None Dare Confront The Reality . . .

Holy fucking shit:

"𝙄𝙣 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙣 2017, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙐𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩-𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝘾𝙉𝙉.

𝘼 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙍𝙪𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣, 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙗𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘿𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙙 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙙𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙮."

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/09/politics/russia-us-spy-extracted/index.html

The Gadfly sincerely wishes that this were "fake" news. But it isn't. Drumpf is endangering the national security of the United States and it's people, and it's gotten to the point that even the spooks are spooked.

This all fits a pattern though folks.  A very extensive, well documented pattern.

Where to begin?  Perhaps we could start with this statement in 2008 by Donald Trump Jr. that:

“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/05/eric-trump-russia-investment-golf-course

Drumpf threw American law enforcement and Intelligence agencies under the bus at Helsinki, right in front of Putin and the world to see, almost like some kind of sacrificial offering to his god.

He and others in his administration have worked tirelessly to ease Bush and Obama era sanctions on Russia and certain Russian oligarchs.

He's had secretive off-the-record, private one-on-one talks directly with Putin, including Helsinki, with no witnesses present, or transcribing of the talks permitted.

 He has a long, long history of praising Putin publicly.

He never . . . NEVER says anything negative about Putin.

And, everybody who knows anything of Drumpf's "business" history, knows that it's been his orangish wet dream for a very long time to open a glitzy Drumpf Tower and resort in the heart of historic Moscow.

Lastly, and most recently, factor in what Robert Mueller testified to, under oath, as to what Drumpf and his campaign's actions were in 2016, regarding their involvement and contacts with the Russians. This was the relevant exchange:

𝗤: 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽?

𝗠𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆.

𝗤: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻 (𝗗𝗡𝗖) 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀?

𝗠𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲.

𝗤: 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝗽?

𝗠𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲.

𝗤: 𝗜 𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼?

𝗠𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀.

𝗤: 𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝘂𝗻𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰?

𝗠𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿: 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲.

And lastly - do you know what else was confirmed by the Mueller report and his testimony to Congress dear readers? That there is still an on-going, counter-intelligence investigation in motion, an investigation that had originally been triggered when Drumpf suddenly fired James Comey shortly after having met with Russians in the oval office.  Ponder that for a bit.

Folks had better wise up as to how close we are as a nation and people to facing historic, life-changing events, because the implications of making the wrong assumptions about, and reacting too late to what very much appears to be going on here, are going to affect the lives of every man, woman and child in this country, and highly unlikely for the better.

----TFG


***UPDATE*** :

Wow.

Mass Incarceration As An Investment Vehicle

[ click pic to enlarge ]

Jeebus fuck . . .

WASHINGTON -- One of the country’s largest operators of private immigration detention facilities has made significant contributions to several Texas members of Congress.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2018/06/20/company-runs-immigration-detention-centers-top-donor-two-texas-congressmen

Incarceration for profit!  What could possibly go wrong?

Corporation shareholders unhappy because profits are lagging?  What would fix such a slump?  Simple, and quite frankly, the only thing that can fix it - more bodies, in more beds, in more cells (or cages as it may be).

Did you hear that these companies are charging U.S. taxpayers $775.00 per day - not per week, not per month - per day, to house the migrant children that CBP has detained?  [https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/20/migrant-kids-tent-cities-cost-more-than-detaining-families-report.html]

They currently have (conservative estimate) somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 kids that are being held in these for-profit facilities - and they are holding them for much longer periods of time than has been done in the past.

Do the math kids.  Not good at math?  Ok - The Gadfly will do it for you.  Assuming 30.4 days per month mkay (365 divided by 12)?  That's $23,573 a month.  That's $282,875 per year.  Remember - we're still talking about cost per kid here.  Multiply that amount by - oh let's go with 17,000 - that works out to be a grand total of a little more than $4.8 billion.  And while these corporate vampires are making that kind of cash hand over fist, they can't even afford to provide these children with the bare-bones basics like soap and toothbrushes.

It's quite astonishing that this dystopian concept doesn't bother many conservatives.  As with their obeisant veneration of Drumpf though, it appears that a great many of them have deluded themselves in to believing that an incestuous mixture of Wall Street greed & ethics, and the government penal system, is actually a good thing for the country, and that such a system would never tread upon the lives of their own patriotic, freedom-loving asses.

The state of Illinois just passed a ban on these for-profit dungeon-masters from operating in their state - good for them.  A couple of other states are making moves to do the same.  But the genie is out of the bottle already, and once big money and the corporate sharks are aroused by the smell of this kind of blood-money in the water, the future of democracy will be saddled with yet another obstacle to have to overcome for it's survival.

Folks had better wise up to what's going on here.




----TFG

When You Have No Truths To Tell - Quite The Quandary

Interesting.

President Trump: "There were numerous cases where women were paid money to say bad things about me. You can't do that. You can't do that. And those women did wrong things." https://t.co/o5rsXVqVgt pic.twitter.com/CgqBN63sKd

— The Hill (@thehill) June 23, 2019

If Drumpf has proof of this bombastic claim, then he needs to haul these (as yet unidentified) women whom he is accusing of serious crimes, in to a court of law, get everyone sworn in under oath, and let's get to the bottom of the truth - right?  Sound like a sensible idea?

Here's the thing though.

Remember back in 2016, in the months leading up to election day, when those other 15 or 16  women came out with their own claims of Donald Trump sexually assaulting, and even, like E. Jean Carroll is now claiming, raping them?  Just as he is here with Carroll, a snarling Drumpf dismissed all of those women as liars and frauds too, using the same defense that he didn't "even know" most of them, or "never met" them. And yet, like with Carroll, evidence in the public domain inevitably comes to light that shows otherwise.

But Drumpf, being the oh-so-extra-special turgid bully that he is, decided he would take his then public denial of guilt a step further when he claimed that when the election was over, he The Great and Powerful Drumpf, was going to sue all of these women. For what? Presumably for slandering his pristine family name or his manhood, or both, but he didn't say.

There was a news interview at the time where the attorney for one of Drumpf's accusers laughed at his threats to sue and said . . .

"𝙄𝙛 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙨𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙏𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨. 𝘼 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙖𝙮."

https://www.cnn.com/2016/10/22/politics/trump-says-hell-sue-sexual-misconduct-accusers/index.html

And if you believe that Drumpf wasn't aware of the truth in that statement, explain why it is then that since the day he blustered that threat to sue, why hasn't he uttered a single peep, or made a single legal move to sue a single one of these women accusers?

Fear of perjury and obstruction.

It's the same reason Drumpf is now using executive privilege claims to prevent people who formerly served in his administration from responding to subpoenas and talking to Congress under oath.  It's the same reason that Drumpf himself has copped to for not wanting to be interviewed in person by Robert Mueller, for he knows full well, and he knows himself better than anyone, that he would very quickly find himself in criminal peril for lying to investigators and obstructing a federal investigation.

And that right there dear readers, is the sum total of the personal character of the individual who presently calls himself POTUS.

----TFG

The Madness Of The Boy Who Would Be King

[ click pic to enlarge ]

Drumpf has just brought this country significantly closer to not just a constitutional crisis in the form of his own impeachment, but also with an escalation in the battle for this nation's soul and our democracy's future.

Observe:

EXCLUSIVE: President Trump tells @GStephanopoulos that he "wasn't gonna fire" special counsel Robert Mueller because "I watched Richard Nixon go around firing everybody, and that didn't work out too well." https://t.co/J72Biz1YSs pic.twitter.com/glA1e6L57y

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 16, 2019

https://www.rawstory.com/2019/06/trump-moves-to-take-unchecked-power-article-ii-of-the-constitution-allows-me-to-do-whatever-i-want/

Trump:  "𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚 𝙄𝙄 [𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣] 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩."

He was not joking folks.  Watch the videotape.  That was a very serious statement just cavalierly uttered by President Orange Caligula.

Now, imagine if, at any time during his presidency, speaking in his official capacity as President of The United States of America, Barack Obama had ever -- EVER!!!! -- even in joking EVER!!!! -- proclaimed that "𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚 𝙄𝙄 [𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣] 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩."

Holy shit! - the conservatives in this country would have been foaming at the mouth with apoplectic rage.  There would have been a run on pitchforks and rope at Home Depot.  And The Gadfly has absolutely no doubt that they would have pushed for the immediate impeachment of Obama - not one iota of doubt.  Tell The Gadfly he is wrong about that and The Gadfly will tell you that you are irrefutably full of shit.

With his arrogant decree that he can do "whatever" he wants because his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution is the only interpretation that matters, Drumpf has now arrived at one of the key junctures in the process of how autocrats advance the ambitions of their eventually despotic regimes - by issuing public proclamations staking out unilateral ownership of absolute, unaccountable executive power - unaccountable to no one, not even the law.

It's like his tweet from the other day, where he basically threatened Americans that if anyone but him  "takes over" the presidency in 2020 (spoken like a true mobster), America's economy would be destroyed.  First of all - that is about as un-American and unimaginable a thing to hear coming from the mouth of a sitting U.S. president.  Secondly, it dovetails nicely with his newest proclamation that he can do "whatever" he wants with the American people's government, which he now apparently believes, belongs solely to himself, as if it were just one of his gaudy, shady business deal, real-estate properties.

At some point we are going to arrive at the nexus where the constitutionally mandated process of Congressional oversight and Judicial checks and balances, reality, and Donald Trump's psychotic, authoritarian ego are going to meet, and shit is going to get ugly pretty damn fast.

“Because a man plays a king superbly well does not mean that he would make a good king.”

― Louis L'Amour, 'Comstock Lode'

----TFG

The Bloody Red Badge of American Cowardice . . .

Umm - ok . . .

"The FDLE investigation shows former Deputy Peterson did absolutely nothing to mitigate the MSD shooting," Commissioner Rick Swearingen said in a statement. "There can be no excuse for his complete inaction and no question that his inaction cost lives."

https://www.npr.org/2019/06/04/729728957/his-inaction-cost-lives-deputy-in-parkland-shooting-arrested-faces-11-charges

"Did absolutely nothing to mitigate" . . . needless slaughter.

"Inaction cost lives" . . . innocent lives.


It's just a tad ironic in The Gadfly's view that they are prosecuting this hapless school cop for the act of cowardice in the face of danger resulting in the deaths of innocents.

Ironic, for at this very moment, there are hundreds, no, make that thousands, of U.S. politicians at the federal and state levels of this country, Republicans and Democrats, who have committed, and presently are committing, the exact same offense in the form of their own cowardice for allowing the dark money slush fund that calls itself the NRA, and the gun manufacturing lobbyists, to control the legislative agenda of Congress on the issue of gun violence, in exchange for political support and campaign donations.

The cowardly behavior of these gutless, selfish politicians on this issue has fostered a societal environment of ever increasing and deadlier gun violence which is proliferating uncurbed in our country.

America's political "leaders" have done "absolutely nothing to mitigate" the ever escalating numbers of innocent dead Americans from random and rampant gun violence.

Their negligent "inaction" on this matter has clearly "cost lives."

The Gadfly doesn't think it's a stretch at all to believe that these NRA-owned politicians are trying to wash away their own sins along with the blood of innocents that indelibly stains their own hands with the arrest and prosecution of this sacrificial lamb, school cop, all of which does absolutely nothing but compound the vile nature of their own cowardice.

It's a sad commentary on where we are at as a self-described, "civilized" nation.





----TFG

From D-Day to Donald Day - The Chronicle Of An Empire's Fall From Grace

[ click pic to enlarge ]

Wow.  Imagine - 75 years ago this happened in human history.

Think about it.

If you know anyone who is older than 75 years of age, they were alive on this planet when D-Day went down in 1944.  And if you do actually know one of those people, there is a very good likelihood that they are alive, and living in a free America today, because 75+ years ago, America's then POTUS made a determination that if America was truly the "land of the free and home of the brave," then Americans needed to stand up, as a nation, and defend the freedom-loving peoples of the world from the depraved, murderous aspirations of authoritarian monsters like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin.

Think about that for a little while.  A good, long, contemplative while.

Then ask yourself - and be fucking honest - ask yourself if you have full faith and trust in the individual currently leading this country to stand up to the modern-day authoritarians from Russia, China and North Korea, and the budding authoritarians in Saudi Arabia, Hungary, and Turkey.

That's all.



----TFG

Brave Sir Mittens . . .

Lol.  Poor Mitt Romney . . .

"I just don't think there is the full element you need to prove an obstruction of justice case," says Sen. @MittRomney on the Mueller report.

He says he was "troubled" by the report but doesn't think "impeachment is the right way to go.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/vXjkgdNgRb

— CNN (@CNN) May 19, 2019

Yep - poor, poor Mittens.  He's the only man on the planet who is perpetually caught between his innate desire to both shit and get off the pot.  Sadly, Mitt's affliction is usually on display when it comes to matters of individual courage and honesty.  Here, as you can see, he simply is incapable of seeing the clear state of affairs as it relates to the question of whether Drumpf willfully acted to obstruct the Mueller probe.

Umm, here's the thing though - The Gadfly hates to be the bearer of disturbing news Senator, but you may want to have a chat with the over 800 (probably more by now) former U.S. federal prosecutors, from both Republican and Democrat administrations, who have signed a joint letter stating unequivocally that:

"The conduct of President Trump described in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report would, in the case of any other person not covered by the Office of Legal Counsel policy against indicting a sitting President, result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice."

https://medium.com/@dojalumni/statement-by-former-federal-prosecutors-8ab7691c2aa1

Mitt Romney can dance and equivocate all he wants by employing argle-bargle terms like "full element" to mask his own fear over the prospect of having to take a definitive, principled stand on whether the current occupant of the American people's White House is, or is not, a criminal, and whether he is the ONLY American citizen who is NOT bound by our American laws or constitution.

But that is a whole helluva fucking lot of former, very high level, respected and respectable law enforcement/legal people, from both party's past administrations, who are stating that in their collective view, Donald Trump has committed "multiple felonies" and has obstructed justice.

Mitt Romney actually knows it too - he's not really that dumb.  The Mittster just quite simply has yet to find that inner courage to stand up and affirm his own belief in the principle that no one man is above the law in this country - and most certainly not Donald Trump.  Keep trying Mittens . . . even blind squirrels find the occasional nut.



----TFG

The Kind of Friends That The Gadfly Can Very Easily Do Without

This post is directed at The Gadfly's Facebook "friends."

The Gadfly's time has been consumed these past few weeks with a family tragedy, thus the dearth of blog postings, but something Donald Trump did just recently has compelled The Gadfly to step back from his family circumstance, however briefly, to address.

The Gadfly heard of a rally that Donald Trump held in Green Bay, Wisconsin about a week ago, where, in a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from his own criminal misdeeds, Orange Caligula regaled his brain-damaged cult members with some very vile and disturbing claims.  Observe:

Trump claimed Saturday that Democrats are in favor of “allowing children to be ripped from their mother’s womb right up until the moment of birth.”

Trump went on to falsely characterize what he said an “extreme late abortion” would entail in horrifically graphic—and not to mention misleading—language. “Your Democrat governor here in Wisconsin, shockingly, stated that he will veto legislation that protects Wisconsin babies born alive. Born alive,” Trump said in a disapproving tone. “The baby is born, the mother meets with the doctor, they take care of the baby, they wrap the baby beautifully, and then the doctor and the mother determine whether or not they will execute the baby.” Trump then put on an incredulous tone. “You hear late term, but this is where the baby is born, it’s there, it’s wrapped, that’s it,” Trump said as he made a guillotine motion with his hand, as if he were implying that the baby’s head would be sliced off.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/04/trump-abortion-baby-wrapped-blanket-execute-baby.html

Oh - you need video proof?  Ok.

The Gadfly is going to step out of third person character here for for the remainder of this post to convey, as clearly as he possibly can, a message to some folks.

First off, I will not dignify Donald Trump by commenting directly about what he stated in that video.  Donald Trump is a sorry ass fucking excuse for a human being and a world class piece of inhuman shit and I wake up every motherfucking day, sick to my goddamn stomach, knowing that this shameless, evil cocksucker is the "leader" of this nation.  Full stop.

So here's the deal.  No bullshit.  No room for debate.  Just very simply stated.

If you are one of the people who believes what Donald Trump stated in that video - first of all - go fuck yourself.  Secondly, please unfriend me at your earliest possible opportunity.  I have absolutely no desire to have or maintain friendly contact with anyone - friend, casual acquaintance or even family member who sincerely believes what Trump said in that video.

And no - this is not about partisan Democrat vs. Republican political differences of opinion.  This is entirely about basic human decency and basic honesty and moral values.  If you truly believe that Democrats (liberal Americans like me) are advocating for “allowing children to be ripped from their mother’s womb right up until the moment of birth,” and allowing an infant to be born just so that mother and doctor can swaddle the babe, make goo-goo talk to it, and then gleefuly "execute" it, then you are no friend of mine.  I do not share that abhorrent view with you and I certainly do not share whatever fucked up values that you hold and deem to be "moral," which allow you to agree with Donald Trump on a claim of this magnitude of depravity.

So just unfriend me now - ok?  Do us both this favor.  Because I swear, if I see one more cowardly meme cross my timeline, from anyone, that lends credibility to this monster's allegations, I am going to go off on you like a monkey on a cupcake, and the second I finish, I will personally expurgate your presence from my friends list - both on social media and privately.

And with that - I have nothing more to say on the matter.




----TFG

Imagine All The People - Thinking With Their Brains, Ooh-woohoo-ooh-wahoo...

Rudy Giuliani gets ripped to shreds for claim getting intelligence from Russia is fine https://t.co/j5t5y5jpEA

— The Progressive Mind (@Libertea2012) April 22, 2019

As well he should be shredded.

Imagine if the scenario were different . . . stay with The Gadfly for a moment on this one, humor him.

Imagine if in the role of Trump you had Hillary Clinton, she having come into office the same manner as Drumpf, with all the same scandalous baggage that he grifted his way to power with.

And imagine that in the place of the Russia collusion scandal, replace Russia with North Korea.

And then imagine that everything that has transpired these past two years with Donald Trump and the Mueller probe, has equally transpired with Hillary - right up to this week's release of the final investigative report.

Got it?  Ok.  And remember replace Hillary with Donald, and North Korea for Russia in this scenario - mkay?

Now imagine Hillary sending one of her highest ranking surrogate mouthpieces out on to the cable news shows right after the the redacted Mueller report was released, to spout the line that "𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜" with Hillary's having accepted political intelligence and cyber hacking efforts from North Korean associates of Kim Jong Un, that were intended to help her win the election.

"𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜."

Got that?  There was "𝙉𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜." with Hillary Clinton taking advantage of North Korea's hacking of our presidential election with the intent to help her win, and smear her opponent.

Imagine all of that had take place right up to this very moment.  Then ask yourselves the question - that one question, you know, the one that you know unquestioningly, more than any other, needs to be asked at this very moment.   And if you are honest with yourselves, the answer that you arrive at would be to acknowledge the very concerning reality that we have a problem with Donald Trump, his presidency and his ideological promoters, and that problem revolves around some very serious questions pertaining to their actual loyalty to this American democracy, our laws and our constitution.

Imagine.


----TFG

U.S. Conservatives: We Don't Need No Stinking Election Security . . . .

From that raging libtard Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal:

April 19, 2019 5:30 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON—Robert Mueller’s long-awaited report is unambiguously clear on this point: Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election and sought to help Donald Trump win the White House.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/putin-has-won-mueller-report-details-the-ways-russia-interfered-in-the-2016-election-11555666201

Let's take a ride in the Wayback Machine to this August 1, 2018 USA Today article:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/01/republicans-block-money-election-security/884438002/

Keep in mind - this move last fall by the GOP to thwart a public investment in to securing our national electoral system, came AFTER all 16 U.S. Intelligence and national security agencies had issued a rare, joint public statement affirming the truth that Russian operatives interfered in the 2016 election, with the express intent of benefiting Donald Trump's prospects for taking the White House.

And now, with the release of the Mueller report, we have evidence-based confirmation that the Russians hacked in to voting databases of at least two of the battleground states of Florida and Illinois, and possibly a third, Wisconsin.  This had been reported on previously, but Mueller's investigation has now confirmed that the hacking did indeed occur [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/u-s-intel-russia-compromised-seven-states-prior-2016-election-n850296].

But don't look to Trump and the GOP to take any meaningful or effective measures to prevent Putin and his Vodka swilling cyber monkeys from ratfucking the upcoming 2020 election.  That would most certainly not be in their best interest.  And Vladimir Putin is quite cognizant of the fact that the door to the American electoral security hen-house has purposefully been left wide open, and that he has been granted free reign by Trump and the Republican party, to invade and plunder as he pleases.  And besides that - why would Putin quit his assault on our democracy, especially considering the level of fabulous success that he achieved in 2016?

No - the last thing conservative Republicans want is clean and fair elections.  They know that they are on the downside of shifting demographics in this country and that their party, now officially the property of Trumpian MAGA, is on a steady trajectory toward extinction, and/or self-defeat through their own corruption and treachery.   And it is why, at every turn, that the GOP makes calculated efforts to ensure that our electoral system is anything but clean, fair and uncompromised.

When it comes to U.S. elections, clean, fair, and uncompromised, quite simply observed, are not the kind of attributes that benefit the modern-day conservative movement, primarily because that movement is built on a foundation of lies and corruption and charlatanism, and Drumpf and his enablers all know that it is just a matter of time before their con game is entirely exposed, and their grip on political power is permanently wrenched from their crooked and deceiving hands.

Very simply put - Donald Trump needs to be impeached, even though we know that the GOP Senate will protect him.  Regardless, it is imperative that Drumpf gets that big, bold asterisk of impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, eternally associated with his perfidious presidency in the history books.  His actions in office have more than justified attaching that stain to his despicable name.

And lest The Gadfly neglect to note - the modern-day conservative movement is a deadly virus in need of a powerful antibiotic that will destroy it.  That antibiotic is clean, fair, and uncompromised elections, and We The People can ensure that our democracy endures by holding these American (and Russian) democracy-hating bastards, and election ratfuckers to righteous account for their betrayals of the principles and ideals that make The United States of America a great nation.




----TFG

The Emperor With No Clothes and His Featherless Parrots . . .

You gotta love these phony fuckers.  Observe . . .

.@ChrisCuomo: It matters that Trump asked WH lawyer to fire Mueller!

JIM JORDAN: But he didn't do it

CUOMO: If I ask you to punch Meadows & you don't, the request is still wrong

MEADOWS: But it's not a crime unless he assaults me!

C: So that's the standard? Not being a felon? pic.twitter.com/Bhn7hPQy7a

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 19, 2019

Suppose if you will - that if back during one of the eight (or is it up to nine now?) GOP led congressional investigations of Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi attack, Barack Obama had ordered Hillary Clinton to not answer any questions, or even worse, to lie to Congress about the administration's actions during the Benghazi raid.  And suppose then that Hillary Clinton disobeyed that order and told investigators the entire truth instead (which btw - she actually did, in every one of those eight, or is it up to nine now?, GOP investigations).

Now - imagine, if you can, how these two Republican ass-clowns Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows would have gone on national cable news providing the same, cynical, lame-ass argument in defense of Obama's illegal orders, as they are doing for Drumpf.

Then laugh your mother-fucking asses off, and should urge to mercilessly mock these two fake national "leaders" take root in your heart, by all means - please do so.



----TFG

One of The Great Mammaries . . . er, Memories...

So the Mueller report was released today.  Not the full report, but the one that Drumpf's fixer Bill Barr scrubbed clean in order to paint Drumpf's behavior and actions in a lighter shade of filth than what is deserved.

But there was something culled directly from Mueller's report that fascinated The Gadfly.

But first -- remember how *pResident "Very Stable Genius" likes to crow about how awesome his own brain is and how great of a memory that he has?  If you don't remember, here's a refresher:

𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘥 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘞𝘦𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 "𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘦" 𝘢𝘯𝘥 "𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴" 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥'𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦.

𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘸'𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘓𝘢 𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘜𝘚 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩, 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭. 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 "𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."

 https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-gold-star-great-memory-2017-10

Great memory he has.  One of the all-time greats.  Of all time - was that mentioned?

Anyhow, see how, in reply to Mueller investigator's questions, Drumpf pukes out cowardly page after page after page of curt replies of, "I do not remember," and "I do not recall," and "I have no recollection:"

"I do not remember."
"I do not recall."
"I have no recollection."

These are some of President Trump's written responses to the Special Counsel's questions about Russian interference. We're counting mentions of key names and phrases in Mueller's report: https://t.co/rlcbZPcJRF pic.twitter.com/N4uqWFXITq

— Post Graphics (@PostGraphics) April 18, 2019

So you Trump supporters --- explain this then --- which The Gadfly knows you fucking can't, but go ahead, try it anyway.  Amuse The Gadfly.  Explain to all of us how it came to be that "one of the great memories of all time" couldn't remember a mother-fucking thing when it came to answering questions about his campaign's level of involvement in the Russian ratfucking of the 2016 presidential election.  All-time great memory and poof! . . . instantly can't recall, remember or recollect his ass from a whole in the ground.

The Gadfly is just going to come right out and say it.  If someone is that addle-brained that they cannot remember, recall, or recollect a goddamn thing about - pretty much anything - that went on in their own winning presidential campaign, then they have no fucking business being in charge of a world super power with nukes at their fingertips.  And there is actually a constitutional amendment that addresses that very scenario btw - ( LINK ).

But we know that Donald Trump didn't really all of a sudden come down with a temporary case of amnesia in regards to the Russian/Putin contacts crawling all over his campaign like flies on dog shit thing, don't we folks?  And how do we know this?  Because Donald Trump is a brilliant man.  He's a smart man.  He comes from a superior gene pool.  And he has a great memory as he's regaled us.  And we know this to be so for he and his clapping seal supporters bleat it incessantly - to the point of nausea.

But the MAGA crowd's great hero and leader wouldn't really sink so low as to fake an instant case of amnesia when it came time to truthfully, under penalty of perjury, respond to Robert Mueller's legal questionnaire would he?   Would he??

For if so, which getting access to the full, unredacted Mueller report can probably confirm for us, then it can only mean one thing  . . . Drumpf is lying to the American people to save his own corrupt, criminal ass and by doing so, shitting on everything that is just, decent and lawful, the actual attributes that are supposed to be the bedrock principles of our nation and our civil society.  If Donald Trump is lying about his involvement with Russia's attack on this country's democratic backbone, our elections, then he is stabbing a knife into the back of the U.S. Constitution, democracy, and the rule of law, not to mention the hallowed concept that...

𝕹𝖔 𝖔𝖓𝖊 𝖒𝖆𝖓 𝖎𝖘 𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖛𝖊 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖑𝖆𝖜.  

So here's the uncomplicated deal then - if you are one of one of these people who either do not not care, or worse, are appeasers of Drumpf's assault on the aforementioned attributes and ideals, then all that The Gadfly wants to know from you is .... why?  Why do you hate America and democracy so fucking much??

krrrnkkkk! (sound of mic dropping).




----TFG

Quite The Taxing Situation...

The Gadfly is going to go out on a limb here and postulate that Donald Trump never, ever, ever intended to release his tax returns to the public.  Never, ever.

Keep in mind the following as Drumpf and his lawyers go to hell and high water, and ultimately to the U.S. Supreme Court, to keep the American people from ever seeing his tax returns -

In the runup to, and during the 2016 campaign, Drumpf unequivocally stated that he would release his taxes.  There are many videos of him saying as much (with Drumpf, there's always a video or a tweet):

As the 2016 election drew nearer, Drumpf pivoted from say he was going to release his taxes to, "oh, so sorry, I can't, I'm being audited, they won't let me."  There is absolutely nothing in IRS law that prevents someone under audit from publicly releasing their tax returns.  People do it all the time.  Richard Nixon did it, and did so at the height of the Watergate investigation.

After Drumpf was "elected" the story of his taxes being under audit grew in scope - he suddenly began claiming that he was being audited in perpetuity, so sorry folks, no taxes, probably ever.

The IRS does not comment on people being audited.  However, they do send a formal letter to audit targets.  Drumpf has failed to even produce the official IRS audit letter, which contains no private information as it is just a form letter, that would indeed corroborate his story that he is currently under IRS audit.   Drumpf's long-time personal attorney Michael Cohen testified recently that he tried to get a copy of the IRS audit letter in 2016 from Drumpf, to combat press reports.  Drumpf declined to provide it.

And now that the House Ways and Means Committee in Congress is threatening to subpoena his tax returns from the IRS, which by law they have a right to do, Drumpf is now saying that he will fight the release of his taxes all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Quite the dramatic reversal huh?  The kind of reversal that makes one believe that there may be some scandalously explosive information in those tax returns.

The spectacle of watching Drumpf hide under the skirt of a federal government agency (the IRS) to keep even more of his unethical, probably criminal deeds hidden from public view is entertaining to say the least.

You know which presidential candidate in 2016 instructed the IRS to release 15 years of their taxes, showing that they and their spouse paid back more than 40% of their income in state and federal taxes, and - also showed charitable contributions totaling 10% of their gross income during that timeline?

Uh-huh . . .

And The Gadfly is just going to leave that right fucking there.

----TFG

A Future People's Republic of Americastan?

[click pic to enlarge]

This is a must watch interactive journo-doc [link at bottom of post].

Scroll through to the end, it's worth it.  And no - it's not a video of Drumpf urinating on some hookers in a Moscow hotel room.

No this is something much more sinister and terrifying.

This is about the elite sponsored, "Big Brother" surveillance state that the Chinese government is in the process of experimenting with, and likely mastering.

 

And you just know that the Chinese and the Russians both would love nothing better than to have a willing authoritarian fasci-garchy (The Gadfly just invented that term btw) accomplice in their bid to subjugate as much of humanity under the rule of a small cadre of, supremely wealthy and powerful, nation-state despots, as they can.

If after watching this, you still do not understand why The Gadfly gets, admittedly, a bit overzealous in squawking about Drumpf and his shady, international business dealing past, then quite honestly, you are helpless.

But stop and think about this for a moment. We already know that prior to and during the 2016 election campaign, Drumpf and his people had more than 100 different contacts with Russian individuals and entities, many of them with known connections to dictator Vladimir Putin.

When Putin was asked at the Helsinki Summit, on live TV, if he wanted Donald Trump to win the presidency, and did he help Trump, Putin responded, "Yes I did. Yes, I did."

Then you have Jared Kushner (one-half of Jarvanka) playing the creepy international banker masquerading as an authentic diplomat bullshit.  When he's not trying to drump up more cash for his business schemes, he's working with his father-in-law to give nuclear technology to the Saudis, one of the most repressive regimes in the Mid-East.

 

And by no means should we discount Drumpf's enigmatic, Stepford daughter Ivanka in all of this authoritarian regime coddling and footsie playing.  She herself has been getting Chinese product trademarks approved by the Chinese government hand over fist this past year.

 

And to top it all off, with the mother of all cherries on the topping, this past week, a Chinese national (spy??) gets arrested by the U.S. Secret Service strolling around Drumpf's "southern White House," Mar-a-Lago, carrying two passports, four cell phones, a laptop, an external hard drive, and a thumb drive loaded with malware software.

Clearly, the people that Drumpf and his clan are cuddling and canoodling with are not nice, or good human beings, and they don't give a flying shit about America, and baseball, and apple pie, and mom, or even Leave It To Beaver.  They don't give a rat's sphincter about any of that shit.  They'd like to take a flamethrower to it all quite frankly.

So if you paid attention to these Uighur people in this article's video that are presently under repressive Chinese rule, when you see in this article the faces of those people in that city - the faces of people in the street, in their shops, anywhere in public - there are no smiles, no laughter, no joyous activities.  Nobody looks each other in the eye for more than a nervous glance.  Did you notice?  Just a bunch of imprisoned zombies, shuffling their miserable fucking dead souls away into nothingness.

 

Today it's the Uighurs - tomorrow, who knows?  Perhaps it'll be the Kansans, or the New Yorkers, or even the loudmouth Texans.

So here's the deal -- none of this circle-jerk funny business that is going on with Drumpf and his Jarvanka gang, between them all and the Russians, and the Chinese, and the Saudis -- none of it is normal.  Mkay?  And that is not solely a fucking partisan Democrat observation.

And so that. That right there is why we need to pay attention to what's going on with this Drumpf business folks. Our future freedom might very well depend on it.

 

LINK ⏩ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/04/world/asia/xinjiang-china-surveillance-prison.html

 

 

 

 

----TFG

 

 

Always With The Questions Mr. Gadfly . . . .

via GIPHY



So here's a few observations that perhaps some Drumpf supporters can help The Gadfly try to comprehend a bit more clearly.

If Donald Trump is all of these "great" things that he constantly boasts about himself to be, then how come - -

If he is a “Billionaire”, why can nobody see his tax returns?  And why, 2 years after he promised the American people, on camera, that he would release his taxes, is he still peddling the bullshit excuse that he's "under audit" by the IRS, when the IRS themselves have publicly stated that they were unaware of any such audit?

If he is such a “Stable Genius”, why did he feel compelled to pay his fixer Michael Cohen to threaten his colleges with lawsuits if they ever released his academic grades?

If he is truly the "Healthcare President," how come after he has had four years (2 as candidate, 2 as POTUS) to come up with the bare bones details of a health care plan, not a shred of evidence exists indicating there is any plan at all even?  And now he's saying he's got a plan, but when asked to provide details, he refuses, and says they will let the American people know AFTER the 2020 election.  How is that not the most arrogant thing you've ever heard?

And last but certainly not the least - If he is truly, unquestioningly, and completely "Vindicated," and “Exonerated” in the Russian collusion stuff, then why isn't he out in front of the public, every damn day, loudly demanding that the entire report be released to show the American people just how much of a "hoax" and "witch hunt" Mueller's probe really was?

The Gadfly will tell you why.

It's because a sizable number of American people are being conned by the biggest con-artist in the history of con-artistry.  They are being flim-flammed by one of the biggest flim-flammers in the annals of flim-flammery.  That's the sad reality.  And the infuriating reality is this -- Donald Trump is hell-bent determined to put this country, and it's people, through some of the worst national trauma in our history - and he's going to do it just so that he can save his own treacherous, rotten, crooked ass.




----TFG

Still Saddlesore, But Ready To Get Back On The Trail

And now a word from our sponsor . . . . .





The Gadfly is back in the Blogger saddle.  Come one, come ye all.




----TFG