January 27, 2019

I see no way Trump will sit down with Mueller for an interview.

I know I would never allow it if I was representing him. If Trumps ego got in the way I would have to either quit or handcuff him to his desk.

Trump's legal team rebuffed request for Mueller interview in recent weeks

CNN

I believe this position will hold even under threat of a subpoena.

Mueller is far along in his investigation. Just look at the oligarchs and corporations he has indicted. I don’t think he has to wait for anything on that front as most of it has nothing to do with direct campaign coordination. They were stones he was turning over along the way. Some pretty legally complex stones.

I think he has everything he can get on Stone and has simply been monitoring him. Stone is worthless in the flipping department. Stone completely lacks credibility and will spoil everything he touches. I think Mueller has all he needs from him. Stone is going to find himself yearning for Mueller before the trial but Mueller will offer him nothing. Poor Stone.

Stone was directly coordinating. I don’t think there is much further to go. It’s the cornerstone of the investigation. Mueller already had a lot of Stones communication. Mueller has what he needs here with respect to what happened. It’s just about scaring the shit out of some people in case there is more he hasn’t found or because they will be more legitimate witnesses than Stone.

We are at the meat and potato’s. I believe Trump is already nailed as Cohen rolled on him. Remember that one of the charges Cohen plead guilty to was getting excessive campaign contributions at the behest of the campaign or individual within the campaign. The Stormy fiasco was clearly an illegal in kind campaign contribution that wasn’t registered as such and I’m confident Trump was directly involved. Trump is already toast, IMO. Mueller has him.

We are going to see a handful of more indictments that flow directly from Stone. I think that will almost be the end before the report. Almost? I think Trump will be indicted soon after the next round of indictments and before the report is handed over. He will be indicted but no move for arrest will be made. The WH will immediately go to court and settle the big question. Can an indictment against a President stand.

Trump will be impeached and convicted. The conviction will come even with a Republican Senate because Mueller will have him indicted. That will be the nail in the coffin.

Trump will be indicted. We already know enough that a GJ would hand one down.

Those are my thought. My opinion. Lots more against Trump I’m just hitting on some of the bigger picture.

January 26, 2019

I believe we just watched Trump at the top of his game.

Never has he been more hands on in a negotiation. He didn’t have his high powered negotiators there to do the work for him. With the house being in Democrat’s hands he only had Mitch, who appearantley didn’t like Trumps strategy and became Missing Mitch.

Trump played every card he had to get his wall wrapped up in the funding bill except one thing; paying off legislators. He doesn’t have the power to do that like he does in the private sector. It’s something he should have tried when Republicans held both chambers of Congress. I feel the wall would have passed in the last budget had Republican leadership only loaded up some goodies for legislators. It’s what would have happened had Mitch and the rest of the leadership really wanted the wall. They saw the writing on the wall and knew their numbers were going down.

Instead, Trump gave it all he had and proved to the country that he is a weak and pathetic negotiator. His position held firm on the wall but everything else changed by the hour. What the wall would look like, reasons we need the wall, what the money would go to, grand lies about its effectiveness... his message was all over the place. Then there was his brilliant move to call Pelosi and Schumer to the WH. Trump, you aren’t a negotiation leader. You aren’t qualified to pull such a stunt. But he convinced himself he was a negotiator. It turned into another failed tactic. He caused pain among millions and thought that was going to be his Trump card. What an idiot.

What does it look like when Trump heads up his own negotiation? Not only does he not get a single thing he wants, he paid a price. Public opinion went against him, he burned through political clout, and in the end he let the country know that none of it was worth it. He threatens that the government might shut down again in three weeks but he ended this negotiation by telling the country that the shutdown wasn’t worth it. What an idiot.

I see no other way than for him to call a national emergency. It’s going to be interesting to watch. It’s going to come at a time when Trump just starts getting pounded by our house committees. These committees are going to start releasing dirt quicker than people think. It’s also going to be a situation most Republicans will be completely against. Will they act like they oppose it? I don’t know. They appear to be spineless in the face of Trump. It would set a precedent that could pave a path for a number of things we want. I see cracks in the Republican foundation. This could do even more harm.

Trump is temporarily negotiating the Republican Party out of existence. He is not a negotiator and has never had to be one. His claim to fame is a massive joke that was just put on full display. We just watched his personal best effort.

January 25, 2019

The Clinton Foundation

https://twitter.com/ClintonFdn/status/1088859044876562432

NEW: Next week, @HillaryClinton joins President @BillClinton and hundreds of leaders in San Juan, Puerto Rico. See how the @ClintonGlobal community continues to support recovery and resilience in the region:

January 24, 2019

Child accidentally shoots mom while sitting in backseat of car outside Norwalk preschool

NORWALK, Calif. (KABC) -- A mother in Norwalk was hospitalized after her child accidentally shot her while he was in the backseat of their car Wednesday.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and crime scene tape surrounded Ramona Preschool in the afternoon hours following the shooting in the parking lot.

"We received a call of an assault with a deadly weapon gunshot victim. When deputies got there, they found an adult female Hispanic with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to her upper torso," Deputy Marvin Crowder said.

The woman was shot while sitting in the driver's seat of a black Honda outside the school. Her children were in the backseat when her son, who is under the age of 5, somehow got hold of a shotgun.

https://abc7.com/child-accidentally-shoots-mom-outside-norwalk-preschool/5104058/

January 18, 2019

U.S. military leaders 'embarrassed' by Trump's Syria plan, Kurdish commander says

KOBANE, Syria — American military leaders are "constantly apologizing" for President Donald Trump's Syria withdrawal plan, according to the commander who oversees a force of 65,000 U.S.-backed fighters that's battling the Islamic State.

“It was a joint war, but they left us in the middle of the road,” said Gen. Mazlum Kobane, who is in charge of the coalition of militias known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

U.S. troops and Kurdish-led fighters were "brothers in arms" as partners on the ground in the war against ISIS in Syria, he added.

But Trump’s announcement that he was withdrawing all U.S. troops from the country immediately has left the Kurds feeling abandoned. The president tweeted on Dec. 19 that the U.S. had “defeated ISIS in Syria,” adding that was the “only reason” to have troops on the ground there.

NBC

January 18, 2019

Michael Cohen paid IT firm to tweet that he was sexy

Michael Cohen is a sexy pit bull terrier with a fantastic smile, according to a Twitter account that it turns out was started at the instruction of one Michael Cohen.

Cohen – Donald Trump’s former friend, attorney and fixer, now flipper – hired an IT firm called RedFinch Solutions to manipulate an online CNBC poll about the country’s top 100 leaders, and later to run a sock-puppet Twitter account, @womenforcohen, to promote his sexual desirability, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Cohen began his working relationship with RedFinch in 2012, when the company’s owner, John Gauger, helped Cohen set up his Instagram account.

In 2014, Cohen reportedly asked Gauger to manipulate a CNBC poll asking people to identify the country’s top 100 business leaders. Cohen asked Gauger to write a script to repeatedly vote for Trump, according to the WSJ. His efforts were unsuccessful, as Trump did not finish even within the top 100, but it began a relationship in which Cohen would pay Gauger to engage in acts of online deception on behalf of himself and Trump.

The Guardian

January 18, 2019

The right likes to discount anything attached to Cohen by calling him a liar and a fraud.

And to their credit Cohen is both. Yet there are two things they don't seem to get. 1) It's why Cohen was Trumps personal lawyer and VP of the Trump Organization for over a decade. Being the VP of the Trump Organization and Trumps personal lawyer is not a job an honest and ethical person can hold. 2) I don't see anyone simply taking the word of Cohen. That isn't happening because he is a know fraud and liar. He is also a great point of first source information. Trump seems to have had damn near absolute trust in the guy. All of that information must be verified. As a trusted insider verification will often need to go no further than Cohen himself. Email, texts, phone records, contracts, etc. Some with have to be verified through third party sources.

Of course Cohen is a liar and a fraud. He was Trumps right hand man.

In May of 2018 Giuliani called Cohen an "honest, honorable, lawyer." Giuliani also said “I have no concern that Michael Cohen is going to do anything but tell the truth.”

At one point, when the WH was asked if Trump would sit for a deposition if a subpoena was issued, they referred reporters to ask Cohen.

Q If subpoenaed, would the President sit for a deposition?

MS. SANDERS: Again, I’m not going to get into a hypothetical question, and I would refer you to Michael Cohen on that matter.

White House

And don't forget that they made Cohen Deputy Director at the RNC. Another job that requires one to be a liar and fraud.

Ronna McDaniel, the RNC Chair, said this about Cohen after she was asked if he was still working there. “Michael Cohen has not been charged with anything, he’s under investigation. I believe in due process, I’m sure you do too, so we’ll see what happens.”

Why were they willing to go so far for Cohen? They knew then that he was a liar and a fraud. They also knew he had first hand knowledge as to where the bodies are buried.

Yes. Cohen is a liar and a fraud. They knew it then and they know it now. Cohen is not to be trusted by anyone. I think the only person blindsided is the person Cohen is going to play a pivotal role in bringing down. Don the Con.

January 18, 2019

The Caravan - Turning what should be the best of America into a spectacle of hate.

This is about the principles of our country. It is about who we are. The "caravan's" should be viewed as a point of pride and willingness to do right by those in need in the eyes of Americans. The President and his deplorables are taking the best of our foundation and uprooting it toward a path of immoral, unethical, and unbridled hatred. It is destroying the fabric of our society as once these thoughts set in it also turns countryman against countryman. Ideologically and by way of skin color. Citizenship matters little at that point.

Many of the people who come to this county, or try to, are asylum seekers. These "caravan's" are loaded with asylum seekers. People making the trip for very good reason. It should be a point of pride for us that the good old US of A is their final destination. Where they want to bring themselves and their families.

The "caravan's" are not a problem. They are a sign of what is best about us(should be). They are a true testament of humans want and need to survive and to care for families. Donald Trump and his deplorables have done enormous harm to how the average American sees these people. With US rugged individualism winning the day the message of hate seems to have more of an impact across the board than a message of inclusion, compassion, and understanding. The message of hate seems easier to deliver to the masses. It is often a cornerstone of populist rhetoric.

These people deserve to be treated with dignity. Many of them should be let into our country. Without the hate this would actually be a very easy process. A lot of hard work but once structures are put in place, which many currently are, it would truly be pretty easy.

We deserve, at a minimum, to be protected by the Federal Government. I am not naive to the dangers we face and am not a proponent of open borders(I am not for the wall). This isn't a situation where we just turn a blind eye as they come right into the country. Just the opposite of a blind eye. We should embrace them, enhance their chance for achieving a better life in our country, and weed out the shitheads wanting to do us harm.

Honduran refugees await papers in Mexico as new caravan arrives

Tapachula, Mexico - Luis Jose Carbajal was 19 years old when he was shot. It was two months after the June 2009 coup d'etat in Honduras, and people all over the country were taking to the street to protest the removal and expatriation of elected President Manuel Zelaya by the military.

Carbajal was participating in a demonstration against the coup in northwestern Honduras, along a key highway between San Pedro Sula, the country's second largest city, and Puerto Cortes, its main port. Police and soldiers showed up and, before long, opened fire.

"I heard the gunshots and felt something searing," Carbajal told Al Jazeera.

Carbajal was shot in the thigh, but the bullet went straight through his leg and did not hit an artery. He does not have any documentation from the hospital, because he never went, fearing security forces would track him down there.

Aljazeera

January 18, 2019

Kim's envoy arrives in DC as Pentagon states 'extraordinary threat' posed by North Korea

Washington (CNN) — North Korea's lead negotiator in nuclear talks with the US, Kim Yong Chol, arrived in Washington Thursday, just hours after President Donald Trump rolled out a new missile defense strategy that appears to contradict his own claim that Pyongyang is no longer a nuclear threat.

Kim arrived at Washington Dulles International Airport Thursday evening and was spotted leaving the airport with US Special Representative to North Korea Steve Biegun and Pak Chol, a North Korean official who's the chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee.

Amid signs the two sides are close to agreeing to a second summit the newly unveiled Missile Defense Review, which Trump personally introduced at the Pentagon, explicitly states that North Korea remains an "extraordinary threat" to the US, an assessment that is consistent with previous findings by US military and intelligence agencies but rarely acknowledged by Trump himself.

CNN

January 16, 2019

Russia calls on Japan to recognize outcome of World War Two

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied on Wednesday that Moscow was imposing an ultimatum on Japan in talks to end a decades-long territorial dispute, but called on Tokyo to recognize the results of World War Two.

Japan is seeking a peace deal with Russia it hopes will end a dispute over islands captured by Soviet troops in the last days of World War Two, a disagreement that has long soured bilateral relations.

The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has launched a diplomatic campaign to strike a deal with Moscow.

AP