OPEN SESSION

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) said last night that special counsel Bobby Mueller had agreed to testify in public session on July 17th, pursuant to a subpoena.

It’s a victory for the Democratic leaders…but one should temper expectations.

Attorney General Billy Barr previously said he had NO problem with Mueller testifying and wouldn’t stand in the way.

As The Weave‘s residential legal dough-boy, don’t hold your breath on any pledge! coming from Billy’s mouth.

Nearly three months after the release of the Mueller Report [which 99.999993% of Americans haven’t even attempted to read!], two back-to-back hearings on July 17th before the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees promise to be among the most closely watched spectacles of Donald John Trump’s presidency.

They have the power to potentially reshape the political landscape around his ’20 re-election campaign and a possible impeachment [hope burns!!!].

The old Lobsterman is already working on his menu for that day in July.

Mueller had resisted taking the witness stand.

He knows he is certain to face questions from BOTH sides of a fever-pitched political fight.

Democrats are eager to employ him to build a case against Trump, while Republicans are just as eager to vindicate their boorish leader.

NONE of us should even attempt to imagine what the run-up commentaries to the 17th will be from the likes of the GOP, FOX, Lindsey, Sean, Laura, Tucker, Nancy, Mitch, Rachel, Laurence, and that fat, vile toad residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

BORDER STATION of DARK MISERY

Babies fending for themselves?

Little children with NO one to feed, wash, clothe, and console them?

The “innocent” who have NO understanding of why they are locked up, and crying for a family member? 

Where the hell is the human cry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in our country over this deplorable behavior by our government?

Roughly 20 miles southeast of El Paso, there’s a border station – actually a house of horrors – in Clint, Texas, where children as young as 8 are caring for infants, toddlers with NO diapers, and children who said they were waking up at night because they were hungry.

These migrant children have been detained for weeks without access to soap, clean clothes, adequate food, bathing facilities, tooth paste/brushes, and responsible medical care.

What ever happened to…’We’re ALL God’s children?‘

This form of trauma will follow these children for the rest of their lives.

Thanks to the work of dozens of humanitarian attorneys, over the past month, some 350 of these children will be transferred out of the Clint facility today and tomorrow.

As has been the pattern with this malicious administration and its lapdog sycophants, the detailed plan(s) of these transfers is still in a state of flux; finger-pointing; and, mass confusion, across the board.

Dignity, empathy, and righteousness…where does one find it in this squalid administration??!??

Where are those righteous evangelists that have supported Donald John Trump from Day One?

Have you ever seen one of these frauds making the case for these children, let alone visiting these facilities and offering prayer services? 

Where’s Pastor Pence? Have we ever seen him touring any of these concentration/ migrant camps, and praying for our better angels?

Aunts and uncles, there is NO measure of comfort and aid from any within the corridors of power of this administration.

The drone last week that was shot down, on or close to the Iranian border, cost over $130 million…and, we can’t provide soap, blankets, food, doctors, and compassion to humankind within the borders of our own country.

What am I missing? 

 

CYBER as the WEAPON of CHOICE?

The US covertly launched offensive cyber operations against an Iranian intelligence group’s computer systems last Thursday, the same day Cadet Bone Spurs pulled back on using more traditional methods of military force, according to multiple news outlets over the weekend.

The strikes were carried out by US Cyber Command and in coordination with US Central Command.

The cyberstrikes, approved by the 45th president, targeted computer systems used to control missile and rocket launches that were chosen months ago for potential disruption.

The attacks also came as US fears have grown that Iran may seek to lash out with cyberattacks of its own, as multiple cybersecurity firms said they had ALREADY seen signs Tehran is targeting relevant computer networks for intrusion and appeared particularly focused on the US government and the American energy sector, including oil and gas providers.

The National Security Council did NOT respond to requests for comment.

Even Vice President Mike “The Pastor” Pence declined to address the matter.

“No comment” is a good thing…

 

TIME TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION!

Debate Week!

Twenty Dems will be paraded in front of ALL of us this coming Wednesday and Thursday nights.

The horses are now in their respective starting gates…

Insanity reins, and the old Lobsterman loves it.

From this week until we exit the voting booths, on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, we’ll be placed in to a state of perpetual mental overload with, “When elected, I…”

In fact, as of today, ALL such proverbial BS will begin with our favorite socialist, Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

The Bern plans to introduce a proposal to eliminate ALL $1.6 trillion of student debt !!!!!!!!! held in the United States, a significant escalation of the policy fight in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary two days before the candidates’ first debate in Miami.

Comrade Sanders is proposing the federal government pay ! to wipe clean the student debt held by 45 million Americans – including ALL private and graduate school debt – as part of a package that also would make public universities, community colleges and trade schools tuition-free.

Once you’ve removed your respirators, allow me to remind you that as I type away, the country currently holds a $22 plus Trillion debt card!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s real dough…

Bernie is proposing to pay for these plans with a tax on Wall Street his campaign says will raise ??! more than $2 trillion over 10 years [Bernie will be 103 then], though some tax experts give lower revenue estimates.

The harbormaster has just informed me they have ALREADY run-out of dories…

TWO-WEEK DELAY

The current president announced yesterday, via Twitter, while at Camp David meeting with his advisers, he’ll delay plans for nationwide raids to deport undocumented families, but he threatened to unleash Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in two weeks if Democrats do NOT submit to changes in asylum law they have long opposed.

It’s the president’s latest attempt to pressure his adversaries into making immigration changes.

ICE agents had been planning to sweep into several immigrant communities in 10 major cities – including Miami, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Atlanta, New York, and Chicago – beginning today.

Administration officials said this past Friday that they had targeted about 2,000 families in a show of force intended to demonstrate their strict enforcement of immigration laws.

Children of immigrants – some of whom were born in the United States – had faced the prospect of being forcibly separated from their undocumented parents.

Shouldn’t news of the deplorable conditions in the already existing migrant camps, on our southern border, remain at the top of EVERY news cycle, at least until the needs of the children for essential sanitation and safety and health are met???!

ALL humankind.

Deal with one ‘human condition’ before causing more misery, by a factor of 10!!!

This never-ending loop of creating crises and drama then backing down is unfair to the country, regardless of your political stripes.

We ALL look foolish…

Donald John Trump, yet again, clearly proves he can’t administer his office.

Get appropriate medical-care personnel; lawyers; judges; and humanitarians into these camps NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Circle Tuesday, November 3, 2020, if by chance you haven’t…

NEEDING NO LEGAL AUTHORITY…?

Since this past Wednesday, our executive branch has been/is toying with claiming that it ALREADY has congressional authorization to attack Iran based on the nearly 18-year old law approving a war over the September 11, 2001, attacks.

As tensions between the US and Iran have surged, Secretary of State Mike “Orca” Pompeo [has the man EVER had a salad?] has sought to convince Congress that there is a pattern of ties between Iran and al Qaeda, going back to after the 9/11 attacks, government officials are now telling the media and press.

The briefings by Pompeo, backed up by other State Department and Pentagon personnel, have led Democrats and some Republicans to ask whether the administration is building a case that the White House could use to invoke the war authorization !!! passed by Congress in ’01 to battle terror groups as legal cover for military action against Iran.

None of us know for sure if there is any truth to any of this…

The real truth isn’t clear…

An illogical connection?

Does Trump really know what he’s doing?

What we do know is – a) Trump does NOT read, nor take briefings of any significance; b) Trump does NOT trust his own intel; c) Trump has proclaimed himself smarter than any of his generals; and, d) Trump now prefers Tucker Carlson‘s counsel over Sean Hannity and Mark Levin.

Statements tying Iran to Al Qaeda or the Taliban by Pompeo and other officials point to the potential for the administration to justify invoking the ’01 authorization, some lawmakers say.

And, when asked in recent weeks by lawmakers and journalists whether the administration would use the 2001 authorization, Pompeo has deflected !!! the questions, between bites of his bologna sandwich.

After the 9/11 attacks, Congress enacted a law that authorized a military response against whatever nations, organizations or persons the president “determines” planned, authorized, committed or aided the attacks, or who harbored such organizations or persons.

But as years passed, the law – which is commonly called the Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF – has been stretched by presidents of BOTH parties to justify attacks against other groups that it deemed to be effectively part of or associated forces of al Qaeda, like a Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, the Shabab in Somalia and the Islamic State.

Keep in mind, Iran’s government is run by Shiite Muslims, while al Qaeda and its affiliates are Sunni Muslims who consider Shiites to be apostates.

As I type, to my limited knowledge, there is NO public evidence !!! that Iranian forces and al Qaeda carried out joint operations, and Qaeda-linked terrorists have attacked Shiite shrines and other targets, including inside Iran.

Allow me to leave you with two further comments.

First, Congress NEVER wrote into the above law any specific criteria that must be met before the president may “determine” that a foe is sufficiently linked to the 9/11 attacks.

And, lastly, our old friend, Attorney General Billy Barr, in a prior exorcism, in 1991, told President George H. W. Bush (41) that he could launch the Persian Gulf War without congressional authorization.

IT’S MONEYBALL, like it or not

The sums to just sit at the table are staggering!

The 2020 Trump Campaign announced that he had raised $24.8 million over 24 hours as he kicked off his re-election bid, an enormous haul that punctuates the financial advantage ! he is expected to enjoy over his Democratic challengers in 2020.

Trump’s one-day total was more than any Democratic presidential candidate raised in the entire first quarter of 2019.

The Weave had already raised nearly $100 million for his re-election effort by the end of March, and had more than $40 million still on hand at that time.

The single-day take of $24.8 million was nearly quadruple what former Vice President Joe Biden [why is he still hanging around?] collected in the 24 hours after he officially declared himself a candidate, $6.3 million. Biden’s 24-hour total was the best of any Democrat in the race.

As I’m sure most of you know, Trump’s haul was more than Biden, Senator Bernie Sanders, former Representative Beto O’Rourke, Senator Kamala Harris and Senator Elizabeth Warren raised in their first 24 hours as candidates – combined.

Respirators, anyone?

h/t: Republican National Committee (RNC)

THREATEN, THEN PULL BACK

As I type away this morning, while listening to the NO-NOTHINGS on the cable “yak shows,” can anyone tell me what America’s strategy – on anything – is?

But, at that the moment, specifically Iran.

The New York Times is reporting that the 45th president, last night, approved strikes on Iran in retaliation for a $130 million American surveillance drone that was shot down in the Gulf of Oman.

As late as 7 pm, ET, military and diplomatic officials were expecting a strike, after intense discussions and debate at the White House among the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders, according to multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations.

The operation was underway in its early stages when it was called off, senior administration officials have told the Times.

Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but NO missiles had been fired when word came to stand down.

The strike was timed to occur just before dawn in Iran in an effort to avoid casualties.

On Thursday, the president claimed that the downed drone was flying over international waters in the Gulf of Oman, though Iran released GPS coordinates showing that the drone was eight miles off its coast, well within territorial waters.

It was NOT clear whether Trump simply changed his mind on the strikes or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy.

Trump’s top national security team/advisers favored a military response – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; John Bolton, the national security adviser; and Gina Haspel, the CIA director.

Congressional leaders were briefed by administration officials in the Situation Room.

Democrats emerged from the president’s classified briefing in the Situation Room and urged Trump to de-escalate the situation. They called on the president to seek congressional authorization !!! before taking any military action.

Are we witnessing the slow, systematic ratcheting up of tension and provocation? 

Who can be sure who to believe?

Like many I am extremely suspect after the Gulf of Tonkin, WMDs in Iraq, etc.

Make NO mistake, the Iranian mullahs are theocratic fanatics…

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a crowd of thugs…

But, let’s keep our powder, and slow down the drumbeat of war.

Which gets me back to who can describe for me our Iranian strategy??!

Donald John Trump has NEVER had a strategy for anything in his life!

And, as of midnight this coming Sunday, America will NOT have an “acting” Secretary of Defense!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

ESCALATING CHAOS

The downing occurred at 4:05 am Iranian time this morning, or 7:35 pm last night in Washington.

According to world-wide media outlets, Iran shot down a US military drone, US and Iranian officials are now saying, the latest in an escalating series of incidents across the Middle East that has stoked fears of a wider military conflict.

Iranian officials said that the drone was over Iran, which the American military denied  – an important distinction in determining who was at fault – and each side accused the other of being the aggressor.

The drone “was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile system while operating in international airspace over the Strait of Hormuz,” the United States Central Command said in a statement. “This was an unprovoked attack on a U.S. surveillance asset in international airspace.”

It has been confirmed that the drone was a RQ-4A Global Hawk that provides real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over vast ocean and coastal regions.

How dysfunctional will this government become before we remedy this problem that has befallen our once great and respected country?

How many lives must be lost, or men and women in body bags coming back from a war of our own making on the other side of the planet, before the insanity becomes too much for even the most insensitive or uncaring are moved to action?

My counsel, at this juncture, keep the drones away from guys with experience using only  garden hoses, if that.

Has Mitch McConnell woken up yet this morning?

IS CHOCOLATE CAKE on the MENU?

The Weave wasn’t invited…

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in North Korea for a historic visit earlier today, local time, becoming the first Chinese leader to travel to the country in 14 years.

Xi’s two-day summit with Korean leader Kim Jong-un comes days before Xi is scheduled to meet with our current president during a G-20 summit in Japan, leading some experts to interpret the Pyongyang trip as a means to strengthen China’s hand in its trade war with Washington.

Translation: I know a guy who knows a guy…

Without a doubt, Xi can use this leverage to strengthen China’s position in trade talks with the United States.

But if Xi’s talks with Trump at the G-20 don’t end well, then Beijing could potentially pull Pyongyang away from Washington.

Xi has held four previous meetings with Kim in China over the past two years. On two occasions, they convened days before Kim met with Trump for talks.

Donnie must be very upset…

His boyfriends keep cheating on him.