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| Mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, philosopher Blaise Pascal (1626-1662) |
I didn't watch all of FBI Director James Comey's March 20, 2017 testimony on Capitol Hill. Of course, I've seen snippets of video and the screeching headlines.
Is THIS accurate?
FBI’s Comey Doesn’t Deny the FBI Is Wiretapping Trump: 'I just can’t talk about anything that relates to the FISA process in an open setting’Read the rest HERE.
The FBI is leaving open the possibility it sought -- and perhaps attained -- a wiretap of Donald Trump's communications.
When addressing the controversy over whether the Trump Tower was wiretapped during the Obama Administration, the FBI director, James Comey, tread carefully, acknowledging there is an investigation into Donald Trump's campaign's communications with Russia, but said there is "no evidence" to support Trump's tweets exactly as written.
Comey notably left open the possibility that it had, or still is, monitoring Trump communications.
When asked whether the FBI sought a FISA court warrant to wiretap Trump's team, Comey simply said he cannot comment on anything FISA related.
Here's an excerpt from Comey's question and answer session with Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.):...
Another question: What facts were presented in Comey's testimony?
Circa News reporter commenting on Comey's testimony:
It really doesn't matter what's accurate anymore, as far as the electorate is concerned.....political partisanship negates critical thought and honesty.
ReplyDelete- CI
CI,
DeleteMostly.
But some of us are not enslaved by partisanship. I, for one, want to know the truth.
The truth might involve establishing how an unvetted hologram could become President of the United States of America and be so utterly protected by the media who today seems hell-bent on destroying the next President and involving the country and the world in a conflagration with Russia, a country that would have much more in common with us than Sunni Muslims from Saudi Arabia.
DeleteAnd how could we expect any positive outcomes when the previous director was a convert to Wahhabist Sunni Islam? Sound more like a case of treason than an honest inquiry into what really happened.
AOW - But clearly some are.
DeleteAlso lost in this turnabout anger at Comey, is that he sat on the revelation of an ongoing CI investigation from last June....as opposed to his release of the Clinton investigation...during the campaign.
- CI
With some much of the mind-bending-media effort focused on Donald Trump's connection to Russia, will the truth ever be established? I don't believe that Russia poses the immediate threat to world peace as the pedo-political American establishment.
ReplyDeleteAnd it is the deflection from the reality of what lies at the bottom of the political swamp in Washington. Donald Trump has surrounded himself with political "lifers" who have attended the trough and are beholden to the snakes that live in that swamp as well.
As President Obama was protected by a compliant media that any question raised about his past was labeled "truther conspiracy" and the onus placed upon those who had the temerity to raise any questions to sit down and shut up or be marginalized by those same media manipulators who today want to remove Donald Trump from the political stage.
I've considered Judge Napolitano long to be a voice of common sense on FoxNews. Now apparently Judge Napolitano has been suspended or fired for his revelation that American national security was handed off to a British security division GCHQ regarding the "connections" between Donald Trump and the Russians.
ReplyDeleteSo much for American freedom of the press, I guess.
Free market decision. Napolitano spoke on behalf of Fox News, but without their consent regarding the message. The Judge ran with an unfounded assertion first proffered on a competing network. That's how life works in a corporation.
Delete- CI
That British / American intel swap has been going on since the 1970s (at least) particularly since the IRA terrorism days. America doesn't have to spy on an American, they ask the Brits to do it in exchange for spying on a Brit for them. I thought everybody knew that.
DeleteSo in the land of the free and the home of the brave a "free market" demands that an employee must submit for approval of the censor any public statement?
DeleteThere ain't no free market when at the center of that "free market" sits a private central bank creating debt, printing money and shackling the population to pay for this phony debt.
That British / American intel swap has been going on since the 1970s (at least) particularly since the IRA terrorism days. America doesn't have to spy on an American, they ask the Brits to do it in exchange for spying on a Brit for them. I thought everybody knew that.
DeleteWaylon - Do you believe that a company should not have the right of recourse, when an employee makes a statement that damages it's corporate brand?
DeleteThis is the same sort of projected 'rights' logic that lead the Left to think mandated healthcare and warm fuzzy feelings are Constitutional.
TC - You're waaaay off base.
- CI
Yes a company should have the right of recourse but to be terminated for violating what may be termed censorship rules in a business that is mostly news and opinion seems a bit extreme, no?
DeleteIf termination, yes. But if suspension, no. It shouldn't be lost that such an assertion, seized upon by POTUS...is inherently damaging to the strongest partnerships we have in the world, and our staunchest ally in the fight against Islamic terrorism. I wouldn't want to be the corporation that tarnished that, for specious allegations.
Delete- CI
CI, I'm am not sure who would be "our staunchest ally in the fight against Islamic terrorism". Would it be different today under a Trump administration than under the previous Obama administration?
DeleteRussia has been invited into Syria to assist Assad and Syria fight against the terror that they experience daily. Apparently the Obama administration armed groups fighting against Assad (elected by the Syrians, btw)who are regarded as terrorists by those who have experience with them in Syria.
It's important to be clear about enemies and terrorism today.
Britain has been our strongest partner since WWII, and remains so today. It's mutually beneficial in ways the public cannot begin to understand. Barring any series of unfortunate events, this partnership will remain as such through this Administration.
DeleteI don't favor arming Syrian Opposition Groups [as many Republicans in Congress did], but Russia spends more time and effort fighting against the SDF than against ISIS......so who's our tangible threat?
- CI
Well I admit that when I hear the "British sounding voices" on the air today it's like fingernails on a chalkboard for the most part. And they have been involved in many ways secretly even going back to WWII to involve America in the war and "assist" in establishing a secret service (Mr. Intrepid), a Canadian by birth actually who trained William Donovan.
DeleteSo I'd say I', less of a fan of the British than you.
Russia and Putin are likely more representative of western values than either America of Britain today. He's more Czarist than communist. The opposite of the west today.
Admittedly, I'm a bit of an Anglophile, probably because I've served with them, off and on, for years....and I have an intimate understanding of our security partnership.
DeleteBut I disagree where it concerns Putin and Russia. I don't regard an opposition to democracy, free press and the sovereignty of neighboring States to be western values. They are not our friends.
- CI
Thought Criminal,
DeleteDo you have any links for that?
AOW,
DeleteYup.
Thought Criminal,
DeleteI've heard of ECHELON, but don't know any details.
Judging by the wiki references, it's fascinating how credible "liberal" media outlets suddenly become, when it assists an agenda.
DeleteWhat the page doesn't divulge of course, are the onerous intelligent oversight restrictions that prevent such alleged spying (not to mention massive individual culpabiy.
CI,
DeleteWhat about the outgoing links? Are they in error?
This one, for example:
DeleteExperts say US spy alliance will survive Snowden (Associated Press, 2015)
we spy on them and...
Deletethey spy on us.
And no "laws" are broken.
AOW - the AP piece wasn't as bad as the Guardian articles. But it makes no matter.... can't really debate the veracity of media reporting of the IC. They don't know what they don't know.
DeleteI watched it. The whole thing. It is what retired people do to amuse themselves on a given day. Little covered is how Comey knows exactly how Putin thinks about the election. Who Putin.wanted to win, who he wanted to lose. Its amazing. Yet it was Clinton who sold us and her soul along with her henchman Podesta 30 pieces of silver for 20 percent of our Uranium, Podesta gave thousands of dollars worth of the Russian stock that made this gain to his daughter. But that is of no value to investigate.
ReplyDelete"March 20, 2017: Listening today to the broadcast of testimony by FBI Director Comey and National Security Agency Director Admiral Michael Rogers before the House Intelligence Committee (an oxymoron) made it clear that the Democrats, Comey, and Rogers intend conflict with Russia.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans, for the most part, were interested to know how security leaks targeted at Trump Republicans came from meetings at which only the CIA Director, NSA Director, and FBI director were present. Of course, they did not get an answer, which shows how powerless congressional oversight committees are. Comey repeatedly said that he could not tell the committee anything, because it would confirm that a press leak was true. But, he said, speaking generally and of no specific leak, most leaks come from “someone who heard something” and passes it on to the media, which also explains the inaccuracy of some leaks. In other words, don’t blame us.
The Democrats were out in force to demonize Russia, Putin, and everyone, especially Trump Republicans, who speaks to a Russian even if the person is still a private citizen, as was Gen. Flynn when he recommended to the Russian ambassador that Russia not respond in kind to President Obama’s expulsion of Russian diplomats over Christmas. The Democrats bestowed yet another demonic title on Putin. In addition to being “the new Hitler,” a “thug,” and a “Mafia don,” today Putin became a “tarantula in the center of the spy web.”
The Democrats’ position was that Flynn, by discouraging a Russian tit for tat, had interfered with the Obama regime’s policy of worsening relations between the US and Russia. Some Democrats saw this as treason. Others saw it as proof that Flynn and Trump are in Putin’s pocket, and still others see it as even worse.
Waylon,
DeleteInteresting link! Especially the next-to-last paragraph.
This sonnet was penned twenty years ago in reference to the Clintons‘ Whitewater woes, but I see now that the basic sentiments apply to the way politics is conducted all the time. Proof once more that "The more things change, the more they remain the same.” - FT
ReplyDelete_____ Sail On, O Ship of State ______
What the truth might be no one can find.
Hopeless is the quest on either side
Invested as they are in staying blind
To anything that points to Power denied.
Entrenched in battle lines made to endure,
Weapons drawn and ready to attack.
A motivating force that’s quite impure
Twists logic into seeing white as black.
Examining our leaders’ feet of clay
Removes us from confronting our own flaws,
While they decisive action can delay
On how to rid the Nation’s Face of yaws.
Electing pugilists who throw the fight
Scorches angels’ wings, yet sheds no light.
~ FreeThinke - The Sandpiper, Summer 1997
Hopefully, the truth will set you free and you will recognize it when you see it, FT.
DeleteFT,
Delete"The more things change, the more they stay the same."
Hasn't Judge Napolitano been suspended from Fox News before? I seem to recall that he disappeared for a while, but I can't remember when or why.
ReplyDeleteYES. He had his own show at FOX fo a while a few years ago, but was abruptly "fired" then, because he had a disturbing habit of TELLING the TRUTH when the TRUTH was at odds with his "bosses'" desired narrative.
DeleteThe same thung happened ti Mchael Savage in my area. His show was TAKEN OFF the AIR, and made cmpletely UNAVAILABLE, because he TOO told the TRUTH in ways too direct, too passiinate and too forthright forf the taste of the pusiillanimous "snowflakes" who make up the RINO and faux-conservative elements.
You lnow how politicians operate: When the TRUTH doesn't suit their aims, they loudly proclaim it a LIE –– over and over and over and over and over and over and over again..
I got home a little while ago and have been checking headlines. I found this: It Took a Freshman GOP Congresswoman To Pull The Mask From FBI Director Comey.
ReplyDeleteTwo paragraphs therefrom:
There is only one reasonable explanation for FBI Director James Comey to be launching a counter-intel investigation in July 2016, notifying the White House and Clapper, and keeping it under wraps from congress. Comey was a participant in the intelligence gathering for political purposes – wittingly, or unwittingly.
As a direct consequence of this mid-thought-stream Comey obfuscation, it is now clear -at least to me- that Director Comey was using his office as a facilitating conduit for the political purposes of the Obama White House.
Much more at the link.
“Let me tell you: You take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you. For a practical, supposedly hard-nosed businessman, he’s being really dumb to do this.” -- Schmucky Schumer
ReplyDeleteThe truth? What's that got to do with what's going on in the District of Criminals?
There's so many layers and angles to this, we'll never unravel it. Of course the government spies on us, and of course nefarious weasels use those overwhelming government powers to punish their enemies.
Step one on the road to sanity is abolish the amateur deadly clown show known as the CIA. Their history is a sad catalog of serial deadly screw-ups.
The latest theft of their hacking tools and disclosure of methods is just the tip of the iceberg, and it was expected. Nobody in the CIA is smart enough to build and use that stuff, so they have to contract it out.
Our government is a stupid, staggering stew bum who was once rich and handsome, but cooked his brains on the drugs of money and power.
Slash the intelligence budget by 90%, threaten anyone who even thinks of spying on Americans with the death penalty, then see who sticks around and still want the job.
We live in a police state, and worse, they attack the rest of the world, so we have no friends left.
The 4th Amendment is dead. The quaint constitutional notion of a president procuring approval of congress before attacking other countries is dead on the roadside.
The Federal Government now routinely steals from us and lies to us with impunity.
What the hell do you think now stands between you and the Federal Government robbing you, you taking you down, jailing you, or even killing you and your family?
It's a serious question, folks.
http://reason.com/archives/2015/01/06/abolish-the-intelligence-industrial-comp
Hey! Where's the Beantown Flatulator?
ReplyDeleteStill in Beantown watching Sergei Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky? I don't think he was comfortable with sound.
DeleteI prefer to wait a while till this all shakes out before drawing a conclusion.
It's such fun singing Songs of Doom
ReplyDeleteEach day right here in Romper Room
Intoxicating more than Meth
Is the foetid Breath of Death.
'Tis wondrous to behold the Sighs
Accompanying our Demise!
Gabbling here in Romper Room
Makes joy in contemplating Doom!
More fun even than coition
Is the constant opposition!
Harmony is oh-so boring
And would doubtless see us snoring!
~ Anne Imus in Mourning
The singing of Songs of Doom has been ongoing since time immemorial. Often warranted because of the state of mankind.
DeleteI'm not sure that harmony is boring, but it seems to be human nature not to prioritize harmony.
Yes. A conditon I believe God put us intothis world t fight against with all our might.
Delete"Be not overcome by evil, but instead overcome evil with good."
Fight the good fight With all thy might;
Christ is thy Strength and Christ thy Right.
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.
Run the straight race Thro' God's good grace;
Lift up thine eyes and seek His face.
Life with its way before us lies;
Christ is the Path and Christ the Prize.
Cast care aside; Upon thy Guide
Lean, and His mercy will provide;
Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its Life and Christ its Love.
Faint not nor fear, His arms are near;
He changeth not, and thou art dear.
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is All in all to thee.
Text: 1 Timothy 6:12
Author: John S.B. Monsell, 1863
And we must Fight the good fight. Bitch and stitch is not, of course, fighting the good fight.
DeleteAMEN, Sister! AMEN! ;-)
DeleteFYI
ReplyDeleteThersites,
DeleteYep. Lot of attempts to distract from those uncomfortable FACTS.
And Americans snooze on. Damn discouraging.