Some News this Sunday - October 5, 2019

The Plot

"A second whistleblower is now considering filing a complaint about President Donald Trump’s conduct regarding Ukraine, the New York Times reported Friday.

This whistleblower has “more direct information about the events than the first whistle-blower,” according to the Times. It’s a claim that, if true, could bolster the credibility of the initial complaint that triggered the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into whether Trump solicited election interference from Ukraine.

The first whistleblower’s complaint, which was released in redacted form to the public in late September, alleged that on a July 25 phone call Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to push for investigations into potential 2020 rival Joe Biden."  Vox

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The lawyer representing this person states that he has "multiple whistleblowers" as clients.  Ah! How clever!  Are all these public spirited citizens career employees of the CIA?  Little birds still twittering in the trees in my back garden tell me they are.  This sounds like a CIA conspiracy designed to force Trump from office.  The WH and NSC staffs are peopled by some political appointees and a horde of career people detailed from various departments of the Executive Branch; CIA, Defense, State, Justice , Treasury, etc.  The lending agency selects the people who are lent.  The opportunity for someone like Brennan who still has a lot of faithful followers at CIA to plant a group of informants and operatives in Trump's WH has been evident and remains so.

My instincts and the application of Occam's Razor lead me to the conclusion that there is an "operations room" somewhere that is coordinating the efforts to remove Trump from office in what does amount to a "soft coup d'etat."  A fair minded person looking back over Trump's term will see that the attempts to undermine and bring him down began the day after his inauguration and have continued ever since in wave after wave of accusations and press induced frenzies.  This cannot be accidental and it will continue through his second term if he has one.  Trump is leader of a counter-revolution of the Deplorables.  From the point of view of the Globalist Left Trump must be removed and prevented from doing things like packing the federal judiciary with pro-Deplorable judges.  Stay tuned. PL

https://www.vox.com/2019/10/5/20900088/trump-ukraine-impeachment-second-whistleblower

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Married Priests

The Vatican conference supposedly focused on the ecology of the Amazon River basin opens this week.  The shortage of priests in that region has led the conference to raise the subject of ordaining married men as priests.  The "old guard" of ancients who supposedly spent their lives in celibacy and chastity (doubtful in many cases) are in an uproar about it.  The Catholic Church in spite of being an absolute monarchy in structure in fact functions most of the time on the basis of consensus among the "good old boys" at the top of the pile of black, purple and red robed old men.  If Francis wishes to make a change that big he will have to act like the successor of Peter in fact, as well as in title.  pl

https://www.wsj.com/articles/pope-opens-debate-on-celibacy-requirement-for-catholic-priests-11570352167

The Wealth Tax Proposals

Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have the same two outside advisers to thank for shaping their wealth tax proposals: University of California, Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

Each Democratic presidential candidate wants to tackle wealth inequality by raising trillions of dollars in revenue from taxing the wealth — in addition to the income — of millionaires and billionaires, an idea that is backed up by research from Saez and Zucman.

There are competing explanations for the rise in inequality. Those on one side argue that wealth concentration is natural as a result of globalization, technology gains, and economic growth, which give enormous rewards to the smartest, innovative, and most hardworking people. Drastically increasing tax rates, they say, would discourage innovation and hurt the economy.

The other camp sees rising inequality as unfair, immoral, and a threat to society.

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Say what?  A couple of imported lefty French professors are the gurus on which Sanders and Warren base their insistence that one's possessions be confiscated as well as one's income?   One of them is 35 years old.  Well, pilgrims, this may be thought of as a grand idea in Europe but it will not sell well in the US.  Americans like the idea of BECOMING rich.   Most people want that rather than re-distribution of other peoples' money.  A smart Trump would want to run against the Confiscators rather than against Biden, someone who IMO wants to be really rich.  If that is what Trump wants he is quite perceptive of the realities of the 2020 election.  pl

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/the-berkeley-economists-advising-both-warren-and-sanders-on-their-groundbreaking-wealth-tax-proposals

Comments

[Lars]

I have no connections with the CIA and I considered Trump to be incompetent ever since he came down that escalator and continued downhill. I would think that many in the government would agree with me and would have more firsthand knowledge of his misdeeds. So, it is probably more of a consensus than conspiracy at hand.

Many see the income inequality as a big problem and unsustainable. We don't want the historical remedies, which were the French and Russian revolutions. The good news is that there are important discussions about it.

The Catholic Church, like all major Christian religions are losing members and I have yet to see any real effort to reverse that.

[turcopolier]

Lars

Unlike you I know a great deal about CIA. I have two medals from them for assistig their overseas ops in specific cases. The fact that you are sympathetic to their campaign to eject Trump from office means little. You have always hated Trump.

[JamesT]

A wealth tax is a heavy handed approach, but I think one wants to be careful to not mistake wealth inequality for income mobility. There is lots of wealth inequality in Guatemala but not much income mobility.

From "Why the American dream is easier to achieve in Canada" we see that Denmark and Norway rank highest in income mobility in a peer group, while the US ranks pretty much lowest:

"According to the Conference Board of Canada, Canada is ranked fourth out of 13 peer countries when it comes to income mobility between generations. “If there were no intergenerational mobility at all, all poor children would become poor adults and all rich children would become rich adults” the study says. Denmark and Norway rank highest while the U.S. ranks much lower down at 11th."

https://www.moneysense.ca/earn/american-dream-canada/

[turcopolier]

JamesT

We have a more or less permanent Black underclass in the US, although Black wealth and emp;loyment are improving under Trump. I suspect that Norway and Denmark will find that there position worsens in this regard with the massive influx of 3rd World migrants.

[Lars]

I am sure you earned your medals, but the question for you and others who come up with excuses for Trump is: Where is the line that you will draw? Or is there not one? A sizable segment of the population considers him corrupt on many levels and now he will be held accountable, as will his defenders.

[turcopolier]

Lars

Ah, you threaten me for defending the president. Have you joined antifa yet? In my opinion trump did nothing wrong in his call to Zelensky. As chief law enforcement officer of the US he had the power to suggest an investigation of probable corruption. His WH lawn call for Ukraine and China to investigate the Bidens was most unwise and may be a violation of law.

[Fred]

Lars,

"Where is the line that you will draw?"

When you are done siezing what must be siezed "for the people", like everyone's 401K and IRA accounts, since that's where the easy money is, more than a trillion $ worth, where will you draw the line? Besides across my rhetorical throat should I voice protest by voting for someone like Trump?

[Fred]

James T,

Open borders immigration will cure Guatemala's ills. Just look what it has done for poor black Americans in the democratic cities of the Republic. Or maybe they could go full democratic socialist like Venezuala.

[CK]

The more fungible one's wealth is, the easier it is to move away from the thieves. For those who remember OWS (Occupy Wall Street), that little coup fell apart when they started naming the 1%. Too many cosmopolitans too few wasps. Lots of easily moveable wealth. Really frustrating to discover that you have exposed the wrong victimizers.
The most immobile of wealth ( farms, mines, factories ) are easy to expropriate (all it takes are guns and thugs) but difficult to operate … too much like work for the financializing class to wish to be responsible for.
Women by virtue of the Creator's sense of humour end up with all the wealth anyhow and without having to create any.
Multi millionaire socialists like Bernie and Liz have been with us since the first human parasite gang (first government) claimed an unearned share of Og's freshly killed moose in return for not killing him.

[ted richard]

if you want to eliminate wealth disparity do 2 things and livi9ng standards will dramatically improve BUT of course the political elites will NEVER do this as it cuts into their ability to DISPENSE favors

1. eliminate the federal income tax, it is not needed and never was. all it does is ensure income inequality by allowing tax favors dispensed to those with money already. as a side bar it would dramtically shrink the size of government

2. ENFORCE this long passed law and the cost of american health care would plunge to the earth at the speed of light. it would also gut the medical oligarchs that dominate the health business.

The Robinson–Patman Act of 1936 (or Anti-Price Discrimination Act, Pub. L. No. 74-692, 49 Stat. 1526 (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 13)) is a United States federal law that prohibits anti-competitive practices by producers, specifically price discrimination.

i can go on with specifics but this is enough to get the ball started

oh, and LARS if hillary had won we'd be in a serious war already likely with russia as she tries to advance a no fly zone in syria. hillary is among the most corrupt, incompetent and medacious politicans to come to washington in a long time and to make it all farcical she is not too bright despite the media constantly fellating her to us serfs as the most capable candidate to ever run for office.

i suppose she must look good to those with 2 digit IQ's that seldom ever read books but, for the rest of us higher to the right on the bell curve it was SHE... that was in fact.... deplorable!

[A. Pols]

Y'know, Biden isn't really "the candidate" at present, but simply an aspirant. So why is it a big deal if in a phone call Trump suggests some sort of Douchebaggery on Biden's part was in play with the deal involving the sinecure for his cokehead son? And furthermore, it seems to me that Trump would relish having Biden, the eternal weak sister, as his opponent in next year's election. So, the idea that this is a campaign tactic by Trump, to me just doesn't pencil out. As for the WH lawn thing? Injudicious maybe, but I'd like to hear a cogent explanation of why it's a violation of law.

[Lars]

How is asking for what behavior you will accept from Trump a threat? I am just curious. As you know I have not changed my opinion of him, since I considered him unfit for office before he took the oath that he has violated. It may be an uncomfortable question, but it is valid.

[Jane]

The Catholic Church and other mainstream Christian churches are indeed losing members, but to the growing Evangelical movement, often homegrown, across the world, in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. While some immigrants to the US, like Koreans, may well have adopted this faith before arriving, many others, especially from Latin America, were attracted to this new faith in their early days in the US, when these groups ministered to them, and with clerics who spoke their languages. The Catholic church oligarchy is busy doing what? The story of the corrupt Archbishop in West Virginia living the good life with church money while closing parochial schools is more their style. Francis would do well to reach beyond them to the younger Catholics who seek change. Not only do we need married priests, but more empowerment of lay parishioners at the local level and focus on the well-being of their neighbors.

[plantman]

I'm probably stating the obvious, but it seems to me that the impeachment inquiry is suspiciously timed to preempt the release of the inspector general's report of Obama administration FISA warrant abuse.

And while IG Michael Horowitz appears to be a democratic party contributor and supporter, it will be very difficult for him to hide the fact that the FBI obtained warrants to spy on members of the Trump campaign illegally. In other words, the Obama team and their allies in the Intel and law enforcement agencies were meddling in the 2016 with the obvious intent of tipping the scales in favor of Hillary Clinton.

The media seems oddly uninterested in Obama's role in sabotaging the election and, afterwards, derailing Trump's political agenda.

For the record, I was a liberal, before they lost their minds.

[Ramon Zarate]

What I hear, "the walls closing in, the beginning of the end" sounds like an echo.

I find it disturbing that anyone should find it a good idea that the security services should choose the President. How about Congress and the Senate? How about the dog catcher? Soon the security services will be appointing the politicians that will be choosing who heads the security services.

Well good luck with that.

[J]

Larry, Colonel, Patrick,

I'd be interested in your take on Retired CIA Chief of Russian Operations Steven Hall who is now an analyst for Ruskie-gate promoter, and constant Trump bashing network called CNN.

[Stephen Wiggins]

Since the Catholic Church already has numerous married priests in the Eastern Catholic Church, it is a bit difficult to see what the problem is. Marriage was permitted in the early church and it seems that the main objection was that marriage might reduce the church's accumulation of wealth. That did not occur in the Orthodox Church.

[blue peacock]

All,

Nancy has the majority in the House. 235 members in her caucus. All she needs is 218 votes to send the Bill of Impeachment to the Senate for a trial. This charade they are playing by not having a full House vote to begin an impeachment inquiry is to prevent the minority from having any voice in the proceedings. This is NOT about high crimes. This is an attempt at political decapitation. As Democrat Rep. Al Green said - we need to impeach him or else he'll be re-elected. Nancy and her posse don't want the American electorate from making their choice if Trump should have a second term.

The big question is if 20 Republican senators will join all the Democrats in convicting Trump? We know guys like Romney will, who else will join him from the GOP side?

Look at how unhinged NBCs Chuck Todd is here:

https://twitter.com/brianstelter/status/1179889352693952513?s=20

An attack on democracy he claims. Yet he was one of the chief advocates of the Russia Collusion hysteria wherein the Obama administration used both domestic & foreign intelligence to ACTUALLY INTERFERE in an election. That was an attack on the very foundation of our Republic.

[Barbara Ann]

Lars

Do you wish to hold Deplorables accountable for Trump, in what way?

I can excuse Trump a great deal of his unconventional style and behavior for exactly one reason; he was legitimately elected, according to the Constitution, to the office he presently holds. This, together with the huge turnouts at his rallies, is evidence that a sizeable segment of the population does not consider him corrupt and in fact still ardently believe that he has their best interests at heart. Who am I to disagree?

If the Dems can produce real evidence of corruption then impeachment will be appropriate. But what we are seeing right now is a plot to use impeachment as the continuation of democracy by other means - heck Rep. Al Green even said so out loud. The Deep State wants rid of Trump, but last time I looked, in the absence of High Crimes, it is still the People who get to make this decision.

A while back our host came up with a brilliant alternative motto for the CIA; "L'état, c'est nous". It seems clear that elements in the CIA now want to accomplish regime change domestically. I hope that Trump accomplishes what JFK could not and scatters them to the winds.

[Murali Penumarthy]

Sir,
Can you kindly tell me what specific crimes were perpetrated by Pres Trump say in comparison to Pres Bush (starting an illegal war on trumped up charges in Iraq and many others including use of torture) or by Pres Obama (overlooking the banksters fraud on the American people or starting the illegal Libya operation). So you are willing to give the above two saints a pass, and hold Trump for a higher standards, I am wondering what is this higher standard?

[Stephanie]

Do you send your Social Security check back to the government every month? Do you refuse Medicare payments for health care? Do you drive on the right-hand side of the road? Do you care for the roads you drive on, repairing pot-holes, painting lines, collecting statistics about dangerous intersections, and enforcing the speed limit and drunk driving laws yourself ad hoc? Do you have a driver's license? Where do Libertarians draw the line?

[Jack]

Sir

The data shows rising wealth inequality over the past 50+ years. The inflection point being the 80s and a steeper slope since the 2000s.

There are three other trends that mirror the increasing concentration of wealth in fewer hands. One is growth in financialization of the economy, the second is concentration in market power across market segments and third is the growth in the scale and scope of government at every level. Unless we deal with these three issues we can’t solve the wealth inequality problem, the problem of regulatory capture by the oligopolies and the problems of stagnating productivity and loss of competitiveness.

Right now we don’t have the political will to address deep rooted problems as those that benefit currently control the political system.

[robt willmann]

Former CIA director John O. Brennan, whose security clearance was revoked by president Trump, was given six minutes to talk on today's Meet the Press program on the NBC television network--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_5Gmulwacc

[Jack]

“....the attempts to undermine and bring him down began the day after his inauguration and have continued ever since in wave after wave of accusations and press induced frenzies.”

Sir

Other than tweet furiously, my perception is that Trump has not fought back. Considering the persistence of the putschists, I would have expected him to have been far more ruthless, aggressive and pointed in taking the battle to the Deep State.

[Eric Newhill]

I don't understand what happened to the CIA. It has morphed from "a university gone to war" to some kind of bizarro globalist socialist anti-American ideals HQ with a neocon twist. Did that happen under Obama?