Just to put a fine point on the motives of the intelligence operation that took place in Dagestan, Russia, at the Makhachkala airport {Go Deep}, today we see Secretary of State Anthony Blinken saying, Putin is Hamas.

The arc and motive of the narrative is transparently obvious.  The Makhachkala Airport operation was the affirmational seed, created by Ukraine operative Ponomaryov – in coordination with CIA and the State Dept. – for the necessary narrative.

As the story is told, Vladimir Putin is in ideological alignment with Hamas…. Therefore, support for Israel against Hamas is synonymous with support for Ukraine against Russia…. Therefore, funding for the Israeli War is synonymous with funding for Ukraine…. Therefore, the financial mechanism to fund Israel cannot be separated from the financial mechanism to support Ukraine.

See how that works?

Watch Secretary of State Anthony Blinken make the connection today (prompted):

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“We see these things as being very much joined, which is one of the reasons why our joint request is a joint request”… 

Once you see the strings on the marionettes, you can never return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them….

The producers think we cannot see them!

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The only people who deny financial corruption in Ukraine are those who benefit from it.  That group includes U.S. politicians who gleefully send billions of taxpayer funds into the country of Ukraine while capturing returns in the process.

U.S. advisors and consultants, along with private sector contractors and multinational corporations like Blackrock, are all beneficiaries of the vast sums of money being dumped into Ukraine. We all know this.  So, on one hand it is simple to see why the Ukraine government officials would use the same opportunity to enrich themselves

After all, U.S. taxpayers are not only buying bombs, missiles and bullets with the money sent to Ukraine, we are also paying the salaries and pensions of the same government officials who are skimming the proceeds.  The corruption is everywhere, and every entity is participating in the graft, in one form or another.

Zelenskyy’s wife goes shopping in Paris during the war.  Where exactly do politicians think she is getting the money to spend on glitzy holiday vacations?  Everybody knows exactly what is going on.  The glaringly obvious theft is a large part of the contention the American people have with this insufferable effort to fund Ukraine.

During a lengthy Time Magazine article, one of the close and key advisors to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy admitted that the corrupt stealing of US funds is widespread.   In addition to the theft, the overall tone of the Time Magazine article paints the war effort in Ukraine, what we have always called ‘World War Reddit’ for its mostly theatrical value, as a lost cause.  This is not surprising; however, for Time Mag to make such an admission, that does indicate a narrative shift in the overall effort.

TIME – […] Since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has refused to release official counts of dead and wounded. But according to U.S. and European estimates, the toll has long surpassed 100,000 on each side of the war. It has eroded the ranks of Ukraine’s armed forces so badly that draft offices have been forced to call up ever older personnel, raising the average age of a soldier in Ukraine to around 43 years. “They’re grown men now, and they aren’t that healthy to begin with,” says the close aide to Zelensky. “This is Ukraine. Not Scandinavia.”

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Within the budget process there are two different facets. Congress is charged by the Constitution with making decisions about how to spend public money. Those spending decisions are split into two parts: authorization and appropriations.  In the recent political era the “authorization” process has essentially been nulled; no one ever asks if the program (Ukraine, Israel, FBI, etc.) should be funded. 

“Authorization” is done by Congress via legislation that “can establish, continue, or modify an agency, program, or activity for a fixed or indefinite period of time,” per the Congressional Research Service. In other words, authorization is Congress saying that money can be spent on a given item — not that it necessarily will be spent on that item.

“Appropriations” are done by Congress via legislation that authorizes agencies to make payments from the federal Treasury (i.e. it allows them to spend the money that had previously been authorized). Appropriations bills are ordinarily passed each year, but in recent years it has been common for Congress to fund the government “on autopilot” via continuing resolutions that simply allow agencies to continue spending the same amount of money they were spending under the previous funding bill.

Matt Gaetz has been trying to change this dynamic because the external recipients of the appropriation spending, the lobbyists, are the ones driving the continuation of the CR approach. The lobbyists pay congress via campaign donations. Those donations come from congressional appropriation. The CR process maintains the largesse.

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Sometimes I just sit and shake my head.  Why these guys keep appearing with Sean Hannity is beyond my understanding.  That said, the platform and host is the first warning sign, the content of the interview is another.

Speaker Mike Johnson, who is a significant upgrade from Speaker Kevin McCarthy, sits down for an extensive discussion on current political events where Sean Hannity can tell Johnson his role and responsibility as Speaker. WATCH:

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During a recess from the ridiculous Lawfare drama in New York City today, President Trump delivered brief remarks on Representative Mike Johnson becoming the new Speaker of the House.  Mike Johnson was on President Trump’s impeachment defense team.  WATCH:

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Mike Johnson is a big upgrade from Kevin McCarthy.  Johnson has a solid and stable disposition, is very grounded toward finding optimal solutions and was /is a strong ally and defender of President Trump and the MAGA movement.  Johnson arrived with the Trump ’16 wave, and he has earned the space to see if he can deliver great outcomes.

When compared to the alternatives, Speaker Johnson is a big step in the right direction.   Matt Gaetz delivered an exceptional outcome, albeit likely with a little 🙏 divine luck for the assist.

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Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson won the vote and has become Speaker of the House of Representatives.  This is a huge shift in momentum for the MAGA base, for common sense pragmatic voters, and for the overall direction of our national body politic.

Speaker Johnson delivered a humble, gracious and fantastic speech after the vote.  WATCH:

WASHINGTON DC – The fourth-term Louisianan sailed to victory with 220 votes, more than the 215 he needed to be elected speaker on the House floor. The final vote on the first ballot was 220-209.

Johnson’s win marked a stunning turnaround after more than three weeks of chaotic limbo in the House following the ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the demise of three other failed speaker candidates. He did not lose a single GOP vote from lawmakers who were present; Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) is in Israel and did not attend the balloting.

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This is deep weeds inside baseball, but boy howdy does it tell a story. Representative Matt Gaetz (MAGA, FL) goes through the details of yesterday’s House republican conference assembly as they select a Speaker nominee.

What Gaetz reveals in detail is how Kevin McCarthy has been working the conference to undermine any other Speaker candidate so that McCarthy would be renominated as the only possible alternative. The insight and details are really interesting. This is a must watch.

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If Mike Johnson (R-LA) cannot carry the conference, look for the professionally Republican Kevin McCarthy wing to reassemble and attempt reinstallation.

WASHINGTON DC – Rep. Mike Johnson won a closed-door contest on Tuesday night to become his party’s fourth speaker nominee.

Now, the Louisiana lawmaker faces the much tougher task of securing the 217 votes he needs to win on the House floor. Earlier Tuesday, Johnson came in second to Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who then withdrew after former President Donald Trump publicly came out against him.

So, Republicans went back to the drawing board, and made Johnson the latest aspirant to a position the fractured and exhausted conference can’t seem to fill. He beat out a field of four other candidates, including Byron Donalds in the final ballot by a 128 to 29 vote. Some 44 other Republicans didn’t vote for either of the two men.

After winning the nomination, Johnson said he was “very confident” that he could get 217 votes and said “the intention is to go to the floor” for a vote on Wednesday. (more)

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As noted by Politico in 2021, when asked about Donald Trump getting involved in midterm primaries, head of the National Republic Congressional Committee Tom Emmer told reporter Jacob Rubaskin, “He’s a private citizen, and he’s entitled to his own opinion.”  “I would tell him that it’s probably better for us that we keep these people and we make sure that we have a majority that can be sustained going forward.”

Emmer followed later in March saying Trump getting involved in the GOP congressional primaries was “not gonna be helpful.”

Fast forward to 2023, Emmer is now the House Republican Whip and wants to be Speaker of the House.  Apparently, Emmer called President Trump this weekend seeking an endorsement.  WATCH:

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President Trump says, “I’m trying to stay out of that as much as possible.”   Meanwhile, all the Republicans who threw their name in the hat to become Speaker of the House want his endorsement.  lol

I’m sure President Trump will leverage the “optimal solution.”

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The slate is set for a Monday evening conference in the Republican House of Representatives as nine GOP politicians have registered by the deadline today to put their names in the nomination process.   After the conference meets on Monday night, there will be a secret ballot vote on Tuesday.

The absolute worst-case scenario is Tom Emmer (R-MN) who has just received the endorsement of Kevin McCarthy.  Emmer wants to abolish the electoral college for presidential races in favor of a national popular vote. Unfortunately, Emmer likely carries around 70 automatic votes from the professionally Republican caucus.

On the opposite side of that spectrum is Byron Donalds (R-FL) who is pure MAGA and also running for the job.

WASHINGTON DC – The House GOP’s enormous speaker field is officially set, with nine Republicans seeking to somehow unify their splintered party after almost three weeks without a leader.

It’s the most crowded field since former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s fall 19 days ago. The latest round of candidates includes current GOP leaders — like Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Vice Chair Mike Johnson (R-La.) — as well as more surprising rank and file members like Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.). Another last-minute addition, Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), who serves as GOP policy chair, raised eyebrows on Sunday.

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