Day 771

Day 771 Saturday February 16, 2019

625 Days to the 2020 election and 703 Days to Inauguration Day

Having weathered the latest national emergency, I’d like to thank all those who posted that they were 

Safe. I, unfortunately, have sad news – None of you MFers are safe! We are all doomed! The advice from the right? “You’re screwed, why can’t you just enjoy it?” (I call this the right wing rape victim advice.)

Well, the pace is quickening and the threads are being pulled and things are coming together. 

Like:

– William Barr is now AG. He was last in this job when he advised Papa Bush to pardon all those criminals in Iran-Contra, which Bush did on his last day in office. Will the same happen again?

– We are being edumucated on sentencing guidelines. There’s a formula that judges can use to understand the range that is appropriate for a crime. This formula relates to a chart that gives a range as to how much time a person should serve. There are mitigating circumstances that can reduce the time, and aggravating circumstances that can increase the time. which a prosecutor can spell out for a judge to consider. In the case for Paul Manafort, the case that he was tried in Virginia the sentencing guidelines suggest a range of between 19 1/2 years to 24 1/2 years. The prosecution has made it very clear that there are NO mitigating circumstances and a boatload of aggravating circumstances. He has yet to be sentenced on the charges from the trial that has not taken place because of his plea agreement, which is now null and void. Turns out olde Paulie was committing crimes as late as last fall going into the winter. Besides lying to the Special Prosecutor, Congress, the FBI, numerous banks and the American people he was the driving force behind a series of criminal schemes to defraud. Why? So he could continue his high flying lifestyle. This the prosecutors have called greed. Aside from the time in jail he’s on the hook for some $50,000,000,00 in fines and restitution. That’s just for this one trial.

– Roger Stone’s lawyers tried to get a change of venue or something like that in his case. See there’s tiny little detail, this minuscule little thing, hardly worth noting, that his lawyers were arguing to change. His case is being linked to another case and they, his lawyers, wanted that removed. They didn’t want his case to be linked to that other case. Come on, what’s the big deal? Oh. Wait. The other case is the one that all those Russians that were hacking our election and putting out disinformation and leaking Hillary’s emails etc. is the case they don’t want to be tied to? Oh, because if his case is tied to that case then the same judge gets to hear his case? Oh, and worst of all that judge is a woman. OMG! (Okay, that’s not the worst thing, but it will be fun to see the drawings from the courtroom artist of Stone groveling to a woman. No, that’s not the worst thing – hold on. Here it comes.)

– Apparently, the Special Prosecutor’s lawyers are arguing that the two cases are linked because they have the actual communication between Roger Stone, Guccifer 2.0 (the Russian GRU folks), and WikiLeaks. In these communications they say Stone discusses not only the content of the emails but the timing of when to release them to maximize the benefit to Trump and the damage to Hillary. Currently, Roger says he did nothing wrong. When do you suppose he’ll start saying, “Well, yeah we communicated but so what? That’s not illegal!”  (Watch for it, and remember, you heard it here first!)

– Just to be clear, if what the Special Prosecutor’s lawyers are alleging about Stone is true and I have every reason to believe it is (you now like Bobby three stick’s 1000% batting average) then we have the actual first evidentiary link between Trump and the Russians. This is what one would call COLLUSION. (or Conspiracy – okay Conspiracy. don’t give me that “collusion isn’t in the law” crap.)

– Andrew McCabe has written a book that comes out Tuesday. If he is to be believed then Jeff Sessions is a racist asshole. Who would have thought a Senator from Alabama could be that? I mean he’s the guy that gave Trump his immigration policy statement when Trump was first running. Well, actually it was Stephen Miller who was working for Sessions at the time. Stephen has gone on to bigger and better things by working in the White Hose and coming up with the terrific idea of ripping kids out of the arms of their parents and throwing them in cages. Let us not forget that while at Duke he vociferously argued that he shouldn’t pick up his own trash because he would be denying janitors work. I’m going to buy McCabe’s book on Tuesday. At least that way he gets some money from me, and after what Trump went out of his way to screw him out of his retirement, it’s the least I can do. 

– On the Senate floor the question has been raised, “What does Vladimir Putin have on Donald Trump?” Hopefully, the various Congressional inquiries will begin to reveal all. As far as I know, there are inquiries and/or investigations into Trump’s: campaign, casinos, hotels, real estate projects, dealings with Russia, inauguration committee, taxes, hush money payments to cover up affairs, lying (too many to detail), family, presidency and … and … that’s about it. But now the evidence is piling up.

– While the Senate has raised the question the news media is asking, “Is Trump a Russian asset?” When they ask their experts the replies they get are either: “What else could he be?” or “Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck…”

– The right’s heads are still exploding over AOC. Seems they don’t want to talk about real issues, like she does. Howard Shultz (Mr. Starbucks) says AOC’s Green New Deal is immoral. Wow. And what she’s put out is an aspirational resolution. What would Howard do? I guess he’d get the smartest people he could find and put them in a room. That’s what Trump said he was going to do. But he didn’t do it. Maybe, Howard will? Let’s bet on him, shall we? No? He managed to make a shitty cup of coffee a world wide phenomena, don’t you think he could do the same for America? I mean otherwise we’d have to bet on a smart woman.

– Some people are already saying they can’t wait til Ms. Cortez can run for President. I think that would be in 2024. When she does, the tidal wave will sweep away the Cruzs and the McConnells and the liars and prevaricators and fore-flushers …

– Hey, one last thought. Part of the evidence against Manafort is linked to his accounts in financial institutions in Cyprus. That wouldn’t effect anyone else in this administration would it? Oh right. Wilbur Ross, the Mr. Smithers look-a-like. He was on the board of a bank in Cyprus. Banks in Cyprus were favorite places for Russian oligarchs to move their money out of Russia and into the west. What’s that called? Money-Laundering. What Paul Manafort did for them. That’s it. (We haven’t even gotten to those crimes.) You don’t think the guy that said he sold his stake in various questionable companies but really just transferred it to his relatives would do something like money laundering or take kick-backs do you? Besides 1) he never did those things, and 2) if he did, what he did was not illegal, and 3) if it was illegal, it’s no big deal because everybody does it. (Let me run that through the Trump-o-translator: 1) He did it. 2) It is illegal. 3) It is a big deal and do you wear an extra small in an orange prison jump suit?) 

(Remember Mr. Ed? The TV show with the talking horse? “WILBUUUUR” 

Role the “Bad Boys” sound track: “Bad Boys, Bad Boys,, what cha gonna do when they come for you?”

625 Days to the 2020 election and 703 Days to Inauguration Day

PS We need a good session.