Of course, no integrity

For discussion of liberty, freedom, government and politics.
Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Poor little Trumpsters...all their dreams vanish like a puff of smoke. Put on them tap dancin' shoes and dance!

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... ty-groups/

Jeff Sessions’ DoJ Will Not Investigate IRS Suppression of Tea Party Groups

by NEIL MUNRO 8 Sep 201718,672
Republicans slammed the Friday announcement by President Donald Trump’s justice department that it will not investigate the official who allegedly oversaw the IRS’ secret sabotage of Americans’ civic groups before the 2012 election.
“This is a terrible decision,” said a statement from Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees taxes and the IRS. His statement continued:

It sends the message that the same legal, ethical, and Constitutional standards we all live by do not apply to Washington political appointees – who will now have the green light to target Americans for their political beliefs and mislead investigators without ever being held accountable for their lawlessness. Not only has the Department of Justice chosen not to hold [IRS manager] Lois Lerner criminally liable for obstructing an official investigation by the Inspector General, the Department continues to defend the Internal Revenue Service’s unconstitutional actions against taxpayers in ongoing civil litigation.

“The decision not to prosecute Lois Lerner is a miscarriage of justice,” said an accompanying statement from the chairman of the tax policy subcommittee, Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam. He continued:

On top of Ms. Lerner’s actions against taxpayers – denying tax-exempt status to groups for political gain and failing to protect taxpayer information – the Department’s response blatantly ignores our most troubling finding: that Ms. Lerner intentionally misled federal investigators in a flagrant violation of the law. This is unacceptable and Ms. Lerner must be held accountable. Our democracy is injured when those who taxpayers entrust with great authority ignore the law to advance their own political agenda without repercussion.”

Tom Fitton, head of the Watchdog law firm Judicial Watch, joined the criticism, saying:

Tom Fitton ✔ @TomFitton
DOJ and FBI conspired with Lerner's IRS. No surprise they won't prosecute her or themselves. @realDonaldTrump should order a review.
2:17 PM - Sep 8, 2017
610 610 Replies 6,679 6,679 Retweets 9,952 9,952 likes


Tom Fitton ✔ @TomFitton
I have zero confidence that the Justice Department did an adequate review of the IRS scandal. http://jwatch.us/HwzEBE @JudicialWatch
4:47 PM - Sep 8, 2017
Photo published for Judicial Watch Statement on Justice Department’s Decision Not to Charge Lois Lerner in IRS Scandal...
Judicial Watch Statement on Justice Department’s Decision Not to Charge Lois Lerner in IRS Scandal...
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the Department of Justice’s decision not to bring charges against Lois Lerner, former director of the...
judicialwatch.org
417 417 Replies 3,523 3,523 Retweets 5,160 5,160 likes

The scandal has been underway since 2013 when the IRS admitted that its officials had slow-rolled and blocked routine requests for tax-exempt status from conservative Tea Party groups while giving quick approval to liberal groups. That obstruction of tax-exempt status made it difficult for the conservative groups to raise funds needed to campaign against then-president Barack Obama during the 2012 election. Under Obama, the IRS and the justice department stonewalled and blocked subsequent investigations, via many tactics such the destruction of email records.

GOP officials and members of the non-profit groups hoped that Trump’s deputies would investigate and prosecute the wrongdoing.

But the September 8 letter from the Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department said it would not even reopen the investigation because officials require “proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a government employee intentionally discriminated against an applicant for a tax-exempt status based on viewpoint.”

Prior investigations had found mismanagement that disproportionately hurt conservative groups, and the recently appointed department officials reviewed the new reports and concluded that “reopening the criminal investigation would not be appropriate based on the available evidence,” said the Friday letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd.

That answer was a response to an April 12 letter from the two GOP leaders on the tax committee, which included more information about Lerner’s activities, and a request that the department “take a fresh look at the evidence presented in the attached referral.” The referral is provided here.

“I have the utmost respect for Attorney General Sessions, but I’m troubled by his Department’s lack of action to fully respond to our request and deliver accountability,” Bray said in his Friday statement. “Today’s decision does not mean Lois Lerner is innocent. It means the justice system in Washington is deeply flawed.”

Copyright © 2017 Breitbart

larsenb
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 10812
Location: Between here and Standing Rock

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by larsenb »

Silver wrote: September 9th, 2017, 1:35 pm Poor little Trumpsters...all their dreams vanish like a puff of smoke. Put on them tap dancin' shoes and dance! . . . .
I know its to much to ask of you, but I just wanted to suggest that you'd get far more traction with your incessant anti-Trump diatribes by dropping the snide, contemptuous asides.

But it's obvious you get too much satisfaction out of being snide, other than giving up and correcting your style.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

If Trump supporters had any integrity, they would have abandoned the man when he hired a couple dozen CFR traitors to work with him. The following shows the man's character...which was obvious before a bunch of deluded people voted for him.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/adriancarrasqu ... .ulPJaAy5l

That Time Donald Trump Had A Meeting With DREAMers And Said “You Convinced Me” On Immigration

Two years ago, Trump met with immigration activists who told them their stories and asked for his support on immigration. "You convinced me," Trump said as the meeting ended.

Posted on August 26, 2015, at 5:06 p.m.
Adrian Carrasquillo

Donald Trump with Antonio Tijerino, Estuardo Rodriguez, and DREAMer activists at his office in 2013.
Courtesy Estuardo Rodriguez
Donald Trump with Antonio Tijerino, Estuardo Rodriguez, and DREAMer activists at his office in 2013.
On an August day two years ago, Donald Trump was in a much different place: He was just a billionaire with the simple goal of connecting his beauty pageant business with the upcoming Hispanic Heritage Awards.

So at his New York penthouse office atop Trump Tower, he convened a meeting.

Trump ushered in a pair of men — one to talk about the awards and a Democratic strategist who works with nonprofits — and three young DREAMer activists. The DREAMers were on a tour sharing their stories with those less likely to support them, like tea party supporters.

Trump, according to four attendees who recounted the meeting to BuzzFeed News, talked about how rich he is ("This is the best view in New York!"), the golf courses he was building around the world, and about each prospective Republican candidate ("What do you think about Jeb Bush?") and whether Latinos liked them.

Then the DREAMers began telling their life stories.

Jose Machado spoke about how his mom was deported when he was 15 years old. Diego Sanchez talked about how he was trying to go to law school and struggling to come up with ways to pay for it.

Trump alternated between making no sense and broad ignorance on the issue, said Gaby Pacheco, a prominent national activist and the third DREAMer in the meeting.

"Don't you think someone in a wheelchair is more deserving than you all?" Trump said to silence.

But he also kept asking, "Can't you just become a citizen if you want to?" No, we can't, the activists said, there's no process for that. Trump was reflective, the activists said.

"You know, the truth is I have a lot of illegals working for me in Miami," he told them, using the term for undocumented immigrants those in the meeting found offensive. "You know in Miami, my golf course is tended by all these Hispanics — if it wasn't for them my lawn wouldn't be the lawn it is; it's the best lawn," Pacheco recalled Trump saying.

Trump said he knew the work of undocumented people is what makes his golf courses and hotels great.

"At the end of the day, what we're looking at is a value proposition for America," Tijerino said to Trump at the end of the meeting, referring to immigration legislation.

"You've convinced me," Trump said to the delight of the activists in the room.

"We all smiled at each other and said, 'Wow, we did it, we got this guy to change his mind,'" Pacheco said.

Two years later, they see a showman just playing to the crowd. Trump, of course, has spun the Republican field into a debate about immigration that has involved whether the 14th Amendment should be revoked, and if the U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants should be deported.

"This is an entertainer who knows how to appease his audience," Rodriguez said. "In his office he had an audience that was completely receptive to what he had to say about respecting the drive of these students who are here to change their lives. But once that conversation was done, that conversation was done. There was no follow up."

Antonio Tijerino, the businessman who spoke about the Hispanic Heritage Awards at the meeting, said Trump's people didn't expect him to come with activists in tow — but Trump was "gracious, engaged, warm, and friendly."

It was very different, Tijerino said from the Trump of 2015, the man whom Tijerino believes provoked the alleged beating of a homeless Hispanic man last week by two white men from Boston who justified the attack by telling police, "Donald Trump was right: All these illegals need to be deported."

In 2013, though, he was in entertainer mode even as the meeting concluded, cracking jokes with the group about how they needed better ties — and walked them downstairs straight to his gift shop.

Trump declared that they could have whatever they wanted for free.

He gave away a watch, and his daughter's book. He gave away chocolate. Pacheco scored a perfume; the guys got a bunch of Donald Trump ties.

"Everything said 'Made in China,'" Pacheco said.

Sanchez, who is 25 and now in law school, cracked up when asked about the ties. He said he was literally wearing one of the three Trump gave him that day.

"Considering what he told us, it's a complete 360, all he's doing now is spewing hate," Sanchez said. "He's digging himself in a hole even more. He was nice then but now he wants to kick us out of the country."

Rodriguez, who took a tie and gave it to his dad, said this is what should upset Trump's supporters: They're just being used by a showman who knows what to say depending on who he's talking to.

"That's what he's doing now — using his celebrity and getting people starstruck by playing to his audience."

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

The Marmalade In Chief, prior to his inauguration, was like, "War will be stopped bigly in places where we shouldn't fight and it will be beautiful the way we win by not fighting in those places which are located in foreign countries which we should not fight with."

Of course, he was saying whatever it took to fool the other half of an apathetic voting bloc.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/09/08/stat ... o-bahrain/

State Dept Approves $3.8 Billion Arms Sales to Bahrain

Sales Includes Large Purchase of Warplanes From Lockheed Martin

Jason Ditz Posted on September 8, 2017

The US State Department has approved $3.8 billion in weapons sales to the tiny island nation of Bahrain. The Pentagon confirmed the approval and the State Department has notified Congress, who held up a similar sale last year over Bahrain’s many, many human rights problems.

The $3.8 billion sale is almost entirely going to Lockheed Martin, who will be providing 19 F-16V fighter jets, along with substantial upgrades to the nation’s existing fleet of F-16s. Raytheon will be selling 221 anti-tank missiles to go with it.

Sales to Bahrain were supposed to be suspended, as Sen. Bob Corker (R – TN) had threatened to hold them all up until they resolved tensions with Qatar. In the end, however, Congress is said to have signed off through normal channels.

State Department officials insist that the US is continuing to discuss human rights issues with Bahrain, and is encouraging reform. That historically has never really been the case, as the US has largely turned a blind eye to Bahrain’s abuse of its Shi’ite population, viewing it as a cost of getting to host a major naval base there.

Bahrain had earlier today condemned Amnesty International for a report detailing their detention and torture of Shi’ite dissidents. Bahrain didn’t provide any details on their problem with the report, just that they “regretted” it being published.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Toto, good little Toto, pulled back the curtain to reveal the truth of the Wizard of Oz. Americans are afraid to pull that curtain back now. Cowering in fear is not a winning plan.

http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-projec ... merica-war

Behind the Guise of Adversarial Journalism, CNN’s Jake Tapper Is Taking America to War


Posing as Trump’s most dogged critic, Tapper has become the face and voice of American regime media.

By Max Blumenthal / AlterNet September 6, 2017, 9:09 AM GMT

This July, Millennium Films announced it is producing an action film based on CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s “The Outpost.” The book is Tapper's dewy-eyed true life account of 53 American soldiers who bravely fought off an overwhelming force of Taliban insurgents from within their Alamo-style fortress in northeastern Afghanistan. Though Tapper conceded that he covered the war from “the comfort of the North Lawn of the White House,” his book won wide praise, including from conservatives like John Hinderaker, who wrote that it “required an almost unimaginable amount of work—of patriotism.” With President Donald Trump announcing a surge of thousands of new troops to Afghanistan, Tapper has provided Hollywood with perhaps the perfect vehicle to stir public sympathy for the troops tasked with continuing the 16-year-old war against the Taliban.

As the host of CNN’s highly rated "The Lead," Tapper has branded himself as one of the president’s most vehement critics, slamming Trump almost daily for his incompetence and hypocrisy. His indignant attacks on the president have earned him a fawning write-up in Slate as the "ideal newsman of our age," praise from CNN contributor Van Jones as “a god,” and a raft of puff pieces in glossy pop culture magazines. According to Vogue, he is “the internet hero — and journalistic sensation — of the Trump era.” Jim Rutenberg, the media critic for the New York Times, claimed to GQ that Tapper’s popularity stemmed from him “doing very basic fact-checking and calling things out bluntly.” Rutenberg added, “He doesn’t let anyone off the hook.”

However, as Trump transitions from a non-interventionist campaign platform to a crudely militaristic foreign policy, Tapper has not only let the president off the hook, he has played a central role in cultivating pro-war fever among the American public. I watched each episode of Tapper’s “The Lead” from August 1-10, as the North Korea crisis came to a head, as well as 14 editions of his show between April and July. Only two shows proceeded without an extended segment promoting regime change and expanded sanctions or hyping threats from North Korean ICBMs and Russian hackers.

Fiannan
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 12983

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Fiannan »

larsenb wrote: September 9th, 2017, 1:43 pm
Silver wrote: September 9th, 2017, 1:35 pm Poor little Trumpsters...all their dreams vanish like a puff of smoke. Put on them tap dancin' shoes and dance! . . . .
I know its to much to ask of you, but I just wanted to suggest that you'd get far more traction with your incessant anti-Trump diatribes by dropping the snide, contemptuous asides.

But it's obvious you get too much satisfaction out of being snide, other than giving up and correcting your style.
He must be a hit at office parties.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Warmongering CIA, the shame of Americans for 70+ years.

http://news.antiwar.com/2017/09/10/us-o ... to-jordan/

US Orders South Syria Rebels to Retreat Into Jordan
CIA Requests' Rebel Groups Stop Fighting
Jason Ditz Posted on September 10, 2017Categories NewsTags CIA, Pentagon, Syria
CIA-backed Syrian rebel factions in southeastern Syria have been formally told by the CIA to end all fighting and retreat across the border into Jordan. The “request” has also been endorsed by Jordan and Saudi Arabia, two other backers of the fighters.

This comes amid a Syrian Army push into the nation’s southeast, which is primarily focused on attacking ISIS fighters. Though the US previously appeared to be eager to fight to keep Syrian forces out of this area, that no longer seems to be the case.

This includes the rebel base at al-Tanf, on the three-way border between Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. The US had troops operating out of this base in the past, but presumably won’t keep them there if they want the rebels in Jordan.

The rebels don’t appear to be interested in withdrawing so far, as they believe being sent to Jordan is tantamount to being told to end the war. It’s also possible they’re simply being sent to Jordan to get new CIA orders for a change in strategy.

It’s not clear how much control the CIA ever had over these groups though, and especially now that they’ve stopped arming them, it’s really uncertain that they can successfully call them off like this. Rebel leaders say they intend to fight to the last man.

eddie
captain of 1,000
Posts: 2405

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by eddie »

Silver wrote: September 9th, 2017, 1:35 pm Poor little Trumpsters...all their dreams vanish like a puff of smoke. Put on them tap dancin' shoes and dance!

Poor little anti-Trumpster, we just don't care what you spew anymore, enjoy talking to yourself!
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government ... ty-groups/

Jeff Sessions’ DoJ Will Not Investigate IRS Suppression of Tea Party Groups

by NEIL MUNRO 8 Sep 201718,672
Republicans slammed the Friday announcement by President Donald Trump’s justice department that it will not investigate the official who allegedly oversaw the IRS’ secret sabotage of Americans’ civic groups before the 2012 election.
“This is a terrible decision,” said a statement from Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees taxes and the IRS. His statement continued:

It sends the message that the same legal, ethical, and Constitutional standards we all live by do not apply to Washington political appointees – who will now have the green light to target Americans for their political beliefs and mislead investigators without ever being held accountable for their lawlessness. Not only has the Department of Justice chosen not to hold [IRS manager] Lois Lerner criminally liable for obstructing an official investigation by the Inspector General, the Department continues to defend the Internal Revenue Service’s unconstitutional actions against taxpayers in ongoing civil litigation.

“The decision not to prosecute Lois Lerner is a miscarriage of justice,” said an accompanying statement from the chairman of the tax policy subcommittee, Illinois Rep. Peter Roskam. He continued:

On top of Ms. Lerner’s actions against taxpayers – denying tax-exempt status to groups for political gain and failing to protect taxpayer information – the Department’s response blatantly ignores our most troubling finding: that Ms. Lerner intentionally misled federal investigators in a flagrant violation of the law. This is unacceptable and Ms. Lerner must be held accountable. Our democracy is injured when those who taxpayers entrust with great authority ignore the law to advance their own political agenda without repercussion.”

Tom Fitton, head of the Watchdog law firm Judicial Watch, joined the criticism, saying:

Tom Fitton ✔ @TomFitton
DOJ and FBI conspired with Lerner's IRS. No surprise they won't prosecute her or themselves. @realDonaldTrump should order a review.
2:17 PM - Sep 8, 2017
610 610 Replies 6,679 6,679 Retweets 9,952 9,952 likes


Tom Fitton ✔ @TomFitton
I have zero confidence that the Justice Department did an adequate review of the IRS scandal. http://jwatch.us/HwzEBE @JudicialWatch
4:47 PM - Sep 8, 2017
Photo published for Judicial Watch Statement on Justice Department’s Decision Not to Charge Lois Lerner in IRS Scandal...
Judicial Watch Statement on Justice Department’s Decision Not to Charge Lois Lerner in IRS Scandal...
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton made the following statement regarding the Department of Justice’s decision not to bring charges against Lois Lerner, former director of the...
judicialwatch.org
417 417 Replies 3,523 3,523 Retweets 5,160 5,160 likes

The scandal has been underway since 2013 when the IRS admitted that its officials had slow-rolled and blocked routine requests for tax-exempt status from conservative Tea Party groups while giving quick approval to liberal groups. That obstruction of tax-exempt status made it difficult for the conservative groups to raise funds needed to campaign against then-president Barack Obama during the 2012 election. Under Obama, the IRS and the justice department stonewalled and blocked subsequent investigations, via many tactics such the destruction of email records.

GOP officials and members of the non-profit groups hoped that Trump’s deputies would investigate and prosecute the wrongdoing.

But the September 8 letter from the Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department said it would not even reopen the investigation because officials require “proof beyond a reasonable doubt that a government employee intentionally discriminated against an applicant for a tax-exempt status based on viewpoint.”

Prior investigations had found mismanagement that disproportionately hurt conservative groups, and the recently appointed department officials reviewed the new reports and concluded that “reopening the criminal investigation would not be appropriate based on the available evidence,” said the Friday letter from Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd.

That answer was a response to an April 12 letter from the two GOP leaders on the tax committee, which included more information about Lerner’s activities, and a request that the department “take a fresh look at the evidence presented in the attached referral.” The referral is provided here.

“I have the utmost respect for Attorney General Sessions, but I’m troubled by his Department’s lack of action to fully respond to our request and deliver accountability,” Bray said in his Friday statement. “Today’s decision does not mean Lois Lerner is innocent. It means the justice system in Washington is deeply flawed.”

Copyright © 2017 Breitbart

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

It's really very clear. Do you support Trump and the continuation of the status quo with an administration chock full of CFR, or do you support ending all this satanic empire-building? Are you for peace, like the Prince of Peace, or are you a warmonger?

The article below is easier to read at the link than the copy/paste below.

http://theantimedia.org/rand-paul-senate-end-wars/

Rand Paul Is Trying to Force the Senate to Do Their Job — Here’s How You Can Help
September 12, 2017 at 7:31 am
Written by S.M. Gibson

(ANTIMEDIA) Washington, D.C. — After 16 years at war, one U.S. senator appears to have had enough. Kentucky Senator Rand Paul sat on the floor of the United States Senate Monday night to protest the lack of oversight regarding the U.S. government’s foreign policy.

As the legislative body attempts to push through the $692 billion Defense Authorization Act, the Republican senator is trying to block the bill from moving forward until his colleagues are forced to vote on an amendment that would put an end to the 2001 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force.

Late Monday evening, the Senate passed a motion, to a vote of 89-3, which allowed the legislation to proceed. While the motion limits procedural debate on the legislation, Senator Paul was guaranteed four hours to be able to make his case on Tuesday.

A full vote on the NDAA could come as early as Wednesday morning, which means there is still time for your voice to be heard.

Paul wrote on Monday:

As Congress takes up the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), I will insist it vote on my amendment to sunset the 2001 and 2002 Authorizations for the Use of Military Force.

Why?

Because these authorizations to use military force are inappropriately being used to justify American warfare in 7 different countries. Sunsetting both AUMFs will force a debate on whether we continue the Afghanistan war, the Libya war, the Yemen war, the Syria war, and other interventions.

Our military trains our soldiers to be focused and disciplined, yet the politicians who send them to fight have for years ignored those traits when developing our foreign policy.

The result? Trillions spent in seemingly endless conflicts in every corner of the globe, while we find ourselves 16 years into the war in Afghanistan wondering what our purpose there even is any more, or if we’ll ever bring our troops home.

If we don’t get this rudderless foreign policy under control now, we’ll still be asking the same questions another 16 years down the road.

It’s time to demand the policymakers take their own jobs as seriously as the men and women we ask to risk it all for our nation.

You can contact your senators by calling (202) 224-3121 if you wish to stand with Rand to help put an end to the needless wars and U.S. occupation of foreign nations.

Follow
Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Tonight, the Senate is attempting to move forward with the Defense Bill. I am seeking an amendment to end the AUMF in Afghanistan and Iraq.
5:33 PM - Sep 11, 2017
257 257 Replies 2,043 2,043 Retweets 5,419 5,419 likes
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
I will object to all procedural motions and amendments unless and until my amendment is made in order and we vote on these wars
5:34 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
An attempt was made to run the clock on the bill overnight. I objected and am now sitting on the floor of the Senate to stop that
5:35 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
Tonight I sit silently to protest the thousands of American soldiers who have died over the past decade in these wars.
5:36 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
We have been there for 16 years. It is time for them to end. It is time for Congress to vote on whether or not they should end.
5:36 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
The Senate is now in a quorum call, unable to act because of my protest. This is why I sit on the floor, in silent protest.
5:37 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
I will continue this protest and these objections for as long as needed to ensure Congress do its duty, and vote on ending these wars.
5:37 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
I sit for our soldiers young and brave. Sent to fight in distant lands in our forgotten, forever war
5:47 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
Hypocrites, they pretend concern over our constitutional duty to declare war and then block any vote on ending any of our 7 current wars
5:52 PM - Sep 11, 2017
164 164 Replies 2,056 2,056 Retweets 4,555 4,555 likes
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
I sit nearly alone, but that's fine. I'll fight by myself if need be. This is too important
5:57 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
Where is the anti-war left demanding the wars end? Where is the constitional conservative right demanding Congress reclaim its war powers?
6:25 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
The Senate attempted to shorten debate & move forward without consideration & debate on my amendment to end our AUMF in Afghanistan and Iraq
7:09 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
Senate leaders have agreed not to try to end debate early, and have agreed to four hours of debate under my control to debate these wars.
7:10 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Senator Rand Paul ✔ @RandPaul
Replying to @RandPaul
I will continue to fight, and if necessary, object, to continue this debate , secure a vote and force Congress to do its duty.
7:11 PM - Sep 11, 2017
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Rand Paul-NoMoreWar

Watch the Senate floor live:

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

We were betrayed then and we are being betrayed now. Endless war by the satanic warmongers.

https://www.thecanary.co/2016/09/14/one ... 1-opinion/

Why one US Marine renounced war after 9/11
SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2016 Brad Hoff BRAD HOFF GLOBAL

The fires which began with the 9/11 attacks were never extinguished. They continue to burn fiercely from Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria to Yemen to North Africa, as the region and its regimes came unglued in the wake of George W. Bush’s ‘war on terror’.

The 15th anniversary of 9/11 was marked in America with the usual sombre memorials and directives to ‘never forget‘.

But this definitive 9/11 slogan always takes me back to the overwhelming tide of pro-war fervour that swept the US and stifled any deeper reflection or debate in the years after 11 September 2001. Sadly, I was part of that fervour – and this too I will never forget.

The militarism of my youth

I joined the US Marine Corps as an idealistic 18-year-old in 2000, with a firm resolve – as I enthusiastically told my military recruiter shortly before leaving for boot camp – to “fight evil in the world”. This resolve was rooted more deeply in my veins after the 9/11 attacks. As a relatively new marine, I had temporarily worked at the Pentagon while attached to a headquarters computer programming unit in the two months just prior to that tragic day, and was fortunate not to be there when it was attacked.

After the smoke cleared in New York, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, I and many others wanted ‘justice’ at all costs against an enemy we were told was present in multiple Middle Eastern countries. Slogans such as ‘let’s roll!’ echoed in my ears, and my fervour for ‘the mission’ influenced others to follow my path of military service.

While stationed in Quantico, outside of Washington DC, I became close friends with a local civilian nearing his high school graduation, and I encouraged him to join the Marine Corps. This occurred just as the Bush administration was making the case for war in Iraq.

Author at 18-years-old and not long before 9/11. Attending 'Marine Combat Training' (MCT) near San Diego, California.
The author as an idealistic 18-year-old not long before 9/11. Attending ‘Marine Combat Training’ (MCT) near San Diego, California. (Author photo)

A close friend dies in Anbar Province

While I remained at my headquarters unit in Virginia, my friend embarked on multiple tours of duty within a short two years as a marine infantryman. I remember even then being surprised and unsettled by how rapidly his overseas deployments came. He was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq on his third deployment overseas prior to his twenty-first birthday. He had selflessly tried to stop a car laden with explosives as it sped into his checkpoint, possibly preventing more deaths among the nearby group of marines wounded in the attack.

Paul Wolfowitz, considered one of the chief architects of the Iraq War, attended my friend’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. More recently, Wolfowitz spent the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 attack on NBC’s Meet the Press shamelessly arguing that he and the Bush administration had done nothing wrong in selling the war and were honest with the American people.

Neither my friend nor I had ever really understood much about the place of his eventual death or the politics of the war. This had been clear during our brief visits together as we reconnected prior to what we didn’t know would be his final deployment to the Middle East. We were never encouraged to learn about the history of Iraq or the Arab world, or to ask too many questions for that matter.

“You’re either with us or against us” was enough for us to want to go out and “win hearts and minds” – a constant refrain in the post-9/11 atmosphere.

Jon Schwarz ✔ @tinyrevolution
Exactly 15 years ago at 2:40 pm, Rumsfeld declared the US had to go massive—sweep it all up things related & not
13:50 - 11 Sep 2016

Uncovering a disturbing history

As the power of such simple platitudes faded, I began to investigate for myself the history of US involvement in the region. My search began in the library of the Marine Corps University at MCB Quantico, and would later lead to my travelling to Syria after completion of active service.

Few Americans know of the absurd contradictions of our foreign policy in Iraq and other places over the past few decades, yet I soon found that many Iraqis and Syrians know the history well.

The United States, through covert support of the Iraqi Ba’ath Party in the 1960s and 1970s, sponsored Saddam Hussein’s rise to power as a way to combat perceived communist influence and populist national movements in the Middle East. Throughout that time, the CIA-supported Ba’ath engaged in ‘cleansing campaigns‘ which involved door-to-door death squads offing Washington’s enemies, based on questionable lists provided through covert liaisons.

Absurd contradictions of endless militarism

Upon Hussein’s rise to the Iraqi presidency in 1979, and the increasing boldness of the Iranian Revolution, the United States encouraged Hussein to invade Iran, kick-starting the most devastating war in the region’s history. Most Americans still haven’t seen the easily accessible archive footage of Reagan’s then special envoy to the Middle East, Donald Rumsfeld (another architect of the 2003 Iraq regime change), shaking hands with Hussein in 1983, in what was clearly a warm and cordial visit.

Saddam would go on, during the course of a war that took over a million lives (1980-1988), to frequently employ chemical nerve agents against Iranian troop movements. Later into the war, this occurred with the assistance of the CIA and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency). By the time of the 1988 gas attack against Kurdish citizens in Halabja, US covert assistance to Iraq’s military was established and routine.

And yet, Hussein soon became the new super-villain of the 1990s and the post-9/11 world. The very image of evil incarnate in the world. Even though his brutal dictatorial rule and regional aggression had undergone little change from when he was the CIA’s man in Baghdad. It was only American perceptions of him that changed.

The United States had helped to create the very monster it was telling young men and women to travel across the world to destroy in 2003. Ironically, one of the main justifications for going after the ‘evil tyrant’ offered by Bush was Hussein’s gassing of Halabja.

Turning anti-war in a ‘forever war’ culture

By the final year of my military contract, I felt I was learning too many uncomfortable truths. But ultimately, it was meeting families with roots in Iraq and Syria during social functions outside of military work that finally transformed my thinking. Military culture and the general pro-war atmosphere in America had warped me into thinking of Iraqis as ‘savage’ and ‘tribal’, according to the usual simplistic stereotypes.

But I saw very quickly that Arab people and others from the region tended to have a much more nuanced understanding of the world, reflecting its true complexities, than the average American. Looking back, it was these Arab-American friends (who gave predictions and warnings about what was to come of the US invasion of Iraq) who were proven exactly right. At the time, they were sneered at and ridiculed by most for daring to offer a contrary viewpoint, even though they knew the history of America’s prior destructive meddling in the Middle East quite well.

I remember that my friend who had died so young in Iraq said, during one our last conversations, that his heart had been warmed by his brief encounters with the Iraqi civilians he spoke to during his first tour. He saw hope in their faces. He soon redeployed to Iraq, still trusting that our leaders had it right.

My friend, like thousands of others among the US war dead, loved his country. But the architects and promoters of the war were playing the same cynical and deceitful game they’ve played for decades in the Middle East. The men that led us into war lost no friends, grieved no loved ones, and suffered no lasting consequences. They left government and went on book tours, headed up powerful global institutions, retired to comfortable jobs at think tanks, and continued to make millions – as war profiteers have always done.

My young friend is buried in the ground at Arlington Cemetery. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are also long dead. And the region is still on fire.

Leaving the marines

During my last work day as an active duty member, I sat in an administrative room in Quantico with about 30 other marines about to receive ‘honorable discharge‘. Our final debriefing included having to sit through multiple presentations from representatives of major private contractor firms (or mercenary companies, similar to Blackwater/Academi).

They boasted of huge payouts to deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq in a private capacity, at a time when both countries were engulfed in chaos and ruin. There was a smug grin on each recruiter’s face.

It seems that almost every marine in the room flocked to the contractors’ tables after receiving official discharge papers. I walked past these mercenary recruitment tables in disgust, jumped in my packed-up car, and drove back to Texas as a civilian.

Author holding up signs at a September 2013 anti-war protest in Texas: "Support our troops - Stay out of Syria". (Screenshot from Texas regional news footage)

Get Involved!

– Visit America’s oldest and most prominent source for anti-war activists AntiWar.com.

– Watch (free) the important documentary Leading to War which chronicles how the public was misled on Iraq.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Here you go. I don't have to disparage anyone. I don't have to because Paul Craig Roberts will do it for me.

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2017/09 ... -american/


If you don’t see that Washington is driving to war with Russia you are a dumb**** American
September 10, 2017 |


Stephan Lendman Tells It Like It Is

by Stephen Lendman

In response to the Trump administration’s illegal seizure and search of Russian diplomatic properties in San Francisco, a total violation of diplomatic immunity, Vladimir Putin responded to a reporter’s question, saying “Trump is not my bride, and I am not his bride or groom.”

He and other Russian officials remain understandably furious. US government hostility toward Russia is unrelenting.

At the weekly press briefing of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova commented on the deplorable action, mocking State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert’s explanation, including Nauert’s claim that Washington seeks normal relations with Moscow.

“How does the illegality that is happening on the territory of the Russian Federation building, which formerly housed the Russian General Consulate in San Francisco, contribute to normalizing the situation,” Zakharova asked?

“Why are agents of the US government whom we do not know and whom we have not invited violating our property for who knows what reason? Do these illegal intrusions also ‘contribute to the normalization of bilateral relations?'”

“Who sent them there? For what purpose? What are they doing there? Why do they feel like they can make themselves at home there? It is the property of the Russian Federation. What are US government agents doing there without permission from Russia’s head of mission?”

Washington’s action was unprecedented, a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“Diplomatic immunity and inviolability of diplomatic premises are enshrined in international law.” They remain unchanged even in times of “very acute crises,” Zakharova stressed.

“But how does one conduct a dialogue and build relations if Washington violates the agreements it has recognized?”

Host nations are legally obligated to respect and protect the diplomatic properties of other countries. Entering them for any reason requires consent from the head of mission. [PCR note: this is why the British cannot enter the Ecuadoran Embassy in London and, on Washington’s orders, seize Julian Assange. By violating Russian diplomatic immunity, is Washington trying to establish a precedent that allows the British to violate Eucadoran diplomaic immunity?]

FBI agents stormed into Russian diplomatic property lawlessly and recklessly, threatening to break down entrances if kept locked, operating like a US Gestapo.

The FBI’s claim that they were looking for explosives equates Russia’s diplomatic staff with terrorists. Zakharova asked if FBI agents intended to “plant compromising materials” and pretend to find them.

“Special equipment and technology were brought in…Some kind of work went on. Washingaton did not inform us about it.”

“A new tonality of relations is being imposed on Russia, ongoing practically every day – going backwards, rejecting cooperation, including at the level of contacts between our peoples.”

The closure, seizure and search incidents weren’t the first times Washington “crudely violated international law.” Such behavior, Zakharova said, seriously harms bilateral relations.

“Unfortunately, it threatens to become a new American tradition. Washington not only destabilizes Russian-American relations, but the whole global international order.”

Tough comments from Zakharova reflect the views of the Kremlin. Russia/US relations are at knife point, worse than any time during the Cold War. Prospects for improvement are nil.

NOTE from PCR: The Russian Operational Command has already concluded that Washington is preparing a surpirse nuclear first strike against Russia. What do you think this latest Washington outrage, a first in diplomatic history that goes beyond even Adolf Hitler, tells the Russians?

The American people should be extremely concerned that “their” governmen is crazy off the scale. I mean really, we are confronting total insanity in Washington.

The insane government in Washington has the entire world on the brink of nuclear armageddon.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

You voted for this outrageous behavior, did you? Click on the link to see the documents, etc. that testify against the warmongers. Not a shred of integrity left among the LDS Trumpsters.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-1 ... inked-orga

Bombshell Report Catches Pentagon Falsifying Paperwork For Weapons Transfers To Syrian Rebels

Sep 13, 2017 4:38 PM

A new bombshell joint report issued by two international weapons monitoring groups Tuesday confirms that the Pentagon continues to ship record breaking amounts of weaponry into Syria and that the Department of Defense is scrubbing its own paper trail. On Tuesday the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) produced conclusive evidence that not only is the Pentagon currently involved in shipping up to $2.2 billion worth of weapons from a shady network of private dealers to allied partners in Syria - mostly old Soviet weaponry - but is actually manipulating paperwork such as end-user certificates, presumably in order to hide US involvement.

The OCCRP and BIRN published internal US defense procurement files after an extensive investigation which found that the Pentagon is running a massive weapons trafficking pipeline which originates in the Balkans and Caucuses, and ends in Syria and Iraq. The program is ostensibly part of the US train, equip, and assist campaign for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF, a coalition of YPG/J and Arab FSA groups operating primarily in Syria's east). The arms transfers are massive and the program looks to continue for years. According to Foreign Policy's (FP) coverage of the report:

The Department of Defense has budgeted $584 million specifically for this Syrian operation for the financial years 2017 and 2018, and has earmarked another $900 million of spending on Soviet-style munitions between now and 2022. The total, $2.2 billion, likely understates the flow of weapons to Syrian rebels in the coming years.
But perhaps more shocking is the following admission that Pentagon suppliers have links with known criminal networks, also from FP:

According to the report, many of the weapons suppliers — primarily in Eastern Europe but also in the former Soviet republics, including Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Ukraine — have both links to organized crime throughout Eastern Europe and spotty business records.

The sheer amount of material necessary for the Pentagon program — one ammunition factory announced it planned to hire 1,000 new employees in 2016 to help cope with the demand — has reportedly stretched suppliers to the limit, forcing the Defense Department to relax standards on the materials it’s willing to accept.
It is likely that the organized crime association is the reason why the Pentagon has sought to alter its records. In addition, the sheer volume of weaponry continuing to ship to the Syrian battlefield and other parts of the Middle East means inevitable proliferation among unsavory terror groups - a phenomenon which has already been exhaustively documented in connection with the now reportedly closed CIA program to topple the Syrian government. The associations and alliances among some of the Arab former FSA groups the DoD continues to support in the north and east remains fluid, which means means US-supplied weapons will continue to pass among groups with no accountability for where they end up.

One of the authors of the OCCRP/BIRN report, Ivan Angelovski, told Foreign Policy that, “The Pentagon is removing any evidence in their procurement records that weapons are actually going to the Syrian opposition." The report is based on internal US government memos which reveal that weapons shipment destination locations have been scrubbed from original documents.

Falsified and altered Pentagon procurement documents (Click to enlarge):

Is an EUC (End User Certificate) still an EUC if it doesn't include an end user?

Balkan Insight, which is hosting the original investigative report: "Seven US procurement documents were whitewashed to remove reference to 'Syria' after reporters contacted the Pentagon to enquire about whether the exporting countries – Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and Georgia – had been informed of the destination."

The fact that Foreign Policy, which is the foremost establishment national security publication in the world, would admit that the Pentagon's Syria weapons procurement program is tied to East European organized crime is itself hugely significant. At this point the evidence is simply so overwhelming that even establishment sources like FP - which itself has generally been pro-interventionist on Syria - can't deny it.

FP further reports that the Pentagon program "appears to be turbocharging a shadowy world of Eastern European arms dealers." And adds further that, "the Pentagon is reportedly removing documentary evidence about just who will ultimately be using the weapons, potentially weakening one of the bulwarks of international protocols against illicit arms dealing."

Map/Infographic produced as part of the OCCRP/BIRN report, itself confirmed by Foreign Policy magazine. Notice the map denotes that prior CIA weapons went directly to Idlib province (northwest, section in green) and the Golan border region (south). Both of these areas were and continue to be occupied by al-Qaeda (in Idlib, AQ's Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham). In Idlib specifically, analysts have confirmed genocidal cleansing of religious minorities conducted by AQ "rebels" directly assisted by CIA weapons.

Late last month we featured the story of Bulgarian journalist Dilyana Gaytandzhieva, who was fired from her job after being interrogated by national intelligence officials for exposing the same Pentagon arms network which is the subject of the latest OCCRP/BIRN investigation. At the time, Al Jazeera was the only major international outlet which covered the story, which confirmed that Bulgarian agents interrogated Gaytandzhieva and "tried to find out her sources." An anonymous source had leaked a large trove of internal government files connected to the arms trafficking to the East European-based Trud Newspaper journalist, which was the basis of her reporting. The newest investigation released Tuesday appears to include some of the same documents, also confirmed by Gayandzhieva.

Read the full OCCRP/BIRN investigation here.

Read Zero Hedge's original coverage of the Pentagon's Balkan arms pipeline here.

tribrac
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Posts: 4367
Location: The land northward

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by tribrac »

TLDR.

Thats a lot of material from a bitter man. I wondered what Evan McMuffin was doing these days, now I wonder if Silver isn't McMifflin himself.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

tribrac wrote: September 13th, 2017, 5:45 pm TLDR.

Thats a lot of material from a bitter man. I wondered what Evan McMuffin was doing these days, now I wonder if Silver isn't McMifflin himself.
It won't matter to you, but you're wrong. I'm not bitter at all. I have a great wife, children and life. The promises in my patriarchal blessing about spiritual and material wealth are being fulfilled before my very eyes. Oh, the miracles I could tell you about...

You and your buds can continue to attack me instead of the evil administration in the White House all you want. It just confirms my fears about the priesthood being asleep.

And when did TLDR become the response of an intelligent life form?

User avatar
markharr
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 6523

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by markharr »

I guess it's time that we stop putting our faith in men and start putting our faith in the lord.

In the end, Justice will be done. If not in this life then in the next. These people are mocking us firm in the belief that they got away with it. If only they knew. If I were them I would rather face the consequences in this life.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

As long as you can buy all the big bad weapons you want from the Marmalade, why would ever need to be honest with yourself?

http://theantimedia.org/saudis-investig ... rongdoing/

Accused of War Crimes, Saudis Investigate Themselves and Find No Wrongdoing
September 13, 2017 at 5:04 pm
Written by Carey Wedler

(ANTIMEDIA) — Amid international calls for an independent inquiry into Saudi war crimes in Yemen, the Kingdom has investigated itself and found it has done nothing wrong.

Countries including China, the Netherlands, and Canada have pushed forward with a U.N. Human Rights Council draft resolution to establish an independent investigation into Saudi war crimes against civilians in the small war-torn nation of Yemen.

This week, Human Rights Watch also accused the coalition of committing war crimes.

Though these allegations have been circulating and documented for years, little has been done to stop the Saudi attacks, and the Saudis and their U.S. and Arab allies have worked to undermine efforts to uncover wrongdoing.

“The minimal efforts made towards accountability over the past year are insufficient to respond to the gravity of the continuing and daily violations involved in this conflict,” U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein said in Geneva this week.

The U.N. has documented 5,144 civilian deaths, mainly from the Saudi-led coalition.

The Saudis said they did not object to the current push for an inquiry but claimed it was bad timing. According to Abdulaziz al-Wasil, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Geneva:

“We have no objection (to) the inquiry itself, we just have a discussion about the timing.Whether this is the right time to establish an international commission with the difficulties on the ground, and we knew in advance that they will face tremendous obstacles in terms of access.”

In the meantime, the Saudi government has set up its own panel to investigate potential war crimes and misconduct. Reuters reported on the Saudi panel’s findings, noting it concluded that “a series of deadly air strikes largely [was] justified, citing the presence of armed militiamen at the homes, schools and clinics that were targeted.”

Reuters continued:

“The Joint Incidents Assessment Team said on Tuesday it had discovered mistakes in only three of 15 incidents it reviewed, and maintained the coalition had acted in accordance with international humanitarian law. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has long been running the coalition fighting in Yemen as the country’s defense minister, a title he still retains.”

The panel’s legal advisor, Mansour Ahmed al-Mansour, told journalists this week that, in one example, the Saudi coalition struck a water welling drill after mistaking it for a ballistic missile launcher.

However, the Saudis have been criticized for their longstanding pattern of targeting critical infrastructures such as agriculture, warehouses, and hospitals – in far more than just fifteen incidents. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) claimed in early 2016 that the Saudis had attacked hospitals in more than 100 incidents, ultimately scaring Yemenis away from seeking medical help. The coalition has also been implicated in the cholera epidemic that has infected over half a million people since April.

The United States and the United Kingdom are complicit in this targeting of Yemen, which the Saudis view as a proxy war against Iran as they attempt to reinstate a former ruler who was ousted by Houthi rebels, a group they are now fighting. There is minimal evidence that Iran is backing the Houthis.

In addition to arming the Saudis with billions of dollars worth of weapons, which are being used to commit the alleged war crimes in Yemen, the western nations have military officials in the Saudi command room in control of air strikes.

British officials even schemed with the Saudis to paradoxically secure the repressive regime a spot on the U.N.’s human rights council. The U.S. remains a staunch Saudi backer at the U.N., as well, expressing opposition to the independent inquiry introduced this week.

Like the Saudis, the U.S. has brushed off civilian casualties at the hands of their military. In accusing the Saudis of war crimes this week, Human Rights Watch also called on U.S. lawmakers to curb the killing. They wrote:

“So far, the US government has been content to keep the weapons to Riyadh flowing so long as Saudi Arabia pretends it’s been fighting a clean war. But its empty promises have proved devastating – and deadly – for Yemeni civilians.

“Congress should make clear the US is no longer willing to be complicit in Saudi war crimes.”

tribrac
captain of 1,000
Posts: 4367
Location: The land northward

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by tribrac »

Silver wrote: September 13th, 2017, 8:48 pm
tribrac wrote: September 13th, 2017, 5:45 pm TLDR.

Thats a lot of material from a bitter man. I wondered what Evan McMuffin was doing these days, now I wonder if Silver isn't McMifflin himself.
It won't matter to you, but you're wrong. I'm not bitter at all. I have a great wife, children and life. The promises in my patriarchal blessing about spiritual and material wealth are being fulfilled before my very eyes. Oh, the miracles I could tell you about...

You and your buds can continue to attack me instead of the evil administration in the White House all you want. It just confirms my fears about the priesthood being asleep.

And when did TLDR become the response of an intelligent life form?
Well, my apologies. I didn't realize who you are.

Good day.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Traitors they are, Trump and Sessions.

http://theantimedia.org/reauthorizing-f ... -sessions/

Now Jeff Sessions Wants to Take Your Privacy Away — Permanently
September 14, 2017 at 12:57 pm
Written by Derrick Broze

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is calling on Congress to “promptly” reauthorize a controversial surveillance measure set to expire on December 31, 2017.

(ANTIMEDIA) Washington, D.C. — On September 7, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats sent a letter to the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate urging them to permanently reauthorize the controversial Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The letter, which was not made public until September 11, is addressed to House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Coats and Sessions say Congress must “promptly reauthorize, in clean and permanent form,” Section 702 of FISA. According to Sessions and Coats, Section 702 of FISA “allows the Intelligence Community, under a robust regime of oversight by all three branches of government, to collect vital information about international terrorists, cyber actors, individuals and entities engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other important foreign intelligence targets located outside the United States.” Section 702 produces foreign intelligence that protects the United States from “international terrorism and other threats,” the two men write.

Section 702 of the FISA will expire on December 31, 2017, unless Congress acts to reauthorize or reform the measure. Sessions and Coats would prefer the reauthorization be a permanent action so they will not have to keep asking for permission to indiscriminately monitor the public. As revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013, Section 702 also authorizes two Internet surveillance programs known as PRISM and Upstream. PRISM gathers messaging data sent via Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, and other tech companies, while Upstream taps into the so-called backbone of the Internet to gather data on targets.

The root of the problem lies with the inherently secretive nature of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, which was created as a result of the original FISA.The FISA court is notoriously secretive and is subject to little oversight. Critics say a lack of transparency has allowed various federal agencies to run mass surveillance programs with no accountability.

The courts were originally created under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) in response to reports produced by the 1975 Church Committee. The Senate panel was tasked with investigating the foreign and domestic surveillance operations by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during the 1970s. The Church Committee also released detailed reports on the government’s Counter Intelligence Programs (COINTELPRO), which were used against activists and influential voices of opposition during the 1950s and ’60s.

However, since the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. government has used the court to secretly interpret surveillance law for law enforcement and intelligence agencies. This allows the police and government bureaucracies to operate in the shadows when monitoring the clueless public.

For those paying attention, it is not surprising to see Jeff Sessions attempt to cement mass surveillance into U.S. law. Sessions was a vocal proponent of surveillance well before he joined the Trump administration. In a recent report, the Center for Democracy & Technology focused on the former senator’s voting record and comments on the government’s use of surveillance. According to the CDT, “as a Senator, Sessions opposed the USA Freedom Act and was an ardent supporter of the NSA’s bulk collection program under Section 215 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, despite consistent evidence that the program never discovered or disrupted a terrorist plot.”

Sessions and Coats are not alone in their support for mass surveillance. Donald Trump and his administration have set the tone for mass surveillance in the name of fighting not only terrorism but also illegal immigration. Trump is busy working on erecting a heavily surveilled border wall and a digital biometric wall, and he has also consistently appointed individuals who support surveillance.

Further, Anti Media’s Carey Wedler recently reported on Trump’s nomination of Adam I. Klein to chair the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), which was created in 2004 at the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission. “The president recently nominated a staunch advocate of mass surveillance to chair one of the few barriers standing between intrusive government spying and the American people’s privacy,” she wrote. Klein has publicly denounced whistleblower Edward Snowden and defended Section 702 by stating that 9/11 was the result of a lack of a massive surveillance network to combat terrorism.

The reality is that Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, Dan Coats, and Adam Klein do not care about the rights and privacy of the American public. These men serve the State and will continue to erode and erase civil liberties and privacy protections as long as it suits their need for total control and omnipotence. The only roadblock on this path to tyranny is organized mass civil disobedience and opting out of taxation and moral support for the institutions that do not serve the people. Anything less will only serve to band-aid the situation rather than addressing the root cause of our present dilemma.

Silver
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Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Trumpsters, have you puked yet?

Your hero at the United Nations today says that the world organization has not yet reached its potential. He's right about that. The UN intends to strip our sovereignty away. With Trump in their corner, they're just one step closer. And you guys want to pretend that Trump is not a Gadianton puppet.

Even Fox news, that joke of a "conservative" news channel, is saying that the US can't fight NK on its own, and therefore needs UN help. That's right, the world's only superpower with military expenditures in excess of those of the next several countries combined, needs the UN to help us defeat NK. First, a history lesson: The UN couldn't defeat NK in the early 1950's (because it didn't intend to, of course). Now why would the US, the mighty, mighty US military sissy forces need help from any other country, much less the whole of the UN? Bow down before your NWO/CFR masters, you serfs!

Folks, if you can't see you're being lied to, straight up, I feel sorry for you.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Oh, and now the Marmalade In Chief wants to have a parade for all the warmongers. He's no different than the Kim clan in NK.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-09-1 ... nia-avenue

Trump Wants July 4th Military Parade Down Pennsylvania Avenue

by Tyler Durden
Sep 18, 2017 5:27 PM

Trump was apparently so impressed by the military parade he was invited to watch in France on Bastille Day that he's contemplating following in the footsteps of the French, and a handful of rogue dictators in third-world countries, with a U.S. military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C. on July 4th.

As Trump pointed out during a press conference with Emmanuel Macron at the United Nations earlier, the event would offer an opportunity for America to reveal its "military strength" to the world. Luckily, Trump went on to reassure Macron that such an event shouldn't concern him because "we're friends."

As Trump gushed to Macron about the Bastille Day military parade in Paris that Trump attended in July as the French president’s guest, he said “It was a tremendous day, and to a large extent because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue,” Trump said. “We’re going to have to try to top it, but we have a lot of planes going over and a lot of military might, and it was really a beautiful thing to see, and representatives from different wars and different uniforms.”
Trump Hands.jpg
Trump Hands.jpg (45.05 KiB) Viewed 1373 times
"And, to a large extent because of what I witnessed, we may do something like that on July 4th in Washington down Pennsylvania Avenue."

"But I came back [from France] and one of my early calls was I think we're going to have to start looking at that ourselves. So, we're actually thinking about 4th of July, Pennsylvania Avenue, having a really great parade to show our military strength."

"You know, we're spending this year $700 billion more than we've ever spent on the military, which is a good thing for you because we're friends."

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Hezekiah
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Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Hezekiah »

Question for Mr. Silver: how does one define American exceptionalism? And where does Trump fit into that paradigm?

Silver
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Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Hezekiah wrote: September 21st, 2017, 8:28 am Question for Mr. Silver: how does one define American exceptionalism? And where does Trump fit into that paradigm?
Do you want the neocon definition or the traditional meaning of those words? Words, as you know and demonstrate in your careful writing, have meaning. That is until they come under the influence of those peddlers of death who stalk the halls of power in Washington, DC, and NYC.

As for Trump, he is an exceptional example of stealing and lasciviousness and the bearing of false witness, accomplishments which were his long before he became POTUS. And now that he has the military at his disposal he is an equally exceptional murderer.

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Hezekiah
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Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Hezekiah »

Silver wrote: September 21st, 2017, 1:41 pm
Hezekiah wrote: September 21st, 2017, 8:28 am Question for Mr. Silver: how does one define American exceptionalism? And where does Trump fit into that paradigm?
Do you want the neocon definition or the traditional meaning of those words? Words, as you know and demonstrate in your careful writing, have meaning. That is until they come under the influence of those peddlers of death who stalk the halls of power in Washington, DC, and NYC.

As for Trump, he is an exceptional example of stealing and lasciviousness and the bearing of false witness, accomplishments which were his long before he became POTUS. And now that he has the military at his disposal he is an equally exceptional murderer.
Thank you, sir! Rhetoric is indeed a wonderful tool for deceiving the masses, especially those willing to be deceived. As a bonus question, I was wondering whether you could juxtapose American exceptionalism with Nephite exceptionalism. I have a feeling there are some parallels there worth investigating.

I grant the exceptionalism for lying, stealing, and adultery. From what I can tell, Trump calls that "truthful hyperbole", "just business", and "I love women". Seems like you would get no argument on those points, even from him. As per the murderer exceptionalism.... Murder usually involves an aspect of "malice aforethought". How do you reconcile that with your description?

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

Hezekiah wrote: September 21st, 2017, 2:24 pm
Silver wrote: September 21st, 2017, 1:41 pm
Hezekiah wrote: September 21st, 2017, 8:28 am Question for Mr. Silver: how does one define American exceptionalism? And where does Trump fit into that paradigm?
Do you want the neocon definition or the traditional meaning of those words? Words, as you know and demonstrate in your careful writing, have meaning. That is until they come under the influence of those peddlers of death who stalk the halls of power in Washington, DC, and NYC.

As for Trump, he is an exceptional example of stealing and lasciviousness and the bearing of false witness, accomplishments which were his long before he became POTUS. And now that he has the military at his disposal he is an equally exceptional murderer.
Thank you, sir! Rhetoric is indeed a wonderful tool for deceiving the masses, especially those willing to be deceived. As a bonus question, I was wondering whether you could juxtapose American exceptionalism with Nephite exceptionalism. I have a feeling there are some parallels there worth investigating.

I grant the exceptionalism for lying, stealing, and adultery. From what I can tell, Trump calls that "truthful hyperbole", "just business", and "I love women". Seems like you would get no argument on those points, even from him. As per the murderer exceptionalism.... Murder usually involves an aspect of "malice aforethought". How do you reconcile that with your description?
My wife is an accomplished artist which means that I am blessed to regularly attend art show openings of other artists. Of course, attendance requires that one read the artist's statement covering the body of work on display. In the vast majority of those statements, I am assaulted by the word "juxtaposition," apparently a darling term of most artists. Your request is, therefore, most vexatious to me. Do you mind if I merely "compare" and respond thus:

Well have our prophets, paraphrasing here, likened the writings abridged into The Book of Mormon to today's headlines. For example, the wealthy going unpunished because of their money and connections occurred at a time in Nephite history when they were close to experiencing great natural calamities which wiped out the wicked. In our day there is so much corruption in the halls of power, a similar fate must await us. If not, how could God justify his earlier actions against the Nephites? A modern example: An obvious felon, the yet un-arrested Hillary is out on a book tour.

Many here have called into question my claim of murderer. One wonders when a lack of concern for an ongoing slaughter of innocents gets properly designated as a war crime. Since WW2 the US and some of its allies have engaged in continuous incidents of subterfuge, false flag operations, assassinations and, more recently, indiscriminate drone attacks besides all the full-on military action. When powerful weaponry is directed towards areas where innocents are present, one can naturally expect some of those innocents to be caught up in the resulting damage. We know that there is collateral damage, and yet we drone away. Continuing to act in the same manner while expecting different results is the very definition of insanity. However, the warmongers in charge are not insane. They know what they are doing and they are doing it with satanic delight (so yeah, maybe they are insane). The only excuse Trump could have to free himself from the charge of murderer is if he were a puppet of these evil warmongers. That conclusion would open up other possibilities. I'll leave it to you to explore them.

Silver
Level 34 Illuminated
Posts: 5247

Re: Of course, no integrity

Post by Silver »

But wait, there's more! If you call now, you'll get two additional traitors for the price of just one traitor.

http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/Articles/ta ... Moore.aspx

Trump, Pence, McConnell, And Washington Establishment Vs. Judge Roy Moore

Published: Thursday, September 21, 2017

By now everyone should know that President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and the entire Washington establishment, including virtually every professional lobbyist, are doing everything they can to defeat conservative constitutionalist Judge Roy Moore for the U.S. Senate in Alabama. They are all rallying around the quintessential neocon RINO New World Order toady Luther Strange.

I’ve known Roy Moore since he was a circuit court judge in Etowah County (Gadsden), Alabama. I saw the wooden Ten Commandments plaque in the Etowah County Courthouse (that Roy had personally carved himself) before he took it with him to Montgomery when he was elected as the Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice. I was with him when, at the behest of the ACLU and SPLC, a circuit court judge in Montgomery told him to remove the wooden plaque, which he refused to do. I was with him when, as Alabama Chief Justice, a federal judge ordered him to remove a Ten Commandments monument that he had placed in the capitol rotunda, which he again refused to do. I was with him during the trial when Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor prosecuted Judge Moore for refusing to remove the monument. I knew the Alabama governor, Fob James, who had initially appointed Pryor as attorney general. Fob told me personally that Pryor’s commitment to support Judge Moore was a litmus test to receiving the appointment.

It is an absolute fact that Fob James would have never appointed Pryor had Pryor not promised Fob that he would support Judge Moore’s right to post the Ten Commandments. Pryor promised Fob that he would support Roy Moore “all the way.” Pryor lied. But he didn’t just lie: Pryor was the chief prosecutor against Roy Moore. Pryor is a lying two-faced double-crossing Judas Iscariot. And Bill Pryor got his 30 pieces of silver for betraying Governor James and Judge Moore in the form of an appointment to the federal bench by the wretched and evil G.W. Bush--and many conservative Christians still believe that Bill Pryor (and G.W. Bush) is a “good Christian.” BARF!

Fob James had lion-like courage and was a staunch ally of Roy Moore. I stood behind Governor James when he held a press conference and told the nation that he would use the Alabama National Guard and state police if he had to do so in order to protect Judge Moore’s Ten Commandments plaque should any federal police agency try to enforce an order from a George H. W. Bush federal judge demanding that Judge Moore take it down.

Governor James was defeated for reelection by a Democrat in 1998. The establishment Republicans had forced Fob into a primary election against one of their toadies. Fob won that primary election, but the contest depleted his financial resources, and he lost the general election. In 2002, G.W. Bush’s chief political strategist Karl Rove was sent to Alabama to support a Republican lackey for governor who would roll over and leave Judge Moore to the mercy of the wolves. Rove succeeded. With a supporting governor out of the way, Rove helped orchestrate the prosecution, conviction, and removal from office of Judge Moore in 2003. Again, this was all done with the approbation (if not direction) of the “good Christian” G.W. Bush. And guess who is back in Alabama today trying to again defeat Judge Roy Moore? You guessed it: Karl Rove.

The point is, the Washington establishment has been doing everything it can to destroy Judge Roy Moore from as far back as the G.W. Bush administration and from federal judges appointed by Bush, Sr. Yes, Judge Moore’s biggest enemies have been establishment Republicans.

Now Judge Moore is running for the U.S. Senate from the State of Alabama against a neocon RINO establishment New World Order toady: Luther Strange. And once again, the President of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, the Majority Leader of the United States, and virtually the entire Washington establishment are doing everything they can to defeat this great American statesman: Judge Roy Moore.

Judge Moore is a graduate of West Point. He served as a company commander with the Military Police Corps in Vietnam. He was so respected by the men he led that they nicknamed him “Captain America.” He was a cowboy for a while. He has a black belt in martial arts. He went to law school and got his law degree. He was elected circuit court judge and twice elected Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice. He is a faithful husband, father, and grandfather. He is a Christian in the truest sense of the word--not just at election time. He is a constitutionalist. He has large portions of it memorized. He takes his oaths to the Constitution seriously. He is a man’s man. He is tough as nails. At the same time, he is as kind and gentle a man as one will ever find. He said “No” to unlawful demands to remove his Ten Commandments plaques and monuments at least three times on constitutional principles. He knows how to lose everything for doing what is right. Roy Moore knows how to fight, and he is nobody’s toady.

Here are a couple of columns I wrote about the Washington establishment’s attacks on Roy Moore back in 2003 when it all happened:

Bill Pryor’s Shocking Comments During Roy Moore’s “Trial”

Bill Pryor Got His Judas Money

If Donald Trump was remotely serious about draining the swamp in Washington, D.C., he would know that Roy Moore is EXACTLY the kind of man that needs to be in the U.S. Senate. But it is obvious that Donald Trump didn’t mean a word he said about draining the swamp or about much of anything else, for that matter.

Even more than his evil establishment predecessor G.W. Bush, Trump is bringing the entire weight of the White House against Judge Roy Moore. Trump wants another establishment lackey in the U.S. Senate so badly that both he and his vice president are personally travelling to Alabama this week to help defeat Judge Moore.

Think about it: here is a man, Roy Moore, who must be regarded as one of the most courageous men of the 20th and now 21st centuries. Here is a man who has actually read and truly understands the U.S. Constitution. Here is a man who has proven that he is willing to take on the establishment elite. And the man who said he wanted to drain the swamp in D.C., Donald Trump, is doing everything he can to DEFEAT Roy Moore and help elect another swamp creature.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Trump White House, Mitch McConnell, and the entire Washington establishment are doing everything they can to DEFEAT Judge Roy Moore.

Don’t tell me Donald Trump is a conservative; don’t tell me Trump cares about the Constitution; don’t tell me Trump wants to drain the swamp; don’t tell me Trump is an “outsider”; don’t tell me Trump is “anti-establishment.” Bull Manure! Donald Trump is just another establishment toady who masqueraded as an anti-establishment outsider in order to get elected. There is NO WAY in this world a true anti-establishment outsider, a true conservative, or a true constitutionalist could support the neocon RINO globalist Luther Strange and oppose the conservative constitutionalist American hero Roy Moore. NO WAY! NO WAY! NO WAY!

This runoff election between Roy Moore and Luther Strange will take place next Tuesday, September 26. The winner will take on a Democrat in the general election. But this is considered a safe Republican seat, so whoever wins the Republican runoff next Tuesday will doubtless be the next U.S. Senator from Alabama. This person is filling the seat left vacant by Trump’s appointment of Jeff Sessions as America’s attorney general.

To date, Roy Moore enjoys a fair lead in the polls over Luther Strange. But, again, President Trump and Vice President Pence are scheduled to campaign for Strange this week. Mitch McConnell has already spent millions of dollars trying to defeat Moore and is still shelling it out (mostly in the form of blatantly untrue attack ads against Judge Moore). And get this: virtually the entire Trump team in Alabama is supporting ROY MOORE. But now Trump himself is going to Alabama to support LUTHER STRANGE.

I’m telling you, folks. Donald Trump has taken conservatives--and Christians--for a royal ride. It’s time for Christians and conservatives to snap out of the hypnotic trance Trump has put them in and start taking a good hard look at reality: Donald Trump campaigned (masqueraded) as an anti-establishment outsider. But since becoming President, he has done nothing but cater to the establishment. He has expanded the Warfare State for the establishment; he has increased federal spending for the establishment; he has filled his administration with establishment insiders; he has backed down on DACA for the establishment; he supports replacing Obamacare with an establishment-backed GOP health care bill that is just as bad OR WORSE than Obamacare; and his massive efforts to defeat Judge Roy Moore and support the establishment toady Luther Strange absolutely prove how disingenuous Trump was during the campaign.

We need to be praying for the people of the State of Alabama. They know Roy Moore. They thought they knew Donald Trump. Now, their discernment, understanding, and convictions are being put to the test in the most serious manner possible. The people who are supporting Roy Moore also supported Donald Trump. Now, Trump is coming back to the State of Alabama to support Moore’s neocon opponent. How the people of Alabama are going to digest all of this is anybody’s guess right now.

But I know Roy Moore personally. Unlike Donald Trump, he is the REAL DEAL.

On the day following the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear Judge Moore’s case--thus paving the way for his removal from office (which took place nine days later)--I wrote a column that ended with these words:

The bright side of all this gloominess is that, like Daniel of old, no matter how much treachery is brought against Roy Moore, God is still with him! The greater the attacks become, the stronger he becomes! Beyond that, the door that God allows to be closed to Roy Moore today will only serve to open an even larger and more influential door tomorrow.

I wrote that on November 4, 2003. See the column here:

The Supreme Court Closed The Door On Judge Moore, But God Will Open Another One!

Well, the tomorrow I predicted for Roy Moore is here. And I know God is with him yet today. I pray the people of Alabama will be too.

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