💙 Russia, Russia, Russia … and other sordid affairs 💙
One item that was discussed at length on Wednesday was the meeting in the Seychelles, in which we learned about a second instance of the Trump trying to set up a secret connection to the Kremlin. (The other instance was when Kushner tried to do it via the Russian embassy.) But no one seems to be asking: Did they actually do it? Because as far as I can tell, Trump is working for Putin, with the goals of weakening the United States as much as possible and of promoting Putin’s goals.
💙 More evidence that Trump has been, for a long time, in league with Russia and Russian handlers here (Dkos diary) and from Mother Jones:
“The Russian market is attracted to me,” Trump told Real Estate Weekly. “I have a great relationship with many Russians.” He added, with his customary exaggeration, “Almost all of the oligarchs” had been at the Miss Universe event.
From what I can tell, the Moscow Miss Universe happened in 2014. Trump’s Russia ties are long and deep and he has bragged about them often.
💙 Speaking of scantily clad ladies and inappropriate monies, I thought this Dkos diary had an interesting argument: that if the transactions for hushing Stormy Daniels were in themselves illegal, then the contract will not be enforced by any court. Besides, the transactions were accidentally confirmed by Huckabee Sanders, who usually does a pretty good job of stonewalling — and that much bald-faced, coherent lying, takes some skill — but Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed that they had “won at arbitration.” Which basically confirms everything. Not that we were doubting!
Up until yesterday, the White House was sticking by the story that Donald Trump denies having an affair with porn star Stormy Daniels and that his fixer Michael Cohen paid off Daniels out of his own pocket without the president’s knowledge or involvement. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders accidentally shot a hole in that story at Wednesday’s briefing when she told the press corps an arbitration mentioned in the lawsuit Daniels filed against Trump this week was won “in the president’s favor.”
As I said before, not many of us were doubting the existence of this affair, although it does seem to have lasted a while (11 months! ugh!) so I wonder why Trump even cares. Because Michael Cohen’s transactions were illegal? (more on Cohen below). Because it would put Melania in a winning position for a divorce (imagine if Melania, a pissed-off ex-wife, were to talk to Mueller)? Because Stormy Daniels has pictures of a naked Trump? I imagine even 12 years ago a naked Donald Trump was pretty revolting! Or just because Trump has been caught in another lie? Yet he has been caught in so many lies, why does this one matter? But it seems to… Why? March 8’s Morning Joe speculated that something similar took down John Edwards. And that Cohen is central to so much. Maybe these are what matter. Speaking of Cohen...:
💙 Mueller is focusing on Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, regarding some things that don’t involve porn star Stormy Daniels, but Trump’s favorite country, Russia, Russia, Russia:
Special counsel Robert Mueller is digging into two episodes involving President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, as he investigates Russia's interference in the 2016 US election, The Washington Post reported this week.
The first relates to the Trump Organization's effort in late 2015 to secure a Trump Tower deal in Moscow, and Cohen's subsequent contact with a top Kremlin official at the height of the presidential election.
The second relates to a "peace plan for Russia and Ukraine" that Cohen was reportedly instrumental in developing and hand-delivering to former national security adviser Michael Flynn before Flynn was forced to resign last year.
💙 Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty to additional criminal charges, and that trial is scheduled for July 10. Remember that he’s got another trial starting on September 17. The media is not going to be dropping this subject any time soon, and plenty of revelations should come out before the November elections.
I don’t normally read anything from FOX News, and I won’t link to them here, but out of curiosity I popped over to take a look. Mostly factual reporting as far as I could tell (not their opinion pieces, which are nutty). What was interesting were the comments. Seems as if a number of FOX News commenters think Trump’s a Russian tool too.
💙 Even Republicans don’t like the stupid tariff proposal (ugh, usually I avoid Trump appearances but I got stuck in a waiting room and he was defending them, ugh again). I bet that Putin doesn't mind, though! Because whatever weakens Western markets gives him and his buddies opportunities. It’s scheduled to go into effect in 14 days. Remember that, Republicans! (not that many read this diary). Trump is for Russia, not the USA.
💙 Progress against gun violence 💙
💙 Many of the Republican stances “against” gun violence range from terrible to ridiculous, such as let’s arm the teachers, and let’s blame video game manufacturers instead of gun manufacturers (I don’t think video games have been used during any mass shootings). But Lindsey Graham plans to talk to social media about how threats of violence spread, which could be interesting, because I think we need to understand how social media is affecting us in many ways. Just as long as the hearings don’t deflect from the main point!
💙 Parkland students keep up the pressure. This time it’s Sarah Chadwick taking on Dana Loesch:
This past week, NRA’s spokesmodel Dana Loesch put out a threatening video ad against pretty much anyone who wasn’t supportive of the National Rifle Association—and Trumpism. In response, Parkland student Sara Chadwick created a word-for-word parody of Loesh’s ad.
Sarah Chadwick has already looked death in the eye and knows not to be afraid (I bet Dana hasn’t). 💙 Also, a father of a slain teen took on the horrible NRA threats in a meeting with US senators.
Guttenberg angrily asked the senators and the gathered media what the reaction would be if this video were released by a terrorist organization.
I believe at least one billboard out there is calling the NRA for what it is — a terrorist organization.
💙 Republicans Suck & Democrats Are Great 💙
❤️ House Republicans are planning to close their probe into Russia meddling in our elections, even though they did many investigations into Benghazi, which merited only one, while the Trump / Russia stuff is a gazillion times more significant. Well, besides showing what worthless cowards they are, maybe this will prevent them leaking information to the Trump White House. As long as Nunes has anything to do with that investigation, it doesn’t stand a chance anyway. The best thing to do is to retire as many of them as possible in November. Which leads to...
💙 Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball has lots of good prognostications for our side, especially House races. Here’s the link to Laura Clawson’s diary, and here’s the link to the actual site, with the lovely headline “House 2018: 26 Ratings Changes, All in Favor of Democrats.”
Some key points:
- With less than a week to go, the PA-18 special election moves from Leans Republican to Toss-up.
- After these ratings changes, for the first time this cycle we have fewer than 218 seats (the number needed for a majority) at least leaning to the Republicans.
- Making his debut in our competitive House ratings is the chamber’s most powerful member, Speaker Paul Ryan (R, WI-1). While his district is competitive but clearly Republican-leaning on paper, this shift mostly reflects uncertainty surrounding his future.
Wouldn’t it be great to get rid of that do-nothing, Paul Ryan? He can think and pray as easily (or even better) outside of Congress as inside it. 💛 Also, the PA-18 election is extremely close, but because of redistricting expected to occur later this year, it may not matter so much in the fall.
💙 Good news for voters in general in Washington state! From the Maddow blog:
As recently three years ago, automatic voter registration did not exist in any of the nation's states. As the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law noted yesterday, the policy will soon be the law in a fifth of the states.
Washington is set to become the latest state to automatically register citizens to vote at state agencies. The State House and Senate agreed on language and passed the legislation today.
💙 We need to protect our elections! Besides demanding that our reps do something (if they are Republican, they probably won't), we can and should return to paper ballots and trails.
💙 International Women’s Day — March 8th 💙
When I’m in the US, I do most of this diary the day before. March 8 is (was) International Women’s Day.
💙 The Guardian has some great interviews on the #MeToo movement. The following is a quote from Minna Salami, founder of the MsAfropolitan blog:
There is so much courage, boldness and determination in the air. What is especially exciting is the increased awareness about feminist issues in the mainstream. As someone who’s been writing and speaking about feminism for years, I feel a sense of amazement at how quickly feminism is suddenly rippling into the collective consciousness.
💙 The Guardian also has an analysis of the progress
This International Women’s Day comes five months after the revelations about Harvey Weinstein’s long campaign of misogynist punishments of women first broke, and with them more things broke. Excuses broke. Silence was broken. ... This time around, women didn’t just tell the stories of being attacked and abused; they named names, and abusers and attackers lost jobs and reputations and businesses and careers. ...
Something had shifted. What’s often overlooked is that it had shifted beforehand so that this could happen. Something invisible had made it possible for these highly visible upheavals and transformations. People often position revolution and incrementalism as opposites, but if a revolution is something that changes things suddenly, incrementalism often lays the groundwork that makes it possible.
The bolding is mine, because I think it’s important to remember on the days when we feel frustrated, not just about women’s rights, but guns, net neutrality, health care, Puerto Rico, education, the Dreamers, and the blight of a government in bed with the Kremlin, that even when we feel as if no one is paying attention to our diaries, our phone calls, our emails, our signs, even our screams — that we may be making a difference even when we do not feel it. Your voice may inspire another, may make someone rethink their position, may give them the courage to act. 💛
💙 FDR famously said that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” In a great segment from Ari Melber’s The Beat on March 7 (in these days when the news has so much more legalese, I am watching his show more often), they had a great analysis of how fear constricts people. How Trump uses fear, and has stoked up fear in the American public. But they also pointed out how afraid Trump is these days himself.
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Be not afraid my friends, or at least keep your fears in check. For we have much work to do!
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There is SO MUCH news these days, and with my being in the western part of the States instead of the central section of Europe, I may not get everything into this diary. Please add more in the comments!