I'm afraid you are unfit to serve. Your scapegoating of so many Americans,
and your impulsivity, bullying, lying, admitted history of
sexual
assault, and utter lack of experience make you a
danger to the Republic.
Should I remain in bed, leave my country or fight against the dragon?
( see also the story by Wolfgang Hampel,
' Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say ' )
Betty MacDonald's sister Alison Bard Burnett
Betty MacDonald's mother Sydney with grandchild Alison Beck
Betty and Don MacDonald in Hollywood
Wolfgang Hampel - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
Betty MacDonald and her family enjoyed Christmas time very much.
Betty MacDonald was fond of huge Christmas trees.
Betty MacDonald fan club newsletter December includes several excellent photos of Betty MacDonald's wonderful Christmas trees.
Can you remember in which book Betty MacDonald described her favourite Christmas tree?
If you know the answer, send us a mail, please and you might be our next Betty MacDonald fan club Christmas surprise winner.
We are looking for your favourite Christmas song.
Deadline: December 23, 2017
Don't miss it, please because you can win several new Betty MacDonald fan club items.
This is my favourite Christmas song. ( and it perfectly fits to the subject )
What a wonderful sínger and a great song!
Don't forget please to send your favourite city for next International Betty MacDonald fan club event 2017.
Hurry up, please.
Send us a mail with the name of this city, please and you might be our next Betty MacDonald fan club surprise winner!
Good luck!
Don't miss Vita Magica on December 13, 2016 please.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel invited a very famous author.
We bet you'll enjoy Vita Magica very much.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel interviewed Betty MacDonald's daughter Joan MacDonald Keil and her husband Jerry Keil.
This interview will be published for the first time ever.
New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.
We adore Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli
Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.
Wolfgang Hampel's literary event Vita Magica is very fascinating because he is going to include Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.
It's simply great to read Wolfgang Hampel's new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others.
Vita Magica was very witty and enjoyable.
We know the visitors had a great time there.
Congratulations dear Letizia Maninco, Wolfgang Hampel and Friedrich von Hoheneichen!
Linde Lund and many fans from all over the world adore this funny sketch by Wolfgang Hampel very much although our German isn't the best.
I won't ever forget the way Wolfgang Hampel is shouting ' Brexit '.
Don't miss it, please.
It's simply great!
You can hear that Wolfgang Hampel got an outstandig voice.
He presented one of Linde Lund's favourite songs ' Try to remember ' like a professional singer.
Thanks a million!
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.
Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.
Letizia Mancino's magical Betty MacDonald Gallery is a special gift for Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world.
Don't miss Brad Craft's 'More friends', please.
Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island is one of my favourites.
I agree with Betty in this very witty Betty MacDonald story Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say by Wolfgang Hampel.
I can't imagine to live in a country with him as so-called elected President although there are very good reasons to remain there to fight against these brainless politics.
Copyright 2016 Crooks and Liars
Electoral College: Make Hillary Clinton President.
Donald
Trump has not been elected president. The real election takes place
December 19, when the 538 Electoral College Electors cast their ballots –
for anyone they want.
If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, in 14 of the states in Trump's column, they can vote for Hillary Clinton without any legal penalty if they choose.
We are calling on “Conscientious Electors” to protect the Constitution from Donald Trump, and to support the national popular vote winner.
Mr. Trump is unfit to serve. His scapegoating of so many Americans, and his impulsivity, bullying, lying, admitted history of sexual assault, and utter lack of experience make him a danger to the Republic.
Learn more in the video above, then sign the petition to join the more than 4.7 million Americans who support this grassroots effort. Please also visit electoralcollegepetition.com to see how you can get further involved in our movement.
If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, in 14 of the states in Trump's column, they can vote for Hillary Clinton without any legal penalty if they choose.
We are calling on “Conscientious Electors” to protect the Constitution from Donald Trump, and to support the national popular vote winner.
Mr. Trump is unfit to serve. His scapegoating of so many Americans, and his impulsivity, bullying, lying, admitted history of sexual assault, and utter lack of experience make him a danger to the Republic.
Learn more in the video above, then sign the petition to join the more than 4.7 million Americans who support this grassroots effort. Please also visit electoralcollegepetition.com to see how you can get further involved in our movement.
Lately,
it appears Trump has gone back into the field to drag in a whole new
bunch of State contenders.
My favorite is Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, a person you have probably never heard of even though he’s been in Congress since the 1980s and is currently head of the prestigious Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.
Rohrabacher
is also a surfer and former folk singer who once claimed global warming
might be connected to “dinosaur flatulence.” My favorite is Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California, a person you have probably never heard of even though he’s been in Congress since the 1980s and is currently head of the prestigious Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.
Don't miss the very interesting articles below, please.
I think the future dinosaur flatulence will be the behaviour of 'Pussy' and his very strange government.
Poor World! Poor America!
The most difficult case in Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle's career
Hello 'Pussy', this is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
You took calls from foreign leaders on unsecured phone lines, without consultung the State Department. We have to change your silly behaviour with a new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cure. I know you are the most difficult case in my career - but we have to try everything.......................
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sent his brilliant thoughts. Thank you so much dear Wolfgang!
Hi Libi, nice to meet you. Can you feel it?
I'll be the most powerful leader in the world.
Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say
Copyright 2016 by Wolfgang Hampel
All rights reserved
Betty MacDonald was sitting on her egg-shaped cloud and listened to a rather strange guy.
He said to his friends: So sorry to keep you waiting. Very complicated business! Very complicated!
Betty said: Obviously much too complicated for you old toupee!
Besides him ( by the way the First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech.
The old man could be his great-grandfather.
The boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.
Dear 'great-grandfather' continued and praised the Democratic candidate.
He congratulated her and her family for a very strong campaign although he wanted to put her in jail.
He always called her the most corrupt person ever and repeated it over and over again in the fashion of a Tibetan prayer wheel.
She is so corrupt. She is so corrupt. Do you know how corrupt she is?
Betty MacDonald couldn't believe it when he said: She has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.
Afterwards old toupee praised his parents, wife, children, siblings and friends.
He asked the same question like a parrot all the time:
Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
I know you are here!
Betty MacDonald answered: No Pussy they are not! They left the country.
They immigrated to Canada because they are very much afraid of the future in the U.S.A. with you as their leader like the majority of all so-called more or less normal citizens.
By the way keep your finger far away from the pussies and the Red Button, please.
I'm going to fly with my egg-shaped cloud to Canada within a minute too.
Away - away - there is nothing more to say!
I can understand the reason why Betty MacDonald, Barbara Streisand, other artists and several of my friends want to leave the United States of America.
I totally agree with these comments:
This
is incredible! I'll You get what you pay/vote for and Trump is the
epitome of this ideology. America I won't feel bad for you because you
don't need my sympathy for what's coming but I am genuinely scared for
you. 'Forgive them lord for they know not who they do' or maybe they do
but just don't care about their future generations who will suffer for
this long after the culprits have passed away.
Daniel Mount wrote a great article about Betty MacDonald and her garden.
We hope you'll enjoy it very much.
I adore Mount Rainier and Betty MacDonald's outstanding descriptions
Can you remember in which book you can find it?
If so let us know, please and you might be the next Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner.
I hope we'll be able to read Wolfgang Hampel's new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others - very soon.
It' s such a pleasure to read them.
Let's go to magical Betty MacDonald's Vashon Island.
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund and Betty MacDonald fan club research team share their recent Betty MacDonald fan club research results.
Congratulations! They found the most interesting and important info for Wolfgang Hampel's oustanding Betty MacDonald biography.
I enjoy Bradley Craft's story very much.
Don't miss our Betty MacDonald fan club contests, please.
You can win a never published before Alison Bard Burnett interview by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
Good luck!
This CD is a golden treasure because Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shares unique stories about Betty MacDonald, Mary Bard Jensen, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Nancy and Plum.
Do you have any books by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen with funny or interesting dedications?
If so would you be so kind to share them?
Our next Betty MacDonald fan club project is a collection of these unique dedications.
If you share your dedication from your Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard Jensen collection you might be the winner of our new Betty MacDonald fan club items.
Thank you so much in advance for your support.
Thank you so much for sending us your favourite Betty MacDonald quote.
More info are coming soon.
Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans.
Many Betty MacDonald - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories.
We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.
Tell us the names of this mysterious couple please and you can win a very new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is beloved all over the World.
We are so happy that our 'Casanova' is back.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very
interesting info on ' Betty MacDonald and the movie The Egg and I '.
Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.
The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952.
Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.
Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Enjoy a great breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.
Wishing you a very nice Monday,
Lars
Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.
The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952.
Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.
Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Enjoy a great breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.
Wishing you a very nice Monday,
Lars
 |
Don't miss this very special book, please.
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German ) Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - cyclopaedia.net ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia ( English / German )
Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )
Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
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Betty MacDonald fan club fan Greta Larson
McConnell Covered Up CIA Reports That Russian Hacks Were Aimed At Electing Trump
— UPDATED: 12/10/16 12:56am
This conclusion was not something they just pulled out of thin air. Intelligence agencies had arrived at their conclusion in September, and briefed a bipartisan group in the Senate and House about it then, along with President Obama. The President wanted to go forward with a full disclosure of the report, but Mitch McConnell quashed it, threatening to taint any disclosure with the claim that it was being made merely for political gain.
McConnell was willing to let the Russians meddle in the election because his guy was getting the benefit of their work. This is outrageous.
“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”In other words, there was active interference on the part of Russia not simply to destabilize our politics, but to actively elect one candidate over another.
Concerned that a unilateral White House statement would appear as though the administration was tilting the election in favor of Democrats, the White House decided to convene a bipartisan panel of elected officials to review the material in the hopes of issuing a unified statement and warning states about possible compromises to their voting systems.
Instead, officials devised a plan to seek bipartisan support from top lawmakers and set up a secret meeting with the Gang of 12 — a group that includes House and Senate leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers’ committees on intelligence and homeland security.Look who they sent to that meeting:
Obama dispatched [Lisa] Monaco, FBI Director James B. Comey and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to make the pitch for a “show of solidarity and bipartisan unity” against Russian interference in the election, according to a senior administration official.Yes, that's right. James Comey knew in September about the CIA's conclusions and was part of the team asked to make the pitch to elevate this issue to the American people on a bipartisan basis. In September. So, by the way, did Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had a very specific response to the administration's appeal for bipartisanship.
Specifically, the White House wanted congressional leaders to sign off on a bipartisan statement urging state and local officials to take federal help in protecting their voting-registration and balloting machines from Russian cyber-intrusions.
The Democratic leaders in the room unanimously agreed on the need to take the threat seriously. Republicans, however, were divided, with at least two GOP lawmakers reluctant to accede to the White House requests.Shall we take a moment to allow that to sink in? Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader, sworn to uphold and defend the United States Constitution, chose to threaten the White House with a smear if they disclosed this information to the American people.
According to several officials, McConnell raised doubts about the underlying intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act of partisan politics.
What happened to defending against enemies, domestic and foreign, Senator McConnell? Is this treason?
What makes this really interesting is what we can see in the rear view mirror. The Trump campaign fought tooth and nail to end the Michigan recount, in a state where there is some evidence seals were broken on voting machines there.
We don't know if malware was installed on those machines. We do know many machines in Detroit malfunctioned on Election Day, however. But what we don't know is how that impacted the final counts in Michigan, mostly because they ended the recount.
Yes, we had reports of Russian hacks. We had daily dribbles from Wikileaks, clearly intended to drive a wedge between Bernie and Hillary supporters while painting Hillary Clinton as Satan in a pantsuit.
But there's more. There's always more. You may recall the day that Rep. Michael McCaul inadvertently slipped during an appearance on CNN and said the RNC was hacked by the Russians, too. (Click for video)
Of course, McCaul walked that back right away, claiming it was a misstatement, but now there's a problem. Apparently the RNC was hacked, but no information released. The only information released by hackers was from the DNC hack.
The New York Times reports:
American intelligence agencies have concluded with “high confidence” that Russia acted covertly in the latter stages of the presidential campaign to harm Hillary Clinton’s chances and promote Donald J. Trump, according to senior administration officials.If Rep. McCaul's original claim is to be believed, and there's no reason at this point not to believe it, then it seems pretty clear whom Russia was interested in electing, and it wasn't Hillary Clinton.
They based that conclusion, in part, on another finding — which they say was also reached with high confidence — that the Russians hacked the Republican National Committee’s computer systems in addition to their attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever information they gleaned from the Republican networks.
Now take those pieces of information and blend them up with this one: Donald Trump, Jr. had a little sit-down with the Russians in October about "Syrian solutions."
Is a pattern emerging here? This is before we consider what Paul Manafort's role in all of this might have been.
The Trump transition issued an incredibly lame statement after this news broke, which said, “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again,’ ”
Rachel Maddow had a pretty strong response to that:
"Um, it was not one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. Also you lost by more than 2 million votes in the popular vote. But the fact that Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction and the intelligence agencies indicated otherwise is indelibly true," she said.
She continued, "The fact that U.S. intelligence agencies say that Russia intervened in our election to elect Donald Trump is an entirely separate matter and if you won't engage with that on the substance, then telling other people to move on while you ignore it isn't going to persuade anyone."
I have been saying for months that the hacks into the DNC computers and attempts to compromise state voter databases were the equivalent of a 21st century Watergate break-in. But now this has taken a deeper, darker, more sinister tone even than Watergate, where at least it was engineered by Americans.
Mitch McConnell, James Comey and others intentionally aided and abetted foreign aggression against American democracy.
What Comey did may be even worse, because he not only permitted foreign aggression to continue undisclosed, but also inserted himself and the FBI into the election in a different way but with the same goal: To tilt the result toward Donald Trump.
At what point do we call this treason? Where are the hearings? Where are the investigations? This needs to be done by a bipartisan commission and it needs to be done now, before that hotline in the White House turns into Putin's vehicle for pulling President Trump's puppet strings.
This is a hair-on-fire moment for all of us.
Secret CIA assessment says Russia was trying to help Trump win White House
CIA officials told senators it is now “quite
clear” that electing Donald Trump was Russia’s goal. In an interview on
Fox News Sunday on Dec. 11, President-elect Trump denied the CIA's
assessment.
(Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)
Intelligence
agencies have identified individuals with connections to the Russian
government who provided WikiLeaks with thousands of hacked emails
from the Democratic National Committee and others, including Hillary
Clinton’s campaign chairman, according to U.S. officials. Those
officials described the individuals as actors known to the intelligence
community and part of a wider Russian operation to boost Trump and hurt
Clinton’s chances.
“It is the assessment of the intelligence community that Russia’s goal here was to favor one candidate over the other, to help Trump get elected,” said a senior U.S. official briefed on an intelligence presentation made to U.S. senators. “That’s the consensus view.”
In September, during a secret briefing for congressional leaders, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voiced doubts about the veracity of the intelligence, according to officials present.
The Trump transition team dismissed the findings in a short statement issued Friday evening. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again,’ ” the statement read.
Trump has consistently dismissed the intelligence community’s findings about Russian hacking.
“I don’t believe they interfered” in the election, he told Time magazine this week. The hacking, he said, “could be Russia. And it could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey.”
The CIA shared its latest assessment with key senators in a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill last week, in which agency officials cited a growing body of intelligence from multiple sources. Agency briefers told the senators it was now “quite clear” that electing Trump was Russia’s goal, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.
The CIA presentation to
senators about Russia’s intentions fell short of a formal U.S.
assessment produced by all 17 intelligence agencies. A senior U.S.
official said there were minor disagreements among intelligence
officials about the agency’s assessment, in part because some questions
remain unanswered.
For example,
intelligence agencies do not have specific intelligence showing
officials in the Kremlin “directing” the identified individuals to pass
the Democratic emails to WikiLeaks, a second senior U.S. official said.
Those actors, according to the official, were “one step” removed from
the Russian government, rather than government employees. Moscow has in
the past used middlemen to participate in sensitive intelligence
operations so it has plausible deniability.
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has said in a television interview that the “Russian government is not the source.”
The White House and CIA officials declined to comment.
On
Friday, the White House said President Obama had ordered a “full
review” of Russian hacking during the election campaign, as pressure
from Congress has grown for greater public understanding of exactly what
Moscow did to influence the electoral process.
“We
may have crossed into a new threshold, and it is incumbent upon us to
take stock of that, to review, to conduct some after-action, to
understand what has happened and to impart some lessons learned,”
Obama’s counterterrorism and homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco,
told reporters at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.
Obama
wants the report before he leaves office Jan. 20, Monaco said. The
review will be led by James Clapper, the outgoing director of national
intelligence, officials said.
During her remarks, Monaco didn’t address the latest CIA assessment, which hasn’t been previously disclosed.Seven Democratic senators last week asked Obama to declassify details about the intrusions and why officials believe that the Kremlin was behind the operation. Officials said Friday that the senators specifically were asking the White House to release portions of the CIA’s presentation.
This week, top Democratic lawmakers in the House also sent a letter to Obama, asking for briefings on Russian interference in the election.
U.S. intelligence agencies have been cautious for months in characterizing Russia’s motivations, reflecting the United States’ long-standing struggle to collect reliable intelligence on President Vladimir Putin and those closest to him.
In previous assessments, the CIA and other intelligence agencies told the White House and congressional leaders that they believed Moscow’s aim was to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system. The assessments stopped short of saying the goal was to help elect Trump.
On Oct. 7, the intelligence community officially accused Moscow of seeking to interfere in the election through the hacking of “political organizations.” Though the statement never specified which party, it was clear that officials were referring to cyber-intrusions into the computers of the DNC and other Democratic groups and individuals.
Some key Republican lawmakers have continued to question the quality of evidence supporting Russian involvement.
“I’ll be the first one to come out and point at Russia if there’s clear evidence, but there is no clear evidence — even now,” said Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a member of the Trump transition team. “There’s a lot of innuendo, lots of circumstantial evidence, that’s it.”
Though
Russia has long conducted cyberspying on U.S. agencies, companies and
organizations, this presidential campaign marks the first time Moscow
has attempted through cyber-means to interfere in, if not actively
influence, the outcome of an election, the officials said.
The
reluctance of the Obama White House to respond to the alleged Russian
intrusions before Election Day upset Democrats on the Hill as well as
members of the Clinton campaign.
Within
the administration, top officials from different agencies sparred over
whether and how to respond. White House officials were concerned that
covert retaliatory measures might risk an escalation in which Russia,
with sophisticated cyber-capabilities, might have less to lose than the
United States, with its vast and vulnerable digital infrastructure.
The
White House’s reluctance to take that risk left Washington weighing
more-limited measures, including the “naming and shaming” approach of
publicly blaming Moscow.
By mid-September,
White House officials had decided it was time to take that step, but
they worried that doing so unilaterally and without bipartisan
congressional backing just weeks before the election would make Obama
vulnerable to charges that he was using intelligence for political
purposes.
Instead, officials devised a
plan to seek bipartisan support from top lawmakers and set up a secret
meeting with the Gang of 12 — a group that includes House and Senate
leaders, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of both chambers’
committees on intelligence and homeland security.
Obama
dispatched Monaco, FBI Director James B. Comey and Homeland Security
Secretary Jeh Johnson to make the pitch for a “show of solidarity and
bipartisan unity” against Russian interference in the election,
according to a senior administration official.
Specifically,
the White House wanted congressional leaders to sign off on a
bipartisan statement urging state and local officials to take federal
help in protecting their voting-registration and balloting machines from
Russian cyber-intrusions.
Though U.S.
intelligence agencies were skeptical that hackers would be able to
manipulate the election results in a systematic way, the White House
feared that Russia would attempt to do so, sowing doubt about the
fundamental mechanisms of democracy and potentially forcing a more
dangerous confrontation between Washington and Moscow.
In
a secure room in the Capitol used for briefings involving classified
information, administration officials broadly laid out the evidence U.S.
spy agencies had collected, showing Russia’s role in cyber-intrusions
in at least two states and in hacking the emails of the Democratic
organizations and individuals.
And they
made a case for a united, bipartisan front in response to what one
official described as “the threat posed by unprecedented meddling by a
foreign power in our election process.”
The
Democratic leaders in the room unanimously agreed on the need to take
the threat seriously. Republicans, however, were divided, with at least
two GOP lawmakers reluctant to accede to the White House requests.
According
to several officials, McConnell raised doubts about the underlying
intelligence and made clear to the administration that he would consider
any effort by the White House to challenge the Russians publicly an act
of partisan politics.
Some of the
Republicans in the briefing also seemed opposed to the idea of going
public with such explosive allegations in the final stages of an
election, a move that they argued would only rattle public confidence
and play into Moscow’s hands.
McConnell’s
office did not respond to a request for comment. After the election,
Trump chose McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, as his nominee for
transportation secretary.
Some Clinton
supporters saw the White House’s reluctance to act without bipartisan
support as further evidence of an excessive caution in facing
adversaries.
“The lack of an administration
response on the Russian hacking cannot be attributed to Congress,” said
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House
Intelligence Committee, who was at the September meeting. “The
administration has all the tools it needs to respond. They have the
ability to impose sanctions. They have the ability to take clandestine
means. The administration has decided not to utilize them in a way that
would deter the Russians, and I think that’s a problem.”
Philip Rucker contributed to this report.
Read more:
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Comments
Why Trump Is Tweeting About 'Celebrity Apprentice,' Not Russia
The CIA says Russia intervened to help Trump win the White House.
On late Friday, The Washington Post broke the explosive story
that the Central Intelligence Agency concluded that Russians intervened
in the U.S. election to help Donald Trump win. This morning,
President-elect Donald Trump was up tweeting indignantly—about the Celebrity Apprentice.Trump hasn’t held a press conference in months and instead uses Twitter to issue statements and go after critics. Media analysts have long noted that Trump will go off on unrelated tweet storms after a major, and potentially damaging, news story breaks about him. For example, after Donald Trump agreed to pay $25 million to settle a Trump University fraud lawsuit, Trump tweeted attacks on the cast of the Broadway show, Hamilton. Distracting people from Trump’s fraud settlement was exactly the point, argued Jack Shafer in a Politico article entitled “Stop being Trump’s Twitter fool.”
This morning would seem to be another case in point. Yes, it was big news when Variety disclosed Thursday that Trump would continue to serve as executive producer of NBC’s reality-TV show and collect probably hundreds of thousands of dollars. But that was completely eclipsed by the bombshell report that Russia had an espionage operation to get Donald Trump elected president. Trump has been famously friendly to Russia’s strongman leader Vladimir Putin, calling him a better leader than President Obama, and Russia apparently concluded that Trump would more likely to relax economic sanctions than would Hillary Clinton.
The report of Russia’s meddling also included the revelation that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell played a key role in keeping the explosive information under wraps during the election. According to The Post, which cited unnamed sources, McConnell voiced doubts about U.S. intelligence and threatened to publicly accuse the Obama administration of partisan politics if the White House challenged the Russians publicly.
After the election, Trump chose McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao to be secretary of transportation. Chao served as secretary of labor in George W. Bush administration. Her appointment requires approval by Congress; McConnell has rejected calls to recuse himself from the confirmation process.
Even more explosive, the New York Times reported that intelligence agencies have “high confidence” that Russians hacked the Republican National Committee but “conspicuously released no documents” related to Republicans. Which raises the disturbing question: Is Russia holding onto these materials to use as leverage, perhaps over the Trump administration?
Julian Assange of Wikileaks, which published the hacked Clinton emails, has denied that it received the materials from the Russian government. Russia also has denied the allegations.
The latest news, however, immediately set off a firestorm. Evan McMullin, a former CIA agent who was a Republican presidential candidate, tweeted:
Donald Trump’s team issued a brief, stunning statement Friday—attacking the CIA’s credibility. “These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction,” the transition team said in an unsigned statement. “The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.'” (Note: Trump’s electoral victory was no landslide; he actually won by one of the slimmest margins in U.S. history.)
And here’s what Trump said on Twitter:
(I won’t be Trump’s Twitter fool by explaining The Apprentice contretemps. You can read about it here and here. )
Trump has said he’ll have a press conference on December 15th. It would be his first since July 27th. At the last conference, he told reporters that he hoped Russian intelligence agencies had hacked Hillary Clinton’s emails and would publish whatever they found. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Mr. Trump said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
U.S.
Russian Hackers Acted to Aid Trump in Election, U.S. Says
WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have concluded with “high confidence” that Russia
acted covertly in the latter stages of the presidential campaign to
harm Hillary Clinton’s chances and promote Donald J. Trump, according to
senior administration officials.
They
based that conclusion, in part, on another finding — which they say was
also reached with high confidence — that the Russians hacked the
Republican National Committee’s computer systems in addition to their
attacks on Democratic organizations, but did not release whatever
information they gleaned from the Republican networks.
In
the months before the election, it was largely documents from
Democratic Party systems that were leaked to the public. Intelligence
agencies have concluded that the Russians gave the Democrats’ documents
to WikiLeaks.
Republicans
have a different explanation for why no documents from their networks
were ever released. Over the past several months, officials from the
Republican committee have consistently said that their networks were not
compromised, asserting that only the accounts of individual Republicans
were attacked. On Friday, a senior committee official said he had no
comment.
Mr.
Trump’s transition office issued a statement Friday evening reflecting
the deep divisions that emerged between his campaign and the
intelligence agencies over Russian meddling in the election. “These are
the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass
destruction,” the statement said. “The election ended a long time ago in
one of the biggest Electoral College victories in history. It’s now time to move on and ‘Make America Great Again.’”
One
senior government official, who had been briefed on an F.B.I.
investigation into the matter, said that while there were attempts to
penetrate the Republican committee’s systems, they were not successful.
But the intelligence agencies’ conclusions that the hacking efforts were successful, which have been presented to President Obama
and other senior officials, add a complex wrinkle to the question of
what the Kremlin’s evolving objectives were in intervening in the
American presidential election.
“We
now have high confidence that they hacked the D.N.C. and the R.N.C.,
and conspicuously released no documents” from the Republican
organization, one senior administration official said, referring to the
Russians.
It
is unclear how many files were stolen from the Republican committee; in
some cases, investigators never get a clear picture. It is also far
from clear that Russia’s original intent was to support Mr. Trump, and
many intelligence officials — and former officials in Mrs. Clinton’s
campaign — believe that the primary motive of the Russians was to simply
disrupt the campaign and undercut confidence in the integrity of the
vote.
The
Russians were as surprised as everyone else at Mr. Trump’s victory,
intelligence officials said. Had Mrs. Clinton won, they believe, emails
stolen from the Democratic committee and from senior members of her
campaign could have been used to undercut her legitimacy. The
intelligence agencies’ conclusion that Russia tried to help Mr. Trump
was first reported by The Washington Post.
In
briefings to the White House and Congress, intelligence officials,
including those from the C.I.A. and the National Security Agency, have
identified individual Russian officials they believe were responsible.
But none have been publicly penalized.
It
is possible that in hacking into the Republican committee, Russian
agents were simply hedging their bets. The attack took place in the
spring, the senior officials said, about the same time that a group of
hackers believed to be linked to the G.R.U., Russia’s military
intelligence agency, stole the emails of senior officials of the
Democratic National Committee. Intelligence agencies believe that the
Republican committee hack was carried out by the same Russians who
penetrated the Democratic committee and other Democratic groups.
The
finding about the Republican committee is expected to be included in a
detailed report of “lessons learned” that Mr. Obama has ordered
intelligence agencies to assemble before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
That report is intended, in part, to create a comprehensive history of
the Russian effort to influence the election, and to solidify the
intelligence findings before Mr. Trump is sworn in.
Mr.
Trump has repeatedly cast doubt about any intelligence suggesting a
Russian effort to influence the election. “I don’t believe they
interfered,” he told Time magazine in an interview published this week.
He suggested that hackers could come from China, or that “it could be
some guy in his home in New Jersey.”
Intelligence
officials and private cybersecurity companies believe that the
Democratic National Committee was hacked by two different Russian
cyberunits. One, called “Cozy Bear” or “A.P.T. 29” by some Western
security experts, is believed to have spent months inside the D.N.C.
computer network, as well as other government and political
institutions, but never made public any of the documents it took.
(A.P.T. stands for “Advanced Persistent Threat,” which usually describes
a sophisticated state-sponsored cyberintruder.)
The
other, the G.R.U.-controlled unit known as “Fancy Bear,” or “A.P.T.
28,” is believed to have created two outlets on the internet, Guccifer
2.0 and DCLeaks, to make Democratic documents public. Many of the
documents were also provided to WikiLeaks, which released them over many
weeks before the Nov. 8 election.
Representative
Michael McCaul, the Texas Republican who is the chairman of the House
Homeland Security Committee, said on CNN in September that the R.N.C.
had been hacked by Russia, but then quickly withdrew the claim.
Mr.
McCaul, who was considered by Mr. Trump for secretary of Homeland
Security, initially told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “It’s important to note,
Wolf, that they have not only hacked into the D.N.C. but also into the
R.N.C.” He added that “the Russians have basically hacked into both
parties at the national level, and that gives us all concern about what
their motivations are.”
Minutes
later, the R.N.C. issued a statement denying that it had been hacked.
Mr. McCaul subsequently said that he had misspoken, but that it was true
that “Republican political operatives” had been the target of Russian
hacking. So were establishment Republicans with no ties to the campaign,
including former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.
Mr. McCaul may have had in mind a collection of more than 200 emails of Republican officials and activists that appeared this year on the website DCLeaks.com. That website got far more attention for the many Democratic Party documents it posted.
The
messages stolen from Republicans have drawn little attention because
most are routine business emails from local Republican Party officials
in several states, congressional staff members and party activists.
Among
those whose emails were posted was Peter W. Smith, who runs a venture
capital firm in Chicago and has long been active in “opposition
research” for the Republican Party. He said he was unaware that his
emails had been hacked until he was called by a reporter on Thursday.
He said he believes that his material came from a hack of the Illinois Republican Party.
“I’m
not upset at all,” he said. “I try in my communications, quite frankly,
not to say anything that would be embarrassing if made public.”
Continue reading the main story
Recent Comments
Linda
Now that Castro is dead, maybe Trump can wear
Castro's khakis. Trump's about the same size and both men were propped
up by Russia.
Politics
|
Trump gets one presidential intelligence briefing a week: sources
| WASHINGTON
It was not immediately clear why Trump has decided not to receive the intelligence briefings available to President Barack Obama more frequently, or whether that has made any difference in his presidential preparations.
An official on the transition team said on Thursday that Trump has been receiving national security briefings, including "routine" PDBs and other special briefings, but declined to specify their content or frequency, saying these matters were classified.
Trump has asked for at least one briefing, and possibly more, from intelligence agencies on specific subjects, one of the officials said. The source declined to identify what subjects interested the president-elect, but said that so far they have not included Russia or Iran.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Trump's vice president-elect, has been receiving his own PDB at least six days a week, the sources familiar with the matter said.
Former Central Intelligence Agency briefer David Priess, the author of a book about PDBs, said that traditionally, Trump and Pence's predecessors sat for "daily or near-daily intelligence briefings" between their elections and their inaugurations.
He said Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan did not start receiving their daily briefings until later in November, while the delayed election result in 2000 meant that George W. Bush did not start receiving his until December.
The briefings are not compulsory. Priess said that after his first election, Richard Nixon spurned face-to-face briefings, so paper PDBs were delivered to his office, only for a "stack" of them to be later returned to the CIA, unopened.
Trump's casual attitude to the briefings attracted criticism from Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
"It is deeply disturbing that the president-elect has time for rallies but not for regular intelligence briefings," Schiff said.
During the run-up to the Nov. 8 presidential election, Trump and a handful of advisers received at least two briefings from intelligence officials about broad national security issues.
However, the pre-election briefings did not include the kind of secrets that are included in the PDBs that Obama, Trump and Pence now have access to. Such secrets include information about U.S. espionage sources and covert operations overseas.
PDBs are presented to presidents and their closest aides by representatives of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), though material in them is prepared by the CIA, the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other parts of the U.S. intelligence community, the officials said.
During and after the election campaign, Trump raised questions about the intelligence on hacking of U.S. political institutions.
In a statement on Oct. 7, ODNI and the Department of Homeland Security expressed confidence that the Russian government had "directed" hacking into "emails from U.S. persons and institutions" that was "intended to interfere with the U.S. election process."
Trump, however, has repeatedly dismissed suggestions that Russia was behind the efforts, telling Time magazine earlier this week: "I don't believe they interfered ... It could be Russia. It could be China. And it could be some guy in his home in New Jersey."
(Corrects to say Iran, not France, in fifth paragraph)
(Reporting by Mark Hosenball and Patricia Zengerle; editing by John Walcott and Bill Rigby and G Crosse)
Transition Briefing
Exxon C.E.O. Said to Be Top Contender for Secretary of State; Giuliani Is Out
■
Rudolph W. Giuliani, a fiercely loyal Trump ally, is out of the race
for secretary of state. Rex W. Tillerson, the head of Exxon Mobil,
appears to be the leading contender.
■ President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition team is asking a lot of questions at the Energy Department.
■ Mr. Trump will name Gary D. Cohn, the president of Goldman Sachs, to direct the National Economic Council.
■ He could also name Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Republican of Washington, to be interior secretary.
A front-runner, by way of Exxon.
Rex
W. Tillerson, the president and chief executive of Exxon Mobil, is the
leading candidate to be Mr. Trump’s secretary of state, according to a
person with direct knowledge of the search process.
Mr.
Tillerson went to Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday to meet with Mr.
Trump, who is said to be close to making a decision. Mr. Tillerson has
been strongly recommended by a number of business leaders.
Mitt
Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, has been described by
Mr. Trump’s advisers as still in the running. But Mr. Trump has said
conflicting things privately about his views of Mr. Romney, advisers
said, and has indicated to several people that he is unlikely to be
named.
Transition questionnaire alarms Energy Department employees.
President-elect
Trump’s transition team has circulated an unusual 74-point
questionnaire that requests the names of all employees and contractors
who have attended domestic or international climate change policy conferences, as well as emails associated with the conferences.
The questionnaire appears targeted at climate science research and clean energy programs.
Document: Transition Questionnaire Raises Concerns
Energy
Department employees, who shared the questionnaire with The New York
Times and spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to discuss the matter publicly, described the questionnaire
as unprecedented and worrying.
“These
questions don’t just indicate an attack on civil servants here in
Washington,” said an Energy Department employee. “They amount to a witch
hunt in D.O.E.’s 17 national labs, where scientists have the
independence to do their work — yet here are questions that are
reminiscent of an inquisition rather than actual curiosity about how the
labs work.”
The
questionnaire asks for lists of employees involved in key climate
change programs, including all those who have attended United Nations
climate change conferences. It also asks for lists of employees involved
in designing a metric known as the Social Cost of Carbon, a figure used
by the Obama administration to measure the economic impact of carbon
dioxide pollution, and to justify the economic cost of climate
regulations.
It
specifically asks which Energy Department programs are essential to
meeting the goals of President Obama’s climate change agenda, which Mr.
Trump has vowed to roll back.
Interactive Graphic
How Trump Can Influence Climate Change
A Trump administration could weaken or do away with many
of the Obama-era policies focused on greenhouse gas emissions.
It
includes several questions for the Energy Information Administration,
the department’s statistics office, which also measures the nation’s
carbon dioxide pollution, asking for justification of its numbers.
“In
the Annual Energy Outlook 2016, E.I.A. assumed that the Clean Power
Plan should be in the reference case despite the fact that the reference
case is based on existing laws and regulations,” the questionnaire
reads. “Why did the E.I.A. make that assumption, which seems to be
atypical of past forecasts?”
And
it includes several questions focused on the national scientific
laboratories, including queries on highest salaries, and outside
evaluation of research.
What
do you think the theme for Donald Trump’s appointments has been so far?
Generals, generals, generals? Climate change deniers, climate change
deniers?
Those seem to be the leading contenders, although there’s always the ever-popular Give Chris Christie a job. While
still cooling his heels as governor of New Jersey, Christie made
history when a recent Quinnipiac poll showed him with a 77 percent job
disapproval rating. None of his predecessors had managed such a feat. We
knew he had it in him.
When
I want to be cheered up, I always think about Christie, who’s currently
lobbying for head of the Republican National Committee. (Next week, the
Surface Transportation Board.)
On
the downside, we had the heartbreaking saga of Al Gore, who happily
emerged from a meeting with Trump this week, telling reporters about the
“lengthy and very productive session” he’d had with the president-elect
on climate change. It was, Gore added hopefully, a conversation that
was likely “to be continued.”
Then
Trump turned around and named Scott Pruitt, the attorney general of
Oklahoma, as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. From Gore’s
perspective, this would be like the judge in a divorce case naming the
aggrieved husband as marriage counselor.
Pruitt
is best pals with the oil and gas industry, and he knows the E.P.A.
mainly as an entity to be sued. Under his watchful eye, his state has
allowed so much natural gas fracking that Oklahoma now has way more
earthquakes than sunrises.
Why
do you think Trump went to so much trouble to set Gore up for
heartbreak? The most likely answer is that he was only pretending to
listen to what Gore was saying about climate change, while he waited for
the chance to break in and talk about how tremendous, enormous,
historic and stupendous his election victory was. This seems to happen a
lot.
Also,
it’s perfectly possible that by the time Trump sat down with Gore, he
no longer remembered who he was appointing to the E.P.A. Perhaps he
didn’t remember that Gore cared about the environment. The key to this
man’s success, you understand, is failure to recall anything that happened before his most recent meal.
The
selection of a Trump administration has been sort of mesmerizing in its
own awful way. Ben Carson will be running Housing and Urban Development
— Ben Carson, whose associate recently said
he wouldn’t be taking any cabinet job because “he’s never run a federal
agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that
could cripple the presidency.”
And
our new national security adviser is going to be Michael Flynn, a very
creepy retired general whose son/former chief of staff has been
promoting stupendously false stories about Hillary Clinton’s involvement
in a child sex ring at a pizza restaurant.
Trump
says he’s discussed his talent hunt with President Obama, who thinks
“very highly” of some of the people on his list. Who do you think they
are? Probably not the general with the son who tweets about Democratic
child abuse. Maybe retired Gen. James Mattis, who Trump wants to make
secretary of defense? Mattis is a pretty popular choice, possibly
because his nickname is “Mad Dog.”
Do you think if Governor Christie had a nickname, it would help his chances? What about “Growling Gerbil”?
And
then there’s secretary of state. Trump seems to be looking at nine
million possibilities. By next week you may be in the mix. Think about
it. You’re far better qualified than Rudy “Rabid Rabbit” Giuliani. And
unlike David Petraeus, I’ll bet you are not currently serving out
probation after pleading guilty to sharing highly classified government
information with a lover.
Lately,
it appears Trump has gone back into the field to drag in a whole new
bunch of State contenders. My favorite is Representative Dana
Rohrabacher of California, a person you have probably never heard of
even though he’s been in Congress since the 1980s and is currently head
of the prestigious Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats.
Rohrabacher
is also a surfer and former folk singer who once claimed global warming
might be connected to “dinosaur flatulence.” He’s told transition
officials that if he gets the nod, he’ll make the terrifying John Bolton
his deputy, so the nation can get a crazy warmonger plus a guy who
knows how to play old Kingston Trio music.
Also
in the running: Rex Tillerson, the C.E.O. of ExxonMobil. Unlike
Representative Rohrabacher, Tillerson seems to believe that human beings
have had an impact on the climate; he just doesn’t care. (“What good is
it to save the planet if humanity suffers?”)
Another
name being bandied around is Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West
Virginia, who first ran for the Senate with a famous ad in which he shot
a hole in federal environmental legislation.
Do
you see a pattern here? Apparently the next secretary of state will be
somebody who likes smog. Perhaps this is an opening for Chris Christie.
New Jersey has had a lot of environmental problems. Maybe he could
invite Trump to a football game for some bonding. They could talk
foreign affairs, and then pollute something on the way home.
I invite you to join me on Facebook.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
Trump: Madman of the Year
So,
Time magazine, ever in search of buzz, this week named Donald Trump
Person of the Year. But they did so with a headline that read,
“President of the Divided States of America.”
The demi-fascist of Fifth Avenue wasn’t flattered by that wording.
In an interview with the “Today” show,
Trump huffed, “When you say divided states of America, I didn’t divide
them. They’re divided now.” He added later, “I think putting divided is
snarky, but again, it’s divided. I’m not president yet. So I didn’t do
anything to divide.”
Donald,
thy name is division. You and your campaign of toxicity and intolerance
have not only divided this country but also ripped it to tatters.
This
comports with an extremely disturbing tendency of Trump’s: Denying
responsibility for things of which he is fully culpable, while claiming
full praise for things in which he was only partly involved.
As my mother used to say: Don’t try to throw a rock and hide your hand. Own your odiousness.
But
Trump delivered the lie with an ease and innocuousness that bespoke a
childish innocence and naïveté. In fact, his words disguised cold
calculation.
That is the thing about demagogy: It can be charming, even dazzling, and that is what makes it all the more dangerous.
Demagogues
can flatter and whisper and chuckle. They can remind us of the good in
the world because they have an acute awareness of the ways of the world.
They can also love and be loved. They can reflect our own humanity
because they are human, but their ambitions do not bend toward the good.
Their ultimate end is distraction, which allows domination, which leads to destruction.
Trump is running two post-campaign campaigns: one high and one low, one of frivolity and one of enormous consequence.
One
is a campaign of bread and circuses — tweets, rallies, bombast about
random issues of the moment, all meant to distract and excite — and the
other is the constant assemblage of a cabinet full of fat cats and “mad
dog” generals, a virtual aviary of vultures and hawks.
On Wednesday, The New York Times
reported that Trump had “settled on Gen. John F. Kelly, a retired
four-star Marine general whose son was killed in combat in Afghanistan,
as his choice for secretary of Homeland Security.”
They
also pointed out that Kelly had “dismissed one argument cited by those
who advocate closing the military prison at Guantánamo, saying it had
not proved to be an inspiration for militants.” The prison fell under
his command.
Make
no mistake: the prison at Guantánamo is one of the most glaring and
enduring moral blights remaining from our humanitarianism-be-damned
reaction to the attacks of 9/11.
“This
morning, I watched President Obama talking about Gitmo, right,
Guantánamo Bay, which by the way, which by the way, we are keeping open.
Which we are keeping open ... and we’re gonna load it up with some bad
dudes, believe me, we’re gonna load it up.”
The Times also said that Kelly “questioned the Obama administration’s plans to open all combat jobs to women, saying the military would have to lower its physical standards to bring women into some roles.”
This is disturbing, but Kelly isn’t the only one of Trump’s military picks who has a disturbing attitude toward women.
Last month, The Daily Beast
reported that the office of Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Trump’s pick for
national security adviser, “told women to wear makeup, heels, and
skirts.” These directives to women were presented in a “January 2013
presentation, entitled ‘Dress for Success,’” which was obtained by a
Freedom of Information request by MuckRock.
The presentation reportedly made sweeping patriarchal declarations —
“makeup helps women look more attractive” — and gave granular detail —
“Wear just enough to accentuate your features.” According to the
presentation, “Do not advocate the ‘Plain Jane’ look.”
So,
in other words, while G.I. Joe is in camouflage, G.I. Jane should be in
concealer. Got it. Indeed, on Wednesday, my colleague Susan Chira pondered in these pages:
“Is Donald Trump’s Cabinet Anti-Woman?” She went through a litany of
anti-woman positions taken and policies advanced by Trump appointees,
leaving this reader with the clear conclusion that yes, it is. She
closed with this: “One of the few bright spots that women’s advocates
see in a Trump administration are proposals championed by Ivanka Trump
to require paid maternity leave and offer expanded tax credits for child
care.” But, as she notes, there is legitimate criticism that even that
is patriarchal because it doesn’t cover paternal leave.
The
question hanging in the air, the issue that we must vigilantly monitor,
is whether the emerging shoots of egalitarianism in this country will
be stomped out by the jackboot of revitalized authoritarianism.
I
feel like America is being flashed by a giant neuralyzer, à la “Men In
Black.” We are in danger of forgetting what has happened and losing
sight, in the fog of confusion and concealment, of the profundity of the
menace taking shape right before us.
That
is our challenge: To see clearly what this deceiver wants to obscure;
to be resolute about that to which he wants us to be resigned; to
understand that Time’s man of the year is, by words and deeds, more of a
madman of the year.
I invite you to join me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter (@CharlesMBlow), or email me at chblow@nytimes.com.Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.
Russians flock to U.S. real estate after Trump victory
Wealthy Russians are looking to spend big on U.S. real estate in the wake of Donald Trump's election victory.
The number of Russians who have expressed interest in buying luxury properties in the U.S. has spiked by 35% over the previous year following the billionaire's win, according to global real estate consultancy Knight Frank.Knight Frank said Russians are interested in vacation homes as well as investment properties. Nearly all are looking to spend between $500,000 and $5 million on a residential property, while 10% are hoping to buy commercial real estate.
"Many of our customers are going go to the Art Basel Miami Beach exhibition and will see real estate there," said Marina Kuzmina, head of international sales at Knight Frank Russia. "A few customers are interested in the opportunity to buy property in development projects of Donald Trump, and we have received requests from U.S. developers wishing to cooperate with Russia."
Some investors see Trump's election as a sign that relations between Russia and the West may soon improve. Trump has praised Vladimir Putin as a strong leader, and the Russian president has made clear that he preferred Trump over his rival Hillary Clinton.
Related: Russian investors cheer Donald Trump's election
Russian purchases of U.S. property accounted for roughly 15% of Knight Frank's international sales as recently as 2014.
Some of the Russian purchases were extraordinary. Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the daughter of billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, made headlines in 2011 when she purchased the then most expensive apartment in Manhattan. The Central Park West condo was bought by a trust under the name of the then 22-year old for $88 million.
Rybolovlev himself bought a $95 million beachfront estate in Palm Beach, Florida in 2008. The seller? Donald Trump.
But demand fell of the cliff after western countries imposed sanctions on Russia over its involvement in the crisis in Ukraine. The sanctions, coupled with falling oil prices, put a huge strain on Russia's economy and sent the ruble plummeting.
Now, Russian buyers appear to have returned with force.
Mr. Tigerli in China
Copyright 2016 by Letizia Mancino
translation by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved
Yes Betty, either or it seems he wanted to fly only with
Singapore Airways.
Boeing or Airbus, it’s just the same
isn’t it? Aren’t they both just fat birds with 500 passengers?
Yes, but Singapore Airlines has the
most beautiful airhostesses: delicate, fine, graceful… Mr. Tigerli had looked forward to the flight
so much!
So the little man was disappointed?
You just can’t imagine how disappointed
he was.
But thank God one of the hostesses was a
pretty Chinese girl. Mr. Tigerli purred loudly but she didn’t hear him because
the purring of the Airbus 380 was even louder.
The poor cat!
You’ve said it Betty. Mr. Tigerli was
in a very bad mood and asked me for a loud speaker.
I’m sure you can get one in 1st
Class.
“”Russian Girl” had even heard you over
the roar of the Niagara Falls” I said to Mr. Tigerli. “You are a very
unfaithful cat. You wanted to get to know Asiatic girls. That’s how it is when
one leaves one’s first love”.
And what did he say to that?
“Men are hunters” was his answer.
Yes, my dear cat, a mouse hunter. And
what else did he say?
Not another word. He behaved as if he
hadn’t heard me.
The Airbus is very loud.
I told him shortly “Don’t trouble
yourself about “Chinese Girl”. There will be enough even prettier girls in
China. Wait till we land in Guilin”.
Did he understand you?
Naturally Mr. Tigerli understood me
immediately. Yes, sweetheart, don’t worry. They will find you something sweet
to eat.
And he?
He was so happy.
No problem going through the immigration
control?
Naturally! Lots of problems. How could I explain to
customs that the cat had come as a tourist to China to buy shoes?
Fur in exchange for shoes…
Don’t be so cynical Betty!
Cat meat in exchange for shoes?
He came through the pass control with
no trouble!
Is this Mr. Tigerli?
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Betty MacDonald's Vashon Island is a paradise.
info to: Sandra Lorinda Traci Petr Dana Jana Michaela Rebekah Swiss Charrd Tru John Darsie Darsie Toby Jeanine Carol Justin Lila Daniel Mo Nika Steve Neal Jitka Jitka Tami Pete Laurie Maia Nancy Kelly Pam Mary Jan and all our other friends
www.bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/
info to: Sandra Lorinda Traci Petr Dana Jana Michaela Rebekah Swiss Charrd Tru John Darsie Darsie Toby Jeanine Carol Justin Lila Daniel Mo Nika Steve Neal Jitka Jitka Tami Pete Laurie Maia Nancy Kelly Pam Mary Jan and all our other friends
www.bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/
Take an illustrated day trip through Washington state’s largest city with artist Candace Rose Rardon.
gadventures.com
Linda White yes,if my health allows.I have a few problems but is something I have always wanted to do,especially as I reread her books.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · August 1 at 6:37pm
Linde Lund Dear Linda I'll keep you posted.
Like · Reply · 1 · August 1 at 6:42pm
Bella Dillon · Friends with Darsie Beck
I still read Mrs Piggle Wiggle books to this day. I love her farm on vashon.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · August 1 at 10:32pm
Lila Taylor Good morning...Linde Lund
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 18 hrs
