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Kid Berwyn
Kid Berwyn's Journal
Kid Berwyn's Journal
September 5, 2022
What Salinger wanted to make clear...
“In the final analysis, it's their war," (JFK) said. "They're the ones who have to win it or lose it. We can help them. We can give them equipment. We can send our men out there as advisers. But they have to win it -- the people of Vietnam -- against the Communists."
President Kennedy said he would not send US draftees to fight in another country’s civil war and signed National Security Action Memorandum 263 to put the Administration’s official policy in writing. Read NSAM 263 here:
https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/nsam-jfk/nsam-263.htm
Four days after the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas, LBJ reverses the policy to stay and support South Vietnam in its "contest against the externally directed and supported Communist conspiracy in NSAM 273:
https://irp.fas.org/offdocs/nsam-lbj/nsam-273.htm
Something else: President Kennedy would never have fallen for and foisted the Golf of Tonkin “Big Lie” on America.
September 4, 2022
It’s not just a chant at Trump's rallies or lame wordplay in his tweets. It’s his call to fascist rule
By LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV
Salon, May 16, 2020
You know someone's in a real panic when they start running in circles, and that's what Donald Trump has been doing for the past week. He started off last Sunday with an epic tweetstorm, 126 of them in all, the third-highest total for one day in his presidency, according to FactBa.se, which keeps track of Trump's statements. "Obamagate!" he tweeted, following that one with "Because it was Obamagate, and he and Sleepy Joe led the charge. The most corrupt administration in history!"
That presaged by 24 hours his now-famous exchange with Philip Rucker of the Washington Post in the Rose Garden, when Rucker asked him, "What crime, exactly, are you accusing President Obama of committing?"
"Obamagate," Trump replied, refusing to define the "crime" or provide any specific evidence. So Rucker followed up: "What is the crime, exactly, that you're accusing him of?" Trump shot him what passed for an angry look: "You know what the crime is," Trump answered. "The crime is very obvious to everybody."
Snip…
But Trump loved Flynn. It had been Flynn who led the delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention in chanting "lock her up" after mentioning the alleged criminal behavior of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. As with Trump's use of "Obamagate" as a shorthand for Obama's alleged corruption while in office, Flynn's allegations against Clinton were equally vague and shorn of specificity. Trump had already been encouraging his crowds to chant "lock her up" at his campaign rallies in 2016, and has continued the practice ever since. I don't know of a single rally Trump has held since he's been in office when the crowd didn't break into the "lock her up" chant, with Trump allowing the fascist bellowing to wash over him as he stands at the podium, smiling with approval at the crowd.
I use the words "fascist bellowing" on purpose, because that's what it is: Trump supporters at public events and rallies loudly endorsing official lawlessness. It's not a funny joke or clever verbiage. Trump and his followers have been routinely advocating the jailing of Trump's political opponents without an investigation, criminal charges, trial or conviction by a jury of their peers. This is the way fascist dictators dispose of their political opposition. Putin has jailed opponents of his regime. He has also arrested wealthy businessmen whose enterprises he wanted to seize, and of course he has ordered the murder of Russian citizens who he felt betrayed him.
Continues…
https://www.salon.com/2020/05/16/obamagate-and-lock-her-up-pointing-the-way-toward-heil-trump/
Moron Abetting Gangster Asshole
"Obamagate" and "Lock her up": Pointing the way toward "Heil Trump"It’s not just a chant at Trump's rallies or lame wordplay in his tweets. It’s his call to fascist rule
By LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV
Salon, May 16, 2020
You know someone's in a real panic when they start running in circles, and that's what Donald Trump has been doing for the past week. He started off last Sunday with an epic tweetstorm, 126 of them in all, the third-highest total for one day in his presidency, according to FactBa.se, which keeps track of Trump's statements. "Obamagate!" he tweeted, following that one with "Because it was Obamagate, and he and Sleepy Joe led the charge. The most corrupt administration in history!"
That presaged by 24 hours his now-famous exchange with Philip Rucker of the Washington Post in the Rose Garden, when Rucker asked him, "What crime, exactly, are you accusing President Obama of committing?"
"Obamagate," Trump replied, refusing to define the "crime" or provide any specific evidence. So Rucker followed up: "What is the crime, exactly, that you're accusing him of?" Trump shot him what passed for an angry look: "You know what the crime is," Trump answered. "The crime is very obvious to everybody."
Snip…
But Trump loved Flynn. It had been Flynn who led the delegates at the 2016 Republican National Convention in chanting "lock her up" after mentioning the alleged criminal behavior of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. As with Trump's use of "Obamagate" as a shorthand for Obama's alleged corruption while in office, Flynn's allegations against Clinton were equally vague and shorn of specificity. Trump had already been encouraging his crowds to chant "lock her up" at his campaign rallies in 2016, and has continued the practice ever since. I don't know of a single rally Trump has held since he's been in office when the crowd didn't break into the "lock her up" chant, with Trump allowing the fascist bellowing to wash over him as he stands at the podium, smiling with approval at the crowd.
I use the words "fascist bellowing" on purpose, because that's what it is: Trump supporters at public events and rallies loudly endorsing official lawlessness. It's not a funny joke or clever verbiage. Trump and his followers have been routinely advocating the jailing of Trump's political opponents without an investigation, criminal charges, trial or conviction by a jury of their peers. This is the way fascist dictators dispose of their political opposition. Putin has jailed opponents of his regime. He has also arrested wealthy businessmen whose enterprises he wanted to seize, and of course he has ordered the murder of Russian citizens who he felt betrayed him.
Continues…
https://www.salon.com/2020/05/16/obamagate-and-lock-her-up-pointing-the-way-toward-heil-trump/
September 3, 2022
The Age of the Superyacht
Excerpt…
The imperative is not usually length for length’s sake (though the longtime owner told me that at times there is an aspect of “phallic sizing”). “L.O.A.” is a byword for grandeur. In most cases, pleasure yachts are permitted to carry no more than twelve passengers, a rule set by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which was conceived after the sinking of the Titanic. But those limits do not apply to crew. “So, you might have anything between twelve and fifty crew looking after those twelve guests,” Edmiston, the broker, said. “It’s a level of service you cannot really contemplate until you’ve been fortunate enough to experience it.”
Continues…
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/25/the-haves-and-the-have-yachts
She needs a boat.
The Age of the Superyacht
Excerpt…
The imperative is not usually length for length’s sake (though the longtime owner told me that at times there is an aspect of “phallic sizing”). “L.O.A.” is a byword for grandeur. In most cases, pleasure yachts are permitted to carry no more than twelve passengers, a rule set by the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, which was conceived after the sinking of the Titanic. But those limits do not apply to crew. “So, you might have anything between twelve and fifty crew looking after those twelve guests,” Edmiston, the broker, said. “It’s a level of service you cannot really contemplate until you’ve been fortunate enough to experience it.”
Continues…
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/07/25/the-haves-and-the-have-yachts
September 1, 2022
No doubt about it: MAGA GOP are NAZI
They do not uphold the Constitution of the United States.
They do not believe all people are equal under law — and they are exceptional and privileged.
They do not believe in free and fair elections.
They demonize opponents and bully the weak.
They direct and encourage political violence.
They hold one man supreme leader above the law, atop a cult of personality, one who betrayed our country.
August 31, 2022
'These are the biggest secrets in the world:'
Latest DOJ legal filing stupefies Donald Trump's Fox friends
by Brandon Gage
Alternet.org, August 31, 2022
The United States Department of Justice filed an extraordinary legal briefing late Tuesday night revealing that it has “multiple sources of evidence” that former President Donald Trump and his confederates "likely" obstructed its investigation into how and why hundreds of documents containing the most sensitive of state secrets were casually stashed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
"The 36-page filing was the department’s most detailed account yet of its evidence of obstruction of justice, raising concerns that Trump and his attorneys sought to mislead investigators about the sincerity and thoroughness of their effort to identify and return highly sensitive records to the government," reported Politico, which was the first media outlet to publish the filing.
Snip…
“The DOJ is saying the special master is unnecessary because it could actually harm national security interests. Well, here's the thing. When you go back and look at those documents – can we go back and look at those documents on the floor? – keep in mind, according to the filing, the agents found three classified documents in Donald Trump's desks," a stunned Steve Doocy said on Wednesday morning's edition of Fox & Friends.
"What were they doing in the desks?" he wondered. "And when you look at these particular things right here, at least five yellow folders marked 'Top Secret' and another, 'Secret/SCI,' that stands for 'Secret Compartmentalized Information,'" Doocy noted, although he mixed up "Secret" for "Specialized," which is even worse for Trump.
“These are the biggest secrets in the world," Doocy emphasized.
Continues…
https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/worlds-biggest-secrets-donald-trump/
Gee, someplace hot is getting cold.
"These are the biggest secrets in the world" -- FOX News
'These are the biggest secrets in the world:'
Latest DOJ legal filing stupefies Donald Trump's Fox friends
by Brandon Gage
Alternet.org, August 31, 2022
The United States Department of Justice filed an extraordinary legal briefing late Tuesday night revealing that it has “multiple sources of evidence” that former President Donald Trump and his confederates "likely" obstructed its investigation into how and why hundreds of documents containing the most sensitive of state secrets were casually stashed at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.
"The 36-page filing was the department’s most detailed account yet of its evidence of obstruction of justice, raising concerns that Trump and his attorneys sought to mislead investigators about the sincerity and thoroughness of their effort to identify and return highly sensitive records to the government," reported Politico, which was the first media outlet to publish the filing.
Snip…
“The DOJ is saying the special master is unnecessary because it could actually harm national security interests. Well, here's the thing. When you go back and look at those documents – can we go back and look at those documents on the floor? – keep in mind, according to the filing, the agents found three classified documents in Donald Trump's desks," a stunned Steve Doocy said on Wednesday morning's edition of Fox & Friends.
"What were they doing in the desks?" he wondered. "And when you look at these particular things right here, at least five yellow folders marked 'Top Secret' and another, 'Secret/SCI,' that stands for 'Secret Compartmentalized Information,'" Doocy noted, although he mixed up "Secret" for "Specialized," which is even worse for Trump.
“These are the biggest secrets in the world," Doocy emphasized.
Continues…
https://www.alternet.org/2022/08/worlds-biggest-secrets-donald-trump/
Gee, someplace hot is getting cold.
August 31, 2022
Trump’s Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime
Some of President Trump’s favorite targets in the Russia probe have spent their careers in the Justice Department and the FBI investigating organized crime and money laundering, particularly as they pertain to Russia.
NATASHA BERTRAND
The Atlantic, AUG 30, 2018
Bruce Ohr. Lisa Page. Andrew Weissmann. Andrew McCabe. President Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked these FBI and Justice Department officials as dishonest “Democrats” engaged in a partisan “witch hunt” led by the special counsel determined to tie his campaign to Russia. But Trump’s attacks have also served to highlight another thread among these officials and others who have investigated his campaign: their extensive experience in probing money laundering and organized crime, particularly as they pertain to Russia.
snip...
Trump’s latest obsession is with Bruce Ohr, a career Justice Department official who spent years investigating Russian organized crime and corruption—an expertise he shared with another Trump target named Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence operative who provided valuable intelligence on Russia to the State Department and the FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force prior to authoring the Trump-Russia dossier in 2016. Ohr and Steele met in 2007, according to The New York Times, and stayed in touch as a result of their shared interests and mutual respect. Trump has tweeted about Ohr nearly a dozen times this month alone, complaining about his relationship with Steele and Ohr’s wife’s past work for Fusion GPS—the opposition-research firm that hired Steele in 2016 to research Trump’s Russia ties.
snip...
Trump’s fixation with seeing Ohr ousted from the Justice Department could be perceived as yet another attempt to undermine the credibility of the people who have investigated him. It could also be interpreted as an attack on someone with deep knowledge of the shady characters Trump and his cohort have been linked to, including Semion Mogilevich, the Russian mob boss, and Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate close to Putin who did business with Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. (Incidentally, another Manafort associate, the Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash, admitted that he only managed to be in business because Mogilevich allowed him to be, according to a leaked 2008 State Department cable.) Ohr was involved in banning Deripaska from the U.S. in 2006, due to his alleged ties to organized crime and fear that he would try to launder money into American real estate. Nearly a decade later, Ohr and the FBI sought Deripaska’s help in taking down overseas criminal syndicates.
Snip...
The president has denied having any business ties to Russia, and his dream of building a Trump Tower Moscow never materialized. But his links to Russian oligarchs and mobsters from the former Soviet Union have been documented: Millions of dollars from the former Soviet Union flowed into Trump’s developments and casinos throughout the 1990s, as the journalist Craig Unger has chronicled, as oligarchs looked for a place to hide their money in the West. The Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was once known as a hot spot for Brooklyn mobsters associated with the Russian Mafia, and quickly became the “favorite East Coast destination” of the top Russian mob boss Vyacheslav Ivankov, according to the 2000 book Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America. It was also repeatedly cited by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for having inadequate money-laundering controls.
Continues...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trumps-top-targets-in-the-russia-probe-are-experts-in-organized-crime/569056/
Never forget: as PRESIDENT Trump targeted the FBI Witch Hunters who were tracking Putin and his Mafiya.
One Became Suspicious When Dimdonnie Fired FBI Russia Counterintelligence Team
Trump FIRED entire FBI counterespionage team a few years back:
Trump’s Top Targets in the Russia Probe Are Experts in Organized Crime
Some of President Trump’s favorite targets in the Russia probe have spent their careers in the Justice Department and the FBI investigating organized crime and money laundering, particularly as they pertain to Russia.
NATASHA BERTRAND
The Atlantic, AUG 30, 2018
Bruce Ohr. Lisa Page. Andrew Weissmann. Andrew McCabe. President Donald Trump has relentlessly attacked these FBI and Justice Department officials as dishonest “Democrats” engaged in a partisan “witch hunt” led by the special counsel determined to tie his campaign to Russia. But Trump’s attacks have also served to highlight another thread among these officials and others who have investigated his campaign: their extensive experience in probing money laundering and organized crime, particularly as they pertain to Russia.
snip...
Trump’s latest obsession is with Bruce Ohr, a career Justice Department official who spent years investigating Russian organized crime and corruption—an expertise he shared with another Trump target named Christopher Steele, the former British intelligence operative who provided valuable intelligence on Russia to the State Department and the FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force prior to authoring the Trump-Russia dossier in 2016. Ohr and Steele met in 2007, according to The New York Times, and stayed in touch as a result of their shared interests and mutual respect. Trump has tweeted about Ohr nearly a dozen times this month alone, complaining about his relationship with Steele and Ohr’s wife’s past work for Fusion GPS—the opposition-research firm that hired Steele in 2016 to research Trump’s Russia ties.
snip...
Trump’s fixation with seeing Ohr ousted from the Justice Department could be perceived as yet another attempt to undermine the credibility of the people who have investigated him. It could also be interpreted as an attack on someone with deep knowledge of the shady characters Trump and his cohort have been linked to, including Semion Mogilevich, the Russian mob boss, and Oleg Deripaska, a Russian aluminum magnate close to Putin who did business with Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort. (Incidentally, another Manafort associate, the Ukrainian billionaire Dmitry Firtash, admitted that he only managed to be in business because Mogilevich allowed him to be, according to a leaked 2008 State Department cable.) Ohr was involved in banning Deripaska from the U.S. in 2006, due to his alleged ties to organized crime and fear that he would try to launder money into American real estate. Nearly a decade later, Ohr and the FBI sought Deripaska’s help in taking down overseas criminal syndicates.
Snip...
The president has denied having any business ties to Russia, and his dream of building a Trump Tower Moscow never materialized. But his links to Russian oligarchs and mobsters from the former Soviet Union have been documented: Millions of dollars from the former Soviet Union flowed into Trump’s developments and casinos throughout the 1990s, as the journalist Craig Unger has chronicled, as oligarchs looked for a place to hide their money in the West. The Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was once known as a hot spot for Brooklyn mobsters associated with the Russian Mafia, and quickly became the “favorite East Coast destination” of the top Russian mob boss Vyacheslav Ivankov, according to the 2000 book Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America. It was also repeatedly cited by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for having inadequate money-laundering controls.
Continues...
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trumps-top-targets-in-the-russia-probe-are-experts-in-organized-crime/569056/
Never forget: as PRESIDENT Trump targeted the FBI Witch Hunters who were tracking Putin and his Mafiya.
August 31, 2022
1968, please.
Excerpt…
In a series of remarkable White House recordings we can hear Johnson's reaction to the news.
In one call to Senator Richard Russell he says: "We have found that our friend, the Republican nominee, our California friend, has been playing on the outskirts with our enemies and our friends both, he has been doing it through rather subterranean sources. Mrs Chennault is warning the South Vietnamese not to get pulled into this Johnson move."
He orders the Nixon campaign to be placed under FBI surveillance and demands to know if Nixon is personally involved.
When he became convinced it was being orchestrated by the Republican candidate, the president called Senator Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader in the Senate to get a message to Nixon.
The president knew what was going on, Nixon should back off and the subterfuge amounted to treason.
Continues…
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21768668
August 31, 2022
The Chief Thief’s Haul
By Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl
In Palm Beach, by the beautiful sea,
There’s a Chamber amazing to see.
It’s got a huge crop
Of secrets quite top!
You can prob’ly get in for a fee!
They’ve been hidden down there for awhile,
The product of theft and of guile.
You’ve the Chief Thief to thank
For this Chamber quite dank.
What could his end purpose be?
The Chief Thief is portly and wan.
His acolytes call him The Don.
He’s know for his bluster,
The mobs he can muster,
And the laws he can break with aplomb.
Was he planning to sell secrets rare?
With whom was he planning to share?
The Russians perhaps?
Or the Kurds or the Lapps?
The “return” matters more than the “where!”
For The Don is a bottom-line thug.
He’s a hole in his pocket to plug.
He’s completely depraved.
Why, he sold his wife’s grave
Just as soon as the hole had been dug!
But those state secrets, codeword and all,
Were just part of his criminal haul.
For the bidder most high
He will certainly try,
If again he escapes from the law!
Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl is the former Deputy Inspector General for Inspections, Central Intelligence Agency and co-author of “The Wars of Edward Shevardnadze.”
Source: https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/30/the-chief-thiefs-haul/
The Chief Thief's Haul
The Chief Thief’s Haul
By Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl
In Palm Beach, by the beautiful sea,
There’s a Chamber amazing to see.
It’s got a huge crop
Of secrets quite top!
You can prob’ly get in for a fee!
They’ve been hidden down there for awhile,
The product of theft and of guile.
You’ve the Chief Thief to thank
For this Chamber quite dank.
What could his end purpose be?
The Chief Thief is portly and wan.
His acolytes call him The Don.
He’s know for his bluster,
The mobs he can muster,
And the laws he can break with aplomb.
Was he planning to sell secrets rare?
With whom was he planning to share?
The Russians perhaps?
Or the Kurds or the Lapps?
The “return” matters more than the “where!”
For The Don is a bottom-line thug.
He’s a hole in his pocket to plug.
He’s completely depraved.
Why, he sold his wife’s grave
Just as soon as the hole had been dug!
But those state secrets, codeword and all,
Were just part of his criminal haul.
For the bidder most high
He will certainly try,
If again he escapes from the law!
Carolyn McGiffert Ekedahl is the former Deputy Inspector General for Inspections, Central Intelligence Agency and co-author of “The Wars of Edward Shevardnadze.”
Source: https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/08/30/the-chief-thiefs-haul/
August 28, 2022
by Jim Sciutto
CNN, Sept. 9, 2019
In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN.
A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.
The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.
The disclosure to the Russians by the President, though not about the Russian spy specifically, prompted intelligence officials to renew earlier discussions about the potential risk of exposure, according to the source directly involved in the matter.
At the time, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo told other senior Trump administration officials that too much information was coming out regarding the covert source, known as an asset. An extraction, or “exfiltration” as such an operation is referred to by intelligence officials, is an extraordinary remedy when US intelligence believes an asset is in immediate danger.
The source was considered the highest level source for the US inside the Kremlin, high up in the national security infrastructure, according to the source familiar with the matter and a former senior intelligence official.
According to CNN’s sources, the spy had access to Putin and could even provide images of documents on the Russian leader’s desk.
Continues…
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/politics/russia-us-spy-extracted/index.html
A series of unfortunate events is no accident.
Exclusive: US extracted top spy from inside Russia in 2017by Jim Sciutto
CNN, Sept. 9, 2019
In a previously undisclosed secret mission in 2017, the United States successfully extracted from Russia one of its highest-level covert sources inside the Russian government, multiple Trump administration officials with direct knowledge told CNN.
A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.
The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.
The disclosure to the Russians by the President, though not about the Russian spy specifically, prompted intelligence officials to renew earlier discussions about the potential risk of exposure, according to the source directly involved in the matter.
At the time, then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo told other senior Trump administration officials that too much information was coming out regarding the covert source, known as an asset. An extraction, or “exfiltration” as such an operation is referred to by intelligence officials, is an extraordinary remedy when US intelligence believes an asset is in immediate danger.
The source was considered the highest level source for the US inside the Kremlin, high up in the national security infrastructure, according to the source familiar with the matter and a former senior intelligence official.
According to CNN’s sources, the spy had access to Putin and could even provide images of documents on the Russian leader’s desk.
Continues…
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/09/politics/russia-us-spy-extracted/index.html
August 27, 2022
"Melanie!"
“Did I or did I not tell you to put the Top Secret papers in the banker’s box!?”
“Look at me when I’m talking to you!”
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