Milo Yiannopolous Inadvertently Proves a Point on Real Time with Bill Maher (and Over Time with Bill Maher), February 17, 2017

My favorite picture of Milo. Video capture by me.

Usually, once a week, I like to post Over Time with Bill Maher on the blog. It's the internet only portion of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, and is (or at least used to be) the only portion that was free to post. I realized not everyone seeks it out, and often it's the best part of the "show." So, this week, I'm doing the same, but this time with some commentary.

One of the guests on the program this week was Milo Yiannopoulos, a right-wing "star" of rather recent vintage. He's some sort of big-wig at Breitbart "News," and considers himself a (at best) provocateur, and (in reality) a troll, something he sort of owns as his "thing." He--like his (allegedly) female counterpart Ann Coulter--lives for controversy. He absolutely thrives on getting a rise out of people, pissing them off, and making news for saying or doing (or causing) something dreadful. He thinks of himself as clever, funny and cute. He has a fraction of the wattage on any of those attributes that he thinks he has.

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The fact that Milo is flamboyantly gay, and yet has a fan base (and preferred political alignment with) people who would otherwise hate him, is also likely an irony that delights him. This write-up of him, for instance wouldn't ruffle his feathers at all, in fact it's probably too kind to even rise to his attention if he saw it. And this week, he was a guest on Bill Maher's show, which led to the public disassociation of prospective guest, writer Jeremy Scahill. Milo digs that as well. And while I applaud Scahill's effort, it's also counter-productive. The way to go was how both Larry Wilmore and Malcom Nance responded to Milo on this clip. Though Milo himself said he'd be literally masturbating to the attention later. Seriously.

But Milo also kind of inadvertently proved a point. And it was backed up by Bill's final New Rule, which was basically that anything is OKIYAR (okay if you are Republican). ANYTHING. In Milo's case, it's fine to be, as Wilmore said, "a douchey little ass," if it's in the service of conservatism. He pisses off the right people. He makes the right people complain and cause a shitstorm. And though it may just be a side effect, it distracts people from the serious stuff. The exact same thing is happening with Donald Trump, and it may be equally inadvertent.

It may be by their very nature that both just crave any attention, and in many cases, negative attention is easier. And again, pisses off all the "right" people. But while left-wing ire is boiling over on their antics, serious shit is either happening, or being ignored. And, we're also "proving a point," at least to the skewed perspective of Trump, Yiannopolous, and their twisted fans. See, if you watched Milo on Bill's show, he actually said that Democrats/liberals are the "party of Lena Dunham." In reality, most liberals and Democrats have little or only tangential notions of who Dunham is. The right, per usual, takes their exaggerated imagery of what it means to be a liberal, paints all liberals as that, and then tailors their rhetoric around it. Ever wonder why conservatives often seem like they're operating from a completely different reality? It's because they've created one. One where we all bow in allegiance to some obscure HBO actress, where we all have "safe spaces," and "triggers," and are all delicate "snowflakes" and "buttercups."

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Reality is quite different. And if Malcolm Nance is right, and this whole Russia thing is the biggest scandal in American history? Trump may find himself a pariah, and Milo and his fans and ilk just about as bad. Here's hoping. Oh, and by the way, I concur with both Nance and Wilmore: Milo can go fuck himself. But I'm sure he'd both love the sentiment, and the literal act.

He's an asshole. And not in a good way.

BREAKING: Trump Campaign's Repeated Contacts with Russian Intelligence Revealed

Trump looking (not terribly) presidential, while everyone else
apparently colludes with Russia? Or is he part of it?
Image from source, New York Times

When drip, drip, drip becomes "kerplunk, SPLASH!" Y'think?

[Excerpt]

Trump Campaign Aides Had Repeated Contacts With Russian Intelligence

Phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election, according to four current and former American officials.

American law enforcement and intelligence agencies intercepted the communications around the same time that they were discovering evidence that Russia was trying to disrupt the presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee, three of the officials said. The intelligence agencies then sought to learn whether the Trump campaign was colluding with the Russians on the hacking or other efforts to influence the election. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Even More Evidence of Russia/Trump Collusion

I had no doubt that Paul Manafort was into some shady shit. Did you?
Image from source, NYT

What is it going to take for your average Republican to drop their allegiance to party, and start wondering if there might not be something to this?

[Excerpt]

Intercepted Russian Communications Part of Inquiry Into Trump Associates

American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, current and former senior American officials said. . .

Read more at: New York Times

Keith Olbermann Has a Question for the Incoming President Donald Trump

Mr. President-Elect, did you coordinate with Russia during the campaign? I'd like to know too. Thanks much, #MAGA.

Trump Presser Lawyer's Firm "Russia Law Firm of the Year"

Ugh. What a preview. Image from source, Law Newz

It's difficult to know how to begin this year, as a blogger. Especially as a mostly absentee blogger of late. How do you just jump in to this vortex of hard-to-believe Trumpgasms and Tweetstorms and just cartoonish, badly written alt-reality fiction we seem to be somehow living in?

Today, Donald Trump finally held a press conference, on the heels of both President Obama's farewell speech (which was tremendous, believe me), and the release of damning information both linking Trump to Russia, and showing him to be something of a perv. The usual painful, embarrassing delivery was on display, of course. The word salad was in evidence. Occasionally, he made sense for a few minutes. And apparently, when he had his lawyer speak, it was a welcome event, since she seemed to know what she was talking about (but still couldn't get through it without a slew of pro-Trump talking points). But even her apparent professionalism was tainted with potential scandal.

If this story is to be believed (and it's pretty believably sourced), that lawyer representing Trump is from a firm that won "Russia Law Firm of the Year" in 2016. No joke. I can't even. . .

[Excerpt]

Law Firm Representing Trump Rated ‘Russia Law Firm of the Year’

Earlier today, Donald Trump held a press conference, where his attorney, Sheri Dillon, spoke regarding Trump’s business interests. As LawNewz.com noted, Dillon is a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis & Bokius. Using the services of the firm makes sense for Trump, as Morgan Lewis is a world-renowned organization. In fact, just last year, Chambers and Partners rated them as the top firm in a certain country, and guess which one it is. . .

Read more at: Law Newz

Russia Admits Continuing Contact with Trump Campaign

Nobody will read this post (or those like it), or watch this video who should. And if you could force them to, they'd play it off like it's no big deal. But if they were being honest, if we all were, we know the answer to Rachel Maddow's hypothetical "Storytime." If the Russians were meddling in the McCain/Palin campaigns affairs, meddling in the outcome of the election, and it was discovered that the Obama campaign was in cahoots? The outrage from the right (and from many other quarters) would be deafening.
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I'll go further than that. If the scenario had played out that way, Republicans would have done everything in their power, would have used every tool in their toolbox to prevent the inauguration of Obama. Failing that, they'd have spent the next weeks, months and years investigating the connection, making hay of it in the news, and probably at best attempting to impeach, and it's not too far fetched to imagine them looking toward charges of treason. Does anyone really doubt that? 

Everyone's hair should have been on fire over the near certain Russian involvement in Wikileaks' hacking and distribution of Clinton campaign emails. It was a bigger story than the gossip contained therein. And when the circumstantial ties to Russia and Trump operative Paul Mannafort (and others) are also known, a narrative isn't hard to form. This should have been the focus of the "October surprise."

Here's hoping that more people than Rachel Maddow are staying on top of this story. But as long as she is, maybe she'll have the same success she had getting the Chris Christie Bridgegate story into the mainstream.

Bradley Manning Verdict In: Mostly Guilty, But Not of Aiding the Enemy

I don't know where I come down on the whole Bradley Manning deal, kind of like with Edward Snowden. I understand their motives but not necessarily their methods. And with Manning being military, and this being court-martial? Well, I'm not enough of a military buff to know the ins and outs of all of that. I do know that you literally cannot be guilty of treason if we're not in a declared war, at least so says the Constitution.


All of that said, it would seem that Mr. Manning was treated pretty badly, and not very speedily leading to his trial. I'd still like to know why. And I hope whatever his sentence is, his treatment is a whole lot more "by the book" from here on out.

[Excerpt]

Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks

Bradley Manning, the 25-year-old Army private who gave thousands of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks, was acquitted of aiding the enemy in a military court-martial, but was convicted on multiple other counts. . .

Read more at: CBS News
 

LBJ Knew Nixon Sabatoged End of Vietnam War

He was a crook. And a traitor? Image from The Atlantic

There have long been stories about the 1980 presidential election, and how Ronald Reagan engineered the release of the long-held Iranian hostages, but only after the election. The motive was that Jimmy Carter would be much less likely to win the election if the hostages were still held captive and/or that he'd get a boost if they were rescued. As it turned out, the hostages were freed immediately after Reagan was sworn in. I still remember the fuss made about it, though it was probably all kind of a setup.

As bad as that sounds, it would seem to be fairly small potatoes compared to what seems to have happened in 1968. Because preventing the end of a war, just to get elected sounds much worse than the nickname "Tricky Dick" is famous for. The Vietnam War went on for seven more years after that. Richard Nixon claimed to know how to end the war, but in truth seems to have deliberately sabotaged the early end of it when there was a chance. Lyndon Johnson thought Nixon's behavior was treasonous, but was restricted from saying anything due to the way the knowledge was obtained. Here's the big question: will history reflect this new knowledge? Or is it too unpleasant? And if Reagan and Nixon both pulled a fast one in order to get power, who else has?

Image from LibertyRoulette

[Excerpt]

Newly Released Secret Tapes Reveal LBJ Knew but Never Spoke Out About Nixon's 'Treason'Rumors and whispers of Richard Nixon's 'treason' -- sabotaging Vietnam peace talks to help his Presidential campaign -- have floated around for years, but newly released tapes from Lyndon Johnson's Presidency confirm that LBJ knew about Nixon's behaviour and didn't bother to report it.. .

Read more at: The Atlantic

And now, a purely ponderous sidebar: Aside from the lives that would have been saved, and everything else that would have been spared as a result of a much shorter war, consider the following. The sixties were a time of great upheaval, and an amazing amount of cultural and pop cultural change. Though much of that change came from the "British Invasion" in pop culture, and the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK, Vietnam was a huge motivating factor. If the war had abruptly ended in 1968, what would be different about our history? Without protests, would the counter-culture and hippies have died out? How would the soundtrack of the war, the evolution of music have changed? If Nixon had lost, what would the entire 1970s have looked like? Without the post-Watergate years, and the following Carter malaise, would there have been a need for Reagan's "morning in America?"

I think it would make a great novel, the diverging path of history at that moment in 1968. Especially if it was written by someone who was really knowledgeable of not just the history but of politics at the time, and what really might have been. The only thing I'm sure of is that I'd have seen some of it, since I was born in 1966!

America the Stupid: Charge Diane Feinstein with Treason?

It's official. The White House petition idea is played out. As long as you allow people to put up any dumb thing they want, they will put up anything they want. And do you really think it's hard to round up 20,000 other stupid people to sign it? Especially when you factor in the people who sign it because they think it's funny. If they were clever, I'd still be enjoying it, but they're not.

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Petition to charge Sen. Feinstein with treason soars past White House threshold

Image from source, Raw Story

A petition started on the White House website seeking to charge Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) with treason has crossed the threshold needed for an official response. The petition, created last month, claims that Feinstein’s proposed assault weapons ban is a violation of the Second Amendment, which guarantees Americans right to keep and bear arms. Feinstein promised to introduce the assault weapons ban on the first day of the 113th Congress in the wake of the tragic Newtown elementary school shooting. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Does Sarah Palin Think Sweden (or Australia) is Part of the US?

How else to describe the "treason" charge?

Read more at: Slog

Dick Cheney: Traitor

Image from Liquid Matrix

I didn't think, after the disastrous Bush/Cheney administration of 2001-2009, that I could have a lower opinion of Darth Cheney. But since Barack Obama was elected, then inaugurated, Ol' Dick has been on a mission to destroy not only Obama's administration, but the safety of America. His "warnings" have been thinly veiled wishes for a new terrorist attack. All for the purpose of furthering a potential GOP resurgence. I hope we don't fall for it. But after the last decade, I'm painfully aware how well these counter-intuitive mind-f*cks work. I'm not a praying man, but I surely hope Dick's efforts fail.

[Excerpt]

Dick Cheney’s Campaign Of Treason Is Unraveling

Since at least last May, I have been unveiling the efforts of extremist right-wing politicians and pundits to signal our enemies in Al Qaeda that now is the time to strike (See: The Republican Advance Team For Terrorism). They have been waving their arms excitedly and shouting to anyone who will listen that America is less safe and, therefore, vulnerable. They have been partnering with their pals in the press to make sure that the message gets out. And they know full well that the enemy is paying attention. . .

Read more at: NewsCorpse

Texas: Secede or Become Five Separate States?

Image from FlawdLogic

I couldn't come up with five separate Texas state names (or at least I couldn't top all of the names submitted in the comments), but I think if Dallas/Fort Worth gets to be its own state, it's got to be called "Dee-Eff-Dubya."

[Excerpt]

It's time to pick a new name for Texas

As you know, Texas is now talking about seceding from the Union. Tom Delay, the former House Majority Leader who lost his job after being exposed as a criminal, is suggesting that Texas split into five separate states (which he says Texas is permitted to do), and then Democrats in Washington would be so incensed by the notion of ten new Texas Senators coming to DC that they'd kick Texas out of the Union. . .

Read more at: AmericaBlog

Dick Cheney Admits to Outing Valerie Plame?

Photo from Raw Story

I've been ready to grudgingly accept that there will be many things we'll never be told about the Bush Administration, and their legendary secrecy. And I've also come to the conclusion that no matter how bad the things we do find out are, that nobody is going to be punished for doing them. That last part will probably hold, except maybe for some underlings, and a pretty heavy black mark in history for the whole lot of them.

But Dick Cheney has surprised me. George W. Bush too, although to a lesser extent. In their ongoing series of "exit interviews," they have been unexpectedly candid about some of their activities. Including. . .um. . .outing a CIA agent? Yeah, Cheney kind of admits that. But it was an accident. Yes, you see, that is the proviso for nearly all Bush Administration admissions: whatever improper activities they may have done, they either weren't their fault, or they were accidental. Mmm hmm.

[Excerpt]

Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak prosecutor and FBI

Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a still-highly confidential FBI report, admitted to federal investigators that he rewrote talking points for the press in July 2003 that made it much more likely that the role of then-covert CIA-officer Valerie Plame in sending her husband on a CIA-sponsored mission to Africa would come to light.

Cheney conceded during his interview with federal investigators that in drawing attention to Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s Africa trip reporters might also unmask her role as CIA officer. . .

Read more at: Murray Waas

The Young Turks on Cheney and Torture

Just watch. . .

Woman Tries a Citizen's Arrest on Karl Rove

Well, since the actual government hasn't tried to arrest Karl Rove yet, I guess it's up to us citizens. No, she wasn't successful, but you have to give her credit for trying. . .

Karl Rove Draws Hostile Response in Iowa

Photo from source, Think Progress

It's great that the alternate reality Karl Rove helped create in this country is finally being recognized for what it is. Like a glitch in the Matrix, people are finally getting wise. Karl Rove may have pocketed $40,000 for his speech, but I'm very sure he didn't have a good time. And may his little joke about being indicted come true, please!

[Excerpt]

Rove: ‘I Fully Expect To Be Indicted By The End Of The Year’

Karl Rove, former senior aide to President Bush, spoke to a hostile crowd at the University of Iowa yesterday evening. Students and local citizens protested his appearance at the university and “staged a mock trial” for Rove inside the student union before the speech. [snip]

Responding to a question about CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson’s outing, Rove, seemingly joking, added: "I haven’t been indicted yet, but I fully expect to be by the end of the year."

Read more at: Think Progress

John Gibson Thinks Treason Worthy of a Medal

FOX "News" can be baffling sometimes. Most baffling would be the presence of John Gibson as the (now co-) host of The Big Story. For a channel that at least gives lip service to being "fair and balanced," they've got a rabid partisan hosting what is ostensibly a news show.

And here he is at his most egregious. He's rebooting his much derided "whoever outed Valerie Plame as a CIA agent should get a medal" load of crap. I'm continually amazed at what conservative pundits will excuse when it suits their purposes. Does anybody believe for a minute that this would be the reaction were it President Al Gore or John Kerry who'd been in office at the time? Please.