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Thursday, October 19, 2017

Corruption — On Steroids

With thanks to Silverfiddle for the two links below:

1.  FBI uncovered Russian bribery plot before Obama administration approved controversial nuclear deal with Moscow

2.  Senate Judiciary opens probe into Obama-era Russian nuclear bribery case

Important reminder:

75 comments:

  1. This is an old story, but its broken out now into the MSM...

    So far, the verifies "Russian involvement" has been with Democrats: E-mail hacking, Uranium deal (and the corruption behind it), and the golden shower dossier.

    What else are the corrupt Dems hiding? Mueller's investigation may end up with a few unpleasant surprises for Democrats

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SF,
      its broken out now into the MSM

      Really? I haven't recently heard or read anything about this in the MSM.

      I admit that I've been inordinately busy since The Merry Widow left a few weeks ago.

      Delete
    2. Add that barely making a ripple on the Main stream bloggers. Drudge not caring much about it. Maybe when this new reveal of the witness silenced by Lynch more. I am starting to think that Sessions is in on the fix. He is going to let Rosenstein decide if he should recuse himself?

      Delete
    3. I consider The Hill(ary) part of the MSM.

      People in the FBI and Justice know the details of all of Obama admin dirty dealings, and leadership is stonewalling requests for them to testify.

      It's looking like it may all come out. Some Trump campaign people may go down, but don't be surprised to see some Obama minions caught in the dragnet.

      Delete
    4. SF,
      It's looking like it may all come out.

      From your comment to God's ear!

      Delete
    5. Bunkerville,
      Add that barely making a ripple on the Main stream bloggers. Drudge not caring much about it.

      I noticed! WTH?

      Delete
    6. @ AOW ... my guess is that he doesn't want to end up dead, as in the two mysterious deaths of two reporters.

      Delete
  2. If true let the unpleasantness flow.

    But perhaps it's Just distraction from important issues.

    We'll soon see. Or, maybe not.

    To say our government is corrupt is to say people are corrupt. It's a bipartisan reality.

    Trump and the present GOP simply have ratcheted it up a notch or two.

    But whose really paying attention? It's more important to belong to a partisan tribe these days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. President Trump has done the following:

      - Ended illegal and unconstitutional subsidies to insurance companies, reversing President Obama's imperious disbursement of taxpayer funds without congressional authorization, despite a federal judge ordering him to stop.

      - Refused to certify Iran's compliance with Obama's cash giveaway deal, that Obama never gave congress a chance to ratify.

      - Ended Obama's imperial and illegal suspension of immigration law, including DACA

      All three of these actions have done something President Obama purposely failed to do: Put them squarely on the Congressional agenda, forcing public debate in the House and Senate.

      A president who follows the letter and spirit of the constitution. How refreshing.

      I remember a time when you Democrats would have cheered such a move.

      Delete
    2. Now it's time for Trump to demand Sessions do his job.
      Prosecute Mueller, Comey, Clintons, Obama.
      Drill baby drill.

      Delete
    3. Ed,
      I'm puzzled as to why Sessions has not moved on those matters.

      Delete
  3. "By that time, the criminal cases against Mikerin had been narrowed to a single charge of money laundering for a scheme that officials admitted stretched from 2004 to 2014. And though agents had evidence of criminal wrongdoing they collected since at least 2009, federal prosecutors only cited in the plea agreement a handful of transactions that occurred in 2011 and 2012, well after the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’s approval.

    The final court case also made no mention of any connection to the influence peddling conversations the FBI undercover informant witnessed about the Russian nuclear officials trying to ingratiate themselves with the Clintons even though agents had gathered documents showing the transmission of millions of dollars from Russia’s nuclear industry to an American entity that had provided assistance to Bill Clinton’s foundation, sources confirmed to The Hill."
    ------------------
    Sounds like The Hill is desperate to resurrect a non story that starts in the Bush administration.
    Its rife with anonymous sources and still doesn't show any Russian "control" of American uranium ore as Grassley contends.

    Hey right winger, look, shiny objects.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Hill must be part of that Vast Rightwing Conspiracy Hillary warned us of...

      Better put an extra layer of tinfoil over your hopiuum bubble, Quackhead

      Delete
  4. I suspect that if Nancy Pelosi walked into Hillary Clinton’s office and shot her to death, it would be another non—story —in the same sense that Benghazi was one of those ‘nothing to see here, folks’ responses from the left. We may refer to this sort of behavior as clinically delusional, but at least we can say that the apologists on the left are consistent in their mutterings. For me, there is no distinction to be made between a corrupt democrats and republicans. Corruption is a crime against what ought to be a sacred trust —public trust— and whenever these circumstances become known, no matter who may be involved, what must happen is a thorough investigation and, if warranted, a trial. Uncanny how in spite of allegations that the Clinton Foundation reaped millions of dollars in pay-to-play schemes, response from the left is that this is “old news.” It is no wonder our society is so screwed up ... and I am amazed that it isn’t even more so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it's old news. Just like Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi which that tough southern Republican prosecutor, Trey Gowdy (what happened to him), investigated many times and only managed to make a fool of himself.
      The original investigation of the Uranium One sale didn't manage to demonstrate that Clinton played any significant role in the sale or that there was any need to "pay for play". The investigators DID manage to reveal that the Uranium One investors who made the contributions to the Clinton Foundation sold off their holdings years before the sale was made. But don't let the time line trouble you.

      Now we have undocumented claims of Russians funneling contributions to the foundation years after the initial investigation (which uncovered about as much as the Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi investigation) during the Mueller investigation and you're not skeptical?

      Are we better off having the Clintons and the Democratic Leadership Council out of American politics? Yes but the price we've paid is much too high. Keep on harping, though.

      Look right wingers, shiny objects.

      Delete
    2. I am happy to see that Ducky is privy to an investigation that no more than twenty people in our country have had access to. No doubt this insider knowledge allows him to come to such a fair-minded conclusion about corruption in the previous administration. I do seem to recall, however, that he wasn’t quite as fair minded about allegations involving Vice President Cheney and Haliburton/Blackwater. Or maybe Ducky is just a leftist hack with no ability to think outside the box.

      Delete
    3. Duckhead,

      You are the one distracted by shiny objects. Scrape away some of the anti-reality tinfoil from your hopium bubble and tell us if you agree or disagree with this non-partisan statement:

      DC is the world's fattest, riches honeypot of wealth and power. It attracts vampires, parasites, hucksters, rent-seekers and advocates from all corners of the globe and of all ideological stripes.

      DC is cloaked in a cloud of fixers, access vendors and influence peddlers. This was one more deal

      Delete
    4. How much of the world's uranium supply does the twenty percent of American production represent (Hint: You're too high)?
      Yes you believe the Russians were out to control this production which represents a half of one percent of the world supply and would risk an incident to do so. If the deal wouldn't go through do to an American hold up there could easily have been a divestiture of the small amount. Tempest in a teapot.
      So what were the Russians after? Do your own research (Hint: Think Kazakhstan). Just try to make the story line up with common sense.

      As for Cheney and Blackwater, as a military veteran I would expect you to know that mercenaries always disappoint. You whine about what Obama did to the military (posturing) but give the mercenary war profiteers a pass. Swell.

      Hear that sound? It's your corner men yelling, "Stay down."

      Delete
    5. Silverfiddle, take a deep breath and limit the discussion to the Uranium One deal.
      They way it' being handled by Sean Inanity, Breitfart, Faux Snooze and other fake news outlets is designed to give the impression that America has huge proven uranium reserves that are now being shipped to Russia. Nonsense.
      The reserves that Uranium One are mining are in the significant producers, Kazakhstan, Australia, Namibia and Canada. Whatever you think of the sale the American operations were not critical and could have ben divested easily if they became a road block.

      Delete
    6. Then go argue with "Sean Inanity, Breitfart, Faux Snooze and other fake news outlets."

      I'm not their proxy. The deal stinks of official corruption. Obviously, that doesn't bother you when your people profit from it, so I am unable to help you further.

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. Oh by the way, the contributions to the Clinton Foundation came primarily from the wife of the owner after he had sold his stake.

      His wife is a friend of Her Nibs and was onto a good scam with that "film" about child soldiers in Uganda that came out long after the problem was known and ignored and generated a flurry of faux outrage.

      It just gets more tenuous.

      Delete
    9. SF,
      As one who has lived almost her entire 65 years within 10 miles of D.C. and as one whose mother personally knew LBJ (She always said "Lyndon") and knew more about his scheming than I can now relate in detail), and as one whose mother had dinner in the FDR White House more than once, I can vouch for what you typed in.

      Mom said to me over and over again: "Never work for the federal government! A slimy bunch!"

      Delete
    10. It should also be noticed that the bribery accusations involve a uranium trucking firm and not the company sale.

      However, when this all amounts to nothing in the coming months it will remain as fact to the fake news right wing outlets and we will spiral further down the rabbit hole.

      Delete
    11. Silver Fiddle said (I believe to Canardo):

      ,Then go argue with "Sean Inanity, Breitfart, Faux Snooze and other fake news outlets." ... I'm not their proxy."

      Well, old buddy, YOU may not be THEIR proxy, but I assure –– whether you recognize it or not –– that in a ver real sense THEY are YOURS.

      I've often said the same when leftists have accused me of getting all my ideas from Rush Limbaugh.

      "No," I tell them, "it's the other way 'round. RUSH gets most of his ideas from ME –– and the many millions who think and feel as I do,"

      Delete
    12. FT, I understand, but I don't answer for other people. Leftwing stinkbomb throwers like the Beantown Bolshevik will tie you up forever with that futile crap.

      Delete
    13. The real thing you should ask yourself, Mcduck, is that if Benghazi and Uranium One are non-stories, why are Russia-Russia and goldstar mothergate stories? Look liberals.... shiney objects!

      Delete
  5. A clear case of folks seeing and hearing just what they want to. The effect of bias or prejudice we presume.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Giving to a presidential candidate is a form of investment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of sorts. The return on investment generally is not all that robust. Certainty not long term.

      Delete
    2. Not for you or me, but for the rich and well-connected, it can pay off quite handsomely.

      Delete
    3. In politics, it's pay to play -- and has been for nearly as long as I can remember.

      Delete
  7. When someone is let out of Jail or Prison and still have a habit-they will get some and do it all, even if there could have been enough for another time. They have a mindset to get rid of the evidence.
    Emails about yoga class's and weddings, are a forum to pass coded secrete dealings.
    Every one should know about prepositional phrases-right?
    A prepositional phrase is a group of words that lacks either a verb or a subject, and that functions as a unified part of speech. It normally consists of preposition and a noun or a preposition and a pronoun. Remember the following rules for prepositional phrases and you will find that using them becomes much easier.

    If the emails were just about, about yoga and weddings; the perfect forum to say not much of anything,if not then there should not have been a resistance to reveal with the other emails turned over to the investagators-so the prepositional phrase in every sentence could be deciphered would be the proof of dirty dealings or just not so innocent.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations AOW, now you have TWO ASSHOLES here, Ducky, and The Registered Nurse.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Get used to it, our blog our rules.

      We even tolerate anonymous commenters who restate the obvious or create blank accounts.

      Delete
    2. Warren,
      Exactly so.

      But get on my bad side and the offender is deleted on sight -- without the comment even being read.

      Delete
    3. I support AOW and Warren. Progressives like the Beantown Quacker and his ideological confrere Les need to be heard.

      It spices up the thread and puts on display the dogmatic, intellectually-stunted, id-driven propaganda regurgitation that has replaced logical thought on the left.

      Let their comments stand as totems to progressive obscurantism.

      Delete
    4. FreeThinke's ad hominem outbursts are allowed but a progressive would be deleted.
      Enjoy the double standard, FreeThinke (yeah, right).

      Delete
    5. "FreeThinke's ad hominem outbursts are allowed but a progressive would be deleted."

      When were you deleted?

      Delete
    6. SF,
      Thank you.

      Whoever owns the blog makes the rules -- and really should not be criticized and excoriated by commenters who have different rules for their blogs (if any).

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    8. Duck,
      a progressive would be deleted

      THAT is a lie! And you know that it is a lie.

      Tie a can on it, Duck.

      Delete
    9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    10. Duck,
      I and I alone just deleted your comment of 1:12 PM.

      Learn from that. Now.

      Delete
    11. Warren,
      I just closed the option of commenting anonymously. I don't have time to blogsit today.

      Delete
    12. Duck,
      Now hear this: I did not delete you for using an anagram.

      This is the last explanation I will give you. You know what comes next if you persist in that kind of whining.

      Delete
    13. "Congratulations AOW, now you have TWO ASSHOLES here, Ducky, and The Registered Nurse."

      While I don't know who the RN is, I submit that there are more than just the "two" of whence you speak.

      Delete
    14. Nostradumbass, let me explain this to you in an allegory you might possibly understand.

      I had dog that was housebroken. One day the dog crapped on the rug because it was angry. It doesn't matter why the dog was angry, simply put, the dog defied my wishes so I rubbed his nose in it and put him outside. The dog got the message.

      Did you?
      Don't crap on the rug!

      Delete
    15. The preceding section of this thread has been most interesting. Especially Silverfiddle's comment.

      This question crossed my mind, does anyone ever really look at themselves when criticizing others? I say most likely the answer is no because often they are guilty of doing the same. This is especially common on the internet where anonymity reigns supreme.

      Just my two cents worth.

      Delete
    16. If you think I've got a blind spot, point it out. I've been very open over the years to the point where I can honestly call myself a classical liberal--a term that absolutely cannot be applied to leftwing progressives.

      Take if from a true NPR liberal who detests President Trump:

      You're constant carping, whining and shrill alarmism over everything Trump is a Danger to our Democracy.

      Again, I invite you to point out where I might be missing something.

      Delete
    17. I agree Silverfiddle, classical liberalism most definitely cannot be applied to today's progressives.

      Whether you have a blind spot or not is not for me to say old friend. Although I do tend to think everyone has a blind spot on something.

      I find Trump to be a reprehensible human being. He fabricated falsehoods more than ANY prior President during my lifetime. He is a master manipulator and he his driven by his extreme self centeredness. Are these my options? Yes they are, supported by facts.

      Whining? Really? I'm reminded of the 8 years of whining by conservatives when Obama was President. Memories are short and generally what goes around comes around.

      Frankly, life is too short at 65 for this American political winner take all BS Silverfiddle.

      Anyway, nice conversing. Stay well and classically liberal.

      Delete
    18. You are certainly classically liberal, SF. You fall into the same vein as Isaiah Berlin.

      Delete
    19. Thersites, Thank you. I can't begin to try to classify you. You appear to be a polymath and autodidact in the vein of Aldous Huxley

      Delete
  9. To get back to the topic of the thread:

    It appears that CORRUPTION and VENALITY on every conceivable level is now firmly-established as the NORM.


    It may always have been that way to a certain extent, because politics always has been and always will be a dirty business. Even the Founding Fathers, whom I revere, did a LOT of unprincipled mudslinging in the early presidential campaign and elsewhere too no doubt.

    I'll spare you any more of my unwelcome diatribes as to why I believe things are far worse today than ever before –– there's no point in casting any more pearls, where they are not appreciated –– or doing anymore seeds on stony ground –– but I have to ask how could any Nation,State, Society, Culture or Civilization hope to survive when it is almost totally dominated by ENVY, SPITE, MALICE, POOR SPORTSMANSHIP, EXTREME EGOCENTRISM, CEASELESS LAMENTATION, BASE INGRATITUDE, and WORSHIP of THINGS UGLY, CHARMLESS, GROSS, BIZARRE and MEDIOCRE at BEST while openly MOCKING all things FINE and NOBLE?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure these points have been made by many at least as far back as Socrates FreeThinke.

      I have a question, can you name even one great nation state or civilization that remained great and powerful forever?

      Maybe that's just the way it is meant to be. Learning from the mistakes of the past seems rare indeed.

      Delete
    2. "...can you name even one great nation state or civilization that remained great and powerful forever?

      Maybe that's just the way it is meant to be."


      A progressive fillip that justifies their cultural vandalism.

      Delete
    3. Well Silverfiddle, can you answer the question? Or, do you prefer to take every opportunity to evade the question followed by a flippant?

      I'm not justifying a goddamn thing. Actually whenever conservatism or liberalism strays too for right or left the ideology becomes the problem IMNHO. Bathe American left and the American right are on this course, again IMNHO.

      Now Silverfiddle old friend perhaps you could and we my question from your perspective.

      Delete
    4. I don't think there has been a nation established like ours.

      Delete
    5. Les, I took your question to be rhetorical because the answer is obviously, no.

      Your conclusion made me recall the doctor in Camus' The Plague. We are all mortals, but that shouldn't stop heroic efforts to keep someone from losing their life before their time.

      Delete
    6. Agreed!

      My rhetorical question was actually to highlight the obvious answer. 😉

      Delete
  10. If Sessions isn't working on this he needs to be replaced.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kid,
      I feel the same way.

      I'm unable to make excuses for him now. He needs to get the show on the road -- or leave. He's not doing his job!

      Delete
  11. We are observing the "good old boy" network; it is a cross-party infestation. Sessions is looking after his elitist cronies because one day he'll be a former AG and he doesn't want anyone coming after him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BINGO!

      This is common in the third world, new governments going after enemies in prior governments, if they're not in the club.

      The Untied State of Amreeka is there.

      Delete
    2. Mustang,
      I agree about Sessions and his looking out for his elitist cronies. Very 3rd world — as SF mentioned.

      Delete
  12. I found Dubya's recent comments on Trump and "nationalism" quite "enlightening". With the Bush's, as with most of the GOPe, it's always been about the money...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ...and therefore there's no wonder that "corruption" would follow and supplant any traces of what had once been "timocracy" (a system valuing "honor" instead of "money").

      Delete
    2. ps -= Don't bother looking up definitions of "timocracy" in the dictionary. Cuz THAT is how they corrupted its' original "Platonic" meaning.

      Delete
    3. Thersites,
      As far as I can tell, the vast majority of politicians belonging to either of our two major political parties have lost the very concept of "elected public servant."

      Delete

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