Well, that title should read "The Comey memos--plural--are out!" There are seven of them.
The thing about this release is that Devin Nunes and his merry band of Rethuglican misfits went all out to get the memos released. Threatened the DOJ with contempt of congress charges if they didn't cough 'em up.
The DOJ complied. Nunes & Co released them immediately. And the whole country is now wondering why.
Back on February 3rd, I posted here with a feature all about that crazy Nunes Memo and how that didn't exactly go as planned for those funny GOP tRumpkins.
Well, this affair around the Comey memos is all that to the power of 10.
Yeah, it's blowing up in their faces. Bigly. When Rep Nunes and the complicit clowns in the GOP threw their little tantrum about former FBI Director James Comey's notes and his infamous meetings with our #PoserPrez, they really didn't know exactly what the memos contained. And it's pretty clear that no one in that Confederacy of Dunces bothered to read them and find out.
So now they, and the whole country, are getting to see that Comey's notes are in virtually perfect agreement with the facts in his new book. And all the many interviews he's given, as well.
We're all getting to see that our #LoserPrez is a fucking liar and has been scheming to obstruct the investigation of the Special Counsel from the very beginning. Of course, there has been plenty of evidence to verify those things for months, way before Comey's book and the memos were released.
And we're all getting to see that the tRump loyalists in the GOP keep enabling tRump's treachery, but they really suck at doing it.
If all their antics didn't put at risk our country and our democratic way of life, they would be hilariously funny.
To read an article that lays out all of this in more detail, just follow this link.
Hey, Devin! You suck! And badly. Can't you commit treason a bit more competently?
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Two bombshells in tRumpland!
It has been a truly insane week for the American people! As the smoke rises higher from that sickening dumpster fire that is the tRump presidency, those of us who have been watching closely have been wondering what would the next big thing be? When would we see it? Who would be dragged down next?
The events of the last week have answered some of those questions but also made it clear to those of us who are keeping the vigil that we should have no expectation of being able predict where the Mueller investigation is going.
When the FBI, at the behest of prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, conducted those simultaneous raids on tRump attorney Michael Cohen's office, apartment and hotel room, exactly one week ago today, I don't think any pundit or prognosticator saw it coming.
But even though it was unexpected and more than a little shocking, it was clear from the moment investigators rushed through the doors that the raids were a very big deal.
Well, the other shoe did drop this afternoon in judge Kimba Wood's courtroom. Judge Wood had ordered Cohen's legal team to disclose their client's client list.
They resisted. Bigly. But at the end of the day, they complied.
Yeah, by now you've heard.
The mystery man was none other than Fox News' hatchet man, Sean Hannity.
Hannity, as you may know, is arguably tRump's most ardent defender and has been howling at the top of his lungs for seven straight days now about what a travesty it is for the feds to have targeted his bestie, Michael Cohen, and helped themselves to 3½ shit loads of his professional and personal records. Paper and digital. Lots of his records. All of his records.
Sean was mad. Really, bigly mad!
Of course, at no time did he ever mention that he was one of Cohen's clients.
Call him an un-client. Call him "client-light". Call him whatever! Cohen's crack legal team has told the judge that Hannity's a client, so a client he is.
And he should have disclosed that to his viewers and to the American public as he went on and on and on about how Robert Mueller, crooked Hillary, the Deep State and FBI are conspiring to bring down our poor, pitiful #PoserPrez; about how Michael Cohen is being unfairly targeted in order to pull off the dark, dastardly deed, blah, blah, blah!
Last weekend, I was reading the tea leaves--and many net publications--wondering where Mueller & Co were going. Like all of us, the Cohen raids were the very last thing I was expecting.
And having Hannity, the King of all Reich Wing nut jobs, and the golden boy of Fox News, revealed as Michael Cohen's "mystery client" was such a bizarrely, spectacularly shocking development that I literally could not have conceived of it in a million frickin' years!
Even so, I haven't been able to break that habit. I'm still expending considerable amounts of time and energy trying to predict the direction in which Capt Mueller and his troops might be going.
But I know it's an exercise in futility. I know it!
So my strategy now is to just calmly and dispassionately check Google News, my inbox and my twitter feed now and then, content in knowing that the Special Counsel is on the job.
Just kidding! It's Jared. Kushner's going to be the next denizen of tRumpland to go down!
Remember folks; you heard it first from Bulldog!
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© Ben Lawrence Basile
The events of the last week have answered some of those questions but also made it clear to those of us who are keeping the vigil that we should have no expectation of being able predict where the Mueller investigation is going.
When the FBI, at the behest of prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, conducted those simultaneous raids on tRump attorney Michael Cohen's office, apartment and hotel room, exactly one week ago today, I don't think any pundit or prognosticator saw it coming.
But even though it was unexpected and more than a little shocking, it was clear from the moment investigators rushed through the doors that the raids were a very big deal.
Well, the other shoe did drop this afternoon in judge Kimba Wood's courtroom. Judge Wood had ordered Cohen's legal team to disclose their client's client list.
They resisted. Bigly. But at the end of the day, they complied.
Yeah, by now you've heard.
The mystery man was none other than Fox News' hatchet man, Sean Hannity.
Hannity, as you may know, is arguably tRump's most ardent defender and has been howling at the top of his lungs for seven straight days now about what a travesty it is for the feds to have targeted his bestie, Michael Cohen, and helped themselves to 3½ shit loads of his professional and personal records. Paper and digital. Lots of his records. All of his records.
Sean was mad. Really, bigly mad!
Of course, at no time did he ever mention that he was one of Cohen's clients.
Call him an un-client. Call him "client-light". Call him whatever! Cohen's crack legal team has told the judge that Hannity's a client, so a client he is.
And he should have disclosed that to his viewers and to the American public as he went on and on and on about how Robert Mueller, crooked Hillary, the Deep State and FBI are conspiring to bring down our poor, pitiful #PoserPrez; about how Michael Cohen is being unfairly targeted in order to pull off the dark, dastardly deed, blah, blah, blah!
Last weekend, I was reading the tea leaves--and many net publications--wondering where Mueller & Co were going. Like all of us, the Cohen raids were the very last thing I was expecting.
And having Hannity, the King of all Reich Wing nut jobs, and the golden boy of Fox News, revealed as Michael Cohen's "mystery client" was such a bizarrely, spectacularly shocking development that I literally could not have conceived of it in a million frickin' years!
Even so, I haven't been able to break that habit. I'm still expending considerable amounts of time and energy trying to predict the direction in which Capt Mueller and his troops might be going.
But I know it's an exercise in futility. I know it!
So my strategy now is to just calmly and dispassionately check Google News, my inbox and my twitter feed now and then, content in knowing that the Special Counsel is on the job.
Just kidding! It's Jared. Kushner's going to be the next denizen of tRumpland to go down!
Remember folks; you heard it first from Bulldog!
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© Ben Lawrence Basile
Thursday, April 12, 2018
It's National Grilled Cheese Day!
Yes, it is! And in honor of the occasion, I am most definitely going to have a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch.
With Cheddar, of course.
Might even throw in some sliced tomato. We'll see...
Celebrate something today. And eat a grilled cheese samich!
Bulldog Ben
Photo credit Ben Lawrence Basile
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Hoppy Easter to my friends!
I have just a couple of thoughts for you early on this Easter morning.
The first is that I wish all my friends who commemorate this day a most joyous Easter! If this holiday has little or no meaning for you, let me say that I wish you a delightful spring, full of new, budding insights and lots of time and opportunity to reflect on beginnings, new growth and moving in new directions! And a burst or two of youthful energy and inspiration thrown in for good measure!
The second thing I want to get into in today's post is that I don't have a lot of use for April Fool's Day. Although an occasional prank may tickle my funny bone without making me loathe the prankster, I find about 90% of what goes on on AFD to be really annoying and I believe it all too often degenerates into a thinly-veiled exercise in bullying and humiliation.
It's such a good thing that a lot of people no longer find humor in some of those overly-done, passive-aggressive capers that used to be all the rage on the 1st of April!
There is a lot of buzz right now about the fact that Easter is falling on April Fool's Day this year. I couldn't remember it ever happening. As it turns out, it did back in 1956. So there aren't a lot of folks around who have actually experienced this rare event. The next time we'll see these two very different days fall together will be 2027.
God only knows what kinds of crazy stuff some folks may get into today!
It's possible, I suppose, that some who can't bear to let AFD pass without doing something outrageous in the name of fun will find a way to roll together religious ardor and springtime pranksterism! No doubt we'll hear of some such thing before the 2nd of April rolls around!
In the likely event that such stuff does happen in the next few hours, I'm thinking that yours truly will most likely not be impressed.
The Easter day truth is that wishing my peeps a "Hoppy Easter" is about as far as I'm willing to go in creating mischief on this "eggstradinary" day!
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
The first is that I wish all my friends who commemorate this day a most joyous Easter! If this holiday has little or no meaning for you, let me say that I wish you a delightful spring, full of new, budding insights and lots of time and opportunity to reflect on beginnings, new growth and moving in new directions! And a burst or two of youthful energy and inspiration thrown in for good measure!
The second thing I want to get into in today's post is that I don't have a lot of use for April Fool's Day. Although an occasional prank may tickle my funny bone without making me loathe the prankster, I find about 90% of what goes on on AFD to be really annoying and I believe it all too often degenerates into a thinly-veiled exercise in bullying and humiliation.
It's such a good thing that a lot of people no longer find humor in some of those overly-done, passive-aggressive capers that used to be all the rage on the 1st of April!
There is a lot of buzz right now about the fact that Easter is falling on April Fool's Day this year. I couldn't remember it ever happening. As it turns out, it did back in 1956. So there aren't a lot of folks around who have actually experienced this rare event. The next time we'll see these two very different days fall together will be 2027.
God only knows what kinds of crazy stuff some folks may get into today!
It's possible, I suppose, that some who can't bear to let AFD pass without doing something outrageous in the name of fun will find a way to roll together religious ardor and springtime pranksterism! No doubt we'll hear of some such thing before the 2nd of April rolls around!
In the likely event that such stuff does happen in the next few hours, I'm thinking that yours truly will most likely not be impressed.
The Easter day truth is that wishing my peeps a "Hoppy Easter" is about as far as I'm willing to go in creating mischief on this "eggstradinary" day!
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Tabasco Sauce HQ is in deep trouble as sea levels rise!
I keep one eye open for important stories about worsening climate change. There's certainly no shortage of those these days.
This article is about one spot where the results of warming and the accompanying rise in sea levels is affecting the heart of Cajun country. It's a place where many folks hold strongly conservative beliefs and where warnings about climate change from scientists and treehuggers are at considerable risk of being ignored or blithely explained away.
Avery Island--where Tabasco Sauce has been made for over 150 years--is slowly sinking. But the main problem is that the water surrounding most of it is rising very fast. Faster than almost anywhere else on the planet.
It's not actually an island in the technical or scientific sense, but it's going to become one soon. By 2050, according to recent estimates.
The Island rises 163' above sea level now, but the marshes surrounding it are retreating by a staggering 30' per year. At that rate, the 2,200 acres of Avery Island will shrink dramatically before the mid-century mark, leaving only its core above water. That's hardly enough real estate to support the growth of peppers and the production of the hot sauce which has made Tabasco one of the best known brands in the food industry and made the McIlhenny family very, very rich.
The Guardian published an article just this morning by writer Oliver Milman which lays out skillfully and in detail how this unhappy development is unfolding. I strongly recommend this piece to anyone who's interested in climate change, great hot sauce, or contemporary events affecting life in the American south.
Climate change is real. The seas are rising. And regardless of how long it takes for some Americans to see what's actually happening all around us, we're going to have to meet the challenges caused by the damage we've done to our planet, and we're going to have to be for real.
The denying, the explaining away and the foot dragging have got to stop. If we still have a lot of people and a lot of corporations--who have a financial interest in maintaining the status quo--pulling in the wrong direction, wondering how we're going to keep our favorite hot sauce on the store shelves will be the least of our worries.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
This article is about one spot where the results of warming and the accompanying rise in sea levels is affecting the heart of Cajun country. It's a place where many folks hold strongly conservative beliefs and where warnings about climate change from scientists and treehuggers are at considerable risk of being ignored or blithely explained away.
Avery Island--where Tabasco Sauce has been made for over 150 years--is slowly sinking. But the main problem is that the water surrounding most of it is rising very fast. Faster than almost anywhere else on the planet.
It's not actually an island in the technical or scientific sense, but it's going to become one soon. By 2050, according to recent estimates.
The Island rises 163' above sea level now, but the marshes surrounding it are retreating by a staggering 30' per year. At that rate, the 2,200 acres of Avery Island will shrink dramatically before the mid-century mark, leaving only its core above water. That's hardly enough real estate to support the growth of peppers and the production of the hot sauce which has made Tabasco one of the best known brands in the food industry and made the McIlhenny family very, very rich.
The Guardian published an article just this morning by writer Oliver Milman which lays out skillfully and in detail how this unhappy development is unfolding. I strongly recommend this piece to anyone who's interested in climate change, great hot sauce, or contemporary events affecting life in the American south.
Climate change is real. The seas are rising. And regardless of how long it takes for some Americans to see what's actually happening all around us, we're going to have to meet the challenges caused by the damage we've done to our planet, and we're going to have to be for real.
The denying, the explaining away and the foot dragging have got to stop. If we still have a lot of people and a lot of corporations--who have a financial interest in maintaining the status quo--pulling in the wrong direction, wondering how we're going to keep our favorite hot sauce on the store shelves will be the least of our worries.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
Monday, March 26, 2018
Working: a tweet sums it up quite well
This tweet from the Dalai Lama came out a couple of weeks ago; on March 12th, to be precise.
And I think it speaks volumes about where we are in the U.S. as far as issues of money, work and the relationship of people to our economic system is concerned. Here is that tweet:
The sad truth is that in America, the term free enterprise has become code language for a flavor of unfettered, laissez-faire capitalism where there are zero safeguards or regulations of any kind and the working class just does whatever they're told by their corporate masters.
This is a terrible, shitty, no good situation for people who depend on a paycheck and it's simply not sustainable.
Corporations have had the upper hand in matters affecting those of us who work for a living for quite a few years. It's a bad situation and is likely to keep getting worse.
There are many ways in which recent technologies and business practices have made this very difficult situation for working people much worse. On-demand services and the use of smart phone apps for virtually everything have forever changed the way people earn a living.
Even before the advent of the "gig economy", the off-shoring of jobs, the conversion of almost all workers to part-timers and the explosion of executive salaries all made financial survival way more difficult than it should ever have been. (The concerted effort to strangle unions is another whole facet of this sad story but that could easily be material for a different post on a different day.)
So many working Americans now clearly see that our lives and our jobs are nothing at all like they were a generation ago, when our parents took their turn.
This is especially true for the millions who're toiling away in a part time job (or three) with no job security, no retirement, no healthcare and no hope that any of this is going to change.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
And I think it speaks volumes about where we are in the U.S. as far as issues of money, work and the relationship of people to our economic system is concerned. Here is that tweet:
"In today's materialistic world there is a risk of people becoming slaves to money, as though they were simply cogs in a huge money-making machine. This does nothing for human dignity, freedom, and genuine well-being. Wealth should serve humanity, and not the other way around."
The sad truth is that in America, the term free enterprise has become code language for a flavor of unfettered, laissez-faire capitalism where there are zero safeguards or regulations of any kind and the working class just does whatever they're told by their corporate masters.
This is a terrible, shitty, no good situation for people who depend on a paycheck and it's simply not sustainable.
Corporations have had the upper hand in matters affecting those of us who work for a living for quite a few years. It's a bad situation and is likely to keep getting worse.
There are many ways in which recent technologies and business practices have made this very difficult situation for working people much worse. On-demand services and the use of smart phone apps for virtually everything have forever changed the way people earn a living.
Even before the advent of the "gig economy", the off-shoring of jobs, the conversion of almost all workers to part-timers and the explosion of executive salaries all made financial survival way more difficult than it should ever have been. (The concerted effort to strangle unions is another whole facet of this sad story but that could easily be material for a different post on a different day.)
So many working Americans now clearly see that our lives and our jobs are nothing at all like they were a generation ago, when our parents took their turn.
This is especially true for the millions who're toiling away in a part time job (or three) with no job security, no retirement, no healthcare and no hope that any of this is going to change.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
The alarming rise of Cult 45
The Bulldog Barks
For bloggers, it's insane how many potentially "blog worthy" stories are right there for the taking at any moment.
I recently came across an article from Salon magazine that looks at the ways in which adoration of our #PoserPrez suggest a cult-like phenomenon.
Because I have deep roots in religious practices which I now believe to be extreme and are what I would describe as semi-cultish, this article caught my attention right away.
Yeah, "semi-cultish" ain't a real word; I made it up! But it fits; I think I'll go with it.
Chauncey DeVega is the author of the article. It's mostly a distillation of cult expert Steven Hassan's insight into cults and how they operate. DeVega's article is clear, well-reasoned and thorough without being overly-detailed or too clinical for the typical reader.
I recommend it highly, especially for those of you who share my distaste for Mr tRump, his temperament, his methods and his actions.
So take a look at the article if you're so inclined. It's a compelling read for Americans who are troubled by what's happening to our country under the non-leadership of con artist Donald tRump.
As we observe the goings-on inside this bizarro carnival that passes for his administration, you may be wondering how the Clown-in-Chief holds on to the support of most of the folks who bought tickets.
I've been wondering too. A thorough read of DeVega's piece here can help.
"Bulldog Ben" Basile
© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile
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