Russian politician claims his close ties to the NRA provided him access to Donald Trump.

Courtesy of NPR: 

A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association, and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain access deeper into American politics, NPR has learned. 

Russian politician Alexander Torshin claimed his ties to the National Rifle Association provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election. 

Torshin is a prolific Twitter user, logging nearly 150,000 tweets, mostly in Russian, since his account was created in 2011. Previously obscured by language and by sheer volume of tweets, Torshin has written numerous times about his connections with the NRA, of which he's a known paid lifetime member. NPR has translated a selection of those posts that document Torshin's relationship to the group.

These revelations come amid news that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign in 2016, McClatchy reported in January. 

In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Senate intelligence committee, the NRA denied any wrongdoing and suggested the FBI is investigating Torshin, not the NRA. Neither the NRA nor Torshin responded to inquiries from NPR.

Here's a question.

If the NRA helped to facilitate the Russian influence over Donald Trump, does that not make them a terrorist organization, or at the very least guilty of some form of treason?

And by the way despite what Trump said recently the NRA clearly has him in their pocket.

I had a great meeting tonight with @realDonaldTrump & @VP. We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA

— Chris Cox (@ChrisCoxNRA) March 2, 2018

Chris Cox is a top NRA lobbyist by the way, and this was posted AFTER Trump ridiculed some of his fellow Republicans for being afraid of the NRA.

Trump before NRA meeting: “We should have comprehensive gun control.”

Trump hours after NRA meeting: “Video games. Video games are the problem. And mental health, too.” https://t.co/TqcHBGLIim

— Ned Price (@nedprice) March 2, 2018

Well if the NRA is a terrorist organization, they have managed to place one of their suicide bombers into the White House.

One third of Americans received Russian backed content on their Facebook feed during the 2016 election cycle.

Courtesy of NBC News: 

An estimated 126 million Americans, roughly one-third of the nation’s population, received Russian-backed content on Facebook during the 2016 campaign, according to prepared testimony the company submitted Monday to the Senate Judiciary Committee and obtained by NBC News. 

Underscoring how widely content on the social media platform can spread, Facebook says in the testimony that while some 29 million Americans directly received material from 80,000 posts by 120 fake Russian-backed pages in their own news feeds, those posts were “shared, liked and followed by people on Facebook, and, as a result, three times more people may have been exposed to a story that originated from the Russian operation.”

The testimony by Facebook's general counsel, Colin Stretch, was submitted to the Judiciary Committee ahead of a hearing on Tuesday with executives from Facebook, Google and Twitter. The hearing is part of the congressional inquiry into Russia’s use of these platforms to try to influence last year’s U.S. presidential election.

Facebook was not the only social media platform to provide stunning evidence of Russia's interference during the 2016 campaigns.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

Twitter, in its prepared remarks, said it had discovered more than 2,700 accounts on its service that were linked to the Internet Research Agency between September 2016 and November 2016. Those accounts, which Twitter has suspended, posted roughly 131,000 tweets over that period. 

Outside of the activity of the Internet Research Agency, Twitter identified more than 36,000 automated accounts that posted 1.4 million election-related tweets linked to Russia over that three-month period. The tweets received approximately 288 million views, according to the company’s remarks.

I think we can do away with the talking point that Russia only paid about $150,000 to influence our election. They clearly paid significantly more than that.

This was a very large, and very coordinated effort to do three things.

Divide Americans and get them fighting one another, defeat Hillary Clinton, and help to elect Donald Trump.

And to their credit they manage to accomplish all three.

Twitter announces that it will now clearly identify tweets supporting candidates and utilize stronger penalties for those who misuse the social media platform.

Courtesy of CNBC: 

As political pressure mounts on social media companies to say where ads are coming from, Twitter will reveal more information about political advertising on its platform. 

Twitter said in a blog post on Tuesday it would clearly label political electioneering ads, which the Federal Election Commission (FEC) defines as an ad used to promote a specific candidate for elected office or affiliated party posted within 30 days of a primary election or 60 days of a general election. Electioneering ads can also include any ad clearly promoting a political candidate at any time. 

The ads will have some sort of visual marker, likely a purple dot next to the user handle, and a purple box with the text "Promoted by" and the name of the sponsor.

In addition, the company will limit which criteria can be used to target people and will introduce a "stronger" penalty on those who do not abide by the new rules. The company did not say what the tougher standards or penalties will be.

I am not really sure how much this will help, since what really needs to happen is that Twitter identify and purge fake accounts and bots that simply promote misinformation to mislead the public.

However I guess we can view this as a good first step, and at least they are willing to do something.

Still it really needs to be up to the individual user to be vigilant and to do the legwork to research things they see on Twitter and make sure it is accurate.

Facebook sold $100,000 worth of ad space to a Russian troll farm in 2015 and 2016 so that they could influence our elections. Isn't Facebook great?

Courtesy of WaPo: 

Representatives of Facebook told congressional investigators Wednesday that the social network has discovered that it sold ads during the U.S. presidential campaign to a shadowy Russian company seeking to target voters, according to several people familiar with the company’s findings. 

Facebook officials reported that they traced the ad sales, totaling $100,000, to a Russian “troll farm” with a history of pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda, these people said. 

A small portion of the ads, which began in the summer of 2015, directly named Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, the people said, although they declined to say which candidate the ads favored. 

Most of the ads, according to a blog post published late Wednesday by Facebook’s chief security officer, Alex Stamos, “appeared to focus on amplifying divisive social and political messages across the ideological spectrum — touching on topics from LGBT matters to race issues to immigration to gun rights.”

Last night Rachel Maddow pointed out that Facebook officials have been denying that this took place for months, so the fact that NOW they are coming clean is likely only the result of the ongoing investigations.

Speaking of investigations apparently Facebook has delivered the information about these ads and who purchased them to the Mueller team: 

Facebook has turned over all information about ads "likely" purchased by Russian operatives to special counsel Robert Mueller, according to a report. 

A source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday that the social media giant had sent the former FBI director data including copies of the ads and the identity of the buyers. That report followed news that an internal Facebook investigation found it is agents of the Kremlin may have spent $100,000 on ads with "divisive messages" between June 2015 and May 2017.

Well gee it's nice to see Facebook taking responsibility after it is too late to help to help save our democracy.

Let me state this emphatically once again, the ONLY reason one should have a Facebook account is to keep touch with families members and to see which one of your high school friends is now on their third or fourth marriage.

It should NEVER be used to stay informed about ANYTHING important.


. 

Donald Trump realizes that we can see him openly trying to influence these Russia investigations right?

Just had ph call from Pres Trump + he assured me he's pro ethanol +I'm free 2 the ppl of Iowa he's standing by his campaign PROMISE

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 30, 2017

(I think that "the" was supposed to be a "tell.")

Tlkd 2 @realDonaldTrump about ethanol +he knows that ethanol is good good good

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 30, 2017

(Actually Ethanol's days are numbered, as we are rapidly moving toward electric automobiles all around the world.)

Courtesy of WaPo:  

President Trump called the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee to talk about one of his most important parochial issues — ethanol — shortly before the committee is slated to interview his son in its ongoing Russia probe. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley’s panel will be hosting Trump’s son next month for an interview behind closed doors in its ongoing Russia probe — something the committee has been trying to do since it was revealed that Donald Trump, Jr. accepted a meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer claiming Kremlin connections during the campaign. 

Headlines about that committee meeting, which Grassley (R-Iowa) has been trying to set up for weeks, gripped headlines and cable news chyrons on Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, Grassley announced via Twitter that the president had called him to discuss not Russia, but ethanol, proudly announcing that “he assured me he’s pro ethanol” and that Grassley was free to tell the people of Iowa “he’s standing by his campaign PROMISE.”

Wait, so just days after it was announced that Eric "The Dumb One" Trump was going to be testifying before the Senate  Judiciary Committee, which Grassley chairs, Donald Trump suddenly makes these calls in support of Grassley's favorite bio-fuel?

What a coinky dink.

Please, does this orange tinted asshole think we are all as stupid as his supporters?

Obviously that is a rhetorical question.

Methinks we better keep an eye on ole Chuck "I Love Ethanol" Grassley.

James Comey now believes that Donald Trump was trying to influence his investigation into collusion with Russia.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Former FBI Director James Comey now believes that President Donald Trump was trying to influence his judgment about the Russia probe, a person familiar with his thinking says, but whether that influence amounts to obstruction of justice remains an open question. 

"You have to have intent in order to obstruct justice in the criminal sense," the source said, adding that "intent is hard to prove." 

Comey will testify publicly before the Senate intelligence committee after Memorial Day, the panel's leaders announced Friday. 

The central question at that blockbuster hearing will be whether Comey believed the President was trying to interfere with his investigation.

I'm sorry, is that still a question?

I think it kind of odd that it took this long for a man who investigates people for a living to have only now just determined that Trump was attempting to influence his Russia investigation.

Though to give him the benefit of the doubt we could assume that he is only just now comfortable enough to leak those feelings to the press.

According to Comey's father Trump was "scared to death" of his son.

I have no trouble believing that. I think Trump wakes up pissing himself every morning these days.

In other news it appears that Trump attorneys are really starting to take all of this quite seriously: 

White House lawyers have begun researching impeachment procedures in an effort to prepare for what officials still believe is a distant possibility that President Donald Trump could have to fend off attempts to remove him from office, two people briefed on the discussions tell CNN.

I seriously hope that this gets to the level of impeachment.

If we have learned anything about Donald Trump in these last few years is that he will NEVER admit guilt and will try to take everybody down with him.

It could damage the Republican party beyond repair for decades.

Russian officials bragged that they had such control over Michael Flynn they could get him to influence Donald Trump's decisions.

First on CNN: Russian officials bragged they could use Michael Flynn to influence Donald Trump, sources say https://t.co/xZKpbwDxMU

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) May 20, 2017

Courtesy of CNN: 

Russian officials bragged in conversations during the presidential campaign that they had cultivated a strong relationship with former Trump adviser retired Gen. Michael Flynn and believed they could use him to influence Donald Trump and his team, sources told CNN. 

The conversations deeply concerned US intelligence officials, some of whom acted on their own to limit how much sensitive information they shared with Flynn, who was tapped to become Trump's national security adviser, current and former governments officials said. 

"This was a five-alarm fire from early on," one former Obama administration official said, "the way the Russians were talking about him." Another former administration official said Flynn was viewed as a potential national security problem. 

The conversations picked up by US intelligence officials indicated the Russians regarded Flynn as an ally, sources said. That relationship developed throughout 2016, months before Flynn was caught on an intercepted call in December speaking with Russia's ambassador in Washington, Sergey Kislyak. That call, and Flynn's changing story about it, ultimately led to his firing as Trump's first national security adviser.

And remember this is the guy that Trump wants BACK in his administration once the investigations are over.

And while we are on the topic of those being controlled by Russia there this story from the New York Times:

The F.B.I. warned a Republican congressman in 2012 that Russian spies were trying to recruit him, officials said, an example of how aggressively Russian agents have tried to influence Washington politics. 

The congressman, Dana Rohrabacher of California, has been known for years as one of Moscow’s biggest defenders in Washington and as a vocal opponent of American economic sanctions against Russia. He claims to have lost a drunken arm-wrestling match with the current Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, in the 1990s. He is one of President Trump’s staunchest allies on Capitol Hill.

You know it doesn't sound to be as if the Russians "tried" to recruit Rohrbacher, it sounds like they DID recruit Rohrbacher.

You know my new go to position on Trump's most aggressive supporters is that they are Russian double agents.

That may not be true in every case, but it just feels that it is true in MOST cases. And it just saves a lot of time and effort trying to figure out who could continue to support Trump after everything that we have learned.

Perhaps the most important thing we learned from the Senate Intelligence hearing yesterday.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

In a moment that stunned the hearing room, Watts (Clinton Watts, a senior fellow at the George Washington Center for Cyber and Homeland Security) flatly stated that the president himself has become a cog in such Russian measures. When asked by Oklahoma Republican James Lankford, who appeared visibly dismayed, why, if Russians have long used these methods, they finally worked in this election cycle, Watts’ answer was extraordinary. 

“I think this answer is very simple and is one no one is really saying in this room,” he said. Part of the reason, he went on, “is the commander in chief has used Russian active measures at times against his opponents.” 

To buttress the claim that Trump (unwittingly or not) aided Russian disinformation efforts, Watts cited several instances. Among them: Trump’s citation of an apparently false Sputnik story at an October 2016 campaign appearance; his ongoing denial before and after the campaign of U.S. intelligence of Russian interference in the election; his claims of voter fraud and election rigging, which Watts said was pushed by RT and Sputnik; and Trump’s questioning of the citizenship of former President Barack Obama and even his primary rival Ted Cruz. 

Watts added that one of the reasons such tactics are working is that Trump and/or his surrogates have repeated some of the claims, further spreading them through social media accounts that are owned both by real people and bots. Thus, the disinformation is kept alive and gradually becomes more real and plausible. “Part of the reason active measures work is because they parrot the same lines,” Watts said.

Yesterday was a day when an enormous amount of excrement met the fan blades, but this statement to me was perhaps the most important thing that we heard.

Trump took what was being fed to him by Russian operatives and used it to attack and discredit his opponents in the primary, and Hillary Clinton in the general.

In short he was not simply helped by internet trolls who support him and attacked others, he himself was one of those internet trolls brought to life. 

Vladimir Putin prepares to pounce as America's power in the world diminishes.

Courtesy of Newsweek: 

The opportunities that Moscow is eager to seize beyond Russia’s border are openings or cracks in the world order. The ability to ferret out opportunity, developed during the 1980s and 1990s, is helping Moscow’s rulers detect such chances now. 

Both Ukraine and Syria, each one in its own way, are such cracks. They fall between “world orders” if we accept Henry Kissinger’s description of the evolving international orders as being American, European, Chinese and Islamic (see also an interesting piece by Niall Ferguson on the Russian Question.) 

The “imperial” power of the collective West is shrinking. Under the new administration, Washington is proclaiming out loud what had previously been implied or mentioned quietly to America’s allies: the U.S. is not willing to serve as the world’s preeminent “imperialist” power indefinitely. It wants to be paid for its services or it will withdraw. 

President Donald Trump’s proposed deep cuts in the State Department’s funding and sharp hikes in military spending could be taken as a plan to relinquish America’s remaining soft power and concentrate on its hard power to protect whatever interests it chooses to keep.

In many ways Trump is the perfect puppet for Putin. He is an unsophisticated megalomaniac who lacks the vision to understand what America means to the world at large, and instead only cares about those who will hold rallies celebrating his isolationist agenda.

With Trump distracted by shiny objects Putin, and others, are free to take advantage of the opportunities for power and influence that slip from between Cheeto Hitler's chubby orange fingers.

And the cost for this country, and for our allies, will be vast and potentially irreversible.

The Independent Network Charismatic is the new Moral Majority, and they have ties to Rick Perry, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.

Courtesy of The Conversation:

INC Christianity is led by a network of popular independent religious entrepreneurs, often referred to as “apostles.” They have close ties, we found, to conservative U.S. politicians, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and more recently President Donald Trump. 

Charismatic Christians emphasize supernatural miracles and divine interventions, but INC Christianity is different from other charismatics – and other Christian denominations in general – in the following ways:

• It is not focused primarily on building congregations but rather on spreading beliefs and practices through media, conferences and ministry schools. 
• It is not so much about proselytizing to unbelievers as it is about transforming society through placing Christian believers in powerful positions in all sectors of society. 
• It is organized as a network of independent leaders rather than as formally organized denominations.

INC Christianity is the fastest-growing Christian group in America and possibly around the world. Over the 40 years from 1970 to 2010, the number of regular attenders of Protestant churches as a whole shrunk by an average of .05 percent per year, while independent neo-charismatic congregations (a category in which INC groups reside) grew by an average of 3.24 percent per year. 

Its impact, however, is much greater than can be measured in church attendance. This is because INC Christianity is not centrally concerned with building congregations, but spreading beliefs and practices.

Apparently this group has been making millions through seminars, web sales, book sales, music sales, and DVD sales.

And they have been using that money to spread influence.

Most Christian groups in America have seen the role of the church as connecting individuals to God through the saving grace of Jesus and building congregations that provide communities of meaning and belonging through worship services. They also believe in serving and providing for the needs their local communities. Such traditional Christian groups believe that although the world can be improved, it will not be restored to God’s original plan (until Jesus comes back again to rule the Earth).

INC beliefs, however, are different – their leaders are not content simply to connect individuals to God and grow congregations. Most INC Christian groups we studied seek to bring heaven or God’s intended perfect society to Earth by placing “kingdom-minded people” in powerful positions at the top of all sectors of society. 

I will assume that at this point many of you are starting to get a familiar feeling as to where this is all going.

INC leaders have labeled them the “seven mountains of culture.” These include business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, family and religion. In this form of “trickle-down Christianity,” they believe if Christians rise to the top of all seven “mountains,” society will be completely transformed.

Bingo!

If you are not yet familiar with the Seven Mountains mandate, then you must be new here as we have talked about it multiple times.

In short:

Seven Mountains dominionism seeks to place Christians in control over the seven forces that shape and control our culture: (1) Business; (2) Government; (3) Media; (4) Arts and Entertainment; (5) Education; (6) Family; and (7) Religion. The reason for this, as Lance Wallnau, the leading advocate for Seven Mountains theology, explained is that Jesus “doesn’t come back until He’s accomplished the dominion of nations.” And the way “dominion of nations” is accomplished is by having Christians gain control of these “seven mountains” in order to install a “virtual theocracy” overseen by “true apostles” who will fight Satan and his Antichrist agenda.

This same philosophy has turned up in a number of religious organizations, and was especially impactful during the Bush Administration.

Sarah Palin is of course an adherent as are many other highly placed politicians, many now it seems working for and with Donald Trump.

Now does the Muslim travel ban make a little more sense?

Currently we are seeing church attendance in America hitting all time lows, but this group does not care about congregations, their goal is to put true believers in positions of great power, and apparently they are succeeding.

So yes Sarah Palin maybe yesterday's news but those who helped to foist her upon us, are getting closer to their ultimate goal everyday.

Wait, I thought the media were in the pocket of Hillary Clinton?

Anti-Hillary MSNBC Chuck Todd's wife, co-founder Maverick Strategies and Mail, got $1,342,293 from Sanders Campaign: https://t.co/0S7B5pTocN

— ABetterDay (@StudioChira) May 28, 2016

Well now isn't THAT interesting?

The Young Turks track the waning influence of Sarah Palin.

The Young Turks did a good job here, except that they failed to point out that the majority of Palin's Facebook likes are bought and paid for. Other than that this is quite well done.

Guess who made Time Magazine's Top 100 Influential People? And then guess who didn't.

Julianne Moore as described by fashion designer, director, and now Time Magazine contributor Tom Ford: 

Fearless. That is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Julianne Moore. Of course, the words beautiful, elegant, smart, loyal and steadfast can be used to describe her too. 

I was fortunate enough to witness Julianne’s incredible skill as an actress firsthand when we worked together on a film that I directed called A Single Man. I remember looking through the camera lens before the first take and realizing that she projects something very rare: an actual luminosity that is dazzling in life and that can be captured on film. This is the difference between an actor and a star. 

Julianne’s character off set is just as magnetic as her onscreen presence. She has an inner beauty that will never fade. She is down to earth and real. For my 50th birthday we went white-water rafting in Idaho, where we had no baths or toilets for five days. She seemed just as comfortable in the wilderness, stripped of the trappings of stardom, as she is in front of the camera. 

Julianne is one of the greatest actresses working today, but she’s also a wonderful human being. I am honored to call her my friend.

Well that is a rather glowing description. However it seems to fit the talented individual we have been hearing about for all of these years.

There are equally glowing descriptions (And some not so glowing descriptions.) of 99 more influential Titans, Pioneers, Artists, Leaders, and Icons. These include such eclectic choices such as Lorne Michaels, Janet Yellen, Emma Watson, Amy Schumer, Chris Pratt, Tim McGraw, John Oliver, Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin, Elizabeth Warren, Hillary Clinton, Kim Jong Un, and even, believe it or not, Kim Kardashian along with many others.

However one name missing from the list, as it has since 2010, is Sarah Louise Palin.

You know it's almost as if constantly teasing that you might consider running for high office, and then never actually going through with it, while repeatedly taking to Facebook in an obvious attempt get attention by attacking more accomplished people than yourself, over time diminishes your credibility in some way.

But that would mean the entire Sarah Palin model for continued relevance was flawed in some way.

And that can't be right. Can it?

Have these people never seen the influence that Sarah Palin has on her OWN children?



You can't pick your parents, but you CAN pick who you idolize.

 Courtesy of the Examiner:

"Youth for Palin", a grassroots movement of conscientious young people, is gaining strength as a conservative force and powerful voting block. At the center of this youth movement is their political idol, Sarah Palin, a constitutional conservative, with values and ideals that reflect their own.Though not directly affiliated with her campaign, "Youth for Palin" members, having given their full support, are a ready army of young and loyal followers awaiting marching orders when Sarah Palin announces her nomination for President.

In my opinion if you allow your child to join an organization called "Youth for Palin" you are a bad parent and need to report yourself to the Department of Children's Services immediately.

Let's examine how Palin has influenced the children that have had the misfortune of living in close proximity to the Grizzled Mama.

Numerous reports indicate that Track had quite a few run ins with the law, suffered multiple substance abuse issues, had to join the military to avoid jail time, and was in a deep depression after returning to Alaska. (On the upside I now hear that Track is doing much better attending flight school in Arizona.)

By all accounts Bristol was a heavy partier, who became an unmarried teen mother at seventeen (If not much earlier.), and who most likely has had yet another child out of wedlock while lecturing teens on how to avoid getting pregnant. Can you say "good role model?"

Willow also has a history of partying, broke into a friend's home allowing her Palmer friends to do 20 to 30 thousand dollars worth of damage,  went on a homophobic Facebook rant, and, rumor has it , might have had a pregnancy scare of her own.

Piper, simply never goes to school and has been wearing makeup since she was around nine years old.

And let's not forget Jeremy Morlock, for whom Sister Sarah once served as team manager for his hockey team. I certainly cannot blame all of his difficulties on Sister Sarah, but having her in his life didn't exactly straighten him out either.

Is THIS really the kind of influence that anybody should want around their impressionable young teenager?

I think not.