August 07, 2016

Trump-Putin Relationship Gets Increasing Scrutiny | Ex CIA Director Endorses Clinton

August 07, 2016/ Anne Enke

Donald Trump: In Your Heart You Know He's Nuts The Daily Beast

This is a remarkable article in its analysis and assertions. I don't know that Trump is nuts. But I definitely know that he does not have a personality, nor does he exhibit traits of an ability to govern or stay calm, deliberate and focused under pressure.

I Ran the CIA. Now I'm Endorsing Hillary Clinton New York Times

In his career, this is the first time former CIA director, Michael Morell, has endorsed a candidate for president. That's saying something about what's at-stake this year. It's informative for the high marks he gives Clinton on experience, thoughtfulness, the ability to accept new information as conditions warrant and to change her view. But, it is eye-popping for the devastating profile he paints of Donald Trump as an unwitting Russian agent! O

Senior ex-CIA official: Putin made Trump 'an unwitting agent' of Russia Reuters

Is Donald Trump a danger to national security because Vladimir Putin has played him? Considering that Trump is now supporting positions favorable to Russia and has been consistently lavish in his praise of the former Russian KGB heavy weight, it's very possible that President Vladimir Putin has made the Republican presidential candidate an "unwitting agent" of Russia Michael Morell, a longtime CIA officer and former deputy director of the agency, said in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

"In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin had recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation," Morell wrote without providing evidence for his argument. Still, we must ask if -- given his narcissistic personality -- Trump's ego makes him vulnerable to exactly what so many of us fear. Basking in the glow of Trump's perception that Putin believes he is a genius -- which the whole world has observed for months now because Trump can't stop telling us -- has the Orange Mophead responded exactly as Mr. Putin calculated he would.

How Trump Adviser Stone Became Washington's Sleasiest Political Officer Slate

Slate's chairman and editor-in-chief-Jacob Weisberg revists a piece he wrote about Trump surrogate Roger Stone 30 years ago. He recalls reporting then that Stone was less power player than con artist.

"After my story came out, Stone claimed it was good for his business. I don’t think it was. After Jack Kemp dropped out of the 1988 presidential race, his only nationally known client was Arlen Specter, the late Pennsylvania senator. He would emerge every so often at the center of some bizarre gambit or scandal, advising Al Sharpton on a presidential run, leaving abusive voicemails for Eliot Spitzer’s father, proposing to run for governor of Florida on a platform of legalizing marijuana, or publishing preposterous conspiracy books charging LBJ with masterminding John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Showing off his Nixon tattoo and giving interviews in Miami sex clubs, he was the definition of a marginal political figure.

Another seemingly marginal political figure has brought him back to prominence. Stone has had a long relationship with Donald Trump going back to their mutual friendship with Roy Cohn in the 1980s. For many years, Stone was a lobbyist for Trump’s casino business. He was also the perennial leader of the “Draft Trump” campaign—the person who encouraged Trump’s birther obsession and finally got Trump to run this year."

In August 2015, Stone either quit or was fired from Trump’s campaign. Nonetheless, he remains a Trump surrogate and dirt-dealer, most recently smearing Khizr Khan as a terrorist and predicting a “bloodbath” if the Democrats try to “steal” the election. Thirty years ago, I called him the state-of-the-art political sleazeball. And I’ve got to hand it to him—in the years since, no one has come close to taking that title away from him."

Kaine accuses Trump of history of racism Politico

Tim Kaine showed up to address the National Urban League. Donald Trump’s campaign didn’t. Kaine drew very strong contrast between his own history with African Americans and that of Donald Trump.

“Around the time my father-in-law desegregated Virginia’s schools,” Kaine said, “the Justice Department had filed suit after Donald Trump and his father were refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans. It was one of the largest federal cases of its kind at the time.”

Hillary Clinton Headlines Aug. 6, 2016

Longtime Bernie Sanders supporter Tulsi Gabbard endorses Hillary Clinton for President Mauitime

Sanders chief meets with new DNC chair Politico

Clinton camp confronts Trump's Rust Belt strategy Politico

How Hillary Clinton Seized the Center Without Pivoting New York Magazine

Voting Like a Woman by Connie Schultz Creators

Scam Alert: Donald Trump's Website Won't Let You Cancel Recurring Donations Slate

Bernie Sanders: I support Hillary Clinton. So should everyone who voted for me LA Times

This Is a Jobs Report That Democrats Can Boast About New York Times

Trump properties losing visitors during campaign USA Today

August 04, 2016

Tammy Duckworth Sets Trump Straight on Purple Heart As She Runs For Illinois Senate Seat

August 04, 2016/ Anne Enke

Tammy Duckworth explains the value of a Purple Heart Daily Kos

I earned a Purple Heart in combat and I know many others who have as well. It's not something anyone "wanted to get." We earned them because our country asked us to.

It's no surprise Donald Trump accepted a Purple Heart the "easier" way today because that's the story of his life. He never sacrifices. He always has things handed to him. […]

He claimed that his expensive military prep school experience was akin to actual military service. He denigrated Senator John McCain's service as a prisoner of war. And just this week, he attacked Gold Star parents Khizr and Ghazala Khan.

Note: Illinois Dem. Rep Tammy Duckworth is running a strong race to unseat Rep. Sen. Mark Kirk, and we strongly support her as a new lady face in the US Senate.

Trump's Nuclear Nightmare Politico

Want to create a 'mushroom cloud' of anxiety among intelligent people engaged in political dialogue? Ask yourself if Donald Trump should have access to the nuclear button.

Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” said on his show Wednesday that Trump had asked an unnamed foreign policy expert at least three times why the U.S. can’t use its nuclear weapons.

Melanie Trump Immigration Issues

Gaps in Melania Trump's immigration story raises questions Politico

Melania Trump is again under scrutiny as a result of explosive nude photos of her purchased by Rupert Murdoch's New York Post. Note that we have not shared those images or the link.

Trump's personal/business website has already been taken down as lies about Melania's history -- in particular her lack of a college degree, as she promoted. But these new allegations about Melania Trump's immigration history suggest a far more serious storm brewing.

At issue is which visa Melania Trump was issued when she entered the US. Trump and his wife have said that she held an H-1B visa at all times when she was in New York. If true, she would not have left the US regularly, returning home to Slovenia. Her stay in the US would have been three years, renewable up to six years. I had staff members at Victoria's Secret who were in the country on H-1B visas.

Politico writes that her description of returning to Europe for periodic renewals of her visa are consistent with an individual traveling on a B-1 Temporary Business Visitor or B-2 Tourist Visa, which typically lasts only up to six months and does not permit employment. If so, Melania Trump would have broken the law with her photo shoot.

I will add that with all the talk of Melania being a big-time model, there is no evidence of that fact that is obvious in either a Google search or my own personal recollections. She certainly was never on our roster at Victoria's Secret as a model we would use. If she was a successful model, what agency represented her? Time to check. ~ Anne

Billionaire Klarman slams Trump, vows to work for Clinton Reuters

Another (mostly) Republican big bucks, billionaire donor Seth Klarman got behind Hillary today, strictly out of concern over Donald Trump.

"His words and actions over the last several days are so shockingly unacceptable in our diverse and democratic society that it is simply unthinkable that Donald Trump could become our president," Klarman said about the Republican presidential nominee.

Klarman, the biggest donor in New England and president and chief executive of The Baupost Group told Reuters in an emailed statement that Trump's suggestion "that the election will be rigged is particularly dangerous."

"I will continue to find ways to support Hillary Clinton and defeat Donald Trump,” he said."

Hillary Risks Iowa

Clinton Campaign Studying Alternative To US Ethanol Mandate Reuters

As environmentalists have an "on s**t" moment over their Renewable Fuel Standard legislation created in 2005. the Clinton campaign has reached out to the state of Calif for input on how to revamp the federal regulation mandating that biofuels like corn-based ethanol be blended into the nation's gasoline supply.

For those who say Hillary Clinton flipflops on green issues, the very request could cost her swing-state Iowa. While Iowa farmers have gotten very fat on the ethanol legislation, the greens now have their heads in their hands over the realization that their hatred for oil has created a situation in which carbon dioxide emissions and reduced wildlife habitats -- coupled with the loss of America's prairies and higher food prices -- have created an environmental situation worse than the problem greens set out to solve.

California operates on the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which gives states more latitude in how they reach national fuel standards.