Trump floats proposal to cancel 2020 elections

Whoa; who among us could possibly fail to be enticed by that title from Eric London at wsws.org, 8 May 2019?

“On Sunday, Donald Trump re-tweeted a post by the arch-reactionary evangelical preacher and prominent Trump confidant Jerry Falwell, Jr. calling for the president to extend his term from the constitutionally mandated four years to six.

Referring to the Democratic Party-led effort to label Trump a Russian collaborator, the tweet read: “Trump should have 2 yrs added to his 1st term as pay back for time stolen by this corrupt failed coup.”

I dug Fallwell’s tweet up, and it’s true.

(I’d begun on the Real Donald Trump‘s account, and was pleased to read that he’s given the Presidential Medal of Freedom to…Tiger Woods.  He’s also retweeted that his approval ratings are at 51%, and small wonder these from Judicial Watch:

Back to London:

“Trump’s Republican backers claim that Trump was only joking. But canceling elections is not something about which presidents joke. The president is the most powerful person in the world and his every word is closely followed in the US and internationally. Politicians, businessmen and decision makers around the world parse even seemingly mundane statements or off-the-cuff remarks for their deeper significance.

Trump’s re-tweet of a prominent, politically active evangelical preacher is not a joke. It is a signal sent deliberately to both supporters and opponents, who will understand that Trump is serious and that he is prepared to pursue anticonstitutional methods to stay in power. It is part of an increasingly dictatorial pattern that Trump and his fascist advisers have long planned.”

He buttresses his take that Boss Trumpeter’s serious about it by way of Trump quotes and similar authoritarian policies and fascistic leanings (my term, not his).  But this is where I’ve really been intending to head:

“In an article titled “Pelosi Warns Democrats: Stay in the Center or Trump May Contest Election Results,” the New York Times published an interview with Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, citing her “concern that Mr. Trump would not give up power voluntarily if he lost re-election by a slim margin next year.”

Here's the Times piece; ; I can’t get in even in Private Mode.

“In the interview, which was conducted before Trump’s tweet, Pelosi said in reference to the 2018 midterm elections: “If we win by four seats, by a thousand votes each, he’s not going to respect the election. He would poison the public mind. He would challenge each of the races; he would say you can’t seat these people. We had to win. Imagine if we hadn’t won—oh, don’t even imagine. So, as we go forward, we have to have the same approach.”

In response to brazen threats to violate the constitution, the Democrats’ strategy is to “own the center-left, own the mainstream,” Pelosi told the Times. Instead of condemning Trump’s proposal to extend his term or warning him of the serious criminal implications of canceling a presidential election, Pelosi instructs Democrats to “not engage in some of the other exuberances in our party,” making clear that the party will not allow any social reform.” [snip]


“Pelosi’s interview exposes the anti-Russia campaign as disingenuous and absurd. If Trump were colluding with Russia, wouldn’t his threat to refuse to accept election results be proof that Vladimir Putin is “undermining our democracy?” And doesn’t Trump’s threat alone constitute a violation of his oath to “protect and defend” Article II of the Constitution—an impeachable act?

The Democrats are combining absolute indifference to critical issues of democratic rights with support for major aspects of Trump’s policy agenda. On Monday, the New York Times published an editorial board statement titled, “Give Trump his Border Money.” The Democrats are collaborating with Trump on a new infrastructure program and lending support to his efforts to overthrow the government of Venezuela and impose tariffs on China.” [snip]

“A serious warning must be made. Trump’s tweet and Pelosi’s interview only scratch the surface of the antidemocratic and dictatorial measures being discussed behind closed doors at the White House, the Pentagon, Langley and Fort Meade.”

(cross-posted from Café Babylon)

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wendy davis's picture

as rick scott looks like he sleeps in a casket, let's redden him up a bit, okay? ; )
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKgB-3aANe0]

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Alligator Ed's picture

Falwell Jr. is just as much of a chump as his dad, now defunct. Trump knows this. He is just pushing back very hard against the Dims. The intent is most likely diversionary to allow the anti-inquisition to gather force. With boobs like Nadler, Beto, AOC, etc., I suspect the whole panoply of Dem idiots to bite on this. They have proven themselves to be incompetent fools for at least 3 years--actually 11 years if including Obama's hypocritical, destructive time in office. Really, if we were to extend terms of presidential office for each year of political obstruction, Abraham Lincoln would still be president.

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed
bitten on it; otoh, i'd noted in the OP where i'd been heading: "He buttresses his take that Boss Trumpeter’s serious about it by way of Trump quotes and similar authoritarian policies and fascistic leanings (my term, not his). But this is where I’ve really been intending to head: “In an article titled “Pelosi Warns Democrats:...',etc.

thanks for commenting, but you seem to see me quite incorrectly on this, gator. heh; i'd even tagged it 'duopoly politics' for good measure, plus the brilliant, imo, elephant, donkey, and wall street art. look again, okay?

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Alligator Ed's picture

@wendy davis I live in a swamp and my views are necessarily colored gray. Your essay contains more snark than this gator realized, you subtle butterfly you.

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed

per se, but good on you, gator. in my any years of blogging, i've seen that the first comment sets the tone for much of what follows. see what happened? trump as...crowning himself for two more years, like guiado.

i will say that in café version, i'd simply hyperlinked at the tweets (as well as the times original and london's piece) and my firefoxes that still have Easy Copy html for cross-posting here...brought zero hyperlinks. meaning: i'd had to enter them individually, and the it being simpler to embed the tweets on this version...but i'd kinda wondered if those judicial watch tweets have any value now, as no one has commented on them.

IOW: gettin' pretty rough to cross-post here.

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@Alligator Ed

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2246549/

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed

more closely? i don't mind be challenged on what i write or believe, but not for what i didn't write, imply, or believe, gator.

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Alligator Ed's picture

@wendy davis

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wendy davis's picture

@Alligator Ed

too often i keep a comments tab open, walk away to do chores, and miss comments. my apologies to you, now.

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thanatokephaloides's picture

@Alligator Ed

Really, if we were to extend terms of presidential office for each year of political obstruction, Abraham Lincoln would still be president.

Except, of course, in this day and age, no matter how he lived, Abraham Lincoln is still dead......

[video:https://youtu.be/axByUFSa7N8]

Smile

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"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar

"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides

WoodsDweller's picture

if he thought he was actually going to win.
I don't know how exactly a President "refuses to leave office". The actual President sends a couple of security guards who put him in cuffs, drag his fat ass outside and toss him into the gutter. Then proceeds to piss in his face. Problem solved.

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"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone

wendy davis's picture

@WoodsDweller

but what i'd meant to showcase was that the duopoly parties are in lockstep on so many issues. i'd featured this one from the wsws on my last diary on the trioka of tyrrany threatening maduro, iran, and now china with war. in it, sanders is outflanking trump on the right re: trade sanctions on china, and outflanking biden in some weird exceptional way or something.

'The nationalist “socialism” of Bernie Sanders', 6 May 2019

"Sanders objected, saying in a tweet, “Since the China trade deal [in 2000] I voted against, America has lost over 3 million manufacturing jobs. It’s wrong to pretend that China isn’t one of our major economic competitors. When we are in the White House we will win that competition by fixing our trade policies.”

Sanders thus postures as the defender of American workers in a conflict with Chinese workers over manufacturing jobs. The so-called “socialist” has gone so far as to criticize President Trump at an April 13 rally for supposedly taking too soft a line with China in the current trade talks. “For once in your life,” Sanders said, “keep your campaign promises… go back to the drawing board.”

On April 29, Sanders released his trade platform, calling for renegotiation of all US trade agreements and demanding that China be labeled a currency manipulator, something that successive US administrations have threatened, including Trump’s, but always pulled back from carrying out, in large measure because China is the largest holder of US government bonds.

After releasing his trade plan, Sanders said: “We need a president who will actually fight for American workers, keep their promises, and stand up to the giant corporations who close down plants to send jobs overseas.” These words could have been said by Trump himself."

his point was: socialists are always promote international workers. myself, i agree.

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EdMass's picture

JOKE

Noun

something said or done to provoke laughter or cause amusement, as a witticism, a short and amusing anecdote, or a prankish act:

He tells very funny jokes. She played a joke on him.

Something that is amusing or ridiculous, especially because of being ludicrously inadequate or a sham; a thing, situation, or person laughed at rather than taken seriously; farce:
Their pretense of generosity is a joke. An officer with no ability to command is a joke.

Verb
(used without object), joked, jok·ing.
to speak or act in a playful or merry way:

He was always joking with us.

to say something in fun or teasing rather than in earnest; be facetious:
He didn't really mean it, he was only joking.

Verb
(used with object), joked, jok·ing.

to subject to jokes; make fun of; tease.
to obtain by joking:

The comedian joked coins from the audience.

I hate the Trumper as anyone. But this is ridiculous. He's trolling. He's playing the Dems, the MSM and Social Media as he always does.

Maybe AOC et al can have a "special social media education session" just like she did with Dem Congress Critters? But maybe in the Oval with the bad orange man to learn how it is really done?

The only ones suggesting he has the unilateral power (he doesn't) to overturn the Constitution and return to the good ole days of FDR and his 3 terms (now Constitutionally prohibited) are the desperate, sad, insane Demorats in the House.

What about actually doing something? What about reasonable and acceptable legislation by all parties?

No. Orange Man Bad.

The D's are going to get slaughtered in the upcoming elections keeping this sh@t up. Oh BTW Burr has served his last term as a R.

FWIW, ToP would love this post...

Don't rise to the bait...

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

wendy davis's picture

@EdMass

and while not understanding if this is satire:

Maybe AOC et al can have a "special social media education session" just like she did with Dem Congress Critters? But maybe in the Oval with the bad orange man to learn how it is really done?

what i'd seen w/ pelosi is that she's a botox actress just a shade or two different than the Orange Glowing Orb one.

but as far as this:

No. Orange Man Bad.

who screamed their heads off ahead of the two #Treason Summits? one with putin, one with kim. as far as joint legislation, i can't begin to image any uniparty agreement on anything that would actually benefit ordinary USians, myself.

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The Aspie Corner's picture

Almost got away with it, too. Then they resorted to rigging Ohio instead.

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Modern education is little more than toeing the line for the capitalist pigs.

Guerrilla Liberalism won't liberate the US or the world from the iron fist of capital.

@The Aspie Corner
completely abrogating the election process in 2004? The idea was never seriously entertained by any of the leaders of our various political institutions.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

wendy davis's picture

day for me. i've been awake since 3:30, and i've kneaded myself into a need for a rest before the loaves need to be shaped into bread pans.

i did manage to find a side-door into pelosi's thang at the times, most of them had included extra commentary, but this one may not. oh, lordie; hope it's the right one, there are so many links on this word document.

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ggersh's picture

will be amerika's last president

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

@ggersh @ggersh
I frequently referred to him as "little boots", back in the day.

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The earth is a multibillion-year-old sphere.
The Nazis killed millions of Jews.
On 9/11/01 a Boeing 757 (AA77) flew into the Pentagon.
AGCC is happening.
If you cannot accept these facts, I cannot fake an interest in any of your opinions.

wendy davis's picture

@ggersh

when i'd seen the title of london's piece, my first reaction was: Kewl! Direct Democracy's Comin' to Amerika! (and then my crest fell when i'd started reading.)

but yeah, their evil deeds, policies, wars of choice, lies, shreddings of that quaint document: the Constitution, civil liberties, wars on immigrants...grrrrrrrr.

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wendy davis's picture

scream once again: fuck the intercept!

Ex-US intelligence analyst charged with leaking top-secret drone war docs, RT.co, 9 May, 2019

“In the latest chapter of the US’ crackdown on whistleblowers, a 31-year-old intelligence contractor is facing charges for leaking 17 secret documents to an unnamed journalist, which could result in up to 50 years in prison.
Daniel Everette Hale was arrested and charged under the Espionage Act on Thursday for illegally disclosing top-secret and secret documents to the media, according to the indictment.
While the paperwork was initially filed in March, it didn’t result in an arrest until May 9. Hale is set to make his first appearance in federal court in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday.

The documents Hale is accused of leaking are reported to have contained a presentation on counterterrorism operations, details of a US military campaign against Al-Qaeda and information on the US military’s technical capabilities.

While serving in the air force, Hale was assigned to work with the National Security Agency (NSA) between 2009-2013. In April 2013, he met a reporter at a book tour in Washington, according to the indictment.

The journalist was reportedly interested in Hale’s experience “working with drones” and wanted him to tell his story about working with them at a screening of a movie on the topic.
The next year after several meetings, Hale agreed to print out six classified documents and allegedly handed them over to the reporter. In total, Hale is accused of printing 36 top secret documents, 17 of which ended up being provided to the reporter and published."

"In 2015, the Intercept published ‘The Drone Papers’, which cited “a cache of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the US military's assassination program,” which they said had been provided to them by a “whistleblower.”
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EdMass's picture

@wendy davis

Suggest you get off your computer for the rest of today. Have a nice cup of Herbal tea or maybe an adult beverage . Do whatever you do to relax, and relax.

Life goes on. It has, it will and somehow we've all survived over these 1000's of years of human and political existence.

Peace

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Prof: Nancy! I’m going to Greece!
Nancy: And swim the English Channel?
Prof: No. No. To ancient Greece where burning Sapho stood beside the wine dark sea. Wa de do da! Nancy, I’ve invented a time machine!

Firesign Theater

Stop the War!

wendy davis's picture

@EdMass

but i'll have a shot of scotch, and skip the hemlock tea. yes, a lot of us have survived, but too.many.have.not.

assange may not, hale may not, the millions of immigrants that obomba deported and keep in cages at the border may not, and how many amerikans are still dying for lack of health care and BigPharma iatrogenic diseaes? how many in this shithole nation are dying of poisoned water, and not just in flint, michigan, but where fracking solutions have leaked into even wells and aquifers? how many kids are dying of hunger, how many are homeless? how many brown and black people are still being killed by the police?

sorry; i am pissed as hell, and all i have is the (laughable job) of keyboard warrior. ; ) and i still gotta add more to the café version.

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Big Al's picture

@wendy davis Well, that's interesting. Thanks for the info, like to see how this shakes out.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

where did you see that surmise, please? he's been a serial obfuscator like GG ever since joined pierre's Fearless Intercept Borg.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

but as far as i can see no author is listed. (but then, i'm often blinded by the ugliness, in your face format of Pierre's Palace.)

on edit: OFM and duh; it requires clicking on individual portions to see which fearless investigate reporter had 'analyzed' them. cora, jeremy, and tra la la.

on second edit: clicking whitney webb's tweet, on subtweet is this

and over to tim shorrock:

https://theintercept.com/2019/05/09/statement-on-the-indictment-of-alleg...

can't wait to read betsy reed's shite./s

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Big Al's picture

@wendy davis linked to, that's what I saw. Well, this is why purists like me consider people like Scahill and Greenwald tools for the oligarchy. And here someone was recently talking about Maddow, jeesh.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

#MeToo. one subtweet somewhere had Unity4J noting that the Intercept had besmirched assange once; nope, at least 4 times i've blogged. (on edit: one was a two-fer: naomi kline and GG himself) another useful idiot said that Greenwald is the sole true voice of the intercept. but see what Brands can stand for The Truth? yeah, i know you know but speaking of Brands, there's a whole newish 'the bloom's off ocasio' thread i wish i'd had more to contribute to.

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Big Al's picture

@wendy davis the AOC thread. I've been shall I say, discouraged, from commenting on democratic party politicians on here, except in response to you in your essays. Like you said, she's just a fucking actress who is doing her part for the machine. I'm sure you're referring to the fact that she actually was cast for the part by the Justice democrats and is only acting within the realm of their agenda and the democratic party's imperialist wall street agenda as a whole. I consider her a traitor but she's probably too fucking stupid to realize that.

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wendy davis's picture

@Big Al

reminded of that short and hilarious video, but i will say that i'd never finished watching it. it's good to see that there was general agreement with dkmich's thread, though. a few of the new DSAs 'speak truth to power' juuuuuuust far enough that they can walk it back later. a couple tankies on twitter actually archived some of early tweets that aoc ha since deleted. the one that leaps to mind is one in which she's praising bill de blasio for his gentrification programs.

on edit: on the aforementioned thread, after i'd called pelosi 'botox nancy' i was reminded that c99 is not the national enquirer. good tip.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

Found this great description of Mr. Intercept on the black agenda report. Lots of dirty laundery is aired in it. He founded the Resistance. Of course he did.

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

of haiphong's deep exposé; quite a barn-burner. whitney webb's a another journalist who'd dug deep, as have mark ames and yasha levine. my guess is that webb's done some of the careful reading of the indictment, time lines etc. that bernhard has done, and thanks for the heads-up. but good gawd all-friday; this is jaw-dropping:

“The indictment does not say how the government found out that Hale provided the documents to Scahill. But the two seem to have at times communicated openly via phone, email and through text messages. That should have been a no-no. The government recovered at least parts of those communications. Hale attended several of Scahill's book tour events. Beyond that Hale openly communicated with 'a confident' about his contacts with Scahill. Later Scahill and Hale used the encrypted chat tool Jabber. Hale also used Tails, a software package The Intercept recommends for leaking documents to it.

It is quite possible that the Justice Department will also file charges against Jeremy Scahill. The first contacts with Hale and the first leaks by Hale were in the first half of 2013, when Hale was still enlisted and worked at the NSA. In July Hale emailed a resume to Scahill which he wanted to use to find a job with a defense contractor who leases people with security clearances to other U.S. agencies. They seem to have discussed the resume by phone. Hale was later hired by such a contractor and worked at the NGIA. There he copied the secret and top secret documents and presentations that seem to be the objects of Scahill's later reporting.

That Scahill discussed Hale's resume with him could be construed as active help to gain access to secrets that would then be leaked to The Intercept. The U.S. currently seeks the extradition of Julian Assange from Britain under the allegation that Assange actively helped Chelsea Manning to escape scrutiny by using her access to secret documents under a different account than her own. Assange is the editor of Wikileaks."

and this from margaret kimberly (BAR): Don’t forget FBI agent Terry Albury. He’s also doing time after leaking to Intercept.

b had said that reality winner might be sentenced to five years; i'd thought he was already in prison...but you know my decrepit memory.

you know mueller-gate inside out, as does pluto. are those judicial watch tweets and info useful and new exposés of the missing clinton emails? i'd put them on pluto's thread, but he hasn't responded.

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wendy davis's picture

@wendy davis

i poked about for terry albury's story, found few hits that weren't the Papers of Record, and landed on ‘Terry Albury: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know’, [video:https://heavy.com/news/2018/10/terry-albury/] (he got 4 years)

“That information was sent to The Intercept; Albury sent it anonymously, but he has since admitted that he was the source. The article says that ever since 2013, it’s been relatively easy for FBI agents to obtain permission to secretly wiretap a journalist’s phone; obtaining that permission becomes even easier if the journalist is employed by certain foreign media. You can read the Intercept story, and the underlying classified documents, here.”

https://theintercept.com/2017/01/31/secret-rules-make-it-pretty-easy-for...

no word how Pierre's Place burned him, and i doubt we'll learn the truth of it from the way corra currier's written the title showing at the link. why he pled guilty, how they knew to arrest him, etc. are not in the 5 easy facts.

https://heavy.com/news/2018/10/terry-albury/

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

everyone involved in Hillary's email scandal. There is an investigation into how the FBI cleared her for using her private email server. Draft one was released a year or so ago and it showed that there was lots of interference by people in the O admin and that Comey had already made up his mind to her guilt before he started. So yeah this is important, but I will wait to see if it goes anywhere before I get too excited about it.

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

but given the emails at obomba's oval office, and 49.000 on weiner's, i hope it has legs.

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snoopydawg's picture

@wendy davis

They closed their investigation. This is why Comey said something about this just before the election which Hillary supporters say cost her the election. They are still very pissed at Comey for telling congress about them which he had to do, but they aren't upset with Hillary's bone headed move to use her private email server. This is what they do. Blame everyone except the person responsible. Democrats lost both houses? It's because people didn't turn out to vote for them not that Obama and the democrats let everyone down.

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wendy davis's picture

@snoopydawg

clicking in to judicial watch, it seems like it depends on hard they press, or it seems to be the case, in any event. sure, excitement's not warranted in case it either takes years...or until the 12th of never to discover the truth.

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snoopydawg's picture

@Big Al

And here someone was recently talking about Maddow, jeesh.

I feel that I call out hypocrisy whenever I see it.

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wendy davis's picture

self-described commie hip-hop rapper boots riley and the coup:

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaFQw52wJug]

g' night.

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wendy davis's picture

much like the one in which julian assange's cat spied for him. wtf! guess the cameras must have been in striped tie he word on important days...

russian boris-natasha spy dolphin:

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