IG Report Shows The FBI Had Legitimate Reasons to Open Its Investigation of The Trump Campaign - But Toady Barr Tries To Deny It

Trump's pet toad, William Barr, just felt he had to chime in on the IG report released by David Horowitz, absolving the FBI of any nefarious motives in the investigation of Trump and his campaign in 2016

"Barr's intrusion shows the Justice Department is utterly compromised. Functioning as a political tool for Trump, Giuliani and Sean Hannity."  Chris Hayes last night, on All In.

A Justice Department inspector general’s report examining the FBI’s investigation of President Trump’s 2016 campaign rebutted conservatives’ accusations that top FBI officials were driven by political bias to illegally spy on Trump advisers. The IG Report released yesterday also found broad and “serious performance failures” requiring major changes, which Director Chris Wray has vowed to correct.

The 434-page report issued by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded the FBI had an “authorized purpose” when it initiated its investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane, into the Trump campaign. In doing so, Horowitz implicitly rejected GOP assertions that the case was launched out of political animus, or that the FBI broke its own rules on using informants.

It asserted, though, that as the probe went on, FBI officials repeatedly decided to emphasize damaging information they heard about Trump associates, and play down exculpatory evidence they found. The bureau promptly indicated it would implement dozens of corrective measures in response to Horowitz’s report and that disciplinary action remains a possibility.   Trump, not surprisingly,  called the report’s findings “far worse than anything I would have imagined.”    In another one of his deranged stupors he barked:

“This was an overthrow of government.  This was an attempted overthrow and a lot of people were in on it and they got caught, they got caught red-handed.”

Thereby again conflating himself with the government.  But lest we be led down the path of insanity like Dotard, let's bear in mind the person actually investigated out in the open back then was Hillary. Indeed, then FBI director James Comey's repeated interjections and  announcements of progress in the FBI email investigation likely cost her the election.  Trump paved the way for his own investigation by firing Comey, after the then FBI Director refused to swear loyalty to the orange maggot.  As I wrote in my May 10, 2017 post:

"A combination of factors alerted Trump's reptilian brain stem it had to act and fast. The easiest response - which killed the most "birds" with one stone-  would be firing Comey. That would amount to an instant act of decapitation, not only of Comey but the FBI's investigation into the Trump-Russkie ties.  Using the ruse of Comey's mishandling of the Hillary email server also would come off - to a dumb media - of casting the Donald as a latter day changeling. Who now would strike down Hillary's tormentor and give Trump "brownie points" in so doing.

The problem, as The Financial Times' Edward Luce has pointed out, is it makes zero sense. In Luce's words:

'Mr. Trump is asking the US public to believe he 'terminated and removed'  the FBI director for having treated Mrs. Clinton unfairly. This was the same opponent whom Mr. Trump said should be locked up for mishandling her emails."

The Trump investigation, meanwhile, remained in the shadows. It only really saw the light of day when Bob Mueller began his own investigation leading to the Mueller report. The appointment of Mueller as special prosecutor  was only triggered when Trump stupidly fired Comey.  This was after he refused to carry out the Don's orders.  As Chris Hayes put it last night, regarding Barr's worthless conspiracy claptrap to do with the FBI:

"The obvious problem with this theory is that it makes no sense. Remember this, during the campaign the only investigation that became public was the one regarding Hillary Clinton, which arguably lost her the election. But the FBI was investigating Trump at the very same time. No one uttered a word about it. If they were so desperate to bring Trump down you'd think someone would have said something.  They didn't. So the whole conspiracy theory doesn't even hold together."

In other words, all Barr has to base his objections on are recycled hot air and assorted brain farts from the psycho conspiracy babblers, i.e. from 8chan, Infowars, QAon and the like.

The report also seemed to open a rift inside the Justice Department.  But this is what happens when one sector or division is committed to paranoid fabrications and the other to justice and adherence to reality. 

Embodying lies, mischief, disinformation and fake news, Attorney General William P. Barr went all out for an encore performance of his whitewashing stunt back in April.  When he sprung his little "summary " of the Mueller report to convey  a specious "exoneration" of  Trump.  (Which then immediately encouraged Trump to seek the Ukraine  extortion- paving the way for the articles of impeachment to be announced today.)

This time, Toad Barr disagreed with one of the inspector general’s key conclusions, saying the FBI launched an investigation of a presidential campaign “on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken. It is also clear that, from its inception, the evidence produced by the investigation was consistently exculpatory.” 

Also, basically concurring with this fulsome baloney was Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham, who Barr handpicked to conduct an investigation parallel to that of Horowitz.  In other words, he needed a parallel reality  performing puppet and Durham provided it.   Durham said in a statement:

 “Based on the evidence collected to date, and while our investigation is ongoing, last month we advised the Inspector General that we do not agree with some of the report’s conclusions as to predication and how the FBI case was opened.”

This, of course, is total codswallop. How do we KNOW this? We have foreign intercepts of meetings of Trump cronies, e.g. Carter Page, with Russian  (GRU) agents.  It was these intercepts and related documents - including  FISA warrants- that Devin Nunes threatened to release 2 years ago , to expose a supposed "FBI-DOJ conspiracy".   

In fact the FBI's's involvement was totally called for given the U.S. had to enter the picture with its own FISA warrants, surveillance, etc.  after foreign  intercepts were received from the UK, Germany, the Netherlands. Not to do so would have violated agreements with foreign intel sources, assets. 

Former FBI special agent Frank Figliuzzi was so disturbed by Durham's premature interjections into the IG report he had this to say (last night on 'All In'):

"John Durham, by coming out with this statement in the middle of his own investigation, has violated DOJ policy by commenting on other investigations absent a compelling public interest. And I am hard pressed to find a compelling public interest for a DOJ employee to disagree with their own Inspector General. Unless the timing isn't working for them. 

In other words, Horowitz came out with this good finding for the FBI and it doesn't work for  Barr's own report and its timing. So Barr needs to ride this out toward the election. To keep the public hanging, and thinking something wrong is going to get found."

Yet more reasons that Barr himself needs to be impeached and removed from his office which may well be politicized beyond repair.  So much so that we understand many DOJ employees are pining for the days with ol' Jeff Sessions in charge.

See Also:

The Trump Administration | Donald Trump | Russia | Ukraine

The Justice Department Report on Russia Probe Origins Is Actually a Damning Indictment of Trump in the Ukraine Scandal

And:

Attorney General William Barr publicly challenged the watchdog report, defending President Trump.

And:

• Barr does it again! 

Yesterday's House Judiciary Hearings - Another Disruption Effort By Reep Renegades, Screwballs & Traitors

Conspiracy Peddling Ape Owen Shroyer Gets Frogmarched Out of Hearings yesterday.

Corn pone Reeptard Doug Collins uses Milk Carton image of Adam Schiff to try to turn House Judiciary Hearings Into a Three Ring Circus

Monday’s  House Judiciary hearing - lasting nine hours - did not open smoothly and so it was just as well Janice was not able to watch the repeated antics of the Reeptard monkeys, apes and swine.   After all,  these derelict renegades and their hangers on behaved worse than monkeys and apes - and swine - in a zoo.  From the outset, in what ought to have been a somber and serious space (and time) when Congress began arguments on what that testimony meant, the Reep traitors were determined to try to turn it into a circus.

.

Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, indeed,  had barely begun introducing the session when a bearded ape named Owen Shroyer  got up from the public seats at the rear of the chamber and initiated a disturbance.  Much like the Reep gangsters who invaded the SCIF secure room (for deposed witnesses)  two months ago, e.g.

Reepos "Storming" House Committees' SCIF Site S...

This punk was committed to chaos..  He screamed like a Mandrill ape stoked on a mix of MJ candy, meth and crack:

“Americans are sick of your impeachment scam! Trump is innocent!You’re the one committing treason. America is done with this!”

Clearly, the bearded baboon has got his treasonous perps mixed up. It is in fact the likes of him and the assembled 17 Reeptard renegades guilty of treason.  Thankfully, a uniformed Capitol policeman frog marched the scum ball from the chamber, even as he yelped: “You can kick me out, but he’s the one committing crimes.”    

Thereby reaffirming the urgent need to toss the imp into a rubber room and apply the wires for ECT - oh and while in a straitjacket.  That Shroyer is a certified nutcase was already well known given  he'd worked at the now discredited far-right conspiracy web site Infowars.  That would be the same Infowars set up by the crackpot Alex Jones, e.g.


Seriously, folks, take a gander at that mug and tell me he doesn't have twenty screws loose! Now tell me any loon who works for him wouldn't have 40 screws loose.

To refresh everyone's memory, Shroyer was the same loony tune actively spreading the most atrocious  conspiracy ideation of the 2016 presidential election, that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile ring through a string of pizza restaurants. The spreading of those misshapen ideations and fabricated memes led to staff at the targeted restaurant (Comet Pizza in D.C.)  being subjected to threats and harassment, with an armed psycho turning up with an AR-15 assault rifle in December 2016.   The kook threatened staff and then shot off the lock of a cupboard, supposedly determined to liberate the chained and manacled Hillary sex slaves. Fortunately, no one was killed, and the phantasmagorias of psychotic Reich wing sewer dwellers reached a benign ending.

No, folks, you cannot make this shit up. It happened, and it was driven by crazy asswipes like Shroyer, Michael G. Flynn (son of indicted criminal  Mike Flynn) and Alex Jones.  Their insane allegations further, were not "free speech" in any manner, shape or form. Their psychotic babbling and conspiracy lunacy were the ravings of  madmen that could have gotten lots of people killed.

Though the deranged gunman was sentenced to four years in jail. Shroyer is evidently still in business, mindfucking millions with this gibberish.. Indeed, as the UK Guardian reported, his Twitter account recorded his arrest, pushing the hashtag #FreeOwenShroyer. 

I have a better one: #ECT Shroyer'sApeBrain

But let's be clear here: Shroyer’s disruption was not just an incidental disturbance, but an opening salvo in the real battle underlying the impeachment hearings: a battle over the power to shape reality.  As the hearings continued, the Reepo members repeatedly tried to drown out Nadler’s remarks and loosen his grip on proceedings, shouting out points of order, and then demanding a rollcall vote on them. 

The repeated votes,  each requiring committee members to voice an 'aye' or 'nay', ensured that they all remained in the chamber throughout the hearing. One of the points of order, raised by Mike Johnson of Louisiana, complained that the argument of the majority counsel, the lawyer making the case against Trump, “impugns the motives of the president”. Therefore it represented a violation of parliamentary rules – ignoring the fact that that is precisely what impeachment is all about. (Also, that given the lawyer was not an actual member of the Judiciary, such a point of order would not apply anyway.)  But this again is the Reeptards' game, to keep the shitstorm churning and hopefully also the viewership down.

Shroyer is on the leading edge of a massive effort to create a parallel universe, conjured up from a constantly replenished cloud of fabrications. The Pizzagate incident demonstrated the real-world consequences of such an invented reality and why we can no longer play games or pretend it's harmless or doesn't exist. 

 I earlier quoted  journalist Julia Ioffe on 'All In' two weeks ago - who noted the predicament of this country now with half its citizens mind-fucked by false news, misinformation and outright propaganda, e.g.. 

"What we're seeing is two parts of the population are living in parallel information universes only one of which is true. That also exists in Russia and now we have that happening here."

Adding that: "as the scandal started brewing and continuing through the hearings,  the people trapped in the right wing media kept harping that 'Oh they never got over the Russia hoax' and they kept on about the Steele dossier.  It's like those conspiracy theories never went away.  It's like Devin Nunes asking 'Hi, witness, have you heard of conspiracy theory 72 B.?  That stuff is all from the Mueller era and it's been baked in."

And make no mistake the Reeps, the Infowars conspiracy wackjobs and their allies are determined to keep the pot boiling with bollocks.   As I also wrote in a previous post, e.g.

The Clueless Media Are Not Our Friends As House Ju...

The media  - most of it - are not perceptive reporters and information brokers, but rather clueless dupes who play into the hands of the reality -destroying renegades like Shroyer, Jones, and most of the Republican trolls (e.g. Doug Collins, Devin Nunes, Jim Jordan) determined to protect the criminal occupying the White House.  They do this by treating the whole lot with too much deference and respect when they've done nothing, nada, to earn it.  Most accounts of the Reep efforts at chaos, e.g. hurling their points of  order and spurious parliamentary challenges in cascading volleys -  were treated in too many press reports as "business as usual",  a normal part of the formal hearings.  Not as outlandish aberrations from a party that has devolved into swine, traitors and trolls.   Those interruptions sometimes reached the level that Mr. Nadler – a 72 year-old congressional veteran – struggled at times to fend them off, hammering away with his gavel, his authority teetering at times before he ultimately steadied himself.

As media specialist Eric Boelhert observed in a recent blog post:

"Extreme times call for extreme measures, but the Beltway press just isn't willing to make that move in the Trump era. As a consequence, the news media fail to accurately capture the radical changes now underway in the country, and how today's Republican Party has become purposefully untethered from reality.  

Donald Trump remains a resolutely radical player who has eviscerated decades of protocols and traditions. Yet so much of the press refuses to cover him that way, opting instead to cling to Beltway traditions for how presidents are normally covered (i.e. We can't call him a liar!). But as the high-profile impeachment hearings confirm (along with Trump's recent disastrous and embarrassing trip to the NATO summit), new and bolder language is needed to accurately describe what's transpiring." 

I am one of those who choose to use "bolder language" to describe what the Reeptards and crazed asswipes like  Shroyer and Jones (as well as Limbaugh) are doing.  And I make no apologies for not using niceties of  language that signals a modicum of respect. Why would I if  I'm describing the visible actions of two- legged rodents and roaches?   Would I do so for the 4 or six- legged vermin? Then why would I for the 2-legged form out to destroy our Republic?  Am I then convinced beyond any doubt that the Republican protectors of Trump are all acting out of uniformly bad faith, bad intentions, with no exceptions? You bet your sweet bippy, I am!

Read more  The aim now of the REEPs and their associated conspiracy allies (e.g.  claiming that  that secret Clinton emails had been hidden on an internet server located somewhere in Ukraine.)  is to insulate Donald Trump from damaging facts as well as legal accountability.   In effect, so that he could ultimately, as he has boasted, shoot someone on New York’s Fifth Avenue and get away with it. The Republican strategy in Congress is to fight on two fronts, arguing there are no facts that warrant impeachment while at the same time pursuing a disinformation campaign promoting the Crowdstrike Ukraine conspiracy theory

 The King of Corn Pone Traitors-  Ranking Repuke member Doug Collins- tried to get creative with his traitor enabling of Trump by resorting to the display of a 4 ft high poster showed Schiff in a “Missing” notice on the side of a carton of milk.  Reeptardo that he is, Collins evidently had no clue that  as chair of another panel (the House intelligence committee), Schiff was not supposed to be there.  Never mind, the objective wasn't to adhere to facts or reality but to foment a sense of conspiracy around the hearings.  I.e. so the lower half of the IQ curve wouldn't accept them. 

Here's the main takeaway on why the House Dems merit being treated with respect - as well as the impeachment inquiry -  and the Republicans (Repukes) merit only contempt. The Democrats are making every concerted effort to emphasize the import of the moment, with the fate of the Republic at stake.  They are not treating impeachment lightly but as a constitutional duty faced with an upstart who really believes he can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and get away with it.  This is the mindset of a monarch, or a person of such monstrous ego and narcissism he believes he's a monarch.  

The Republicans, by contrast have sought to make light of and denigrate the proceedings as much as possible, including treating them as a distraction when they aren't actively disrupting them.  Hence, using chaos and gangsterism they are attempting to delegitimize the entire process.  They are, in other words, acting like spitball- throwing juvenile delinquents in a class,  who - as Brother Dominic of Pace High did more than once 56 years ago - was not averse to lifting by the ear and hurling  out of his English 2A classroom.

  This is why I make no apologies for the free use of epithets and disparaging terms ("Reeptards". "Repukes" etc.) whenever I refer to the Republicans, irrespective of who they are - as long as they're providing cover for Traitor Trump. Even the Reep lawyer (for the House Intel Committee)  Stephen Castor,  lied through his teeth yesterday, claiming Ukraine didn't know Trump was extorting the country by withholding military aid, saying:

"At the time of the July 25th phone call officials in Kiev did not know the security assistance was paused. They did not know it was paused until it was reported publicly in the U.S. media on August 28th."

Which is a bold- faced lie, so Castor lied under oath.  We already know (and heard, and saw) Laura Cooper, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Russia, Ukraine & Eurasia, testified during the Intel impeachment hearing: "Flag Ukrainian concerns" in an email the same day as Trump's July 25th phone call.

So Castor merits no more respect than the other Reep thugs, liars, and traitors.  Thus,  unlike the bought out media I see the Reeps for what they are:  human vermin- who warrant no respect nor any efforts to dignify their traitorous acts and attempts to destroy this nation. Those who don't appreciate my colorful descriptors are free to ignore them or my posts. Your choice!

As for Janice's reaction to the Repug zoo and the hearings?

"I am just exhausted by the political scene. A big part of that is witnessing the craven descent into sniveling, bootlicking  servitude  of elected Republican members of Congress."

See also:

Media | Republicans

The Press Doesn't Have—or Won't Use—the Proper Language to Describe Today's Radical Republican Party

And:

Donald Trump | Impeachment | Senate

The Senate Trial Will Be a Shitshow. Can Democrats Beat Trump's Disinformation Machine?

NBC Is Off Its Rocker To Air Alex Jones' Interview After Capitol Shooting

Conpiracy clown Alex Jones, who feeds the Right's febrile conspiracies - including Sandy Hook being a false flag- to appear Sunday night on Megyn Kelly's show.

Incredibly, NBC News is moving ahead with plans to air Megyn Kelly’s interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones this weekend despite a backlash that has cost the show advertisers and led to Kelly being dropped as host for an event by an organization founded by parents of children killed at Sandy Hook elementary school.  And this is also after the shooting of House GOP Whip Steven Scalise and three others this morning during a GOP House batting practice in Alexandra, VA at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the shooting this morning was specifically directed at the Republican House members getting ready for a congressional baseball game. Reports out of ABC News this morning note the perp didn't come in and just mow  people down indiscriminately with his AR-15, he asked where the REPUBLICAN players were, which they were. In other words, this was a political hit job in a highly polarized national atmosphere we've not seen since the Civil War.

And into this atmosphere you are really going to throw gasoline on the fire by airing a Megyn Kelly interview with conspiracy screwball Alex Jones? Seriously? Yes, yes, I know all about the "free speech" thing and at any other time I'd say let Alex have his say. But not now in an overheated environment where from reports in a recent issue of  TIME - both Left and Right are amping up their aggression with the Alt-Right now squaring off against black clad Antifa (anti fascist) brigades, including here in Colorado Springs. E.g.

Anti -fascists square off against cops before the Milo Yiannapoulis appearance at UCCS in January.

Meanwhile, NBC  has been taken aback by the response to booking Jones, the Infowars host who has questioned the factual reality of the killing of 26 people in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, CT. He has insisted it's a hoax, a "false flag",  staged by the Obama administration as an excuse to seize guns. The students shot and killed, in Jones insane view, were merely actors - who are still alive and well somewhere. He refuses to say where, though he evidently knows where the Roswell aliens are ensconced.

NBC News Chairman Andy Lack, who had earlier mulled firing Lawrence O'Donnell - one of the most popular liberal voices on MSNBC -  said the story would be edited with the sensitivity of its critics in mind. But if NBC is going to really give Jones his 0.02 it is hard to imagine how such editing might be done. Virtually every word out of Alex Jones' mouth is inflammatory and polarizing. For example, on Oct. 25th Jones spewed on about a crypto Jewish conspiracy afoot in the country:

“I mean it’s not that Jews are bad; it’s just they are the head of the Jewish Mafia in the United States. They run Uber. They run the health care. They’re going to scam you. They’re going to hurt you.” 

NO  hard data, or cited documents for that claim, or even a tempered speculation. Jones simply emitted a noisome brain fart from a ruptured psychotic embolism in his amygdala. Given he does this every ten microseconds, how will NBC "edit" his stream of bullshit brain modality?  Well, I guess NBC could shut off the audio during Jones' responses and just let the lips move soundlessly.

“It’s important to get it right,” Lack said.  To which I'd respond, "It's impossible to get it right when you put a crackpot on the air".  And especially in an overheated political atmosphere now made worse by what had obviously been a partisan-motivated mass shooting.

Kelly had the nerve to argue last Tuesday that reporters have interviewed controversial characters such as Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and child molesters in the past without getting this kind of a reaction. But she misses the key point most everyone knew and accepted those were bad guys. In Jones' case, his febrile follies have been the fodder and launch point for much of the fake news, including 'Pizzagate', spouted with cooperation with the Russkies' own spurious crap.  Indeed, Jones' crappola has been one of the main media diets of Donald Trump, likely fueling his own halfwit conspiracy musings  - including Ted Cruz' dad being one of the Kennedy assassins.

Note here that popularity of a stone screwball does not qualify as a justification to give his screwball ideas major network hearing. (I have no problems if it is done via an online interview, but not a prime time airing on a major network).  Thus Kelly's next blather:

“What I think we’re doing is journalism. The bottom line is that while it’s not always popular, it’s important. I would submit to you that neither I nor NBC News has elevated Alex Jones in any way. He’s been elevated by 5 or 6 million viewers or listeners, and by the president of the United States. As you know, journalists don’t get the choice over who has power or influence in our country.”

Which is a too cute, too pat and too egregious explanation by far. Especially given that Jones' popularity has not been on account of the attention of rational, sober citizens, but of unread, semi-educated screwballs like Jones. Oh, and liars and fake news buffoons like Donald Trump. Hence, Kelly - and Lack - are cherry picking what they regard as "journalism", in this case defining it down to the level of the fake news dumpster. In other words, if you give a fake news purveyor major air time then you become a fake news purveyor too. If you want to delude yourselves this is "journalism", fine, but don't take the rest of us for stock idiots.

Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-gun violence group, said it had asked Kelly to step down as host of its Wednesday-night gala in Washington. The group said it cannot support Kelly or NBC’s decision to give a platform to Jones and hopes NBC reconsiders its plan to broadcast the interview, said Nicole Hockley, co-founder and managing director. Hockley, whose 6-year-old son, Dylan, was killed at Sandy Hook, founded the organization with Mark Barden, who lost his 7-year-old son, Daniel.

To some critics, NBC’s timing makes the decision worse – airing on Father’s Day an interview that has been publicly denounced by parents who lost young children at Sandy Hook.  But now with the politically motivated shooting this morning that decision is rendered even worse by orders of magnitude.  NBC said it was scheduled "for competitive reasons", because Jones had been booked to appear on ABC’s daytime show The View next week. (A representative of The View said Jones had canceled his appearance there and he would not be rescheduled.)

Lack noted that he had suggested approaching Jones for an interview to David Corvo, the NBC News executive who supervises the network’s newsmagazines. He said there’s nothing new about putting people on the air even if they’re unpopular or have views that are deplorable to many, adding:

“I’ve got tremendous understanding of why they’re so upset, as they have every right to be,”

Ahhh, but he has more appreciation and "understanding" - by far- of the ratings hike he hopes to snare by putting an obnoxious, pseudo-conspiracy gasbag like Jones on the air. The best thing sober people can do is tune it out, or watch 'Fear the Walking Dead'.

Meanwhile, Trump lackey Jeff Sessions performed yesterday as most of us expected, i.e. like the Trump patsies Mike Rogers and Dan Coates did last week. See, e.g.

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/jefferson-morley/73434/stonewalling-sessions-runs-away-from-tough-questions-in-senate-inquiry


See also:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/kali-holloway/73476/megyn-kelly-and-alex-jones-two-peas-in-a-pod

Excerpt:

"In the flap over Kelly’s upcoming interview with Jones, one fact critics keep missing, or willfully ignoring, is that Kelly and Jones are two sides of the same coin. Sure, Jones arguably says more outlandish things from a position that used to be the far lunatic fringe. But Kelly spent more than a decade doing her own version of the right-wing’s dirty work from within the establishment at Fox News. The difference between Kelly and Jones, at the end of the day, amounts to nothing more than aesthetics. Together, their steady output of garbage has helped expand and thicken our current toxic atmosphere, which is now engulfing and threatening to choke us."

A Chilling Thought: Once He Gets In Trump May Never Be Removed Via Elections

Again, on display in the last half hour of 'Morning Joe' , was the incredible human capacity to embrace fancy, groundless hope, and baseless suppositions. This was when host Joe Scarborough was presented with multiple rational ways in which Trump, and his administration, could flout existing laws and the constitution with impunity.  Joe, bless his Repuke heart, simply believes based on history that the constitution and "separation of powers" will protect us against any extreme Trump maneuvers.

But as his guest pointed out, that didn't stop Bush from using the Patriot act in various ways it was never intended (and is still on the books - to arrest protesters as "domestic terrorists") as well as undertaking NSA mass surveillance on scales that flout the 4th amendment of the Bill of Rights, specifically against warrantless searches.

Then we beheld honorary national "historian -in- chief"- actor  Tom Hanks -  at a recent confab at the Museum  of Art in NYC  imploring us all to "Calm down".  Hanks,  the same guy who three years ago wanted to save Americans from being "snookered" (by accepting Lee Oswald was set up as a decoy in the JFK hit),  said we have "nothing to worry about" and "our Constitution will protect us".

For any who really believe that I suggest reading how Germans fared after Hitler got the Enabling Act passed in Germany, e.g.

http://www.dw.com/en/the-law-that-enabled-hitlers-dictatorship/a-16689839

Most true experts, not Hanks, are of the belief that under the right conditions - and especially with ALL branches of government (including Supreme Court) controlled by one party, it can happen here.  Let's also register that millions implored Obama to remove the part of the (2006) Military Commissions Act repealing Habeas Corpus, to no avail.  Obama repeatedly used the bromide that "there is nothing to fear" and no one would ever be locked up for no good reason. More sober minds, however, kept telling him 'yes, that's fine if you're there, but one day you won't be and a strong man type could take your place'.

Now that situation looms over us as a confirmed authoritarian narcissist - in many ways like Adolf Hitler- prepares to assume office on January 20th. This is even as many (even on the media  left) pooh pooh Hitlerian comparisons as:"hysteria". But just yesterday, the bombastic buffoon issued  a warning against those who used the First amendment for flag burning, tweeting:

"Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag, If they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail"

A year in jail for exercising first amendment rights? As I pointed out in a post from two years ago (July 24):

"in the case Texas v. Johnson (1989) flag burning was upheld as symbolic free speech which could not be curtailed under the 1st amendment. " This was upheld in a 1990 Supreme Court decision (7-3) ( United States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310  ) which declared an earlier  opposing law  impermissibly discriminated upon viewpoint .

Now Trump wants to tear that protection down, and I also suspect- inflated ego and thin skin that he has - he will also try to implement the earlier Patriot Act provisions against demonstrations and mass protests. Hell, he could even invoke the "continuity of government" provision introduced under Reagan.

Reagan’s Executive Order 12656, issued in 1988,  stated that Continuity of Government procedures were called for in the event of "any occurrence, including natural disaster, military attack, technological emergency, or other emergency, that seriously degrades or seriously threatens the national security of the United States."   In the 1980s COG planning was being handled by Louis Giuffrida. According to an article by Alfonso Chardy (‘Reagan Aides and the `Secret’ Government’, Miami Herald, July 5, 1987.) the stated plans included "suspension of the Constitution," along with detailed arrangements for the declaration of martial law.

Get that? Suspension of the Constitution. And if you don't believe Trump would resort to any ruse to implement it, to advance his own ends - including perhaps to remain in power (despite the 22nd amendment), you really are a political and historical Pollyanna.

Look, already this overgrown,  authoritarian 'boss' baby is fulminating about the election recounts, and recklessly citing Infowars conspiracy BS that he really won the popular vote. The man is certifiably unstable just as Hitler was (though in the Fuhrer's case it likely was from syphilis).  If he was the least bit rational, as well as temperamentally suited to be a true chief executive, he'd settle down and grasp that if he REALLY won - and didn't have the votes rigged for himself - he has nothing to fear. His outbursts merely show he's terrified of losing those 3 states and having his totalitarian agenda overturned.

His very active paranoia, as well as his carping about "rigging" during the campaign,. indicates to me that once in office he will essentially piss on amendment XXII and remain there using any ruse to justify it. "Terrorist threat?" Insurrection? Need for extended martial law?

Further, the Repukes themselves may well abet him in this, grasping there may be no other Republican who can win the presidency after four horrific years of Trump or worse, eight. In that case, they may wager better to repeal the 22nd amendment  - or Trump does it via a specious executive order. And if you believe the Dems will be our saviors here you're also dreaming, because Trump may find some ruse to lock them up too.

According to the 9/11 Commission Report (p. 326; cf. p. 38), "Contingency plans for the continuity of government" were implemented on September 11, 2001. Those suspicious of what COG means today have pointed to a number of post 9/11 steps to facilitate the implementation of martial law, including the creation of a new military command (NORTHCOM) for the continental United States. They note also Homeland Security’s strategic plan “Endgame”, whose stated goal is the creation of detention camps designed to "remove all removable aliens," including "potential terrorists."
Even worse, later mutations of COG under the Bushites  equated political dissent with treason. In regard to the last, the definition of "terrorist" was expanded to "domestic terrorist" by congress in 2001, to include:

"…activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States"

According to the ACLU, “this definition is broad enough to encompass the activities of…prominent activists, campaigns and organizations.”    It could also include opposition politicians, representatives if their words are interpreted as "sedition" - say under a new GOP-Trump passed law. Again, if this transpires the Constitution will become "just a piece of paper" as John McCloy once described it when he approved internment camps for Japanese Americans.

Clearly most COG plans are shrouded in extreme secrecy, effectively unregulated by Congress or the courts. But what ought to get the hackles of any sentient American up is their potential to be yoked to an overreaching surveillance state.  All this is within Trump's purview, authoritarian that he clearly is.

Those who understand history and especially those who take George Santayana's quote seriously:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. "

know it is stupid to dismiss Trump as just another clown. No, once he has the power of the office - and allies in his cabinet and congress- he becomes much more. He becomes a massive threat to every principle this nation holds dear.  Those convinced the constitution will protect them may want to do more research into the continuity of government process as well as elimination of habeas corpus via the Military Commissions Act.

Once this narcissist authoritarian assumes office, there is no way his enormous ego will allow him to accept people want him gone, even in an election.  And if (by his own words) he wouldn't accept the results of an election in this cycle, what makes you believe he'd accept them in a future one?  A paranoid who is indispensable in his own mind is a dangerous leader indeed. Ask the Germans!

See also:

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/stephen-pizzo/70079/time-to-chose-american-or-vichy-american


Excerpt:

"Now, having spent a big chunk of my adult life as a journalist, I am familiar with the sin of hyperbole, so I don’t write this with a careless hand. But everything I have seen and heard to date about Trump and those he is surrounding himself with, I am quite certain we Americans face a choice not entirely dissimilar to what the French faced in 1940. And that the time has arrived for every American to make a choice: America, or Vichy-America?

Whether you make that choice explicitly or by inaction, that choice will be the most important decision you will make as a citizen and person. It will mark, forever, exactly who you are."

And:

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/bruce-ticker/70063/that-scary-hidden-agenda

Alex Jones: A Conspiracy Clown? His Show Could Also Be An Ongoing POE

Did you hear that Infowars' Alex Jones' latest "conspiracy"  brain fart is that Obama and Hillary are both "demon possessed"?  Obama because it has been noted "how many flies stick around his face even indoors".    More on this in a bit, but first let's get some overall perspective on conspiracy, in particular the difference between conspiracy theorists and conspiracy analysts. These as separate from the unique category of bat shit crazy,  conspiracy looneytune rambling as exemplified by Jones' rants on his radio show.

In a previous blog post I noted Barbadian psychologist Pat Bannister's categorization of those who invoke conspiracies and how she differentiated them. As part of her construction of a theory of mind, specifically showing the role of lying in young children, she also noted adeptness at detecting lies was linked to accurate detection of real conspiracies.

Bannister  published papers, mainly appearing in university symposiums, showing that conspiracy investigation arose as an evolutionary adaptation to the (earlier evolved) ability to lie. In her conception, if conspiracy is among the most sophisticated forms of lying (entailing misdirecting actions as well as words)  then an evolutionary  "equalizer" was needed in order to expose it so this advanced lying would not be to the total future detriment of a tribe, community or nation.

Think of it: effective conspiracy (a surreptitious plan to alter outside events to a group's advantage)  is not merely a simple matter of bending the truth, but bending it - usually in an extended manner over time - to achieve a specific end or manifestation in the real world. It requires not only the awareness of what's in the minds of those one conspires against and those who might try to detect the plan, but also predicting in advance how they might act or respond to prevent the conspiracy from being executed in the first place. And also predicting how future inquirers might be impeded from exposing it decades later.

Thus, as Bannister pointed out in a 1972 UWI  symposium, the Kennedy assassination conspirators would have to know not only how the normal law enforcement structure would respond, but also the official  paraphernalia needed to misdirect it in the case of an accidental encounter while the plot was unfolding. (Thus, years later, with the publication of Abraham Bolden's 'The Echo From Dealey Plaza', we learned about the role of the stolen Secret Service Commission books, and the crucial role they played in misdirecting authorities from the actual plan, locations of the real assassins.)

The conspirators would also have to be able to predict where the biggest potential threats might lurk, odd citizens with movie cameras (like Abraham Zapruder and Orville Nix) or with still cameras (like Mary Moorman). Thus, they had to have special teams ready to confiscate them.  The greatest level of forward planning and cognition was reserved for the autopsy - which had to be carried out in a secure venue under full government control (not Dallas' Parkland Hospital) so that the actual entry and egress points for the bullets could be manipulated as well as x-rays, regular photographs.

In other words, in concert it amounted to one of the most sophisticated lies in history, fooling a generation almost totally (other than a few original skeptics like Mark Lane) until at least the JFK Records Act required long stored documents, files be released to the public..  Bannister didn't accept any of this was hopeless, and whatever the conspiracy,  there would always be 'x' other minds capable of detecting its mechanisms ex post facto from clues that the conspirators left behind. (They would not able to erase everything, after all, though this did not - as she emphasized - mean any future prosecutions, i.e. for which a chief executive might be involved and able to oversee the investigation that ensued- like LBJ in the Kennedy case.)

In Bannister's mode of thought then, the conspiracy alert sounder had to possess a theory of mind at least equal to the conspiracy planner's, certainly in finally exposing it.  Yes, there could be missteps - especially given the conspiracy planning side would inevitably add further layers of lies ex post facto to throw off conspiracy investigators. These would be in the form of misinformation and disinformation (e.g. inventing whacky conspiracy theories to circulate and get many to bite then ridicule them as 'buff-based') or simply ridiculing any person that even conceives of conspiracy - no matter how well -versed or grounded the formulation is.

It was basically a race between successful gaming of the public via actual conspiratorial  actions (in cover ups)  and exposing it at a deeper cognitive level by those with conspiracy awareness.

Given Prof. Bannister's theory of mind, conspiracy awareness leading to rational investigation and coherent research, would be a natural response to this mammoth lie, and it has been. This has led to the implication of the CIA in the Kennedy killing, under the direction of Allen Dulles as well as William Harvey, via the Staff D operation discussed at length by researcher Peter Dale Scott. (See also David Talbot's recent book, 'The Devil's Chessboard'.)

Bannister coined the term "conspiracy culture" to distinguish it from "conspiracy research community". The latter she envisaged as the province of mature, rational adults. The former was the realm of adult children who fancied themselves adults but who really weren't.   More technically, these regressed people could be called conspiracy theorists as opposed to conspiracy analysts - say like Mark Lane, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/05/rip-mark-lane-one-of-earliest-jfk.html

The main difference is that the conspiracy theorist puts forward conspiracies but doesn't advance adequate evidence or documents in support of them. For example, the lot who claim no men actually landed on the Moon and it was all filmed on a Hollywood lot.  This, despite the fact we can actually use lunar ranging instruments - planted by Apollo astronauts, to make incredibly accurate measurements of lunar distance. (Including being able to predict the Moon's closest approach at perigee on Nov. 14th)

But if Dr. Bannister were alive today I warrant she'd also include another more debased category, the conspiracy clown. This is a person who not only lacks evidence for his claims, but who makes them in contradiction to all logic, mental coherence and existing documents.  A perfect example is Donald J. Trump, who advanced the absurd notion that Ted Cruz' father was involved in the JFK assassination, e.g.

http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2016/05/did-rafael-cruz-help-lee-oswald-kill.html


This jabberwocky doesn't even meet the minimum standard of a "theory" - by which I actually mean speculation without adequate evidence to support a firm claim. But I wouldn't even dignify Jones piffle as partially-informed speculation. It is rather clownish, Bozo-level blather designed to emotionally appall and enrage his Infowars' groupies and fan boys, girls.

In like manner one can regard most of the nonsense recited by Alex Jones at his "Info Wars" site as disingenuous balderdash more fit for a consumption and circulation by a conspiracy clown than either a theorist or analyst. For example, his off the wall bunkum that the Sandy Hook/Newtown massacre was a federal "false flag" operation. Those kids weren't really slain, they were merely actors- as well as the teachers- in an elaborate script to befuddle the public and make them demand gun confiscation across the land.

Trump also echoes some of Jones' clown conspiracies, including (now -as reported in the Washington Post) that he is the victim of a "global power structure" trying to take him down. This idiocy also factors into other regurgitated nutso crap such as the power structure being mainly staffed by an esoteric bunch of power mongers known as the ....wait for it...."Illuminati".

Again, using Bannister's standard, do Jones or Trump display a theory of mind at least equal to the conspiracy planners that they ramble on about? Hardly, it's more unhinged lunacy, especially Jones' recent whackadoodle nonsense about Obama and Hillary being "demon possessed". This lunatic actually said: "There are dozens of videos and photos of Obama having flies land on him, indoors at all times of the year. He could be next to a hundred people and no one else has flies on them. And people think he is demon possessed, I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, okay?"

Seriously? This crackpot actually believes this bilge?  This puts him not in the league of any sincere conspiracy theorists even, but with the whackadoodle lot that buy into the bare bullshit like the Sandy Hook massacre being a false flag for the feds to seize guns.   It even raises the potential for Jones' site to be the manifestation of a "Poe" for conspiracy, i.e. an ongoing parody of all conspiracies.

To paraphrase part of the definition of Poe from Wikipedia:

"Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is utterly impossible to parody a Conspiracist in such a way that someone won't mistake it for the genuine article.

And subsequently (ibid.):

However, the usage of the law has grown, and now the term "Poe" is almost synonymous with any parody on the internet. "

So are all of Jones' bilious effusions on this, that and the other merely manifestations of parodies, maybe of himself? Who knows? Only Alex can answer that.

It even pains me to say that trash mongers like Jones, because they are correct in at least one conspiracy  identification (the JFK assassination, though he muddles the agents, bases), unfortunately tar it with their other lunatic conspiracies. Of course, this should not happen, because a serious thinker takes each case on its merits - and does not reject a conspiracy hypothesis merely because one advocate is himself bonkers.

The reason a crackpot (or Poe guy) like Jones ought to be on people's radar now is because he isn't just bloviating hot air conspiracy bunkum on his 'Infowars' site. No, he's announced a contest offering $1,000 to anyone who can get an Infowars "Bill Clinton Rape" shirt on television for at least five seconds.  Or  a $5,000  award is earmarked for anyone who can be vocally heard saying "Bill Clinton is a rapist" while wearing the shirt.

In other words, Jones is no longer content to spout deranged piffle, he is now attempting to project his crap into the election cycle. To do this he depends on gullible bozos who don't understand Bill Clinton is not running for President.  (Ok, they are trying to tar Hillary by association using these pathetic displays, but the problem is Trump's own deranged sexual groping and molesting acts have basically "trumped" all of their efforts).

Jones would be better served to continue to produce conspiracy Poes, errr...parodies.