Weeks of speculation that Russian president Vladimir Putin would use the May 9 Victory Day celebration to announce he was escalating his war on Ukraine were incorrect. The celebration went off—subdued this year—and Putin delivered a speech, but it simply covered his usual topics. During the day, hackers broke into Russian televisions with the message: “The blood of thousands of Ukrainians and hundreds of murdered children is on your hands…. TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.”
Folks, if you haven’t already read Tim Snyder’s book, “The Road to Unfreedom” , you should do that now. Two other important and informative books on much of the grift and graft explained in this letter are in “Mr. Putin” and “There is Nothing for you Here” by Dr. Fiona Hill.
These historians explain how Putin’s Regime has been unlawfully stealing cash out of Russian industries controlled by handpicked Oligarchs, and export it to launderers abroad so as to hide it, before bringing it back “clean”. Political payoffs legal and illegal are part of the laundromat that has been financing anti democracy efforts by facilitating the process. In this way some of our leaders have enabled the war crimes perpetrated by Putin. And it has to stop!
Part of that process is exporting Embezzled Russian money into legitimate banking via questionable Cypress banks (thanks Wilbur Ross) then into business like commercial real estate (London, NYC, Floria) and manufacturing, but the dark part is the lobby industry, campaign donations (PACS/NRA/Christian Right PACS), “consulting fees” and illegality (bribes and/or promises to invest in bogus projects in Senators home states…like an old Aluminum plant in Kentucky, etc, etc). The KGB and Russian Mafia have worked hand in hand for longer than most of us have been alive. They are the all stars of all kinds of schemes and political payoffs. Disinformation, division, destabilization, annexation is the Russian/Putin playbook.
Davis, Manafort, and Stone must be the dirtiest rotten scoundrels of our time. Give a Libertarian Republican a chance to make money, and they will always through any loyalty to country, ethics, morality out the window! These guys don’t care about democracy, truth, nor the rule of law. It’s about gettin that money, that’s all.
This is an interesting article because it puts me into a conundrum. Exposing John McCain, as it does, irritates me. But then I realize that I’m irritated because it’s trashing a myth that I believe. Namely John McCain was a great American citizen with a clean history. That makes Dr. Richardson‘s point exactly! I fall for the myth of our leaders. Exposing them for having feet of clay is something that makes me very uncomfortable but now, thanks to Dr. Richardson‘s article, I realize the fallacy of this line of thinking. Thank you Heather.
“fully the party of Trump. It is corrupt, indecent and immoral. With the exception of a few governors…it is filled with feckless cowards who disgrace and dishonor the legacies of the party's greatest leaders.... Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and our values.”
And Steve Bannons: Fill the media with shit.
Aren't you taking on a labour of Hercules in the Augean stables! Leading in a river of clear water to wash it all out.
Holy F—k! Although Meghan McCain did spend a lot of time of “The View” bashing the book “Game Change”. Although it would have been nice if Schmidt would have came out sooner. Like 10 years ago
So many men with feet of clay. McCain cheated on the first wife why not the second? And you are so right about the media not being truthful but loving their myths. We could surely use a lot more immediate honesty these days, not years down the road.
I believe I recall a scathing article about John McCain's personal life and career published in The Rolling Stone but I do not remember anything in it about his affair with a lobbyist. Wasn't it Trump's and Stone's favorite trash tabloid owning friend that broke the news of John Edwards affair during the same campaign and 8 years later helped cover up Trump's in 2016? I just don't get it. Go back and read The Rolling Stone article and Schmidt's midnight confession won't seem so surprising. As much as I like Schmidt's monologues and enjoyed his Lincoln Project advertisements I can't say I thought he ever was responsible for Palin. If McCain let anyone else choose his #2 would he have been any better than the lazy orange time bomb we got 8 years later? In hindsight you can see that the Russian mobsters starting grooming Trump right after the election with the birther crap....Manafort, Davis, Stone, and the New York Piss. I hold my head is despair. I shudder to think how, if Obama hadn't won, we would now be living under an autocracy. How did the Ratpublicans get Romney to run in 2012? Should we be digging for some truths there too? Did the NY Piss do a hatchet job on him? Who first published about the dog on his car roof and his many, many mansions? How do we drive a stake through the heart of the party that once upon a time saved the Union? As for Lindsey Graham I think he didn't just talk too much, he was fallowing orders and his transition from besties with McCain to Trump doesn't seem at all peculiar now, does it? Seems like Lindsey might be Robin to McConnell's batman. We can not trust what we think we know or believe about either of those two.
Frankly, the bit from today’s LFAA which most distressed me was journalist Sarah Jones’s remark suggesting “how we Americans don’t like to be told the truth and how our media so loves mythology that they work to deliver lies to us instead of holding the powerful accountable.”
My fear is that those of us who know better would rue the day the public-at-large were not to expect strong, honest, and accurate reporting from journalists intent on getting as close as possible to the verifiable truth, on getting, when warranted, under the skin of people in power and telling stories partisans in high places don’t want told. We would rue that day because, while each branch of government has its duties, we rely on the media to provide the necessary information and to nurture the fundamental discourse essential to maintaining our democratic republic.
How deep is the ocean? We actually do know. See note and link below. Think about it. We do know the depth of the ocean but DO WE KNOW THE DEPTH OF CORRUPTION IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT? The story about McCain, Davis and Manafort will be fascinating and revealing.
Most importantly, how much don't we know about the corruption of our government? Who and what is going to take on that piece of investigative journalism? We need to know a lot more. Could it bring the house down? Whose house is it anyway?
The average depth of the ocean is about 3,688 meters (12,100 feet). The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam.
We embrace our heroes. It is good to have role models, people to look up to. The story of their lives and accomplishments are burnished over time, expanded, woven into a mythology in which our heroes cease being human and can seemingly do no wrong. In time, however, the truth will out. And when that happens, it shatters our faith, in people, in the institutions we believed in, in our own judgement. Or we deny the truth and double down on the myth. We apparently have trouble accepting the fact that all of, including the heroes among, are human, too. May the flaws of our heroes be minor.
There was a terrific TV series called "The Americans" starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell. Two Russian "plants" who operate undercover as if they were a typical suburban family. I was sad to see it end. However, now we have the grist for a follow up season or movie. "The Americans - In High Places".
This story of Davis was hidden in plain sight! How did he and Manafort get away with this crap? It's all here on a Wiki page. Davis has been embedded in GQP politics since the 80's. When did he trade in his political purity for Russian money? Was it when he worked for Reagan, Dole, Bush...?
YES!!!! I keep saying : The Repug Party is a crime syndicate, linked to the Russian Mob. Keep digging—it goes back further than 2008. AND! Focus in on Charles Koch and his Billionaire Gang. . . Koch industries is still operating in Russia, btw. AND—the NRA is a Republican tool to launder money coming in from places like Russia. I suppose the SDNY dropped that investigation, too.
When will a hacker take over our media channels and tell the truth about Rupert’s lies; add chump’s lies and we can rewrite history and save our future
Schmidt documents Pogo's observation: "We have met the enemy and it is us." Putin has been pulling strings in the GOP since before 2008. No wonder McConnell was given the moniker "Moscow Mitch."
YES!!!! I keep saying : The Repug Party is a crime syndicate, linked to the Russian Mob. Keep digging—it goes back further than 2008. AND! Focus in on Charles Koch and his Billionaire Gang. . . Koch industries is still operating in Russia, btw. AND—the NRA is a Republican tool to launder money coming in from places like Russia. I suppose the SDNY dropped that investigation, too.
The real story of John Sidney McCain III is going to be a topic tomorrow at TAFM.
Kudos to Steve Schmidt for telling the truth.
Folks, if you haven’t already read Tim Snyder’s book, “The Road to Unfreedom” , you should do that now. Two other important and informative books on much of the grift and graft explained in this letter are in “Mr. Putin” and “There is Nothing for you Here” by Dr. Fiona Hill.
These historians explain how Putin’s Regime has been unlawfully stealing cash out of Russian industries controlled by handpicked Oligarchs, and export it to launderers abroad so as to hide it, before bringing it back “clean”. Political payoffs legal and illegal are part of the laundromat that has been financing anti democracy efforts by facilitating the process. In this way some of our leaders have enabled the war crimes perpetrated by Putin. And it has to stop!
Part of that process is exporting Embezzled Russian money into legitimate banking via questionable Cypress banks (thanks Wilbur Ross) then into business like commercial real estate (London, NYC, Floria) and manufacturing, but the dark part is the lobby industry, campaign donations (PACS/NRA/Christian Right PACS), “consulting fees” and illegality (bribes and/or promises to invest in bogus projects in Senators home states…like an old Aluminum plant in Kentucky, etc, etc). The KGB and Russian Mafia have worked hand in hand for longer than most of us have been alive. They are the all stars of all kinds of schemes and political payoffs. Disinformation, division, destabilization, annexation is the Russian/Putin playbook.
Davis, Manafort, and Stone must be the dirtiest rotten scoundrels of our time. Give a Libertarian Republican a chance to make money, and they will always through any loyalty to country, ethics, morality out the window! These guys don’t care about democracy, truth, nor the rule of law. It’s about gettin that money, that’s all.
This is an interesting article because it puts me into a conundrum. Exposing John McCain, as it does, irritates me. But then I realize that I’m irritated because it’s trashing a myth that I believe. Namely John McCain was a great American citizen with a clean history. That makes Dr. Richardson‘s point exactly! I fall for the myth of our leaders. Exposing them for having feet of clay is something that makes me very uncomfortable but now, thanks to Dr. Richardson‘s article, I realize the fallacy of this line of thinking. Thank you Heather.
“fully the party of Trump. It is corrupt, indecent and immoral. With the exception of a few governors…it is filled with feckless cowards who disgrace and dishonor the legacies of the party's greatest leaders.... Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and our values.”
And Steve Bannons: Fill the media with shit.
Aren't you taking on a labour of Hercules in the Augean stables! Leading in a river of clear water to wash it all out.
Holy F—k! Although Meghan McCain did spend a lot of time of “The View” bashing the book “Game Change”. Although it would have been nice if Schmidt would have came out sooner. Like 10 years ago
So many men with feet of clay. McCain cheated on the first wife why not the second? And you are so right about the media not being truthful but loving their myths. We could surely use a lot more immediate honesty these days, not years down the road.
I believe I recall a scathing article about John McCain's personal life and career published in The Rolling Stone but I do not remember anything in it about his affair with a lobbyist. Wasn't it Trump's and Stone's favorite trash tabloid owning friend that broke the news of John Edwards affair during the same campaign and 8 years later helped cover up Trump's in 2016? I just don't get it. Go back and read The Rolling Stone article and Schmidt's midnight confession won't seem so surprising. As much as I like Schmidt's monologues and enjoyed his Lincoln Project advertisements I can't say I thought he ever was responsible for Palin. If McCain let anyone else choose his #2 would he have been any better than the lazy orange time bomb we got 8 years later? In hindsight you can see that the Russian mobsters starting grooming Trump right after the election with the birther crap....Manafort, Davis, Stone, and the New York Piss. I hold my head is despair. I shudder to think how, if Obama hadn't won, we would now be living under an autocracy. How did the Ratpublicans get Romney to run in 2012? Should we be digging for some truths there too? Did the NY Piss do a hatchet job on him? Who first published about the dog on his car roof and his many, many mansions? How do we drive a stake through the heart of the party that once upon a time saved the Union? As for Lindsey Graham I think he didn't just talk too much, he was fallowing orders and his transition from besties with McCain to Trump doesn't seem at all peculiar now, does it? Seems like Lindsey might be Robin to McConnell's batman. We can not trust what we think we know or believe about either of those two.
Frankly, the bit from today’s LFAA which most distressed me was journalist Sarah Jones’s remark suggesting “how we Americans don’t like to be told the truth and how our media so loves mythology that they work to deliver lies to us instead of holding the powerful accountable.”
My fear is that those of us who know better would rue the day the public-at-large were not to expect strong, honest, and accurate reporting from journalists intent on getting as close as possible to the verifiable truth, on getting, when warranted, under the skin of people in power and telling stories partisans in high places don’t want told. We would rue that day because, while each branch of government has its duties, we rely on the media to provide the necessary information and to nurture the fundamental discourse essential to maintaining our democratic republic.
How deep is the ocean? We actually do know. See note and link below. Think about it. We do know the depth of the ocean but DO WE KNOW THE DEPTH OF CORRUPTION IN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT? The story about McCain, Davis and Manafort will be fascinating and revealing.
Most importantly, how much don't we know about the corruption of our government? Who and what is going to take on that piece of investigative journalism? We need to know a lot more. Could it bring the house down? Whose house is it anyway?
The average depth of the ocean is about 3,688 meters (12,100 feet). The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam.
How deep is the ocean?
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov › facts › oceandepth
We embrace our heroes. It is good to have role models, people to look up to. The story of their lives and accomplishments are burnished over time, expanded, woven into a mythology in which our heroes cease being human and can seemingly do no wrong. In time, however, the truth will out. And when that happens, it shatters our faith, in people, in the institutions we believed in, in our own judgement. Or we deny the truth and double down on the myth. We apparently have trouble accepting the fact that all of, including the heroes among, are human, too. May the flaws of our heroes be minor.
There was a terrific TV series called "The Americans" starring Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell. Two Russian "plants" who operate undercover as if they were a typical suburban family. I was sad to see it end. However, now we have the grist for a follow up season or movie. "The Americans - In High Places".
This story of Davis was hidden in plain sight! How did he and Manafort get away with this crap? It's all here on a Wiki page. Davis has been embedded in GQP politics since the 80's. When did he trade in his political purity for Russian money? Was it when he worked for Reagan, Dole, Bush...?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Davis_(political_consultant)
YES!!!! I keep saying : The Repug Party is a crime syndicate, linked to the Russian Mob. Keep digging—it goes back further than 2008. AND! Focus in on Charles Koch and his Billionaire Gang. . . Koch industries is still operating in Russia, btw. AND—the NRA is a Republican tool to launder money coming in from places like Russia. I suppose the SDNY dropped that investigation, too.
“ McCain’s daughter Meghan McCain, a sometime media personality” ;)
When will a hacker take over our media channels and tell the truth about Rupert’s lies; add chump’s lies and we can rewrite history and save our future
Schmidt documents Pogo's observation: "We have met the enemy and it is us." Putin has been pulling strings in the GOP since before 2008. No wonder McConnell was given the moniker "Moscow Mitch."
YES!!!! I keep saying : The Repug Party is a crime syndicate, linked to the Russian Mob. Keep digging—it goes back further than 2008. AND! Focus in on Charles Koch and his Billionaire Gang. . . Koch industries is still operating in Russia, btw. AND—the NRA is a Republican tool to launder money coming in from places like Russia. I suppose the SDNY dropped that investigation, too.