Good piece.
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If you would like more information on Russian money going to GOP and Trump you might want to look at Craig Ungerâs latest book âHouse of Trump, House of Putinâ. He really goes into the Russian money at length. He also wrote a good article published in the New Republic (I believe) - something like Trumps Russian Laundromat - July/August 2017. I think there is a follow-up article that is in reference to the book Aug./2018.
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OMG, Preach!!
What is wrong with white women? Why do half of them so consistently vote for Republicans, even as the Republican party morphs into a monstrously ugly organization that is increasingly indistinguishable from a hate group? The most likely answer seems to be that white women vote for Republicans for the same reason that white men do: because they are racist. Trump, with his raucous rallies and his bloviating, combative style, has offered his supporters an opportunity to savor the pleasures of being cruel. It is likely that the white women who voted for him in 2016, and who will vote for him again in 2020, find this racist sadism gratifying. It is fun for them.
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Spot on! 
I know some of these women and men. They play their cards close to their vest, but when you get to know them, at some point they inadvertently tip their hand. And this, I feel, is one of the reasons that polls are so often out of whack. These people hide their racism, along with their support for Trump, and they bury it so deep that they even lie to pollsters, but when they step into that very private voting booth, they vote from the dark recesses of their heart.
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OK, are you ready for some really good news?! Trump is doing his best to distract us yet again â and, yes, we must keep an eye on his latest treacheries, but at the same I hope we take a few minutes every day over the next couple weeks to celebrate the Blue Wave â and chalk up the victories we have won.
Democrats flipped seven governorships, six state legislative chambers, and more than 300 state House and Senate seats on election night. The party went a long way to regaining control at the state level after suffering devastating losses throughout the Barack Obama years.
Yeehaw! 
Maine: Medicaid expansion is coming
Janet Mills beat Republican Shawn Moody decisively â 51 percent to 43 â and Democrats flipped the one Maine Senate Seat they needed to take over that chamber. They already controlled the House.
First and foremost, the Democratic takeover means the end of Maineâs Medicaid expansion drama. Maine voters overwhelmingly approved the expansion in a ballot initiative last year, but archconservative LePage used every legal and procedural quirk in the book to slow it downâŚ
Kansas: time for some centrism and some tax fights
One of the most satisfying wins of the night for Democrats was Laura Kelly toppling Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach â an immigration hardliner and former leader of Trumpâs voter fraud commission â to become Kansasâs next governorâŚ
Nevada: Harry Reidâs machine gives Democrats free rein on their agenda
Democratic Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak defeated Republican Secretary of State â no doubt thanks in part to the political machine of Harry Reid â and Democrats held on to both chambers in the legislature to form another new trifectaâŚ
Etc., etc. Check out the article for much more good news in other states.
One big take away for me was something I hadnât considered before. In states where we have flipped the governorâs office to Blue, but the legislature remains Red, thatâs still a huge step forward because the governorâs veto will now hang over the legislature â they must drastically rein in their Trumpian agendas. 
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What we know so far about Trumpâs new Acting AG, Matt Whitaker
(Iâve tried to include a link to at least one reputable news source to support each of these bullets.)
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In 2004, President G. W. Bush appointed Whitaker as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa. He resigned in 2009 when Obama became president.
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In 2014, Whitaker was campaign chairman for Republican Sam Clovis in his unsuccessful bid to become state treasurer of Iowa. Clovis went on to become Trumpâs campaign national co-chairperson. Clovis was listed as an unnamed campaign supervisor in the indictment of George Papadopoulos. He has been interviewed by Muellerâs team and testified before the grand jury. It is unclear if Clovisâs role is limited to being a witness or if he is under investigation.
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From Oct., 2014, until September, 2017 when he joined the DOJ, Whitaker was executive director of an aggressively anti-Democrat organization funded by dark money.
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From 2014 to 2017, Whitaker worked for World Patent Marketing, a company which was fined $25 million and shut down for bilking millions of dollars from its clients. Whitaker served on the âAdvisory Boardâ which supposedly reviewed the submissions of hopeful inventors who paid WPM to promote their work. In reality, the company failed to provide any significant value in services to its customers. Whitaker appeared in two promotional videos and gave glowing endorsements regarding the âintegrityâ of the firm. He touted his U.S. Attorney credentials to bolster his claims. Whitaker also served on the companyâs legal team dedicated to silencing customers who complained, threatening them, among other things, with criminal prosecution for blackmail.
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While investigating WPM, the FTC also directly investigated Whitakerâs involvement with the company. However, they were unable to complete that investigation because Whitaker rebuffed a subpoena they issued for him to turn over documents.
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After WPM was shut down, Whitaker was ordered to forfeit the ill-gotten gains he received from the company, but he ignored the order. He still has the scammed funds. Other members of the Advisory Board returned their payments.
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WPM is currently under criminal investigation by the FBI, an agency that now answers to Whitaker. So Whitaker is in charge of an investigation into himself.
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In Jul., 2017, former White House counsel Don McGahn interviewed Whitaker for a position as part of Trumpâs legal team. Whitaker did not join the team; the reason is unclear.
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Whitaker continued his role as a pro-Trump pundit, appearing on Fox News, CNN, and other news outlets, building a reputation as an outspoken critic of the Mueller investigation. He argued against the very creation of a special counsel, and later asserted that the investigation was a âwitch huntâ and that it should be defunded. He also defended Trump Jr.'s decision to attend the Trump Tower meeting. And he once tweeted an article with a headline that referred to Muellerâs team as a âlynch mob.â
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In Sept., 2017, Whitaker became Sessionsâ chief of staff. McGahn was instrumental in arranging this appointment.
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Following his appointment as Sessionsâ chief of staff, Whitaker met with Trump, along with Sessions, more than a dozen times.
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Beginning in May, 2018, Whitaker, without informing his boss, Jeff Sessions, advised Trump on how to pressure the DOJ into investigating Hillary Clinton, according to two White House sources.
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On Oct. 11, Trump said he knew Whitaker and he was a great guy.
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On Nov. 7, Trump fired Jeff Sessions from his post as Attorney General and appointed Whitaker as Acting Attorney General.
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On Nov. 8, the NYT published an op-ed piece asserting that Trumpâs appointment of Whitaker is unconstitutional. Many Democrats, including Chuck Schumer, Senate minority leader, concured. Republicans, among them Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, and Senator Lindsey Graham, have generally dismissed any legal or ethical concerns. Graham had previously railed that if Trump fired Sessions, there would be âholy hell to pay.â
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On Nov. 8, attorney generals from 18 states called on Whitaker to recuse himself from any matters related to the Mueller investigation.
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On Nov. 8, tens of thousands of demonstrators in cities and towns from coast-to-coast protested Whitakerâs appointment.
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On Nov. 9, Trump said he did not know Whitaker. He repeated this assertion 4 times. (Contrast with his statement of Oct. 11 above.) He also said he did not discuss the Mueller investigation with Whitaker.
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On Nov. 9, after some older tweets by Whitaker, praising Putin and Russia were shared on Twitter, Whitaker set his Twitter account to âprivateâ so only followers he approves can access his past tweets. However, snapshots of his Twitter archive can be found here. (Actually, I donât think this link displays a true, comprehensive collection of his old tweets, plus the pages keep locking up â if anyone finds an easily accessible database of all his past tweets, please share.)
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On Nov. 10, a group of House Democrats, announced they are considering legal action over the appointment.
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As of Nov. 10, Whitaker has not recused himself from Muellerâs Trump/Russia investigation. He also has not recused himself from the FBIâs criminal investigation into the scams of World Patent Marketing from which he profited.
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I suspect there is some truth to that. Many T supporters I know hated O primarily because he was black and they believed what Fox News told them and what FB posts from friends said about O. [quote=âPet_Proletariat, post:249, topic:965â]
bloviating
[/quote]
Intriguing new opinion three part video series from The NY Times on Russiaâs disinformation campaigns in the US and abroad.
A must watch series!!
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Top notch reporting from Esquire â a very detailed look at Whitakerâs background. Itâs just staggering that this low-level political hack and grifter is now head of our Department of Justice. The reason is transparent â he strongly opposes the Mueller investigation.
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Yet again our President is obstructing justice in plain sight â but still congressional Republicans remain silent â and thus complicit.
Esquire provides some good insight into Trumpâs transparent motives for appointing Whitaker and includes supporting quotations from Trumpâs recent interview with The Daily Caller.
THE DAILY CALLER: Sure. Could you tell us where your thinking is currently on the attorney general position? I know youâre happy with Matthew Whitaker, do you have any names? Chris Christie â
POTUS: Matthew Whitaker is a very respected man. Heâs â and heâs, very importantly, heâs respected within DOJ. I heard he got a very good decision, I havenât seen it. Kellyanne, did I hear that?
WHITE HOUSE ADVISER KELLYANNE CONWAY: 20 pages.
POTUS: A 20-page?
THE DAILY CALLER: It just came out right before this, sir.
POTUS: Well, I heard it was a very strong opinion. Uh, which is good. But [Whitaker] is just somebody thatâs very respected.
I knew him only as he pertained, you know, as he was with Jeff Sessions. And, you know, look, as far as Iâm concerned this is an investigation that should have never been brought. It should have never been had.
Itâs something that should have never been brought. Itâs an illegal investigation.
This exchange begins when the interviewer asks a question about who Trump might be considering as a permanent AG pick; he did not ask anything about Mueller or anything about why Trump chose Whitaker as the Acting AG. But Trump launches into a justification for his appointment of Whitaker and itâs because the Mueller investigation âshould never have been broughtâ and is âan illegal investigation.â
This admission is consistent with what Trump confessed to Lester Holt in 2017 about his firing of Comey: âIn fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story.â Now Trump is telling us that he installed an Acting AG who is anti-Mueller because Muellerâs investigation is âillegal.â This is straight up obstruction of justice that Trump is not even attempting to hide.
It galls me to provide a link to The Daily Caller, but in the interest of transparency so anyone can confirm that the above quotation is not taken out of context, hereâs the full transcript of the interview.
BTW, this is the same interview in which Trump, with no supporting evidence, made the absurd claim that voters are putting on disguises so they can vote more than once:
POTUS: The Republicans donât win and thatâs because of potentially illegal votes, which is what Iâve been saying for a long time. I have no doubt about it. And Iâve seen it, Iâve had friends talk about it when people get in line that have absolutely no right to vote and they go around in circles. Sometimes they go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again.
The President of our nation is now officially in âtinfoil hatâ territory.
Letâs parse this quotation a little. When alleging that voters are dressing up in disguises, he first says âIâve seen it.â But this is a lie. He hasnât seen it as he makes clear in the very next sentence; he says itâs his friends that have told him about it: âIâve had friends talk to me about it.â So have his friends actually seen it? Or have they also just âheardâ about it? Which friends? Where did they see it or where did they hear about it? This is the same M.O. that Trump uses over and over. Instead of quoting a legitimate, verifiable source, he just tosses out phrases like, âpeople tell meâ or âeverybodyâs saying itâ â this appears to be sufficient âevidenceâ for Trumpâs base.
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Beto writes about running on Medium 
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Read this Op-Ed piece by Max Boot on why we need to get Whitaker out of the acting Attorney General position. Whitaker more likely than not has spilled out details to T about the Mueller investigation which many feel is the reason behind the truly unhinged Twitter behavior Thursday.
T is going for every âlegalâ strategy to circumvent any legal jeopardy that Mueller poses. We all see Tâs panic and we all want justice to prevail.
T unhinged and cornered is a super scary proposition. 
There is already cause for concern that Whitaker may have tipped off the White House. On Thursday, Trump tweeted, âThe inner workings of the Mueller investigation are a total mess. They have found no collusion and have gone absolutely nuts. They are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want. They are a disgrace to our Nation.â Trump has never used the phrase âinner workingsâ before. Maybe he was just spouting off. Maybe he was reacting to information shared with him by witnesses Mueller has interrogated. Or maybe he has suddenly gained a vantage point on the âinner workings of the Mueller investigationâ that he did not have before Whitakerâs appointment.
In this hour of peril for our democracy, it is imperative that Congress rush to the ramparts. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refuses to move legislation that would protect Mueller. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) has belatedly said he would refuse to support judicial confirmations until that legislation is brought to the floor, but his threat will not be effective unless he is joined by at least one other Republican. Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) actually introduced legislation to protect Mueller, but now he doesnât see the need for it and even says Whitaker doesnât need to recuse himself.
We are seeing a slow-motion Saturday Night Massacre, and the lack of pushback from Congress, so far, gives Trump a green light to continue his assault on the rule of law. Every day that Whitaker remains in office is a day that our democracy is being undermined.
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Another Op-Ed piece from the NYTâs Editorial Board on why we donât need Matthew Whitaker. Seems to ring true to many of us, doesnât it?!
The reason Mr. Trump replaced Mr. Sessions with Mr. Whitaker seems clear. When The Daily Caller, a conservative news website, asked Mr. Trump last week for his thoughts about the man now running the Justice Department, the president volunteered, âAs far as Iâm concerned, this is an investigation that should have never been brought. It should have never been had. Itâs something that should have never been brought. Itâs an illegal investigation.â
Mr. Whitaker is an avowed antagonist of Mr. Mueller â he has called the investigation a witch hunt, said Mr. Muellerâs team should not investigate Mr. Trumpâs finances and suggested that an attorney general could slash the special counselâs budget.
As if concerns about the Constitution, the law and Mr. Whitakerâs judgment werenât enough, the broader picture that has emerged about Mr. Whitaker is even more disturbing. He has expressed skepticism toward Marbury v. Madison, the landmark case that established the concept of judicial review; he would support the confirmation of federal judges who hold âa biblical view of justiceâ; he may have prosecuted a political opponent for improper reasons when he was a federal prosecutor in Iowa; and then thereâs the fiasco of his business involvement with a company accused of scamming customers that is being investigated by the F.B.I.
Justice Department regulations governing the day-to-day operations of the special counselâs office allow for Mr. Whitaker to be read in on many of its inner workings, including that the acting attorney general be given âan explanation for any investigative or prosecutorial stepâ that Mr. Mueller decides to take. So there is nothing to keep Mr. Whitaker from being the presidentâs eyes and ears inside the most closely guarded investigation in the history of American politics.
On Thursday morning, the president rage-tweeted that Mr. Mueller was a âhighly conflictedâ person, leading a legal team that is âa total mess.â âThey are screaming and shouting at people, horribly threatening them to come up with the answers they want,â Mr. Trump wrote.
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Bullet point #3⌠is that the Masculine Toilet? Sheesh⌠and here it was just me thinking if you could look up dickhead in the dictionary his picture would be next to the defination.
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sorry definitionâŚ
Pulitzer prize winning Washington Post writer Eugene Robinson has never particularly liked T, but this Op-Ed goes FULL THROTTLE on him.
We are at a turning point, in fact waaaay past it for 3/5thâs of the country, who can not stand this man, and see a mad man telling lies, insulting our vaunted military personnel, and avoiding his commitments as Commander-in-Chief.
And weâre hearing a lot of âCome JanuaryâŚDemocrats willâŚâ and January can not come too soon. 
Read onâŚ
Like a television show that has jumped the shark, President Trumpâs frantic act grows more desperate and pathetic by the day.
Asked by Chris Wallace of âFox News Sundayâ to grade his presidency, Trump absurdly replied: âLook, I hate to do it, but I will do it, I would give myself an A-plus. Is that enough? Can I go higher than that?â
Much closer to the mark is the assessment by Republican lawyer and operative George Conway, the husband of one of Trumpâs closest White House aides, counselor Kellyanne Conway: âThe administration is like a sâshow in a dumpster fire.
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No wonder that multiple news reports describe the president as angry, frustrated and even less rational than usual. He has neglected his ceremonial duties, declining to join other world leaders at a ceremony in France commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I and failing to lay a wreath at Arlington National Ceremony for Veterans Day.
âI probably, you know, in retrospect I should have, and I did last year,â Trump told Wallace about going to Arlington. Fact check: He didnât. On Veterans Day 2017, Trump was in Vietnam.
It is mystifying why Trump, at a moment when he should be licking his wounds, seems intent on alienating veterans and the military. In that same interview with Wallace, who generally managed to keep a straight face, Trump went out of his way to attack retired Adm. William H. McRaven, who oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
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Republicans who might be inclined to sign up for another season of Trumpâs fading reality show should pause and take stock. There should be no doubt, at this point, that the man is a giant loser who will drag the GOP down with him.
âI wasnât on the ballot,â he whined to Wallace. But he spent weeks on the campaign trail, begging supporters to vote as if he were. At almost every stop, he said that a vote for the GOP candidate would be âa vote for me.â The result? Millions more voted against Trump than for him. And this was just a warm-up for 2020.
Trump has already robbed the GOP of any coherent philosophy. The party that once supported the military now abuses it as a scapegoat. The party that once stood for fiscal responsibility now manages the nationâs finances in a manner that drunken sailors would find imprudent. The party that once claimed to champion personal rectitude and Christian morality now winks at payoffs to paramours and porn stars. The party that once valued order now celebrates Sybaritic chaos.
Come January, a Democratic House will begin performing the oversight duties that Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) neglected. Does anyone believe that proper scrutiny of, say, the Trump familyâs international business dealings is likely to improve the presidentâs political standing? I donât.
In the Churchillian sense, the midterm election was the âend of the beginning.â My understanding is that rats tend to leave a sinking ship.
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Wes Clark - retired 4-star General, former NATO commander
I served under 8 commanders in chief. Trump doesnât grasp the role.
@GenClark
The problems with @realdonaldtrumpâs tenure as Commander in Chief go beyond just his petty insults of those who served. On almost every level, Donald Trump just does not âget itâ when it comes to leading our military and veterans. My op-ed: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/19/i-served-under-commanders-chief-trump-doesnt-grasp-role/?utm_term=.56b834f654f1
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The CIAâs announcement that it knows the MBS did in fact call for the murder of Khashoggi was meant to put a wedge between the T Admin and the Saudiâs. Other countries, Germany in particular have taken the stance of not selling arms to them, and now internally, Republican (T lacky and flip-flopper) Lindsay Graham now believes we should have nothing to do with MBS.
Some thoughts on what impact this may haveâŚ
There are some parallels with the Khashoggi murder. Officials, including President Donald Trump himself, seem keen to shield Prince Mohammed, better known as MBS, on the grounds that he is crucial to the administrationâs ambitions in the Middle East, and especially to the confrontation with Iran. An investigation in Riyadh has pointed to senior Saudi officials, including a close MBS aide. But on this occasion, the CIA has taken a few weeks to finger the prince himself for the killing of the Washington Post columnist.
This tells us a few things. First, the CIA must be sure it has powerful evidence of the princeâs alleged responsibility â tapes and phone intercepts included. Second, the agency must believe that MBS isnât essential to American security interests in the region. Had the spies agreed with the presidentâs assessment, it is unlikely they would have leaked their conclusion of MBSâs guilt. This is significant because the CIA works closely with its Saudi counterparts, and would not have made such a determination lightly. And third, the CIA is determined not to be involved in a shabby cover-up.
What now? Despite Trumpâs efforts to equivocate about the CIAâs conclusion (âWho can really know?â he said in a Fox News interview) MBSâs name is now firmly in the frame. In Congress, there is a growing bipartisan clamor for action against the prince. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, long a vocal supporter of Saudi Arabia and a leading candidate to lead the Senate judiciary committee, has declared MBS âunhinged,â and has promised punitive measures. If the congressmen take their outrage to its natural conclusion, they could demand that the Trump administrationâs sanctions on 17 Saudi nationals over the Khashoggi murder be extended to MBS himself.
With the CIA and Congress now of one mind on MBS, other governments might feel emboldened to take action as well. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has already suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia and made her opinion known directly to MBSâs father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz. Germany has also said it will bar 18 Saudis from entry, citing their alleged links to the Khashoggi murder. Expect more sanctions from Europe.
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There will undoubtedly be other, more unpredictable consequences of the CIAâs assessment of MBSâs responsibility. Unlike General Pinochet, the prince doesnât have Americaâs spies in his corner.
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