condition he not be identified because of the sensitive nature of Smith's death, described the tank as being similar in size to a propane tank on a gas grill.  He did not recall seeing a bag that Smith would have placed over his head.  The coroner and police were there and he "didn't do a lot of looking around," he said.  "When I got there and saw the tank, I thought, 'I've seen this before,' and was able to put two and two together," the employee said.

An autopsy was conducted, according to the death record.  The Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner's Office declined a Tribune request for the autopsy report and released limited information about Smith's death.  

The Final Exit Network, a Florida-based nonprofit, provides information and support to people who suffer from a terminal illness and want to kill themselves.  Fran Schindler, a volunteer with the group, noted that the best-selling book Final Exit, written by Derek Humphry in 1991 and revised several times since, explains in detail the helium gas method.  “Many people obtain that information from his book," Schindler said.  "It's a method that has been around for many years and is well known."

Smith's remains were cremated in Minnesota, the records said.  He was married to Janet L. Smith and had three children and three grandchildren, according to his obituary.  Tribune calls to family members were not returned.

His obituary said Smith was involved in public affairs for more than 60 years and it heralded him as a "quietly generous champion of efforts to ensure a more economically and politically secure world."  Smith led private equity firms in corporate acquisitions and venture investments for more than 40 years.  Earlier, he worked with DigaComm, LLC, from 1997 to 2014 and as the president of Peter W. Smith & Company, Inc. from 1975 to 1997.  Prior to that, he was a senior officer of Field Enterprises, Inc., a firm that owned the Chicago Sun-Times then and was held by the Marshall Field family, his obituary said.

A private family memorial was planned, the obituary said.  Friends posted online tributes to Smith after his death.  One was from his former employee, Jonathan Safron, 26, who lives in Chicago's Loop and worked for Smith for about two years.  Safron, in an interview, said he was working for a tutoring firm when Smith became his client.  His job entailed teaching Smith how to use a MacBook, Safron said.  At the time Smith was living in a condominium atop the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago. Safron said Smith later employed him at Corporate Venture Alliances, a private investment firm that Smith ran, first out of the same condo and later from an office in the Hancock Building.

Safron, who said he had a low-level job with the Illinois Republican Party in 2014, said he had no knowledge of Smith's bid to find hackers who could locate emails missing from Clinton's service as secretary of state.  In his online tribute to his former employer, he called Smith the "best boss I could ever ask for . . . a mentor, friend and model human being."

Safron said he worked part time for Smith, putting in about 15 hours a week.  But the two grew close, often having lunch together at a favorite Smith spot: the Oak Tree Restaurant & Bakery Chicago on North Michigan Avenue.  He called Smith a serious man who was "upbeat," "cosmopolitan" and "larger than life."  He was aware Smith was in declining health, saying the older man sometimes had difficulty breathing and told work colleagues he had heart problems.  Weeks before he took his life, Smith had become fatigued walking down about four or five flights of stairs during a Hancock Building fire drill and later emailed Safron saying he was "dizzy," he said.

Smith's last will and testament, signed last Feb. 21 (2017), is seven pages long and on file in Probate Court in Lake County.   The will gives his wife his interest in their residential property and his tangible personal property and says remaining assets should be placed into two trusts.

He was born Feb. 23, 1936, in Portland, Maine, according to the death record.  His late father, Waldo Sterling Smith, was a manufacturer's representative for women's apparel firms, representing them in department stores in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to the father's 2002 obituary.  The elder Smith died at age 92 in St. Augustine, Fla., and his obit noted that he had been active in St. Johns County, Fla. Republican affairs and with a local Methodist church

Peter Smith wrote two blog posts dated the day before he was found dead.  One challenged U.S. intelligence agency findings that Russia interfered with the 2016 election.  Another post predicted: "As attention turns to international affairs, as it will shortly, the Russian interference story will die of its own weight."

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Skiba reported from Washington, Heinzmann reported from Rochester and Lighty from Chicago.  Lauren Rosenblatt of the Tribune Washington Bureau and Dan Moran of the Lake County News-Sun contributed to this story.

 ** Hyperlink: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/peter-w-smith-gop-operative-who-sought-clintons-emails-from-russian-hackers-committed-suicide-records-show/ar-BBEmFpX?li=BBnb4R7&ocid=TSHDHP.

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Deconstructing America: USA’s Future & Trumpism

We, the People of the United States Of America are truly living in a state Intellectual Dysfunction. William Gaddis once said: "Stupidity is the deliberate cultivation of Ignorance".

Cultivating the uneducated, poorly educated and undereducated is not new in Authoritarian regimes…it's called "Indoctrination" of the masses!...and the younger the better! Nothing would please Trumpism more than watching a bunch of rotten little Nazis bastards, running around in kindergarten, shouting the Sieg Heil salute to everyone they pass on the streets!

When someone says his goals are to "deconstruct the administrative state"…if you're one of those "uneducated" or "undereducated" folks beloved so much by this administration, you might say, yeah! it's time to change the way Washington operates!

Listen up, America! "The Deconstruction of the Administrative State"…no matter how you look at it…it's the Deconstruction of our Democratic System of Government! our values! our way of life! Plain and simple…the destruction of our Sovereign Democracy! As the world continues to say, more and more every day; Is the America, who everyone once admired and envied, really that stupid?!?!

Well? yes, we are! Americans want to change Washington with an "outsider", by electing a man with absolutely no experience whatsoever in the world on Domestic & Foreign Affairs, a renowned Liar, Bigot, and Con Artist…and a well known Fascist, among other things…to run our Country. A man who got compromised hook, line, and sinker by a Foreign Power and now has become their puppet, probably just to stay alive…everyone knows Putin and what he's capable of doing. Well, America! you wanted an Outsider? You certainly got what you wished for!

The many critics about our Political System…on both sides of the aisles…will find out soon; With all its problems, our Fragile Democracy is really not all that bad, after all! At least! you can bitch how bad the System is!!...bitching about it during Heir Drumpf, Heir Bannon, and Comrade Putin's hostile takeover? If we really believe the Press is our enemy, and the President is the all-wise, all-knowing, enlightened Savior of the Masses?…we deserve what we get! When will 'they' come…. knock, knock, knocking at 'your' door?

They first came for the Hispanics, those "Bad Hombres" crossing over and bringing in Drugs, Robbing, Raping, and Murdering everyone in America!…then they came for the Muslims because they're all terrorists committing acts around the country every day! Just look at all those terrible "Terrorist Attacks" in Atlanta, Bowling Green…and even in Sweden?!?! You gotta be careful not to get shot by a fake terrorist! With all that Fascist horseshit? ignorance will always prevail and follow blindly!...I kid you not!

Now, in Trump's Fascist America with his Ideology of hate and fear, the American Jewish Community is being targeted and hit hard…Rabbis throughout the Nation are receiving Death threats! Bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers! Jewish Cemeteries are being defaced, Synagogues vandalized with Graffiti drawings of the "Star of David" and the "Nazi Swastika"…will they be the next people "Trumpism" goes after?...or will they come for the African-Americans, or the LGBT Community, first? Does all of this sound too familiar?? How about Germany, circa 1931-33? Accusing the Jews, for causing all the problems, themselves? It's called "Scapegoating", one of Joe Goebbels' 50something techniques of "Propaganda".

And now, another act of the Fascist mind; The Idea of separating the Mothers from their Children…deporting the parents out of this country, but keep the children, as an act to deter anyone from trying to come into this Country. The kids? Place them in an orphanage and indoctrinate them to the Glory of Trumpism!

Where is America's Voice?...and what Voice? If Americans really believe our Free Press is the Enemy, we will truly be living in a darkness of ignorance, never seen before by this Nation.

Saying you're the "least" Anti-Semitic Human Being on the face of this Earth, and condemning Anti-Semitism on National TV, just doesn't cut it!...not! when the real President behind the orange glow Throne, and the Man making our Nation's decisions, Steve Bannon…by unanimous consent…is the "most" Anti-Semitic and dangerous person in America!!

"Fascism should more properly be called Corporativism, since it is the merger of State and Corporate Power" ~~~ Benito Mussolini

White Nationalist America…under the guidance of Steve Bannon…is ready to built a new Political System, an Oligarch form of Government with One supreme ruler holding absolute power. And the creation of a new "Nationalist World Order", Sieg Heil! But to create it, you're going to have to destroy it first. And in the words of Steve Bannon; “The best Cabinet in the history of Cabinets, they were selected for a reason, and that is 'Deconstruction'.” Yes!! The destruction of our American Government and its Constitution, our Democracy, and our Democratic processes, and our cultural and social way of life.

Bannon very openly tells America; We're gonna destroy the American System, One Cabinet Department at a time, and One Amendment at a Time…but, not before Donald Trump and his Billionaire Cabinet makes a killing out of their respective Depts…and Ft. Knox. First Cabinet Member privately raking big $$$ in big deals with Russia? Good old Rex Tillerson for his old Exxon/Mobil…much like Dick Cheney did for Halliburton…but way much bigger!

All Authoritarians do love to touch, fondle, and remove all the Gold they can swindle the Country's Treasury out of before they all get run out of town on their golden derrieres.

The battle for the Hearts and Minds of America has begun amid constant chaos, daily scandals, allegations and false claims, lies, fake stories, and more Trump embarrassments throughout the Country and the World. The Enemy? The Press, the Intelligence Community, half of Washington DC…and the 65,844,610 Americans that believe Heir Führer an Illegitimate President, and just a proxy for Putin.

The Future of America? It's up to We, the People! Whether you want to face facts or not…the truth? Our Choice is simple; A) Become a Fascist Nation with its suppression and its Draconian Policies…or B) Try to make our Democracy Work. Those are the only real choices we truly have!…Sieg Heil! "Fascism" is winning!