Charles Burchfield Bluebird and Cottonwoods (The Birches) 1917
Ad
This new ad against Kamala Harris is set to run throughout the duration of the DNC. It is devastating. pic.twitter.com/8cONw9bpPw
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 18, 2024
Tucker electorate
This is how they plan on stealing the election! Kamala couldn’t get more than a couple million votes. pic.twitter.com/TRywd884FA
— Johnny Midnight ⚡️ (@its_The_Dr) August 19, 2024
Donahue
Then an up and coming TV reporter, Phil Donahue got a tip at a local VA about the heroism of Vietnam Green Beret Paris Davis.
I want to personally honor Donahue’s fearless reporting that paved the way for Davis’ Medal of Honor nearly six decades later. pic.twitter.com/K9uUIKGyql
— Catherine Herridge (@C__Herridge) August 19, 2024
Trump Fred
Trump gives a heartfelt message about why he's never drank alcohol. pic.twitter.com/rjvNhImDI2
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) August 19, 2024
DNC
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825536692733796616
Friedman
“Consumers don't produce inflation. Producers don't produce inflation. Inflation is produced only by too much government spending and too much government creation of money, and nothing else.”
— Milton Friedman— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) August 17, 2024
Milei
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825299191662567920
4 days and nights of absurd theater.
• Let the DNC Frolics Begin (Jim Kunstler)
Looking a little insurrection-ish at Chicago’s United Center all of a sudden as Illinois Governor Jabba the Pritzker orders a wall built around the perimeter to protect the Democratic Party from its very own basket of deplorables — the pro-Hamas, Antifa / BLM nose-ring-for-lunch bunch — with the state’s National Guard “on standby.” The New York Post and other news sources report 100,000 anti-Israel protesters migrating there to liven-up a convention that also has the potential to go off-script inside the arena — since the script was written by a handful of party mandarins, with the gamed consent of the convened delegates, who might be a little ticked off about the deal. What the party needs most this week is a plausible aura that it is firmly in control of events, having pulled off coup-after-coup on its own rank-and-file. Most recently, Pelosi & friends passed the black spot to “Joe Biden.” (The easy way or the hard way.)
He took the hint and dropped out. But then, how exactly did Veep Kamala get plugged into his slot? Five minutes prior, they were, like, yccchhhh, her? And then, two seconds later, somebody arranged a pre-convention Zoom call “virtual vote” of the delegates — like a Las Vegas David Copperfield magic trick — followed by “certification!” (By whom? Answer: the certifiers.) Badda bing, badda bang! Their “democracy” got rolled. So, you can imagine that things might fly out of control in exact proportion to the Mandarins’ desperate need to seem legitimately in control — when they are just a clique of scared-stiff tyrants running scams on their own people — and the result looks like the Democrats’ certified metamorphosis into the Party of Chaos.
Why scared-stiff? Because of a long list of serious crimes against the American people over the past decade, various treasons committed under color-of-law, for which they fear prosecution and punishment if the wrong person gets elected. Just in the normal course of things in Chicago, local ABC-7 News reports, “At least 23 shot, 5 fatally, in weekend gun violence across city” over the pre-convention weekend. You have to wonder whether this ordinary background lawlessness will wash over into the political turmoil certain to roil the streets. Lootin’, anyone? Businesses in the downtown “Loop” district have boarded up their windows. As if a measly sheet of plywood can keep them out.
[..] This time around, the news media has been fully absorbed into the blob, doing all its bidding, like the blob’s personal Chat GPT, while the blob itself has grown to be a larger and more potent governing entity than the flimsy scaffold of elected officials who front for it. But the Democratic Party has faltered badly in its years’ long efforts to cover for the blob, mainly by lying to the American people about everything. Running “Joe Biden” in 2020 was a dishonest act of desperation that only worked with a rigged election and then prosecuting anyone who attempted to complain. The party knew that “JB” was a mental phantom four years ago, and they had the effrontery to try running him again in ’24, until ol’ “Joe” made it impossible with his demented public behavior.
They also know that Kamala Harris is an empty vessel with a drinking problem, but they’ve desperately pulled out all the stops to make her appear legitimate. Her performance the past three weeks has not exactly been reassuring. Her running mate, Governor Walz, comes off straight-up insane. Why would they now not attempt to dump them with the same bad faith they installed them? Gawd knows what mayhem might rock the streets outside the United Center. Recent years of degenerate USA life have produced a youth cohort with a staggering rate of mental illness. You’ve already seen plenty of how dark Antifa can get with its murderous trans cadres itching for action. But you’ve also got to wonder how the formal speeches by the party nabobs will go over?
Might there be any booing of the elite? How will the crowd greet Mrs. Pelosi, the party’s consiglieri who arranged things as they are now? What on earth can Hillary Clinton say about the nominee she openly loathes? Will Bill Clinton, painted as a sexual predator by the Me-Too caucus, get a love-bath or a cold-shoulder? How false will the party’s unity seem? Will surprise motions arise from the floor to change-up the pre-scripted program? There are many more ways for things to go wrong this week than the simple dynamics that were in-play fifty-six years ago in Chicago.
“You can see who is going to win this election.”
• The NAZIFIED EU and Democrat Party
What a joke Europe is. With 2,000 Southern American rednecks, I could conquer all of Europe. What European ethnic is going to fight for an anti-white European government? What do the fools in these governments think is going to happen to them if they go to war with Russia? Who thinks that All of Europe plus America has an army the equivalent of the German Wehrmacht that invaded Russia? The dumbshits who talk about attacking China must all be strung out on crack cocaine. Attack Russia and die. Attack China and die. The US and NATO are incapable of even attacking Iran unless they hurry up as the Russian S-400 air defense system is in the process of being set up in Iran. No American or Israeli missiles and aircraft are capable of penetrating it.
Mindlessness rules the Western world. This is true even of MAGA Trump supporters where one would hope awareness prevails. It doesn’t. I have previously reported that we have every indication that the 2024 election will be stolen for the Democrats just as was the 2020 and 2022 elections. The American whore media has turned Kamala from a non-candidate with zero support into a candidate that is leading Trump, especially in the swing states where the fraudulent election procedures have all been legalized and, at least in some of them, challenges to the vote has been criminalized. What are the Republicans saying about the Democrats in blue states overturning the ban on vote drop boxes standing on street corners?
What are they saying about the Democrats’ intention to punish those, including poll watchers, who report fraud? They are saying nothing. They only ask for more money. The election, Republican fundraisers say, depends on money. In other words, Republicans themselves admit that if Kamala raises more money she will win. So the Republican fundraisers contribute to the Democrats’ theft of the election. So, once again, the Republicans, wimps incapable of fighting, are walking into a stolen election. The Democrats are organized. They have a fanatical woke, anti-white, anti-Christian aganda of turning the United States into a Soddom & Gomorrah Tower of Babel. The agenda of the Republican Party is to keep control of the party from an outsider’s hands, such as Trump’s. You can see who is going to win this election.
In 2016, Nicole Foss was so under the spell of a rabid anti-Trumper named Seth Abramson that she swallowed his Orange Man bad story whole, and left the Automatic Earth for it, telling me: “..not a word you say is true”. While I was still just wondering why these people would turn on Trump to the degree they did. I knew little about him, other than his name in big golden letters, and a TV show. Why the vitriol?
Abramson is back, with the same kinds of stuff, now against Elon Musk. This time it’s some “press report” that Musk gave a Cybertruck, with a machine gun mounted on it, to Chechen leader Kadyrov. Me, all I can think is: what’s wrong with these people?
“Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?”
• Musk Ridicules Claim He Gave Cybertruck To Chechen Leader (RT)
American billionaire Elon Musk has ridiculed journalist and author Seth Abramson, who claimed that the Tesla CEO should be tried for collusion with Russia. Abramson, who rose to prominence in the US during the presidency of Donald Trump when he extensively researched supposed links between Trump and Russia, targeted Musk on Saturday. He was reacting to claims by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov that the Tesla CEO gave him a Cybertruck, which he weaponized and intends to send to the Russian forces on the front lines of the Ukraine conflict. “Musk is providing vehicles ready for military use to sanctioned enemies of America? Why isn’t this the biggest story in America today?” Abramson asked on X (formerly Twitter). “Why is West Point coddling a man working openly against the US?”
“Are you seriously so retarded that you think I donated a Cybertruck to a Russian general?” Musk responded. “Yet another example of how much the legacy media lies.” Earlier in the week, Musk delivered a speech to graduating West Point cadets, which is why Abramson called out the military school. The Tesla Cybertruck is a highly-stylized electric vehicle with an extra-durable exterior, but was never designed for military use and is available on the market starting at over $200,000. Kadyrov drove the vehicle around Grozny, the capital of the southern Russian republic of Chechnya, according to a video he published on Saturday. It had a machine gun on a mount installed in the cargo bed. Kadyrov posed at the gunner position, wearing ammo belts for dramatic effect.
“Elon, thank you! Come to Grozny; I will welcome you as my dearest guest!” the Chechen leader said. The original complaint against Musk that triggered Abramson’s accusations came from former Ukrainian MP Anton Gerashchenko, who enjoys a sizeable English-speaking following on X. Musk has been targeted by Ukrainian officials and public figures since late 2022, when he began to openly question Kiev’s military strategy in the conflict with Russia and to call for concessions for the sake of peace.
Disappointing that ZeroHedge “goes there” too. It says: “..the following is now crystal clear and fully established at this point, as even mainstream media now fully admits: Yes, Ukraine did it..” Nonsense. The reason for now blaming Ukraine is to keep the US out of the picture. As for paying for the damage: Ukraine is broke. Dead end.
And it’s not that ZH doesn’t know: “..Seymour Hersh says alternative NS2 sabotage theories in NYT and German press were ‘concocted’ by CIA…. [..] Legendary US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh predicted all of this ‘official narrative manipulation’ months ago.”
• Ukraine Must Pay Germany Back For Nord Stream Damage: Bundestag Lawmaker (ZH)
We previously highlighted that the recent “bombshell” WSJ Nord Stream report is yet another major attempt by mainstream gatekeepers to radically shift the narrative over the Nord Stream sabotage, and to put official distance between President Zelensky and his supposedly ‘rogue’ top general at the time who ‘oversaw’ the covert op. Still, the following is now crystal clear and fully established at this point, as even mainstream media now fully admits: Yes, Ukraine did it. No, Russia did not do it. And yes it had the involvement or at least foreknowledge of the CIA. We further pointed out that this sudden U-turn in the narrative was meant to soften the blow from Germany’s decision to finally cut off Ukraine’s – and Zelensky’s – unprecedented grift. Already and to be expected, some German lawmakers are pissed at being so obviously used and abused by Kiev.
After all the NS2 pipeline had been a years-long, multi-billion dollar Russia to Germany natural gas vital infrastructure project which cost $11 billion to build. In the wake of the latest revelations, member of the German Bundestag, co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel has been among the loudest Berlin officials in denouncing Kiev. She is calling for Ukraine to compensate Germany for the damage caused to its economy as a result of the September 26, 2022 underwater bombings. Here’s what she posted to X on Friday in the wake of WSJ’s reporting and the latest disclosures surrounding the ‘mystery’ sabotage (according to machine translation from the German): The economic damage to our country caused by the demolition of Nordstream presumably ordered by Zelensky – and not Putin as we were led to believe – should be “billed” to Ukraine. Any “aid payments” that burden the German taxpayer should be stopped.
The firebrand and populist conservative politician is essentially telling Ukraine at this point: ‘you bombed it, you pay for it and stop taking advantage of our taxpaying citizenry.’ Or in other words, the gravy train has ended as the truth comes out. Berlin-Kiev relations have further strained as the German Prosecutor General’s Office also lately issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian citizen suspected of involvement in the pipeline sabotage plot. The suspect is also described as having at least two accomplices, identified as experienced divers who directly assisted in installing explosive devices to the pipelines. All of this is indeed having swift effect, given soon after news of the arrest warrant was made public, a Saturday report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said that the German government will stop new military aid to Ukraine as part of the ruling coalition’s plan to reduce spending.
The report, which cited non-public documents and emails as well as discussions with unnamed sources, goes on to note that the moratorium on new assistance – which is already in effect – will affect new requests for funding, not previously approved aid. Berlin, which is Europe’s main supplier of military aid to Kyiv, had previously signaled a change in course on Ukraine last month, when the governing coalition of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals adopted a preliminary deal on a draft budget for 2025. The compromise detailed plans to slash future assistance to Ukraine by half to €4 billion to fulfill other spending priorities. And, it now appears, that even this token amount could be cut to zero.
It will also be interesting to see how much traction Alice Weidel’s enough is enough messaging and calls for getting German public funds back from Ukraine will have among the German populace. Likely it will resonate strongly after well over a year of ‘war fatigue’ and as tensions could escalate into nuclear-armed showdown between Russia and NATO. Longtime investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says alternative NS2 sabotage theories in NYT and German press were ‘concocted’ by CIA…. And likely the last shoe has still yet to drop on the still unraveling Nord Stream sabotage narrative. Legendary US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh predicted all of this ‘official narrative manipulation’ months ago.
Long explanation from Scott.
But yes, it’s clear where the propaganda resides.
• Russia Has Never Dictated Any Narrative To Me, Unlike The West (Scott Ritter)
As the US government works overtime to stigmatize any journalism possessing connectivity with Russia, the world slides dangerously down a path defined by a Russophobic US-driven agenda that leads toward the inevitability of conflict, and the probability of nuclear war. When the FBI executed a search warrant on my residence on August 7, they were singularly focused on my professional relationship (I am a self-employed journalist) with the Russian government, and in particular, RT, the widely recognized brand name of Russia Today, a media company founded by the autonomous non-profit organization TV-Novosti in April 2005. According to the FBI, the US government was concerned that my activities fell under the Foreign Agent Registration Act (FARA). The FBI has also searched the Virginia home of Dmitry Simes, a veteran Russian-American journalist who currently resides in Moscow where he helps moderate a popular political program, ‘The Big Game’, on Channel 1.
While the FBI has not publicly commented on the raid on Simes’ home, it is most likely due to similar concerns over FARA compliance. I have been an external contributor (i.e., contactor) to RT since April 2020. Since the initial contract was signed, I have written numerous articles and produced hundreds of videos for which I have been compensated financially in accordance with the terms set forth in the agreements between myself and RT. As stipulated in the signed agreements, I am solely responsible for the content of the work provided. At no time have I entered into any agreement, written or oral, or have reached any understanding, formal or informal, that I am responsive to the direction or control of either RT/TV-Novosti or the Russian government. Indeed, the agreement between myself and RT stipulates that I am responsible for determining the topics that will be covered in the content I produce, although as is the case in any editorial/producer relationship with ‘talent’, I have been asked to provide content that is responsive to breaking news.
I am a freelance journalist. This is the life of a freelance journalist. Nothing more, nothing less. This relationship is like that which I have as an outside contributor to other journalistic outlets, including TruthDig, the American Conservative, Consortium News, the Washington Spectator, and Energy Intelligence, all of which have published my work on a regular basis during the same period in which I produced content for RT. In all cases, I am solely responsible for the content I produce. There is, of course, a collaborative relationship with the editors of all these publishing outlets, some more intense/heavy than others. This is the normal reality faced by every journalist in the world. I can say without fear of contradiction that the editorial ‘touch’ of RT is the lightest of any publisher I have dealt with – there is the standard follow-up questioning on sourcing of information, and some massaging of language for clarity. On a few occasions (I can count them on one hand), RT has turned down articles I have submitted for publication.
In every instance, the topics dealt with US domestic issues, and the editors were concerned about being seen as buying into unfounded conspiracies. How utterly irresponsible of them! The specific compensation received for work published is confidential in accordance with the terms of the agreement I signed with RT (the FBI seized physical and electronic copies of this agreement, and I have in the past provided copies of the agreement to the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) or their proxies operating within the US banking system.) But I can say this – it is within the industry norm, slightly more than some publishers, and slightly less than others. And in no case can it be considered exorbitant – the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, all of whom have published my opinion pieces in the past, all pay significantly more than does RT.
The guy has apologized by now, but does that matter?
• Italian State TV Normalizing Nazi Symbols – Moscow (RT)
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused Italian state broadcaster RAI News of “sinking to a new low,” after correspondent Ilario Piagnerelli interviewed a Ukrainian soldier who was wearing Nazi insignia. The criticism comes after the broadcaster recalled two of its reporters back to Italy, following the launch of a criminal probe by Moscow into their illegal presence in Russia’s Kursk Region. On Wednesday, RAI aired a TV report on the Ukrainian cross-border assault into the region, in which a crew of journalists embedded with Kiev’s forces drove deep into Russian territory. “Western media continue to engage in the deliberate rehabilitation of Ukrainian neo-Nazis and the revision of the Nuremberg Tribunal verdicts,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Sunday, commenting on an interview conducted by Piagnerelli with a Ukrainian soldier who was wearing a symbol associated with an SS division.
The correspondent had already “distinguished himself with stories about Bucha and a dead neo-Nazi from Pravy Sektor [Right Sector],” she claimed, but has now “sunk to new depths after taking a video interview with an Armed Forces of Ukraine member in a cap with the insignia of the SS division ‘Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler’.” The SS organization Zakharova was referring to was convicted of war crimes by the Nuremberg Tribunal following World War II. “It is possible that next time Pianerelli will film a Ukronazi with the symbols of the SS division ‘Reichsfuhrer SS,’” Zakharova stated. The SS division killed between 770 and 1,830 civilians in the Italian town of Marzabotto in 1944, in the worst World War II massacre in Western Europe, she recalled. More than 200 of the victims were children, mostly under the age of ten.
In an extract from a report circulating online, Pianerelli can be seen talking to a man wearing a khaki cap adorned with the insignia of the ‘Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler’ SS division. The video is watermarked ‘Rai News 24’. As of Monday morning, the footage was missing from Pianerelli’s account on X (formerly Twitter). In a longer version of the interview circulating on social media, Pianerelli questions another Ukrainian serviceman who has a red-colored ‘black sun crest’ swastika on his plate carrier vest, another symbol used by the SS.
EU vs Musk: “It was a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object..”
• The EU Just Declared War on Free Speech in America (Turley)
One of the greatest threats to free speech today is the European Digital Services Act. The act bars speech that is viewed as “disinformation” or “incitement.” European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager celebrated its passage by declaring that it is “not a slogan anymore, that what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.” In Europe, free speech is in free fall. Germany, France, the United Kingdom and other countries have eviscerated free speech by criminalizing speech deemed inciteful or degrading to individuals or groups. The result had made little difference to the neo-Nazi movement in countries like Germany, which is reaching record numbers. It has, however, silenced the rest of society.
According to polling, only 18 percent of Germans feel free to express their opinions in public. Fifty-nine percent of Germans do not even feel free expressing themselves in private among friends. Only 17 percent feel free to express themselves on the internet. They have silenced the wrong people, but there is now a massive censorship bureaucracy in Europe and the desire to silence opposing voices has become insatiable. Some in this country have the same taste for speech-regulation. After Elon Musk bought Twitter and dismantled most of the company’s censorship program, many on the left went bonkers. That fury only increased when Musk released the “Twitter files,” confirming the long-denied coordination and support by the government in targeting and suppressing speech.
In response, Hillary Clinton and other Democratic figures turned to Europe and called upon them to use their Digital Services Act to force censorship against Americans. The EU immediately responded by threatening Musk with confiscatory penalties against not just his company but himself. He would have to resume massive censorship or else face ruin. It was a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. The anti-free speech movement had finally found the one man who could not be bullied, coerced or threatened into submission. Musk’s defiance has only magnified the unrelenting attacks against him in the media, academia and government. If Musk can be broken, these figures will once again exercise effective control of over a large swath of speech globally.
This campaign recently came to a head when Musk had the audacity to interview former president Donald Trump. In anticipation of the interview, one of the most notorious anti-free speech figures in the world went ballistic. European Commissioner for Internal Markets and Services Thierry Breton issued a threatening message to Musk, “We are monitoring the potential risks in the EU associated with the dissemination of content that may incite violence, hate and racism in conjunction with major political — or societal — events around the world, including debates and interviews in the context of elections.”
While offering a passing nod to the freedom of speech, he warned Musk that “all proportionate and effective mitigation measures are put in place regarding the amplification of harmful content in connection with relevant events.” In other words, be afraid, be very afraid. Musk responded with “Bonjour!” and then suggested that Breton perform a physically challenging sexual act. To recap, the EU is now moving to force censorship upon American citizens to meet its own demands of what is false, demeaning or inciting. And that includes censorship even of our leading political candidates for the presidency.
But he’s such a nice old man..
• Biden Committed ‘Impeachable Offenses’ – GOP Report (RT)
Republican investigators have released their impeachment inquiry report on Joe Biden, accusing the US president of influence-peddling and obstruction. However, any effort to remove Biden from office is unlikely to succeed. Released on Monday by the House Oversight, Judiciary, and Ways and Means committees, the report claims that Biden and his family used their family name and connections to the White House to solicit over $27 million from businessmen and political figures in China, Kazakhstan, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine. Citing witness testimony and documents obtained from Biden’s son Hunter’s laptop, the report alleges that Hunter met with these foreign clients and promised them access to his father, who at the time was serving as vice president of the US. Despite denying any knowledge of his son’s business dealings, “Biden met or spoke with nearly every one of the Biden family’s foreign business associates, including those from Ukraine, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan,” the report claimed.
At the time of most of these meetings, Hunter Biden was sitting on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma. This position earned him just under $1 million per year, despite having no experience in the energy industry. The obstruction charge stems from Biden’s Justice Department supposedly “slow-walking” an investigation into Hunter Biden’s tax affairs, as well as the White House’s alleged withholding of key witnesses and documents related to the impeachment inquiry. Furthermore, the report accused the White House of obstructing a probe into Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents by refusing to turn over audio recordings of the president’s testimony to special counsel Robert Hur.
Hur declined to charge Biden over the documents case earlier this year, declaring that the president came across in the recordings as an “elderly man with a poor memory” who would be difficult to convict in a jury trial. “The Constitution’s remedy for a President’s flagrant abuse of office is clear: impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal by the Senate,” the committees wrote in Monday’s report, adding that the report would be sent to the House “for its evaluation and consideration of appropriate next steps.” However, House Speaker Mike Johnson has given no indication that he intends to hold a vote to impeach Biden, and despite the GOP holding an eight-seat majority in the House, dozens of Republicans have said they would not support an impeachment vote without more concrete proof of illegal activity by Biden.
Impeachable
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825559063993688535
“In a few months, America will either have a reset, or a quick slide into tyranny and chaos..”
• Time for NeverTrump Republicans to Put On Their Big Boy Pants (AT)
My flak jacket is on as I write this since I am sure to offend or piss off some friends, family, and colleagues who are ostensibly Republicans or conservatives but have a visceral aversion to Donald Trump. Some tell me they are Republican and miss Ronald Reagan but also admit they “couldn’t” vote for Donald Trump in either 2016 or 2020. Nothing says one is Republican like voting for a liberal Democrat. This is the NeverTrump wing of the Republican Party, emerging shortly after Trump secured the GOP nomination in 2016. Reasons for NeverTrump-ism are myriad. Some were offended by his mean tweets, name-calling, and brash Queens personality. Others disliked his confidence and determination to punch back twice as hard when attacked, particularly when the attacks were bogus (Russian collusion, fine people, grab em by the p***y, etc).
Many establishment Republicans only wanted a nominee who was part of George Carlin’s “big club,” with the last name of Bush, or endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce, The Wall Street Journal, or the Koch brothers. Still others bristled at Trump’s desires to secure America’s borders, avoid foreign wars, achieve American energy independence, and level the playing field of global trade. After all, globalists and the military-industrial complex are happy with and profit immensely from open borders, endless wars, high energy prices, and China-centric trade deals. In two and a half months, there will be a reckoning, America First versus America Last. The comparisons to four years ago are legion. Trump attempted to build a border wall, despite NeverTrump resistance from his own party. Biden opened the border to the tune of 10,000 known illegal crossings per day.
Trump nominated three Constitutional Supreme Court justices while Biden nominated one who doesn’t know what a woman is. Democrats want to stack the high court with leftists who will rewrite the U.S. Constitution to resemble Marx and Engels’s Communist Manifesto. Trump’s economy had high employment and low inflation. The Biden/Harris/Obama economy provided the opposite. Trump did not start any foreign wars during his four years in office. Harris/Obama/Biden started wars between Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Iran, and Yemen and the Western world.
[..] Cutesy time is over, as Dan Bongino would say. In a few months, America will either have a reset, or a quick slide into tyranny and chaos. Trump is Trump, his personality almost 80 years in the making. He will not suddenly become Ronald Reagan, with a smooth voice and disarming charm. But so what? Trump’s brashness is a breath of fresh air compared to career politicians who offer a word salad of platitudes and promises while actually accomplishing nothing.
When you are dying from some strange disease that no one can diagnose or treat, who do you want caring for you? You could have warm, empathetic, fatherly Dr. Marcus Welby, who doesn’t know what’s wrong with you but holds your hand as you die. Or you could have rude, abrasive, obnoxious Dr. Gregory House who, while making fun of you with zero bedside manner, makes the correct diagnosis and prescribes the proper treatment, allowing you to walk out of the hospital a week later. We are not choosing a prom date, a spouse, a roommate, or a valentine. We are choosing the leader of America and the free world. You may not like Trump’s calling his opponents mean names. But did you object when Bush was called ‘Hitler,’ Trump ‘a Nazi,’ or Paul Ryan “pushed” granny off a cliff?
The haste is gone.
• Manhattan DA Defers to Judge on Delaying Trump’s Sentencing Date (ET)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office said it will defer to a New York judge on former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his criminal case sentencing until after the presidential election this year. Bragg’s office, in a letter received by the court on Aug. 19, wrote that prosecutors will leave it up to Judge Juan Merchan to decide whether Trump’s sentencing in his New York case should be delayed beyond the current Sept. 18 hearing date. Trump’s attorneys last week asked the judge to postpone his sentencing until after the November election, where he is the leading Republican candidate for president. Prosecutors did not specifically oppose the former president’s request for a delay. Prosecutors wrote in their letter, “Given the defense’s newly-stated position, we defer to the Court on whether an adjournment is warranted to allow for orderly appellate litigation of that question, or to reduce the risk of a disruptive stay from an appellate court pending consideration of that question.”
“The People are prepared to appear for sentencing on any future date the Court sets,” the letter continued. In their request for a delay, Trump’s lawyers last week wrote to the judge that the sentencing should take place after the start of early voting for the election, saying the timing would harm the proceedings. “Sentencing is currently scheduled to occur after the commencement of early voting in the Presidential election,” attorney Todd Blanche wrote. “By adjourning the sentencing until after that election—which is of paramount importance to the entire Nation, including tens of millions of people who do not share the views of Authentic, its executives, and its clients—the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings.” They also argued there was not enough time before the sentencing for the defense to potentially appeal Merchan’s ruling on Trump’s request to overturn the conviction due to the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court’s 6–3 decision, which related to a separate criminal case Trump faces, found that presidents cannot be criminally prosecuted for their official acts, and that evidence of presidents’ official actions cannot be used to help prove criminal cases involving unofficial actions. Bragg’s office responded by saying that prosecutors will also not take a position, leaving it to Merchan to decide. In their letter, prosecutors said the prospect that Trump immediately appeals the judge’s decision on immunity may mean a potential Sept. 18 sentencing would be delayed anyway after “significant public safety and logistical steps” were already taken to prepare for Trump’s court appearance. In May, a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records before Merchan set a July 11 sentencing date. The judge later postponed it to Sept. 18 and last month said he would rule on Trump’s immunity claim on Sept. 16.
During the six-week-long trial, prosecutors said that Trump criminally concealed payments to prevent an adult performer, Stephanie Clifford, from going public about an alleged affair she said occurred in 2006, which the former president has categorically denied. They further argued that the concealing of the payments was designed to impact the 2016 election with the intent to violate election laws. Trump faces criminal charges in two other jurisdictions—one in Fulton County, Georgia, and the other in Washington—for alleged election interference after the 2020 election. His classified records case was dismissed by a federal judge last month, although Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought that case and the Washington one, has vowed to appeal the judge’s decision.
The Fulton County election case, meanwhile, has been postponed as Trump and several co-defendants have appealed a Fulton County judge’s decision that allowed District Attorney Fani Willis to remain on the case amid allegations of impropriety. His Washington case restarted several weeks ago after the Supreme Court’s immunity decision. Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges, repeatedly saying they’re politically motivated and designed to harm his 2024 candidacy. The May conviction was the first time in U.S. history that a current or former president was convicted of a felony crime. Earlier in August, Trump again attempted to have Merchan recuse himself from the case, which the judge denied.
Now the claim is there is no time..
• RNC Asks Supreme Court to Block 41,000 Arizona Voters From Voting (ET)
The Republican National Committee (RNC) asked the Supreme Court on Aug. 19 to prevent 41,000 registered voters from voting in the November presidential election because they allegedly did not provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Arizona is a hotly contested battleground that could help determine who wins the election. In 2020, President Joe Biden won Arizona by 10,457 votes. The new filing in RNC v. Mi Familia Vota came after the RNC filed an emergency application with the court on Aug. 8. Respondent Mi Familia Vota is a nonprofit group active in Arizona and several other states. The application is pending before Justice Elena Kagan. At issue in the case are the Arizona laws, H.B. 2492 and H.B. 2243, which the state Legislature approved in 2022. The statutes require people registering to vote in the state to present “satisfactory” proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, to provide proof of eligibility to vote.
The laws also require registrants to provide their state or country of birth and require counties to carry out citizenship verifications and purge noncitizens from the voter rolls. U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton halted enforcement of the proof of citizenship mandate on May 2, citing the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), also known as the Motor Voter Law, and a prior state court order. A divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed Bolton’s order by a vote of 2-1 on Aug. 1. Although Congress has made it easier for Americans to register to vote, federal rules should not be allowed to supersede “the Arizona Legislature’s sovereign authority to determine the qualifications of voters and structure participation in its elections,” the RNC said in the application it originally filed on Aug. 8.
In the Aug. 19 filing, the RNC referenced the other side’s invocation of the so-called Purcell Principle, which is a judicial doctrine that courts should not change rules close to an election because doing so creates a risk of causing confusion. But this approach is wrong because it would require “courts to make a freestanding assessment of whether enforcement or nonenforcement of state election law is more likely to cause confusion.” The respondents’ argument would impose an unfair standard because it directs federal courts to look at state enforcement policy and “find that the status quo weighs in favor of an injunction if enforcement has not been vigorous enough,” the brief says.
This refashioning of the Purcell Principle would also make federal courts “weigh Purcell in favor of an injunction if enough state election officials would prefer that result—even when other state officials would enforce state law.” This approach to Purcell would allow federal authorities to interfere with state lawmaking processes. “Allowing the Ninth Circuit’s weaponization of Purcell against state election law to stand will only encourage more last-minute injunctions by federal courts,” the brief says. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes urged the Supreme Court to reject the application in a brief filed on Aug. 16. It is already too close to the election for the Supreme Court to act in this time-sensitive case, he said.
“In just a mere 7 weeks, early voting in Arizona will begin. To be sure, at this juncture in Arizona elections, time is not only of the essence, but it is in short supply. “ “Last minute statewide policy changes like those requested in the Application, no matter how small they may seem to some, can (and Secretary Fontes believes will) drastically impact how affected votes are collected and processed.” The U.S. Department of Justice urged the Supreme Court to deny the application. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in a brief filed Aug. 16 that because the NVRA “preempts” the Arizona laws’ requirement that voters file “documentary proof in order to vote for President or vote by mail,” the RNC was “unlikely to prevail” in the case. Federal preemption means that a state law that conflicts with federal law is invalid. It is unclear when the Supreme Court will act on the RNC’s application.
How far will Clay Higgins get?
• Local Officer Shot Trump Rally Shooter First, Knocking Him Down (ET)
The first shot to strike the man who fired at former President Donald Trump came from a local law enforcement officer, according to a preliminary report from an investigation by a U.S. congressman. Thomas Crooks fired eight shots from the rooftop of a building near where Trump was speaking in Butler County, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) found that the next shot came from a county SWAT officer who was about 100 yards away from the building on which Crooks was positioned. When the officer from the Butler County Emergency Services Unit saw Crooks as a moving target on the rooftop, he quickly left his post and sprinted toward the man, “running to a clear shot position directly into the line of fire while Crooks was firing,” Higgins said. “He stopped Crooks and importantly, I believe the shot damaged the buffer tube on Crooks’ AR,” Higgins added, citing eyewitness testimony.
If the shot damaged the buffer tube on the rifle Crooks was using, it would have left Crooks unable to fire more shots. Crooks went down from his firing position but popped back up several seconds later, the SWAT officer said. That’s when a shot from a U.S. Secret Service counter-sniper struck Crooks, killing him, according to Higgins. The Secret Service has said one of its counter-snipers took out Crooks. Higgins, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives task force, traveled to Butler County to recreate how Crooks climbed onto the roof and assess what happened. He said he was assisted in the investigation by local officials, including the Butler County unit tactical team commander and a top official with the Butler County District Attorney’s office.
Higgins said that among the theories he probed was whether there was another shooter on top of a water tower overlooking the fairgrounds. “There are videos on the internet showing a dark figure or a shadow on the water tower on J13. If there had been someone on that tower on J13, it would have to have been some top-shelf operator way beyond anything I’ve ever actually seen,” Higgins wrote. “Regular SWAT operators or snipers would not have the skills and gear to quickly overcome the first 25 feet of no ladder and then climb the remaining 75 feet to the catwalk, and then climb the quite intimidating and precarious dome vent access ladder.”
Higgins said he did not think it was possible for a second shooter to have been on top of the tower and that he did not see any evidence supporting the theory. He also stated that all 10 shots heard that day were accounted for, with eight coming from Crooks, one from a local SWAT officer, and one from the Secret Service. Higgins said he plans on climbing to the top of the tower in the future as he continues to investigate the shooting. “As I have said, every question will be answered, every theory explored, and every doubt erased. The American people deserve the full truth on the attempted assassination of President Trump,” Higgins said in a statement. “Our investigative efforts are moving forward in good faith. The release of my preliminary investigative report is reflective of my desire to deliver transparency and reassurance to the American people.”
“Israel has never faced such a serious and immediate internal threat to its existence and future as a free society..“
• Zionists Dare US To Pull The Plug On Their Nakba Agenda (Alastair Crooke)
The U.S. Straussians began forming a political group half a century ago, in 1972. They were all members of Democratic Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson’s staff, and included Elliott Abrams, Richard Perle and David Wurmser. In 1996, this Straussians trio wrote a study for the new Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. This report (the Clean Break Strategy) advocated the elimination of Yasser Arafat; the annexation of the Palestinian territories; a war against Iraq and the transfer of Palestinians there. Netanyahu was very much a member of this circle. The Strategy was inspired not only by the political theories of Leo Strauss, but also by those of his friend, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the founder of Revisionist Zionism, to whom Netanyahu’s father served as private secretary. For the avoidance of confusion, the American Straussians – today usually called ‘neo-cons’ – are not in principle opposed to the Netanyahu government’s Nakba agenda.
It was not Gazans suffering that exercised them; rather, it was the threats by the Revisionist Zionists to launch an attack on Iran and on Lebanon. For, were this war to be launched, the Israeli army – for certain – would not be able to defeat Hezbollah on its own. And for Israel to wage war on Iran would amount to certifiable madness. Thus to save Israel, the U.S. undoubtedly would be forced to intervene. The balance of military power has shifted considerably towards both Hizbullah and Iran since the Israeli-Lebanese war of 2006 and any war now would be a fraught and risky undertaking. Yet – this was of the essence to the Israeli government’s unspoken ‘esoteric’ (inner) agenda. The only alternative for the U.S. would be to encourage a military coup in Tel Aviv. Already, some senior officers and non-commissioned Israeli officers have come together to suggest this.
In March 2024, General Benny Gantz was invited to Washington (against the wishes of the PM). He did not, however, accept the invitation to overthrow the Prime Minister. He went to make sure that he could still save Israel, and that his allies in the U.S. would not turn against the Israeli military cadre. This may seem odd. But the reality is that the IDF feels undermined, even betrayed. The agreement struck at the outset of the government between Netanyahu and Itamar Ben-Gvir (of Otzma Yehudit) – was the outlier to this anxiety. The governmental accord provided for Ben-Gvir to head an autonomous armed force in the West Bank. He was given charge not only of the national police, but also the border police, which until then, had been the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence. The accord also provided for the creation of a large-scale National Guard and a reinforced presence of reserve troops within the border police.
Ben-Gvir is a Kahanist, meaning a disciple of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who demands the expulsion of Palestinian Arab citizens from Israel and the Occupied Territories and the establishment of a theocracy, and he makes little secret of wanting to use the border police to expel the Palestinian populations, be they Muslim or Christian. Ben Gvir’s official forces represent, as Benny Gantz noted, a ‘private army’. But that is the half of it – for he separately holds the allegiance of hundreds of thousand West Bank settler-vigilantes over whom the radical Rabbi, Dov Lior and his coterie of radical Jabotinsky Rabbi influencers, have control. The regular army fears these vigilantes – as we saw at Sde Teiman military base – when Ben Gvir’s militia vigilantes stormed the base, to protect soldiers accused of raping Palestinian prisoners.
The anxiety of the Israeli military echelon at the reality of this ‘Jabotinsky army’ is evidenced by former PM Ehud Barak’s warning that: “Under cover of the war, a governmental and constitutional putsch is now taking place in Israel without a shot being fired. If this putsch isn’t stopped, it will turn Israel into a de facto dictatorship within weeks. Netanyahu and his government are assassinating democracy … The only way to prevent a dictatorship at such a late stage is by shutting down the country through large-scale, nonviolent civil disobedience, 24/7, until this government falls … Israel has never faced such a serious and immediate internal threat to its existence and future as a free society”.
The IDF élite want a ceasefire/hostage deal, primarily to ‘stop Ben-Gvir’ – not because it resolves Israel’s Palestinian issue. It doesn’t. But Netanyahu’s ultimatum is that if the Haniyeh assassination isn’t sufficient to plunge the U.S. into the Big War that will give him (Netanyahu) the Great Victory, he can always trigger a bigger provocation: Ben Gvir also controls the Temple Mount security – there is always the Temple Mount/Al-Aqsa escalatory ladder available for climbing (through threatening the destruction of Al-Aqsa Mosque). America is trapped. The power-brokers are unhappy, but impotent.
Trump 2004 SNL
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825209618122858525
IT IS Weird
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825549874806575411
Handpan
This is cool…..she's playing The Godfather.
What is the name of this instrument?
What is it used for, religious ceremonies or celebrations?pic.twitter.com/wl8uVX4qAE— Figen (@TheFigen_) August 18, 2024
Bison
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825518590952386913
Puppy ducklings
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825422252948525191
King
https://twitter.com/i/status/1825511115440193895
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