Daily Check-In 10/9/2017

Monday, about that time.  I wonder if anything happened this weekend…

BOB CORKER AND THE ADULT DAY CARE CENTER

Over the weekend, Donald Trump made a series of tweets attacking Senator Bob Corker (R) of Tennessee, after he announced that he would not seek reelection to the Senate next year.  Trump said that Corker asked him to endorse him, and when Trump said no, Corker stepped down from running.

Trump attacked someone else on twitter?  Yeah, water is wet, so what else is new?

This time, the Senator being attacked fought back.  Not just on twitter, but in several interviews as well.

Bob Corker, one of Trump’s earliest supporters, responded on Saturday Night by saying that the White House had turned into an “Adult Day Care”, and it looks like “someone missed their shift.”

Of course, this didn’t sit well with the Crybaby-In-Chief, who proceeded to go after Corker again.  This time, Corker responded in the press.  He said that everyone in the Senate thinks that Trump is unstable, and that they’re worried that he’s trying to start World War 3, and that Trump is not fit to serve as President, and if necessary, he should be removed from office.

This is big.  Corker was one of Trump’s earliest supporters.  He was talked about long and hard for a cabinet position, even as a potential running mate for Vice President.  That Corker isn’t running for reelection gives him freedom to say what’s on his mind, and do what he feels must be done.

Bob Corker is the first Republican Senator to openly call for Trump’s removal from office, and he won’t be the last.  He is a signal balloon.  As more information comes out about Russia, Trump will get more desperate to distract people from it.  The Republicans know, even if political gerrymandering is upheld, the 2018 midterm election will be a bloodbath if Trump is still in office.  Trump’s popularity is falling like a rock, and anyone tied to him will be dragged down with him.  Corker could easily win Senate in any normal year, but next year, even in Tennessee, he doesn’t think he can win.

Besides, he has bigger plans.  If Corker’s attempts to galvanize the Congress against Trump works, he will go down in history books as a hero.  That’ll look real good in a 2020 or 2024 Presidential run.

MIKE PENCE SPENDS HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF TAX DOLLARS ON A PUBLICITY STUNT, THEN RAISES MONEY FOR RUSSIA’S FAVORITE REPRESENTATIVE

Yesterday, Vice President Mike Pence flew from Las Vegas to Indianapolis for a Colts football game.  He spent about $45,000 of tax payer money, per hour, to fly on Air Force 2 for 2.5 hours.  He arrived, had a motorcade escort him to the stadium, arrived, posted a selfie from a few years ago that was run through an Instagram filter, then walked out after the National Anthem after some players knelt in protest.

His press junket was told to stay in their van since he would be right back.

Pence claimed that he was so offended by this graven disrespect to the troops, he had no choice but to leave.

He then returned to his security escort, got in his car, returned to AF2, then flew 3 more hours to Los Angeles for a fundraiser for Dana Rohrbacher.

After all of this, Trump claimed it was his idea.

By the way, neither of them have even acknowledged the deaths of 4 Green Berets in Niger.

But black men kneeling in protest to bring attention to racism is somehow more disrespectful to the troops than not honoring their memories, or raising money for a known traitor?

For today’s news…

GOOGLE, LINKEDIN BOTH USED BY RUSSIANS TO SPREAD DISINFORMATION

The scope of the Russian Interference is heating up.  The Washington Post released detailed information about how Russians purchased election ads on their network. These ads appeared in Google searches, Gmail, YouTube, and everywhere else that Google’s presence is felt.

What they did was take the available information that Facebook has released about the Russians that bought ads on their network, took the emails associated, and saw if those emails showed up in their system.  To the surprise of no one who was paying attention, those emails accounted for $100,000 worth of ads purchased for the election.  Some werePpro-Trump or Pro-Bernie, others were more abstract, like against Black Lives Matter.

$100,000 sounds like a lot, but this is Google.  They spend that much on coffee and lunch in a week.  They deal with billions of dollars in advertising. A hundred thousand is a rounding error to them.

In scarier news, the Russians are using LinkedIn.  Unlike Facebook where people keep their work history private, or Twitter or Reddit which are as anonymous as the user wants, LinkedIn is a living resume, with contact information, work history, letters of recommendation, and co-workers that can all be exploited.

The story I linked to described several instances in Europe of Russians using LinkedIn to track down their enemies in real life.

You might want to think about hiding some personal info from a global search.

RUSSIA TARGED VETS, MILITARY DURING CAMPAIGN

Ever wonder why it seems that all of the crazy stories during the campaign seem like they were always forwarded by that right-wing veteran or soldier?  Well, there’s an answer to that, and it’s not good.

Looks like the Russians were specifically targeting Soldiers and Veterans.

 

VANCE ACCEPTED DONATIONS FROM HARVEY WEINSTEIN AFTER DROPPING CHARGES AGAINST HIM, TOO.

NYC Attorney General Cyrus Vance has a weird habit of accepting money from people he chooses not to prosecute.  This time, it’s Harvey Weinstein.  In 2015, Harvey was accused of groping an Italian model.  After he didn’t press charges, $10,000 was donated to Jones in the name of Harvey’s longtime lawyer.

Sound familiar?

JOHN KELLY AND THE BABYSITTER JOB AT MAR-A-LAGO

Vanity Fair had an interesting piece about Chief of Staff John Kelly, his ongoing battles with Trump, and his plan to keep Trump out of the Mar-A-Lago dining room.

It sounds petty, because it is.  But then again, we have Donald Trump as President.

NEW RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS ABOUT JUNE 9TH MEETING

Time for Donnie Junior to change his story again.  The Russians at the June 9 meeting said that the meeting was about sanctions the whole time, specifically the Magnitsky Act.

 

That’s it for tonight.  I’m writing this before watching Rachel Maddow, so of course she’ll have 38 stories I didn’t even notice.  Speaking of Rachel Maddow, I’ve noticed a change in her reporting style in the last month. More intensity, more powerful, more forceful.  She’s still pulling some punches, but she’s setting up the narrative that something big is happening soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if the first series of indictments come down against Paul Manafort and Michael Flynn by Halloween.

 

Thank you, and have a good one.

“Without Journalists, it’s just propaganda.”

– Katy Tur