TomCADem
TomCADem's JournalIn Trump We Trust: Inauguration prompts celebration in Russia
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - The Kremlin may have spent years reviling America, but Russians hoping Donald Trump will usher in a new era of detente marked his inauguration on Friday with parties and trinkets from commemorative coins to "matryoshka" nesting dolls in his image.
Washington was turned into a virtual fortress with an estimated 900,000 people -- backers and protesters -- descending on the capital. In London, anti-Trump activists draped a banner reading "Build Bridges Not Walls" from Tower Bridge. Protests were planned across western Europe on Friday and Saturday.
But according to Gennady Gudkov, a Putin critic and former lawmaker, Russia is in the grip of "Trumpomania", with state media giving the President-elect blanket air time at the expense of more mundane and sometimes depressing domestic news stories.
That, he said, was in part because the U.S. election, unlike elections in Russia, had been unpredictable. The Kremlin is hoping Trump will ease sanctions imposed over the annexation of Crimea, team up with Russia against Islamic State, and cut back NATO military activity near Russian borders.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN1541S6?client=safari
It is as if the Russians themselves won the Presidency.
Article - Jews Failed to Spot Hitler's Menace
Interesting article by the author of "Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power.”
http://forward.com/opinion/157832/jews-failed-to-spot-hitlers-menace/?attribution=author-article-listing-1-headline
In the very early 1920s, when Adolf Hitler was still only a local rabble rouser in Munich, two men from Munich’s American consulate made a point of observing his rallies: Robert Murphy, the young acting consul, and Paul Drey, a German employee who was a member of a distinguished Bavarian Jewish family. “Do you think these agitators will ever get far?” Murphy asked his colleague. “Of course not!” Drey replied. “The German people are much too intelligent to be taken in by such scamps.”
Since the recent publication of my book “Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power,” many people have asked me why American diplomats and journalists were often slow to recognize the threat that Hitler represented. It’s a legitimate question, requiring more than a simple answer. But an equally legitimate question is why many German and American Jews were often just as slow in waking up to the Nazi danger.
Or slower. In fact, some Americans living in Germany were more alarmed by what they were witnessing than German Jews appeared to be. In late 1932, as Hitler was close to taking power, Edgar Ansel Mowrer, the Chicago Daily News correspondent who was one of the most perceptive observers on the scene, attended a dinner at the home of a prominent Jewish banker. All the other guests were also Jewish bankers, and Mowrer was startled to hear that some of them had given money to the Nazis at the urging of non-Jewish German industrialists.
When Mowrer expressed his astonishment at his dinner companions’ “strong suicidal urge,” his host insisted that Hitler shouldn’t be taken seriously. The implication: The Nazi leader would never act on his most extreme rhetoric, and besides, the donations would keep him reasonable. To Jews who were more willing to listen, Mowrer’s advice was unequivocal: “Get out, and fast.”
CBS News - Angela Merkel replaces Hillary Clinton as prime target of fake news
What is it about powerful women that creates so much hate in Trump and his alt-right/Russian loving supporters?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/angela-merkel-replaces-hillary-clinton-as-target-of-fake-news/
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a target of websites spreading fake news, misleading stories and conspiracy theories ahead of her country’s election, according to an analysis compiled by BuzzFeed News.
A website called Your Newswire, which was responsible for spreading the “Pizzagate” conspiracy about Hillary Clinton and a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., claimed Merkel took a selfie with one of the terrorists in the Brussels attack, the report said, when it was actually a refugee.
Another website, Anonymousnews.ru, published recent fake stories about German NATO officers arrested in Aleppo for collaborating with members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), reported BuzzFeed, which also said the website contained pro-Kremlin propaganda and has also made claims about the CIA being behind 9/11.
The report said some of the other websites posting fake news include Junge Freiheit, which is a weekly newspaper that has been endorsed by the country’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
MLK - Drum Major Instinct Sermon - Prophetic Words About Election of Trump
Why would so many working class voters support a man whose favored policies would hurt their interests? Martin Luther King answered this question over 40 years ago:
http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_the_drum_major_instinct/
Now the other thing is, that it leads to tragic—and we've seen it happen so often—tragic race prejudice. Many who have written about this problem—Lillian Smith used to say it beautifully in some of her books. And she would say it to the point of getting men and women to see the source of the problem. Do you know that a lot of the race problem grows out of the drum major instinct? A need that some people have to feel superior. A need that some people have to feel that they are first, and to feel that their white skin ordained them to be first. (Make it plain, today, ‘cause I’m against it, so help me God) And they have said over and over again in ways that we see with our own eyes. In fact, not too long ago, a man down in Mississippi said that God was a charter member of the White Citizens Council. And so God being the charter member means that everybody who's in that has a kind of divinity, a kind of superiority. And think of what has happened in history as a result of this perverted use of the drum major instinct. It has led to the most tragic prejudice, the most tragic expressions of man's inhumanity to man.
The other day I was saying, I always try to do a little converting when I'm in jail. And when we were in jail in Birmingham the other day, the white wardens and all enjoyed coming around the cell to talk about the race problem. And they were showing us where we were so wrong demonstrating. And they were showing us where segregation was so right. And they were showing us where intermarriage was so wrong. So I would get to preaching, and we would get to talking—calmly, because they wanted to talk about it. And then we got down one day to the point—that was the second or third day—to talk about where they lived, and how much they were earning. And when those brothers told me what they were earning, I said, "Now, you know what? You ought to be marching with us. (laughter) You're just as poor as Negroes." And I said, "You are put in the position of supporting your oppressor, because through prejudice and blindness, you fail to see that the same forces that oppress Negroes in American society oppress poor white people. (Yes) And all you are living on is the satisfaction of your skin being white, and the drum major instinct of thinking that you are somebody big because you are white. And you're so poor you can't send your children to school. You ought to be out here marching with every one of us every time we have a march."
Now that's a fact. That the poor white has been put into this position, where through blindness and prejudice, (Make it plain) he is forced to support his oppressors. And the only thing he has going for him is the false feeling that he’s superior because his skin is white—and can't hardly eat and make his ends meet week in and week out. (Amen)
WH Ethics Counsel - Just when you thought the Trump ethics disaster couldnt get worse, it did
Too bad the media is caught up in Trump's latest tweet storm. They are missing how Trump is about to be in breach of his constitutional obligations from Day One. Put another way, Republicans were losing their mind with respect to whether Hillary Clinton would have any connection to a non-profit foundation. Trump is going to continue owning and profiting from his various businesses. Indeed, foreign governments have already made it a point to make sure to stay at Trump branded properties in order to curry favor with Donald Trump.
Here is a nice article written by two former White House Ethics lawyers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/just-when-you-thought-the-trump-ethics-disaster-couldnt-get-worse-it-did/2017/01/16/001db550-dc04-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.bf1e09b538ed
How does the Trump plan fall short? The president-elect asserted that the conflicts laws don’t apply to him but ignored the most fundamental one of all: the constitutional rule that presidents may not accept cash and other benefits — “emoluments” — from foreign governments.
Trump’s lawyer then offered a porous and insufficient plan to address this problem: The Trump Organization will donate profits from foreign governments’ use of his hotels. But why only hotels? What about foreign sovereign payments to buy his condos or apartments, for use of his office buildings or his golf courses, not to mention his massive foreign government bank loans, and other benefits? And why only profits, when the Justice Department has long held that the emoluments clause covers any revenue from foreign governments — not simply profits?
For speaking up about the shortcomings of this plan, Shaub found himself in the Republican crosshairs. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (Utah), chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that has jurisdiction over the White House, demanded Shaub appear for a Star Chamber-style recorded inquisition and implicitly threatened to shut down the Office of Government Ethics if Shaub did not submit. Chaffetz ought to have been doing the exact opposite, supporting OGE and demanding documents from Trump about any financial ties to Russia or other foreign governments.
Then, just when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. The incoming White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, went on national television to threaten Shaub. In a scene like something out of a gangster B-movie, Priebus warned the director that “he ought to be careful ” and gave his blessing to Chaffetz’s interrogation. Priebus’s glare of menace was unmistakable. The only thing he left out was cracking his knuckles.
HuffPo - Looking For Anti-Trump Protests? Here Are Dozens To Choose From.
While Trump will once again disclaim responsibility for his hateful rhetoric, and conservative trolls will dismiss as folks who have sour grapes about the election (while ignoring the fact that Trump's "victory" was marred by foreign and FBI influence and that Trump loss the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes), this is your chance to do more than just vent online, but to make a visible difference.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anti-trump-inauguration-protests_us_58750010e4b043ad97e5c58b
A man who bragged about sexually assaulting women, mocked a reporter with a disability and invited a foreign adversary to hack the U.S. government will be sworn in next Friday as the 45th president of the United States. And while it’s a fact that President-elect Donald Trump will be the next leader of the free world ― the first one to refuse to release his taxes since 1976, by the way ― you certainly don’t have to like it.
You can voice your concern at one of the hundreds of demonstrations planned across the country and around the world in the days surrounding the inauguration.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), along with congressional Democrats and health care activists, plans to lead dozens of rallies nationwide in an initiative called Our First Stand: Save Our Health Care. Most of the events are scheduled for this weekend, a few days before the inauguration.
Hundreds of poets are expected to gather on the steps of their local city halls on Sunday, Jan. 15, during the nationwide Poets Protest Against Trump.
Ryan confronted by cancer patient who says ObamaCare saved his life
Source: The Hill
Paul Ryan faced some tough questions from audience members at a CNN town hall Thursday night, starting with a cancer patient who said ObamaCare saved his life.
Jeff Jeans said he was a lifelong Republican and small business owner who had worked on the Reagan and Bush campaigns and was originally opposed to the Affordable Care Act.
But he said at 49 he was diagnosed with cancer and given six weeks to live.
"Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I’m standing here today alive," he said. "I rely on the Affordable Care Act to be able to purchase my own insurance. Why would you repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement?"
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/314125-ryan-confronted-by-cancer-patient-who-says-obamacare-saved-his-life
Right-Wing Media Are Using The Term Fake News To Attack Credible News Sources
A classic Trump technique of responding to critiques by insisting that the folks who are criticizing him are guilty of the same critiques in order to blue the meaning of what is fake news.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/12/09/right-wing-media-using-term-fake-news-attack-credible-news-sources/214778
Some right-wing media figures and outlets are attempting to twist and confuse the term “fake news” -- a specific phenomenon in which information is clearly and demonstrably fabricated, then packaged and distributed to appear as a legitimate source of news -- to attack outlets they disagree with. By redefining fake news in their own terms and claiming that reporting by outlets such as The New York Times and CNN constitute fake news, right-wing media figures are bolstering President-elect Donald Trump’s continued efforts to delegitimize mainstream news sources and their reporting, and muddling real concerns about fake news used as a weapon of active disinformation.
As public discussions about fake news reach critical mass, right-wing media figures and outlets have attempted to redefine “fake news” completely, downplaying the problem it poses. Rush Limbaugh claimed that fake news is largely “satire and parody that liberals don’t understand because they don’t have a sense of humor.” The Washington Free Beacon’s Bill McMorris described fake news as “whatever people living in the liberal bubble determine to be believed by the right.”
Other conservatives are even using fake news to describe reporting from credible news outlets with which they disagree. Fringe right-wing conspiracy site Infowars.com declared that “The mainstream media is the primary source of the most harmful, most inaccurate news ever,” and included outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, ABC News, CBS News, and Politico (and Media Matters, for good measure) on their “full list of fake news outlets.” Fox contributor Newt Gingrich lamented the Times’ reporting on the fake news phenomenon, arguing,“The idea of The New York Times being worried about fake news is really weird. The New York Times is fake news.” Conservative radio host Laura Ingraham -- a contender for Trump’s press secretary -- lashed out at CNN while appearing on Fox News’ Hannity, stating “the folks over at CNN” and “the kind of little games they’re playing are so transparent … they’re the fake news organizations.”
While there isn’t an official, universally accepted definition of fake news, a variety of outlets and experts across the ideological spectrum have identified common themes. BuzzFeed’s Craig Silverman, one of the first to report frequently and extensively on the fake news phenomenon, defines fake news as “false … stories from hoax sites and hyperpartisan blogs.” The New York Times’ Sabrina Tavernese wrote that, “Narrowly defined, ‘fake news’ means a made-up story with an intention to deceive, often geared toward getting clicks." David Mikkelson, the founder of the fact-checking website Snopes.com, describes fake news as “completely fabricated information that has little or no intersection with real-world events.” Mikkelson goes on to explain, “not all bad news reporting is ‘fake,’ and that distinction should be kept clear.” Slate senior technology writer Will Oremus argues fake news is “fabricated,” “sensational stories” that imitate “the style and appearance of real news articles.” Fox media analyst Howard Kurtz defines fake news as “made-up-stuff being merchandized for clicks and profits,” clarifying that he doesn’t “mean the major media stories that some ... find unfair or exaggerated.” And CNN and Conservative Review’s Amanda Carpenter wrote that “fake news is malicious, false information that somehow becomes credible” often “printed on what appears to be a professional looking website.” Carpenter also distinguished fake news from “commentary that never purported to be straight news in the first place” or “political speech someone doesn’t happen to agree with.”
How a Lurid, Unverified Dossier Became a Crisis for Donald Trump
Source: MSN/NY Times
The story began in September 2015, when a wealthy Republican donor who strongly opposed Mr. Trump put up the money to hire a Washington research firm run by former journalists, Fusion GPS, to compile a dossier about the real estate magnate’s past scandals and weaknesses, according to a person familiar with the effort. The person described the opposition research work on condition of anonymity, citing the volatile nature of the story and the likelihood of future legal disputes. The identity of the donor who funded the effort is unclear.
Fusion GPS, headed by a former Wall Street Journal journalist known for his dogged reporting, Glenn Simpson, most often works for business clients. But in presidential elections, the firm is sometimes hired by candidates, party organizations or donors to do political “oppo” work — shorthand for opposition research — on the side.
* * *
Mr. Simpson hired Mr. Steele, a former British intelligence officer with whom he had worked before. Mr. Steele, in his early 50s, had served undercover in Moscow in the early 1990s and later was the top expert on Russia at the London headquarters of Britain’s spy service, MI6. When he stepped down in 2009, he started his own commercial intelligence firm, Orbis Business Intelligence.
The former journalist and the former spy, according to people who know them, had a similar dark view of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, a former K.G.B. officer, and the varied tactics he and his intelligence operatives used to smear, blackmail or bribe their targets. As a former spy who had carried out espionage inside Russia, Mr. Steele was in no position to travel to Moscow to study Mr. Trump’s connections there. Instead, he hired native Russian speakers to call informants inside Russia and made surreptitious contact with his own connections in the country as well.
Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/how-a-lurid-unverified-dossier-became-a-crisis-for-donald-trump/ar-AAlMeuH
Interesting story on what lead to the dossier and how the research effort was originally financed by Republicans.
History Repeats Itself - Extremists Turn to a Leader to Protect Western Values: Vladimir
In the 1940s, American Hero Charles Lindbergh urged America to back Hitler's Nazi regine and, in return, Hitler took steps to cultivate Lindbergh's support:
http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/201613/Charles-Lindbergh-Hitler-s-all-American-hero
And in a sickening anti-Semitic outburst, Lindbergh added: “Their [the Jews’] greatest danger in this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government.” Lindbergh’s supporters – and very probably the man himself – really believed that the Jews were critical of him because of his blond, blue-eyed “Nordic” good looks. These, they claim, were not the kind of looks that Jews favoured. Similar views were held in Hitler’s Germany.
It became increasingly apparent that Lindbergh himself was decidedly racist. He maintained everyone of European descent would eventually be replaced with “a pressing sea of yellow, black and brown”. And he openly stated that if it was a matter of choice, he would rather see America allied with Nazi Germany than Soviet Russia.
During the pre-war years Lindbergh was also open about his great admiration for Hitler’s Germany. He travelled several times to the country to report on German aviation and the German air force, all at the request of the US government. But so impressionable was he that the commander in chief of Germany’s air force Hermann Goering was able to convince him that it was far more powerful than it really was.
Sensing that Lindbergh was an admirer of the Nazi regime, he let him become the first American to examine Germany’s newest bomber the secret Junkers JU88 as well as the Messerschmitt 109. Lindbergh was also given an opportunity to pilot the Messerschmitt which he would later praise fulsomely.
So delighted had the Nazi government become with Lindbergh’s lavish praise of their aircraft that at a dinner held in his honour at the American embassy in Berlin in 1938 he was presented by Goering on behalf of Adolf Hitler a decoration – the Commander Cross of the Order of the German Eagle.
Today, Russia is using xenophobic sentiment and insecurity among whites to cultivate support and influence in foreign countries for Russia.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/03/world/americas/alt-right-vladimir-putin.html?_r=0
As the founder of the Traditionalist Worker Party, an American group that aims to preserve the privileged place of whiteness in Western civilization and fight “anti-Christian degeneracy,” Matthew Heimbach knows whom he envisions as the ideal ruler: the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin.
“Russia is our biggest inspiration,” Mr. Heimbach said. “I see President Putin as the leader of the free world.”
Throughout the presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump mystified many on the left and in the foreign policy establishment with his praise for Mr. Putin and his criticism of the Obama administration’s efforts to isolate and punish Russia for its actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. But what seemed inexplicable when Mr. Trump first expressed his admiration for the Russian leader seems, in retrospect, to have been a shrewd dog whistle to a small but highly motivated part of his base.
For Mr. Heimbach is far from alone in his esteem for Mr. Putin. Throughout the collection of white ethnocentrists, nationalists, populists and neo-Nazis that has taken root on both sides of the Atlantic, Mr. Putin is widely revered as a kind of white knight: a symbol of strength, racial purity and traditional Christian values in a world under threat from Islam, immigrants and rootless cosmopolitan elites.
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