DonViejo
DonViejo's JournalStop Blaming Boomers. It's the Greatest Generation That Ruined America. - By Kevin Drum
KEVIN DRUMDEC. 29, 2017 2:00 PM
I’m running out of things to say this year, so how about this: We should stop blaming boomers for “ruining America.” Everyone is picking on the wrong generation.
Start in the 60s and 70s. Boomers were in college then, and they played significant roles in the rise of the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, the environmental movement, the sexual revolution, and the antiwar movement. Those are all good things, right?
In the late 70s and 80s, the economic policies that would define the next several decades were put in place. But at this point, boomers were junior analysts and low-level aides. This stuff was put in place by Reagan conservatives, members in good standing of the Greatest Generation.
In the 90s, Bill Clinton tried to reverse some of this stuff. It was only half-heartedly, true, but then again, Clinton was only barely a boomer. And he never had a chance anyway. The conservative take on the economy was set in stone by then.
There’s no question that boomers have benefited from all this stuff, but they’re not the ones who ruined the economy for millennials. You can chalk that up to the Greatest Generation. Maybe we should come up with a new name for these folks?
more
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/12/stop-blaming-boomers-its-the-greatest-generation-that-ruined-america/
Here Are 5 Highlights From the Year's Biggest Scandal
What you need to know about the Trump-Russia investigation.
HANNAH LEVINTOVA DEC. 29, 2017 3:44 PM
This was a high-intensity year for politics—the inauguration of an unexpected and polarizing president, the installation of a new Supreme Court justice, Republican efforts to undo Obama’s legislative achievements, capped by a massive, hasty, tax overhaul in December.
But during this turbulent year in Washington, the Trump-Russia investigation has been a constant, with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and a number of congressional committees examining both Russian election interference and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin. As the investigation has dragged on, there have been dramatic moments and the disclosure of remarkable documents: The Trump-Russia dossier compiled by former British intelligence operative Christopher Steele; then-FBI director James Comey’s meticulous notes recording his meetings with the president; Trump’s subsequent firing of Comey; Donald Trump Jr.’s emails with a Russian pop star’s publicist; and, let’s not forget, Comey’s remark after the president’s tweet suggesting he had recorded their White House conversations: “Lordy, I hope there are tapes.”
On January 1, 2017, key elements of the scandal were already coming into focus. Since then, new developments—sometimes several—have surfaced every week. To really dive into the weeds, take a look at our massive Trump-Russia timeline, but for a year-end review of the five biggest revelations, read on.
1. Trump has repeatedly undermined and questioned the Russia investigation, while continuing to take actions that benefit the Kremlin.
Allegations that the campaign colluded with Russia have been met by vehement denials from the Trump administration.
more
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/12/here-are-5-highlights-from-the-years-biggest-scandal/
Papadopolous 2016 wine bar Hillary confession puts to rest Mueller's inquiry a political witch hunt
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/12/papadopolous-2016-wine-bar-hillary-confession-puts-to-rest-mueller-inquiry-is-a-political-witch-hunt-ex-prosecutor/
Former Obama aide pushes back on reports Papadopoulos was 'low level'
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 12/30/17 02:22 PM EST
Tommy Vietor, who served as a spokesman for President Barack Obama's National Security Council, rebuffed on Saturday the claim by President Trump's aides and allies that George Papadopoulos was a "low-level" foreign policy staffer with little import to the Trump campaign.
https://twitter.com/TVietor08/status/947173687970562048
Vietor's tweet came in response to a New York Times report detailing, among other things, Papadopoulos' role as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign.
In that role, he helped set up a meeting between the real estate mogul and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi just two months before the presidential election.
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier this year to lying to the FBI about his contacts with people linked to the Russian government during the 2016 presidential race, and has since become a cooperating witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the election.
more
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/366879-former-obama-aide-pushes-back-on-reports-papadopoulos-was-low
Democrat: 'Mueller knows far more than people think'
Source: The Hill
BY JOSH DELK - 12/30/17 01:57 PM EST
Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) warned on Saturday that special counsel Robert Mueller "knows far more than people think," pointing to a new report on the Trump campaign's alleged dealings with Russia.
Lieu pointed to a Saturday New York Times report that found former Trump campaign foreign adviser George Papadopoulos inadvertently triggered the FBI's investigation into Russian collusion by reportedly drunkenly spilling to an Australian diplomat details of Russians possessing Democratic party emails.
https://twitter.com/tedlieu/status/947166543560949760
-snip-
The California lawmaker is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which has interviewed former Trump campaign team members about their knowledge of communications with Russia.
Lieu has fiercely defended Mueller's team despite criticism from Republicans, and has warned Trump of the political fallout for firing the top investigator.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/366876-democrat-mueller-knows-far-more-than-people-think
As Trump Golfs For Fifth Straight Day, Let's Revisit Conservative Criticisms of Obama's Golfing
by Justin Baragona | 12:08 pm, December 30th, 2017
On Christmas Day, President Donald Trump sent out a tweet stating that he hoped everyone had a “great Christmas” and that the following day it was “back to work in order to Make America Great Again.” Back to work, however, appears to be spending the rest of the week at the golf course.
Saturday represented the fifth straight day that the president made his way to his Florida golf club. Per press pool reports, he has no other public events scheduled. Now, of course, this is the holiday season, and the president taking a vacation really shouldn’t be any big deal. BUT, not only did Trump say he’d get back to work the day after Christmas, he and other conservatives spent the previous few years harping on how much golf President Barack Obama played while in office.
On Trump’s 89th day golfing as president, let’s revisit some of the most prominent conservative criticisms of Obama’s golfing habit. The Daily Beast’s Sam Stein helpfully posted a Twitter thread of “insincere” Obama critics who have “gone suddenly quiet on the topic.”
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132033167511558
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132117011566592
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132197223456768
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132320317935617
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132387728723968
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132479693119488
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132559716245504
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132605929050112
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132833008701445
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947132971139649536
https://twitter.com/samstein/status/947133137200353280
CNN KFILE’s Andrew Kaczynski provided additional instances of Fox & Friends — the current president’s favorite show — going after Obama for golfing too much.
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/947131683857424386
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/947132198389534720
more
https://www.mediaite.com/online/as-trump-golfs-for-fifth-straight-day-lets-revisit-conservative-criticisms-of-obamas-golfing/
Republican cites 'Obamaphones' to defend tax giveaway to the rich
https://www.rawstory.com/2017/12/watch-republican-cites-obamaphones-to-defend-tax-giveaway-to-the-rich-and-then-gets-cut-down-to-size/
NYT conservative columnist: I'm still 'never Trump' after first year
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 12/30/17 11:50 AM EST
New York Times conservative columnist Bret Stephens revealed he still sees himself as a "Never Trumper" on Saturday after a year of President Trump's term in the White House, despite agreeing with many of Trump's policy moves.
In an op-ed in the newspaper Saturday, Stephens wrote, "I still wish Hillary Clinton were president."
"[C]haracter does count, and virtue does matter, and Trump’s shortcomings prove it daily," Stephens writes. "This is the fatal mistake of conservatives who’ve decided the best way to deal with Trump’s personality — the lying, narcissism, bullying, bigotry, crassness, name calling, ignorance, paranoia, incompetence and pettiness — is to pretend it doesn’t matter."
“Character Doesn’t Count” has become a de facto G.O.P. motto," Stephens adds. “'Virtue Doesn’t Matter' might be another."
Stephens joined The New York Times in April 2017, leaving The Wall Street Journal to join the more liberal ranks of the Times, and at the time was a vocal member of the #NeverTrump movement of conservatives that had sought to stop Trump from winning the GOP nomination the year before.
more
http://thehill.com/homenews/media/366872-nyt-conservative-columnist-im-still-never-trump-after-first-year-in
UPDATED: Trump campaign aide prompted Russia investigation in drunken revelation: report
Source: The Hill
BY JOSH DELK - 12/30/17 11:55 AM EST
Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos reportedly prompted the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election by drunkenly revealing knowledge of Russian opposition research on Hillary Clinton.
Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, in May 2016 allegedly revealed to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain the fact that Russian officials were shopping possible dirt on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, likely implying that Russian officials were shopping them to the Trump campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Four former and current officials with knowledge of the situation told the Times that the Australian diplomat informed his U.S. counterparts, which may have then triggered the July 2016 investigation.
Papadopoulos has since become a target of special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into the matter.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/366873-trump-campaign-aide-prompted-russia-investigation-in-drunken
UPDATE:
Papadopoulos role in Trump campaign appears extensive in undisclosed documents: report
BY JOHN BOWDEN - 12/30/17 01:28 PM EST
Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopolous appears to have had a larger role in the Trump campaign than campaign officials are willing to admit, according to documents reported Saturday by The New York Times.
Documents obtained by the Times show that Papadopolous was instrumental in setting up a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and coordinated directly with later-ousted White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon in setting up the meeting and arranging talking points.
Other documents show that Papadopolous, then a member of the Trump campaign's fledgling foreign policy team, also met on behalf of the campaign with officials from the Israeli and Australian embassies. At least one conversation with a top Australian diplomat, led to the FBI investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, the Times reported.
The expanded role described by the documents comes in stark contrast to comments made by other former Trump campaign officials including Michael Caputo, who in October called Papadopolous a "coffee boy" who had "nothing to do with the campaign."
more
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/366875-papadopoulos-role-in-trump-campaign-appears-extensive-in-undisclosed
RT America defends itself from 'Russian propaganda' charge
Source: The Hill
BY JOSH DELK - 12/30/17 10:53 AM EST
Russian state-owned news network RT is pushing back against U.S. accusations of being "Russian propaganda" in the wake of reports that Moscow employed state-run media to influence the U.S. 2016 presidential election.
RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan told NBC News that she is "very saddened by what is going on right now between Russia and America," amid escalating tensions between the two nations in the aftermath of 2016.
The network chief's comments come after the U.S. government demanded in November that RT America, the company's U.S. television network, register as a "foreign agent" in response to the U.S. intelligence community report that denoted the network as the "Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet."
“I don’t understand why any country is given a chance to make its point of view seen and heard by the world, and Russia is not given that chance,” Simonyan added. "Russia is said to be propaganda for doing exactly that. We are no more propaganda than the Voice of America or Radio Free Europe is propaganda."
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/366870-rt-america-defends-itself-from-russian-propaganda-charge
Profile Information
Name: DonGender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
Number of posts: 60,536
