Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Elections, Taxes and the Years End: The Good, The Bad, and the WTF?

It's been a busy week in a lot of ways.  Sorry for the radio silence but between the paying job, projects, and just trying to survive I'd been distracted from keeping things up to date.  So here's what went down the past week.  The Good, The Bad, and the WTF!

Let's start with the good.  In this case, Roy Moore losing the special election against Doug Jones in Alabama to replace now attorney general Jeffy Sessions.  It's scary that it took allegations of child molestation to show Moore in all his scariness when many of his views (his disregard for the Constitution when it clashed with his interpretation of Christianity, his birtherism towards Barack Obama, believing the country';s best time was during slavery -to name just a few) should've shown him to be unelectable but in a climate like ours it's seen as "fake news" (a term that's a far cry from when Jon Stewart would call the Daily Show that as a way to point out that it was a comedy show , albeit one that dealt with real news and events).  People with even a slight bit of sanity owe African Americans, especially African American women, in Alabama thanks for their turnout - in spite of voter suppression attempts (it must be said that, while sheer numbers overcame that last week, the Repubs will continue to push this shit and try to make it even harder to vote).

The bad is the passage of electoral vote inner Donny's tax reform bill.  Pushed through when most people in either the House or Senate didn't read it, it's clear from what we know that it's going to benefit the one percent at the expense of the rest of us.  While Donny and the Repubs claim this will help the middle class, it's really going to help rich people in Congress more than anyone else - and their donors.  Ironically they keep having to re-vote due to having accidentally took out the decuctions corporations wanted and, today, because it violated three senate rules for bills.  While Donny will gloat that it's a win fo rhim.  It's his only win.

In the WTF - what the hell's up with Donny and his minions claiming the FBI is doing a coup against him via the Mueller probe?  It's ironic that, while the FBI has abused its power in the past (remember COINTELPRO?) the Intercept reports that apparently this probe is by the book.  So why now?  Part of it is cover to get the right wing base riled up and allow cover for Donny to try and fire asst atty General Rod Rosenstein, if not Mueller, to get someone who would shitcan the head of the probe towards Donny and Russia.  Donny thinks he'll be exonerated but as we learn more it appears Russia did play a role in influencing the election (though we should be just as concerned about shit like Operation Crosscheck and other attempts to disenfranchise people). 

Where does that leave us now.  It looks like our tax structure will trickle down from the poor and working people to the one percent.  Meanwhile the AL Atty General is reportedly investigating voter fraud in last week's election (you don't suppose this is an attempt to steal the election for Creeper Judge Roy Boy).  And the holidays are coming up. Meanwhile Doug Jones has said he's looking to reach across the aisle (even though the GOP has no desire for any bipartianship that doesn't include Democrats giving the right everything they want)

One thing is certain.  While 2018 is an election year, that means that the battles we see now will be in the public view as the new year emerges.

Friday, December 1, 2017

In (Custody) Like Flynn.....

Like many of you I got up this morning and went online for whatever reason (for me, it was to make another call to the Senate regarding the BS tax plan the Repubs are forcing down our throats) and got some news that, while it shouldn't be a surprise, did become one nonetheless.

Yep, the rumors from the past week turned out to be true.  Electoral vote winner Donny's former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn turned himself in and is charged in the probe of special prosecutor Robert Mueller.  Flynn is expected to plead guilty to one count of making false statements to federal authorities. Now there was suspicion that something would be up when Flynn's legal team stopped working to the legal team of electoral vote winner Donny about a week or so ago.  While this was floated as a possibility so was a hint that he might have agreed to work with them without charges. 

Now we know a plea deal was made.  As part of the plea Flynn has agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation into possible Russian interference in the 2016 election.  That is a big deal in the probe since, even though Flynn's time working in the White House was brief.  Flynn did play a fairly big role in the election campaign and, ironically, helped lead a chant of "Lock Her Up" towards Donny's opponent in the election, former Sen. Hillary Clinton during the GOP Convention last year.

The irony here is palpable but the fact that Flynn agreed to a plea deal means that there's a lot more underneath the surface.  I've read a suggestion or two that Flynn is doing this to protect his son, Michael Flynn Jr. [who gained attention in the probe over a reported plot to kidnap a Turkish dissident living in Pennsylvania and fly him somewhere to be detained for Turkey]).  However, while there's still a bit to unpack one thing has emerged.  As part of the plea deal Flynn is reportedly willing to testify that he was authorized by the Trump campaign and then candidate Donald Trump (now electoral vote winner Donny) to make contact with the Russians during the 2016 Presidential campaign

Yes, you read that right.  Flynn apparently is now admitting that he was cleared by Donny and his minions to speak with Russia during the campaign.  In addition, ABC News reports that this decision was made within the last 24 hours. It also states that Flynn felt abandoned by his former boss.  Whether this decision was made by expensive legal bills, a (rumored) decision to protect his kin, or actual need to help this country  it does drop a bomb of sorts into the mix.

For now, the usual round of denials and whatboutism from the right will likely be ramped up a bit.  One White House lawyer (TY Cobb) has even referred to Flynn as "a former Obama administration official."  What can't be denied is that Flynn's plea deal is a big deal in this probe since, as attorney and writer Seth Abramson has pointed out on a twitter thread a deal like the one Flynn was given is offered "only when it can incriminate someone "higher up in the food chain" than them.

So who'd be higher up than Flyns that a deal would be offered?.  Well, Atty. General Jeffy Session is at the similar, if not same, level in the hierarchy (at least in terms of national security).  But he's not higher up enough for this (though Jeffy might get caught in the net somehow).  This leaves what Keith Olbermann said in his final political commentary that Nixon counsel turned Watergate whistleblower John Dean told him.  Mueller wouldn't get a deal with Flynn to get Manafort or Don Jr.  Mueller would offer the deal with Michael Flynn "to get Donald Trump."

As I said before this is far from the end of the story.  Flynn's deal with the probe is a big deal given his role in the campaign opens up a door that intensifies a journey that could lead to taking down electoral vote winner Donny, co-electoral vote winner Mikey Pence, or both, 

This is unlikely to happen right away and a lot of things could happen on the road until then (including a possibility that the GOP forces out Donny after getting the tax cuts they want so damn bad).  What this deal does mean is that, while the right wing media and Donny's minions and talking heads say otherwise, that Mueller's probe is far from over.  This also means that, if Mueller is fired in some sort of Saturday night massacre similar to what Nixon pulled (and what ultimately did him in), enough tension would erupt that the blowback would taint Donny enough that, even if he managed to get pardoned, he would be considered toxic to the Americna political landscape. 

For now, Donny has the white nationalists/white supremacists and white conservative christians (i.e.: "evangelicals/fundamentalists/charismatics) on his side.  However, if the snowball rolls far enough and picks up enough to become an avalanche even they may be less willing to stay on the Good Ship Donny as leaks sink it all around them.

Regardless of what goes down it's far from over.  Stay on the lookout.

UPDATE:  Technically Flynn ended up pleading guilty to four false statements (two response he gave regarding the Russians, one on sanctions, and one on Israel.)  While the latter two have some importance on their own, the Russia ones remain the focus of the probe - and the most pertinent as of this time.