Why doesn't Trump and/or the GOP do anything about the Russian Interference? It is because the GOP and Trump need help by Russian Agents to Win, "Take the guns first, go through due process second," Curveball, Flyers game & Long List of Controversy's and scandals in this Week in Review!
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Everyone glosses over a simple fact when asking 'why does Trump or the GOP do nothing about Russian agents interfering with our elections?' It is because they cannot win otherwise.
They need their help. They can't win with a normal and democratic vote. Haven't you noticed the obvious trend when the GOP wins a general election? There is some type of manipulation, corruption and there is always some type of interference that happens every time a Republican wins. No one sees that trend? Remember how George Bush Jr got in two times let alone how he scammed his way into office that first time in '00? That was a total scam. A diabolical one but look up at that definition. It is not a positive way to act even though someone or something does gain power and money I suppose. Getting there in corrupt ways means nothing to anyone that cares (although in Cherry hill, NJ, the status symbol is having money, no matter how one gets it and even if its done in illegal ways).
And, then we imploded as a nation economically while Bush Jr. and Dick Cheney were in office. And, Cheney got rich from his platforms over those years while he was in office and after he left. Now look at how Trump got in and look at how he won the primary and the general elections over the last two years. It was done in shady ways that were far from a democracy.
And, look at how Trump and his people are acting today. They are acting in such corrupt ways.
Regardless of those outcomes because of the elections being manipulated in those ways, it was never about the actual vote in those elections. It was about them winning no matter the cost and Trump used Russian agents for god's sakes to help him win last year. The GOP and Trump still use them to spread their message to this day and again, that is why they do not want it stopped. They are also poised to be able to use them again in this year's midterm elections.
I am shifting gears because Phish announced they are doing their 11th Festival called 'Curve Ball'. They will perform three days of music in Watkins Glen, N.Y. at the Watkins Glen International from August 17-19. The “Curveball Festival” will feature attractions, activities, art exhibits and, of course, Phish, all happening in the nature wonderland of central New York’s Finger Lakes region. The festival is scheduled near the end of the band’s tour, taking place between Phish’s shows at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md., Aug. 11-12 and three nights at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., Aug. 31-Sept. 2. Curveball will mark Phish’s third festival at Watkins Glen International. The last time the band took over Watkins Glen International was in 2015 for the sold-out “Magnaball” festival. The epic event resulted in 30,889 tickets sold for a total gross of $7.3 million. Phish’s first fest at Watkins Glen International was “Super Ball IX,” which took place during the 2011 Fourth of July weekend.
Next, I went to my first Flyers game in years. They did not come to play and I knew because I was going that they were going to lose. And of all teams to lose to after creeping into first place this week (Click here), the Hurricanes end their 6-game losing streak with that 4-1 win. Ex Flyer, Justin Williams scored two goals while Cam Ward stopped 21 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes snapped a six-game losing streak on Thursday night.
The Flyers had been the hottest team in hockey, winners of six straight overall and riding a 10-0-2 streak for their longest span without a regulation loss since 2003. They were even 4-0-1 against the Hurricanes in their last five against them at home.
Carolina had an emotional lift in this one to make those numbers trivial
Staal played for the first time since he and his wife said their infant daughter died of a terminal birth defect. Staal had missed three games and he rejoined the team Wednesday.
"He's a lift, spiritually and physically on the ice," Williams said. "You know he's going to make the right play. You know he's going to win a battle. As his linemate, playing tonight, you know he's going to get the puck to you when it's a 1-on-1 battle. He's a very important piece for us, clearly." Hurricanes coach Bill Peters said Staal means more to the franchise than just his numbers. "You need your best players to be your best players and we miss him when he's not here," he said. "It's good to have him back."
Carolina, which is chasing the eighth spot in the East, made quick work in ending the good times in Philly. Williams knocked in a loose puck 4:40 into the game and the former Flyer stuck it to his former team one more time. "There's a little something there," Williams said. "It's special. My wife's family is from here. I have a lot of friends here. This is where I started. It's always special, absolutely." The Flyers sizzling offense of late fizzled and even goalie Petr Mrazek had his worst outing since he was acquired two weeks ago. He stopped 28 shots to beat Montreal 1-0 in a shootout in his last start. He was 3-0 with a 1.30 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage in his three starts. Teuvo Teravainen scored early in the second and Williams scored his 12th goal of the season late in the second for the 3-0 lead. Staal had his 21st assist on Williams' second goal.
"I don't think there's much to be said about what he's going through. It's huge to have him back," Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk said. The Flyers were stymied offensively and took only six shots in the first period. In the second, they were shutout in a period where they had scored 74 goals this season.
Yes, even a 12-game streak that helped take them from last in the Metro Division in early December to a brief stop in first atop the division, the Flyers were soundly booed off the ice at the end of a dreary second period. The Flyers would have moved back into first place with a victory and lost for the first time in regulation since Feb. 1. Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald said the winning had masked some bad habits picked up of late by the team. "You kind of get into a groove and you're kind of feeling it and think things are going to go right for you," he said. "That's not always going to be the case. Tonight was a good example of that." Travis Konecny gave a brief jolt to their offense with a goal early in the third to make it 3-1. "It's tough to do this on home ice. We can't win them all," Flyers center Jake Voracek said. Sebastian Aho sealed it with his 23rd goal.
"We need to impose our will. We need to suffocate teams," Williams said. "We did that today." NOTES: The Flyers played the Hurricanes for the first of three times over the final 19 games of the season. ... The Flyers have a weekend set in Florida. ... Ward improved his career record to 12-11-6 vs. the Flyers. ... Flyers D Ivan Provorov was down on the ice for a bit after taking a shot his right knee. The Flyers are at Tampa Bay on Saturday and at Florida on Sunday.
Alright, I guess I will try to remember and list the scandals or controversies from the last week.
I think we went over Hope Hicks leaving last week. I am hearing that Trump is feeling very isolated these days. Hell, I went to the Flyers game on Thursday and by the time I got home at like 1AM (we went out afterward to get a drink and to get some food), Vladimir Putin not only made this threat almost entering us right into another 'cold war' after announcing that they have this end all be all Nuclear Weapon, he also made a video of it Kim Jong-un style:
Then, I fell asleep waking up at about 6AM or 7AM and this is what Trump tweeting about all AM:
Alec Baldwin, whose dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL, now says playing me was agony. Alec, it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!
Agony though it may be, I’d like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago. You know. The Good Stuff. That we’ve all been waiting for.
Looking forward to the Trump Presidential Library.
A putting green.
Recipes for chocolate cake.
A live Twitter feed for visitors to post on.
A little black book w the phone numbers of porn stars.
You’re in and out in five minutes.
Just like...
We are in scary territory here! It is ridiculous that people still back this guy. We have now taken 20 steps backwards as a nation on the global level. AND NO ONE IS PROTECTING THIS NATION! Every country is surpassing us in every way and it is because of Donald J. Trump. And, then we have Jared Kushner. He gained a loan of $600,000,000 or so for his property after meeting with them at the White House (The private equity firm Apollo Global Management reportedly lent $184 million to Kushner Companies last November while Citigroup in the spring of 2017 also lent Kushner Companies money totaling $325 million). There was some other issue relating to him and some Middle east Prince maybe that had something to do with other loans. I honestly lost track. He lost his security clearance this week. I am not even sure why he is there at this point let alone from day one. I will say that Robert Mueller is hot on his tail. Then, in another fit of rage, Trump announces on live television with no one knowing about it, that tariffs are being set up with aluminum and with steel. That weird guy Wilber Ross then gets out on stump explaining like we are 4 years old, how much coke cans and some other example will cost.
The markets reacted badly. And speaking of Wilbur Ross, the entire White House staff seem like they are in total chaos land and that says a lot since the administration has been in chaos every day for years now. I have never seen anything like it. No one knows what anyone else is doing and it is because of Donald J. Trump. The FBI had indicted many players close to Trump. There are guilty verdicts already of ex-staffers close to Trump. It is coming close to Jared Kushner and I know that Trump's kids are in Mueller's scope. On Wednesday this week and as I wrote about already today (Click Here for this week's Gun Safety Report), President Trump breaks with Republicans and the NRA, calls for 'strong' and ‘beautiful’ gun control bill and then by Thursday, Trump Buckles Under NRA Pressure.
President Trump urged his fellow Republicans to stand up to the National Rifle Association during a White House meeting on school safety Wednesday, pushing for a "beautiful" comprehensive gun control bill that would run counter to several long-held GOP positions. Trump's remarks came during a bipartisan sitdown with lawmakers in the wake of a school shooting in Florida that left 17 people dead. "We can't wait and play games and nothing gets done," Trump said as he opened the session, which was attended by 17 House and Senate lawmakers from both parties. "We want to stop the problems." Trump took a shot at the assembled Republicans for being "afraid" of the NRA, even though the powerful gun lobby endorsed his presidential run and spent tens of millions of dollars to help get him elected.
"They do have great power, I agree with that," Trump said of the gun group. "They have great power over you people. They have less power over me." But Trump has repeatedly sided with the NRA, parroting positions advocated by its leaders, including the idea of arming teachers as a way to deter school shooters. Over the weekend, he had lunch with NRA officials at the White House. The NRA was not pleased. “While today’s meeting made for great TV, the gun-control proposals discussed would make for bad policy that would not keep our children safe,” spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said in a statement. Trump urged the lawmakers to quickly pass a "strong" bill that would beef up the federal background check system, improve school safety and funnel more money into mental health programs. He vowed that such efforts would stop school shooters like 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, who’s charged with killing 17 of his former classmates and teachers at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14. But momentum on gun legislation has repeatedly stalled in Congress, first and foremost because NRA-backed Republicans have refused to pursue it.
Among the bills that have been blocked is the so-called Manchin-Toomey bill, a bipartisan effort first introduced in 2013 that proposes to implement mandatory background checks on all gun purchases. Trump, seemingly unaware of what's in the bill, said it hasn't received "a lot of presidential backing" in the past — even though President Barack Obama pushed it vigorously. Trump then criticized Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.), one of the bill's coauthors, for not including a provision that would raise the age limit for buying assault rifles from 18 to 21. "You're afraid of the NRA," he told Toomey, ignoring that the gun lobby has fought the senator's bill tooth and nail. The meeting was attended by 17 House and Senate members from both parties. Moving on, Trump broke with the NRA and House Republicans on the bipartisan “Fix NICS” bill, which proposes to improve the way that states report mental illness and criminal records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and other NRA-backed Republicans have said that they won't support the bill unless it includes a provision that would allow gun owners with concealed-carry permits to legally carry their weapons across state lines. Trump told the Republicans to forget it. "If you add concealed-carry to this, you'll never get it passed," he said. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who as a representative served in the district where the Sandy Hook massacre happened in 2012, was encouraged by Trump’s seeming willingness to support legislation that would expand background checks. Murphy told him that a bill that has been twice rejected in the Senate would pass if he backs it. "It's going to have to be you," Murphy said.
Trump also surprised Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), as he didn't rule out the idea of completely outlawing assault rifles such as the AR-15. "You're going to have to discuss that," Trump told the assembled Republicans as Feinstein looked on with a wide grin. "Take the guns first, go through due process second," Trump said.
But Trump has proven an inconsistent partner in gun control debates, offering sweeping proposals only to abandon them when they don't pick up steam in Congress. After the Las Vegas massacre last fall, Trump promised he would immediately do something about so-called bump stocks — a device used by gunman Stephen Paddock that allows a semi-automatic rifle to be fired as an automatic one. Nearly six months later, bump stocks still remain available. Trump doubled down on a bump stocks ban Wednesday, telling lawmakers he’ll sign an executive order getting rid of them. "Shortly they will be gone," he said. During a similar bipartisan meeting on immigration reform in January, Trump assured lawmakers he’d support a comprehensive two party deal. He later sided with GOP hardliners opposed to a compromise agreement. Trump's campaign BTW, used photo of Parkland victim to ask for donations. You know what else? I think we had more indictments this week relating to Paul Manifort and that is not even a story considering the week of major headlines. Plus, I forget what happened last week vs this week vs last weekend vs anything I do anymore. Trump attacked his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions again this week.
Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
And, I never thought I would applaud Jeff Sessions for anything but man did he fight back in his own little way showing up at a dinner with none other than Rod Rosenstein literally that night after the Trump Tweet.
Robert Mueller not only hits former Trump campaign officials Manafort, Gates with new indictment, he is also about to indict people for the actual theft of the emails or for the hacking of them I should say.
Special counsel Robert Mueller's office unveiled a raft of new criminal charges against former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Rick Gates on Thursday.
The new charges are related to alleged false tax returns, bank fraud and failure to report foreign financial accounts.
Mueller is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion by the Trump campaign with Russians.
And again and last but not least, Special counsel Robert Mueller is preparing charges against Russians who hacked and leaked information designed to hurt Democrats in the 2016 presidential election, NBC News reported Thursday. The charges would center around Russian hackers who leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, according to NBC. Sources told NBC that the charges could be filed in the coming weeks or months, and could involve conspiracy statute and election law violations. This new report comes one day after NBC reported that Mueller was questioning witnesses in his probe into Russia's election interference about Trump’s connections to the leaked Democratic emails. His investigation is reportedly looking into whether Trump knew that WikiLeaks was planning to publish the DNC and Clinton campaign members’ emails, or if the campaign was involved in the emails’ release. Whew. That was exhausting. This week was exhausting.. Don Lichterman Sunset Recordings Sunset Corporation of America (SCA)
I am shifting gears because Phish announced they are doing their 11th Festival called 'Curve Ball'. They will perform three days of music in Watkins Glen, N.Y. at the Watkins Glen International from August 17-19.
The Flyers had been the hottest team in hockey, winners of six straight overall and riding a 10-0-2 streak for their longest span without a regulation loss since 2003.
The markets reacted badly.
