TO ASK THE QUESTION IS TO ANSWER IT: Why Did NBC News Sit on the Trump Tape for So Long?
Archive for 2016
October 10, 2016
HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: How to Fix Law School.
WIKILEAKS BOMBSHELL: Clinton Relied on Trump Primary Win, GOP Obliged.
WHY ARE LEFTY-RUN BUSINESSES SUCH CESSPITS OF ABUSE? Facebook ‘corporate fascism’ exposed in shocking testimony from former employee.
HMM: We’re now up to five reports of “safe” Galaxy Note 7s exploding worldwide. Given how many are out there, this is still a pretty low rate, though, right?
WHY, IT’S AS IF IT WAS ALL JUST LIES IN THE FIRST PLACE: For Young Voters, ‘Hope and Change’ Is Dead.
“Every election year, these politicians are sent up here to pacify us. You’ve been hoodwinked. Bamboozled,” to coin a phrase. And yet the Atlantic insists they must vote for Obama’s would-be successor.
YOU DON’T SAY: Leaked Email Reveals Potential Collusion Between State Department And Clinton Campaign.
Now, courtesy of the latest leak by Wikileaks, which earlier today released another 2,000 emails by Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, we may have stumbled on evidence of collusion between the State Department and the Clinton Campaign itself. In an email from close Hillary’s confidant Heather Samuelson, also known as “the Clinton insider who screened Hillary’s emails”, we learn the intimate details leaked by Samuelson regarding a FOIA request submitted previously by Judicial Watch regarding Bill Clinton speeches, which shows that virtually entire process was being “translated” over to Hillary’s campaign.
By way of reminder, here is a quick Politico primer on who Heather Samuelson is, from September 2015:
Hillary Clinton chose a former campaign staffer who followed her to the State Department to make the initial determination about which of her emails should be preserved as federal records, according to closed-door testimony by Clinton’s former chief of staff Cheryl Mills, a GOP source told POLITICO.
Heather Samuelson, a lawyer and 2008 Clinton campaign staffer, worked under Mills and Clinton’s attorney David Kendall to sift through her ex-boss’ messages. She helped separate those that were purely personal, which were not turned over to the State Department, from those that were work-related.
The Daily Caller adds the following:
A longtime Clinton campaign staffer who worked for as White House liaison at Clinton’s State Department and, later, as her lawyer.
As a lawyer, Samuelson led up the 2014 review of Clinton’s emails to determine which ones were work-related and which were personal.
Most importantly, as we reported previously, Samuelson received DOJ immunity in exchange for turning over the laptop she used during the review of Clinton’s emails in 2014.
The Obama Administration is only average corrupt — more corrupt than the Bush Administration it followed, less corrupt than the Clinton Administration that may follow it.
WHY FISH is good for you.
JOHN SCHINDLER: Obama Blows Off Putin, Encouraging Kremlin Aggression Against NATO.
“Putin’s playing for real now,” explained a senior defense official in Warsaw, who indicated that his country’s military and intelligence moves in response to Putin’s Iskander gambit are “appropriate to the new situation.” The problem in Warsaw isn’t just Putin, whose bad behavior Poles now see as part of NATO’s “new normal” on the Alliance’s eastern flank—but President Obama, who is a no-show in this hour of crisis.
Indeed, four days into Putin’s Cuban Missile Crisis on the Baltic Sea, our president remains invisible. There has been no public statement on the Iskander deployment from either the White House or the Pentagon. The U.S. military has made some quiet moves in response to the Russian move, including flights by our spy planes over the Baltic to monitor Kremlin moves. However, the lack of any public support or demonstrations of NATO solidarity by Washington right now is deeply troubling to our allies in Eastern Europe, most of whom had minimal confidence in Obama’s courage even before his latest no-show.
Our semi-retired President still could not be reached for comment.
THAT WE HAVE ONE IS THE SCANDAL: Obama Administration Draws Criticism Over Iran Investment Policy.
“The new guidance overturns the long-running understanding that the U.S. dollar cannot be used to facilitate international trade with any Iranian entities, let alone sanctioned entities. And by allowing foreign subsidiaries of U.S. companies to transact business with Iranian entities, the president is ignoring the clear text of a law passed by Congress,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said on Sunday.
Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who chairs a Senate banking committee with oversight over Iran sanctions law, said the new guidelines amounted to the White House granting Tehran new concessions.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R., Kan.) said Treasury’s changes “green-light business with terrorists. The updated FAQs remove barriers for foreigners to engage with firms the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps controls. From this and other appeasements, it appears the Obama administration has given up on any democratic or pro-Western future for Iran.”
We’re all state sponsors of terror now.
JUST $49.99: The Amazon Echo Dot.
SHE CONTAINS MULTITUDES: Video: Without interruptions, Clinton manages to contradict herself on coal jobs at debate.
OUCH: Clinton up by double digits after Trump tape’s release.
The Democratic nominee also eclipsed the 50-percent margin in a head-to-head matchup.
Clinton leads the GOP nominee 52 percent to 38 percent in the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll conducted on Saturday and Sunday. In a four-way matchup, Clinton leads by 11 points, 46 percent to 35 percent, with Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson posting 9 percent.
During the last NBC/WSJ poll in September, Clinton led Trump by 7 points in the two-way race and 6 points in the four-way scenario.Clinton’s 14-point margin in the head-to-head and 11-point margin in the four way represent Clinton’s largest lead since an August McClatchy/Marist poll. That poll was taken after Clinton’s post-convention bounce and as Trump faced criticism over his comments about a Gold Star family.
We’ll see if last night’s debate turned things around any, but down-ticket Republicans might already be praying for some record-setting ticket-splitting.
WELL, THIS IS THE 21ST CENTURY, YOU KNOW: A Desert Full of Tomatoes, Thanks to Solar Power and Seawater.
NEWS YOUR DM CAN USE: Everything is Better With Zombies. Including Roleplaying Games.
HIGH TIMES: Lawmakers want to defund the DEA’s marijuana eradication program.
The DEA’s $14 million marijuana eradication program has been the subject of a fair amount of criticism in recent years. Twelve members of Congress have pushed to eliminate the program and use the money instead to fund domestic-violence prevention and deficit-reduction programs.
Its purpose is to “halt the spread of cannabis cultivation in the United States,” a mission that has become complicated as more states have legalized medical or recreational marijuana programs. Several more states have similar measures on the ballot this year.
The story doesn’t list the lawmakers involved, which is a shame because it would be interesting to know whether this was a bipartisan effort.
HAUNTING PHOTOS OF ABANDONED ASYLUMS. Mental institutions were ugly. But, you know, deinstitutionalization has been ugly, too.
I’M OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER WHEN DEMOCRATS THREATENED TO TRY W AS A WAR CRIMINAL AND “FROG MARCH” KARL ROVE TO PRISON: Donald Trump threatens to lock up Hillary Clinton.
If that exchange took place in a foreign country, American diplomats would be denouncing it. It ought to be regarded as the evening’s most important moment, and its most shameful: the violation of a democratic principle that distinguishes free polities from authoritarian ones. . . .
All the same, it was a telling, lamentable milestone in America’s politics. Mr Trump had already set new lows in decency, honesty and intellectual incoherence. With his threats against Mrs Clinton he took a step down a dark road that every American should renounce.
It’s not that they’re wrong, it’s that their outrage is inevitably selective. Also, while we’re talking about banana republic stuff, note that while Trump made a threat, Hillary actually saw a filmmaker jailed in order to support a political narrative. I don’t recall The Economist speaking so strongly about that. . . .
This exchange has led to “Oh my God, Trump wants to jail his political enemies, and this is further proof he wants to turn America into a banana republic” punditry and some analysis of how a president might be able to abuse executive power.
I have absolutely no doubt that Trump idolizes strongman-style leaders. He’s made it abundantly clear that he cares only about “getting things done” and has no concern—or even grasp—of the limitations of the president.
Nevertheless, the pearl-clutching response to this deliberately ignores the very real anger over how Clinton seems to have been treated differently by the same Department of Justice that tends to throw the book at “normal” Americans. In actuality, even Trump knows full well he can’t just send Clinton to a prison cell. He said he’s going to investigate her. He believes she’ll end up in jail as a result of this investigation. And as Jacob Sullum noted earlier, Clinton remains remarkably insouciant about the reality of how potentially serious her private email server scandal was.
Lost in the massive media blitz that began on Friday over Trump’s disgusting way of talking about women was the fact that Jeffrey Hurant, the CEO of gay escort site Rentboy.com, would plead guilty to federal charges of promoting prostitution and would not appeal the government’s demand that he fork over $10 million in revenue the site had earned.
Hurant is not accused of doing anything more than facilitating consensual sexual contact between men. When the Department of Homeland Security first helped the New York Police shut them down, there was no evidence of human trafficking or nonconsensual activity. But they were also making a lot of money, and that’s exactly what the government jumped at, immediately attempting to seize Rentboy’s profits. And they’ve succeeded.
Why is there more outrage about Trump wanting to have Clinton investigated by the Department of Justice than there is about how the DOJ and federal government treats everybody else?
Laws are for the little people. Trump was threatening one of the Big People, which is why the other Big People and their hangers-on are so upset.
BUT I HAD BEEN TOLD THAT THE SCIENCE WAS SETTLED: Believe it or not, the bees are doing just fine.
BREAKING: PAUL RYAN TO STOP DEFENDING TRUMP, FOCUS ON HOUSE MAJORITY. “The Associated Press reported that Ryan promised to focus on ‘making sure that Hillary Clinton does not get a blank check,’ suggesting he has written off the presidential election for his party.”
Allahpundit tweets that “If Ryan’s doing this now, after being booed on Saturday, the GOP’s private polling on Trump since Friday must be apocalyptic.”
WHY ARE DEMOCRAT-RUN CITIES SUCH CESSPITS OF VIOLENCE? 40 shot, 5 of them fatally, in Chicago over weekend.
WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE A GENERATOR, OR AN INVERTER, OR SOMETHING: The Latest: 1 Million Without Power in North, South Carolina. At least the temperatures are mild.
TOMORROW’S ATTACK ADS TODAY! James Lileks on last night’s debate:
Yes, I watched the debate. Less fireworks than I expected; though the rumble over predatory behavior was like those moments in a prizefight’s 7th round when they’re tired and in the clinch and hitting each other in the kidney. You expected them to trade straight shots to the jaw. If there was one resonant moment, it was Anderson Cooper getting Trump to say he had never acted on the behavior he described on The Tape.
“You’re saying you never did that.”
“I never did that.”
“So we’re clear, that is the thing you never did.”
“Never.”
“And by never, you mean absolutely never ever ever.”
“Such a thing did not happen at any point in my existence on this planet.”
“So it never happened, is what you are saying.”
“No.”
“Thank you for providing the tape we’ll run after the next allegation.”
I wonder what will be in the next tape that drops?
RESET: Russia’s top spin doctor in nuclear warning.
“A Russian takes a long time to harness a horse, but then rides fast,” said the news anchor, quoting a famous Russian saying.
By “riding fast”, Kiselyov was referring to a string of recent Russian military deployments:
•Last week, Moscow sent three warships from the Black Sea Fleet to the Mediterranean: on board, cruise missiles that can carry nuclear warheads
•Russia deployed nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles into the Kaliningrad region bordering Poland
•The Russians announced they would send 5,000 paratroopers to Egypt for military exercises
•Moscow also suspended three nuclear agreements with the United States
Kiselyov said that in recent days there had been a “radical change’ in the US-Russian relationship.
Moscow was taking action, he said, because of “the loud talk in Washington of a ‘Plan B’ for Syria. Everyone understands what this plan means: direct military force in Syria against President Assad’s forces and the Russian military”.
In Washington, the US state department said last week it was continuing internal deliberations about “non-diplomatic” options regarding the war in Syria.
I came of age politically during one of the tensest parts of the Cold War: From the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, through the KAL 007 shootdown, to the Pershing II missile deployment.
And I can’t recall Moscow ever talking like this before.
Much more of this Smart Diplomacy and we’re going to find ourselves in a shooting war with Russia over Syria.