The Imagined Putin-Trump Phone Transcript

Eman

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Monday August 01, 2016 · 10:35 AM PDT

2016/08/01 · 10:35

(transcribed from my secret monitoring the Russian cyber hack specialists...)

PUTIN: “So what can I do for you today, Donnie?”

DUMB DONNIE: “I really need something I can give to people that shows what a great negotiator I am.”

PUTIN: “OK. Donnie, I promise that I will never invade the Ukraine .”

DUMB DONNIE: “Thanks, Vlad. This is HUUUGE. Absolutely HUUUGE. I’m tweeting it out right now. They will love me.”

PUTIN: “Great. Let me know what else I can do to influence the election. (and then in Russian to his aide, “This is rich. The stupid little fool has no clue that we invaded the Ukraine two years ago.”)

Trump says Putin is 'not going to go into Ukraine,' despite Crimea

Washington (CNN) Donald Trump said Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin won't make a military move into Ukraine -- even though Putin already has done just that, seizing the country's Crimean Peninsula.

"He's not going into Ukraine, OK, just so you understand. He's not going to go into Ukraine, all right? You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anywhere you want," Trump said in an interview on Sunday with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on "This Week..."

Repugnant Government: Ryan's "Leadership"

Eman

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Friday July 08, 2016 · 9:41 AM PDT

2016/07/08 · 09:41

Repugnant government:

Entire city of Flint, MI is poisoned by repugnant government. Republican action after three years? NONE

SUSPECTED lead in Congressional office buildings. Republican action? Immediate bottled water and free blood tests for all staff.

95% of citizens demanding connon-sense gun laws. Republican action? NONE. Bow to the NRA.

Democratic action to support the 95%. Republican action? Threaten to PUNISH elected Democratic representatives. Legislative action? NONE

Thousands of emails destroyed from the Bush-Cheney-Rove private email server, gwb43.com, which was hosted outside the government at the RNC. Republican action? NONE Investigations? NONE

2 emails retroactively classified on Clinton email server. Republican action? Multiple committee “hearings,” all wth the same conclusions. Then another stupid $7 MILLION “investigation” full of leaks and inuendo.

FBI concluding a year-long investigation. Republican action? An immediate, unprecedented, public, star chamber (but unsuccessful) inquisition of the FBI Director.

Clear videos of police shootings of citizens. Republican action? CRICKETS

Rapid fire assault weapons used against Dallas police. Republican action? A call for “unity” from Speaker Ryan (while still hanging out the threat of punishing Democrats).

There seems to be a pattern here.

WOO HOO: Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin's voter ID law

Eman

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Thursday October 09, 2014 · 6:29 PM PDT

2014/10/09 · 18:29

Breaking from USA Today:

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court on Thursday night blocked Wisconsin from implementing its new voter identification law on the eve of next month's elections.
The action reverses a trend established by the justices in two other cases from Ohio and North Carolina, in which they allowed voting restrictions imposed by Republican legislatures to take effect...

From FoxNews6:

BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin from implementing voter ID law
On Thursday night the nation’s highest court did so, vacating the appeals court ruling pending further proceedings. Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the decision.

Great to see that the usual wingnuts couldn't even muster a 4th vote.

From Josh Gerstein at Politico Blog:

Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin voter ID law
Acting on a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Wisconsin from implementing a new voter ID law in next month's election.

The high court released an order late Thursday that revived a permanent injunction a federal court judge imposed in April, barring enforcement of the 2011 law on the grounds that it discriminated against minorities by forcing many of them to get new identification.

The justices who joined in the order (posted here) did not offer a rationale for their decision, which will remain in effect until the court either rules on the merits of the case or refuses to hear it.

And a video which illustrates the problem. Enjoy the Wisconsin chart.

Federal Court Lifts Injunction in Walker Case

Eman

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Wednesday September 24, 2014 · 3:24 PM PDT

2014/09/24 · 15:24

From the AP through ABC News

The three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling that halted the probe, but the judges found state courts are the proper venue to resolve legal issues with the case.

So much for the rulings of Judge Randa (again).

More soon.

UPDATE 5:29 pm from USA Today (bolding mine):

Court overturns blocking of Walker campaign probe
In the opinion, Judge Frank Easterbrook called a lower court's decision to block the investigation "an abuse of discretion." He also batted away the Wisconsin Club for Growth lawsuit, noting that the Wisconsin prosecutors in the probe "possess qualified immunity from liability in damages" in their role as public servants.

The 7th Circuit ruling criticized Randa's decision as an intrusion into the affairs of Wisconsin's legal system, echoing statements the appellate judges made during oral arguments in the case earlier this month.

"What we have said shows not only that an injunction was an abuse of discretion but also that (as prosecutors) all defendants possess qualified immunity from liability in damages," wrote Judge Frank Easterbrook in the decision.

Many of us thought from the beginning that TeaPublican U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Randa had way overstepped his authority, including demanding that evidence from the criminal investigation be destroyed. He was immediately overturned on that one. The rest of his rejection just took a bit longer.

UPDATE II 5:46 pm from The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal (bolding mine):

Federal court overturns Doe ruling, sends it back to state judges
Mike Maistelman, a Democratic Milwaukee attorney who represented a former Walker aide in an earlier John Doe probe, said the appeals court decision was a clear warning to federal courts to stay out of state criminal investigations in most circumstances.

"This is a stunning reversal of Judge Randa," Maistelman said.

STUNNING indeed. Always nice when the Journal actually prints news.

Birth Control: The Insurance Companies could fix this

Eman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday July 03, 2014 · 4:34 PM PDT

2014/07/03 · 16:34

As I understand it, one of the purposes of The Affordable Health Care Act was to accomplish it's title - making health care more affordable.

One of the ways we are told health care becomes more affordable is when more people, either as individuals or through groups, enter into the pool. That seems to be proving itself out as data comes in from both the states and the insurance companies.

Simple solution: Insurance companies continue to offer the policies they have under The Affordable Health Care Act (and to which more and more insurance companies are trying to quickly jump onboard).

Same premiums for all. Create a separate pool for objecting corporations and Wheaton College. Higher premiums because this religious fanatic pool is smaller. Yes, they would be paying higher premiums for the convenience of restricted member service.

Will the Scalia Court then rule that private insurance companies will be ordered to cover people?

Can insurance companies with a public health conscience refuse to offer health care which discriminates against women?

Just a weird idea which popped into my head this afternoon.

Brett Smiley: Providence Progressive with Plans

Eman

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Thursday June 19, 2014 · 11:07 AM PDT

2014/06/19 · 11:07

Brett Smiley is a progressive Democrat running for Mayor of Providence, RI. His campaign has been mentioned here in Top Comments, but no one has yet posted a diary on his campaign.

Last week Brett launched his first 30-second TV spot, "Brett Smiley: Man with a Plan," which immediately received both local and national attention. Reaction to the video below was quick and positive.

From the Rhode Island Small Business Journal:

PROVIDENCE, RI – Last Friday, Brett Smiley’s campaign for Mayor of Providence aired its first television ad, titled “Man with a Plan.” In just one weekend, the ad has gotten enormous attention, gaining over 22,000 views and attracting the attention of national media outlets like the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, the Advocate, the Daily Kos and more.

Here is the video which is creating all the national attention. There is so much packed into 30 seconds that each time I view it I learn something more.

More about Brett Smiley and the Smiley for Mayor campaign below the squiggle.

Eman

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Friday February 28, 2014 · 10:02 AM PST

2014/02/28 · 10:02

While Scott Walker continues to stonewall any questions about the emails showing illegal campaign and official coordination which were recently released to the public, it seems his lawyer is very busy paying attention for him.

It must be Friday news dump day...

From the Wisconsin Law Journal:

Walker attorney named in John Doe court filing
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The attorney for Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign is named in a court order as a lawyer in a case challenging the ongoing secret investigation into possible illegal campaigning.

The order issued Thursday by 4th District Court of Appeals Judge Brian Blanchard also reveals that eight unnamed parties are a subject of the secret probe that’s reportedly focusing on activities during recall elections in 2011 and 2012, including the one targeting Walker...

In its last campaign finance statement, Friends of Scott Walker reported paying Biskupic’s firm $86,000 in legal fees. Asked earlier this month whether the payments were related to the John Doe probe, the governor responded, "I'm not getting into the details of it."

and the Wisconsin State Journal:

Scott Walker attorney challenging secret 'John Doe' probe
Steven Biskupic, an attorney who has represented Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign, was named in a court order Thursday as an attorney in a case challenging the ongoing secret investigation into possible illegal campaigning during the recalls against Walker and others in 2011 and 2012...

A message left with Friends of Scott Walker asking whether the governor’s campaign was one of the eight unnamed respondents challenging the probe was not immediately returned...

Unsuccessful in early appeals, two unnamed challengers to the John Doe investigation also have sent a direct appeal to the state Supreme Court.

UPDATE 1: Thanks to bearsguy in the comments for these even more interesting headlines:

from The Progressive:

Walker Violated Public Records Law: So say former AG and Milwaukee supervisor
A former Wisconsin attorney general and a Milwaukee county supervisor who was subpoenaed by the John Doe prosecutor are both wondering why Scott Walker wasn’t charged with violating the state’s public records law while he was Milwaukee county executive...

Today, Weishan says, he feels vindicated. The document dump “proves that everything I thought was going on at the time did take place,” he says.

The documents show Walker regularly communicating on a private e-mail system during work hours both on campaign business and county business.

and from expressmilwaukee.com:

Was Kelly Rindfleisch Also Working for the Realtors Association?
Buried in the middle of the 16,172-page John Doe document is a curious note sent by Jim Villa.

Villa, at the time of the emails, was (and still is) the head of the powerful Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin (CARW). Villa was Walker’s chief of staff at the county between May 2002 and June 2007. I don’t think he had an official role with Friends of Scott Walker—prosecutors call him an “informal advisor to the Friends of Scott Walker” and a “personal friend” to Walker. Yet Villa was regularly copied on the campaign/county emails.

Now, why was the president of the Commercial Realtors Association of Wisconsin, who was the organization’s lobbyist at the state level, regularly copied on these emails and seemingly embedded in the campaign?

It gets weirder...

Poll

101 votes Show Results

Your thoughts...

101 votes Vote Now!

Your thoughts...

Nothing to see here, "Old News"

7 votes

$86,000 to defend against "Old News?"

68 votes

Friday is Pie Day

25 votes

WI: Scott.Walker.FAIL. w/poll

Eman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday February 24, 2014 · 10:00 AM PST

2014/02/24 · 10:00

PoliticsUSA has a great read analyzing the Faux Noise video of the latest Walker-slide-shuffle-dodge when asked about his knowledge and use of the ILLEGAL network in his Milwaukee County Executive office.

Yes, by Walker's definition this is "Old News" since the interview occurred over the weekend.

Never-the-less, this video, posted here yesterday by Puddytat, of Chris Wallace trying to get a straight answer out of Walker is worth repeating, liking on YouTube, and forwarding to friends.

From the PoliticsUSA story:

Scott Walker Falls Apart When Asked About Incriminating Emails On Fox News

Another Republican hope for 2016 crashed and burned today as Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker got agitated and defensive while refusing answer questions about incriminating emails on Fox News Sunday.

Scott Walker is guilty. He can hide behind the fact that he hasn't been charged with a crime yet, but he knew that what his county workers were doing was illegal. He urged the usage of a private email system because he knew he was breaking the law.

A smart 2016 candidate would have offered some sort of pseudo apology for the whole scandal, and moved on.

And finally this story is getting some coverage by local Wisconsin traditional media - even the local Milwaukee Faux Noise outlet:

Gov. Walker faces tough questions on FOX News Sunday
Chris Wallace, host of the Fox News program Fox News Sunday said this to now-Gov. Walker on Sunday: "Thousands of emails were released this week that indicate you knew public workers were working on county time in political campaigns, which is against the law."

"Thatâs just absolutely not true. If you look at the facts out there, this is old news," Gov. Walker said on the show.

Wallace then asks Gov. Walker: "Did you know there was a private email account?"
"Once again, I point out the district attorney has reviewed each and every one of these," Gov. Walker said.

Walker's defense? "It's not true because it is 'old news.' "

UPDATED: More below the fold.

Poll

217 votes Show Results

What do you think?

217 votes Vote Now!

What do you think?

"Old News" is NEVER true

7 votes

"old News" might be true, sorta

4 votes

27,000 pages don't lie

206 votes

Faux Noise confirms Zimmer Sandy numbers

Eman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday January 20, 2014 · 8:18 AM PST

2014/01/20 · 08:18

As reported today by CNN, Mayor Dawn Zimmer told CNN and others the following (bolding mine):

After Sandy, Hoboken was 80% underwater. Zimmer told CNN last week that Hoboken received only about $300,000 of the roughly $100 million in state funds the city requested for flood prevention.
Reed, Christie's spokesman, told CNN that Zimmer asked for $100 million from a roughly $300 million pot of money for which there was $14 billion worth of requests.

Enter the ever-accurate Faux Noise.

Buried in a denial piece entitled NJ lieutenant governor denies claims of withholding Sandy aid funds we find this tidbit (bolding again mine):

A state website that tracks the distribution of Sandy aid shows that Hoboken received a $200,000 post-storm planning grant in October out of a $1.8 billion pot of money controlled by the state. Hoboken also received a $142,000 state energy resilience grant.
Besides state money, Hoboken has received $70 million in recovery funds distributed by the federal government, according to the Christie administration. Zimmer said she has applied for $100 million to implement a comprehensive plan to help insulate her city from future floods.

"...only about $300,000." and $200,000 + $142,000 = $342,000 seem to be numbers which are far closer together than either of these numbers are to $70 million or any other impressive numbers being tossed around by Zimmer deniers.

It is shocking fun when Faux Noise actually gets something right, if even in a bad article.

Hoboken mayor turns over journal to U.S. Attorney’s Office UPDATED w/poll

Eman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday January 19, 2014 · 5:01 PM PST

2014/01/19 · 17:01

This was just posted at NorthJersey.com

Hoboken mayor turns over journal to U.S. Attorney’s Office, which she says documents Sandy aid claims
Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer turned over her journal and other documents to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Sunday, which she says show Governor Christie’s administration threatened to withhold Superstorm Sandy aid if she didn’t approve a development...

The mayor released a statement saying she met with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark for several hours at their request and turned over the journal entry she cited as proof of her conversations with Guadagno and Constable.

It seems important to note that Christie office spokesperson, Colin Reed, didn't really address Mayor Zimmer's statements, but instead put out a lengthy press release condemning MSNBC for breaking this story.

Obviously Mayor Zimmer is making good on her statement that she would speak, under oath if necessary, to investigators.

Also very interesting that she states she met at the request of the U. S. Attorney's Office.

UPDATE 4: Thanks to Terre in the comments for the link to NY Daily News article with photos of 14 pages of Mayor Zimmer's diary.

UPDATE 3: Added a Poll and started adding articles below the fold.

UPDATE 2: From azale in the comments...

Steve Kornacki at MSNBC also has the story.

It looks as if Steve Kornacki had it posted about 20 minutes before the Bergen Group. Both of them deserve everyone's praise for staying on this story.

Zimmer said Saturday in an interview with MSNBC that she would be willing to sign a sworn statement and testify under oath that she had been threatened by the governor’s staff to approve a development project or risk hurricane relief funding for her town of Hoboken, which was devastated by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012.

US attorney inquiry into Christie widens
UPDATE 1: Sorry, I forgot to paste in the link. Thanks to AnnetteK in the comments for catching this.

More below the fold...

Poll

628 votes Show Results

MAD LIB: _________ "has been openly hostile to Governor Christie and almost gleeful in their efforts attacking him."

628 votes Vote Now!

MAD LIB: _________ "has been openly hostile to Governor Christie and almost gleeful in their efforts attacking him."

The Bergen Group

8 votes

The U. S. Attorney

9 votes

MSNBC

85 votes

The Wall Street Journal

15 votes

The People of New Jersey

33 votes

The Washington Post

1 vote

The New Jersey Legislature

9 votes

Ted Cruz

21 votes

Rand Paul

40 votes

all of the above

406 votes

NorthJersey.com 'partisan' and 'openly hostile'

Eman

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday January 18, 2014 · 4:55 PM PST

2014/01/18 · 16:55

Shock of all shocks. MSNBC at fault for good investigative reporting. Kudos to MSNBC, but even more kudos to the Bergen Group (The Record and NorthJersey.com).

NorthJersey.com, NO. 1 IN BREAKING LOCAL NEWS, has this lead story right now:

Hoboken mayor Zimmer accuses Christie lieutenant of tying Sandy aid to development approval [video]
Zimmer, a Democrat, said she wrote about the May 2013 incident in her personal journal, pages of which were shown on the MSNBC program where she was interviewed by host Steve Kornacki. She also read from her journal in an interview Saturday with The Record...

How dare this quality New Jersey news outlet cover the same news as MSNBC (and CNN, and The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times)?

Do the folks at Bergen not know that Colin Reed has labeled such reporting as 'partisan' and 'openly hostile?'

While Colin Reed, himself under subpoena, blasts a scatter-shot attack against MSNBC (which most uses guilt-by-association by condemning Faux Noise, noted news outlets like The Washington Post praise the Bergen Group for being the first to expose the recent Christie scandals. (Bolding mine.)

After the Record blew open the story yesterday morning, news outlets everywhere scrambled to match the story — and to acquire the documents that the Record had acquired. An attribution in the New York Times reads like this: “The documents were obtained by The New York Times and other news outlets Wednesday.” A similar attribution appears in The Post. Boburg: “I don’t know this but I believe they also obtained them. . . . All I know is that we had them first.”

Three cheers for Steve Kornacki, Rachel Maddow, AND The Bergen Group.

Nothing below the fold.

Anyone have Christie office blueprints?

Eman

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Saturday January 11, 2014 · 4:34 PM PST

2014/01/11 · 16:34

Today the Wall Street Journal reports the following:

Christie Cabinet Member Told of Bridge Lane Closures
A cabinet-level member of Gov. Chris Christie's staff was alerted within hours of the discovery and reversal of lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, email correspondence released by legislative investigators shows...

This is the part that got me thinking:

Ms. Egea is a longtime member of Mr. Christie's inner circle and one of his ten most senior staff members.

What got me curious?

I have worked in several U. S. Congressional offices where 5 or 6 top staffers are crammed into about 250 ft. sq. with copiers, fax machines, file cabinets and no cubicles. A partition with no door separated the CoS office. Everyone heard everything. If you have seen The Distinguished Gentleman, that is a realistic display of freshman Member offices.

An old Huffington Post article once described Congressional offices this way:

Most of the suites available to freshmen were standard three-room affairs of roughly 800 to 1,047 square feet: reception, the lawmaker's office and a separate space for about a half-dozen staff members. In some, the reception room was bifurcated by a temporary wall erected to give senior aides their own space.

So here is why I am curious. I'm sure we have members who have been in the governor's office complex. Are Christie staff members spread down a long hallway in private rooms? Are they in a single bullpen? Or something in between? Do they share the same printer and fax machine?

It is now an established fact through Ms. Egea, more than one member of Christie's senior staff knew of the cover-up and potential law breaking all the way back to September 13th.

I'm curious to know, just on the basis of physical space, how easy it would have been for AT LEAST TWO senior staff members to have kept that information secret from the remainder of the senior staff.

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