Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

Part 157, some of Russian meddling, and related, material from F6 big ones. These from a second
on Sunday, 03/04/18, headed, Trump uses Parkland shooting to deflect from Russia probe
https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=139013503

The second

Trump tweets ‘they are laughing their asses off in Moscow’

AM Joy
2/18/18
Donald Trump early Sunday hurled tweets at Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Adam Schiff, in addition to criticizing
the Russia probe. Joy Reid and her panel[, including Malcolm Nance,] on why the president may be on the edge.
©2018 NBCNews.com
http://www.msnbc.com/am-joy/watch/trump-russia-president-hurls-tweets-at-obama-clinton-schiff-1164538435922 , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Zjiey4kOo [with comments] [a must-watch]

The fourteenth, about halfway in

Trump Has A Problem Criticizing People Who Say Nice Things About Him

Published on Feb 18, 2018 by VICE News [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZaT_X_mc0BI-djXOlfhqWQ / https://www.youtube.com/user/vicenews , https://www.youtube.com/user/vicenews/videos ]

It took two days for President Trump to specifically condemn the white supremacists responsible for the violence in Charlottesville last weekend, and that left some people wondering if it’s because some of these fringe groups have supported him. After all, he’s been surprisingly honest about his inability to criticize people who’ve been nice to him.

In 2011, he told Sean Hannity: “I have such a problem. Everyone’s said such nice things,” referring to potential competitors as he contemplated a 2012 presidential run. Trump went on to explain that he has a difficult time speaking ill of people who have complimented him. “They’re all saying these nice things about me, I have a hard time.”

Throughout his career, Trump has praised everyone from Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to Kanye West and Vladimir Putin… as long as they were willing to say “nice things” about him, too. Here are a few examples illustrating a man who likes to be liked.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XNAA1o-SbE [with comments]

In that we see, yet again, the greatest need of Donald. Has it ever been made clearer than
by the grate guy himself? (Note the one re George Washington, from stashed, below)

A few more down, after some funny cartoon stuff, the last before stashed

Trump vs. The World: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

Published on Feb 18, 2018 by LastWeekTonight [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3XTzVzaHQEd30rQbuvCtTQ / https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight , https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight/videos ]
America's reputation is being damaged by its own president. John Oliver, several dinosaurs, and the NYC Gay Men's Chorus remind the world that our country is...complicated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCjk_NPsIqU [with (over 26,000) comments]

To "stashed February 18, 2018:"

America Is Under Attack and the President Doesn't Care
Trump’s gravest responsibility is to defend the United States from foreign attack—and he’s done nothing to fulfill it.
By David Frum
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/02/america-is-under-attack-and-the-president-doesnt-care/553667/

Trump Chides McMaster For Saying Evidence Of Russian Interference 'Incontrovertible'
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/17/586803847/mcmaster-says-evidence-of-russia-meddling-incontrovertible

For Mueller, this is only the beginning
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/18/opinions/mueller-indictment-goals-opinion-rangappa/index.html

Trump’s Evolution From Relief to Fury Over the Russia Indictment
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/us/politics/trump-blames-obama-and-democrats-for-failing-to-stop-russian-meddling.html

Dem lawmaker: Trump tweets on Russia show 'consciousness of guilt' - Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.)
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/374496-dem-trump-tweets-on-russia-show-consciousness-of-guilt

Dem lawmaker calls Trump 'eunuch in chief' over response to Russia meddling - Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.)
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/374494-dem-lawmaker-calls-trump-eunuch-in-chief-over-response-to-russia-meddling

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/dGhxVL0Oj72Lj8M72arpiriMgFcIM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Russia's shadowy world of military contractors: independent mercenaries, or working for the Kremlin? - further to https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=138645621
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-russia-mercenaries-20180218-story.html

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/df18LV2l-5Wr4HM0CDDai9CLwkTAM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

Former Trump aide Richard Gates to plead guilty; agrees to testify against Manafort, sources say - further to https://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=138644765
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-rick-gates-plea-deal-20180218-story.html

more: https://news.google.com/news/story/db81yeWtjXPcqIMb10n2UCeQj9KJM?ned=us&gl=US&hl=en

This one is OT, but interesting in a 'could be very important' way.
Axios: Kelly, Secret Service agent scuffled with Chinese officials over nuclear 'football'
http://thehill.com/policy/international/china/374485-axios-us-and-chinese-officials-scuffled-in-beijing-over-nuclear

Back to business at hand.

Paul Manafort Accused Of Bank Fraud In New Mueller Court Documents [ https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000161-a159-d829-a37b-fb7d3c6a0001 ]
He submitted “doctored profit statements” for mortgage to secure bail, say prosecutors.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/manafort-bail-bank-fraud_us_5a89137ae4b00bc49f44f359

Trump Cites Facebook Executive In ‘Fake News’ Twitter Rant Over Russian Indictments
“Hard to ignore the vice president of Facebook ads!”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-cites-facebook-ceo_us_5a88b5ace4b004fc3192e995

Media, Democrats Have Created ‘More Chaos’ Than Russians, Says White House Spokesman
Twitter: “That’s exactly what the Russian troll farm tweets say.”
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/dems-media-more-chaos-than-russia_us_5a88fdc1e4b00bc49f44ea00

Top Democrat: Obama Too Slow On Russia Hacking, But Trump Is ‘Sitting On His Hands’
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) skewered the White House for refusing to impose new Russia sanctions passed by Congress.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/adam-schiff-trump_us_5a89936ee4b05c2bcacbf6b9

Former Trump Aide Rick Gates Will Plead Guilty To Mueller Probe Charges: Report
He’s willing to testify against Paul Manafort, his onetime associate, according to The Los Angeles Times.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rick-gates-plead-guilty_us_5a8a133ee4b004fc31937627

Did George Washington Predict Donald Trump?
By THOMAS R. PICKERING and JAMES STOUTENBERG
In September 1796, George Washington, weary of partisan combat just eight years after the ratification of the Constitution and the founding of the nation, wrote a farewell address explaining why he would not seek a third term. His message is worth remembering in our current political moment.
In elaborate and thoughtful prose, Washington raised red flags about disunity, false patriotism, special interests, extreme partisanship, fake news, the national debt, foreign alliances and foreign hatreds. With uncanny foresight, he warned that the most serious threat to our democracy might come from disunity within the country rather than interference from outside. And he foresaw the possibility of foreign influence over our political system and the rise of a president whose ego and avarice would transcend the national interest, raising the threat of despotism.
Washington certainly had great confidence, but in his address he didn’t brag about his accomplishments. On the contrary, he beseeched the Almighty to soften the impact of his errors and expressed hopes that the country would forgive them. He established a standard for presidential self-deprecation out of the fear that a president of grossly inflated ego could become a threat to democracy.
He cautioned against both overly friendly alliances (lest another country’s interests and wars become our own) and excessive hatreds (lest we provoke unnecessary conflict and war with others). Forbearance in the use of power was another of his major themes. “A free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another,” he declared. Such encroachment, he said, would lead to the consolidation of power and create “a real despotism.”
Some of Washington’s most prescient warnings were about the dangers of factionalism. He wrote that should one group, “sharpened by the spirit of revenge,” gain domination over another, the result could be “a more formal and permanent despotism.” The despot’s rise would be fueled by “disorders and miseries” that would gradually push citizens “to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual.”
“Sooner or later,” he concluded, “the chief of some prevailing faction, more able and more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purpose of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty.”
As if envisioning the political tribalism and 24/7 cable news culture of today, he urged political leaders to restrain “the continual mischiefs” of political parties. The “spirit of party,” he wrote, “serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.”
And then he arrived at one of his greatest concerns: The ways in which hyperpartisanship could open the door “to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.”
On Friday, Robert Mueller, the special counsel, charged 13 Russians with trying to help Donald Trump win the 2016 election. One need only read the indictment to understand what the first president was talking about.
Since 1893, a senator has read the farewell address on the floor of the Senate every year on Washington’s Birthday, alternating annually by political party. Bluntly speaking, it’s become little more than an exercise in bipartisan lip service. The House of Representatives stopped reading it decades ago. This was, at least, a form of honesty. Clearly no one was listening anymore.
In 2016, fake news, gerrymandering, voter suppression and disenfranchisement were “the mischiefs” employed by the Republican Party to propel Mr. Trump’s campaign. And Mr. Trump, perhaps “more able and more fortunate than his competitors,” stumbled to victory using mendacious appeals to voters squeezed by a greedy economy — even though Mr. Trump had himself profited handsomely from that economy.
If only we had heeded Washington’s warnings, would the election have turned out as it did?
Washington’s goal was to ensure that the young country became stable enough to withstand the threats to liberty and freedom he saw on the horizon — a horizon that has now stretched 220 years into the future. We can never say he didn’t warn us.
Thomas R. Pickering is a former under secretary for political affairs and ambassador to Russia, Israel and the United Nations. James Stoutenberg, a former Brooklyn assistant district attorney, is a business consultant.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/opinion/george-washington-donald-trump.html

more: https://www.google.com/search?q=did+george+washington+predict

Whatever Trump Is Hiding Is Hurting All of Us Now
By Thomas L. Friedman
Our democracy is in serious danger.
President Trump is either totally compromised by the Russians or is a towering fool, or both, but either way he has shown himself unwilling or unable to defend America against a Russian campaign to divide and undermine our democracy.
That is, either Trump’s real estate empire has taken large amounts of money from shady oligarchs linked to the Kremlin — so much that they literally own him; or rumors are true that he engaged in sexual misbehavior while he was in Moscow running the Miss Universe contest, which Russian intelligence has on tape and he doesn’t want released; or Trump actually believes Russian President Vladimir Putin when he says he is innocent of intervening in our elections — over the explicit findings of Trump’s own C.I.A., N.S.A. and F.B.I. chiefs.
In sum, Trump is either hiding something so threatening to himself, or he’s criminally incompetent to be commander in chief. It is impossible yet to say which explanation for his behavior is true, but it seems highly likely that one of these scenarios explains Trump’s refusal to respond to Russia’s direct attack on our system — a quiescence that is simply unprecedented for any U.S. president in history. Russia is not our friend. It has acted in a hostile manner. And Trump keeps ignoring it all.
Up to now, Trump has been flouting the norms of the presidency. Now Trump’s behavior amounts to a refusal to carry out his oath of office — to protect and defend the Constitution. Here’s an imperfect but close analogy: It’s as if George W. Bush had said after 9/11: “No big deal. I am going golfing over the weekend in Florida and blogging about how it’s all the Democrats’ fault — no need to hold a National Security Council meeting.”
At a time when the special prosecutor Robert Mueller — leveraging several years of intelligence gathering by the F.B.I., C.I.A. and N.S.A. — has brought indictments against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian groups — all linked in some way to the Kremlin — for interfering with the 2016 U.S. elections, America needs a president who will lead our nation’s defense against this attack on the integrity of our electoral democracy.
What would that look like? He would educate the public on the scale of the problem; he would bring together all the stakeholders — state and local election authorities, the federal government, both parties and all the owners of social networks that the Russians used to carry out their interference — to mount an effective defense; and he would bring together our intelligence and military experts to mount an effective offense against Putin — the best defense of all.
What we have instead is a president vulgarly tweeting that the Russians are “laughing their asses off in Moscow” for how we’ve been investigating their interventions — and exploiting the terrible school shooting in Florida — and the failure of the F.B.I. to properly forward to its Miami field office a tip on the killer — to throw the entire F.B.I. under the bus and create a new excuse to shut down the Mueller investigation.
Think for a moment how demented was Trump’s Saturday night tweet: “Very sad that the FBI missed all of the many signals sent out by the Florida school shooter. This is not acceptable. They are spending too much time trying to prove Russian collusion with the Trump campaign — there is no collusion. Get back to the basics and make us all proud!”
To the contrary. Our F.B.I., C.I.A. and N.S.A., working with the special counsel, have done us amazingly proud. They’ve uncovered a Russian program to divide Americans and tilt our last election toward Trump — i.e., to undermine the very core of our democracy — and Trump is telling them to get back to important things like tracking would-be school shooters. Yes, the F.B.I. made a mistake in Florida. But it acted heroically on Russia. What is more basic than protecting American democracy?
It is so obvious what Trump is up to: Again, he is either a total sucker for Putin or, more likely, he is hiding something that he knows the Russians have on him, and he knows that the longer Mueller’s investigation goes on, the more likely he will be to find and expose it.
Donald, if you are so innocent, why do you go to such extraordinary lengths to try to shut Mueller down? And if you are really the president — not still head of the Trump Organization, who moonlights as president, which is how you so often behave — why don’t you actually lead — lead not only a proper cyberdefense of our elections, but also an offense against Putin.
Putin used cyberwarfare to poison American politics, to spread fake news, to help elect a chaos candidate, all in order to weaken our democracy. We should be using our cyber-capabilities to spread the truth about Putin — just how much money he has stolen, just how many lies he has spread, just how many rivals he has jailed or made disappear — all to weaken his autocracy. That is what a real president would be doing right now.
My guess is what Trump is hiding has to do with money. It’s something about his financial ties to business elites tied to the Kremlin. They may own a big stake in him. Who can forget that quote from his son Donald Trump Jr. from back in 2008: “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets.” They may own our president.
But whatever it is, Trump is either trying so hard to hide it or is so naïve about Russia that he is ready to not only resist mounting a proper defense of our democracy, he’s actually ready to undermine some of our most important institutions, the F.B.I. and Justice Department, to keep his compromised status hidden.
That must not be tolerated. This is code red. The biggest threat to the integrity of our democracy today is in the Oval Office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/18/opinion/trump-russia-putin.html

more: https://www.google.com/search?q=whatever+trump+is+hiding