Deranged Rhino

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From the linked article (for those who don't know, Powell is Gen Flynn's attorney) The Spygate connection The reason Trump might want Fine out is the same reason Trump’s opponents would want Fine in. We have a couple of recent windows onto that reason, and both are very informative. One is reporting done since mid-January by Susan Crabtree for Real Clear Politics. Her most recent article on 10 March is the starting point. In it, she recounts how the Trump administration has been taking a penetrating look at a number of the IGs in federal agencies. One of them is Glenn Fine, who has been dragging his heels on the whistleblower-reprisal case of Adam Lovinger. Crabtree reminds us that Lovinger is “an ousted member of Trump’s National Security Council who has become a cause celebre among some of Trump’s closest allies and advisers.” Fine’s role is unimpressive: “Lovinger, who was removed from Trump’s NSC early in the administration, has spent nearly three years on unpaid administrative leave and the last two waiting for acting Defense Department Inspector General Glenn Fine, who was appointed by Obama, to wrap up the case and issue his final report.” But the meat of the issue – as Spygate watchers will readily recall – is that what Lovinger was blowing the whistle on was the use of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment to pay Stefan Halper for the services he rendered to the Spygate operation against the Trump campaign. That is what got Lovinger mistreated as a whistleblower, and why he’s been kept twisting in the wind by the acting DOD IG for the last two years. (snip) One day before Fine was nominated, another appointment of exceptional interest – and relevance – was made. In the DOD Office of Net Assessment, long presided over by Andrew Marshall (who was retiring at the age of 93), James Baker was appointed as Marshall’s successor on 14 May 2015. Baker would be the head of ONA to whom Adam Lovinger made his appeals about misuse of assets and sweetheart deals for cronies. It would be Baker’s ONA that Fine was essentially protecting by ignoring ONA’s retaliation against Lovinger. (Michael Flynn’s defense also believes the ONA Baker leaked transcripts of Flynn’s phone calls with the Russian ambassador to David Ignatius at the Washington Post. All else aside, if James Baker at ONA somehow gained access to those transcripts, that’s a huge problem, and one the DOD IG, or the Intelligence Community IG, could have spent their time on far more worthily than in the ways they have.) This is one of the coincidences Durham has been investigating.

More:

(Reposting this (deleted the previous) to get rid of the mobile link.) His language and tone has become much more definitive since the holidays when he was last speaking of Durham's probe. Probably worth noting...

Can’t make this up... https://mobile.twitter.com/JRubinBlogger/status/1248414743997476865

This was already posted in the Trump re-election thread, but belongs here to. No Chance Joe It's going to be brutal.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pfizer-identifies-lead-coronavirus-drug-candidate-11586427303

Kyler Murray the early popular 2020 MVP bet with Tom Brady and a surprise quarterback behind him They may not have the best odds, but here is who bettors are high on to win the NFL MVP award in 2020 T2. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills, 50/1 odds, (8 percent of tickets) This has to be the most surprising name in the top three. Allen threw for 3,089 yards, 20 touchdowns, and nine interceptions as he led the Bills to a 10-6 record and their second playoff berth in the last three years. They did choke in the AFC wild-card game against the Texans, but that's not a fair representation of how Buffalo's season actually went. The Bills had the No. 3 defense in the league last year when it came to yards allowed per game, and they rode that unit all the way to the playoffs. Allen's nine rushing touchdowns didn't hurt Buffalo either. You can say he was more of a game manager in 2019, but with the cannon-like arm Allen has and the mobility he possesses, many figure he will take a big step forward in year three. Another reason to be high on Allen is that he finally has a true No. 1 wideout for the first time in his career. The Bills made a big trade for former Minnesota Vikings star wideout Stefon Diggs, who has recorded two straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons. Don't sleep on the Bills in 2020. With Tom Brady now in the NFC South, they might be the favorites to win the division. Interestingly enough, Allen has also racked up the highest percent of dollars wagered in Vegas so far (22 percent), following by Dak Prescott (25/1 odds, 18 percent) and Murray (20/1 odds, 14 percent). https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/kyler-murray-the-early-popular-2020-mvp-bet-with-tom-brady-and-a-surprise-quarterback-behind-him/

Again, this is why I asked you to read the FISC opinion memo. It lays out indisputable evidence that this crime DID take place, routinely. https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/icotr/51117/2016_Cert_FISC_Memo_Opin_Order_Apr_2017.pdf (Pg 82-84) As for motive -- you're joking, right? The motive is control. Over you and me. Control = power. Power = money. Who's more powerful, Bull, honestly, a sitting US Senator or the spook who knows where every one of the the bodies buried by that senator (metaphorical or otherwise) are located? If your goal is to remain in control and in power, why be a politician when, as you astutely noted before, they have limited shelf lives due to the election cycle? How so? You said it yourself, presidents come and go. Spooks remain, and cross administrations.

Read what you wrote above -- real slow. Now, I ask you with all sincerity and honesty -- not as a gotcha, but because you're so close to seeing through your own blocks -- who holds everyone's secrets? Who has unlimited access to the most invasive and powerful tools of surveillance in the history of humankind? (then we'll talk about your second paragraph)

From Chicago:

The rest of that list has been known since the 1980s about Trump. None of them mattered to the voters. And still don't. They're a waste of time (like your entire existence to date). Here's something you cannot escape: The Clintons and Obamas came into office broke, but left multi-millionaires. Do you think they got that honestly? Through "book deals"? Compare to Trump, who came into office rich and is going to leave it with less money than when he started. You're a very dumb person. Easily led astray by your FEELZ because you cannot think for yourself.

You have that completely backwards. But, it's moot. So, let me ask you. If you believe that there is no discernable difference between the parties, and (as you stated earlier) believe that off shoring wasn't a natural economic development but one fostered by unelected officials in the lobbying industry (and elsewhere) controlling the government against the people's will (and the market's natural tendencies... how can you state with the same breath that the notion of a "deep state" (which is a terrible catch-all term these days) is fake? Right. you can't. You can't hold both opinions at once without being either completely hypocritical or naive.

If you actually understood the point I was making, you'd stop trying to draw a line between the GOP and DNC. They are the same. And they aren't "pushing us right".

I can't overstate how damning the GP transcripts are to the narrative we've been force-fed. Source 3: I agree with this take. Though, trying to get that confirmed (been trying for over 2 years) is damn near impossible. No one wants to talk about at DOJ.

War time footing. War time Lts.

You just got embarrassed. A smarter man would remain quiet. But we all know you ain't that smart