Like Maria Said Paz: 2019-01-27
How crazy is Rachel Maddow? You don't go nuts on air like she has done.
Katie Halper‏Verified account @kthalps 8h8 hours ago
Katie Halper Retweeted Aaron Maté
One of the scariest things about Rachel Maddow's "The Russians are coming and they're going to freeze you to death" schpiel is that this woman is a Rhodes Scholar. She's over-educated and she's very intelligent. But the incentives are strong
Katie Halper added,
You'll never guess who is seizing on life-threatening cold weather in the U.S. to fear-monger about... Russia!
70 replies171 retweets717 likes
Jimmy Dore‏Verified account @jimmy_dore 8h8 hours ago
Jimmy Dore Retweeted Glenn Greenwald
Proof that @maddow has no real friends or the would’ve stopped her before it got to this
146 replies353 retweets1,261 likes
We are now in NETWORK territory. She's become Howard Beale. There's no walk away now.
WikiLeaks‏Verified account @wikileaks 5h5 hours ago
U.S. largest audience TV host, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (Democratic party aligned) this evening: Russia will freeze you and your family to death.
707 replies1,243 retweets2,231 likes
I thought she'd hit her low point when she had her father sock puppet for her during UNFILTERED. But this is even more embarrassing.
Mr. MacGregor‏ @Cool_Breeze1979 4m4 minutes ago
When the history books are written, it'll be @maddow and her constant lies and spreading fear that will prove to be the real danger & threat, not Russia. #BoycottMSM
She really has lost it. (That's not a medical diagnosis.)
She has made herself a bigger joke than anyone could have ever guessed possible. I hope she has plans for what to do when Trump's out of the White House because she's just the corporate monkey right now and she won't come back from it.
Sean Gilbert‏ @smad_news 29m29 minutes ago
The Rachel Maddow Show - 1/31/19 | Full video http://topnewsshow.com/the-rachel-maddow-show-1-31-19-msnbc/ …
hammer & SICKLE MODE ☭‏ @HWookiee 7h7 hours ago
Rachel Maddow is Glenn Beck for liberals.
Margaret Kimberley‏ @freedomrideblog 34m34 minutes ago
Margaret Kimberley Retweeted Rachel Maddow MSNBC
Dear God, Please save us from Rachel Maddow. Amen.
Here's the link to the new Worldwide Threat Assessment from the DNI: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf ……
3 replies16 retweets74 likes
Thursday, January 31, 2019. John Bolton speaks some truth (shocker), Senator Angus King spanks little Marco Rubio, and more.
In other words... The US’s real motive for intervention in Venezuela is all about the country’s oil and not actually “liberating the Venezuelan people from tyranny and oppression” — just like Iraq, Libya and Syria before it? Wow. What a surprise.
303 replies2,255 retweets3,100 likes
Ali Hasan‏ @AliHasa_n 4m4 minutes ago
#Oil reserves, 2017. (billion barrels) #Venezuela: 301 #Saudi: 266 #Canada: 170 #Iran: 158 #Iraq: 143 #Kuwait: 102 #UAE: 98 #Russia: 80 #Libya: 48 #Nigeria: 37 (#US EIA)
Remember Bolton's comments. After the start of the Iraq War, Alan Greenspan made the mistake of saying the Iraq War was about oil, remember? And then had to walk it back. He walked it back even though it was in the book he'd written that he was promoting. Truth slips out and often gets quickly buried.
Even with the lies in place, opinions on the never-ending Iraq War remain divided. Leo Shane III (MILITARY TIMES) notes an IAVA survery:
Veterans who fought in recent wars hold conflicting views over the value of that fight, according to the latest membership survey from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
About 47 percent said U.S. involvement in the Iraq War was “worth it,” against 43 percent who said it was not. Opinions of the Afghanistan War were slightly higher, with 62 percent in favor and 28 percent opposed.
The Iraq War is a failure. There are many times when someone -- if they had a brain -- could have declared victory. Bully Boy Bush could have pulled all US troops after the fall of Baghdad, for example. Or, after he set the benchmarks (that were never met), he could have pulled US troops citing the Iraqi government's refusal to address the issues they had promised to resolve. That would include national reconciliation which, by the way, was never implemented. That's actually true of all the benchmarks. How sweet of the press to play along with Bully Boy Bush when the benchmarks actually got attention -- they'd offer 'partial' progress. There's no such thing. It was a lie in real time and, obviously, it's a lie today because they never got implemented. Barack Obama could have pulled the troops out immediately or within the first ten months of his first term. We argued that, Ava and I, to several members of the administration.
Iraq will be a mess when US troops finally leave. That's a given. Pull the troops based on the promise made (the one Samantha Power said really wasn't a promise, remember/) and give a speech saying that you've done what America wanted. That's the end of the story. If things go badly after, well you kept your campaign promise as the American people wanted.
Instead Barack, believing his own false press about what a great thinker he was, decided to 'tinker' because he just knew he could improve on things. That's how he failed to keep his campaign promise. And the longer he waited and the long he played with it, the more it became his war. After the drawdown at the end of 2011 (passed off as a withdrawal), he began sending US troops back in during the fall of 2012. US troops remain in Iraq to this day. Another broken promise from Barack.
Each year, US troops have remained in Iraq to prop up the puppet government. And the US government has just known that this will be the year the puppet government gives them what they want. That's the oil and gas laws. That was the only benchmark the press ever obsessed over, remember?
Tuesday, at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Marco Rubio was pushing for war on Venezuela while insisting that "we care a lot about democracy, we care a lot about freedom, we care a lot about human rights" and isn't it "in the national interest of the United States" for the government in Venezuela to fall (be overthrown) and be "replaced by a democratic and more responsive government?"
War to create a democratic and more responsive government?
Well then the US government better declare war on the Iraqi government!
Some nervous nelly leaders in Iraq repeatedly insist that US troops must remain in Iraq to 'help' with the battle against ISIS. ISIS is not going away until the Iraqi government stops persecuting Sunnis. It won't stop doing that. So US troops should be pulled immediately. But this insisting? It goes to the reality that Iraqi troops still -- all this time later -- can't defend their own country.
The Iraq War hits the 16 year mark in March. Are we going to have to wait until March 2021 for US troops to leave? Do we need to wait for the 18 year mark -- when the Iraq War is a legal adult -- to finally say, "Okay, you're on your own"?
Before we go further, let's note Senator Angus King rejected Marco's tantrum for war on Venezuela in Tuesday's hearing, stating, "In light of Senator Rubio's comments, I'd just like a note of caution. He listed refugee flows, human rights abuses and corruption. There are lots of countries in the world that meet that description and our right or responsibility to generate regime change in a situation like that, I think, is a slippery slope. And I have some real caution about what our vital interests are and whether it's our right or responsibility to take action to try to change the government of another sovereign country."
Abbas Kadhim (The Atlantic Council) pretends he's looking at Iraq after 100 days of a new government and offers:
The Political Front: Meeting with Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi and President Salih
I met with top Iraqi leaders, President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. Despite the difficult process to complete his ministerial cabinet and the tough challenges he inherited from previous governments, Abdul-Mahdi seemed to be focused on a clear governance agenda that includes several immediate priorities. He was mindful of the need to address corruption but stated the pressing matters are the economy, governance, and service delivery.
The visit to the seat of the presidency at al-Salam Palace took me to another branch of government where noticeable changes are underway. Iraqis had previously seen the presidency as a weak and trivial institution without any real political power. The fact of the matter is that previous presidents have not made use of the status of their office. With Dr. Barham Salih in the office, the Iraqi Presidency is taking on a new shape and acquiring a healthy level of energy, particularly in foreign relations. His state visits to several capitals in the region and beyond restored the good image of Iraq’s government. On US-Iraq relations, both sides have emphasized the importance of the alliance and the need to make it as strong as possible. The Iraqi public is already taking note of this positive change.
Iraq’s budget, passed by Parliament on January 24, 2019, proposes one of the largest post-2003 government spending plans ($112 billion), which is mostly to cover government operation costs and salaries. Meanwhile, pressing infrastructure and reconstruction spending is far less adequate than expected. In fact, the electricity sector, where performance will be the most important referendum on the popularity of Abdul-Mahdi’s government, saw its budget slashed by a billion dollars, leaving the ministry with hardly enough money to operate at last year’s level, which is 50 percent of Iraq’s capacity to provide service during the peak summer period. Moreover, one important thing to remember about this budget is that it is based on two unknown and unpredictable variables: oil production and prices. If Iraq, for whatever reason, fails to produce 3.88 mbd or oil prices sink significantly below $56 per barrel, the government will face a dire financial problem.
Fact, ISIS is still active in Iraq. Fact, Mahdi has been unable to find a Minister of Defense or Minister of Interior. Fact, the last time these offices were left empty is when ISIS took hold in Iraq. Fact, to overlook those realities goes beyond shortsighted.
Also not addressed by Abbas would be the militias which are now part of the government and seen to be under no one's control.
The Popular Mobilization militias have launched a military operation in "Samarra " in the province of Salahuddin #, despite that the government of Baghdad announced the end of military operations more than a year ago.
Let's wind down with this from Black Alliance for Peace:
JANUARY 25, 2019—We, the members of the Black Alliance for Peace, uphold our political stance in the face of aggressions waged by the United States. Two of BAP’s core principles are an unwavering commitment to self-determination for peoples and nations alike and opposition to imperialism in all its varied and brutal forms. Therefore, unlike so many who are confused about Venezuela, we say without equivocation that we oppose the illegal and immoral attempts by the United States and their Organization of American States (OAS) allies to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela.
The Need for a Compelling Anti-Capitalist Narrative
Judge Says PG&E Violated Parole, Should Stop Starting Wildfires
Left Coast Events Bulletin with Janine Bandcroft January 31st, 2019
And Kat did two posts yesterday, she also did "She wants to be America's prison guard."
Posted by Elaine at 10:55 PM Links to this post
Like Maria Said Paz: 2019-01-27
How crazy is Rachel Maddow? You don't go nuts on air like she has done.
Katie Halper‏Verified account @kthalps 8h8 hours ago
Katie Halper Retweeted Aaron Maté
One of the scariest things about Rachel Maddow's "The Russians are coming and they're going to freeze you to death" schpiel is that this woman is a Rhodes Scholar. She's over-educated and she's very intelligent. But the incentives are strong
Katie Halper added,
You'll never guess who is seizing on life-threatening cold weather in the U.S. to fear-monger about... Russia!
70 replies171 retweets717 likes
Jimmy Dore‏Verified account @jimmy_dore 8h8 hours ago
Jimmy Dore Retweeted Glenn Greenwald
Proof that @maddow has no real friends or the would’ve stopped her before it got to this
146 replies353 retweets1,261 likes
We are now in NETWORK territory. She's become Howard Beale. There's no walk away now.
WikiLeaks‏Verified account @wikileaks 5h5 hours ago
U.S. largest audience TV host, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow (Democratic party aligned) this evening: Russia will freeze you and your family to death.
707 replies1,243 retweets2,231 likes
I thought she'd hit her low point when she had her father sock puppet for her during UNFILTERED. But this is even more embarrassing.
Mr. MacGregor‏ @Cool_Breeze1979 4m4 minutes ago
When the history books are written, it'll be @maddow and her constant lies and spreading fear that will prove to be the real danger & threat, not Russia. #BoycottMSM
She really has lost it. (That's not a medical diagnosis.)
She has made herself a bigger joke than anyone could have ever guessed possible. I hope she has plans for what to do when Trump's out of the White House because she's just the corporate monkey right now and she won't come back from it.
Sean Gilbert‏ @smad_news 29m29 minutes ago
The Rachel Maddow Show - 1/31/19 | Full video http://topnewsshow.com/the-rachel-maddow-show-1-31-19-msnbc/ …
hammer & SICKLE MODE ☭‏ @HWookiee 7h7 hours ago
Rachel Maddow is Glenn Beck for liberals.
Margaret Kimberley‏ @freedomrideblog 34m34 minutes ago
Margaret Kimberley Retweeted Rachel Maddow MSNBC
Dear God, Please save us from Rachel Maddow. Amen.
Here's the link to the new Worldwide Threat Assessment from the DNI: https://www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/documents/2019-ATA-SFR---SSCI.pdf ……
3 replies16 retweets74 likes
Thursday, January 31, 2019. John Bolton speaks some truth (shocker), Senator Angus King spanks little Marco Rubio, and more.
In other words... The US’s real motive for intervention in Venezuela is all about the country’s oil and not actually “liberating the Venezuelan people from tyranny and oppression” — just like Iraq, Libya and Syria before it? Wow. What a surprise.
303 replies2,255 retweets3,100 likes
Ali Hasan‏ @AliHasa_n 4m4 minutes ago
#Oil reserves, 2017. (billion barrels) #Venezuela: 301 #Saudi: 266 #Canada: 170 #Iran: 158 #Iraq: 143 #Kuwait: 102 #UAE: 98 #Russia: 80 #Libya: 48 #Nigeria: 37 (#US EIA)
Remember Bolton's comments. After the start of the Iraq War, Alan Greenspan made the mistake of saying the Iraq War was about oil, remember? And then had to walk it back. He walked it back even though it was in the book he'd written that he was promoting. Truth slips out and often gets quickly buried.
Even with the lies in place, opinions on the never-ending Iraq War remain divided. Leo Shane III (MILITARY TIMES) notes an IAVA survery:
Veterans who fought in recent wars hold conflicting views over the value of that fight, according to the latest membership survey from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
About 47 percent said U.S. involvement in the Iraq War was “worth it,” against 43 percent who said it was not. Opinions of the Afghanistan War were slightly higher, with 62 percent in favor and 28 percent opposed.
The Iraq War is a failure. There are many times when someone -- if they had a brain -- could have declared victory. Bully Boy Bush could have pulled all US troops after the fall of Baghdad, for example. Or, after he set the benchmarks (that were never met), he could have pulled US troops citing the Iraqi government's refusal to address the issues they had promised to resolve. That would include national reconciliation which, by the way, was never implemented. That's actually true of all the benchmarks. How sweet of the press to play along with Bully Boy Bush when the benchmarks actually got attention -- they'd offer 'partial' progress. There's no such thing. It was a lie in real time and, obviously, it's a lie today because they never got implemented. Barack Obama could have pulled the troops out immediately or within the first ten months of his first term. We argued that, Ava and I, to several members of the administration.
Iraq will be a mess when US troops finally leave. That's a given. Pull the troops based on the promise made (the one Samantha Power said really wasn't a promise, remember/) and give a speech saying that you've done what America wanted. That's the end of the story. If things go badly after, well you kept your campaign promise as the American people wanted.
Instead Barack, believing his own false press about what a great thinker he was, decided to 'tinker' because he just knew he could improve on things. That's how he failed to keep his campaign promise. And the longer he waited and the long he played with it, the more it became his war. After the drawdown at the end of 2011 (passed off as a withdrawal), he began sending US troops back in during the fall of 2012. US troops remain in Iraq to this day. Another broken promise from Barack.
Each year, US troops have remained in Iraq to prop up the puppet government. And the US government has just known that this will be the year the puppet government gives them what they want. That's the oil and gas laws. That was the only benchmark the press ever
 obsessed over, remember?
Tuesday, at the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Marco Rubio was pushing for war on Venezuela while insisting that "we care a lot about democracy, we care a lot about freedom, we care a lot about human rights" and isn't it "in the national interest of the United States" for the government in Venezuela to fall (be overthrown) and be "replaced by a democratic and more responsive government?"
War to create a democratic and more responsive government?
Well then the US government better declare war on the Iraqi government!
Some nervous nelly leaders in Iraq repeatedly insist that US troops must remain in Iraq to 'help' with the battle against ISIS. ISIS is not going away until the Iraqi government stops persecuting Sunnis. It won't stop doing that. So US troops should be pulled immediately. But this insisting? It goes to the reality that Iraqi troops still -- all this time later -- can't defend their own country.
The Iraq War hits the 16 year mark in March. Are we going to have to wait until March 2021 for US troops to leave? Do we need to wait for the 18 year mark -- when the Iraq War is a legal adult -- to finally say, "Okay, you're on your own"?
Before we go further, let's note Senator Angus King rejected Marco's tantrum for war on Venezuela in Tuesday's hearing, stating, "In light of Senator Rubio's comments, I'd just like a note of caution. He listed refugee flows, human rights abuses and corruption. There are lots of countries in the world that meet that description and our right or responsibility to generate regime change in a situation like that, I think, is a slippery slope. And I have some real caution about what our vital interests are and whether it's our right or responsibility to take action to try to change the government of another sovereign country."
Abbas Kadhim (The Atlantic Council) pretends he's looking at Iraq after 100 days of a new government and offers:
The Political Front: Meeting with Prime Minister Abdul-Mahdi and President Salih
I met with top Iraqi leaders, President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. Despite the difficult process to complete his ministerial cabinet and the tough challenges he inherited from previous governments, Abdul-Mahdi seemed to be focused on a clear governance agenda that includes several immediate priorities. He was mindful of the need to address corruption but stated the pressing matters are the economy, governance, and service delivery.
The visit to the seat of the presidency at al-Salam Palace took me to another branch of government where noticeable changes are underway. Iraqis had previously seen the presidency as a weak and trivial institution without any real political power. The fact of the matter is that previous presidents have not made use of the status of their office. With Dr. Barham Salih in the office, the Iraqi Presidency is taking on a new shape and acquiring a healthy level of energy, particularly in foreign relations. His state visits to several capitals in the region and beyond restored the good image of Iraq’s government. On US-Iraq relations, both sides have emphasized the importance of the alliance and the need to make it as strong as possible. The Iraqi public is already taking note of this positive change.
Iraq’s budget, passed by Parliament on January 24, 2019, proposes one of the largest post-2003 government spending plans ($112 billion), which is mostly to cover government operation costs and salaries. Meanwhile, pressing infrastructure and reconstruction spending is far less adequate than expected. In fact, the electricity sector, where performance will be the most important referendum on the popularity of Abdul-Mahdi’s government, saw its budget slashed by a billion dollars, leaving the ministry with hardly enough money to operate at last year’s level, which is 50 percent of Iraq’s capacity to provide service during the peak summer period. Moreover, one important thing to remember about this budget is that it is based on two unknown and unpredictable variables: oil production and prices. If Iraq, for whatever reason, fails to produce 3.88 mbd or oil prices sink significantly below $56 per barrel, the government will face a dire financial problem.
Fact, ISIS is still active in Iraq. Fact, Mahdi has been unable to find a Minister of Defense or Minister of Interior. Fact, the last time these offices were left empty is when ISIS took hold in Iraq. Fact, to overlook those realities goes beyond shortsighted.
Also not addressed by Abbas would be the militias which are now part of the government and seen to be under no one's control.
The Popular Mobilization militias have launched a military operation in "Samarra " in the province of Salahuddin #, despite that the government of Baghdad announced the end of military operations more than a year ago.
Let's wind down with this from Black Alliance for Peace:
JANUARY 25, 2019—We, the members of the Black Alliance for Peace, uphold our political stance in the face of aggressions waged by the United States. Two of BAP’s core principles are an unwavering commitment to self-determination for peoples and nations alike and opposition to imperialism in all its varied and brutal forms. Therefore, unlike so many who are confused about Venezuela, we say without equivocation that we oppose the illegal and immoral attempts by the United States and their Organization of American States (OAS) allies to interfere in the internal affairs of Venezuela.
The Need for a Compelling Anti-Capitalist Narrative
Judge Says PG&E Violated Parole, Should Stop Starting Wildfires
Left Coast Events Bulletin with Janine Bandcroft January 31st, 2019
And Kat did two posts yesterday, she also did "She wants to be America's prison guard."
Posted by Elaine at 10:55 PM Links to this post