RUTHFULLY YOURS

There’s a Democrat debate tonight, if that’s your kink.

Tuesday’s episode of ImpeachmentTV: the longest day

On yesterday’s marathon episode of ImpeachmentTV, we were introduced to prissy little princess Lt. Col. Vindman on the NSC and a Bushie State Department bureaucrat assigned to the Veep’s office. Vindman’s performance was particularly noteworthy.

Vindman testified that he was upset and thought Trump’s July call with the new Ukrainian president was “wrong” so he went outside his chain of command to the NSC lawyers like a little snitch. He also made it clear he was butt-hurt that the president, who he has never spoken to directly, did not follow Vindman’s idea of proper protocol with his INTERAGENCY CONSENSUS talking points.

Vindman sassed Rep. Devin Nunes for not using his proper title of “Lt. Col.” We also learned that Princess Vindman was offered the position of Ukrainian Defense Minister three times by the Ukrainians. Three times. Let me suggest that people don’t extend offers like that unless you have an “open for business” sign flashing.Very peculiar. Vindman kept insisting the president was making demands on President Zelensky even though the transcript call does not show demands, this entire show trial is simply a narrative battle. If there were demands made, why didn’t anything materialize? Finally, we learned that Vindman approached and offered unsolicited advice to the Ukrainians, telling them not to get involved in domestic U.S. politics and he did so long before the “controversial” July call. Now would he do that? What was he worried about?

Additional witnesses included former Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker and NSC Advisor Tim Morrison. All four of yesterday’s witnesses admitted under oath they knew of or saw no crimes, no bribery, no extortion or no quid pro quo. Why are we here again?

Something that bothered me on the GOP side was that no member responded to the repeated lie of “discredited conspiracy theories.” These bureaucrats continued to assert it was a conspiracy theory that the Ukraine interfered with our elections. Not so. A Ukrainian court “ruled that officials in the country violated the law by revealing, during the 2016 presidential election in the United States, details of suspected illegal payments to Paul Manafort.” That reporting came from the New York Times. So yes, according to the New York Times, the Ukrainians were interfering in our elections and, not to be forgotten, is the famous Politico article: Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire.

One striking feature in these hearings is how entrenched the bureaucracy is and how they think their policies should supersede the president’s authority to set policy.

Related:
Me too. Zelensky says everyone in Ukraine ‘is so tired’ with impeachment questions
Judge will rule by Nov. 25 in Don McGahn subpoena fight
Oh come on. Lt. Col. Vindman Says He Feels ‘Marginalized’ By Mean Tweets
McConnell hopes Senate impeachment trial ‘not too lengthy a process’
Yovanovitch Urged Firing of Top Prosecutor Amid Ukraine’s Presidential Election
Vindman clashes with GOP
Volker says he rejected Biden ‘conspiracy theory’ pushed by Giuliani
‘I have learned many things’: Kurt Volker revises Ukraine testimony

Today’s episode of ImpeachmentTV

Today’s sacrifice at the Impeachment Bread and Circuses is Ambassador Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union. This is going to get really nasty, I predict, because Sondland was in direct communication with President Trump. Sondland is a wealthy Trump donor so that’s why he has an ambassadorship. I’m sure the Democrats will make hay of this. An ambassador post in a cushy place is a “thank you” all presidents give to their wealthy donor/supporters, it’s not unusual or scandalous. I’ll be tuning in, will you?

Related:
Sondland testimony could be pivotal point of impeachment showdown
‘The Gordon Problem’ set to testify in impeachment inquiry’s main event

House votes to fund government and the corrupt Patriot Act

I warned you about this yesterday and here we are.

One of my favorite congressmen, Rep. Tom Massie (R-Kentucky) said, “Congress will vote to extend warrantless data collection provisions of the #PatriotAct, by hiding this language on page 25 of the Continuing Resolution (CR) that temporarily funds the government. To sneak this through, Congress will first vote to suspend the rule which otherwise gives us (and the people) 72 hours to consider a bill.”

He added, “The scam here is that Democrats are alleging abuse of Presidential power, while simultaneously reauthorizing warrantless power to spy on citizens that no President should have… in a bill that continues to fund EVERYTHING the President does… and waiving their own rules to do it.”

Right on, brother, right on. The bill will extend the panopticon for another three months. Hopefully, we will get the IG’s FISA report before that day arrives and we can begin a serious examination of the government surveillance apparatus.

IG released report on FBI confidential informants

This report isn’t getting much attention because the corporate media is obsessed with ImpeachmentTV.  Some of the problems described by IG Michael Horowitz include “delays in properly vetting the informants and a lack of record-keeping when there are problems with them.”

“The FBI’s vetting processes for confidential sources, known as validation, did not comply with the Attorney General Guidelines, particularly with regard to long-term sources,” said Horowitz in a video accompanying the release of the report.

The FBI spends some coin on these CIs, the spooks have spent $42 million annually on payments to its informants 2012-2018. Another disturbing phenomenon is the lack of vetting of these CIs. “As the report notes, vetting of the long-term informants has lacked for years. They are supposed to get the “enhanced review” every five years, but half of them waited in a backlog for such a review as of May.”

Peter Strzok update: where’s lover boy? Russia case agent Strzok cited for misconduct, security violation and ‘exceptionally poor judgment’ in FBI memos

Other morsels:
Illegal Alien MS-13 Gang Member Gets 20 Years for Deadly Machete Attack
Vegan Sues Burger King for ‘Contaminated’ Impossible Whoppers
House Dems Propose $5 Billion Tax Credit for ‘Environmental Justice’ Studies
Arizona border activist told migrants he ‘could not hide them’
Two jail guards for Jeffrey Epstein charged with cover-up in his suicide
Buttigieg surges to 10-point lead in New Hampshire: poll
Democrats have 5-point lead in 2020 generic Congressional ballot: poll
2020 Dems slam Trump decision on West Bank settlements
Memo Given To Fusion GPS Described Ukrainian Lawmaker As Potential ‘Conduit’ For Publicizing Information
Foreign-Born Researchers At US Agencies Were Secretly Working For China And Recruiting Others, Senate Report Finds
Obama alums bristle at Stephanie Grisham’s claim that they left ‘you will fail’ notes
GoFundMe set up for ‘throuple’ pol Katie Hill
Vegan outcry forces vet school to nix nude calendar photo
Assholes. American Medical Association calls for full vaping ban: Keep nicotine products ‘out of the hands of young people’
Woman who threw slushie on Matt Gaetz at Pensacola event sentenced to 15 days in prison
Undercover FBI agents say Chicago college student tried to write code for ISIS
Transgender Remembrance Day: 8 famous transgender rights activists and allies
Mattel gets rid of blue and red cards in ‘nonpartisan’ UNO deck
DNC faces backlash for reportedly resisting Politico’s debate moderator pick with conservative media ties
Media outlets attribute Obama-era child-detention stats to Trump, issue retractions
Man stabbed to death in attack on San Francisco-area BART train
Seattle Children’s Hospital CEO announces five more mold-related deaths since 2001
Maria Butina’s ex-boyfriend to plead guilty to money laundering and wire fraud charges
Australian woman saves koala from bushfire
In secular India, it’s getting tougher to be Muslim
Man pleads guilty to illegally making bullets sold to Las Vegas mass shooter
PG&E begins new mass power shutoff over fire danger

And that’s all I’ve got, now go beat back the angry mob!