Sometimes it seems that news comes at us fast and furious, especially in the current political landscape. It almost seems that those in power want to throw everything at us at once in hopes that we get overwhelmed and give up trying to find out the truth. This is especially true in terms of the Mueller probe, reports of possible Russian interference (though the mainstream media seems to overlook that there was a home grown element that wanted to steal the election for Donny as well). This means there are moments when it's best to take things in and get as much information as possible before writing or posting something. However, today events happened that require immediate posting.
Let's start with the news the media was awaiting but wondering what would happen. This afternoon Paul Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of financial crimes in a Federal courthouse in Virginia. These counts include five charges of tax fraud, two counts of bank fraud, and one count of hiding a foreign bank account. The jury was deadlocked on the other 10 charges electoral vote winner Donny's former campaign manager faced so the judge declared a mistrial.
Manafort's attorney says he's currently considering his options and is disapointed in the verdict. However, this part of the story isn't over yet as Manafort could possibly appeal the conviction. However, Manafort is also facing another trial in Washington D.C. later this fall from other charges related to the Russia probe. What that means is there's the possibility of a plea deal in exchange for cooperating with investigators (which may not be more of a possibility given Paul Manafort faces 80 years in Federal prison [i.e.: a life sentence basically]). There's also the possibility that electoral vote winner Donny would suddenly pardon Manafort. However, while Donny has been pardoning quite a few horrible people this instance could be a case where the optics would be so bad that blowback would be inevitable and fairly swift.
Then there's the news about Michael Cohen, electoral vote winner Donny's former lawyer and "fixer," who today reached a plea deal and plead guilty to eight criminal counts. Among these counts are tax fraud and false statements to a bank. In that sense there is some similarity to the charges Manafort was convicted of a few states southward. However Cohen's plea has a unique twist in that he plead guilty to campaign finance violations. The latter refers to his admission that he made payments to two women "at the direction of a candidate,"
Yes, apparently Cohen admitted that he arranged the payouts to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal at electoral vote winner Donny's direction. He told the judge that the payments were "for the principal purpose of influencing the election." To add a strange layer of the bizarre to these news reports news broke of them occurring at pretty much exactly the same time.. giving news organizations a double whammy to report on. As part of the plea deal Cohen faces far less time than Manafort (46-53 months in prison) but this plea is a sign that Mueller has something.
It's also a sign that, for the first time since news of possible Russian interference and other assorted election meddling broke, reports of electoral vote winner Donny being complicit in this shit show has gone from a conjecture that many people felt was possible to Michael Cohen telling a judge under oath that he was involved.
So where does that leave electoral vote winner Donny? Hard to say. So far Donny's claiming that Manafort's conviction has nothing to do with him though one has to wonder why he didn't ask questions that he would run Donny's campaign without pay). However, since he now almost definitely has prison time ahead Paul Manafort might see this as a chance to reach some deal on other charges and cooperate. If that happens this could lead to a lot of heat on those around Donny from those we know about (Donny's son Little Donny, his son in law Jared et al in the meeting with the Russian attorney at Trump Tower) to maybe even someone who has so far escaped scrutiny (people seem to overlook that Manafort picked co-electoral vote winner Mikey and made the arrangements for Mikey and Donny to meet and cement the deal).
Will this be the beginning of the end for Donny and Mikey and their minions? Will electoral vote winner Donny start a war as a diversion (which can also help him quash any dissent against his tremendous reign, bigly)? Will the Democrats slowly plot to impeach Donny and co if they win the midterms? While it does appear that there's something that fits the high crimes and misdemeanors here time will tell what goes down. What can be said here though is that we now have proof that Donny's paying off women he cheated on his wife fits a campaign finance violation and that his fixer has flipped (proving what many have suggested when he hired long time Bill and Hillary Clinton ally Lanny Davis as his attorney).
That Manfort's conviction and Cohen's plea deal happened isn't necessarily a big deal (though some worried that jurors may have been influenced by Donny's tweets and may get a mistrial for Manafort on all counts). However, that both went down at the same time reveals that today was a big day for the Mueller probe and the various tentacles that have spun off to other courts and the like. This may not be a smoking gun but the barrel is beginning to simmer a little on these fronts.
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Attacking A Nation;s Free Press is Playing With Fire
Today over 300 newspapers in the U.S. have joined together, publishing editorials fighting back against electoral vote winner Donny's frequent smear of the media as "the enemy of the people." Donny has pushed this line of nauseating garbage in numerous tweets and speeches, even continuing to use it after five journalists from the Capital Gazette newspaper in the Anapolis, MD are on June 28, 2018. Boasting the importance of a free press, they seek to fight against our electoral vote winner's role in emboldening increasingly dangerous situations for those working in the news and the work they do. While we agree with the sentiment of these editorials, we at TTWN wondering how many of them are going to state one obvious fact the mainstream media seems to overlook: why Donny's calling the media the enemy of the people (or sometimes the true enemy of the people) is playing with fire and downright dangerous.
First, let's look at what makes this dangerous. By making this smear electoral vote winner Donny is implying that the media and those who work in it are against the American people if they write or report on anything that puts him in a bad light. Part of the goal is for Donny to get attention (like almost every time he tweets way too early in the morning). However, there is also a more deliberate reason, as when 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl was told after the GOP primary when she asked him why he continues to attack the press and he replied that he did it so that when they publish something, the public won't believe them. Now let's put aside why they didn't immediately report that to the public once he said it (off the record or not, the people should have the right to know that shit), a politicians creating a situation where the media is treated as an opposing force that must be stopped emboldens some in said politician's fan base to commit acts of violence against the media (most recently in the Capital Gazette shooting) as well as scenarios where they face increasing verbal (if not physical) violence while doing their jobs (way too many stories of attacks from those at Donny's rallies to count). While some would say the latter is like professional wrestling and those doing it may be viewing a journalist like a wrestling vilain. However, pro wrestling is scripted to some degree in terms of characters and this is real life so that alone should be cause for alarm.
This leads to something even more disturbing. An Ipsos public opinion survey published earlier this month found that 43% of Repubs believe the President should have the power to "shut down news outlets engaged in bad behavior." The question that arises from this is what constitutes bad behavior worthy of something being shut down? While some may claim it would be something in bad faith, judging form electoral vote winner Donny's words if he had the power he'd likely use it to shut down those who say bad things about him or report on something he's trying to cover up. That is dangerous on a number of levels.
That danger also overlooks something that Americans should know but likely don't these days - journalism is the only profession protected under the First Amendment. This means that they're supposed to speak truth to power and call out politicians when they fuck up. Yes there are laws against slander and libel but this means the government cannot impinge on the media's freedom to do their jobs and hold people accountable just like they can't interfere with an individuals'freedom of speech.
At this point there may be a Repub or two reading this wanting to mock it with some Donny approved talking points. They may want to shout, "You need to accept that Trump won?" or make some disparaging remarks about liberals ( or libtards as some would call them) while asking what the big deal is with the media whining. For those people I have this to say, if Donny sets a precedent where the President can shut down news outlets, let's say a Democratic candidate wins in 2020 or later. What's to keep the Democratic leader from shutting down conservative media outlets?
If thos eon the right are really sincere about freedom of speech (and not just merely wanting it for the right wing and oppression for everyone else) then they need to stand against this whether it';s their guy or not.
Yes there are legitimate criticisms of the mainstream media and their establishment bias. However, they are not the enemy of the people and anyone who says otherwise is playing with a fire that, if not fought immediately and consistently, could burn down one of the few pillars of our society that should be upheld across the board.
First, let's look at what makes this dangerous. By making this smear electoral vote winner Donny is implying that the media and those who work in it are against the American people if they write or report on anything that puts him in a bad light. Part of the goal is for Donny to get attention (like almost every time he tweets way too early in the morning). However, there is also a more deliberate reason, as when 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl was told after the GOP primary when she asked him why he continues to attack the press and he replied that he did it so that when they publish something, the public won't believe them. Now let's put aside why they didn't immediately report that to the public once he said it (off the record or not, the people should have the right to know that shit), a politicians creating a situation where the media is treated as an opposing force that must be stopped emboldens some in said politician's fan base to commit acts of violence against the media (most recently in the Capital Gazette shooting) as well as scenarios where they face increasing verbal (if not physical) violence while doing their jobs (way too many stories of attacks from those at Donny's rallies to count). While some would say the latter is like professional wrestling and those doing it may be viewing a journalist like a wrestling vilain. However, pro wrestling is scripted to some degree in terms of characters and this is real life so that alone should be cause for alarm.
This leads to something even more disturbing. An Ipsos public opinion survey published earlier this month found that 43% of Repubs believe the President should have the power to "shut down news outlets engaged in bad behavior." The question that arises from this is what constitutes bad behavior worthy of something being shut down? While some may claim it would be something in bad faith, judging form electoral vote winner Donny's words if he had the power he'd likely use it to shut down those who say bad things about him or report on something he's trying to cover up. That is dangerous on a number of levels.
That danger also overlooks something that Americans should know but likely don't these days - journalism is the only profession protected under the First Amendment. This means that they're supposed to speak truth to power and call out politicians when they fuck up. Yes there are laws against slander and libel but this means the government cannot impinge on the media's freedom to do their jobs and hold people accountable just like they can't interfere with an individuals'freedom of speech.
At this point there may be a Repub or two reading this wanting to mock it with some Donny approved talking points. They may want to shout, "You need to accept that Trump won?" or make some disparaging remarks about liberals ( or libtards as some would call them) while asking what the big deal is with the media whining. For those people I have this to say, if Donny sets a precedent where the President can shut down news outlets, let's say a Democratic candidate wins in 2020 or later. What's to keep the Democratic leader from shutting down conservative media outlets?
If thos eon the right are really sincere about freedom of speech (and not just merely wanting it for the right wing and oppression for everyone else) then they need to stand against this whether it';s their guy or not.
Yes there are legitimate criticisms of the mainstream media and their establishment bias. However, they are not the enemy of the people and anyone who says otherwise is playing with a fire that, if not fought immediately and consistently, could burn down one of the few pillars of our society that should be upheld across the board.
Sunday, August 12, 2018
One Year After Charlottesville
Today marks the first anniversary of the horrific extreme right rally in Charlottesville, VA that made news as participants arrived armed, some with Nazi flags (including one asshat brandishing a semi automatic weapon while wearing a shirt with a Hitler quote on it) and attacks on counter protesters that culminated in the murder of Heather Heyer by a neo Nazi who I won't name here. We all know about the violence as well as electoral vote winner Donny's back and forth on supposedly disavowing the white supremacists and Nazis (remember "on both sides").
Today it will be marked on the right by rallies in both Charlottesville, VA as well as in Washington, DC (the latter organized by the main guy behind the first horrifying rally). In the case of DC, reports indicate that counterprotesters may be outnumbering the Nazis but since it's still happening it's hard to tell for sure.
A live feed from Truthdig reported that the rally marchers from the "alt right" were between 30 and 50 with more counter protesters. While this is a good sign =(as is the live feed from AJ+) things are still in progress so who knows what will unfold later on.
As for us at TTWN we're in solidarity with those marching against hate in DC, Charlottesville, and NYC. Here's hoping things remain safe. There will be more to report on this later so we'll be exploring it when we can and get back to you,
Today it will be marked on the right by rallies in both Charlottesville, VA as well as in Washington, DC (the latter organized by the main guy behind the first horrifying rally). In the case of DC, reports indicate that counterprotesters may be outnumbering the Nazis but since it's still happening it's hard to tell for sure.
A live feed from Truthdig reported that the rally marchers from the "alt right" were between 30 and 50 with more counter protesters. While this is a good sign =(as is the live feed from AJ+) things are still in progress so who knows what will unfold later on.
As for us at TTWN we're in solidarity with those marching against hate in DC, Charlottesville, and NYC. Here's hoping things remain safe. There will be more to report on this later so we'll be exploring it when we can and get back to you,
The Past Week Summarized - Primary Elections and What Not
Yes, I know today marks the first anniversary of the white supremacist shit show that went down in Charlottesville, VA that eventually ended up in James Fields Jr. murdering counter-protester Heather Heyer with a car. While I will comment on that in a later post today I felt it was necessary to give a brief overview of the past week.
For many parts of the USA this past Tuesday was primary election day on the road to the 2018 midterm elections. There were some hopeful results and some bad ones. Starting with TTWN's original home base of Missouri where voters overwhelmingly rejecting an anti union right to work law. Though there are some rumors the heavily Repub MO state legislature have right to work again on the ballot in November to be part of the sate constitution (I haven't been able to confirm that though) this is a good sign indeed. Also of note in MO is the defeat of longtime St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch (seven term incumbent with almost 30 years in office) by Wesley Bell, who was reportedly motivated towards public office after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO four years ago. Yes, time will tell what Bell's performance as a county prosecutor will be like but after decades in office McCulloch had been there too long and a change might be a good thing in a place as tension filled as the St. Louis area.
Overall though the election news was bittersweet in retrospect. Brent Welder, whose campaign was suddenly highlighted as a potential win in the wake of the victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in NY earlier this summer, lost the primary race of the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas to Sharice Davids, a gay Native American veteran and former MMA fighter. While some noted a computer glitch in one area of the district (Johnson County, KS) it is worth noting that while said district does have the cities with the 2nd and 3rd largest populations in Kansas (Overland Park and Kansas City respectively) , one of them is in Johnson County, which can arguably be called the most affluent and right wing part of the Kansas City metropolitan area (yes, the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in Kansas are both suburbs of the largest city in Missouri) so while the glitch could be foul play the attitudes of the area could be more important. IN the Ohio special election it remains too close to call between Repub Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O'Connor. While Balderson (and in turn electoral vote winner Donny) has claimed victory O'Connor is waiting until every vote is counted. Also of note is that they'll have to be up on the ballot again in November.
What we do know. In many places the incumbents won their races, which is to be expected since they usually do. However, though the corporate owned mainstream media likes to call progressive inspired groups such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats as failures for not getting every candidate they endorsed elected, it should be noted that out of the 13 candidates endorsed by Justice Democrats, 7 won the primary race. I know people will think that trails something like the tea party in the 2010 midterms but those people overlook that the teabaggers will largely astroturfed even from the start which makes it far different from progressive candidates who won't accept SuperPAC money.
This barely scratched the surface. So what now? Now the road is set towards November and the negative ads will likely be ramped up along with voter suppression efforts that will avoid the media scruinty they should get (and which gave us electoral vote winner Donny back in 2016). We don't know what will happen in those elections but I do know that turning out the vote will be more important than ever this time around because of said suppression efforts and that we need to be on guard against this shit ever more nowadays.
ONly a couple of months left so strap yourselves in 'cause it will be a turbulent ride.
For many parts of the USA this past Tuesday was primary election day on the road to the 2018 midterm elections. There were some hopeful results and some bad ones. Starting with TTWN's original home base of Missouri where voters overwhelmingly rejecting an anti union right to work law. Though there are some rumors the heavily Repub MO state legislature have right to work again on the ballot in November to be part of the sate constitution (I haven't been able to confirm that though) this is a good sign indeed. Also of note in MO is the defeat of longtime St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch (seven term incumbent with almost 30 years in office) by Wesley Bell, who was reportedly motivated towards public office after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO four years ago. Yes, time will tell what Bell's performance as a county prosecutor will be like but after decades in office McCulloch had been there too long and a change might be a good thing in a place as tension filled as the St. Louis area.
Overall though the election news was bittersweet in retrospect. Brent Welder, whose campaign was suddenly highlighted as a potential win in the wake of the victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in NY earlier this summer, lost the primary race of the 3rd Congressional District in Kansas to Sharice Davids, a gay Native American veteran and former MMA fighter. While some noted a computer glitch in one area of the district (Johnson County, KS) it is worth noting that while said district does have the cities with the 2nd and 3rd largest populations in Kansas (Overland Park and Kansas City respectively) , one of them is in Johnson County, which can arguably be called the most affluent and right wing part of the Kansas City metropolitan area (yes, the 2nd and 3rd largest cities in Kansas are both suburbs of the largest city in Missouri) so while the glitch could be foul play the attitudes of the area could be more important. IN the Ohio special election it remains too close to call between Repub Troy Balderson and Democrat Danny O'Connor. While Balderson (and in turn electoral vote winner Donny) has claimed victory O'Connor is waiting until every vote is counted. Also of note is that they'll have to be up on the ballot again in November.
What we do know. In many places the incumbents won their races, which is to be expected since they usually do. However, though the corporate owned mainstream media likes to call progressive inspired groups such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats as failures for not getting every candidate they endorsed elected, it should be noted that out of the 13 candidates endorsed by Justice Democrats, 7 won the primary race. I know people will think that trails something like the tea party in the 2010 midterms but those people overlook that the teabaggers will largely astroturfed even from the start which makes it far different from progressive candidates who won't accept SuperPAC money.
This barely scratched the surface. So what now? Now the road is set towards November and the negative ads will likely be ramped up along with voter suppression efforts that will avoid the media scruinty they should get (and which gave us electoral vote winner Donny back in 2016). We don't know what will happen in those elections but I do know that turning out the vote will be more important than ever this time around because of said suppression efforts and that we need to be on guard against this shit ever more nowadays.
ONly a couple of months left so strap yourselves in 'cause it will be a turbulent ride.
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