Some wag has made a mosaic of Donald Trump out of dick pics. (click for larger pic)
I have been told that no penises were harmed in the making of this picture.
It is an appropriate homage to the patron saint of the bad comb-over.
Category: Donald Trump
Of Course, the Germans Have a Word for It
It means someone who has achieved a measure of accomplishment in their own field, but area complete blithering idiot outside of this narrow area of expertise.
Who epitomizes this word?
Who could it be?
Oh, I dunno, maybe a world renowned neurosurgeon who makes Donald Trump look smart and sane Presidential Candidate by comparison?
It’s not surprising to find a Surgeon in this position.
One of the open secrets of the medical profession is that doctors work with their minds, and surgeons work with their hands.
Former Senate leader Bill Frist is another classic example of this phenomenon.
Surgery is not a “big picture” line of work. You open you fix, you close.
Diagnosis, by contrast is a process by which you take a constellation of sometimes conflicting information, and create a synthesis.
One of these things involves a big picture and critical thinking.
The other is surgery.
Donald Trump is Just F%$#ing with Us Now
Trump defends Islamic head coverings, says women want to wear them: "It's easy—you don’t have to put on makeup.”
https://t.co/tfLYhDv8ir
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 26, 2015
His latest bit, he just said that women might wear burkas because they find makeup too inconvenient:
Trump was speaking about foreign policy, which lead into his critique of anti-Muslim sentiments.
Here are his comments in full:Then I saw women interviewed. They said, ‘We want to wear them. We’ve worn them for a thousand years. Why would anyone tell us not to?’ They want to! What the hell are we getting involved for? Fact it’s easier. You don’t have to put on make-up. Look at how beautiful everyone looks. Wouldn’t it be easier? Right? Wouldn’t that be easy?
Seriously.
The Donald is trolling us, and this is a troll that is more trollish than Goatse. (If you do not know what Goatse is, do not google it. Ever. Trust me on this one.*)
*The same goes for Lemonparty. Do not go there.†
†Of course, if you had a choice between any of these and Donald Trump, any sane person would go with Goatse and Lemonparty, but barring a time machine and an accident involving an ancestor of Donald Trump’s, the best you can do is cut your losses.
I’D Say, “Live in Obedient Fear, Citizen,” but There Is No Such Thing as a British Citizen
Technically, they are all British subjects of the crown, not citizens, and now it looks like the Tories will be seizing the children of parents with unacceptable thoughts:
If there are two edicts I try to follow whenever I’m writing, they are, first, write what is true and, second, avoid cliche at all costs. I bring that up only as a preface before saying the following: the UK is walking down an Orwellian path. It’s nearly the cliche of cliches to say something like this, and yet it happens that the cliche is true. While there is most certainly a real thing known as a threat from Islamic terrorism, there is also such a thing as overreaction. What started as the British government’s attempt to ban extremist thought from social media and television (under the notion that some thoughts are too dangerous to enjoy the freedom that other thoughts deserve) then devolved into the conscripting of teachers that were to be on the lookout for children that might become radicalized. To assist them with this, the government helpfully provided spy-software to use against students. Spy-software which itself was found to be exploitable in the most laughably easy of ways. This employed two of the most horrifying aspects of Orwell’s Oceania: the concept of thought-crime and the employ of citizens to fearfully surveil one another.
And now it seems the UK is going even further, adopting Oceania’s reputation for the swallowing up of citizens should they be found suspect of thought-crime by those watchful citizens. Specifically, the Family Division of the Judiciary has put out a memo declaring exactly how it will remove children from the homes of anyone it suspects might radicalize those children. Here’s a snippet.
Recent months have seen increasing numbers of children cases coming before the Family Division and the Family Court where there are allegations or suspicions: that children, with their parents or on their own, are planning or attempting or being groomed with a view to travel to parts of Syria controlled by the so-called Islamic State; that children have been or are at risk of being radicalised; or that children have been or at are at risk of being involved in terrorist activities either in this country or abroad.Only a local authority can start care proceedings (see section 31(1) of the Children Act 1989 – the police powers are set out in section 46). However, any person with a proper interest in the welfare of a child can start proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction or apply to make a child a ward of court.2 Usually, in cases falling within the description in paragraph 1 above, it will be the local authority which starts proceedings under the inherent jurisdiction or applies to make a child a ward of court, and the court would not expect the police (who have other priorities and responsibilities) to do so. There is, however, no reason why in a case where it seems to the police to be necessary to do so, the police should not start such proceedings for the purposes, for example, of making a child a ward of court, obtaining an injunction to prevent the child travelling abroad, obtaining a passport order, or obtaining a Tipstaff location or collection order. Given the complexities of these cases, I have decided that, for the time being at least, all cases falling within the description in paragraph 1 above are to be heard by High Court Judges of the Family Division.
In other words, the High Court Judges within the Family Division are now tasked with determining whether children will be made wards of the state based solely on suspicions of possible radicalization. Children torn from mothers and fathers in Muslim homes will be subject to the whims and inherently flawed watch of the larger citizenry. A citizenry, mind you, that has had its vigilance unduly ramped up by the government’s past actions and requests. It’s hard to imagine a better recipe for the unfair targeting of Muslim families than this. Unfortunately for all concerned, this same memo imagined just such a recipe, making things even worse.
The UK is beginning to resemble the movie “V”, and a that the local media seems transfixed and appalled by the fact Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t hate poor people for being poor.
There are worse things than having Donald Trump leading the polls, and David Cameron and his evil minions™ is one of them.
Another Benefit to the Libs Winning in the Great White North
It looks like the elections in Canada make it far less likely for there to be any purchases of the F-35:
British Columbia — Canada will see a major shift in defense policy with the election of a new Liberal Party government and its planned withdrawal from the Iraq coalition air campaign and the US-led F-35 program.
Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau promised both during the election campaign leading up to Monday’s vote. Trudeau won a surprise landslide victory, forcing the ruling Conservative Party government into the opposition ranks of the House of Commons.
Trudeau said Tuesday he talked to US President Obama about Canada’s changing role in Iraq and the battle against the Islamic State militant group.
“I committed that we would continue to engage in a responsible way that understands how Canada has a role to play in the fight against ISIL,” Trudeau told journalists in a televised news conference from Ottawa, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group, also known as IS. “But (President Obama) understands the commitments I’ve made around ending the combat mission.”
………
Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said if he was re-elected, he would approve a long-term commitment to the Iraq and Syrian wars.
Although Trudeau intends to end Canada’s role in the bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria, he has promised to boost the number of soldiers available to train Iraqi troops.
………
Trudeau also has promised to move quickly on replacing Canada’s aging fleet of CF-18 fighter aircraft and to pull out of the F-35 program. He said Canada does not need a stealth fighter for its defense needs and that the F-35 is too expensive.
The Liberal Party released its 88-page election platform Oct. 5, which included some details about how it would proceed with replacing the CF-18s. “The primary mission of our fighter aircraft should remain the defence of North America, not stealth first-strike capability,” the platform said. “We will make investing in the Royal Canadian Navy a top priority. By purchasing more affordable alternatives to the F-35s, we will be able to invest in strengthening our Navy.”
………
Alan Williams, who signed the original memorandum that brought Canada into the F-35 program in 1997, said the planned withdrawal from the fighter jet project would be embarrassing for the US.
But he said that Canada has to base its decisions on its own defense needs, and not only on the security and industrial concerns of its allies.
………
The other potential contenders to replace Canada’s CF-18s are the Eurofighter Typhoon, the Dassault Rafale, Boeing’s Super Hornet and Saab’s Gripen.
Williams said holding an open competition for a CF-18 replacement would ensure Canadian aerospace firms have the best chance at obtaining work on such a project.
Trudeau has suggested that the F-35 would not be considered in any competition.
There is an interesting comparison of capabilities at this page, and you will notice that, apart from low observability performance (stealth), the F-35 does not seem to be a particularly good deal:
Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Saab Gripen JAS 39E/F Eurofighter Typhoon Dassault Rafale Boeing F/A-18E/F/G Super Hornet Crew 1 1(E), 2(F) 1 or 2(Trainer) 1(C,M), 2(B) 1(E), 2 (F,G) Engines 1 1 2 2 2 Power 28,000 (43,000 with afterburner) 13,000 (22,000 with afterburner) 26,000 (40,000 with afterburner) 22,500 (34,000 with afterburner) 26,000 (44,000 with afterburner) Thrust-to-weight ratio (with 100% fuel and A2A weapons) 0.87 1.06 1.07 0.99 0.93 Max speed (in mach) 1.6 2 2 1.8 1.8 Supercruise No1 1.2 (with 2 WVR and 2 BVR missiles) 1.3 (with 2 WVR and 4 BVR missiles) 1.4 (with 6 WVR/BVR missiles) No Combat Radius (Air to Air mission) 1,100km (internal fuel only) 1,300km (with centreline 290 gallon tank) 1,389km 1,000+km 1000+km (internal fuel only) Ferry Range (with external tanks) 2,220km (internal fuel only)2 4,000+km 3,790km 3,700+km 3,300km Service ceiling: 60,000ft3 50,000ft4 55,000ft 55,000ft 50,000ft+ Wing loading (lower = better): 91.4lb/ft2 58lb/ft24 64lb/ft2 62.8lb/ft2 94lb/ft2 Rate of climb: Classified 50,000ft/min4 62,000ft/min 60,000ft/min 44,882ft/min Radar: AN/APG-81 AESA Raven AESA CAPTOR-E AESA (planned) RBE2-AA AESA APG-79 AESA Infrared Search and Track: AAQ-40 EOTS Selex “Skyward G” IRST PIRATE IRST, LITENING pod SAGEM-OSF IRST mounted in external fuel tank Helmet mounted display System: HMDS (still in development) Cobra HMDS Eurofighter HMSS TopSight HMD JHMCS Electronic warfare and countermeasures: AN/AAQ/37 DAS missile warning system, AN/ASQ-239 Electronic Warfare system, stealth design resulting in decreased radar and infrared signature. ECM pods, BOL advanced countermeasure dispenser, MAW (missile approach warner), Laser Warning System, towed decoy, internally mounted RF jammers. ECM pods, flares, IR decoy dispenser, chaff pods, radar warning receiver, MAW, laser warning receiver, towed decoy, Thales SPECTRA electronic warfare suite ECM pods, towed decoys, chaff, flares, AN/ALE-165 jammer pod, AN/ALR-67 radar warning reciever Gun: GAU-22/A 25mm 4-barrelled gatling cannon 27mm Mauser BK-27 Revolver cannon (E model only) 27mm Mauser BK-27 Revolver cannon 30mm GIAT 30/719B autocannon 20mm M61 Vulcan gatling cannon Hardpoints: 4 internal, 6 external 10 13 (4 semi-conformal) 14 11 Payload: 18,000lbs (using external pylons) 15,875lbs 16,500lbs 21,000lbs 17,750lbs “X-Factor”: Stealth, advanced sensors Can operate from unprepared runways, low operating cost. Legendary air-to-air performance, twin engine. Ground strike ability, naval version available, twin engine. Naval airframe, easy transition, twin engine. Problems: Troubled development, questionable performance, high operating cost. Smaller design, less payload. Troubled history, high operating cost. Proprietary systems and weapons. Old design, unremarkable performance. 1Unofficially, the F-35 can supercruise at mach 1.2 for a distance of 241km.
2External fuel tanks are planned for the F-35, but none have been flight tested yet.
3The F-35 has only been tested to 43,000ft so far.
4Gripen C information, Gripen E data is unavailable
I would note here that the F-35 is more than 50% more costly than any of the competition, and has a direct operating cost more than that of an F-15, which was never known as an aircraft that was cheap to operate.
Further, it appears that the use of external tanks in a combat configuration will not be something that we will see in the near future, the Pentagon has its eggs in the stealth basket, and adding a combat tank would require its cooperation.
This means that its range in a typical combat configuration will typically be no better than its competitors.
In an air to air mode, the F-35 either needs to carry missiles externally, negating stealth, or to limit itself to just two missiles, placing the aircraft at a disadvantage.
Furthermore, much like Donald Trump’s hair, it’s fat, heavy and slow.
Finally, the F-35 is a roach motel: Data goes in, but it does not come out until it reaches Lockheed Martin in Ft. Worth, which means that there will be a heavy rent collected for developing new weapons, which will suppress the defense industries in partner nations.
The inability to access the source code of the aircraft also means that there will be some serious tactical issues, as data collected on new threats cannot even be examined by anyone but LM and the Pentagon, which could make for lots of flaming debris when an opponent deploys a heretofore unknown air defense system.
I do understand why Trudeau wants to drop the program: It is less a defense program than it is an industrial base preservation program centered on the US defense industry.
Finally, Someone Goes There
Rather it is “The Donald” who maked the observation that that has this far eluded the rest of the Presidential candidates, that 9/11 happened under Bush’s watch:
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump implied that George W. Bush bore some responsibility for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in a Friday interview with Bloomberg.
“He was President,” Trump said. “Blame him, or don’t blame him, but he was President. The World Trade Center came down during his reign.”
Trump asserted that unlike the George W. Bush, he would be “a leader” who could command the United States during national crises.
“I think I’m much more competent than all of them,” Trump said, referring to George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.
“Say what you want, the World Trade Center came down during his time,” Trump told Bloomberg.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush took to Twitter to criticize his GOP presidential rival for the remarks, writing that his brother “kept us safe.”
911, the Anthrax attacks, anti-abortion terrorists, Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar, DC Sniper, LAX attack on El Al, Jewish Federation of Seattle, Jewish Federation of Freemont, and that’s just limiting myself to attacks in the United States.
“Kept us safe,” my ass.
More Thoughts on the Last Night’s Debates
In terms of debate performance, I will have some observations:
- I think that Martin O’Malley had the best debate performance, even my son who dislikes him felt that, but that Sanders “won” the debate, because he accomplished his positive objectives more completely.
Clinton played defense, which is not surprising for a front runner. I do not think that she “won”, but she clearly did not “lose”, which is even more important to her. If CNN had to use the hapless Don Lemon, giving him the do nothing role of introducing questions from social media was the least bad way of using him. Dana Bash was literally asking questions that were taken directly from the Chamber of Commerce. As a journalist, you should at least rephrase the questions. I was unimpressed with Cooper as moderator, but he wasn’t bad, which is actually a good place for a debate moderator to be. His question about which enemy the participants were proudest of was a very good one. It seemed gimmicky, but it meant that the responses were relatively short, but that they were also illuminating. O’Malley’s answer to this question, “The National Rifle Association,” was arguably the best answer of the evening. It was short, to the point, and created the impression that he was willing to stand up to an organization that is widely loathed by the vast bulk of the people who would have the slightest inclination to vote Democrat. A close second for the best answer was when, in response to Chafee citing the 99-1 vote for the Patriot act, Bernie Sanders said, with no small amount of pride, that he was that one Senator. Jim Webb’s answer to the “enemies” question was arguably the worst of the evening. I understand how he wanted to highlight that he was the only one on stage who did active duty, but his pride on killing a former opponent on the battlefield was just kind of squicky, particularly with the grin that followed. A close second on bad answers was the two times (repealing Glass-Steagall & the Patriot Act) that Chafee tried to justify a vote because there was nearly unanimous support in the Senate. Chafee’s debate performance did nothing to convince me that he has a coherent reason for running for the Presidency. Webb was trying to troll his way to the presidency. This is not a winning strategy when the troll of trolls, Donald Trump is in the race.
In any case, my opinions, and five bucks, will get you a small latte.
And Now, the Video Evidence
Last night, night, I declared that Trevor Noah’s monologue on Donald Trump was brilliant, and that he is a worthy successor to Jon Stewart.
Tonight, I can show you the video:
Trevor Noah is Going to Do Quite Well
On The Daily Show this evening, Trevor Noah has an AMAZING opening monologue.
Not to spoil it too much, but he argued that Donald Trump was quite presidential, only the presidency in question was an African one, like Muammar Qaddafi, Idi Amin, and Robert Mugabe.
It was brilliant.
I am now adding Mr. Noah to the most sacred and hermetic order of People I Do Not Want to Piss Off.
Useful Idiot of the Day
Frank Rich, who seems not to understand that Donald Trump won’t take the money out of politics simply because he’s a rich guy who says so.
Whatever Mr. Rich is smoking, I want none of it.
Quote of the Day
“I’d rather go to Iraq than work for Carly Fiorina again,” said one high-level former campaign staffer, who asked not to be identified, citing disclosure restrictions in his contract.
Carly Fiorina, who’s net worth is something north of $50 million, stiffed her campaign workers in her 2010 Senate (Demon Sheep) campaign.
BTW, not getting paid by a political candidate is something that happens now and again, the amount of outright hatred expressed rivals that of long time Hewlett Packard employees.
It’s not about getting stiffed. She must have been absolute hell to work for.
Think about this: Donald f%$#ing Trump doesn’t have employees ratting him out like this, and neither does Hillary Clinton, and if any of her former employees were willing to right a tell all, they would get a seven figure advance. (Even more if they were willing to mention “Benghazi.” )
It really is remarkable how people like her (I mean high powered executives, not Republicans in this case) keep failing up the business food chain.
H/t Digby at Salon for the quote.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
Once again, I find myself agreeing with Donald Trump:
Even as his campaign has shown remarkable staying power, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is dogged by the perception that there isn’t much to him beneath the bluster and the glitz. But he may have inadvertently steered the race into important territory, at least when it comes to Wall Street and taxes.
In interviews over the last several days, Trump made blistering comments about inhabitants of a corner of the financial industry who have grown accustomed to criticism. “I know a lot of bad people in this country that are making a hell of a lot of money and not paying taxes,” Trump said in an interview with Time, in apparent reference to hedge fund and private equity fund managers. “The tax law is totally screwed up.”
“They’re paying nothing and it’s ridiculous,” he added on CBS a few days later. “The hedge fund guys didn’t build this country. These are guys that shift paper around and they get lucky.” He went on: “They’re energetic, they’re very smart. But a lot of them, it’s like they’re paper pushers. They make a fortune, they pay no tax…The hedge funds guys are getting away with murder.”
“The hedge fund guys didn’t build this country. These are guys that shift paper around and they get lucky.”
Donald Trump is in agreement with me, and with Bernie Sanders, and Barack Obama that the carried interest loophole is bullsh%$, and it needs to be repealed immediately.
Let me be clear about this, Donald Trump is a bigoted nativist, or at least he does a remarkable job of playing on on TV, but a lot of Trumps positions, whether about welfare for hedge funds, social security, or healthcare (see my earlier previous post) he is literally the best Republican in the race right now.
As I’ve said before, Trump is not a political outlier. This is the Dixicrat politics of Strom Thurmond, George Wallace, and Theodore Bilbo.
I Wish that Heath Ledger Were Alive and Playing Donald Trump in a Biopic
It would be glorious.
I’m not sure whether Heath Ledger channeled Donald Trump in his glorious performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight, of if Donald Trump is channeling Ledger’s Academy Award winning performance, but I definitely see the Joker in Trump’s eyes.
I didn’t realize this until I saw the Joker meme image on the Internet.
It is “The Donald”.
H/t DC at Stellar Parthenon for the image.
Best Letter to the Editor Ever!
For those of you who don’t see the image, it is a Washington Post reader noting that the only place where Donald Trump hasn’t appeared in the paper is the weather page.
H/t Jim Romenesko.
What Is Depressing Is That This Isn’t Even the Craziest Thing Said by a Republican This Week
The craziest Mother f%$#er in the Republican Presidential contest ……… No, the other one, ……… No, the other one, ……… No, not Donald Trump.
OK, it’s Ben Carson, alright?
Well, the other day, he was talking immigration, and he suggested that we should use missile strikes to secure the border against illegal immigration:
Another day. Someone else surges near the top of the polls. Another nutball comes to the border and loses his mind. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present your current second-place contestant in the Republican presidential derby.
On Wednesday morning, Carson responded to a question about whether he would be open to the possibility of drone strikes on American soil to secure the border. “The take home point is this. We have excellent military leaders,” he said. “We need to employ their expertise because this is a war we are fighting. That’s the bottom line.”
Look out, El Paso. Sometimes, mistakes are made. Sorry about that junior high that used to be there.
It’s batsh%$ insane, it’s needlessly cruel, and it is is a relentlessly bigoted demonization of the other, but it’s not as bad as deliberately accusing mothers of poisoning their children for free rent.
An Interesting Point About Donald Trump………
Ian Welsh notes that “The Donald” has many policies that place him at the left of the Republican field:
Let’s state the obvious about Trump.
No, not that he’s a joke, or a sign of fascism, or any of that.
Rather that a lot of what he says makes sense. His policies aren’t as crazy as people make out, and people who support him aren’t as stupid as the media pretends.
- He doesn’t want to cut Social Security. Jeb Bush does. Obama has talked this up.
- He wants full universal healthcare. Yeah, he badmouths Obamacare, but he’s badmouthing it from a position of, “Give them the real thing.”
- His idea of returning manufacturing to the US and doing bilateral trade deals is not insane, or crazy, except to neo-liberal apologists and people too stupid to realize they’ve imbibed the economic philosophy of neo-liberalism, whose results have been the stagnation and then absolute decline of ordinary American wages. This is how capitalism worked for about half of capitalism’s history. Disagree if you like, but it’s not crazy.
- His idea of simplifying the tax code enough so that ordinary people don’t need professionals to fill out their tax forms is a good one. Jimmy Carter, by the way, wanted to do the same thing.
I’m not a fan of Trump, there are plenty of reasons why he’s problematic, but he’s actually an economic populist on many issues. People shouldn’t overlook that this comes married to some nasty nativism, but I’m tired of people who are lumping all parts of the Trump campaign together.
It’s an interesting point, and it actually places Trump in what has been a common meme in American politics, the racist populists, also known as the “Dixicrat.”
There has been a long tradition of politics who promise benefits for their communities while promising to keep them from perceived outsiders. (No Irish need apply is an example)
So, Donald Trump reduces to Strom Thurmund with a flamboyant hair.
It Now Appears that We Have Seen the Political Troll of the 2016 Election
It has now been revealed that before he decided to really run for President, he and Bill Clinton discussed this, and Clinton gave him some advice.
Somehow I think that the current situation, where the the bigotry, xenophobia, and ……… well ……… batsh%$ insanity of the Republican base has been revealed as “The Donald’s” poll numbers continue to skyrocket:
You do not have to love Bill Clinton, or even like him just barely, to agree that this right here is amazesauce awesomeballs THE BEST:
Former president Bill Clinton had a private telephone conversation in late spring with Donald Trump at the same time that the billionaire investor and reality-television star was nearing a decision to run for the White House, according to associates of both men.
Four Trump allies and one Clinton associate familiar with the exchange said that Clinton encouraged Trump’s efforts to play a larger role in the Republican Party and offered his own views of the political landscape.Do we think that The Big Dog himself sincerely believes America would benefit from Donald Trump hogging all the Republican primary limelight to proclaim which someones are doing the raping, and how he will make Mexico pay for his fence, by kicking its ass, right in the butt? Or do we imagine the former president making that jerking motion with his hand while he tries not to crack up on the phone as he fondles Trump’s YOOOGE ego right into the race, to the detriment of the GOP, say hello to Madam President? (It’s the second one, we think, what do YOU think?)
………
Guys. GUYS. Do you know what this means? It means we might all owe Bubba, for gently and oh so subtly nudging The Donald in the general direction of the White House, wink wink, and thereby humiliating the entire Republican Party so much, for being Republicans, that even they hate themselves right now.
I am not a fan of Bill Clinton’s Eisenhower Republican policies, but I do have to admit that he is a master of politics and of people.
I believe that Clinton knew that Trump would be the turd in the Republican punch bowl, and he encouraged Trump to run, even while convincing Trump that it was his idea.
Whether intentional or not, this is an Epic troll.
Well played, William Jefferson Clinton, President of Trolls.
Bummer of a Birth Mark, Rand
The Department of Justice has just unsealed a criminal indictment naming three close Rand Paul aides conspiracy for fraud and bribery relating to the 2012 Republican primary:
Two top allies of presidential candidate and US Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) were charged with violating campaign finance laws during the 2012 presidential campaign, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
Jesse Benton, who worked on the presidential bid of Paul’s father, Ron, was named as one of three political operatives in the alleged scheme to conceal payments to an Iowa state senator.
According to a National Journal report last April, Benton was tapped to run a Paul-sanctioned super PAC, America’s Liberty PAC, supporting the senator’s 2016 presidential bid.
John Tate, who is listed as the group’s founder and president, was also named in the charges. The other operative named was Dimitrios Kesari, a former deputy campaign manager on Ron Paul’s campaign.
The indictment was based on six counts, including conspiracy, filing false records, false statements, and obstruction of justice.
Though the indictment did not name which 2012 presidential candidate Benton, Tate, and Kesari worked on, there is little doubt that it is referring to former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Rand Paul’s father.
Note that one of these people, Jesse Benton, is married to Rand Paul’s niece, so it is all in the family.
At the rate that this is going, the Republicans are going to nominate Donald Trump.
F%$# Me, I Agree with Donald Trump
It appears that both “The Donald” and I agree that former Obama “Car Czar” Steve Rattner should have gone to jail for financial misdeeds:
On Monday, Trump fired off a tweet telling Rattner: “I think you should have gone to prison for what you did, I guess Obama saved you.”
He ended the tweet telling Rattner to watch: “I will win!”
It was unclear what activity Trump was referring to that should have landed Rattner in jail. Trump did not respond to CNNMoney’s request for comment.
In 2010, Rattner did pay $10 million in fines when he settled with the New York state attorney general for his alleged involvement in a pension fund scheme. While Rattner was never charged criminally, some others who were involved in the same scheme, such as former New York comptroller Alan Hevesi, did not.
Yes, he should have gone to jail.
Much like a stopped calendar, Donald Trump is right once a year.
John McCain needs to Man the F%$# Up
I understand the freakout over Donald Trump impugning John McCain’s war record:
“He’s not a war hero,” Mr. Trump said during an appearance at the Family Leadership Summit. “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
Of course, considering the record of Republicans on this:
- George W. Bush and Karl Rove starting a whispering campaign in the 2000 primaries that McCain had collaborated with his North Vietnamese jailers.
- Belittling Al Gore’s service in Vietnam.
- Calling Max Cleland, a silver star recipient who lost three limbs in Vietnam a coward.
- Mocking John Kerry’s service by sporting band-aids with purple little purple hearts on them at the 2004 Republican presidential convention.
The idea that now somehow it is beyond the pale for people to mock someone’s military service, when Republicans have been doing so for more than a decade, is ludicrous.
Republicans have been mocking opponents military service for over a decade.
That pretty much the whole Republican Presidential field are having the vapors over Donald Trump is a mark of both hypocrisy and a terminal lack of self awareness.
The fact that “The Donald” makes this clear to any cogent observer amuses me.