Special Opinion to the Mirror by Paul Plante.
First of all, hand’s down, of course, the most important take-away by far from the Michael Cohen hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives with authority to investigate the subjects within the Committee’s legislative jurisdiction, as well as “any matter” within the jurisdiction of the other standing House Committees, on Wednesday, 27 February 2019, is kudos once again to PR Guru Lanny “I Am The Man” Davis for another colossus of an extravaganza intended to sell a lot of soap, which has again earned Lanny a heap of praise from the Madison Avenue PR crowd, who would know these things better than the rest of us who aren’t in the PR game, but are instead its intended victims, as well as the main-stream media who were handed a blockbuster of a story that they will be able to make hay off of for at least the next several weeks, with this Cohen appearance winning the vitally important ratings game (ratings sell advertising) as the coveted Best Daytime Soap for 27 February 2019.
But seriously, people, when confronted with a Lanny Davis production, how could it possibly be otherwise?
Afterall, not for nothing is Lanny Davis known the the “PR Guru” in the trade, and that is also why he is called “The Maestro,” for how he can orchestrate these things so much better than anyone else in the game, which is why Lanny is on top, a master impresario, and the other ones aren’t.
Simple math, people – Lanny produces, where the competition just flails around!
Results are what the game is all about, and with Michael Cohen and Committee Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings on the roster in starring roles, Lanny was assured of great success, and success is exactly what he achieved.
So what makes a Lanny Davis production so much superior to the regular run of insipid and trite daytime soaps the American viewing public is regularly treated to?
Well, dialogue, first and foremost is what the experts all say.
Rhetorically speaking, without blockbuster dialogue, how can you have a blockbuster production?
And the answer is, you can’t, which takes us to the carefully crafted and riveting opening statement of Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, because if you don’t have the hook in in the opening lines, people, the audience is going to be channel-surfing again, and you have lost them, to wit:
Today, the Committee will hear the testimony of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney and one of his closest and most trusted advisors over the last decade.
end quotes
Now in the PR game, that is known as the “set-up,” or “the grab,” establishing Michael Cohen as being tighter to Trump than his own underwear, and let me say that in his delivery there, Elijah Cummings is said to have delivered a flawless performance.
Let’s face it, people, even right now, after the breathtaking performance is long since over, he still has us on the edge of our seats there, straining forward to hear the next words coming, saying to ourselves, “holy ****, this Cohen is a dude with the real goods on Trump, and that is a fact,” or at least that is how the main-stream media is playing it, and that is a hallmark of a Lanny Davis production – superior scripting, which takes us back to the well-crafted Cummings opening statement as follows:
On August 21, Mr. Cohen appeared in federal court and admitted to arranging secret payoffs of hundreds of thousands of dollars on the eve of the election to silence women alleging affairs with Donald Trump.
Mr. Cohen admitted to violating campaign finance laws and other laws.
He admitted to committing these felonies “in coordination with, and at the direction of” President Trump.
And he admitted, he admitted, to lying about his actions to protect the President.
end quotes
BING BADA BOOM, people, game is over for Trump, and we are barely even into the show, yet!
This is like being outside the tent where Little Egypt is going to do her thing, and listening to the barker telling us about the show, so we will want to pay good money to go in there and see her do it herself.
This is what sets a PR Guru like Lanny Davis apart from the pack – he has his finger on the pulse of what stirs the blood of the people in America, and he provides it for them, big time, which is why his productions are called extravaganzas, and rightfully so, as we see from the following dialogue, to wit:
Some will certainly ask, if Mr. Cohen was lying then, why should we believe him now?
This is a legitimate question.
As a trial lawyer for many years, I’ve faced this situation over and over again.
And I asked the same question.
end quotes
Introspection and thoughtfulness, people!
Here we have Lanny establishing the fact in the minds of the viewing public, the all-important at-home viewing audience, that here is a man, who despite being a Democrat, is not just going to go blindly rushing in there, believing every word Cohen says, when everybody already knows that in addition to being quite stupid, Cohen is also a convicted liar, which takes us back to Elijah Cummings, as follows:
Here is how I view our role.
Every one of us in this room has a duty to serve as an independent check on the Executive Branch.
end quotes
Actually, in reality, that statement is pure bull****, but we are not talking reality here, people – it’s a daytime soap opera, so what we are after isn’t truth or justice – it is drama!
It’s winter, it’s snowing, the governor told us it is not safe to be out when it’s snowing, so we are bored with cabin fever, and we want to be entertained, and Lanny knows that, so he gave us what we craved, which takes us back to these momentous words from the drama, as follows
Ladies and gentlemen, we are in search of the truth.
The President has made many statements of his own, and now the American people have a right to hear the other side.
They can watch Mr. Cohen’s testimony and make their own judgment.
end quotes
Solemnity, people!
How important that is for the drama!
Elijah Cummings is presented to us as a modern-day Diogenes, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, the Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy who modeled himself on the example of Heracles, and believed that virtue was better revealed in action than in theory, using his simple life-style and behaviour to criticize the social values and institutions of what he saw as a corrupt, confused society, becoming notorious for his philosophical stunts, such as carrying a lamp during the day, claiming to be looking for an honest man, who was also noted for having mocked Alexander the Great, both in public and to his face when he visited Corinth in 336.
So there, people, is the first most important take-away from the Michael Cohen, but it won’t be the last, so stay tuned, as the plethora of take-aways from this Lanny Davis production come rolling in, and now, a pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
And OMG, people, how the soap opera purists are screaming and howling about how totally unfair it is to real soap operas that this Lanny Davis Production starring the now-world famous lying scumbag lawyer the Democrats just love Michael Cohen before Elijah “The Prophet” Cumming’s Committee of Presidential Inquisition on Wednesday, 27 February 2019, getting the coveted rating of “Best Daytime Soap for 27 February 2019,” when in their learned and studied opinion, it wasn’t a soap opera at all – it was a fantasy, and you know what – after thinking about it some more from their perspective, which has as its basis the Daytime Emmy Awards, which they correctly point out, does not have a category for fantasy, I’m thinking they could be right!
There is an award for OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES, they point out, but since this Lanny Davis Production on 27 Fenruary 2018 appears to be more in the nature of a lollapalooza of an extravaganza, or one-off, clearly it doesn’t qualify for that award.
There of course is some push-back from the multitude of adoring fans of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that she should receive an award for OUTSTANDING YOUNGER ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES, but again, as the purists point out, and correctly so, this is not a series, so it looks like she might be robbed, but seriously, such is life – nobody ever said it would be fair.
And then there is another faction making their voices heard (this is America, afterall), calling for it to be given the OUTSTANDING LEGAL COURTROOM PROGRAM award, and you know what, they have got a point, but again, the purists are hitting back, with that same argument, that this was POLITICAL FANTASY in the guise of a legal courtroom program, and because it was a farcical fantasy posing as courtroom drama, in their opinion, there is no way it could qualify, and right now, they are winning, or so it seems at this moment, anyway.
And then we have another faction arguing quite persuasively that it deserves an award for OUTSTANDING ENTERTAINMENT NEWS PROGRAM, and let me tell you, that is a real close call, so I personally do not see that argument being resolved any time soon, if at all.
And then, and truthfully, I think this is a reach, myself, there is a group forming behind the idea that this was not fantasy at all, and so it deserves an award for OUTSTANDING INFORMATIVE TALK SHOW.
Talk about being presented with conundrums, there is a good one alright.
And not at all surprisingly, that same group is pushing Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings for an award as OUTSTANDING ENTERTAINMENT TALK SHOW HOST, which has another faction screaming back that Elijah Cummings is in reality a stand-up comic along the lines of Henny Youngman, so it would be greatly insulting and highly unfair to real talk show hosts like Harry Connick Jr., and Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest and Adrienne Houghton, Loni Love, Jeannie Mai and Tamera Mowry-Housley, and Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin, Megan McCain, Paula Faris and Jedediah Bila along with Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Aisha Tyler and Sheryl Underwood to give him that award instead of them.
Which leads us to the second take-away from this Michael Cohen Hearing, that being that should he ever decide to leave politics, Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings could have a phenomenal future as a stand-up comic on the Las Vegas circuit based on his droll delivery of this following line:
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are in search of the truth.”
end quotes
HAW, HAW, HAW, Elijah, that’s a great one, you got me in stitches, dude, with the tears running down my face, I’m laughing so hard!
Which takes us back to another pause for station identification, so if you find yourself in need of some munchies from the fridge, now it the time to get them and we will be right back!
Paul Plante says
And here it is, a Monday all over again, and being as such, academia is back from where ever it is that academia disappears to between Friday night and Monday morning, and as could be hoped for in this debate over what genre these Michael Cohen Hearings really belong, the experts are weighing in and the arguments and counter-arguments are flying back and forth like cannonades between Napolean, who was incidentally, a master of artillery, and the Duke of Wellington, no slouch himself!
It’s really properly classified as farce, some are saying, given that it was a foolish show, a mockery, and a ridiculous sham, all of which is quite true, but then there is another faction of pedants pushing back on that argument by pointing out that to be technically correct, a true farce is a light, humorous play in which the plot depends upon a skillfully exploited situation rather than upon the development of character, and a check of the facts here make it clear that this Michael Cohen Hearing doesn’t fit that technical definition because while this was a light, humorous play, exceedingly well-scripted, and rehearsed as would be expected from a Lanny Davis Extravaganza, and it did depend very much on a skillfully exploited situation, still, it would have flopped without the development of character one finds both in the stirring and chilling testimony of Micheal Cohen, along with the opening statement of Committee Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, who uttered these memorable and unforgettable lines right at the opening to grab our attention before we could slip away to see what was going on with the other day time soaps, which takes us out of the genre of farce, as follows:
Mr. Cohen’s testimony raises grave questions about the legality of Donald Trump’s—President Donald Trump’s—conduct and the truthfulness of statements while he was President.
We need to assess and investigate this new evidence as we uphold our constitutional, our oversight responsibilities.
And, the American people, by the way, voted for accountability in November.
They have a right to hear Mr. Cohen in public so they can make their own judgments.
Mr. Cohen’s testimony is the beginning of the process—not the end.
Ladies and gentlemen, the days of this Committee protecting the President at all costs are over—they’re over!
Finally, and to Mr. Cohen, Martin Luther King—Mr. Cohen—said the words that I leave with you today before you testify.
He said “faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that truly matter.
In the end, he says, “we will remember not the words of our enemies, but by the silence of our friends.”
end quotes
Admittedly heavy stuff, people, I am forced to have to admit, so I can see some merit myself to that counter-argument that it is not academically correct to classify this Cohen Hearing as a true farce, which brings us to those who argue, forcefully and persuasively themselves, that this really should be considered as Theater of the Absurd, which focuses largely on the idea of existentialism and expresses what happens when human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down with logical construction and argument giving way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence.
For those unfamiliar with the genre, critic Martin Esslin coined the term in his 1960 essay “Theatre of the Absurd,”. telling us that the Absurd in these plays takes the form of man’s reaction to a world apparently without meaning, or man as a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces.
They point to these revelations from the testimony of the lying, scumbag ex-lawyer the Democrats are so in love with Michael Cohen as proof of the fact that Michael Cohen was indeed the classic, quintessential epitome of “man as a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces,” which makes for a very powerful argument in their favor, to wit:
It is painful to admit that I was motivated by ambition at times.
It is even more painful to admit that many times I ignored my conscience and acted loyal to a man when I should not have.
Sitting here today, it seems unbelievable that I was so mesmerized by Donald Trump that I was willing to do things for him that I knew were absolutely wrong.
end quotes
Talk about a man caught up in a world apparently without meaning, a puppet controlled or menaced by invisible outside forces, there is the proof of it, they say, but it doesn’t stop there at all, as we can see from these further lines from the script Michael Cohen was following, to wit:
Being around Mr. Trump was intoxicating.
When you were in his presence, you felt like you were involved in something greater than yourself — that you were somehow changing the world.
Mr. Trump is an enigma.
He is complicated, as am I.
I knew early on in my work for Mr. Trump that he would direct me to lie to further his business interests.
I am ashamed to say, that when it was for a real estate mogul in the private sector, I considered it trivial.
Over the past year or so, I have done some real soul searching.
I see now that my ambition and the intoxication of Trump power had much to do with the bad decisions I made.
To you, Chairman Cummings, Ranking Member Jordan, the other members of this Committee, and the other members of the House and Senate, I am sorry for my lies and for lying to Congress.
To our nation, I am sorry for actively working to hide from you the truth about Mr. Trump when you needed it most.
For those who question my motives for being here today, I understand.
I have lied, but I am not a liar.
I have done bad things, but I am not a bad man.
end quotes
WHEW!
Powerful stuff, people!
But is it Theater of the Absurd?
The experts are mixed, pointing out that although the term is applied to a wide range of plays, some characteristics coincide in many of the plays such as broad comedy, often similar to vaudeville, mixed with horrific or tragic images, with characters like Michael Cohen caught in hopeless situations forced to do repetitive or meaningless actions, and dialogue full of clichés, wordplay, and nonsense, and plots that are cyclical or absurdly expansive, either a parody or dismissal of realism and the concept of the “well-made play”.
In support of this being true Theater of the Absurd, the experts point to the following excerpt from the book Absurd Drama (1965), where Esslin wrote as follows:
… the Theatre of the Absurd attacks the comfortable certainties of religious or political orthodoxy.
It aims to shock its audience out of complacency, to bring it face to face with the harsh facts of the human situation as these writers see it.
But the challenge behind this message is anything but one of despair.
It is a challenge to accept the human condition as it is, in all its mystery and absurdity, and to bear it with dignity, nobly, responsibly; precisely because there are no easy solutions to the mysteries of existence, because ultimately man is alone in a meaningless world.
The shedding of easy solutions, of comforting illusions, may be painful, but it leaves behind it a sense of freedom and relief.
And that is why, in the last resort, the Theatre of the Absurd does not provoke tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.
end quotes
Ah, yes, people, the laughter of liberation!
I think we have a contender, but don’t go away, because the soap opera crowd has gathered their experts together, and they are hitting back and hitting back hard that this was indeed a soap opera, so in our next episode, we will explore the merits of their renewed argument further, and let the chips fall where they may!
Slide Easy says
My dad always told me that Snitches get Stitches.
Paul Plante says
I’ve heard the same, Slide, but Cohen is not a snitch.
He is a lying scumbag ex-lawyer who was kicked out of the Brotherhood of the Bar in corrupt New York State for getting caught at lying who is a star actor in what is either a soap opera, as some experts argue, or Theater of the Absurd, or quite possibly, as another learned faction entering the fray argues, a Morality Play, the characteristics of which are as follows:
* A protagonist who represents either humanity as a whole or a smaller social structure.
* Supporting characters are personifications of good and evil.
* Provides the audience with moral guidance.
* Morality plays encourage men to live a righteous life.
As an actor on the stage, Cohen was reading from a script prepared for him by PR Guru and Hillary Clinton lapdog Lanny Davis as we were informed by Rep. Jim Jordan during the 27 February 2019 Cohen Hearing when he said “Lanny Davis put this all together,” and it’s the first time a “convicted perjurer has been brought back to be a star witness in a hearing … no other committee would do it.”
In other words, it was all a lot of very well scripted horse****, bull**** and pig**** skillfully blended together by top dog Impresario Lanny Davis and his hand-picked cast of characters, and that it clearly was made-for-TV drama, regardless of the genre, is made clear by the fact that the BALTIMORE SUN did not report on it as news, which it wasn’t, but as TV drama, in the article “Commentary: Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings redeems Cohen hearing with passionate, poetic closing remarks” on 27 February 2019 by David Zurawik, “Z on TV,” their critic who writes about the business and culture of TV, as follows:
After a day of raw, nasty, partisan mud wrestling that made you want to weep at the sorry state of American politics, Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings stepped up at the end of the Michael Cohen TV hearing and redeemed the whole sad spectacle with his passionate and poetic plea for a better America.
It was one of the most inspirational TV moments I have seen in more than 30 years of writing about media and politics.
What a moment for Cummings and the nation.
end quotes
You see what I am saying here about Impresario Lanny Davis being a master at the trade here?
When you see a nationally-recognized and acclaimed TV critic like David Zurawik, “Z on TV,” at a top-notch publication like the Baltimore Sun gushing with praise such as this for a made-for-TV drama, be it soap opera, farce, Theater of the Absurd, or a morality play, or as some are saying, the birth of a whole new genre, you know you are seeing something only a “Michaelangelo of the Media” could produce and that is a fact.
But regardless of how well the script is written, and let us face it, Lanny Davis writes the best of them, still you need masterful actors and actresses like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Debby Wasserman-Schultz, Illinois Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, one of the new progressive Members of Congress, Democratic Rep. Jimmy Gomez of California, and Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier to pull them off, and there is where Lanny Davis’s casting for thos drama stands head and shoulders above the competition, especially with his careful selection of Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings as co-star to the lying scumbag Michael Cohen, as we see from this further praise being heaped on him by “Z on TV” as follows:
As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the veteran Democratic leader had all he could do to keep the rancor, which was coming mostly from the right with GOP Congressmen Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows, from disrupting or even destroying the chance for America to hear President Donald Trump’s personal attorney.
Cummings managed that task as well as could be expected, given the intense polarization and bare-knuckled tactics of some on the panel.
But a lot of chairpersons could do that.
I suspect some might have been even more forceful in keeping the likes of Jordan and Meadows in bounds.
But few could do what Cummings did in those closing moments when he spoke for the best in us rather than the partisan worst, and when he went from Baltimore expressions, like “I’m just saying” in one sentence, to talking about “dancing with the angels” in the next, letting his language soar.
“I’m sitting here listening to all this, and it’s very painful, very painful,” he began addressing Cohen.
“As I sat here and listened to both sides, I just felt as if … we are better than this.”
“We really are.”
“As a country, we are so much better than this.
“I don’t know why this is happening for you, but I hope a small part of this is for our country to be better,” Cummings continued.
“If I hear you correctly, you are crying out for getting back to normal.”
“Sounds to me like you want to make sure our democracy stays intact.”
Cummings went on with his cadence building with more and more emotion.
“The one meeting I had with the president, I said, ‘The greatest gift we can give to our children is making sure we give them a democracy better than the one we came upon.’”
And then his voice broke a little as he said, “I mean, come on now, according to The Washington Post, our president has made 8,718 misleading or false statements.”
“That’s stunning.”
“That’s not what we teach our children.”
end quotes
Now, Slide, it is dialogue like that which is close to convincing me that yes, we are truly looking at a morality play, as opposed to either soap opera or Theater of the Absurd, and I know that is going to have a lot of partisans in the soap opera and Theater of the Absurd factions howling, but hey, you have to call them as you see them, and this write-up by “Z on TV” makes for a damn strong argument in favor of this being a morality play, because we have Michael Cohen as our protagonist who represents either humanity as a whole or a smaller social structure, and we clearly have supporting characters who are personifications of good, those being the Dem ocrats, and evil, those being Republicans Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows, and the drama certainly did provide the audience with moral guidance, while encouraging men to live a righteous life.
And getting to your point about Cohen being a “snitch,” Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings hits back on that, and hits back hard as “Z on TV” tells us in the Baltimore Sun article as follows:
Referring to the president calling Cohen a “rat,” Cummings tried to explain how far that is out of bounds in civilized discourse.
“I know it’s painful to be called a rat,” he said.
“Let me explain.”
“A lot of people don’t know the significance of that.”
“But I live in the inner city of Baltimore, all right?”
“And when you call somebody a rat, that’s one of the worst things you can call them, because when they go to prison, that means a snitch.”
“I’m just saying.”
“And so the president called you a rat.”
“We’re better than that.”
“We really are.”
end quotes
WHEW!
Sorry, Slide, but the dude actually had me weeping there, and I had to pause to get my eyes clear so I could see the computer screen again.
Getting back to “Z on TV”:
But Cummings was not done yet.
“And I’m hoping all of us can get back to this democracy we want and we should be passing on to our children, so they can do better than we did,” he said.
“When we’re dancing with the angels, the question will be asked, ‘In 2019, what did we do to make sure we kept our democracy intact?'”
“‘Did we stand on the sidelines and say nothing?’ ”
Elijah Cummings did something Wednesday.
He stood at center stage in American life for few moments, and he stood tall with those inspirational closing remarks — a model for what a member of Congress should be.
end quotes
And I can’t go on because now I am seriously weeping and it’s making the computer screen a blur!
Oh, this is so emotional, I just can’t help myself!
SOB SOB SOB!
Paul Plante says
So, apotheosis and redemption, people!
Isn’t this some great stuff?
Try to find another daytime soap that can match it for suspense and intrigue, plus an ALL-STAR cast of characters such as were in the Lollapalooza Extravaganza on 27 February 2019 staged by PR wunderkind Lanny Davis, the maestro of maestros, as he is known, featuring Michael Cohen as the once pure-as-driven-snow lawyer, a modern-day Parsival, perhaps, or Faust, who comes into contact with Donald Trump as Mephistopheles, and then, poor Michael is led into sin by Trump, and becomes a fallen angel, but then along comes Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, as the Redeemer, and he puts his massive, well-muscled and sculpted arm around the shoulders of the fallen angel Michael Cohen and releases him from the spell he has been under that has made him such a sinner, telling him “If I hear you correctly, you are crying out for getting back to normal, sounds to me like you want to make sure our democracy stays intact,” and with those unforgettable words spoken, Elijah the Prophet and Redeemer waves a wand and LE VOILA, the demon inhabiting Michael Cohen is banished, and Michael Cohen is restored to humanity as a new man, so that when one day comes as it always does, and Michael Coehen is dancing with the angels, and the question is asked, “In 2019, what did you, Michael Cohen, do to make sure we kept our democracy intact,” he can truthfully say he stood up when called upon by the Democrats in Congress to tell a whole passel of lies to bury Trump, who is the Devil, as everyone knows, and heavenly trumpets will blare, and the angels will whip themselves up into a real dancing frenzy, and Micheal Cohen will ascend a golden stairway to heaven and all will be right with the world, especially is all goes well as it should with a script like this and Michael lands that book and movie deal Lanny Davis is getting lined up for him as we learn from the Marketwatch article entitled “Cohen reveals new probe of Trump by prosecutors — and 6 other takeaways from his testimony” by Victor Reklaitis published Feb. 28, 2019, as follows:
North Carolina Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx accused Cohen of using his testimony for his own personal benefit, like getting book or movie deals.
She asked him to promise that he won’t pursue a deal along those lines, and Cohen refused to do so.
He also refused to promise he wouldn’t run for office.
end quotes
Now, what the heck is she thinking, people, asking him to turn his back on what will probably and likely be the most lucrative movie and book deal to come down the pike in our lifetimes?
Is she crazy?
Of course the dude is going to refuse!
That deal will be better than winning the Powerball lottery and Lanny Davis and Cohen will watch the money come rolling in!
This is America, afterall.
As to running for president as a Democrat in 2020 against Trump, his and America’s arch-enemy, of course Cohen can, since being a convicted felon does not serve as a bar to running for president, and with his name recognition and popularity among the Democrats, he would be a shoo-in!
He can even do like convicted felon Eugene Debs did, and run for president from his Club Fed prison cell, which will be a real sympathy factor in his favor.
And now a word from our sponsors as we pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
And as we sit back here for a moment to consider this ridiculous, immature, stupid farce being presented to us courtesy of the Democrat party which now has a death-grip on the former United States House of Representatives, now the “People’s House,” or more properly. the place where the morons roam and howl and mindlessly shriek and bay at the moon. I am personally reminded of Nicholas Collin in his political essay in the Independent Gazetteer August 06, 1787 under the head “A Foreign Spectator I” entitled “An ESSAY on the Means of Promoting Federal Sentiments in the United States by a Foreign Spectator,” where he states as follows at the beginning of this nation’s political history, to wit:
It is an old maxim, that no Republican Government can be lasting without the good will of its subjects.
Republican Liberty is inseparable from a certain want of energy in the Government.
The indolent and selfish can often with impunity clog its most important operations.
The disaffected may go deep into rebellion, before they can be legally impeached.
Infernal traitors may sometimes assume the heavenly form of patriots, and while they point a dagger to the bosom of their country, are by insane multitudes idolized as its guardian angels.
end quotes
People, we are there, right now as I write these words, and he is talking about “Infernal traitors may sometimes assume the heavenly form of patriots, and while they point a dagger to the bosom of their country, are by insane multitudes idolized as its guardian angels,” he is talking about Democrats “Jumping Jerry” Nadler, Adam Schiff and Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings along with the lying scumbag ex-lawyer Michael Cohen and his handler Lanny Davis who continues to pump out ever wilder claims and accusations in a toxic blend of emulsified horse****. pig**** and bull**** with the force of a Class Five Hurricane as we can clearly see from a Reuters article “Cohen: fears no ‘peaceful transition’ if Trump loses in 2020” on 28 February 2019, as follows:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen said at the end of congressional testimony on Wednesday that he fears Trump will not allow his successor to peacefully take control of the White House if he loses the 2020 presidential election.
“Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020, there will never be a peaceful transition of power,” Cohen said during his closing remarks before the House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
end quotes
HUH?
Get ******* real here, Michael – you sound like you are hallucinating!
Or you are just full of **** and stupid, to boot, which is why you are going to jail for being a lousy liar.
What is Trump going to do if he loses in 2020 – mobilize the military in a coup against his successor?
Getting back to the Reuters article:
The remark from Cohen, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Trump but has since turned on his former boss, came in his closing comments.
He said his concern about the 2020 transition was “why I agreed to appear before you today.”
end quotes
Oh, the drama and suspense, people, but then, the dude is pushing for a lucrative book and movie deal, and he needs to make wild and outlandish claims to jack up the bid.
So now, thanks to the PATRIOT Michael Cohen, the Democrats in Congress are forewarned and forearmed in case Trump does lose in 2020 and tires to take power back by force according to that narrative, anyway, which takes us back to this tear-jerking rhetoric, as follows:
He added, “I have acknowledged I have made my own mistakes and I have owned up to them publicly and under oath, but silence and complicity in the face of the daily destruction of our basic norms and civility to one another will not be one of them.”
“I did things and I acted improperly, at times at Mr. Trump’s behest.”
“I blindly followed his demands.”
“My loyalty to Mr. Trump has cost me everything: my family’s happiness, friendships, my law license, my company, my livelihood, my honor, my reputation and soon my freedom.”
“And I will not sit back, say nothing, and allow him to do the same to the country.”
end quotes
Talk about an infernal traitor assuming the heavenly form of a patriot while pointing a dagger to the bosom of OUR country and being idolized by insane multitudes as its guardian angel, there i is right there in print.
And it doesn’t stop there, as we see from the Washington Post article “Lawmakers exploring possible pardon talks involving Michael Cohen” by Matt Zapotosky, Tom Hamburger, and Karoun Demirjian on 3 March 2019, as follows:
Lawmakers are investigating whether President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was involved in any discussions about possible pardons — which they view as a potentially ripe area of inquiry into whether anyone sought to obstruct justice, people familiar with the matter said.
Cohen has said publicly he never asked for — and would not accept — a pardon from Trump.
But people familiar with the matter said his knowledge on the topic seems to extend beyond that statement.
Privately, lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees pressed Cohen this week on whether he had had any discussions about a possible pardon, and if so, when and with whom those conversations took place, the people said.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because the testimony was not public.
It was not immediately clear what, if anything, Cohen told lawmakers to pique their interest.
Depending on the details, such pardon talks could be incendiary, suggesting an effort to dissuade Cohen from cooperating with law enforcement.
Cohen is to return to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday.
Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, declined to comment on the closed-door testimony, though he said on MSBNC on Thursday night that “new information was developed that could be game changing,” and it was about “lying and obstruction evidence.”
“It’s pretty explosive,” he said.
end quotes
Like Alfred Hitchcock and Mel Brooks, there we see Lanny Davis indulging a penchant to play a cameo role in his own very well staged production here, which takes us to this truism, to wit:.
Cohen — who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, bank and tax fraud and lying to Congress and was sentenced to three years in prison — is not a completely reliable narrator, and he and his allies have been known to exaggerate.
end quotes
Talk about understatement, people, there is a classic case of it right there, which takes us back to that article, as follows:
Perhaps most notable in the area of obstruction, Cohen said that in May 2017, he met with Trump and Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s lawyers, to discuss testimony Cohen was to give to the House Intelligence Committee.
Trump, Cohen said, “wanted me to cooperate.”
But he said Trump also repeated a refrain that is now familiar to those on Twitter.
“He goes, ‘It’s all a witch hunt,’ and he goes, ‘This stuff has to end,’” Cohen said.
“Did you take those comments to be suggestive of what might flavor your testimony?” Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.) asked.
“Sir, he’s been saying that to me for many, many months, and at the end of the day, I knew exactly what he wanted me to say,” Cohen responded.
Ultimately, Cohen would testify to Congress that discussions about a possible Trump Tower project in Moscow ended in January 2016 — when in fact they continued for months after that, into the heart of the presidential campaign.
Cohen would later plead guilty to the lie.
The topic remains of keen interest to lawmakers.
Cohen conceded that Trump had not asked him to lie, though he noted that Sekulow, as well as attorney Abbe Lowell — who represents Ivanka Trump, Trump’s daughter, and her husband, Jared Kushner — reviewed his written testimony before it was submitted.
At one point, Cohen suggested that Sekulow was involved in a change about “the length of time that the Trump Tower Moscow project stayed and remained alive.”
And Davis, Cohen’s lawyer, said of the statement on MSBNC on Thursday night, “Everybody knew it was a lie” — effectively accusing Sekulow or others of knowingly passing on Cohen’s false statement.
But Davis corrected the statement and apologized Friday, saying, he had meant to say “the president and many of his advisers must have known” Cohen’s statement was false.
“I should not have used the words that ‘everyone knew’ the statement was false,” Davis said.
“My only excuse for the error is sleep deprivation.”
“Apologies.”
A person familiar with Cohen’s account said he cannot say with certainty whether Sekulow, Lowell or other White House advisers knew the discussions about the Trump Tower project extended well into 2016, and thus knew Cohen’s statement was false.
Sekulow said in a statement that Cohen’s assertion that “attorneys for the President edited or changed his statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow negotiations is completely false.”
end quotes
And the one thing that is true, perhaps the only thing at this point, is that the Democrats don’t give a damn that it is all a pack of lies.
But stay tuned, more is yet to come in this sick and sorry story being brought to you by the Democrat party of America in their concerted effort to destroy our Constitution and Republican frame of government so they can replace it with a corrupt democracy instead.
Paul Plante says
And while the famous and well-known and quite well-respected TV critic “Z on TV” of the venerable Baltimore Sun entertainment scction, said to be always a perennial favorite inside the Beltway with the Georgetown set in Washington, D.C., and fact-filled as it is, and informative, why wouldn’t it be, has all his praise heaped on House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings as the Top Dog Star in the 27 February 2019 TV EXTRAVAGANZA scripted, produced and directed by PR Guru Lanny Davis as is made clear in the article “Commentary: Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings redeems Cohen hearing with passionate, poetic closing remarks” on 27 February 2019 by David Zurawik, “Z on TV,” who writes about the business and culture of TV, where he tells us that after a day of raw, nasty, partisan mud wrestling that made you want to weep at the sorry state of American politics, Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings stepped up at the end of the Michael Cohen TV hearing and redeemed the whole sad spectacle with his passionate and poetic plea for a better America, and it was one of the most inspirational TV moments he has seen in more than 30 years of writing about media and politics, and WOW, people, in all seriousness according to him, anyway, and who would know better, what a moment for Cummings and the nation, because Elijah Cummings did something Wednesday, he stood at center stage in American life for few moments, and he stood tall with those inspirational closing remarks — a model for what a member of Congress should be, there is another much younger faction who are saying “BOO ON YOU” to the Baltimore Sun’s “Z onTV,” labeling him an old fuddy-duddy who has been in the trade too long and is so out of touch with the times, and their money is on “Sandy the Dancing Bartender” for the Best Actress Award in a made-for-TV-political-thriller, as we can clearly see from the Washington Post article, and here we are not talking some common rag, but the voice of inside-the-beltway officialdom in Washington D.C. and the cognocenti, entitled “5 key takeaways from the Michael Cohen hearing” by Aaron Blake on 28 February 2019, as follows:
One of the sad truths about these hearings is that, even for the members who are there to elicit information (rather than grandstand), most of them aren’t very good at it.
And that’s especially the case when you only have five minutes to get something out of a witness.
end quotes
Out of a sense of fairness here, people, it does need to be said that the actors on the stage can only be as good as the words the playright gave them, so those others should not be condemned for having had to follow a second-rate script.
Just saying!
Getting back to the Washington Post and its praise gushing for media darling, TWITTER STAR and Democratic Socialist Superstar soon to be a comic book hero Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also known as AOC, it continues as follows:
Enter the chamber’s much-discussed youngest new member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The 29-year old’s questioning was low-key, but it actually unearthed new information.
She followed up on others’ questions (a novel concept!) about topics including the ways in which Trump’s inflation of his wealth could be criminal.
Simple but effective.
She also got Cohen to name people who might know about a potential treasure trove of information about stories the National Enquirer’s parent company bought the rights to kill them to help Trump.
And she laid a predicate for House Democrats to try to get Trump’s tax returns, by asking Cohen whether they would be helpful when it comes to him inflating his assets.
Cohen said they would be, and that they could be found at the Trump Organization.
All of this could turn out to be useful for Democrats moving forward.
end quotes
Now tell me that that is not high praise, people, and given the pecking order of these things, where the Washington Post is inside the Beltway and the Baltimore Sun is outside the Beltway, the pundits are saying the voice of the Washington Post is superior to the voice of the Baltimore Sun so that Sandy Cortez is the queen of the ball, not Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, who has been relegated to the status of a supporting actor.
And the Washington Post is not alone in heaping mounds of praise on AOC, as we can clearly see from the Marketwatch article “Cohen reveals new probe of Trump by prosecutors — and 6 other takeaways from his testimony” by Victor Reklaitis published Feb. 28, 2019, as follows:
Under questioning from influential New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cohen said Trump committed insurance fraud.
That alleged fraud had to do with Trump providing inflated statements of assets to insurance companies.
Cohen also said Trump didn’t want to release his tax returns because he didn’t want experts at think tanks ripping into his returns and bringing about audits.
Cohen also said he presumes Trump is not under audit.
end quotes
And still the praise for the prowess of AOC as a leading lady or star actress in her own right, presuming she has the right script to follow, of course, continues to roll in as we see from the CBS News article “Democratic rep presses Cohen on Trump’s tax returns” on 28 February 2019, to wit:
President Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen had harsh words for his former employer during public testimony before a House congressional panel Wednesday.
“He is a racist.”
“He is a con man.”
“He is a cheat,” Cohen, testifying before the House Oversight Committee, said in his opening statement about Mr. Trump.
Cohen’s testimony comes as Washington prepares for a final report from special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in U.S. elections and possible coordination between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government.
Progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, asked Cohen if he was aware of Mr. Trump deflating the value of one of his golf courses in Florida to try to reduce his tax bills.
“It’s identical to what he did at Trump National Golf Club and at Briarcliff Manor,” Cohen replied.
end quotes
Note that label that CBS News has attached to her, “progressive firebrand,” as proof of her status as a rising star, yea, even a shooting star, in the world of television politics, and that takes us to this gushing praise from the POLITIFACT article “In context: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions Michael Cohen during the House Oversight Committee” by Angie Drobnic Holan on Thursday, February 28th, 2019, to wit:
Now that Democrats control the U.S. House of Representatives, they’re using their power to conduct oversight hearings on President Donald Trump.
On Feb. 27, 2019, Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen testified before the committee.
In his opening statement, Cohen called Trump a racist, a con man and a cheat, but he also admitted he had lied to Congress previously, making his track record for veracity questionable.
In recent years, members of Congress have been criticized for grandstanding during hearings instead of eliciting new information.
After Cohen’s hearing, one of the newest Democrats was widely praised for using her time ask pointed questions about Trump’s financial statements: freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
end quotes
So it seems to be unanimous, people -take off your hats to AOC – a star has been born, and think about it, people, how man y lifetimes do you have to live before you see that happen?
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Paul Plante says
And as we read this praise being heaped on Democratic Socialist political wunderkind and media darling, now media star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, by the Washington Post, the absolute pinnacle of praise from the media, actually, I personally am reminded of Peletiah Webster writing as “A Citizen of Philadelphia” in his political essay in January 1787, entitled “The Weakness of Brutus Exposed,” where he stated quite truthfully as follows, to wit:
The Romans rose, from small beginnings, to a very great extent of territory, population, and wisdom; I don’t think their constitution of government, was near so good as the one proposed to us, yet we find their power, strength, and establishment, were raised to their utmost height, under a republican form of government.
Their State received very little acquisition of territory, strength, or wealth, after their government became imperial; but soon began to weaken or decay.
The Carthagenians acquired an amazing degree of strength, wealth, and extent of dominion, under a republican form of government.
Neither they or the Romans, owed their dissolation to any causes arising from that kind of government: ’twas the party rage, animosity, and violence of their citizens, which destroyed them both; it weakened them, ’till the one fell under the power of their enemy, and was thereby reduced to ruin; the other changed their form of government, to a monarchy, which proved in the end, equally fatal to them.
end quotes
And it is party rage being whipped up by these Democratic Socialists like AOC (“All-Out-Commie”) to cause animosity, and violence by their anti-fas which will destroy us, as Pelatiah Webster states as follows:
The same causes, if they can’t be restrained, will weaken or destroy any nation on earth, let their form of government be what it will; witness the division and dissolution of the Roman empire; the late dismemberment of Poland; the intestine divisions, rage, and wars of Italy, of France, of Spain, and of England.
No form of government can preserve a nation which can’t control the party rage of its own citizens; when any one citizen can rise above the control of the laws, ruin draws near.
’Tis not possible for any nation on earth, to hold their strength and establishment, when the dignity of their government is lost, and this dignity will forever depend on the wisdom and firmness of the officers of government, aided and supported by the virtue and patriotism of their citizens.
end quotes
As we consider the praise being heaped on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez by the Washington Post and CBS News and even Politifact for the star role she played in this MADE-FOR-TV POLITICAL FARCE staged by Democrat PR Guru Lanny Davis, who is tight with Hillary Clinton on 27 February 2019 for no other purpose than to dump buckets of slime, a Democrat party specialty, on a sitting American president, making OUR nation look small and ridiculous in the process, we as a people should vive some real serious consideration to exactly what those words must mean in our times, with the Democratic Socialist AOC now on the loose and being praised for it by the Washington Post, which isn’t giving us fake news this time around – no, the news they are giving us with respect to AOC and the Cohen hearings is instead dishonest.
And now for a word from our sponsors as we pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
Political theater, which is what we are discussing in here in this thread about the POLITICAL FARCE fed to us by the Democrat party and PR Guru Lanny “The Dude” Davis on 27 February 2019 with a veritable cast of political superstar actors and actresses with top billing going Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, brainchild of the GREEN NEW DEAL, who among other things wants to outlaw xenophobia by congressional resolution as we were informed in the
NEWSWEEK article “AOC Defends Rep. Omar Over Controversial Israel Comment” by Alexandra Hutzler on 6 March 2019 where she was quoted as saying “It’s not my position to tell people how to feel, or that their hurt is invalid,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Tuesday morning, “But incidents like these (censoring Ilhan Omar) do beg the question: where are the resolutions against homophobic statements, for anti-blackness, for xenophobia,” is a term denoting theater used for political purposes, usually as part of a campaign or movement, in this case to heap buckets of slime on a sitting American president by the Democrat party.
In the twentieth century the peaks of activity with regard to political theater in the industrialized world coincided with two periods of social and political upheaval, the first and major one triggered by the Russian Revolution of 1917 and its aftermath, and the second coming in the 1960s and 1970s.
And now, here we are in the 21st Century and we have just been treated to the MOTHER OF ALL POLITICAL THEATER with this GONZO LOLLAPALOOZA EXTRAVAGANZA on 27 February 2019 called the Micheal Cohen Hearing.
As Wikipedia tells us, in the history of theatre, there is long tradition of performances addressing issues of current events, especially those central to society itself, such as whether Donald Trump has any love children, and to see old this branch of theater really is, the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters of ancient Greece had considerable influence on public opinion in the Athenian democracy, and those earlier Western dramas, arising out of the polis, or democratic city-state of Greek society, were performed in amphitheaters, central arenas used for theatrical performances, religious ceremonies and political gatherings with those dramas, like this one today starring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez having a ritualistic and social significance that enhanced the relevance of the political issues being examined.
Looking back at past masters of the genre, Shakespeare, who doesn’t even come to the knee of Maestro and Master Impresario Lanny when it comes to writing top-notch political theater, was an author of political theater according to some academic scholars who observe that his history plays examine the machinations of personal drives and passions determining political activity and that many of the tragedies such as King Lear and Macbeth dramatize political leadership and complexity subterfuges of human beings driven by the lust for power, observing, for example, that class struggle in the Roman Republic was central to Coriolanus.
Today, PR Guru Lanny Davis has given us superb political theater with Democrats Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez examining the machinations of personal drives and passions determining the political activity of American president Donald Trump with the recently concluded Lanny Davis EXTRAVAGANZA dramatizing the political leadership and complexity subterfuges of human beings in the Democrat party driven by the lust for power, which is truly some very heavy stuff, indeed.
As Wikipedia tells us, political theatre has often been used to promote specific political theories or ideals, for example, in the way agitprop theater has been used to further Marxism and the development of communist sympathies, or in this case, the socialism of the Democrat party and Democratic Socialist AOC, the star of this recent Lanny Davis production, that according to none other than the Washington Post itself, which is no slouch rag, as everyone inside the Beltway already knows.
And that takes us to a Washington Examiner article entitled “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says GOP stuck in a ‘hostage situation'” by Diana Stancy Correll on 27 February 2019, where we have this essential background information to consider as we continue to evaluate the praise heaped on AOC (“All-Out-Commie”) by the Washington Post, to wit:
“There are a lot of Republicans that know what the right thing to do is — not just on impeachment but on a wide range of issues — and they refuse to speak up.”
Ocasio-Cortez said it was “unacceptable” for Republicans to not challenge Trump, and said there was “no question” she would vote to impeach Trump.
Although Ocasio-Cortez said she understood that some lawmakers come from districts where their constituents are divided on the matter, she said it was an “easy” choice for her district and that “everyone wants” to impeach Trump.
end quotes
There we have it, people – the basis for this POLITICAL THEATER we were treated to, free of charge, which is a bargain in these times, by Lanny Davis and Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings on 27 February 2019 – EVERYBODY wants to impeach Trump, so a kangaroo court was assembled by the Democrats on 27 February 2019 to give them an excuse to do so, and it was that kangaroo court that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez played the role that the Washington Post gave her such high praise for.
For those too young to be familiar with the term, a kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, and often carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, which describes this farce before the congressional committee of Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings to a tee, with the defendant, Donald Trump, being denied access to a proper defense, a violation of his due process rights as an American citizen.
As is the case here, such proceedings are held to give the appearance of a fair and just trial, even though the verdict has already been decided before the trial actually began, which takes us to a Boston Globe article entitled “Here’s a look at the most damning claims Michael Cohen is making against Donald Trump” by Christina Prignano on 28 February 2019, where we have as follows concerning the kangaroo court nature of this 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen hearing, to wit:
Michael Cohen has made a number of serious allegations against President Trump in his testimony before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday.
Cohen’s opening statement alone ran 20 pages long and is full of claims relating to the Trump campaign and even the presidency.
end quotes
And yes, people, it most certainly is, which takes us back to the Washington Post article entitled “5 key takeaways from the Michael Cohen hearing” by Aaron Blake on 28 February 2019, and the praise heaped on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as follows:
One of the sad truths about these hearings is that, even for the members who are there to elicit information (rather than grandstand), most of them aren’t very good at it.
And that’s especially the case when you only have five minutes to get something out of a witness.
Enter the chamber’s much-discussed youngest new member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The 29-year old’s questioning was low-key, but it actually unearthed new information.
She followed up on others’ questions (a novel concept!) about topics including the ways in which Trump’s inflation of his wealth could be criminal.
Simple but effective.
She also got Cohen to name people who might know about a potential treasure trove of information about stories the National Enquirer’s parent company bought the rights to kill them to help Trump.
And she laid a predicate for House Democrats to try to get Trump’s tax returns, by asking Cohen whether they would be helpful when it comes to him inflating his assets.
Cohen said they would be, and that they could be found at the Trump Organization.
All of this could turn out to be useful for Democrats moving forward.
end quotes
As to the claim of the Washington Post that AOC actually unearthed new information, that is nothing more than dishonest hype and pure bull****, which seems to be a hallmark of the Washington Post, actually.
As to xenophobia, Wikipedia tells us that it is the fear and distrust of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange, such as this kangaroo court by the Democrats on 27 February 2019, and xenophobia can involve perceptions of an ingroup, in this case the Democrats, towards an outgroup, those of us in America who are not Democrats and don’t wish to live in a Venzuela-style socialist ****hole, and it can manifest itself in suspicion by the Democrats of the activities of others, that being all of who aren’t Democrats who were heaped into Hillary Clinton’s “BASKET OF DEPLORABLES, and a desire on their part to eliminate our presence to secure a presumed purity.
Xenophobia can also be exhibited in the form of an “uncritical exaltation of another culture,” in this case, socialism as practiced in such third-world ****holes as Venezuela.
Of particular relevance to this discussion, a scholarly definition of xenophobia, according to Andreas Wimmer, is “an element of a political struggle about who has the right to be cared for by the state and society: a fight for the collective goods of the modern state.”
In other words, xenophobia arises when people feel that their rights to benefit from the government are being subverted by other people’s rights.
And now we pause again to take a break for station identification, and when we return, it will be to critically examine the sophomoric and jejune examination of the lying scumbag ex-lawyer and convicted felon and Democrat hero Michael Cohen by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that has drawn such high praise from the Washington Post, so please, stay tuned!
Paul Plante says
MONDO BOFFO, people!
That is what one respected reviewer is calling it, anyway, while a second, equally as eminent in the field of TV critics is saying, and rightfully so, that it is “Beyond Colossal,” as in beyond “huge, massive, enormous, gigantic, very big, very large, great, giant, mammoth, vast, cosmic, immense, tremendous, mighty, stupendous, monumental, epic, prodigious, mountainous, monstrous, titanic, towering, elephantine, king-sized, king-size, gargantuan, Herculean, and Brobdingnagian,” and I at least won’t argue against that being true given an article in The Hill entitled “Cohen returns for new closed-door hearing with House lawmakers” by Olivia Beavers and Morgan Chalfant on 6 March 2019, where we learned as follows:
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen is returning to Capitol Hill Wednesday to continue his closed-door interview before the House Intelligence Committee, one week after his blockbuster public testimony against President Trump.
end quotes
BLOCKBUSTER PUBLIC TESTIMONY, people!
And we were alive to be there when it happened, as opposed to having to read about it in the history of Rome about Gaius Cassius Longinus, Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, and Marcus Junius Brutus using their congressional committee powers of impeachment to get rid of a president they didn’t like.
And people, think about it – without the riveting re-direct examination of the lying slimeball ex-lawyer, Democrat, and convicted felon Michael Cohen by Democratic Socialist firebrand and Trump hater Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who incidentally raked in some $2,084,837.75 for the 2018 cycle with her big money coming in from Columbia University @ $10,867.00, way to go, guys,. and Selendy & Gay @ $9,000.00, and let’s hold the rest of the applause muntil the end folks, so we can keep this moving right along, there’s the tried and true Justice Democrats coming in with $7,712.00, and let’s not forget socially-conscious Apple Inc with $6,675.00, and City University of New York is in her corner with $6,487.00, while Segal Ventures kicked in $5,900.00, and then political heavy hitter University of California put $5,868.00 in the pot and oh my goodness, people, there is Skadden, Arps et al, on the list, which firm just had some problems with Mueller and his probe, that according to the New York Times story “How Skadden, the Giant Law Firm, Got Entangled in the Mueller Investigation – The law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, whose headquarters are in Manhattan, has come under scrutiny in the Russia investigation.” by Kenneth P. Vogel and Matthew Goldstein on Feb. 24, 2018 where we learned that for much of its 70-year history, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom has been a go-to firm for Wall Street, representing corporations like Pfizer and DuPont in acquisitions and becoming the first law firm in history to broker $1 trillion in mergers in a year, but when one of its former lawyers, Alex van der Zwaan, admitted that he lied to the special counsel investigating Russian election interference, with his guilty plea shining a light on a profitable line of business that Skadden mostly keeps quiet: its work for unsavory foreign figures and their Washington lobbyists, and that Mr. van der Zwaan, 33, acknowledged that he misled investigators about his communications related to the firm’s work for the Russia-aligned former president of Ukraine, Viktor F. Yanukovych, done in tandem with the former Trump campaign aides Paul Manafort and Rick Gates, anyway, that aside, they are on the list for $5,579.00, along with the Communications Workers of America for $5,537.00 and the Service Employees International Union for $5,510.00, the majority of that BLOCKBUSTER TESTIMONY would never have happened, and the history of the world would have been changed, as well, which yet another batch of critics is calling stratospherically bizarre, and so it truly is, people, when you look at the ignorant drivel in the script for the part that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was playing in what it being billed as the first successful screen adaptation for world-wide television viewing live as it was happening of a spoof you would expect to have read as a story in National Lampoon, which is a first in the history of modern American media, worthy of a one-time Special Emmy, the serious, knowledgeable critics who know the biz are saying for the All-Time Best Corny Daytime Courtroom Drama Ever, where corny is taken to mean, based upon the Ocasio-Cortez colloquy with Michael Cohen, trite, banal, predictable, inane, fatuous, vapid, jejune, weak, feeble, tired, stale, overworked, overused, and well worn, which has in its turn the political history buffs all saying that this Michael Cohen hearing starring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the heroine who saved America from Donald Trump makes the witch hunts of “Tailgunner Joe” McCarthy look like amateur hour in comparison, and those are the dudes who would know.
So, since this truly is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, people, and since thanks to the miracle of the internet gifted to us American people by the goodness of Al Gore’s heart, we actually have access to the script AOC and Michael Cohen were following to produce the BLOCKBUSTER testimony, let us take a moment as American citizens to see what real BLOCKBUSTER testimony actually looks like in real life, to wit:
Ocasio-Cortez: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Cohen, I would like to quickly pick up on some previous lines of questioning before getting into my own.
So I may go a little quickly to get it all in five minutes.
First, my colleague from Vermont had you asked several questions about AMI, the parent company of the National Enquirer.
And in that you mentioned a treasure trove — a treasure trove of documents in David Pecker’s office relating the information assembled from all of these ‘catch and kill’ operations against people who potentially had damaging information on the president.
You also mentioned that the president was very concerned about the whereabouts of these documents and who possessed them.
Does that treasure trove of documents still exist?
end quotes
Now, I don’t know about you people, but truly, I’m right on the edge of my seat here, wondering where this is going to go, which is high praise for the sense of drama and suspense that AOC, a skilled actress and very good modern dancer in her own right who is a third-generation Bronxite, educator, and organizer who after growing up experiencing the reality of New York’s rising income inequality, dedicated her life to education organizing and activism, because as a member of a large Puerto Rican extended family, she grew up with a deep understanding of how one’s zip code determines one’s access to opportunity and economic well-being, so that after graduating from Boston University (tuition/fees roughly $70,000 per year) with degrees in Economics and International Relations, she understands working families and in Congress, she will fight for them, is able to bring to her part in this bizarre comedy.
So recapping the play action to date, AOC has told us that in his previous testimony, Cohen mentioned a treasure trove — a treasure trove of documents in David Pecker’s office relating the information assembled from all of these ‘catch and kill’ operations against people who potentially had damaging information on the president, and Cohen also mentioned that the president was very concerned about the whereabouts of these documents and who possessed them, which led to this very question, to wit:
“Does that treasure trove of documents still exist?”
To which we got this BLOCKBUSTER answer:
Cohen: I don’t know.
I had asked David Pecker for them.
end quotes
People, this is so visceral and literally gut-twisting suspenseful, I don’t know how much further I can go on, because it is taking my breath away to follow this hard-hitting stuff, but I will endeavor to persevere at least a bit more which takes us to these very memorable lines from the drama, to wit:
Ocasio-Cortez: So you would say the person who knows the whereabouts of these documents would be David Pecker.
Cohen: David Pecker, Barry Levine, or Dylan Howard.
Ocasio-Cortez: Okay.
Thank you.
end quotes
Whew, people, seriously, learning all that new stuff about Trump and how bad a man he is in one fell swoop like that has knocked my socks off and taken my breath away, so its time to take another pause for station identification while I work up the strength to go on, so hard-hitting and gut-punching as this is, but don’t go away and don’t change that dial and this drama will continue after a word from our sponsors.
Paul Plante says
And truly, people, what makes this Michael Cohen Hearing on 27 February 2019 such a truly great spoof in the long history spoof as guerilla political theater, where “spoof” as a noun is taken to mean “a humorous imitation of something, in this case an congressional hearing, in which its characteristic features are exaggerated for comic effect,” as was clearly the case here in this parody, or pastiche, or burlesque, where Democratic Socialist superstar and media darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the lying, slimeball ex-lawyer and Democrat Michael Cohen, who was the leading man in this drama to her role as leading lady, what has to be the stupidest question in the history of stupid questions as a hallmark of a good spoof, is the high quality of the stupid question itself, to wit: “So you would say the person who knows the whereabouts of these documents would be David Pecker?”
HAW HAW HAW, people!
That’s a great one!
Think about it, people, how rich the irony!
We have a treasure trove of documents relating the information assembled from all of these ‘catch and kill’ operations against people who potentially had damaging information on the president, and that treasure trove is in the office of David Pecker!
So who should Congress ask for those documents in that treasure trove?
It seems like such a simple question to answer, but the reality, and hence, irony, is that it had some of the most high-powered intellectual Democrat lawyers on that committee, starting with Chairman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, himself with a JD he received in 1976 from law school at the University of Maryland School of Law, and Eleanor Norton, Yale Law School 1964, Steven Lynch, an interesting dude in his own right who was arrested in 1977 for smoking marijuana at a Willie Nelson concert at the Illinois State Fair, leading to a $50 misdemeanor fine and who was again arrested in 1979 for assault and battery of six Iranian students at an anti-American protest in Boston, a charge which was later dropped (talk about superior casting making the production, Lanny Davis is the man!) with a JD from Boston College Law School in 1991), and Jackie Speier with a J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1976, were totally flummoxed by that question.
Who indeed, which really is a silly question, but it’s show biz, people – it’s a stupid question to make us laugh, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez captured the moment by asking it with an angelic straight face, as if the stupid question were really an important one, with the answer being world-shaking, instead of predictable – like asking Cohen who is buried in Grant’s Tomb and having us all at the edge of out seats waiting to be enlightened by the answer!
Enter American superhero Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, soon to be the star of an action-hero comic book, who knows how to ask the question just the right way to tease the answer, the gospil truth this time, out of Michael Cohen, a notorious liar and convicted felon, and the conundrum is solved, just like that!
BIF!
BAM!
BOP!
WHAM!
Down goes Michael Cowen and the truth emerges!
(Cue wild applause for AOC)
A parody, people, and a masterful one indeed, as we have come to expect from Lanny Davis, a master at the trade of lampoon and caricature, is a work created to imitate something by means of satiric or ironic imitation, and in our age today, nobody does it better on television than Lanny Davis as we were informed by Lanny himself in the New York Times article “Cohen Hearings Are Over, but Not the Arguing About His Testimony” by Nicholas Fandos and Maggie Haberman on 8 March 2019, to wit:
Mr. Davis said in an interview that what Mr. Trump and his allies were doing was reminiscent of his own days working as a counsel in the Clinton White House during congressional investigations led by Republicans.
“What we would do is focus on a little trip-up, or pebble or something,” Mr. Davis said, with the intention of getting “everybody to talk about it so the big picture is obscured.”
“When we were facing a serious media storm,” he said, “we would do everything we could to change the subject to something trivial.”
end quotes
And now, Lanny is using all of his prior skill to produce the serious media storm!
As the Encyclopédie of Denis Diderot tells us, “A good parody is a fine amusement, capable of amusing and instructing the most sensible and polished minds while the burlesque is a miserable buffoonery which can only please the populace.”
And now a word from our sponsors as we take a pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
Ah, yes, people, burlesque, which is to say, a dramatic work such as this 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen hearing, intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects, which this Michael Cohen burlesque did so exquisitely and eloquently, is a miserable buffoonery (behavior that is ridiculous but amusing as in “the Micheal Cohen Hearing was full of wordplay and buffoonery”) which can only please the populace, and my goodness, people, did this one ever.
Think about it, people – on 27 February 2019, every other soap opera, no matter how much loved it was, or venerable or worthy of the appellation of soap opera, a crucial element of which is the open-ended serial nature of the narrative, with stories spanning several episodes, and every other quiz show, like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud and The Price is Right, and every other daytime courtroom drama such as Judge Hatchett, and Judge Judy, and Hot Bench, a perennial favorite with daytime TV audiences who desire and savor real courtroom drama, and Judge Mathis, and the People’s Court and Caso Cerrado, were pre-empted by this Lanny Davis made-for-TV corny courtroom thriller which was on the television networks all day long, just so we could sit at the edge of our seats waiting for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to use her formidable CSI forensic skills to drag out of lying slimeball ex-lawyer, Democrat and convicted felon Michael Cohen the vital truth that the person most likely to know about the treasure trove of documents relating the information assembled from all of these ‘catch and kill’ operations against people who potentially had damaging information on the president that was in the office of David Pecker would be David Pecker himself!
Way to go, AOC!
As to soap operas, and this is important to know here, people, one of the defining features that makes a television program a soap opera, according to Albert Moran, is “that form of television that works with a continuous open narrative.”
“Each episode ends with a promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode”.
end quotes
And that, the purists argue, and quite persuasively, is what makes this Michael Cohen Hearing the ultimate soap opera – that promise that the storyline is to be continued in another episode, and my goodness, people, so this has been.
In 2012, the famed and well-respected Los Angeles Times columnist Robert Lloyd wrote that although melodramatically eventful such as this very exciting Michael Cohen saga has been, with his fall from grace and subsequent epiphany which will serve to make him a better and different person, especially if the book and movie deals go through, as is likely, for this is a red hot property right now, soap operas such as this Cohen saga have a luxury of space that makes them seem more naturalistic with the economics of the form demanding long scenes such as we had all day long in a marathon session on 27 February 2019, and conversations that a 22-episodes-per-season weekly series might dispense with in half a dozen lines of dialogue have here been drawn out for pages, so that we get to spend more time even with the minor characters and the apparent villains like Michael Cohen, grow less apparently villainous.
Good soap opera storylines such as the masterful and prodigious effort put forth by maestro Lanny Davis and cast on 27 February 2018 run concurrently, and intersect and lead into further developments such as this questioning of the sleazebag ex-lawyer Michael Cohen by Democratic Socialist firebrand Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is quoted in an article in The Hill entitled “Ocasio-Cortez: In US ‘if you don’t have a job you are left to die'” by Michael Burke on 11 March 2019, to wit:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Saturday that, in the U.S., “if you don’t have a job, you are left to die.”
end quotes
Yes, indeed, people, she has some very powerful lines to deliver, and like every good actress, she delivers her lines with punch!
Getting back to what makes a soap opera a soap opera, instead of something else, like here, an individual episode of a soap opera will generally switch between several different concurrent narrative threads that may at times interconnect and affect one another or may run entirely independent to each other, and each episode may feature some of the show’s current storylines, but not always all of them, and such it is with this M ichael Cohen saga, where he is appearing before and directing several congressional committees along with an investigation by special counsel where he is the star witness and an investigation he is conducting into Trump from out of the office of the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York.
In true soap opera fashion, maestro Lanny Davis is not bringing all of the current storylines to a conclusion at the same time, so that when one storyline ends, there are several other story threads at differing stages of development, and and he is managing quite well to have his episodes in this drama end on some sort of cliffhanger, like what stupid question will Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ask Michael Cohen next.
Now, so we can see how it is that Lanny Davis is at the top of the craft here, the main characteristics that define soap operas are “an emphasis on family life, personal relationships, sexual dramas, emotional and moral conflicts; some coverage of topical issues; set in familiar domestic interiors with only occasional excursions into new locations,” and Lanny has given us all of that and more, which is a testament to his genius if there ever was one.
Fitting in with these characteristics, most soap operas follow the lives of a group of characters who live or work in a particular place, or focus on a large extended family, like the Democrats out to get Trump by an y means in this Michael Cohen saga.
True to the tradition of the genre, Lanny Davis has his storylines in this drama following the day-to-day activities and personal relationships of these characters, and his masterful soap narratives, like those of film melodramas, are marked by what Steve Neale has described as ‘chance happenings, coincidences, missed meetings, sudden conversions, last-minute rescues and revelations, deus ex machina endings.’
In many soap operas, in particular daytime serials in the US, the characters are frequently attractive, seductive, glamorous and wealthy and such was the case here as we learned when Rep. Jim Jordan at the 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen Hearing brought up a “Women for Michael Cohen” Twitter account that said Cohen is “handsome” and “sexy.”
So, people, romance, secret relationships, extramarital affairs, and genuine hate have been the basis for many soap opera storylines here in the United States of America mover the years, and with this Michael Cohen saga, Lanny Davis has given us a real doozy!
Good soap opera storylines like this one presented to us by Lanny Davis weave intricate, convoluted and sometimes confusing tales of characters who have affairs, meet mysterious strangers and fall in love, and who commit adultery, all of which keeps audiences hooked on the unfolding story, and my goodness, people so it is that we are with this one.
In soap opera storylines, previously unknown children, siblings and twins, including the evil variety, of established characters often emerge to upset and reinvigorate the set of relationships examined by the series while unexpected calamities disrupt weddings, childbirths, and other major life events with unusual frequency, which gives us a good idea of what we have to look for next from Lanny as he continues to spool out this gripping drama page by page by page.
And now for another word from our sponsors as we once again pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
And as we sit back for a moment to appreciate the monumental achievement of Maestro Lanny Davis on 27 February 2019, where he managed to preempt every other day-time soap opera, and every other quiz show, like Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud and The Price is Right, and every other daytime courtroom drama such as Judge Hatchett, and Judge Judy, and Hot Bench, a perennial favorite with daytime TV audiences who desire and savor real courtroom drama, and Judge Mathis, and the People’s Court and Caso Cerrado, just so we could sit at the edge of our seats waiting for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to use her formidable CSI forensic skills to drag out of lying slimeball ex-lawyer, Democrat and convicted felon Michael Cohen the vital truth that the person most likely to know about the treasure trove of documents relating the information assembled from all of these ‘catch and kill’ operations against people who potentially had damaging information on the president that was in the office of David Pecker would be David Pecker himself, context for the show is developing in the Politico article “Pelosi’s hard line on impeachment splits House Dems” by Andrew Desiderio and Sarah Ferris on 11 March 2019, where we have the latest update on what the underlying purpose of the show is allo about, as follows:
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s pronouncement that she is opposed to impeaching President Donald Trump without “overwhelming” public support divided Democrats Monday — receiving a strong endorsement from her top deputies even as it rankled some who said they don’t want to be boxed in.
end quotes
Note the key word “overwhelming public support!”
This Lanny Davis MEDIA SPECTACULAR is supposed to be tugging at our emotions to get us so boiling mad at the way Trump treated poor choir-boy and fallen angel Michael Cohen that we would be seething with anger while screaming for the RIGHTEOUS Democrats to get rid of Trump, and get rid of him fast!
Except it is not working, no matter how many stupid and inane questions Democratic Socialist firebrand and media darling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez might ask Michael Cohen to stir our anger at Trump and get it red hot.
Getting back to the Politico article:
Pelosi told the Washington Post that she’s “not for impeachment” and is wary of such proceedings “because it divides the country.”
“And [Trump’s] just not worth it” — her strongest comments to date on the subject, as she attempts to tamp down speculation surrounding Democrats’ ever-expanding investigations.
But some members of her caucus pushed back on her comments, arguing that impeachment should be based solely on facts and evidence — not political considerations.
“If the facts require us to initiate removing the president, we are obligated to do it.”
“If the facts don’t support it, we won’t,” said Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), a member of leadership who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, who stressed that the decision should be based entirely on the evidence.
“This determination will be driven solely by the facts.”
Still he acknowledged, “there’s no question it would be divisive.”
end quotes
And what are the “facts,” people, supporting impeachment, beyond the fact that the person most likely to know where anything in the office of David Pecker might be would be David Pecker himself?
The answer is that the Democrats simply do not know, and are still trying to figure it all out, which takes us back to the Politico article, as follows:
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who sits on the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, said impeaching the president isn’t about “whether or not the president is worth it.”
“The question is, whether the republic is worth it, and whether the public interest commands it, and whether there are high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“We can’t get so frustrated with Donald Trump that we impeach him just for being Donald Trump, but we can’t get so frustrated with Donald Trump that we don’t impeach him because he’s Donald Trump,” Raskin said.
end quotes
Talk about the Democrats being faced with an almost unsolvable conundrum, there it is right there for all the candid world to see, and if anyone would know it was a true conundrum, it would be Democrat Jamin Ben “Jamie” Raskin, born December 13, 1962, who is an American author and politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Maryland’s 8th congressional district since 2017, a district which is located in Montgomery County, an affluent suburban county northwest of Washington, D.C., and extending through Frederick County, Maryland, a rural area, to the Pennsylvania border, who as a law professor taught constitutional law and legislation at the American University and the Washington College of Law
Jamie was born in Washington, D.C. on December 13, 1962 and he is the son of progressive activist Marcus Raskin—a former staff aide to President John F. Kennedy on the National Security Council and co-founder of the Institute for Policy Studies—and Barbara (née Bellman) Raskin, a journalist and novelist, and he graduated from Georgetown Day School in 1979, and received a B.A. from Harvard College (magna cum laude) in 1983 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (magna cum laude) in 1987.
So he is clearly a dude who knows what is what and where to go look for it, when nobody else does, and that again takes us back to the Politico article, for more as follows:
Pelosi appeared to be further distancing herself and House Democrats writ large from the prospect of impeaching the president, while not ruling it out entirely.
Pelosi’s comments have already set off a firestorm among liberal activists, with billionaire Tom Steyer retorting in a statement: “Is doing what’s right ‘worth it?’”
“Or shall America just stop fighting for our principles and do what’s politically convenient?”
end quotes
See that, people – it is really about American principles, not cheap, grand-standing partisan politics to punish Trump for beating Hillary Clinton in 2016, and to get back at the Republicans for the McCarthy hearings back in the 1950s, as well as for impeaching Hillary’s errant husband Bill “Bubba” Clinton when he was president.
Getting back to Politico:
“I think there’s enough going on in the various committees for impeachment to take care of itself,” said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).
“These committees have to build will in the American people for impeachment.”
“Impeachment is a political question.”
“I don’t care what we may feel — if the public isn’t there, we can’t go there.”
“And I think the committee hearings and various things going on are what’s needed in order for the public to get where they need to be.”
end quotes
In other words, people, they need us on board with this lynching of a sitting American president for the lynching to actually be able to happen, as we learn further from Politico, as follows, and this is from another top Democrat dude who knows what is up, and where:
House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) stressed that Democrats would need support from Republicans to proceed with impeachment.
“Keep in mind, impeachment is a political process … what does that mean?”
“You’ve got to have bipartisanship,” he said.
“Right now when you’ve got 40 something percent of the country pleased, I guess, with what the president’s doing.”
“I think Pelosi realizes this.”
end quotes
Said another way, the Democrats took their shot, but their poweder was wet, and all the ball did was dribble out the end of the gun to fall on the ground at their feet!
“OH, WHOOPSIE-DOODLE,” says Nancy Pelosi, “NOW WHAT DO WE DO?”
And now for a word from our sponsors as we pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
If somebody just happened to have been born on 27 February 2019, the day the now-world-famous Michael Cohen Hearing went down, at some time in the future they will be able to say, and truthfully so, that they were born on the day when Whiz-Bang Impresario Lanny Davis changed network TV forever by managing to preempt all other programming of daytime TV so he could stage a spoof of a congressional hearing that was to be so bizarre that it would have us howling and moaning to impeach Trump, just because of what he did to Michael Cohen, who really did not want to lie, not really, and get him out of office so we don’t have to look at him anymore.
And people, I just checked and there is some real serious **** going down in the daytime soaps, Reese overestimated his powers of persuasion on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, and OMG, people, on DAYS OF OUR LIVES, Marlena struggled to survive, and on GENERAL HOSPITAL, Maxie arranged for a second DNA test, which sounds suspicious to me, anyway, so we’ll have to stay tuned to see where that is going, and here is another OMG, on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS Devon learned that Ana lied about her finances, and Zoe panicked when she saw a photo Flo posted to social media on THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, and then Flo begged Liam and Hope not to hate her and Wyatt and Florence reconnected, and despite all of that, the attention of everyone in America watching network TV on 27 February 2019 had their attention riveted on this following colloquy from the Michael Cohen Hearing where Michael Cohen is being rehabilitated as a witness by the skillful and deft (demonstrating skill and cleverness, as in “the script was both deft and literate”; synonyms adept, adroit, dexterous, agile, nimble, neat, nimble-fingered, handy, able, capable, skilled, proficient, accomplished, expert, experienced, practiced, polished, efficient, slick, professional, masterful, masterly, impressive, finely judged, delicate) witness-handling techniques employed by Democratic Socialist firebrand and media darling and TWITTER QUEEN Alexandria, Ocasio-Cortez, as follows:
AOC: Okay.
Thank you.
Secondly, I want to ask a little bit about your conversation with my colleague from Missouri about asset inflation.
To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
end quotes
Now, just look at that, people – the sentence structure employed there!
That is a question framed in such a way that if one did not know better, one would think AOC was sporting a real JD from Harvard Law School.
So, was she coached?
Or is she a natural?
And while that argument rages, let’s see what answer she was able to elicit from Michael Cohen with that searching and probing question about Donald Trump allegedly providing inflated assets to an insurance company, what ever that is actually meant to mean – like Trump insuring his wife’s paste costume jewelry as if it were really diamonds and pearls and rubies, instead of glass:
Cohen: Yes.
end quotes
Okay, and not an unexpected answer, at all – the purpose of the show afterall was to get us so seething mad at Trump for providing inflated assets to an insurance company that we would be screaming to high heaven to Nancy Pelosi to impeach his *** and kick him out of the White House like she just kicked Pence out of his office.
So what happened?
How come we’re mad not at Trump, but at the Democrats who have so insulted our intelligence with this farce called the Michael Cohen Hearing?
Stay tuned, for more on that is yet to come.
Paul Plante says
As to a SMEAR CAMPAIGN, people, which is exactly what we are looking at here in this above colloquy between convicted felon and stupid, goofball ex-lawyer and Democrat Michael Cohen and Democratic Socialist firebrand, media darling, TWITTER QUEEN and congresswoman from Queens who politically powerful law firm Skadden, Arps saw worthy of a $5,579.00 donation to her political warchest in 2018, the one, the only Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, where she asks him the STUPID BULL**** question, “To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company,” and on cue and on demand, and most importantly, on script, stay on script, Michael, he answered “yes,” which means the goofball ex-lawyer not bright enough to keep his own *** would have to have some kind of PROOF beyond his word that such in fact was the case, proof that was never forthcoming, also referred to as a smear tactic or simply a smear, which is what Ocasio-Cortez (herinafter “AOC”) is doing to a sitting American president who was not afforded due process of law with this question about the alleged “inflated assets,” as if Trump were guilty of insurance fraud based solely on the word of the convicted liar and Democrat Michael Cohen, is an effort to damage or call into question someone’s reputation, in this case American president Donald Trump by propounding the negative propaganda generated in the 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen Hearing starring AOC.
A smear campaign, people, and this one scripted by Master Impresario and Democrat Lanny Davis is top of the pinnacle of the art of the smear, is an intentional, premeditated effort to undermine Donald Trump’s reputation, credibility, and character for partisan political purposes.
Smear tactics differ from normal discourse or debate in that they do not bear upon the issues or arguments in question because like here, a smear is a simple attempt to malign Trump with the aim of undermining his credibility as President and Commander-in-Chief.
And just as we are seeing here with this spew of horse**** being teased from out of the gullet of Michael Cohen by AOC, smears often consist of ad hominem attacks in the form of unverifiable rumors and distortions, half-truths, or even outright lies, and smear campaigns are often propagated by gossip magazines like the Washington Post and CBS News, and as AOC knows, even when the facts behind a smear campaign are demonstrated to lack proper foundation, as is being done here in the pages of the CCM, the tactic is still effective because the target’s reputation is tarnished before the truth is known.
Smears like this are also effective in diverting attention away from the matter in question, which is no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia that Cohen knows about, and onto Trump, so that Trump as the target of the smear must focus on correcting the false information rather than on the original issue, which is governing this country as duly-elected president without all this interference from the Democrats in congress.
And talk about masterful usage of Deflection, has been described as a wrap-up smear, by the Democrats, where deflection is defined as follows by political PR dudes like Lanny Davis:
“You make up something.”
“Then you have the press write about it.”
“And then you say, everybody is writing about this charge”.
end quotes
Transparent as all get out, people, and juvenile and pedestrian, but you know what, it works time after time so who cares how corny it really is – results are what matter.
While the Smear Tactics which are a specialty of the Democrats are considered by many to be a low, disingenuous form of discourse, they are nevertheless very common, because they appeal directly to the base of the Democrat party itself.
And here is the real cause for concern here, people, with this unrelenting smear campaign the Democrats and AOC are waging against Trump – Smear Campaigns have been identified as a common weapon of psychopaths, Borderlines and narcissists.
Trump should have the Secret Service put AOC on a watch list from the sound of things here.
Paul Plante says
That this above question the Democratic Socialist media darling, firebrand and TWITTER QUEEN Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the goofball, convicted liar and Democrat Michael Cohen, “To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company,” is ridiculous and serves to show just how stupid and uninformed AOC really, and how stupid she thinks we are, all one need do is google this following question, to wit:
Q. Can I insure my house for more than it’s worth?
A. It’s possible to overstate the value of your house when insuring it.
However, your insurance company will only pay you the actual amount of damage you suffered in a loss.
For example, if you insured your house for $400,000 and it was completely destroyed in a fire, you will not automatically receive $400,000 from your insurance company.
Instead, if the insurer determines the cost to replace your home is only $350,000, that is the amount you will receive as payment for your claim.
Home insurance is intended to make you whole and return you to where you were prior to the loss.
Insurance is not intended to generate a profit.
This is what’s known as a “moral hazard,” in which an insured person might have an incentive for loss or damage to property because the insurance payment would create a financial benefit.
Insurance companies want to avoid these situations and therefore will not pay you more than your house is worth to replace.
end quotes
Now, seriously, people – do you really need a Harvard JD to understand that?
So Trump can tell the insurance companies his building are worth whatever he wants to tell them, and if he overstates their value and can afford the premiums, the insurance companies will be more than glad to sell him the insurance.
So there are two real stupid questions from out of the mouth of AOC in rapid-fire order, but stay tuned, for she is on a roll when it comes to asking real stupid questions of the lying sleazeball ex-lawyer and Democrat Micheal Cohen, and now, a word from our sponsors.
Paul Plante says
For those of you who are casting this as summer stock this coming season in the style of true Theater of the Absurd, which this script truly is, the exact dialogue in that exchange of colloquy concerning how Trump values his buildings when buying insurance on them, with the indomitable AOC as interrogator and interlocutor and the goofball ex-lawyer Michael Cohen as her talking poodle is as follows, and it is some rare dialogue indeed when it comes to Theater of the Absurd done in the style of an episode from out of National Lampoon, to wit:
AOC: Okay.
Thank you.
Secondly, I want to ask a little bit about your conversation with my colleague from Missouri about asset inflation.
To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
Cohen: Yes.
Ocasio-Cortez: Who else knows that the president did this?
Cohen: Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman, and Matthew Calamari.
(Note: Weisselberg is the Trump Organization’s CFO, Lieberman and Calamari are executives at the Trump Organization.)
Ocasio-Cortez: And where would the committee find more information on this?
Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?
Cohen: Yes.
And you would find it at the Trump Org.
Ocasio-Cortez: Thank you very much.
end quotes
What makes this exchange truly absurd (wildly unreasonable, illogical, or inappropriate, as in “the allegations are patently absurd” with synonyms: preposterous, ridiculous, ludicrous, farcical, laughable, risible; arousing amusement or derision) and cosmically bizarre is the suggestion by AOC that the Elijah Cummings Congressional Committee on Oversight actually has the authority, jurisdiction and discretion to conduct an oversight investigation into how much insurance Trump has on his buildings, and why he has that amount, and not some other amount that congress would like better.
Notwithstanding how totally absurd the proposition is that Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings has oversight of how much insurance American people carry on their buildings in this country, the Washington Post and CBS News took it seriously, and reported it as news, which makes for quite a serious statement about the level of intelligence of the editors and reporters at that rag, and it is not at all a comforting one, given that it is from the Washington Post that everyone inside the Beltway gets their news from, however dishonest or slanted it might in fact be, as is the case here, where absolute horse**** is being treated by the Washington Post as serious news.
Paul Plante says
So, yes, people, what we American people, as well as peoples all over the world, including in Viet Nam, and China, and Russia and Korea, got to witness in real time as it was actually happening on 27 February 2019 on live TV on every channel was a WITCH HUNT, the likes of which the modern world today has never seen before, and given the sheer majesty of this WITCH HUNT, with its steller (outstanding, superior, excellent, distinguished, eminent, exceptional, famous, great, impressive, magnificent, phenomenal, preeminent, A-number-1, ace, boss, mostest, out-of-this-world, primo, standout, world-class) cast of characters and its outstanding script, and how it so artfully integrated the Marxist STRUGGLE SESSION into the classical framework of the WITCH HUNT, a true first in the long history of WITCH HUNTS, which is yet another testimonial to the sheer genius of former Clinton lawyer Lanny Davis in the arts of mass political manipulation as we so recently saw with his masterful staging of the Michael Cohen Hearing on 27 February 2019, the world will never see its like again, so that we who were there on that day when it happened were truly watching a new world history to replace the old world history being made, and made in spades, as that saying goes.
The classical WITCH-HUNT, which we see in the transcript of AOC above here where she is ferreting out of him the information that Michael Cohen thinks Trump carries too much insurance on his buildings, at its simplest, is a campaign directed against a person, in this case, Donald Trump, who holds unorthodox or unpopular views.
Historically, as Wikipedia tells us, a witch-hunt or witch purge was a search for people labelled “witches” or evidence of witchcraft, often involving, as is the case here among the Democrats and Democratic Socialists like AOC, moral panic or mass hysteria, both of which we got to witness among the Democratic members of the Committee of Inquisition of Baltimore congressman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings on 27 February 2019 in real time as they were happening on network television, with the moral panic beinb so tangible and viscous it actually seemed to seep out of the bottom of the television screen to then ooze like slime across the floor.
The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial North America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 100,000 executions.
The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century, but in other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from Sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today.
Some people would call them ****-holes, but that is politically unproper, so I myself will refrain from calling them that in here, where we are talking about the WITCH HUNT in current language metaphorically meaning, just as it does here, an investigation usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty and so on, but really to weaken political opposition.
That is what we saw this Democratic Socialist AOC doing with the lying, scumbag ex-lawyer, convicted felon and Democrat Michael Cohen on 27 February 2019, using her position as a congress person from Queens, New York, to conduct a sham investigation with much publicity, including the politically-important Washington Post, and CBS News, supposedly to uncover subversive activity by Trump in connection with the insurance he has on his buildings, but really to weaken political opposition.
Before this masterful media coup by maestro Lanny Davis on 27 February 2019, western media used to frequently write of a ‘Stalinist witch-hunt'[127] or a ‘McCarthyite witch-hunt, and in those cases, the word ‘witch-hunt’ was used as a metaphor to illustrate the brutal and ruthless way in which political opponents are denigrated and persecuted, but those days are gone, and forgotten now, people, to be replaced by a “Lanny Davis witch-hunt” or “Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez witch-hunt,” both of which are unique in that they have so skillfully incorporated the STRUGGLE SESSION as an element of the WITCH HUNT, to produce new and quite novel Theater of the Absurd with this Michael Cohen Hearing so recently held.
The struggle session, which AOC is a master at conducting, was a form of public humiliation and torture that was used by the Communist Party of China in the Mao era, particularly during the Cultural Revolution, to shape public opinion and humiliate, persecute, or execute political rivals and those deemed class enemies.
Today, we saw its grand revival as a political weapon in this country on network TV in real time where the Michael Cohen Hearing on 27 February 2019 was a form of public humiliation of Donald Trump to shape public opinion and humiliate and persecute Donald Trump as a political rival and class enemy.
In a novel break with tradition, where before the victim of a struggle session was forced to admit various crimes before a crowd of people who would verbally and physically abuse the victim until he or she confessed, in this case, Lanny and AOC decided to forgo actually having Trump be physically there, out of fear he would prove to be disruptive, it being television, afterall, where schedules have to be maintained, and simply heap the verbal abuse on him, with the assumption being, “of course he is guilty!”
Historically, struggle sessions were often held at the workplace of the accused, but they were sometimes conducted in sports stadiums where large crowds would gather if the target was well-known.
Today, we have surpassed that by having the struggle session broadcast on nation -wide TV!
Struggle sessions developed from similar ideas of criticism and self-criticism in the Soviet Union from the 1920s, when the Democrats in this country were absolutely in love with the concept of world brotherhood through world communism, and the term referred then as it does now, to class struggle, so that the session was held, ostensibly, to benefit the target, by eliminating all traces of counterrevolutionary, reactionary thinking.
So, were AOC and Lanny Davis successful in their bid on 27 February 2019 to benefit Trump, the target, by eliminating in him all traces of counterrevolutionary, reactionary thinking?
Or did they just come across as a pair of misguided, anti-American seditionist idiots and fools?
Paul Plante says
In philosophy, people, the phrase “the Absurd” refers to the conflict between the human tendency to seek inherent value and meaning in life, on the one hand, as some do in America today, and on the other, as is definitely the case with this masterful, nationally-televised Lanny Davis Theater of the Absurd production on 27 February 2019 starring virtually everyone of importance in the Democrat universe in Washington, D. C., including Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings from inner-city Baltimore, Maryland, and the goofball, lying, ex-lawyer, convicted felon and Democrat Michael Cohen and Democratic Socialist firebrand, media darling, and TWITTER QUEEN Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and foul-mouthed and ignorant Rashida Tlaib, the human inability to find any in the purposeless, meaningless or chaotic and irrational universe presented to us on 27 February 2019 by Master Illusionist and Absurdist Extraordinaire Lanny Davis with his hilarious Michael Cohen Hearing on nation-wide TV.
As a philosophy that Lanny Davis, a former lawyer for Hillary Clinton’s wayward husband Bill, is obviously a master of, absurdism, as was done so skillfully by Lanny with his asbsurdist Michael Cohen Hearing on 27 February 2019, furthermore explores the fundamental nature of the Absurd and how individuals, once becoming conscious of the Absurd, should respond to it, as I am doing in here, courtesy of the Cape Charles Mirror, in carefully exposing just how absurd it really was when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the lying slimeball ex-lawyer and convicted felon Michael Cohen this following series of questions, to wit:
AOC:
To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
Cohen: Yes.
Ocasio-Cortez: And where would the committee find more information on this?
Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?
Cohen: Yes.
end quotes
With respect to that colloquy, the absurdist philosopher Albert Camus stated that individuals should embrace the absurd condition of human existence while also defiantly continuing to explore and search for meaning, and when I look for any meaning in that spew of mindless, ignorant drivel, especially AOC asking Cohen if he as a convicted felon and real stupid lawyer who couldn’t keep his own sorry *** out of federal prison thought the Cummings Committee of Inquisition should review Trump’s financial statements and Trump’ tax returns in order to compare them and see if Michael Cohen is really right when he says Trump carries too much insurance on his buildings which is wasting corporate money, which shows Trump is a bad manager and thus, shouldn’t really be president, which is both absurd and bizarre (very strange or unusual, especially so as to cause interest or amusement, as in “AOC’s bizarre questions and statements”, with synonyms such as: strange, peculiar, odd, funny, curious, offbeat, outlandish, eccentric, and abnormal), given that congress has absolutely no authority whatsoever over how much insurance an American citizen is carrying on his buildings.
Absurdism such as Lanny Davis employed so skillfully in the Michael Cohen Hearing, has its origins in the work of the 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who chose to confront the crisis that humans face with the Absurd by developing his own existentialist philosophy, which Lanny Davis in turn seems to have developed even further into the art form the world was treated to on 27 February 2019 thanks to the major networks in America who preempted all their other soap operas, and quiz shows and daytime courtroom dramas who aired this Absurdist Michael Cohen Hearing in its entirety for all the candid world to see and experience viscerally.
The aftermath of World War II provided the social environment that stimulated absurdist views and allowed for their popular development, especially in the devastated country of France, and today, the defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016 provided the social environment that stimulated the Absurdist views of not only Lanny Davis, but the Democrats, as well, and thus, allowed for its popular development that resulted in the Michael Cohen farce on nation-wide TV on 27 February 2019, the day the American media was changed forever, and we were there to see it happen.
Wow.
Lucky us.
Paul Plante says
As to McCarthyism, which this 27 February 2019 Micheal Cohen Hearing was a superbly-casted and scripted revival of, as could only be expected of a Lanny Davis production, Wikipedia tells us that it is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence, which is exactly what this colloquy above between AOC and Michael Cohen is doing, to wit:
AOC: To your knowledge, did the president ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
Cohen: Yes.
Ocasio-Cortez: And where would the committee find more information on this?
Do you think we need to review his financial statements and his tax returns in order to compare them?
Cohen: Yes.
end quotes
Subversion, people!
Look at it!
There it is, right in front of us, like a rattlesnake on a log, staring us right in the face like they do just before they strike!
Trump told an insurance company that his buildings were worth more than his lawyer Michael Cohen knows they were worth, so that is Trump being guilty of being subversive against an insurance company, for which Trump should be impeached and removed from office.
BINGO!
In the world of AOC, that is how easy it should be to remove a president the Democrats simply do not like, because they deem him unfit as we clearly can see from none other than the “AUTHORITATIVE VOICE OF INSIDE THE BELTWAY,” the Washington Post, in their article “‘I’m not for impeachment,’ Pelosi says, potentially roiling fellow Democrats” by Mike DeBonis and Rachael Bade on 11 March 2019, as follows:
Asked if he was fit to be president, she countered, “Are we talking ethically?”
“Intellectually?”
“Politically?”
“What are we talking here?”
When a reporter said all, she said he was not.
“All of the above.”
“No.”
“No.”
“I don’t think he is,” she said.
“I mean, ethically unfit.”
“Intellectually unfit.”
“Curiosity-wise unfit.”
“No, I don’t think he’s fit to be president of the United States.”
end quotes
Bottom-line, a dude in business who pays too much for the insurance on his buildings has absolutely no business whatsoever sitting in the oval office, of all places, so that is as good a pretense as any ti impeach him on, and there we have yet another takeaway from the Michael Cohen Hearing to consider, but don’t go away, because it won’t be the last one, and now a word from our sponsors as we pause for station identification.
Paul Plante says
Given that we are seeing a resurgence of the “McCarthy-ite Witch Hunts” of an earlier era of American political history with this Michael Cohen Hearing on 27 February 2019, know known as the Third Red Scare in America, and its aftermath, where a veritable slew of subpoenas flew out in all directions and then some from Democrat “Jumping Jerry” Nadler as a result of the highly emotional and said to be quite damning testimony of the Democrat’s dearly beloved liar and felon Michael Cohen, and given that many younger people in America have never even heard the term, the term “McCarthy-ism” refers to U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s, which makes its use today by the Democrats quite ironic, given that it was characterized by heightened political repression and a campaign spreading fear of Communist influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents, which is what we are seeing the rise of again in this country as a result of Hillary Rodham Clinton losing the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump, which the Democrats blame on Communist influence on American institutions such as the Electoral College and espionage by Soviet agents who simply could not stand the thought of having to listen to and deal with Hillary Clinton’s carping and hectoring running mouth for four long years.
As to irony by the bushel-full here, as Wikipedia tells us, what would become known as the McCarthy era began before McCarthy’s term in 1953, because following the First Red Scare, in 1947, President Truman, a Democrat, signed an executive order to screen federal employees for association with organizations deemed “Totalitarian, Fascist, Communist, or subversive”, or advocating “to alter the form of Government of the United States by unconstitutional means.”
Today, we have Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who during this emergency she seems to liken to an American “Cataline Conspiracy” has assumed command of the nati0n until the Democrats have restored order to the land, doing a similar thing, with an order going out to all her many congressional committees, chief among them the committees of the Three Democrat Horsemen of Trump’s apocalypse “Jumping Jerry” Nadler, Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings and Adam Schiff, also known as the Democrat Conroi (a group of knights who trained and fought together), to screen Trump and every federal employee associated in even the most peripheral way with Trump for association with organizations deemed “Totalitarian, Fascist, Communist, or subversive”, or advocating “to alter the form of Government of the United States by unconstitutional means,” such as daring to beat Democrat Hillary Clinton, whose turn it clearly was to be American president in a presidential election in America.
Getting back to the Second Red Scare, and McCarthy-ism, in 1949, a high-level State Department official was convicted of perjury in a case of espionage, and the Soviet Union tested an atomic bomb and the Korean War started the next year, raising tensions in the United States.
In a speech in February 1950, Senator McCarthy presented an alleged list of members of the Communist Party working in the State Department, which attracted press attention.
Today, the Democrats are now escalating the tensions by hunting out alleged members of the Communist Party working in the Oval Office, starting with Trump himself, and then extending to his family, and everyone associated with Trump going back to his childhood days, which is when the Democrats seem to think Trump was first recruited by the Communists, which has attracted gobs of press attention, just as was intended.
The term “McCarthyism” has since taken on a broader meaning, and in the early 21st century, the term is used more generally to describe reckless, unsubstantiated accusations, and demagogic attacks on the character or patriotism of political adversaries, as we saw on 27 February 2019 with the testimony before the Democrat Congressional Committee of Inquisition of the lying, scumbag ex-lawyer and be.loved Democrat Michael Cohen, who also claims the title of the most stupid lawyer to ever draw a breath in America.
During the former McCarthy era, hundreds of Americans were accused of being Communists or Communist sympathizers, and they became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private industry panels, committees, and agencies with the primary targets of such suspicions being government employees, those in the entertainment industry, academicians, and labor-union activists.
Today, the Democrats have narrowed the list of those to be accused of being Communists or Communist sympathizers so that they then become the subjects of aggressive investigations and questioning before government committees to people associated with Trump.
As is again the case now, suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person’s real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs were sometimes exaggerated.
Many people suffered loss of employment or destruction of their careers while some were imprisoned, with the punishments coming about through trial verdicts that were later overturned, laws that were later declared unconstitutional, dismissals for reasons later declared illegal or actionable, or extra-legal procedures, such as informal blacklists, that would come into general disrepute, which raises the important existential question for our times of why should we, the American people, be welcoming those same disreputable practices back in our times today, simply because the Democrats are furious and in a snit because their plans to install Hillary Clinton in the White House as an American Caesar came to naught in November of 2016.
Paul Plante says
And boy, you have to really hand it to Media Impresario Lanny Davis, for when that dude, who served from 1996 to 1998 as a political fixer for President Bill Clinton, hands us a LOLLPALOOZA of an EXTRAVANGANZA, the dude goes all out to really make it be so, as opposed to just standing there patting himself on the back while handing himself accolades for a lame effort as so many of the Lanny Davis wannabees do, the self-aggrandizers who can’t produce drama the way Lanny Davis can.
With his clever scripting in AOC’s part, where he has AOC questioning the lying, scumbag felon and Democrat Michael Cohen about how much insurance Trump carries on his buildings, Lanny has given us a real-live textbook example of what Trial by Media looks like in real life, as we can see from this transcript of the MSNBC talk show “The 11th Hour w/ Brian Williams” on 27 February 2019, as follows:
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC ANCHOR: Really appreciate it.
That is tonight`s LAST WORD.
“THE 11TH HOUR” with Brian Williams starts now.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC HOST: The breaking news tonight, Michael Cohen
violent break with his friend and former boss.
His day long televised takedown of the President, including some moments that will be replayed for years.
His allegation that Trump knew about WikiLeaks in advance.
The canceled check with that Trump signature as evidence of hush money payments
as President.
And there`s more.
And on the other side of the world in Hanoi tonight our American President arm in arm with the North Korean dictator and word emerging from their meeting that the U.S. won`t demand North Korea disclose its nukes and missiles.
Our edition of THE 11TH HOUR for a Wednesday night starts now.
Well, good evening once again from our NBC News headquarters here in New York.
This was day 769 of the Trump administration, dominated by a gripping and at times intensely personal day of testimony from a man who lied for Donald Trump, a now disbarred lawyer about to ship off on a three-year federal prison term.
But on his way out the door and off the public stage he delivered a public and systematic takedown of his old friend Donald Trump.
And when it was over, we were left with distinct allegations of bank and insurance fraud and campaign finance violations for starters.
end quotes
See it right there, people – ah, yes, we certainly were left with distinct allegations of “insurance fraud” alright, when we learned that Trump carries more insurance on his buildings than the dim-witted, goofball ex-lawyer Michael Cohen thinks they are worth, which is pure horse****, and that inane statement goes to show just how ignorant this Brian Williams is as well, if he believes over-insuring your buildings is a form of insurance fraud.
For those who don’t know the dude from Adam, Brian Douglas Williams, born May 5, 1959, is an American journalist at NBC News, currently serving as the chief anchor for the network’s cable news channel MSNBC and as host of the network’s nightly wrap-up program, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams.
Of direct relevance to this story, in February 2015, Williams was suspended for six months, and eventually demoted from the Nightly News for “misrepresent[ing] events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003.”
As to Trial by Media, Wikipedia tells us that it is a phrase popular in the late 20th century and early 21st century to describe the impact of television and newspaper coverage on a person’s reputation by creating a widespread perception of guilt or innocence before, or after, a verdict in a court of law, such as is happening there with Brian Williams and that horse**** claim about insurance fraud.
During high-publicity court cases such as this one, as we can clearly see from the MSNBC transcript above, the media are often accused of provoking an atmosphere of public hysteria akin to a lynch mob which not only makes a fair trial nearly impossible but means that regardless of the result of the trial the accused will not be able to live the rest of their life without intense public scrutiny, which is the whole goal of these Democrat Witch Hunts orchestrated by Lanny Davis and starring Michael Cohen and AOC.
Although a recently coined phrase, the idea that popular media can have a strong influence on the legal process goes back certainly to the advent of the printing press and probably much further, and that is not including the use of a state controlled press to criminalize political opponents, but in its commonly understood meaning covers all occasions where the reputation of a person has been drastically affected by ostensibly non-political publications.
With respect to irony, which is present here, by the bucketful, the responsibility of the press to confirm reports and leaks about individuals being tried has come under increasing scrutiny and journalists are calling for higher standards, but those high standards are definitely missing here, as Brian Williams of MSNBC has made clear with his ridiculous claim of insurance fraud.
With respect to Lanny, there was much debate over U.S President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial and prosecutor Kenneth Starr’s investigation and how the media handled the trial by reporting commentary from lawyers which influenced public opinion, and Lanny was one of those lawyers involved in that, so he is putting those skills of his with media manipulation learned back then to good use for Hillary Clinton, the woman scorned, and the Democrats today with this Michael Cohen Hearing.
Paul Plante says
With respect to the absurdist philosopher Albert Camus stating that individuals should embrace the absurd condition of human existence while also defiantly continuing to explore and search for meaning, he’s a dude who certainly would appreciate as I do the Cape Charles Mirror as the primo venue in America today for doing exactly that – embracing the absurd condition of human existence as exemplified by this Michael Cohen Hearing on 27 February 2019, and the bizarre Brian Williams show on MSNBC right after, while also defiantly continuing to explore and search for meaning in the madness of the LOLLAPALOOZA EXTRAVAGANZA presented to us by Master Impresario and PR Guru Lanny Davis on 27 February 2019, which takes us to this excerpt from the transcript for the Brian Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019, to wit:
WILLIAMS: Returning to our broadcast tonight, Congresswoman Katie Hill, newly elected California Democrat on the Oversight Committee who took part in the questioning of Michael Cohen today on Capitol Hill.
end quotes
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure yet of her acquaintance, Katherine Lauren Hill, born August 25, 1987, is an American politician and social services administrator from Agua Dulce, California serving as the U.S. Representative for California’s 25th congressional district.
She is a member of the Democratic Party who attended public schools in the Santa Clarita Valley before attending California State University, Northridge, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master of Public Administration.
In the weeks leading up to the midterm election, Hill, who according to her bio Hill is bisexual, coming out as bisexual after high school, so that she is California’s first openly bisexual person, and first openly queer woman, to be a member of Congress, was endorsed by former President Barack Obama, who also attended a campaign event in Southern California leading up to the election.
end quotes
Getting back to the show:
WILLIAMS: And Congresswoman, we realize it`s been a long day.
Thank you very much for coming on tonight.
Your questioning resulted in us knowing about 11 checks.
What else were you driving at?
What else were you trying there to establish?
HILL: Well, the biggest thing for me was trying to figure out whether the President committed a crime while he was in office.
Because everything else is, you know, is really important for us to understand the character of the President.
There have been a lot of guesses going on or a lot of things that have led us in that direction about what of a kind – what kind of person he`s like.
And the testimony was really critical.
end quotes
Ah, yes, people – the character of the president.
Under the Democrats in 2019, the House of representatives now has authority, jurisdiction and discretion to delve into the character of a sitting American president to determine, and this based solely on the word of a convicted felon who has already lied to congress, whether that president is fit to hold office, notwithstanding that he has already been duly elected and has taken and oath of office and has been serving since 2017 in that office.
And that, people, is pure, unadulterated horse**** being served to you on a silver platter by MSNBC host Brian Williams, who is said to have a good voice for a TV anchor, the kind of voice that lets you know Brian Williams is really your best friend, and has only your well-being at heart when he spews bull**** like that, and Katie Hill, the California Democrat, because the Congress has no authority whatsoever to conduct investigations into the character of a sitting American president, which takes us back to the MSNBC transcript as follows:
WILLIAMS: I looked up at Fox News tonight during their 9:00 p.m. Eastern hour.
One of their headlines on one segment was “still no collusion.”
Do you concur?
Does it matter?
HILL: I honestly don’t think it matters.
First of all, that wasn’t the subject of today’s hearing.
That is what’s going to be discussed in large part tomorrow in the intelligence hearing that is – that’s really not up for us to kind of be debating right now because we were really trying to be careful about staying out of any – out of the way of any investigation that’s going on within the Mueller investigation.
So you know, I think that the fact that they keep using this word of collusion and just continuing to harp on about that is to me it’s trying to hide something else.
And what we know from today is that there is very strong evidence that of course needs to be further backed up but that suggests that the President of the United States committed a crime while serving in the Oval Office.
And if that’s not disturbing to our Republican friends across the aisle who are supposed to be staunch supporters of the Constitution and the utmost patriots then I don’t know what is.
end quotes
Seriously Katie, isn’t that last statement a bit juvenile?
Isn’t it customary in America to accuse someone of a crime, even someone you can’t stand like Donald Trump, AFTER you have some actual evidence, not before?
Getting back to the transcript:
WILLIAMS: Let me ask you a dual question.
If you’d been handed another round, and I’ve yet to meet a member of Congress who would turn one down, what would you have asked?
And who do you think you should next hear from?
HILL: So actually, that’s a great question.
The piece I would have asked is directly to Mr. Cohen of who else do you think we need to hear from?
And you know, we asked that in our individual segment but I would have wanted to ask kind of more direct questions in that regard of, OK, your testimony is over for today.
But if you were sitting on our side who else would you be wanting to call up here for us to ask questions of?
And where do you think we need to be going from here?
And I think that that’s just a really important perspective for us to get and I hope, you know, I have my ideas of who we need to be calling forward next.
But I hope we have the opportunity to continue in that dialogue and hope it informs our decisions of who we do bring forward and moving as we continue.
WILLIAMS: You are free as far as we know of your television obligations for the day.
With great thanks from us for staying up.
California Democratic Congresswoman Katie Hill, thank you very much for coming back on the broadcast.
end quotes
C’mon, people, let’s put those hands together to show some love for Katie Hill, Democrat from California, and if we are lucky, perhaps Brian will get her back on the show to tell us some more.
As to Brian, well, hey, he’s only human, like everybody else, so he can’t really be blamed if he has a penchant for making things up, like he did with the Iraq War helicopter incident, where on February 4, 2015, Williams apologized for and recanted his disproven Iraq War story that he had told on a Nightly News broadcast on January 30, 2015, claiming that a military helicopter he was traveling in had been “forced down after being hit by an RPG.”
Soon after it aired, Williams’ story was criticized by Lance Reynolds, a flight engineer on board one of the three Chinook helicopters that had been attacked, and Reynolds and other crew members said they were forced to make an emergency landing, and that Williams’ Chinook arrived a half-hour to an hour later.
In his original on-air reporting of the incident on March 26, 2003, for Dateline NBC, Williams had said only that “the Chinook ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky … by an RPG” and made an emergency landing, but in introducing the piece, NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw described Williams as having “got [him]self into … a close call in the skies over Iraq”, and the story was headlined, “Target Iraq: Helicopter NBC’s Brian Williams Was Riding In Comes Under Fire”.
A book published by NBC in 2003 said that “Army Chinook helicopters [were] forced to make a desert landing after being attacked by Iraqi Fedayeen”, with Williams aboard.
In a 2007 retelling, Williams did not state that his craft had been hit, but said: “I looked down the tube of an RPG that had been fired at us, and it hit the chopper in front of us.”
This contradicted the statements by the crew of the craft that was hit, that it was at least 30 minutes ahead of Williams’ helicopter.
However, the soldiers who piloted Williams’ helicopter in Iraq said no rocket-propelled grenades had been fired at the aircraft, a fact that Williams did not dispute and apologized for.
In a 2013 account, Williams said that his helicopter had been “hit … and landed very quickly.”
In a February 5, 2015, interview with CNN, the pilot of the Chinook in which Williams was traveling said that while the aircraft did not sustain RPG fire, it did indeed sustain small-arms fire and the door gunners returned fire.
On February 10, 2015, NBC News President Deborah Turness announced Williams’ suspension from Nightly News for six months without pay for having misrepresented the Iraq incident.
That then prompted greater scrutiny of several earlier statements made by Williams, including some he made regarding Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, where Williams referred inconsistently to a suicide that took place inside the New Orleans Superdome at the time of Katrina.
CNN reported in a 2005 television documentary that Williams said he was not a witness to the suicide, stating, “We heard the story of a man killing himself, falling from the upper deck.”
In a 2014 interview, however, Williams said, “We watched, all of us watched, as one man committed suicide.”
Appearing on The Daily Show in August 2006, he told host Jon Stewart that he was nearly hit the previous month by Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah while flying in an Israeli Air Force (IAF) Black Hawk helicopter: “Here’s a view of rockets I have never seen, passing underneath us, 1,500 feet beneath us.”
“And we’ve got the gunner doors on this thing, and I’m saying to the general, some four-star: ‘It wouldn’t take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do a ring toss right through our open doors, would it?'”
“Anytime you want to cross over to the other side, baby, travel with me.”
In another version of the same story, related by Williams during an interview conducted at Fairfield University a year later, he claimed that the rockets passed “just underneath the helicopter I was riding in.”
The claim was drawn into question since there are no four-star generals in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli helicopter doors are routinely closed during flights and the IAF’s Black Hawks do not carry gunners.
An IDF spokesman who was on the helicopter in question did confirm afterwards that there was Katyusha fire and, although the helicopter was not in danger, the “trajectory of the rockets was beneath us.”
A reference to the fall of the Berlin Wall also received scrutiny.
In 2008, Williams said that he was “at the Brandenburg Gate the night the wall came down”, while CBS and other sources report that Williams did not arrive until November 10, the day after the gates between the two halves of Berlin were opened.
“‘The night the wall came down’ is widely recognized as November 9, 1989”, according to a CNN report.
Williams joked in 2014 that he was upset that NBC’s Tom Brokaw had arrived first in Berlin, adding that “by the second night of the story, we were all there.”
Another statement by Williams, this one regarding the Navy SEALs, also received attention.
Williams said he flew into Baghdad with SEAL Team Six, but Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw stated the SEALs do not embed journalists.
On June 19, 2015, his suspension drawing to a close, Williams gave another apology and an account about his role in news going forward in an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show.
end quotes
So what can I say beyond Lanny Davis did well casting Brian Williams in his drama, because Brian Williams can sling bull**** with the best of them, and that’s a fact.
And now, for a word from our sponsors while we take a break for station identification.
Paul Plante says
And with this admission from California’s own Democrat congresswoman Katie Hill that the 27 February 2019 Lanny Davis EXTRAVAGANZA before the Democrat House of Representatives Committee of Presidential Fitness For Office starring the world-famous lying scumbag ex-lawyer, felon and Democrat Michael “The Archangel” Cohen was for no other purpose than to assess the character of president Donald Trump in order to determine if he is fit to be president of America, or as congresswoman Katie put it in her own quite eloquent words, “Because everything else is, you know, is really important for us to understand the character of the President,” and “There have been a lot of guesses going on or a lot of things that have led us in that direction about what of a kind – what kind of person he’s like.” we who recognize these things can see that thanks to the sheer genius of Lanny Davis, who has even managed to bring in to this GONZO MEDIA EXTRAVAGANZA the political concept of the “FISHING EXPEDITION” (legal grasping at straws; the use of discovery or witness questioning in an unfocused attempt to uncover damaging evidence to be used against an adversary) thanks to California’s own Katie Hill, not only is HUAC back, but it is back on steroids in the form of the TRIPLE ENTENTE of Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, “Jumping Jerry” Nadler and the GRAND INQUISITOR himself, none other than Burbank, California’s star congressman and Democrat extraordinaire Adam Schiff.
For those unfamiliar with the origins of that title of GRAND INQUISITOR for Democrat Adam Schiff, as was the case back when, a Democrat party inquisition,, such as we witnessed on 27 February 2019, is a process developed by the Democrats to investigate alleged instances of crimes by president Trump, who stands accused by the Democrats of the heresy of jumping the line and becoming president when everybody knows it was really Hillary Clinton’s turn at it, so that Trump was really quite rude to Hillary when he jumped the line and became president, instead.
As to the inquisition before this one, French historian Jean-Baptiste Guiraud (1866–1953) defined Medieval Inquisition as “… a system of repressive means, some of temporal and some others of spiritual kind, concurrently issued by ecclesiastical and civil authorities in order to protect religious orthodoxy and social order, both threatened by theological and social doctrines of heresy”.
The heresy of today, of course, is that Trump is president, and Hillary is not, and to the Democrats, that heresy needs to be punished by any and every means in order to protect religious orthodoxy and social order in America, both of which are threatened by the theological and social doctrine of this heresy of Trump being president by cutting the line, and elbowing Hillary, a smaller woman than Trump, out of his way.
By way of background history, early Medieval courts generally followed a process called accusatio, largely based on Germanic practices.
In this procedure, an individual would make an accusation against someone to the court.
Later, a threshold requirement was the establishment of the accused’s publica fama, i.e., the fact that the person was widely believed to be guilty of the offense charged.
By the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, there was a shift away from the accusatorial model toward the legal procedure used in the Roman Empire.
Instead of an individual making accusations based on first-hand knowledge, judges now took on the prosecutorial role based on information collected.
Under inquisitorial procedures, guilt or innocence was proved by the inquiry (inquisitio) of the judge into the details of a case.
And that is the model the Democrats are employing here in their inquisition of Trump, which takes us back to HUAC, where History.com informs us as follows:
The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, investigated allegations of communist activity in the U.S. during the early years of the Cold War (1945-91).
Established in 1938, the committee wielded its subpoena power as a weapon and called citizens to testify in high-profile hearings before Congress.
end quotes
Today, we again have the Democrats in congress repeating that HUAC tactic of wielding its subpoena power as a weapon and calling citizens to testify in high-profile hearings before Congress, because it is such an effective political tactic to employ, especially when the process is guided as is the case here by the hand of a master like Democrat PR Guru and all-around-good-guy and dude Lanny Davis.
Getting back to the reality of HUAC, we have:
This intimidating atmosphere often produced dramatic but questionable revelations about Communists infiltrating American institutions and subversive actions by well-known citizens.
end quotes
As we can see from the hyperbole of MSNBC’s Brian Williams on 27 February 2019, where he told us, “In real life today’s dialogue (from Cohen) came very close to mob parlance,” the intimidating atmosphere on 27 February 2019 again produced dramatic but highly questionable revelations about Communists infiltrating American institutions such as the presidency and subversive actions by well-known citizens like Donald Trump, as we can see from this clip of the hearing Brian Williams played for America and the candid world on 27 February 2019 to highlight the main show, as follows:
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you ever seen Mr. Trump personally threaten people with physical harm?
COHEN: No.
He would use others.
REP. JACKIE SPEIER, (D) CALIFORNIA: How many times did Mr. Trump ask you to threaten an individual or entity on his behalf?
COHEN: Quite a few times.
SPEIER: Fifty times?
COHEN: More.
SPEIER: A hundred times?
COHEN: More.
SPEIER: Two hundred times?
COHEN: More.
SPEIER: Five hundred times?
COHEN: Probably.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
For those of you unfamiliar with the person eliciting that information from Cohen that he was a thug lawyer who liked muscling people the way lawyers do, Karen Lorraine Jacqueline Speier, usually Jackie, born May 14, 1950, is an American politician who currently serves as U.S. Representative for California’s 14th congressional district, serving in Congress since 2008.
Jackie is a member of the Democratic Party and her district, numbered as the 12th District from 2008 to 2013, includes the northern two-thirds of San Mateo County and the southwest quarter of San Francisco.
A native California girl, Jackie was born in 1950 in Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco, and is a graduate of Mercy High School in Burlingame, earningd a B.A. degree from the University of California, Davis, and a J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1976.
Bringing it all back today, HUAC’s controversial tactics contributed to the fear, distrust and repression that existed during the anticommunist hysteria of the 1950s.
Upon its formation in 1938, the official role of the House Un-American Activities Committee was to investigate Communist and fascist organizations that had become active during the Great Depression, though it also examined the activities of other groups on the political left.
From the outset, just as is the case again today with this Michael Cohen Hearing, the committee proved to be a source of political discord, with its defenders arguing it uncovered vital information that bolstered national security, while critics charged it was a partisan tool bent on discrediting the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).
Today, the Democrats argue that the Michael Cohen Hearings uncovered vital information that bolstered national security, while critics charged it was a partisan tool bent on discrediting Donald trump. so what has changed between then and now, except today, it is the Democrats who control the modern version of HUAC and the subpoena power.
the New Deal programs of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945).
As tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union intensified following World War II (1939-45), the committee took up its investigations of communist activities with new vigor.
Particularly after 1947, HUAC assumed new heights of prominence and notoriety, just as the investigative committees of the THREE DEMOCRAT HORSEMEN OF THE TRUMP APOCALYPSE have assumed new heights of prominence and notoriety today, and like today with these Michael Cohen Hearings, the committee conducted a series of high-profile hearings alleging that Communists disloyal to the U.S. had infiltrated government, schools, the entertainment industry and many other areas of American life.
As is again the case today, HUAC employed several controversial methods to accomplish its goal of ferreting out suspected Communists, and typically, an individual who raised the suspicions of HUAC received a subpoena to appear before the committee.
During the hearing, the suspected Communist was grilled about his or her political beliefs and activities and then asked to provide the names of other people who had taken part in allegedly subversive activities.
Any additional figures identified in this manner also received subpoenas, widening the committee’s probe.
Individuals who refused to answer the committee’s questions or to provide names could be indicted for contempt of Congress and sent to prison.
end quotes
There, people, is the model the Democrats are employing again today with these Michael Cohen Hearings.
And getting to the heart of the matter:
Critics claimed that HUAC’s tactics amounted to a witch hunt that trampled on citizens’ rights and ruined their careers and reputations.
These critics argued that most people who were called before the committee had broken no laws, but instead were targeted for their political beliefs or for exercising their right to free speech.
Supporters of the committee, on the other hand, believed that its efforts were justified given the grave threat to U.S. security posed by communism.
HUAC also sounded an alarm about Communists infiltrating the federal government.
The most infamous case began in August 1948, when a self-confessed former member of the American Communist Party named Whittaker Chambers (1901-61) appeared before the committee.
During his dramatic testimony, Chambers accused Alger Hiss (1904-96), a former high-ranking State Department official, of serving as a spy for the Soviet Union.
Based on allegations and evidence provided by Chambers, Hiss was found guilty of perjury and served 44 months in prison.
He spent the rest of his life proclaiming his innocence and decrying his wrongful prosecution.
Hiss’ conviction bolstered claims that HUAC was performing a valuable service to the nation by uncovering Communist espionage.
The suggestion that Communist agents had infiltrated senior levels of the U.S. government also added to the widespread fear that “Reds” (a term derived from the red Soviet flag) posed a serious threat to the nation.
HUAC’s work served as a blueprint for the tactics employed by U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s.
McCarthy led an aggressive anticommunist campaign of his own that made him a powerful and feared figure in American politics.
His reign of terror came to an end in 1954, when the news media revealed his unethical tactics and he was censured by his colleagues in Congress.
end quotes
And that last sentence about “Tailgunner Joe” McCarthy being censured by his colleagues in Congress brings me to where I wanted to go in this episode of DEMOCRAT TALES OF THE EXTREME BIZARRE as we pause for station identification to wonder why today, the news media, outside of the Cape Charles Mirror, aren’t doing the same to reveal the unethical tactics of the Democrats and their HUAC today.
Paul Plante says
Staying with MSNBC’s Brian Williams for the moment, on 27 February 2019, he announced that “With us tonight to talk all about it (The Michael Cohen Hearing), Kimberly Atkins, senior Washington correspondent for WBUR, Boston`s NPR News station,” and then he launched into the following, to wit:
WILLIAMS: Welcome back.
The Republican strategy during Cohen`s testimony on Capitol Hill today was pretty simple.
We did not hear a defense of their own president.
end quotes
Uh, Brian, dude, I hate to be the one to point out to you just how stupid you sound there, but since somebody in this country needs to point it out to you, the fact that you really aren’t very bright, or knowledgeable about how government works here in our Constitutional Republic, it might as well be me.
The Republicans in the Congress, Brian, are congressmen and women.
They belong to the LEGISLATIVE Branch of our national government, which is a separate branch of our government from that of the EXECUTIVE.
So Trump is not their president, Brian, he is the president of the United States of America, and boy, don’t you feel like a real idiot for not knowing that yourself.
But, hey, I know, Brian, I know, it’s show bidness on your end, not citizenship, so you had to read the script you were handed to read and that is that.
Getting back to the transcript:
WILLIAMS: Rather, the game was clearly try to further discredit Cohen.
And what he did to deserve the three-year prison term he’s about to embark on.
And repeatedly call him a liar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM JORDAN, (R) OHIO, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: I want everyone in this room to think about this.
The first announced witness for the 116th Congress is a guy who is going to prison in two months for?
Lying to Congress.
REP. MARK GREEN, (R) TENNESSEE, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Your star witness
here broke the law with regards to the IRS at least five times.
He pled guilty on cheating on his taxes, lying to the IRS.
He`s the best witness you`ve got?
REP. JODY HICE, (R) GEORGIA, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Here we are today, our first big hearing, with as you – and we all know a convicted liar, lying to Congress, a criminal.
REP. PAUL GOSAR, (R) ARIZONA, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: You`re a pathological liar.
You don`t know truth from falsehood?
COHEN: Sir, I`m sorry, are you referring to me or the President?
GOSAR: Hey, this is my time.
COHEN: Are you referring to me or the President?
GOSAR: When I ask you a question, I`ll ask for an answer.
COHEN: Sure.
GOSAR: There`s no truth for you whatsoever.
That`s why that`s important for you to look up here and look at the old adage that our moms taught us.
Liar, liar pants on fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: To drive that last point home, that Congressman, Congressman Gosar, during questioning an aide put up a large sign that read in fact, “Liar, liar pants on fire,” with an image for good measure of Michael Cohen in case anyone missed the subtlety of his questioning today.
Still with us, Rebecca Davis O`Brien and Kimberly Atkins.
Kim, the GOP notion of all offense today and no defense, meaning no vigorous defense of Donald Trump, what did you make of it?
ATKINS: Well, look, clearly, the strategy by the Republicans, as you said, was to attack Cohen just – from the beginning.
Not based on what he said, really before he even testifies, or in lieu of asking him questions, just saying look, you are convicted of lying, you`re a liar, you cannot be believed.
And discredit him entirely as opposed to asking him questions and maybe trying to pick holes in his story.
I mean, some of it wasn’t very firm.
I mean he based this connection between that Trump Tower meeting and President Trump having knowledge of it, for example, on a really kind of fuzzy recollection by his own admission.
They could have – there was actually there there for them to pick apart.
But instead they went at him directly.
And I`m not sure that was the best strategy.
First of all, it allowed Michael Cohen to rebut that by saying, you know what, I see what you`re doing, you`re protecting the President.
I have a lot of experience doing that.
I’ve done it for 10 years and look where I ended up.
And it also makes the Republicans, if President Trump himself is found to be lying, it puts them in a tough spot if they say that Michael Cohen can never be trusted again if he’s caught lying.
What would that mean about the President?
end quotes
And that spew of drivel takes us back in time to answer an essential question in this bizarre political drama and thriller which is just how did Michael Cohen and Lanny Davis, a Clinton operative and fixer hook up in the first place, which takes us to the POLITICO article “Michael Cohen hires Clinton scandal veteran Lanny Davis” by Darren Samuelsohn on 07/05/2018, where we learn as follows on that score, to wit:
President Donald Trump’s embattled former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who has dropped hints that he may cooperate with federal prosecutors investigating his former boss, has hired an attorney and PR man who led former President Bill Clinton’s public defense against multiple scandals in the 1990s.
Lanny Davis, who spent countless hours defending Clinton more than two decades ago, said on Thursday that he’s now representing Cohen in the tightening federal probe.
“Like most of America, I have been following the matter regarding Michael Cohen with great interest,” Davis said in a statement.
“As an attorney, I have talked to Michael many times in the last two weeks.”
“Then I read his words published on July 2, I recognized their sincerity.”
“Michael Cohen deserves to tell his side of the story — subject, of course, to the advice of counsel.”
end quotes
Now, people, focus on that last sentence, as we hear all of this BULL**** about how Trump, the client, told Cohen, the thug lawyer, what it was he was to do – “Michael Cohen deserves to tell his side of the story — subject, of course, to the advice of counsel.”
“Subject to the advice of counsel” means that it is the lawyer who tells the client what to do and say, or not say, not the other way around, so everything Cohen said in that sham hearing about doing what Trump told him to do was pure BULL****, and every Democrat lawyer in that room would have known that, and yet, they stayed silent.
Getting back to Politico:
Davis was referring to Cohen’s interview published Monday by ABC News in which the president’s longtime personal attorney said he’d “put family and country” ahead of Trump.
Davis served as an official Clinton White House legal adviser as it fended cascading investigations from independent counsel Kenneth Starr.
After leaving the White House, Davis maintained his role as prominent on-air surrogate for the Democratic president as he faced impeachment proceedings related to an affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
More recently, Davis penned a 2018 book criticizing former FBI Director James Comey for his handling of the federal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while secretary of state, saying the probe cost Clinton the 2016 presidential election.
Davis is particularly close to Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 campaign nemesis.
Davis has said he consulted with senior Trump aides, including Steve Bannon and several other associates and lawyers, as they sought advice on responding to Mueller’s probe.
Joseph diGenova, an informal legal adviser to Trump, said Cohen made a smart move by hiring Davis.
“Very professional, very skilled and articulate public spokesman,” said diGenova.
“It sounds like Michael Cohen should use a spokesman and shut up and get off television.”
“That might be the best use of his time.”
end quotes
What that sounds like to me, and this is just my takeaway, is that in Michael Cohen, Lanny Davis found the perfect patsy, a real stupid goofball lawyer, for his masterful scheme to get revenge on Trump for cutting line and getting into the White House ahead of Hillary Clinton, who the Politico article makes incandescently clear, Lanny Davis is very close to, and with this 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen Hearing, Lanny Davis is milking that opportunity for all the mileage he can get from it, with the aid and assistance of MSNBC and Brian Williams.
And that is today’s episode of DEMOCRAT TALES OF THE EXTREME BIZARRE brought to you by Lanny Davis and the Democrat party of America and the world.
In our next installment of this made-for-TV political thriller, we will take you back to the third stupid question Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Michael Cohen on 27 February 2019, so please stay tuned and don’t touch that dial
Paul Plante says
So, yes, people, the third stupid question Bronx Democratic Socialist congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked the convicted felon Michael Cohen, who now has been elevated to the status of America’s greatest living patriot, which wasn’t so much a stupid question, as it was a bull**** question intended to provoke hatred towards Donald Trump as U.S. president, which truly seems a form of sedition to me, AOC colluding with the convicted felon and goofball ex-lawyer Michael Cohen in speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of the state as defined by our United States Constitution, which does not give authority to rogue congresswomen like AOC to use their position as a representative to incite people to sedition, which is made incandescently clear by 18 U.S. Code § 2384, Seditious conspiracy, to wit:
If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
end quotes
These Democrats bent on removing Trump from office by any means, including false charges based on outright lies, and their media lackeys like “Lying Brian” Williams of MSNBC, should stop for a moment and take heed of that statute.
And that takes us back to 27 February 2019, and AOC in all her prosecutorial glory as follows:
Ocasio-Cortez: Thank you very much.
The last thing here.
The Trump Golf organization currently has a golf course in my home borough of the Bronx, Trump Links.
I drive past it every day going between the Bronx and Queens.
In fact, The Washington Post reported on the Trump Links Bronx course in an article entitled ‘Taxpayers Built this New York Golf Course and Trump Reaps the Rewards.’
That article is where many New Yorkers and people in the country learned that taxpayers spent $127 million to build Trump Links in a ‘generous deal allowing President Trump to keep almost every dollar that flows in on a golf course built with public funds.’
And this doesn’t seem to be the only time the president has benefited at the expense of the public.
end quotes
So what has AOC established there with that line of questioning, people, which isn’t a line of questioning at all, but rather a flimsy attempt by AOC to make us all angry at Trump because he apparently was able to wrangle some kind of political deal?
And she is actually being quite dishonest and disingenuous (dishonest, deceitful, underhanded, duplicitous, double-dealing, two-faced, dissembling, insincere, false, lying, untruthful, mendacious) with her statement that “The Trump Golf organization currently has a golf course in my home borough of the Bronx, Trump Links” and “And this doesn’t seem to be the only time the president has benefited at the expense of the public,” as we can easily see for ourselves by going back in time to the Washington Post article “Taxpayers built this New York golf course. Trump reaps the rewards” by Drew Harwell on August 25, 2016, where we have as follows:
At the grand opening last year of the public New York City golf course Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, Donald Trump called for a moment of self-congratulation.
After touching down on the grounds in his Trump helicopter, the businessman and his daughter, Ivanka, teed off for a celebratory first swing.
“I want to thank my family because they put up with me,” Trump told the crowd.
“They say, ‘He’s crazy, he’s got to be crazy.’”
“But we knew we could get it done.”
One important footnote was missing, though: Trump didn’t build the course.
He doesn’t own it, either.
His company manages it for the city, whose taxpayers spent $127 million to sculpt it atop an old Bronx garbage dump.
end quotes
So, is that what AOC is saying?
Or has she intentionally distorted the message?
Reading further on that score, we have:
With the course nearly finished, Trump secured a generous 20-year deal with the city allowing him to keep almost every dollar that flows in.
end quotes
Is that illegal?
Is that unlawful?
And how is that in any way the province of either AOC, or the House Committee on Oversight?
Are they actually telling us that yes, Trump is guilty of something here, although they don’t yet exactly what it might be?
Getting back to the Washington Post article to see what that dishonesty could possibly be, we have:
But it was public money that turned the site, a 192-acre Bronx landfill closed in the ‘60s, into a rolling 18-hole course backdropped by the Manhattan skyline.
Designed by legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus, it sits at the foot of the Whitestone Bridge connecting the Bronx and Trump’s native borough of Queens.
Approved in the late ‘90s, the project slogged through years of legal delays, cost overruns and management fiascoes that led the New York Daily News to label it the “boondoggle in the Bronx.”
end quotes
Hmmmmmmm, people, gee, do you think that that is something somebody who claims to be as smart and up on facts like AOC should be aware of?
Getting back to the real story:
The city axed its agreement with the course’s original developer in 2006, shortly before an auditor said the city had squandered millions in public funds.
end quotes
OH MY GOODNESS, people, before Trump came on board, the city on its own had managed to squander (waste something, especially money or time in a reckless and foolish manner) millions in public funds.
Is AOC somehow trying to pin that squandering on Trump?
Getting back to the Washington Post:
The city took over construction and began looking for companies that could operate the course once it was complete.
To entice bidders to the risky proposition of managing a once-blighted dump, the city sweetened the offer, easing deadlines and allowing for a lucrative revenue-sharing deal.
end quotes
Hey, wait a minute here, people – it was the city offering the lucrative revenue-sharing deal that Trump took advantage of.
How come AOC makes it sound like Trump somehow shook down the city, or took unfair advantage of them?
Oh, right, she is helping to smear Trump, not search for truth.
Getting back to the real story:
In late 2011, the administration of then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced it had chosen Trump over two other candidates and offered him the 20-year contract.
Trump had a well-regarded history as a city contractor, operating two skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park.
end quotes
HUH?
Trump had a well-regarded history as a city contractor?
But that isn’t anywhere in AOC’s narrative.
One wonders why.
Getting back to the Washington Post:
Trump company officials said Bloomberg asked for Trump to bid on the Ferry Point contract, and city leaders admitted then that they were desperate to get the project back on track.
“At this point, I don’t care if it’s Donald Trump, I don’t care if it’s Donald Duck,” City Councilman James Vacca said in 2012.
“This golf course has waited far too long.”
Adrian Benepe, who served as New York’s parks commissioner from 2002 to 2012, said the city had struggled for years to find a company willing and able to handle the job.
Other operators, he said, would have received similarly favorable terms due to the inherent difficulties of running the site.
“People don’t like the terms, but those were the best terms we could negotiate at the time given the circumstances,” Benepe said.
end quotes
So we are seeing here that this AOC really went out of her way to distort the truth and facts in her bid on 27 February 2019 to heap piles of dirt on Trump.
And now, once again, we take a commercial break as we pause for station identification, but don’t go away, because we will be right back with more on this political thriller dubbed DEMOCRAT TALES OF THE EXTREME BIZARRE brought to you by Lanny Davis and the Democrat party of America and the world.
Paul Plante says
And continuing on with AOC’s smear campaign against Trump, where the smear campaign she is waging along with her political allies in the Democrat party under the leadership of Democrat PR Guru Lanny “He’s The Main Man” Davis, is an intentional, premeditated effort to undermine Trump’s reputation, credibility, and character, and where their smear tactics differ from normal discourse or debate in that a smear is a simple attempt to malign an individual with the aim of undermining their credibility, with the smears, as here, often consisting of ad hominem attacks in the form of unverifiable rumors and distortions, half-truths, or even outright lies with the smear campaign in this case being further propagated by gossip magazines such as the Washington Post, her BULL**** line of questioning on 27 February 2019 of the lying, scumbag, ex-lawyer and convicted felon Michael Cohen, who was kicked out of the legal trade in corrupt New York state not for lying but for being incompetent at it and getting caught, continues as follows:
Ocasio-Cortez: Mr. Cohen, I want to ask you about your assertion that the president may improperly devalued his assets to avoid paying taxes.
According to an August 24th — August 21st 2016 report by The Washington Post: ‘While the president claimed in financial disclosure forms that Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, was worth more than 50 million, he had reported otherwise to local tax authorities that the course was worth ‘no more than 5 million’.’
Mr. Cohen, do you know whether this specific report is accurate?
Cohen: It is identical to what he did at Trump National Golf Club at Briarcliff Manor.
Ocasio-Cortez: Do you know — to your knowledge, was the president interested in reducing his local real estate bills, tax bills?
Cohen: Yes.
Ocasio-Cortez: And how do you do that?
Cohen: What you do is you deflate the value of the asset and then you put in a request to the tax department for a deduction.
Ocasio-Cortez: Thank you.
end quotes
Now, seriously, people, how does this juvenile and infantile and plain stupid colloquy between AOC and the lying scumbag Michael Cohen over Trump’s property taxes fit in with anything the United States House of Representatives or its Committee on Oversight, or Bronx congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have oversight responsibility of any kind over?
Is it against the law in the United States of America to wish to lower your property taxes?
Consider the Washington Post article “Taxpayers built this New York golf course. Trump reaps the rewards” by Drew Harwell on August 25, 2016 she quoted from earlier in her testimony, where we have as follows:
Trump has aggressively pushed to reduce the tax bills at his portfolio of sumptuous golf courses, dispatching lawyers to win lower tax valuations for the same clubs he tells election regulators are high-value gems.
end quotes
Uh, okay, so what, BIG ******* DEAL!
And notice those words “dispatching lawyers to win lower tax valuations for the same clubs.”
Is that illegal?
Is that unlawful?
Is that somehow nefarious (wicked or criminal as in “the nefarious activities of the organized-crime syndicates” with synonyms: evil, sinful, iniquitous, villainous, heinous, atrocious, appalling, abhorrent, vile, foul, base, abominable, odious, depraved, corrupt, shameful, scandalous, monstrous, fiendish, diabolical, devilish, unholy, ungodly, infernal, satanic, dark, unspeakable, despicable, outrageous, shocking, or disgraceful)?
Think it over as we take a break for station identification, and when we return after a word from our sponsors, we shall consider that question in more detail which will reveal just how ignorant this AOC really is, that she does not know the answers to her own questions, but instead, has to rely on an equally ignorant goofball failed lawyer to try and find out what any homeowner who pays property taxes in New York knows about the established grievance procedure that any property owner in New York can avail themselves of, since grieving your assessment is not at all against the law as this ignorant AOC is implying here to whip up hatred against Trump as a part of her shameful sedition attempt.
Paul Plante says
And with these ad hominem attacks on Trump on 27 February 2019 in the form of unverifiable rumors and distortions, half-truths, or even outright lies, we are seeing the true genius of Democrat political PR dude Lanny Davis in action.
And incidentally, Lanny’s name just came up in an article in the Washington Examiner entitled “Watchdog releases final batch of Hillary Clinton emails from FBI” by Diana Stancy Correll on 22 March 2019, as follows:
A conservative watchdog group received the final tranche of emails recovered by the FBI from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that were transmitted on her unauthorized, private email system.
On Thursday, Judicial Watch released the final 756 pages of emails that it will get from the years long case.
Thursday’s release reveals classified correspondence between Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2011 regarding Palestinian issues.
Additionally, the emails show a classified conversation between the former secretary of state and longtime Clinton family confidant Lanny Davis, who is now representing President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
In that conversation, Davis offered to serve as a private line of communication between Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
end quotes
Now, how about that as a coincidence, people.
And that in turn takes us back to a Washington Post article entitled “Lanny Davis, the ultimate Clinton loyalist, is now Michael Cohen’s lawyer. But don’t call it revenge.” by Manuel Roig-Franzia on August 23, 2018, where we learn more about the Democrat political genius Lanny Davis, as follows:
His friend, criminal defense lawyer Dan Webb, says that Davis is adept at “dominating reporters,” and right now, he’s dominating the airwaves — splashed across cable news screens on what feels like a continuous loop to weave a sympathetic narrative about his client, Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to President Trump and currently the most dangerous man in America for a scandal-riddled White House.
end quotes
That was 23 August 2018, people, that Lanny Davis was dominating the airwaves, as well as the Washington Post, weaving a sympathetic narrative about his client, Michael Cohen, that the Washington Post and the main-stream media, including MSNBC’s “Lying Brian” Williams bought hook, line and sinker, which then brought us to THE BIG SHOW on 27 February 2019.
Getting back to the 2018 Washington Post article:
For Davis, the whole mess represents an only-in-Washington opportunity.
For much of his adult life, he has fashioned himself as a Clinton warrior, serving as White House counsel during Bill’s early crises and as a surrogate for Hillary’s presidential campaigns.
In February, Hillary Clinton attended a party celebrating the release of Davis’s book “The Unmaking of the President 2016: How FBI Director James Comey Cost Hillary Clinton the Presidency.”
Now he has been handed a chance to help vanquish the man who defeated her in 2016, the man who led his rally crowds to chant “lock her up.”
end quotes
Ah, yes, people – REVENGE!
And now, for a word from our sponsors.
Paul Plante says
And as we pause here to consider where we now are in this MICHAEL COHEN SAGA as produced, scripted, casted and directed by a man described in a 2018 Washington Post article as someone who for much of his adult life has fashioned himself as a Clinton warrior, serving as White House counsel during Bill’s early crises and as a surrogate for Hillary’s presidential campaigns and who had then been handed a chance by hooking up with the convicted liar and felon and real stupid and incompetent ex-lawyer Michael Cohen to help vanquish the man who defeated her in 2016, the man who led his rally crowds to chant “lock her up,” Democrat PR Guru Lanny Davis, this in the light of the specious charges of Democratic Socialist superstar, media darling and TWITTER QUEEN congresswoman from Queens Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that Trump is cheating the public on his taxes associated with his golf courses, what I would like to do is go back over the record to bring us back up to date again with a more clear idea of how we got to here on what has been a very convoluted and ever-changing path.
Let’s go back to that Washington Post article “Lanny Davis, the ultimate Clinton loyalist, is now Michael Cohen’s lawyer. But don’t call it revenge.” by Manuel Roig-Franzia on August 23, 2018, where we have as follows, to wit:
Davis, the relentless networker, deploys a soft touch, courting and confiding in reporters behind the scenes.
On his whirlwind jaunt through the corridors of Fox, CNN and MSNBC on Wednesday, Davis — the father of sportscaster Seth Davis — stopped again and again to schmooze reporters and producers.
end quotes
Now, that is a critical factor here, people, the ability Lanny Davis has to mold and shape the media coverage of his MICHAEL COHEN EXTRAVAGANZA on 27 February 2019, which is taking on the look of a treasonous event, given that it was performed on the exact same day that Trump was engaged in peace talks with Kim in Viet Nam for the purpose of making Trump look weak and a chump to embarrass Trump in the eyes of the world, and by extension, the North Koreans who aren’t so foolish as to make a deal with a man too weak to be in charge of his own country.
As to treason, google “did Nixon commit treason” and what you get back are as follows:
POLITICO – When a Candidate Conspired With a Foreign Power to Win An Election
THE NEW YORK TIMES – Opinion | Nixon’s Vietnam Treachery
REAL CLEAR HISTORY – Did Nixon Commit Treason on Vietnam?
QUORA – Did Nixon commit treason? – Quora
BALTIMORE SUN – Did Nixon commit treason?
end quotes
If Nixon committed treason back then, then today, everybody associated with the MICHAEL COHEN FARCE on 27 February 2019 needs to be investigated for treason for scuttling that peace conference on 27 February 2019 in Viet Nam, and that would include Brian Williams of MSNBC who opened his show on 27 February 2019 as follows:
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC HOST: The breaking news tonight, Michael Cohen’s violent break with his friend and former boss.
His day long televised takedown of the President, including some moments that will be replayed for years.
And on the other side of the world in Hanoi tonight our American President arm in arm with the North Korean dictator and word emerging from their meeting that the U.S. won`t demand North Korea disclose its nukes and missiles.
end quotes
Yea, Michael Cohen a real, true, died-in-the-wool red-white-and-blue American patriot!
BOO, Donald Trunp!
Then, mid-way through his program, we had this:
WILLIAMS: And later, today`s other major story from the other side of the world.
We`ll have the latest on this U.S.-North Korea summit going on now.
The two men have just faced cameras.
One of our colleagues is on the ground standing by.
end quotes
Clearly, as far as Brian Williams of MSNBC was concerned, the HUGE NEWS on 27 February 2019 was all the lies Michael Cohen got to tell the Democrats on 27 February 2019, while Trump in Viet Nam was just ho-hum, given that Trump was going to be impeached and removed from office for collusion with the Russians and all that, which takes us back to this segment from his MSNBC show on 27 February 2019 as follows:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: I am humbled.
I am thankful to Chairman Cummings for giving me the opportunity today to tell my truth.
REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS, (D) MARYLAND OVERSIGHT CMTE: I believe he told the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And there we have it, people, if Democrat Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings believed the lying scumbag felon Michael Cohen was telling the truth, about anything, then good-bye Trump, he has to be lying, and that is good enough to get him impeached in the minds of the Democrat base, anyway, so good-bye deal in Viet Nam with North Korea, which takes us back to the Brian William’s show on 27 February 2019 as follows:
WILLIAMS: And coming up, we turn our attention, let`s not forget, back to this day`s other dramatic and somewhat made for TV event.
It is taking place right now in Vietnam.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Twelve hours difference between the east coast of the United states and Hanoi, Vietnam.
So 11:51 Eastern Time right now.
Coming up on noon local where Trump is well into his second summit with Kim Jong-un.
For more, we want to bring in Jonathan Allen, our NBC News national political reporter who joins us tonight from Hanoi.
We also want to welcome to the broadcast Elise Hu, correspondent for NPR and former NPR bureau chief for the Koreas and Japan.
John, I`d like to begin with you.
Set the scene.
What does it feel like there?
And are reports correct that the press corps kind of settled into some chairs for an alcoholic beverage last night?
Somebody spotted the White House chief of staff and the hearings had already started on the TV over the bar.
JONATHAN ALLEN, NBC NEWS NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: I mean, it`s almost impossible, Brian, not to notice that the major world event going on right now is not a nuclear summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, the North Korean dictator, but, rather, the Michael Cohen hearing that was going on earlier today in Washington.
Everybody was paying attention to it.
Obviously, Donald Trump was paying attention to it.
He tweeted about it after the hearing.
There`s really no two ways about it.
end quotes
So, if we needed any proof whatsoever that this Michael Cohen hearing was very much the bif news in Viet Nam the same day the Trump-Kin Summit got scuttled, there it is, right before our eyes from people who were there in Viet Nam to witness it, which takes us back to Brian Williams as follows:
WILLIAMS: Hey, John, I have to ask you, I watched some Fox News here in the states tonight, wrote down two of the headlines on screen.
Number one, Trump talks peace abroad while Democrats focus on Cohen saga, number two, Democrats` war on the American dream.
They`re giving heavy air cover to the Trump forces here in the states.
Does this – are you getting that same message from the traveling White House?
ALLEN: Not at all, Brian.
The White House`s message so far here has been that the President is 100% ready to negotiate with Kim, focused on this summit.
There is some acknowledgement, of course, that the Cohen saga is going on back in Washington, D.C., but the idea is that at the White House that the President`s able to keep his mind on Kim Jong-un and not on Michael Cohen.
They`re trying to play down the effect that this would have on the President.
end quotes
And there we have it, people – did the Democrats intend all along to destroy Trump’s chances of a peace deal with North Korea for partisan political purposes going into 2020?
If they did, is that treason?
Stay tuned, for more is yet to come in this on-going saga, and now, a message from our sponsors.
Paul Plante says
Getting back to the transcript for the “Lying Brian” Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019, where we had “Lying Brian” himself saying, “Hey, John, I have to ask you, I watched some Fox News here in the states tonight, they’re giving heavy air cover to the Trump forces here in the states,” two things come across loud and clear, one of which is the clear “anti-Trump” bias of Brian Williams and MSNBC, and the other being the “TRUMP IS AN IMPOSTER AND USURPER” narrative which underlies this whole farce, which has Hillary Clinton as the rightful ruler of America, our QUEEN IN EXILE, with Lanny Davis as her Minister of State, her personal Talleyrand in Washington to manage her political affairs for her there.
And that takes us back to the Washington Post article “Lanny Davis, the ultimate Clinton loyalist, is now Michael Cohen’s lawyer. But don’t call it revenge.” by Manuel Roig-Franzia on August 23, 2018, where we have as follows, to wit:
When Davis took on Cohen as a client, their first order of business was arranging the particulars for a blockbuster interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
They toyed with doing it on Independence Day to signal what an act of independence it was for Cohen.
Ultimately, they concluded the idea was “tacky”; the ABC piece popped July 2.
end quotes
There we can see just how long this 27 FEBRUARY 2019 GIGUNDO BLOCKBUSTER EXTRAVAGANZA MICHAEL COHEN HEARING before the Cumming’s Committee on Presidential Inquisition starring America’s best-loved Democratic Socialist superstar and TWITTER QUEEN Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been in the making, and it is only a dude like Lanny Davis who could have pulled it off, which takes us back to the Washington Post article as follows:
Davis says they made the unusual decision to not have Cohen appear on camera because he hadn’t yet had time to prep Cohen on the dos and don’ts of television.
end quotes
Now, here, people, we are getting a very rare behind-the-scenes look at how a Master PR Guru like Lanny Davis works, so we can appreciate the sheer brain power his mind brings to very important but often overlooked details like that – when to keep your client away from the TV cameras because he hadn’t yet had time to prep Cohen on the dos and don’ts of television, which again takes us back to the Washington Post, to wit:
Still, the written story about the interview — which appeared on ABC’s website along with a photo of Cohen talking to Stephanopoulos — sent shock waves.
It established that Cohen was willing to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia interference probe and with New York prosecutors looking into other Trump matters.
end quotes
NEVER, NEVER, NEVER give them the excitement all at once, people – you have to dole it out in dribs and drabs like Lanny is so expertly doing there, or you are going to lose the audience to channel-surfing to see what is up with the Kardashians, especially poor Khloe after that business with Tristan, and Jordyn Woods, who may well be getting a bad rap here she says she doesn’t deserve, and Kendall Jenner.
And then the Washington Post gives this background on who Lanny really is, as follows:
Davis is an attorney, but in the Cohen case, he focuses on massaging the media and leaves the courtroom activities to the taciturn Petrillo.
It’s a business model that allows Davis to claim attorney-client privilege, unlike public relations flacks who aren’t lawyers.
“That’s a major benefit,” says Webb, who has teamed with Davis to represent Dmytro Firtash, a Ukrainian oligarch who is fighting attempts to extradite him to the United States on bribery charges.
Davis says he sees himself as a bridge between lawyers who are hard-wired not to disclose information and reporters who demand it.
end quotes
Yes, indeed, our Lanny is THE MAN, which again takes us back to the Washington Post:
But Davis is best known for his longtime relationship with the Clintons.
He’s been friends with Hillary Clinton since his days at Yale Law.
Mike McCurry, the White House press secretary under Bill Clinton, says Davis was brought on to handle the “BL scandals” — Before Lewinsky.
Davis gleefully recounts how he strategically leaked stories about Clinton rewarding big campaign donors with overnight stays in the Lincoln Bedroom; by the time Congress got around to holding hearings, the media had wearied of the story line, he says.
end quotes
Yes, people, a rare look at the behind-the-scenes life of a real, honest-to-goodness Clinton FIXER.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming after a break for station identification, but don’t change that dial, because this breaking story is far from over, so stay tuned to this same station for further updates as they happen.
Paul Plante says
And as we consider the stupid BULL**** questions Democratic Socialist SUPERSTAR, media darling and TWITTER QUEEN Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who in January introduced her GREEN NEW DEAL by saying, “We’re like, the world is going to end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change, and, like, this is the war; this is our World War II,” and who last week ratcheted up the rhetoric saying “And it does lead young people to have a legitimate question: Is it OK to still have children” (yes, speaking as a grandfather, of course it is still OK to have children) was asking the lying, scumbag ex-lawyer and convicted felon and Democrat PATRIOT OF THE YEAR Michael Cohen on 27 February 2019 about the taxable value of Trump’s golf courses versus what Trump thinks he could sell them for, let’s go back to the transcript of the Brian Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019, and let’s focus in on this excerpt of Michael Cohen speaking taken from a hearing clip that “Lying Brian” played for us and the candid world, including the North Koreans on his show that night, to wit:
COHEN: I am humbled.
I am thankful to Chairman Cummings for giving me the opportunity today to tell my truth.
end quotes
Now, notice the exact words that Cohen is using there: “the opportunity today to tell MY truth.”
That is opposed to “tell THE truth,” and when Michael Cohen says “tell my truth,” his “truth” is that of a convicted liar and real stupid ex-lawyer who knows nothing about how golf courses are assessed for taxable purposes, nor does the world’s most stupid lawyer seem to know or realize that a real lawyer named Jacquelyn Mascetti had posted on on-line paper on that very subject entitled “New York Golf Course Valuation” on August 03, 2017, wherein was stated as follows, to wit:
The valuation, assessment and taxation of golf courses has been headline news lately due in part to the publicity surrounding any and all real property owned by United States President Donald Trump.
end quotes
Ah, let’s see here, people, ah, yes, August 3, 2017 was long before Michael Cohen’s stupid testimony on this subject to the formidable AOC on 27 February 2019, so it is not at all a new issue, and that makes one wonder why this Cummings Committee and AOC did not know this.
Getting back to that paper:
For example, in May, New York State Assemblywoman Sandy Galef (D-Ossining), announced her plan to introduce legislation that would change the methodology used to value golf courses.
end quotes
WOW, people, look at that – in the civilized world which AOC seems to know nothing about, along with Michael Cohen, there is actually a METHODOLOGY already in place by which golf courses, of which there are a multitude, can be assessed for taxable value!
Who’d a thought it?
Getting back to that paper:
The legislation is intended as a response to tax assessment filings, including property in her district — Trump National Golf Club.
Residents of her district believe the pro-forma demand for a 90% reduction in the assessment for Trump National Golf Club will lead to cuts in services and higher taxes for all other residents.
The potential legislation has included a proposed methodology that focuses on the gross revenues generated by the business operations of the golf course.
Although no details are yet available concerning the proposed legislation and methodologies, there are serious flaws in the basis for the proposal, which will be addressed below.
end quotes
Now, with all the HOT-SHOT lawyers on that Cummings Committee, starting with “The Prophet” himself, you would think at least one of them would be aware of this, along with AOC, who as a congresswoman should know what is going on in her district, but obviously not, which takes us back to that legal analysis, as follows:
First, New York State Law requires that only real property be valued for assessment and tax purposes.
Pursuant to New York Real Property Tax Law section 300:
“All real property within the state shall be subject to real property taxation, special ad valorem levies and special assessments unless exempt therefrom by law.”
“Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any other general, special or local law to the contrary, personal property, whether tangible or intangible, shall not be liable to ad valorem taxation.”
end quotes
So, we can clearly see here that if Democratic Socialist superstar, media darling and TWITTER QUEEN Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had bothered to get off her dead *** and actually do some basic research here, given that she is a “law-maker,” she would have known that there are already laws in place governing how golf courses are assessed for taxable purposes, so she would not have had to rely on the testimony of a goofball like Michael Cohen on 27 February 2019.
Getting back to that paper:
In New York, the income approach method of valuation has been sanctioned by courts across the state.
This methodology involves establishing a real estate rental income for the real property alone and capitalizing that rental income to determine the fair market value of the property for assessment and tax purposes.
For more detailed discussions on the methodology, please see Hempstead Country Club v. Bd. of Assessors, 112 A.D.3d 123 (2d Dep’t 2013) and Hampshire Recreation, LLC v. Bd. of Assessors, 137 A.D.3d 1029 (2d Dep’t 2016), leave to appeal denied, 28 N.Y.3d 908 (2016).
Assemblywoman Galef’s potential proposal presents a conflict with the current law and may also violate the New York State Constitution[1] on valuation of real property.
If the proposed methodology focuses on the revenues generated from the business operations of the course and not the real estate alone, the legislation will be in direct conflict with the statute explicitly regulating assessment and taxation to real property.
If real property is to be assessed and taxed on the value of the business operating on it, this would throw the assessment and taxation process into chaos.
Failing businesses (or golf courses in this instance) would result in lower assessments and lower tax revenue, and lead to the conclusion that the real estate is less valuable.
This is illogical.
Simply because a business is not operating profitably does not automatically mean that the value of the real estate decreases.
If this applies to golf courses, it similarly should apply to all businesses.
Second, a demand for a 90% reduction is an industry standard used to protect the interests of the property owner against any facts unknown at the time of filing that could affect the value of the property at the time of valuation.
For example, such unknowns could be damage or environmental contamination that the property owner is not aware of at the time, but is inherent in the property as of the taxable status dates.
According New York Real Property Tax Law section 720(1)(b) and a plethora of appellate division cases, including the Fourth Department’s decision in Radisson Cmty. Ass’n v. Long, 3 A.D.3d 135 (4th Dep’t 2003), a taxpayer may not seek a reduction in tax assessment below that requested in its administrative complaint.
The process was changed after the Court of Appeals overruled decades of case law that prohibited a petitioner from retroactively conforming the petition to the proof with the court’s permission.
The Legislature rejected this change and amended Real Property Tax Law § 720 to bar the reduction of assessments to an amount less than that requested by the petitioner in its petition or amended petition.
See N.Y. Real Prop. Tax Law § 720 (McKinney).
This statute has also been interpreted to limit any reduction to the amount requested in the complaint before the board of assessment review. Radisson Cmty. Ass’n, Inc., 3 A.D.3d at 139.
The demand for reduction is to preserve the right to reduce the assessment to the amount proved.
The amount of the demand in the administrative grievance and/or in the judicial petition is rarely, if ever, the value and assessment that are agreed upon in settlement or determined at trial.
Moreover, the income approach methodology presently utilized by golf course valuation experts and adopted by the courts may not result in such a drastic reduction as requested in the grievance or petition.
According to the New York State Court of Appeals, “(t)he ultimate purpose of valuation, whether in eminent domain or tax certiorari proceedings, is to arrive at a fair and realistic value of the property involved so that all property owners contribute equitably to the public fisc.”
“Any fair and nondiscriminating method that will achieve that result is acceptable.” Allied Corp. v. Town of Camillus, 80 N.Y.2d 351, 356 (1992) (emphasis added) (internal citations omitted).
The potential proposed litigation flies in the face of New York statutes requiring that only real property be assessed and taxed and would result in a disproportionate contribution to the public fisc.
[1] See e.g. N.Y. Const. art. XVI, § 2 (“Assessments shall in no case exceed full value.”); N.Y. Const. art. I, § 6 (“No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”); N.Y. Const. art. I, § 11(“No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws of this state or any subdivision thereof.”).
end quotes
There you go, Congresswoman AOC, there is what you need to know concerning the assessment of Donald Trump’s golf courses.
When next we return, we will have yet another stupid question from AOC so don’t change that dial and we will be right back
Paul Plante says
And a major-league takeaway from this above legal analysis makes it incandescently clear that the assessment of any property Trump owns in New York state, including golf courses, is governed by the New York State Constitution and laws, not the Constitution or laws of the United States of America, and thus, the House Oversight Committee of inner-city Baltimore Democrat congressman Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings had absolutely no oversight responsibility whatsoever over the subject on 27 February 2019, or any other day, for that matter, and yet, they went there anyway, for no other purpose than to embarrass and belittle Donald Trump and make him look small and weak and powerless in the country he is president of at the same time he was conducting peace talks every bit as vital to our national security as Reagan seeking rapport with Gorbachev of Russia or Nixon with China with Kim of North Korea in Hanoi, Viet Nam, a meeting “Lying Brian” Williams of MSNBC dismissed with contempt as unimportant on his show later that evening, saying “And on the other side of the world in Hanoi tonight our American President arm in arm with the North Korean dictator.”
Talk about congressional overreach, people, there it is in spades, right before our eyes.
What next will Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings have his oversight committee starring AOC sticking its long, pointy nose into – how Trump arranges his underwear drawer?
And that takes us back to the last stupid BULL**** question AOC asked the convicted felon and Democrat AMERICAN PATRIOT OF THE YEAR Michael Cohen, who we all should be shedding tears over according to the Democrats, because Trump ruined his life for him, which was as follows:
Ocasio-Cortez: Now on October 2018, the New York Times revealed that ‘President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.’
It further stated for Mr. Trump: ‘He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing his tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings.’
Mr. Cohen, do you know whether that specific report is accurate?”
Cohen: I don’t.
I wasn’t there in the 1990s.
end quotes
HUH?
The 1990s?
Are you kidding me here?
The House Committee of Oversight now has the authority when conducting its inquisitions to go back in someone’s life over twenty years, before they were president, to dig around for bits of trash with which to impeach them in 2019?
That’s horse****, plain and simple, which takes us back to the AOC/Cohen colloquy as follows:
Ocasio-Cortez: Who would know the answer to those questions?
Cohen: Allen Weisselberg.
Ocasio-Cortez: And would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?
Cohen: I believe so.
Ocasio-Cortez: Thank you very much.
I yield the rest of my time to the chair.
end quotes
Now, was that simply stupid?
Or what?
And that takes us back to the Washington Post article entitled “5 key takeaways from the Michael Cohen hearing” by Aaron Blake on 28 February 2019, and the praise heaped on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for this above questioning of Cohen as follows:
One of the sad truths about these hearings is that, even for the members who are there to elicit information (rather than grandstand), most of them aren’t very good at it.
And that’s especially the case when you only have five minutes to get something out of a witness.
Enter the chamber’s much-discussed youngest new member, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
The 29-year old’s questioning was low-key, but it actually unearthed new information.
She followed up on others’ questions (a novel concept!) about topics including the ways in which Trump’s inflation of his wealth could be criminal.
Simple but effective.
She also got Cohen to name people who might know about a potential treasure trove of information about stories the National Enquirer’s parent company bought the rights to kill them to help Trump.
And she laid a predicate for House Democrats to try to get Trump’s tax returns, by asking Cohen whether they would be helpful when it comes to him inflating his assets.
Cohen said they would be, and that they could be found at the Trump Organization.
All of this could turn out to be useful for Democrats moving forward.
end quotes
Which proves that you can be as dumb as a box of rocks and still get a job with the Washington Post as a news reporter!
And the Washington Post was not alone in heaping mounds of praise on AOC for that questioning of Cohen, as we can clearly see from the Marketwatch article “Cohen reveals new probe of Trump by prosecutors — and 6 other takeaways from his testimony” by Victor Reklaitis published Feb. 28, 2019, as follows:
Under questioning from influential New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cohen said Trump committed insurance fraud.
That alleged fraud had to do with Trump providing inflated statements of assets to insurance companies.
Cohen also said Trump didn’t want to release his tax returns because he didn’t want experts at think tanks ripping into his returns and bringing about audits.
Cohen also said he presumes Trump is not under audit.
end quotes
Except there was no evidence of insurance fraud, at all.
And still the praise for the prowess of AOC as a leading lady or star actress in her own right, presuming she has the right script to follow, of course, continues to roll in as we see from the CBS News article “Democratic rep presses Cohen on Trump’s tax returns” on 28 February 2019, to wit:
President Trump’s former personal attorney and fixer Michael Cohen had harsh words for his former employer during public testimony before a House congressional panel Wednesday.
“He is a racist.”
“He is a con man.”
“He is a cheat,” Cohen, testifying before the House Oversight Committee, said in his opening statement about Mr. Trump.
Cohen’s testimony comes as Washington prepares for a final report from special counsel Robert Mueller’s nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in U.S. elections and possible coordination between Trump campaign associates and the Russian government.
Progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democrat, asked Cohen if he was aware of Mr. Trump deflating the value of one of his golf courses in Florida to try to reduce his tax bills.
“It’s identical to what he did at Trump National Golf Club and at Briarcliff Manor,” Cohen replied.
end quotes
Note the label that CBS News has attached to her, “progressive firebrand,” as proof of her status as a rising star, yea, even a shooting star, in the world of television politics, and that takes us to this gushing praise from the POLITIFACT article “In context: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questions Michael Cohen during the House Oversight Committee” by Angie Drobnic Holan on Thursday, February 28th, 2019, to wit:
Now that Democrats control the U.S. House of Representatives, they’re using their power to conduct oversight hearings on President Donald Trump.
On Feb. 27, 2019, Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen testified before the committee.
In his opening statement, Cohen called Trump a racist, a con man and a cheat, but he also admitted he had lied to Congress previously, making his track record for veracity questionable.
In recent years, members of Congress have been criticized for grandstanding during hearings instead of eliciting new information.
After Cohen’s hearing, one of the newest Democrats was widely praised for using her time ask pointed questions about Trump’s financial statements: freshman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
end quotes
And there we have it, people – at least for the moment.
But don’t go away, because this story of political revenge against a sitting American president is not quite over, so please, stay tuned.
Paul Plante says
And truly, people, never in my lifetime have I been witness to such genius as Lanny Davis displayed here in this 27 February 2019 MICHAEL COHEN MEDIA EXTRAVAGANZA, which was truly the most professional SMEAR JOB of a sitting American president that we have had in all 229 years of this nation’s history as a federal republic, and that is truly saying something!
Now, keeping in mind that we are talking about a professional HATE CAMPAIGN here, where the dictionary definition of a hate campaign is a series of actions which are intended to harm or upset someone, or to make other people have a low opinion of them, as in “The media and Democrats have waged a virulent hate campaign against Trump,” as we could see in the above colloquy between AOC and Michael Cohen, a key element of a professional HATE CAMPAIGN such as this 27 February 2019 is denying the accused a chance to confront his accuser, in this case by waging the HATE CAMPAIGN on national TV on the same day Trump was thousands of miles away in a peace conference with Kim of North Korea in Hanoi, Viet Nam.
Way to go, Lanny, dude, you da man!
Another key element of a professional HATE CAMPAIGN such as this 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen Hearing is insuring that the accuser cannot be cross-examined, which brings me back to this above colloquy between AOC, as follows:
Ocasio-Cortez: Now on October 2018, the New York Times revealed that ‘President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents.’
It further stated for Mr. Trump: ‘He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing his tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings.’
Mr. Cohen, do you know whether that specific report is accurate?”
Cohen: I don’t.
I wasn’t there in the 1990s.
Ocasio-Cortez: Who would know the answer to those questions?
Cohen: Allen Weisselberg.
Ocasio-Cortez: And would it help for the committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address that discrepancy?
Cohen: I believe so.
Ocasio-Cortez: Thank you very much.
end quotes
And there my cross-examination of Michael Cohen would begin as follows: Mr. Cohen, you just answered a direct question from congresswoman AOC by saying that you in your capacity as a former Trump general counsel and all-around legal fixer believe that it would help for the House Oversight Committee to obtain federal and state tax returns from the president and his company to address “that discrepancy.”
Could you be more exact, Mr. Cohen, and tell us exactly what “discrepancy” you are referring to there?
Congresswoman AOC asked you, Mr. Cohen as to whether or not you had knowledge that a report in the October 2018 New York Times allegedly revealing that ‘President Trump participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents, and further stating for Mr. Trump: “He also helped formulate a strategy to undervalue his parents’ real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars on tax returns, sharply reducing his tax bill when those properties were transferred to him and his siblings,” and you answered that you don’t have such knowledge that the report is true because you were not there in the 1990s.
Is that a true answer, Mr. Cohen?
If so, then exactly what discrepancy are you talking about that the House Oversight Committee can find information about by conducting an obvious fishing expedition through the federal and state tax returns of the president and his company?
And actually, I still would like to know.
What impeachable offense of a sitting American president in 2019 does the House Oversight Committee expect to find by conducting a fishing expedition through Trump’s tax records from the 1990’s?
And where do they get such oversight authority from in the first place, besides from straight out of their *****?
Stay tuned, more yet to come.
Paul Plante says
And getting down to the end of our takeaways from the 27 February 2019 Michael Cohen Hearing, which was nothing more than a childish, immature farce put on by the rabid Democrats who both want and need to continue the narrative that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are best friends, and that’s the reason that he won, because Hillary Clinton would have never lost on her own; it had to be someone else’s fault, to demonize (portray as wicked and threatening, as in “Trump was demonized by the Democrats and press”) in the minds of the American people, and the world the duly-elected president of the United States, which is a virulent form of sedition that the Democrats should now be held accountable for, we first need to go back to the “Lying Brian” Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019, after the farce before the House Committee on Presidential Inquisition, known as the Oversight Committee under Democrat Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, a lawyer, where he had as a guest Barbara McQuade, an alleged veteran federal prosecutor and former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, which means she is a “political,” as follows:
BARBARA MCQUADE, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY: I thought some of the things Michael Cohen said did add strength to a couple of things, both the Russian interference case as well as obstruction of justice.
end quotes
That was 27 February that she was saying she thought that the testimony of the lying, goofball ex-lawyer and Democrat PATRIOT OF THE YEAR Michael Cohen “added strength” to the supposed “Russian interference” case, and now, as I write this on 1 April 2019, we know that the “collusion” charge was pure bull****, which is what we have learned to expect from the Democrats in this country.
But following her further along, we have:
With regard to that phone call from Stone, you know, Michael Cohen’s testimony alone is not going to make a case but it can be one small piece of a larger body of evidence.
And the one key factor he was able to provide today was a link between Roger Stone and his activity with WikiLeaks and President Trump’s knowledge of it.
And so in that way there is also already an alleged conspiracy with the 12 Russian intelligence officers for hacking, stealing, and this is the important part, staging the release of e-mails of the DNC.
And so if President Trump participated in that last piece of releasing the e-mails, staging that release, timing it to coincide with important events in his campaign or coordinating the messaging around that release he could be a participant in that conspiracy.
That’s the conspiracy to defraud the United States by interfering with the fair administration of elections.
So I thought Michael Cohen advanced the ball on that count.
end quotes
And there is where I am going to pause for the moment – with that charge that Trump was involved in a conspiracy to defraud the United States by interfering with the fair administration of elections which is actually the subject of a legal analysis by the so-called United States Depart of Justice entitled “Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses, Seventh Edition” on May 2007 written by: Craig C. Donsanto, Director, Election Crimes Branch, Public Integrity Section, and Nancy L. Simmons, Senior Counsel for Policy Public Integrity Section, where we have the following, to wit:
B. TYPES OF ELECTION CRIMES
1. Election Fraud
Election fraud usually involves corruption of one of three processes: the obtaining and marking of ballots, the counting and certification of election results, or the registration of voters.
Election fraud is generally not common when one party or one faction of a party dominates the political landscape.
Rather, the conditions most conducive to election fraud are close factional competition within an electoral jurisdiction for an elected position that matters.
Thus, in a jurisdiction when one party is dominant, election fraud may nevertheless occur during the primary season, as various party factions vie for power.
Most election fraud aims at ensuring that important elected positions are occupied by “friendly” candidates.
It occurs most often when the financial stakes involved in who controls public offices are great – as is often the case when patronage positions are a major source of employment, or when illicit activities are being conducted that require protection from official scrutiny.
As noted, election crimes will typically coincide with other types of corruption.
2. Patronage Crimes
Patronage is a term used to describe the doctrine of “to the victor go the spoils.”
The Supreme Court has held that the firing, based on partisan considerations, of public employees who occupy non-confidential and non-policymaking positions violates the First Amendment.
Moreover, an aggressive and pervasive patronage system can provide a fertile breeding ground for other forms of corruption.
It is therefore important to root out aggravated patronage abuses wherever they occur.
Patronage crimes are most prevalent when one political faction or party dominates the political landscape but is also required to defend its position of power against a credible opposition.
Patronage crimes are also common in jurisdictions where other forms of public corruption are prevalent and tolerated by the body politic.
3. Campaign Financing Crimes
The federal campaign financing laws are embodied within the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), 2 U.S.C. §§ 431-455, as amended, most significantly in 1974, 1976, 1979, and 2002.
The 2002 Amendments to FECA were contained in a far-reaching piece of legislation called the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) (popularly known as the McCain-Feingold bill after its main Senate sponsors), most of which became effective on November 6, 2002.
As amended by BCRA, FECA applies to virtually all financial transactions that impact upon, directly or indirectly, the election of candidates for federal office, that is, candidates for President or Vice President or for the United States Senate or House of Representatives.
Also as amended by BCRA, FECA now reaches a wide range of communications aimed at influencing the public with respect to issues that are closely identified with federal candidates, referred to in the law as “electioneering communications.”
FECA contains its own criminal sanctions, which in turn provide that, to be a crime, a FECA violation must have been committed knowingly and willfully and, except for campaign misrepresentations and certain coerced contributions, must have involved at least $2,000 in a calendar year. 2 U.S.C. § 437g(d).
Prior to BCRA, all FECA crimes were one-year misdemeanors.
However, for FECA crimes that occur on or after November 6, 2002 (when BCRA took effect), those aggregating $25,000 or more are five-year felonies, and those that involve illegal conduit contributions and aggregate over $10,000 are two-year felonies. 2 U.S.C. §§ 437g(d)(1)(A), (D).
Moreover, all criminal violations of FECA that occur after January 25, 2003, are subject to a new sentencing guideline, U.S. Sentencing Guideline § 2C1.8, that the United States Sentencing Commission promulgated in response to a specific BCRA directive.
FECA violations that either: (1) do not present knowing and willful violations, e.g., those resulting from negligence or mistake on the part of the offender as to what the law required or forbade, or (2) involve sums below the statutory minimums for criminal prosecution, are handled noncriminally by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) under the statute’s civil enforcement provisions. 2 U.S.C. § 437g(a).
Finally, FECA violations that result in false information being provided to the FEC may present violations of 18 U.S.C. § 371 (conspiracy to disrupt and impede a federal agency), 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (false statements within the jurisdiction of a federal agency), or 18 U.S.C. § 1505 (obstruction of agency proceedings).
4. Civil Rights Crimes
Schemes to deprive minorities of the right to vote are federal crimes under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended. 42 U.S.C. § 1973j.
Discrimination based on a potential voter’s race, or on ethnic factors or minority language, may also be redressed under such criminal statutes as 18 U.S.C. §§ 241 and 242.
These prosecutions are handled by Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division.
In addition to civil rights crimes, federal law provides noncriminal remedies for any conduct that diminishes an individual’s voting rights based on racial, ethnic, or language minority factors.
These civil remedies are incorporated within the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and other civil rights laws, and they are enforced by the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division.
end quotes
So thanks to the Cape Charles Mirror, there we have some vital background information that we will not get from the Washington Post to counter all this bull**** we have been getting fed by the rabid Democrats since Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump in November of 2016.
Now, the question is, did Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama violate any of those provisions when they ran for president, and more importantly, will all the Democrat contenders in the 2020 race comply with those provisions.
In the meantime, please stay tuned for further development of that subject of alleged election fraud that Trump was being charged with by the Democrats on 27 February 2019.
Paul Plante says
Now, people, an important question arises here, to wit: is that colloquy above here from the “Lying Brian” Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019 after the GONZO MICHAEL COHEN EXTRAVAGANZA in Washington. D.C. that day, featuring Barbara L. McQuade, a former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan who received her A.B. degree in 1987 from the University of Michigan and her J.D. degree in 1991 from the University of Michigan Law School, and who before joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office practiced law at the firm of Butzel Long in Detroit, and who was then appointed by President Barack Obama and started her term as U.S. Attorney on January 4, 2010. and who upon request of President Trump stepped down in March 2017 who is currently a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, and a “legal analyst” for NBC News and MSNBC, an American pay television network that provides news coverage and political commentary from NBC News on current events, FAKE NEWS, where fake news or junk news or pseudo-news is defined as a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media?
As an older American with more traditional American values of fair play, I would certainly say it was, but I am sure that MSNBC would counter and say it’s not fake news because Brian Williams isn’t news at all, he is entertainment, and so he is under no burden to provide either truth or fact, merely opinions, and that takes us back to FAKE NEWS on Wikipedia, as follows:
The false information is often caused by reporters paying sources for stories, an unethical practice called checkbook journalism.
Digital news has brought back and increased the usage of fake news, or yellow journalism.
The news is then often reverberated as misinformation in social media but occasionally finds its way to the mainstream media as well.
end quotes
And that takes us to a DEADLINE DETROIT article entitled “Barbara McQuade ‘Has Become Something Of A Celebrity’ Explaining Trump Inquiries” by Alan Stamm on November 15, 2017, as follows:
Barbara McQuade, a federal prosecutor in Detroit for 19 years, now harnesses her expertise to teach future lawyers in Ann Arbor and to “help the public understand what’s happening in the news.”
That’s how she describes her legal analyst role for MSNBC, clarifying the twists and turns of a presidency under multiple investigations.
end quotes
But is she really doing that, people, clarifying the twists and turns of a presidency under multiple investigations, in the light of the findings of the Mueller Report which contradict the position she took on 27 February 2019 on the Brian Williams Show as a “legal analyst,” more like TV BULL**** QUEEN, that the testimony of the convicted liar and BUMBLING GOOFBALL Michael Cohen advanced a case of collusion against Trump, which was plain wrong, and BULL**** to boot.
Or is she the one adding twists and turns, as she seeks revenge against Trump for asking her to step down?
Getting back to that article:
Fast-forward to her new high-profile sidelight as a regular guest on “The Rachel Maddow Show,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and other MSNBC public affairs programs.
“I don’t have any political spin here,” McQuade tells Friedman.
end quotes
Really Babs, that is quite droll after your political spin on 27 February 2019 on the Brian Williams Show, which takes us back to this from that article, to wit:
“I don’t have personal opinions to share.”
“If I can help explain what’s happening so the public understands it better, then that’s what I’d like to do.”
end quotes
Maybe in her mind somewhere that is something she would like to do, but that is not what she was doing that night on the Brian Williams Show – to the contrary, that was pure personal opinion, and it was wrong, which takes us back to the article as follows:.
The blogger, a former WDIV news producer (1996-98), describes her on-air function:
She exchanges emails with producers based on news headlines so they can see how she might fit into coverage.
“They’re not telling me what to say, they’re just telling me the topic.”
“I can help the public understand what’s happening in the news.”
McQuade is essentially an analyst on call.
She can easily get from her home when needed to one of two studios in Ann Arbor or, if more convenient, one in downtown Detroit or in the Detroit suburbs.
She has become something of a celebrity lately.
Her students and their parents tell her they enjoy seeing her on TV. She was even recognized at the mall recently, a true “welcome to TV moment.”
Friedman admires his friend’s informed voice and meaningful contributions to public awareness:
Unlike the paid actors who play roles on pro wrestling-style entertainment shows disguised as news, McQuade is actually doing old school expert analysis.
end quotes
And how wrong that statement was proven to be when she appeared on the Brian Williams Show on 27 February 2019 o feed us a load of horse**** about Trump colluding with the Russians to beat Hillary Clinton to the White House when everybody in the world knows it was really her turn at it, and that takes us back to FAKE NEWS, as follows:
Fake news is written and published usually with the intent to mislead in order to damage an agency, entity, or person, and/or gain financially or politically, often using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated headlines to increase readership.
end quotes
And Barbara McQuade’s appearance on the Brian Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019 was also with the intent to mislead in order to damage Donald Trump, as well as to gain politically,
using sensationalist, dishonest, or outright fabricated bull**** to increase viewership, so was it FAKE NEWS?
Or merely a late-night entertainment show posing as news and thoughtful analysis, as opposed to partisan propaganda?
Getting back to FAKE NEWS:
The relevance of fake news has increased in post-truth politics.
end quotes
Ah, yes, POST-TRUTH POLITICS, people – an apt description of where we now are in the United States of America.
As Wikipedia tells us, post-truth politics (also called post-factual politics and post-reality politics) is a political culture in which debate is framed largely by appeals to emotion disconnected from the details of policy, and by the repeated assertion of talking points to which factual rebuttals are ignored.
end quotes
That exactly describes both the Michael Cohen Hearing itself on 27 February 2019, and the Brian Williams Show on MSNBC on 27 February 2019, especially, where Barbara McQuade, an appointee of Democrat Hussein Obama who was asked to leave by Republican Donald Trump got to spew her misleading horse**** without challenge.
Getting back to Wikipedia:
Post-truth differs from traditional contesting and falsifying of facts by relegating facts and expert opinions to be of secondary importance relative to appeal to emotion.
While this has been described as a contemporary problem, some observers have described it as a long-standing part of political life that was less notable before the advent of the Internet and related social changes.
As of 2018, political commentators have identified post-truth politics as ascendant in many nations, notably the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Russia, and Brazil, among others.
As with other areas of debate, this is being driven by a combination of the 24-hour news cycle, false balance in news reporting, and the increasing ubiquity of social media.
In 2016, post-truth was chosen as the Oxford Dictionaries’ Word of the Year due to its prevalence in the context of that year’s Brexit referendum and media coverage of the U.S. presidential election.
end quotes
And here it is, April 2, 2019, and as Barbara McQuade and Brian Williams and MSNBC proved beyond a doubt on 27 February 2019, it is still as prevalent as it ever was, if not more so, and that is to our detriment as a nation, which takes us back to Wikipedia, as follows:
According to Oxford Dictionaries, the term post-truth was first used in a 1992 essay by the late Serbian-American playwright Steve Tesich in The Nation.
Tesich writes that following the shameful truth of Watergate, more assuaging coverage of the Iran–Contra scandal and Persian Gulf War demonstrate that “we, as a free people, have freely decided that we want to live in some post-truth world.”
end quotes
An d there, people, is an important point – this wasn’t something forced on us against our will, to the contrary, it is something we have sought, which takes us back to this:
In 2004, Ralph Keyes used the term “post-truth era” in his book by that title.
In it, he argued that deception is becoming more prevalent in the current media driven world.
According to Keyes, lies stopped being treated as something inexcusable and started being viewed as something acceptable in certain situations.
end quotes
Such as getting Trump!
And now for a word from our sponsors as we take a necessary break for station identification.
Paul Plante says
To get an idea of the anti-Trump bias of MSNBC (Clinton T.V.), it is only necessary to review this excerpt of the transcript of the MSNBC Town Hall with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on All In with Chris Hayes on 03/29/19, to wit:
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: Coming up next, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortes sits down with Chris Hayes for an exclusive interview on her Green New Deal, domestic policy, and much more.
That starts right now.
HAYES: Good evening from the Bronx, New York, I’m Chris Hayes.
Please welcome Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
AMERICAN CROWD: AOC! AOC! AOC! AOC!
HAYES: Hey, how are you?
Have a seat.
OCASIO-CORTEZ: Thank you.
Thank you.
HAYES: Surreal hostile crowd.
This is going to be tough really.
How are you doing?
OCASIO-CORTEZ: I’m well.
I’m well.
HAYES: I just want to give a little taste of like it is a 24-hour – on Trump T.V. it’s like 24-hour – in the conservative movement, it’s 24 hour AOC GND, like that’s what it is.
end quotes
Trump T.V.?
How about that!
That pretty much puts the “Lying Brian” Williams show on the same MSNBC on 27 Febreuary 2019 starring Barbara McQuade and Michael Cohen in its proper perspective then.
It was a biased smear job!
But, hey, we already knew that, didn’t we!
And now a pause for station identification!
Paul Plante says
And talk about a story that gets more and more bizarre by the day, which would be expected of a Lanny David production, the only thing this story now seems to be lacking is the presence of some zombies and some sinister space aliens, and here I am now referring to an Associated Press story entitled, if anyone can believe it, “Michael Cohen says he didn’t commit some crimes he pleaded guilty to” published Apr. 24, 2019, where we have, in true soap opera fashion, as follows:
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump’s prison-bound former lawyer told actor Tom Arnold last month that he pleaded guilty to some crimes he didn’t commit so his wife wouldn’t “get dragged into the mud of this crap.”
Michael Cohen told Arnold “they had me on campaign finance” for arranging hush-money payments to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump, but denied committing tax evasion and called a crime related to a home equity line of credit “a lie.”
He also complained in the March 25 call that he felt abandoned and tossed aside — like “a man all alone” — after giving more than 100 hours of interviews and testimony to federal investigators and congressional committees.
end quotes
What really was the dude expecting – a ticker tape parade down fifth avenue in New York City as if he were some kind of conquering hero, as opposed to a stupid lawyer?
Getting back to that story:
Cohen is scheduled to begin a three-year sentence on May 6 at a federal prison about 70 miles northwest of New York City.
His lawyers recently asked House Democrats to intercede to get a reduced or delayed sentence, but they’ve been reticent to do so.
end quotes
Ah, no wonder the dude feels so all alone – despite the influence of Lanny Davis, the Democrats, who are running scared now as the wheels continue to come off this whole sick scam, didn’t do what Michael thought they were going to do, which is to keep his sorry *** out of jail, as we see in a FOX News story entitled “Michael Cohen vows to fill in Mueller report’s redactions, ‘tell it myself’” by Adam Shaw on 18 April 2019, as follows:
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen on Thursday promised to fill in the blanks on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, hours before a redacted version of his report was due to be made public.
“Soon I will be ready to address the American people again…tell it all…and tell it myself!” Cohen tweeted.
end quotes
Yes, yes, Micheal, tell us the story all over again, in case we might have missed something the last time you told the story, or the time before that.
And what is with this “soon I will be ready to address the American people again,” Michael?
Are you going to give another nationwide television speech like you did on 27 February 2019 to Democrat Elijah “The Prophet” Cummings, who seems to be slipping some gears in his own transmission lately, talking about the Russians as if they are massing just over the Canadian border for a sweep down through the nation’s mid-section to cut the east off from the west so they can divide us to conquer us to make this country a communist ****hole like Mother Russia, and his crowd?
Getting back to that FOX News story:
That tweet came after his attorney Lanny Davis, tweeted that Cohen “knows and can fill in the bulk of the redactions.”
“We will tell it all,” he promised.
end quotes
See what I am saying about way out beyond BIZARRO-VILLE city limits here, people – now we are to believe that Michael Cohen knows all the details left out of the Mullet, er, Mueller Report, including all the grand jury minutes, which apparently Michael had access to as the one who was really directing the Mueller Investigation, instead of Mueller himself.
Getting back to FOX and the Democrats letting poor Michael down after he thought they had a deal going, we have:
Cohen’s legal team sent a letter to House Democrats this month saying he was still sorting through documents that might be of interest to House Democrats investigating President Trump, including emails, voice recordings, images and other documents on a hard drive.
The lawyers said if Cohen reports to prison May 6 as scheduled, he won’t be able to finish reviewing the material.
They asked the lawmakers to write letters saying that Cohen was cooperating and that “the substantial trove of new information, documents, recordings, and other evidence he can provide requires substantial time with him and ready access to him by congressional committees and staff to complete their investigations and to fulfill their oversight responsibilities.”
Cohen’s lawyers said they were still holding out hope that federal prosecutors in New York not only would back another delay in the start of his prison term, but also would agree to reopen his case and advocate for a lighter sentence.
“It is our hope that the authorities in the Southern District of New York will consider this total picture of cooperation by Mr. Cohen, verified by your letter and the important new evidence he has made available or could make available to assist the government, and the particular facts involved here to grant Mr. Cohen a reduced term following the rules and procedures of the Southern District of New York.”
end quotes
And that takes us back to the Associated Press article as follows:
According to the Journal, Cohen told Arnold he pleaded guilty to the charges he now disputes because federal prosecutors were looking at his wife, Laura Shusterman, because her name was on a bank account where he deposited $2.4 million in loan proceeds.
“I love this woman, and I am not going to let her get dragged into the mud of this crap,” Cohen said, according to the Journal.
“And I never thought the judge was going to throw a three-year fricking sentence.”
end quotes
He thought the judge was going to come down and give him a hug and kiss for being such a good guy?
See what I am saying here, people, about Lanny Davis creating some great lines for this made-for-TV soap opera political thriller that is going to land Lanny and Michael a lucrative book deal, along with a TV documentary, a movie, and maybe even a Broadway musical along the lines of “Hamilton,” which itself was a big box office hit.
Getting back to that story:
Cohen’s concerns about the tax evasion and bank fraud charges appeared to echo some of what his former lawyer, Guy Petrillo, wrote in a sentencing memorandum submitted to the court in December.
Petrillo argued that Cohen’s tax evasion was “unsophisticated” and warranted less punishment than elaborate schemes.
He argued that the bank fraud charge was the result of sloppiness in completing paperwork.
Cohen’s lawyer and spokesman, Lanny Davis, acknowledged that Cohen spoke with Arnold and said that he “meant no offense by his statements.”
“Michael has taken responsibility for his crimes and will soon report to prison to serve his sentence,” Davis said in an emailed statement.
“While he cannot change the past, he is making every effort to reclaim his life and do right by his family and country.”
end quotes
OMG, that so breaks me up that I am going to actually start crying pretty hard here, so before my tears stain the words on this piece of cyber-paper and render them illegible, here I must rest!
Paul Plante says
And talk about the staying power of the lies of the bumbling ex-lawyer Michael Cohen, which has to be among the chief takeaways from the 27 February 2018 Michael Cohen Hearing before the panel of presidential inquisition of Democrat congressman from Baltimore’s Inner City Elijah “The Bull” Cummings, let’s go to a POLITICO article entitled “Buttigieg: Trump’s fake injury ‘an assault on the honor of this country’” by Bianca Quilantan on 26 May 2019, where we have the following mouthful of drivel from Democrat Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who would look a lot like Rocky the Flying Squirrel if he were to climb up into the turret of a tank and put on a tanker’s helmet for a photo-op, to wit:
Calling it “an assault on the honor of this country,” Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Sunday said “there is no question” that Donald Trump faked an injury to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.
“There is no question, I think to any reasonable observer that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving,” the mayor of South Bend (Ind.) told ABC’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
“You have somebody who thinks it’s all right to let somebody go in his place into a deadly war, and is willing to pretend to be disabled in order to do it,” he said.
“That is an assault on the honor of this country.”
Buttigieg, who served as a Navy intelligence officer in Afghanistan, first accused Trump of using his “privileged status to fake a disability” on Thursday in an hourlong interview with The Washington Post.
Trump was exempted from military service five times at the height of the Vietnam War.
He received four draft deferments for his time in college and one medical deferment for having bone spurs.
In testimony before Congress, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen said of the medical deferment: “Mr. Trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none.“
end quotes
I am a Viet Nam combat veteran and I say that that is all a bunch of horse**** being spewed there by Mayor Pete, who was born January 19, 1982, long after the Viet Nam war was over, especially since Mayor Pete is relying on the opinion of a convicted liar named Michael Cohen who himself never served in the military, and so would know nothing about how Trump came to have his exemptions.
And for the record, Bill Clinton didn’t go, either, nor did Charley “Chuck” Schumer, which makes them people who thinks it’s all right to let somebody go in their place into a deadly war, which is an assault on the honor of this country, or would be if they were Republicans.
Paul Plante says
For the record, this “Mayor Pete” who worships at the alter of the Democrat demigod and convicted felon Michael Cohen is not at all surprisingly a Democrat candidate for United States president as well as a so-called “intelligence” officer in the United States Navy, and God help the nation if someone as ignorant as he should end up in the White House as our “leader.”
What a sad day for the nation that would be, for sure, which takes us back the above POLITICO article entitled “Buttigieg: Trump’s fake injury ‘an assault on the honor of this country’” by Bianca Quilantan on 26 May 2019, where we had the following mouthfuls of drivel from Democrat Mayor Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg, who would look a lot like Rocky the Flying Squirrel if he were to climb up into the turret of a tank and put on a tanker’s helmet for a photo-op, to wit:
Calling it “an assault on the honor of this country,” Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg on Sunday said “there is no question” that Donald Trump faked an injury to avoid serving in the Vietnam War.
“There is no question, I think to any reasonable observer that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving,” the mayor of South Bend (Ind.) told ABC’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
Buttigieg, who served as a Navy intelligence officer in Afghanistan, first accused Trump of using his “privileged status to fake a disability” on Thursday in an hourlong interview with The Washington Post.
end quotes
Quite obviously, Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg, who comes across as an intellectual lightweight in the above, is quite unfamiliar with the classifications of the United States of America Military Draft, and a classification of 4-F, which is what Trump had.
For those unaware of draft classifications, 4-F is a classification given to a new U.S. military registrant indicating that he or she is “not acceptable for service in the Armed Forces” due to medical, dental, or other reasons.
It doesn’t say someone is disabled, as “Mayor Pete,” the twerp, is trying to tell us, and did succeed in telling the Washington Post, which wouldn’t know any better, along with ABC’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” who also would be clueless.
According to the Selective Service System, and my goodness, you would think some hot-shot Navy “intelligence” officer like Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg would be right on top of this, running for office of Commander-in-Chief as he is doing, 4-f means as follows:
“Registrant not acceptable for military service.”
“To be eligible for Class 4-F, a registrant must have been found not qualified for service in the Armed Forces by a Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) under the established physical, mental, or moral standards.”
“The standards of physical fitness that would be used in a future draft would come from AR 40-501.”
end quotes
So what is this horse**** this Democrat presidential contender Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg is trying to feed us here about Trump using his “privileged status to fake a disability?”
Is Mayor Pete stating or implying that Trump had so much political clout that he was able to buy off an Armed Forces Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS)?
Is Mayor Pete accusing the military of corruption?
It certainly seems so with his accusations of Trump, which in turn have to be accusations against the military itself, which is serious business, especially for someone running for the office of United States president.
Paul Plante says
Someone running as a Democrat for the office of United States president like Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg, known on the campaign trail as “Mayor Pete, who makes serious charges of corruption against a sitting American president based incredibly and solely on the word of a convicted liar and felon named Michael Cohen as his only evidence, which is about as morally low as someone can possibly get, putting the word of a convicted felon before that of the United States president, and then openly lies to the American people when he says “there is no question” that Donald Trump faked an injury to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, when he has absolutely no evidence whatsoever in his possession to back up those scurrilous charges, does not deserve to serve the American people as president because he is totally unfit to be president, showing his lack of moral character here by his reliance on the convicted felon and liar Michael Cohen, which is as follows, to wit:
In testimony before Congress, former Trump attorney Michael Cohen said of the medical deferment: “Mr. Trump claimed it was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none.“
end quotes
Give me a break here, people!
First of all, the convicted liar and Buttigieg hero Michael Cohen was born on August 25, 1966, so during the time period in question, Michael Cohen was but a child in short pants, getting himself apparently very poorly potty-trained, based on how he turned out, so what testimony he can give anyone concerning that period of time has to be highly questionable.
And secondly, as I recall the relationship, Cohen worked for Trump and not the other way around, so why on earth does United States presidential candidate and alleged Navy “intelligence” officer Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg think that Trump had any kind of duty to explain his 4-f status to Michael Cohen decades after the Viet Nam was over and forgotten about?
Did Trump have a 4-f draft status?
Or didn’t he?
That is a yes or no question, Mayor Pete, which brings us to this further spew of ignorant drivel from Peter Paul Montgomery Buttigieg, as follows:
“There is no question, I think to any reasonable observer that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving,” the mayor of South Bend (Ind.) told ABC’s Martha Raddatz on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
end quotes
And Mayor Pete, I personally am a very reasonable observer, and in my mind, you are full of ****!
There is every question, Mayor Pete, to this and I think to any reasonable observer that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving, because there is no EVIDENCE, outside the word of a convicted liar and felon that you put all your faith and trust in, and in the America I wore a uniform to defend, we do not bring serious charges against the president of the United States based on NO EVIDENCE, and as a presidential candidate, Mayor Pete, you should not have to be reminded of that fact.
You say, Mayor Pete, solely based on the word of Michael Cohen that there is no question that the president found a way to falsify a disabled status, taking advantage of his privileged status in order to avoid serving!”
WELL PROVE IT!
Or withdraw your false charges!