Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Napolitano Loses FOX Gig


On FOX they call him "the judge" or at least they did. That's before Andy Napolitano planted in his president's addled mind the notion that Britain's CGHQ spy agency did Obama's bidding and spied on the Trump campaign. Now the judge has been given the hook.

A couple of weeks ago Napolitano said he had it from three sources that Obama went outside the "chain of command" and had the Brits eavesdrop on Trump and his aides during the campaign. The source turns out to be a discredited former CIA analyst who floated the idea on Russia's RT network.

After the story was refuted by the CIA, the FBI, the NSA, the British government and its intelligence agency, Trump went into overdrive to cover his lyin' ass:

The US president, when asked about the incident, said that “all we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn’t make an opinion on it. You shouldn’t be talking to me. You should be talking to Fox.”

Meanwhile former Clinton labour secretary, Robert Reich, reports on his latest visit to Washington where he took the pulse of the government.

1. Washington is more divided, angry, bewildered, and fearful – than I’ve ever seen it.

2. The angry divisions aren’t just Democrats versus Republicans. Rancor is also exploding inside the Republican Party.

3. Republicans (and their patrons in big business) no longer believe Trump will give them cover to do what they want to do. They’re becoming afraid Trump is genuinely nuts, and he’ll pull the party down with him.

4. Many Republicans are also angry at Paul Ryan, whose replacement bill for Obamacare is considered by almost everyone on Capitol Hill to be incredibly dumb.

5. I didn’t talk with anyone inside the White House, but several who have had dealings with it called it a cesspool of intrigue and fear. Apparently everyone working there hates and distrusts everyone else.

6. The Washington foreign policy establishment – both Republican and Democrat – is deeply worried about what’s happening to American foreign policy, and the worldwide perception of America being loony and rudderless. They think Trump is legitimizing far-right movements around the world.

7. Long-time civil servants are getting ready to bail. If they’re close to retirement they’re already halfway out the door. Many in their 30s and 40s are in panic mode.

8. Republican pundits think Bannon is even more unhinged than Trump, seeking to destroy democracy as we’ve known it.

9. Despite all this, no one I talked with thought a Trump impeachment likely, at least not any time soon – unless there’s a smoking gun showing Trump’s involvement in Russia’s intrusion into the election.

10. Many people asked, bewilderedly, “how did this [Trump] happen?” When I suggest it had a lot to do with the 35-year-long decline of incomes of the bottom 60 percent; the growing sense, ever since the Wall Street bailout, that the game is rigged; and the utter failure of both Republicans and Democrats to reverse these trends – they gave me blank stares.




7 comments:

UU4077 said...

And now the US Secretary of State is going to visit Russia instead of attending a NATO meeting. Great! (I think I left my bomb shelter around here somewhere ...??)

The Mound of Sound said...


I had thought Tillerson might have been the conventional guy in that pack of cabinet heads but he's just as bizarre as the rest. If you can source that bomb shelter, let me know.

Homer-Dixon opines that there's a 60% chance of war, perhaps with China, under Trump. Lawrence Wilkerson says America might need a revolution. Chris Hedges, of course, has been predicting revolt for years. What was once a lone voice has now turned into a choir that spans the political spectrum. Maybe I should lay in a few more boxes of .308 Win. - for hunting season, of course.

Anonymous said...

Washington wasn't divided when Obomba was in charge. Back then both Democrats and Republicans worked together to expand the Bush era.

And some pathetic deplorables think it's a bad thing when politicians take bribes and represent the establishment instead of the people!

(Can you imagine some gullibles actually take democratic principles literally? How dumb can you be?)

the salamander said...

.. there's that age old saying in politics..
When your adversary is self destructing
don't get in their way or impede them..

No sign of Obama.. nor of Clinton
and why bother.. stand clear
let the FBI & CSA grind away
and let Trumph howl away via twitter
as Spicer provides more comic relief

Ivanka of course now accesses Classifieds Documents
in her West Wing office and consults her various Attorneys
and Bannon remains in deep background mode
pushing the paper with Miller & The son in law ..

Its all an absurdity of course
a bizzaro tv reality show.. like Dallas I guess
or Gilligans Island but nobody is friendly..
so perhaps its more Lord of the Flies
which shifts from White House to Mar a Lago
with major scenes happening on golf carts

Instead of the mayor who was on crack - Rob Ford
its Donald the Trumph - the Fake President - totally cracked

Dana said...

According to an interview published in the only "news" outlet allowed to accompany Rex to Asia he didn't want the job but was told he had to take it by his wife. So that bodes well...

Northern PoV said...

Your reliable source, a "former Clinton" whatever....

Was he the architect of "ending welfare as we know it"? a Clinton policy that was completely congruent with the two Bushes who book-ended the Clinton fantasies

Anonymous said...

3. Republicans (and their patrons in big business) no longer believe Trump will give them cover to do what they want to do.
Would that really be a bad thing?