monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

The ‘Democratic Extremism’ Narrative Is a Handy Way to Distract Attention From Republican Extremism

Sean Hannity said in 2008 that presidential candidates who have affairs have a “character issue” because they are “living a life that’s a lie.” Hannity, who made the comments during a discussion about the affair of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Hannity & Colmes, also said that Americans “have a right to know before we elect somebody” whether the candidates have had such affairs. He also speculated, “If you cheat on your wife, are you going to be honest with your country?”

In a subsequent episode of Hannity & Colmes, Hannity went further, stating that “If you take a vow, a promise, a pledge, a solemn vow, and you promise to love, honor, cherish, be faithful to, in good times and in bad, richer or poorer, better or worse, and be faithful, you know, till death do you part, if you don't -- if you can't keep that vow, why should people not be suspect that you keep a vow to, you know, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?”

UN warns it is 'running out of cash' in urgent appeal to members

UNITED NATIONS – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the U.N. is running out of money and is urging members to pay up amid a looming financial crisis for the international body.

Secretary-General spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the issue is “late payments and payments not yet received to the regular budget.”

“Other countries mimic the U.S., and what they hear has led them to go slow on support and check writing,” he said.

be able to see this centuries total lunar eclipse.

As Michael Cohen, Donald Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, reportedly indicates he’s willing to testify that Trump knew in advance about a June 9, 2016 meeting between top Trump campaign officials and Kremlin-connected Russians who promised political dirt on Hillary Clinton, Trump publicly denied having such knowledge.

But a speech he gave on June 7, 2016 suggests the president might not be telling the truth.

Two days before the Trump Tower meeting, then-candidate Donald Trump teased a major speech in which he’d detail dirt about the Clintons.

“I am going to give a major speech on — probably Monday of next week — and we’re going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons,” Trump said. “I think you’re going to find it very informative, and very, very interesting.”

When Trump made those comments, his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., had already exchanged emails with Rob Goldstone, a publicist who coordinated the Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and a “Russian government attorney” who promised to provide him and other top Trump campaign officials with political dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Russian officials “offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father,” Goldstone wrote to Trump Jr. on June 3, according to emails publicly released by Trump Jr.

“This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government’s support for Mr. Trump,” Goldstone added, to which Trump Jr. replied, “if it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

The meeting Goldstone offered to arrange ultimately took place in Trump Tower on June 9. Though Trump Jr.’s emails prove that he took the meeting in hopes of obtaining useful dirt of Hillary, he later claimed the Russian attorney didn’t have the goods.

The major Clinton speech Trump promised to deliver days after the meeting never happened. When the New York Times broke news about the Trump Tower meeting in July 2017, Trump dictated a misleading statement for his son obfuscating about the real purpose of the meeting. That statement has since become a focus of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Trump for obstruction of justice.

White House officials, attorneys working for Trump, and Trump Jr. have all repeatedly denied that Trump knew about the meeting in advance. CNN put together this compilation of their denials:

Trump Jr. also testified to Congress that he didn’t inform his father about the meeting before it happened.

But on Thursday night, CNN and other outlets broke news that Cohen is willing to testify that Trump Jr. and his father haven’t been telling the truth.

“Cohen alleges that he was present, along with several others, when Trump was informed of the Russians’ offer by Trump Jr,” CNN reports. “By Cohen’s account, Trump approved going ahead with the meeting with the Russians, according to sources.”

If Cohen’s account is truthful, it would be the strongest indication yet that not only was Trump aware of his campaign’s efforts to collude with Russia, but he approved of them. Trump, however, tweeted on Friday that he “did NOT know of the meeting with my son, Don jr. Sounds to me like someone is trying to make up stories in order to get himself out of an unrelated jam (Taxi cabs maybe?).”

But if Trump Jr. really didn’t loop in his dad about his efforts to obtain dirt on Clinton, why was Trump teasing a major speech about “all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons” at the same time the Trump Tower meeting was being planned?

Trump Jr. placed three calls to blocked numbers before and after the June 9 meeting. During his testimony to Congress, he said he wasn’t sure whether or not any of those calls was to his father.

“I'm going to give a major speech on — probably Monday of next week — and we’re going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the Clintons,” Trump said.

US election: Donald Trump's five lines of attack on Clinton

22 June 2016

Donald Trump promised a bare-knuckles speech with sweeping attacks on Hillary Clinton, and on Wednesday he delivered it.

He accused the Democratic presumptive nominee of criminal corruption. He called her a "world-class liar". He offered a bullet-point summation of an anti-Clinton book written by a conservative commentator.

And he read a letter from the widow of a police officer killed by an undocumented immigrant who said the former secretary of state had the "blood of so many on her hands" and should "go to prison to pay for the crimes she has already committed against this country."

Here are the five primary lines of attack Mr Trump relied on in his Wednesday speech - and what they could mean for the presidential race in the weeks and months to come...

Clinton fixer engineers Michael Cohen’s turn against Trump

A former Clinton White House official who worked with Davis during the 1990s reluctantly agreed with the conservative television host. “I think Lanny is absolutely the worst person to do this,” the former Davis colleague said. “It’s very easy for the pro-Trump defenders to just lump him in with Hillary."

“I would not have worked for Michael Cohen if I thought it was adverse to my political beliefs..." Davis said.

“This spectacle is doing nothing to help Cohen get a better deal from prosecutors,” said Renato Mariotti, a former assistant U.S. attorney in Chicago, who is a paid CNN contributor. “By looking so eager to flip, Cohen is reducing his leverage. He should at least pretend like he needs a better deal to convince him to turn on Trump.”

Davis told POLITICO that Cohen’s team of lawyers debated whether they were putting their client in legal jeopardy by releasing the tape into a media frenzy.

Thanks to Trump's America First, the USA (unfortunately North and Central America as well) are about the only locations in the world where you won't be able to see this centuries total lunar eclipse.

Mueller, Trump Jr. photographed waiting in same DC airport terminal

A photo obtained by Politico Playbook showed both Special Counsel Robert Mueller and Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, waiting at gate 35X at Reagan National Airport on Friday morning.

Trump had "a good week". Huh?

I've just done a universal fractal assessment and found that this is actually true in 3 alternate universes. On the other hand, it was false in 237 to the power of 4 million alternate universes. So, some congrats are in order. Way to go, Don!