Tuesday Open Thread | Amy Sherald Week

Posted on October 24, 2017 by rikyrah

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Amy Sherald-EMPATHY

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59 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread | Amy Sherald Week

    • Liza says:
      October 24, 2017 at 8:48 pm

      Hmmmm.

      Senator Flake’s Trump score on 538 is 89.8 on 10-24-17. So, Flake has been a mostly reliable Trump voter and he did in fact vote to deprive millions of people of their health insurance.

      I haven’t followed Flake’s career, just his voting record because he is my “representative” in the Senate. His principles don’t mean a damn thing to me if he votes against my own principles. That being the case, I would like to see him replaced by a Democrat.

      Even so, it’s a good speech he gave today. I’ll give him that.

      My only observation is that we have very limited information about these people in the Senate. I would imagine its been very, very unpleasant with Trump and McConnell for anyone with even a shred of decency. And, of course, self-preservation is a strong motivator. I suspect Flake sees better opportunities, better compensation, and lower blood pressure if he bows out now, avoiding a possible loss in the primary or general election and ending his fight for the soul of the Republican party which, arguably, has no soul.

      I hope he uses his remaining time in the Senate to stand up for the people of Arizona and all of the people of this country. But I’m not hopeful. The history just isn’t there.

      This is Flake’s voting record under Trump: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/congress-trump-score/jeff-flake/

      Reply
  2. Liza says:
    October 24, 2017 at 7:46 pm

    Jeff Flake’s speech at link (video and text).

    Read Flake’s bombshell Senate speech: ‘Mr. President, I rise today to say: Enough’
    The Republic | azcentral.com Published 12:13 p.m. MT Oct. 24, 2017 | Updated 3:15 p.m. MT Oct. 24, 2017

    http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2017/10/24/sen-jeff-flake-senate-speech-full-text/794958001/

    Reply
  3. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 2:22 pm

    A comment found at BJ:

    Jado says:
    October 24, 2017 at 12:50 pm

    In their defense, do you know how attractive it seemed to think about a republican majority in the house, a republican majority in the senate, and a pliable republican president? I mean, they were seeing dollar bills in their vision even when they were awake. It would have been pirates in the treasury with NO ONE to stop them except some loser ineffective hippy democrats. All they needed was for the President to tame his baser instincts long enough to set some truly serious grift in motion, and they would all feast.

    It was worth the chance, in their minds, that Trump could be reeled back a little. The upside was huge. So they rolled the dice.

    And now they’re all gonna get rolled themselves.Guys who were willing to bet the stability and reputation of the entire country for the chance of enriching themselves and their billionaire patrons. So I say we roll all of them as hard as we can, ruin their reputations, imprison the ones we can indict, and let them all serve as fair warning to people who put power above people.

    Couldn’t happen to nicer guys. Imprison them ALL.

    Reply
  4. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 2:07 pm

    Sen. Jeff Flake is retiring: https://t.co/mitLlz610v— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  5. eliihass says:
    October 24, 2017 at 2:06 pm

    Jeff Flake will not seek re-election in 2018. Says in order to win GOP primary in Arizona, he will have to agree to things he does not believe in.

    As the world turns..

    By the time this is all over, the landscape will be unrecognizable..

    I’m only waiting for the glorious public humbling and permanent exit of the buffoon and his out of control cohort…Bannon, Gorka and the even smaller minions …Miller, etc.

    Reply
  6. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 2:00 pm

    This response by BillO bringing up God is rich. He spent how many years, lecturing ‘the others’ about how they need to have ‘ personal responsibility’, and to stop whining.

    Irony has nothing on these cretins.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      October 24, 2017 at 2:09 pm

      He’s unraveling…

      That’s what happens when a rat is finally cornered and trapped in a tight space with no way to escape..

      Reply
    • majiir says:
      October 24, 2017 at 4:25 pm

      I see O’Reilly as someone who thinks of himself as a god. He was a god at Fox, and he took advantage of that by sexually harassing women and intimidating every employee he worked with on the job. When he got the boot, he was hurt and probably couldn’t understand why he lost his job. He was probably thinking why should he lose his job for something he’d done for years when Ailes was there and had gotten away with it? He’s blamed everyone except himself. He has claimed to be a Christian for years and has claimed he’s “better” than everyone else, but his behavior on the job didn’t show he practices Christian values or even believes in them. God had nothing to do with O’Reilly losing his job. God didn’t sexually harass those women and he didn’t pay $32+ million in an attempt to make the allegations go away. O’Reilly did these things. His continued whining only makes him look like the man-baby that was hiding behind the TV bully all those years he was at Fox.

      Reply
  7. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 24, 2017 at 1:23 pm

    Internet service is back. I was Jonesing.

    Reply
  8. Ametia says:
    October 24, 2017 at 12:28 pm

    THIS NEGRO PUPPET RIGHT HERE

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      October 24, 2017 at 2:15 pm

      Ben Carson’s humbling and humiliating exit will be televised…

      Much thanks to Rep Al Green for eloquently reminding Ben Carson that there will be a day of reckoning for those who misuse their talents and blessings to hurt the least among us..

      Reply
  9. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 24, 2017 at 11:56 am

    $300m Puerto Rico Recovery Contract Awarded to Tiny Utility Company Linked to Major Trump Donor

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/dollar300m-puerto-rico-recovery-contract-awarded-to-tiny-utility-company-linked-to-major-trump-donor/ar-AAtYMQY?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

    Puerto Rico has agreed to pay a reported $300 million for the restoration of its power grid to a tiny utility company which is primarily financed by a private equity firm founded and run by a man who contributed large sums of money to President Trump, an investigation conducted by The Daily Beast has found.

    Whitefish Energy Holdings, which had a reported staff of only two full-time employees when Hurricane Maria touched down, appears ill-equipped to handle the daunting task of restoring electricity to Puerto Rico’s over 3 million residents.

    Much larger utilities are more commonly used following natural disasters on the scale of Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island last month.

    The private equity firm that finances Whitefish, HBC Investments, was founded by Joe Colonnetta, who serves as its general partner.

    FEC data compiled by The Daily Beast shows that Colonnetta contributed $20,000 to the “Trump Victory” PAC during the general election, $27,000 to Trump’s primary election campaign (then the maximum amount permitted), $27,000 to Trump’s general election campaign (also the maximum), and a total of $30,700 to the Republican National Committee in 2016 alone.

    Colonnetta’s wife, Kimberly, is no stranger to Republican politics either; shortly after Trump’s victory she gave $33,400 to the Republican National Committee, the maximum contribution permitted for party committees in 2016.

    Joe Colonnetta is not the only Republican connection to the controversial Whitefish contract. On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Whitefish’s CEO, Andy Techmanski, is friends with Trump administration Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. Moreover, Whitefish is located in Zinke’s hometown of Whitefish, Monatana.

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 10:54 am

    Ryan: “Forget about” Trump-Corker Twitter feud, focus on tax cuts instead https://t.co/lxRvPmuSww pic.twitter.com/kL7B9vvXdm

    — Talking Points Memo (@TPM) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  11. yahtzeebutterfly says:
    October 24, 2017 at 10:36 am

    “Moms who became gun control activists are now running for office”
    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/moms-gun-control-activists-now-running-office/story?id=50629598
    Excerpt:

    “For nearly five years, Moms Demand Action volunteers have been working in statehouses to demand that more is done to prevent gun violence,” the group’s founder, Shannon Watts, told ABC News. “I couldn’t be more proud of the volunteers who are now determined to run for their statehouses, school boards and city councils to ensure constituents’ voices are louder than gun lobbyists.”

    She added, “Women hold just a fraction of elected positions in America, yet we are the majority of voters.”

    Other gun control activists have noticed a change too.

    “I definitely see a huge surge of candidates who want to run on this issue, candidates who want to make it a key part of their primary, who are trying to tell voters that being a gun violence prevention champion is a central issue of their campaign,” said Isabelle James, the political director at Giffords: Courage to Fight Gun Violence, an organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband. Giffords was shot in the head in 2011 while meeting with constituents in Arizona.

    http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/lucia-mcbath-2-ht-jt-171021_12x5_992.jpg
    …Lucia McBath says people had been telling her to run for office for years.

    She became a gun control activist after her 17-year-old son, Jordan Davis, was shot and killed in 2012 in Jacksonville, Florida, by a man who had complained about the loud rap music coming from the car carrying the teen and his friends.

    A flight attendant at the time of her son’s murder, McBath started speaking out on gun-violence prevention and eventually joined the staff of Moms Demand Action as a national spokeswomen for the organization. This year, she decided it was time to run for office herself and she is now candidate to represent a district in the Atlanta area in the Georgia House of Representatives.

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 9:50 am

    Trump kills Obama rule aimed at protecting independent farmers from big food companies
    10/24/17 06:00 AM EDT

    The Trump administration is rescinding an Obama-era rule that would have made it easier for independent farmers to bring lawsuits against big food companies they raise chicken and other livestock for.

    The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection Packers and Stockyard Administration last week withdrew an interim final rule a day before it was set to take effect. The rule aimed to make it easier for farmers to bring companies like Tyson Foods, Pilgrim Pride and Perdue to court over what they say are unfair, deceptive and retaliatory practices.

    Reply
    • SouthernGirl2 says:
      October 24, 2017 at 12:02 pm

      OMG! I could just scream for what this thug is doing to the country. He’s hell bent on destroying every damn thing.

      Reply
      • eliihass says:
        October 24, 2017 at 2:21 pm

        Trust me when I tell you that his days are numbered…

        Not because of Mueller…

        The world turns – and some folks are going to be caught in the spokes of the wheel..

        The final humiliation is imminent…

        Trust..

        They are all going down – but not in the way most imagined..

        Watch…

        Just as they’re settling in and getting even more emboldened, the arrogant smirk will finally be wiped off their faces…

        Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 9:48 am

    Another comment from a mother of an autistic son at BJ:

    Ohio Mom says:
    October 24, 2017 at 10:12 am

    It drives me nuts when I see charters with tables at disability conferences (and I see this a lot). Too many in the disability community do not understand how important the public space is to us.

    They are spoiled by things like public schools, which must serve us, they are continually shocked when private entities provide no accomodations and no welcome, and often outright spurn us.

    The other thing about public schools is that since they serve so many disabled kids over time, they develop some expertise. You only have to put your kid someplace (day camp, Sunday school, etc.) where there is very little or no history with disabled kids, to appreciate the effort public schools put in.

    Now I know my family is fortunate in that we can afford to live in a very, very good school district so my views are a little idealized. That only means that parents in less well-funded districts have to fight harder. DeVos is disarming them.

    Reply
  14. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 9:45 am

    Found this at BJ, commenting on DeVos rescinding those 72 rules for disabled kids.

    They are complete and utter lowlife pieces of garbage, his cabinet – the entire lot of them!

    Tenar Arha says:
    October 24, 2017 at 10:08 am

    Most of the disability advocates I follow on Twitter are furious. Pulling the guidance documents will basically drive every kid with an IEP into court if their parents have the resources to enforce the ADA. But it will also exacerbate the divide between rich and poor districts. According to them it will devastate the families in lower performing & poorer districts where there’s always been difficulty following the laws. Simultaneously this seems like it will siphon money from public schools by regulatory waste and by lawsuits. And children will suffer, fall behind, and maybe never become productive citizens. It’s a self-reinforcing failure spiral which will start immediately.

    It’s awful; it’s that parent teacher conference time of year and the guidance documents people relied on to advocate for their kids are gone.

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      October 24, 2017 at 12:17 pm

      and yet that wicked POS Devos rolls up into our inner city schools and spew ‘respect and anti-bullying’ bullshit to our children, while they steal, lie, cheat, and bully working class, the poor and POC.

      Reply
  15. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 24, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Every single day this fool does something to cause chaos & drama. He’s totally unstable and dangerous.

    Bob Corker says Trump ‘utterly untruthful president’

    http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41729586

    Mr Corker accused the president of lying in a series of television interviews, adding that he debased the US and weakened its global standing.
    Mr Trump fired back on Twitter, calling the top Senator a “lightweight” who “couldn’t get re-elected”.
    The two men are due to meet at a Senate luncheon later on Tuesday.
    Mr Trump’s visit to Capitol Hill comes as the White House attempts to forge a consensus on the Republican tax reform plan.
    “He is purposely breaking down relationships we have around the world that had been useful to our nation,” Mr Corker said on CNN after Mr Trump published three critical tweets.
    “Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts…” Mr Trump tweeted.

    “I think the debasement of our nation is what he’ll be remembered most for,” the influential senator added.

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:33 am

    EXCLUSIVE: The Russian propaganda campaign can now be traced to… Staten Island, New York. https://t.co/akhlCLED63

    — Noah Shachtman (@NoahShachtman) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  17. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:31 am

    This BISH here

    Ivana Trump said the first step for America to regain respect is adopting the billionaire’s immigration policies.

    “And I’m an immigrant,” said Ivana, who was born in the Czech Republic.

    “As long as you come here legally and get a proper job … we need immigrants. Who’s going to vacuum our living rooms and clean up after us? Americans don’t like to do that,” she added.

    The Republican presidential front-runner’s first wife insisted she has “nothing against Mexicans.”

    “But if they [come] here — like this 19-year-old, she’s pregnant, she crossed over a wall that’s this high. She gives birth in American hospital, which is for free. The child becomes American automatically,” she said. “She brings the whole family, she doesn’t pay the taxes, she doesn’t have a job, she gets housing, she gets the food stamps. Who’s paying? You and me.”

    Reply
  18. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:25 am

    Corker: Presidents should “try to bring the country together…not to debase our country—and that has not happened.” pic.twitter.com/6nX8d5mbV7

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 24, 2017

    Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #AlertTheDaycareStaff

    — Senator Bob Corker (@SenBobCorker) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  19. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:25 am

    Anyone having problems with Google Chrome? I can’t log in anywhere.

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      October 24, 2017 at 8:27 am

      I’m on Chrome now, SG2. No problems for me right now.

      Reply
      • SouthernGirl2 says:
        October 24, 2017 at 8:33 am

        I had internet connection problems last night so I finally logged out of the computer and went to bed. I woke up this morning with same problems. I called the phone company and they say there is outrage widespread. Good grief!

        Google Chrome doesn’t work, I can’t check email at hotmail or GMail.

        Reply
  20. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:21 am

    * James Walcott asks, “Will We Ever Return to Normal After Trump?

    In the sorriest days of the Watergate scandal, the iconoclastic journalist and 60 Minutes commentator Nicholas von Hoffman compared the Nixon presidency to “a dead mouse on the American family kitchen floor. The question is: who is going to pick it up by the tail and drop it in the trash?” It would be premature to write off the Trump presidency as a deceased rodent lying on the linoleum. In its nasty defensiveness, it is closer to a cornered rat. It still has plenty of ugly fight left. But we are at the beginning of the endgame and it is not premature to start imagining how to pick through the damage the Trump presidency will leave behind and future-proof the republic so that It Can’t Happen Here never happens again. So much headspace will be opened up once Trump is no longer occupying it that we must make the most of it.

    The moment Trump leaves the White House for early retirement, jail, a sanitarium, or a Russian refuge, let the reckoning begin. Cue the exodus of his cronies from the Cabinet and commence the shunning…Post-Trump, the country needs its own, domestic version of the de-Nazification program established in Germany after World War II, an inquiry into how so many alleged neo-Nazi, white-supremacist sympathizers had input into this presidency, and their connection with neo-Nazi and nativist movements overseas.

    Reply
  21. SouthernGirl2 says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:20 am

    Now this is rich? Who does he think he’s kidding? A pure thug! He has made millions bullshitting the gullible and now this. I just can’t believe what I’m reading.

    O’Reilly: I’m ‘mad at God’ over allegations of sexual harassment

    Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly said Monday he’s “mad at God” for the sexual misconduct allegations he’s faced in recent months.
    “You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I’m mad at him,” O’Reilly said. “I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn’t happen. I can’t explain it to you. Yeah, I’m mad at him.”

    CNN was the first to report the remarks, which came on a new episode of his “No Spin News” web show.

    O’Reilly’s comments come after The New York Times reported Saturday that the former anchor paid $32 million to settle a sexual harassment claim a month before Fox News extended his contract earlier this year.

    O’Reilly left Fox News in April after The Times revealed that he paid $13 million to five women to settle sexual harassment allegations.

    On his web show, O’Reilly accused The Times of being “out to hurt people with whom they disagree.”

    “I truly believe that these people at The New York Times are out to hurt people with whom they disagree. They don’t want me in the marketplace,” O’Reilly said, according to CNN. “That’s what this is all about.”

    O’Reilly has repeatedly denied the allegations of sexual harassment, telling The Times Monday that he’s gone through a “horrible” experience.

    “It’s horrible what I went through, horrible what my family went through,” O’Reilly said. “The pain it brings to my children is indescribable. Indescribable.”

    Reply
    • rikyrah says:
      October 24, 2017 at 8:31 am

      I’m going to say this again….either she got her sexual assault ON TAPE….OR, she went to the hospital right after the assault and got a complete and thorough rape kit done, with all the evidence, nice and fresh. NOBODY gives out $32 million – UNLESS THERE IS IRON CLAD PROOF.

      Reply
    • Ametia says:
      October 24, 2017 at 12:20 pm

      Typical for this POS to claim he’s the victim. ON POINT, Rikyrah. IRONCLAD PROOF
      O’ LIE-LY’s a RAPIST

      Reply
  22. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:18 am

    “Indonesia demands answers after military chief denied U.S. entry”

    Armed Forces Commander General Gatot Nurmantyo was about to board a flight on Saturday when the airline informed him that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection had denied him entry, military spokesman Wuryanto told a news conference in Jakarta.

    Nurmantyo was going to the United States at the invitation of General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, to attend a Chiefs of Defense Conference on Countering Violent Extremism being held in Washington on Oct. 23-24, Wuryanto said.

    It was not clear why he was stopped from entering the United States, Wuryanto said, adding that the general did not have any problem during his visit to the United States in February 2016.

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:16 am

    Is the Trump Administration Once Again Doing Putin’s Bidding?
    by Nancy LeTourneau
    October 23, 2017

    Over the weekend, we learned that Russia put a man named Bill Browder on the Interpol wanted list. That came days after Canada passed a so-called “Magnitsky law.” Here is some background about what led to the first of these laws passed by the United States:

    The law is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer and auditor who in 2008 untangled a dense web of tax fraud and graft involving 23 companies and a total of $230 million linked to the Kremlin and individuals close to the government. Magnitsky was the target of investigations, arrested by authorities and kept in jail without charges. He was beaten and later died under mysterious circumstances in jail just days before his possible release.

    Independent investigators found “inhuman detention conditions, the isolation from his family, the lack of regular access to his lawyers and the intentional refusal to provide adequate medical assistance resulted in the deliberate infliction of severe pain and suffering, and ultimately his death.”

    The Magnitsky Act was signed by President Barack Obama in December 2012 as a retaliation against the human rights abuses suffered by Magnitsky. The law at first blocked 18 Russian government officials and businessmen from entering the United States, froze any assets held by U.S. banks and banned their future use of U.S. banking systems. The act was expanded in 2016, and now sanctions apply to 44 suspected human rights abusers worldwide.

    Bill Browder, who Magnitsky worked for, has pushed for the passage of such laws. In retaliation for the one signed by President Obama in 2012, Russia ceased adoptions from that country to the U.S. That is how the Trump administration came up with the excuse that Don Jr.’s meeting with Russian operatives was all about adoption.

    According to Jay Nordlinger, this is the fifth time Russia has tried to get Browder’s name on the Interpol list.

    ……………………

    That’s all bad enough. But here’s where the Trump administration comes into the story:

    Not only did Putin add me to the Interpol list, but the US simultaneously revoked my visa. @jaynordlinger explains https://t.co/d8KskJ5CTK

    — Bill Browder (@Billbrowder) October 22, 2017

    Reply
  24. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Zinke has directed millions in contributions to D.C. operatives accused of profiting by misleading donors. https://t.co/Ev31YEMj6J

    — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 24, 2017

    Reply
  25. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:11 am

    On climate, the United States and Syria now stand alone
    10/24/17 08:40 AM
    By Steve Benen

    It was just two years ago when representatives of 195 countries met in Paris and reached a historic international agreement to combat the climate crisis. Only two countries – Syria and Nicaragua – rejected the accord.

    Yesterday, one of them changed their minds. Reuters reported:

    Nicaragua is set to join the Paris climate agreement, according to an official statement and comments from Vice President Rosario Murillo on Monday, in a move that leaves the United States and Syria as the only nations outside the global pact.

    Nicaragua has already presented the relevant documents at the United Nations, Murillo, who is also first lady, said on local radio on Monday.

    It’s worth noting for context that when representatives from the Nicaraguan delegation balked at the Paris accords in 2015, it wasn’t because they were fringe climate deniers embracing oddball conspiracy theories. It was actually the opposite: Nicaragua opposed the agreement because officials believed it didn’t go far enough.

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:08 am

    Further in the comments, someone found this part of the story and posted it about the guy China wants returned:

    The Wall Street Journal link in Neil King’s tweet at the top goes to the full story on their site, at least for now.

    Of note:

    Separately, at a June meeting in the Oval Office, counterintelligence officials briefed President Trump on Beijing’s alleged efforts to steal cutting-edge research from labs and trade secrets from U.S. companies, according to people familiar with the meeting.

    The president, surrounded by his top aides, including Vice President Mike Pence, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his former chief strategist Steve Bannon and other national security and economic advisers, asked to see policy options in 90 days. In the meantime, he said he knew of at least one “Chinese criminal” the U.S. needed to immediately deport, according to the people.

    “Where’s the letter that Steve [Wynn] brought?” Mr. Trump called to his secretary. “We need to get this criminal out of the country,” Mr. Trump said, according to the people. Aides assumed the letter, which was brought into the Oval Office, might reference a Chinese national in trouble with U.S. law enforcement, the people said.

    The letter, in fact, was from the Chinese government, urging the U.S. to return Mr. Guo to China.

    The document had been presented to Mr. Trump at a recent private dinner at the White House, the people said. It was hand-delivered to the president by Mr. Wynn, the Republican National Committee finance chairman, whose Macau casino empire cannot operate without a license from the Chinese territory.

    A White House spokesman declined to comment.

    Some aides tried to shut the topic of conversation down, including by noting Mr. Guo is a member of the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., according to the people familiar with the meeting. The aides later worked to prevent any possible attempts to deport Mr. Guo, an action they believed would deprive the U.S. of a key point of leverage to use against Beijing, the people said.

    Reply
    • eliihass says:
      October 24, 2017 at 2:27 pm

      We’ve become a Banana Republic..

      This with China…

      And also doing Putin’s bidding – besides the collusion, …aiding his by-passing of Interpol rules…

      And don’t forget Netanyahu…and the Saudi’s…

      Reply
  27. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:04 am

    Jesse Ferguson‏Verified account @ JesseFFerguson
    NEW. Admin give $300m contract to fix power in Puerto Rico to firm with only 2ppl from Sec. Zinke’s hometown.

    Reply
  28. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 8:03 am

    My question is why Wynn and not Mark Brown or Sheldon Adelson, who Trump speaks with frequently…

    — Linnoh (@NohYSLin) October 23, 2017

    Wynn is the official finance chair for RNC. They don’t even TRY to hide the graft anymore.

    — P. S.™ R. I. P. (@Patrixmyth) October 23, 2017

    Two things
    1) this is astoundingly corrupt
    2) this is what they mean by “America First” apparently https://t.co/7s3wM3SMsU

    — Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) October 23, 2017

    I don’t think Americans are ready, psychologically, for how fast China is gong to overtake us as a world power on the current course.

    — Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 23, 2017

    Reply
  29. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 7:59 am

    Y’all!
    hat tip – BJ for this story.
    Everyday, they do something that brings up the blood pressure.
    EVERY.DAMN.DAY.!!!!!

    Because, everyday, I ask myself…

    ” What if 44 had done this?”

    There is SO much wrong with this, I can barely begin to list what’s wrong.

    Trump sought dissident’s expulsion after hand-delivered letter from China – report
    Wall Street Journal says the US president called for Guo Wengui’s deportation after casino owner Steve Wynn brought letter from Beijing government

    Donald Trump called for the deportation of a Chinese dissident living in the US, after receiving a request from Beijing hand-delivered by a casino owner with business interests in China, according to a US report.

    The Wall Street Journal described a Chinese government attempt to put pressure on Guo Wengui, a real estate tycoon living in exile in New York, to halt his allegations of corruption in high places in China.

    A group of officials from China’s ministry of state security, who entered the US on visas that did not allow them to conduct official business, visited Guo in his New York apartment in May, and used veiled threats in an attempt to persuade Guo to stop his accusatory tweets, which have a wide following in China, and return home. Guo shrugged off the pressure and made a recording of his conversation with the officials, part of which he posted online.

    After that visit, FBI agents confronted the Chinese officials at New York’s Pennsylvania Station. The Chinese visitors first claimed to be cultural diplomats and then admitted they were security officials. The agents warned them they were violating the terms of their visa and told them to leave the country.

    However, two days later, just before leaving the country, the Chinese officials paid a second visit to Guo, triggering a debate within the administration over whether they should be arrested. FBI agents were posted at John F Kennedy airport ready to carry out the arrests before the officials boarded their flight, but they were not made, after the state department argued it could trigger a diplomatic crisis.

    Guo has filed an application for political asylum in the US, which is pending. But according to the Journal’s account, Trump called for Guo’s deportation in a discussion on policy towards China, describing him as a “criminal” at an Oval Office policy meeting in June, on the basis of a letter from Beijing accusing him of serious crimes.

    The report said the letter had been hand-delivered to him at a private dinner by Steve Wynn, a Las Vegas casino magnate and Republican National Committee finance chairman with interests in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, for which Wynn relies on Beijing for licensing.

    ………………………….

    The Journal report said that aides tried to persuade Trump out of going ahead with Guo’s deportation, noting he was a member of the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The aides later ensured that the deportation would not go ahead.

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  30. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 7:51 am

    If you’re curious why @DLoesch and @NRATV are suddenly so tremendously freaked out: https://t.co/pGOdNjWLk8

    — Jason Ross (@jasonjross) October 20, 2017

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    October 24, 2017 at 6:17 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😐😐😐

    Reply

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