Y’all know I have this weird affliction. It’s like a brain itch. I remember weird details.  Anyway, the long-convoluted story winds around former CIA Director George Tenet eventually getting a summer one-on-one with George “Dubya” Bush, after several months of being blocked by National Security Advisor Condi Rice.

In essence, the short version is, Tenet informed Dubya in the summer of ’01 of intel chatter about airplanes and terror threats.  Dubya asked for specifics, and Tenet is quoted as saying, “the gaps in our intelligence are real.” {citation either in Condi’s book, Rove’s book or Dubya’s book – I’ll find it} However, for the sake of this outline, watch what FBI Director Christopher Wray says today, in response to Senator Rick Scott. [PROMPTED – 3 minutes]

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Director Wray notes the FBI threat metric dropped during the Trump administration and has now increased during the Biden administration.  Then, in response to the follow up [5:40], Wray notes the FBI is not tracking “currently operating” terror cells or foreign terror cells in the United States.  WTF?   Then comes the money quote, “the gaps in our intelligence are real, and that’s something we have concerns about.”

I’m not saying the FBI is not tracking currently operating foreign terror cells located in the USA, FBI Director Christopher Wray is.

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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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Tucker Carlson and Nigel Farage discuss the increasingly loud voices who are saying western democracies need to accept Hamas sympathetic refugees from Gaza. WATCH: 

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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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Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, whose stated mission has been to keep Trump from ascending to the White House again, is confident the field narrowing will bode well for his objectives.

In my estimation, Senator Tim Scott will be the next first-loser candidate to exit the race.

To qualify for the Miami debate, first-loser candidates need to reach at least four per cent in two national polls, or four per cent in one national poll and four per cent in two early primary states. Tim Scott has not reached the 4% national threshold.

The sketchy controlled operatives also need 70,000 individual donors, including 200 donors in 20 states, according to the requirements set by the Republican National Committee (RNC), because we all know money drives the RNC.

The donor standard pushed Pence to exit.

WASHINGTON DC – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he expects more people to drop out of the GOP presidential primary following the third debate, after former Vice President Mike Pence announced Saturday that he’s abandoning his White House bid.

“In the end, it just means this race is narrowing, which everyone said that it would,” Christie said during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, after praising the former vice president for running “a tough race.”

“It will narrow more, I suspect, when we get to the debate stage in Miami,” Christie added.

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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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The 2024 GOP primary debate series is a clown show of knuckleheads following the marching orders of the billionaire donors who fund them.  The RNC is the vessel for the illusion of choice game, orchestrated by the same donors.  Watching the remaining candidates try and qualify to be the first loser is, well, pathetic really.

Into this game of nonsense, the RNC delivers the next round of pretentious moderators for the RNC debate in Miami.  I mean, if you are hosting a Republican debate, one might think the RNC would want Republicans as moderators.  Then again, in the era of the professional Uniparty, there’s not much difference.  Condescending pontificating pustule of pomposity, Hugh Hewitt, will rest atop his familiar high horse.  You couldn’t pay me to watch this one.

WASHINGTON – NBC’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker are set to moderate the third Republican primary debate alongside morning talk show host Hugh Hewitt, NBC announced on Wednesday.

The three will take the stage at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami on Nov. 8, as the remaining GOP presidential hopefuls — those who can qualify — push to break away from the pack in the polls.

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Tucker Carlson releases a lengthy discussion of the ramifications of an expanded Israeli War in the Middle East.

(2:00) Col. Douglas Macgregor
(4:20) Threats to the homeland
(6:12) Iran & its missiles
(13:00) Going into Gaza
(19:40) American hostages
(22:45) Impact on the American economy

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This is interesting.  As more people begin to realize the radical position of Robert Kennedy Jr’s policies, and as more people start to connect the dots between the CIA operative now in place and controlling his campaign, it appears the GOP/INDY shift away from RFK Jr is underway.

The latest Harvard Harris poll [DATA HERE] reflects a considerable shift in the electorate with more Democrats following the RFK Jr. operation.  President Donald Trump is winning in the head-to-head matchup between himself and Pudding Brain; however, when you add RFK Jr. into the mix, the Trump lead widens 39-33.

[Source]

When Cornell West is thrown into the indy mix, the Trump lead gets larger 39-31.

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Anthony Blinken appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss the U.S. response to the Israeli war against Hamas terrorists. Margaret Brennan clutches her pearls and gives her best defense of Hamas/Palestinian terrorists. But the babies and the children, or something; all of that is propaganda. WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is at the State Department. Good morning to you, Mr. Secretary.

SECRETARY OF STATE ANTONY BLINKEN: Morning, Margaret, good to be with you.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Tension is very high in the region. Are you changing your security posture? Are you pulling any US personnel out of the area?

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Margaret, we are concerned at the possibility of Iranian proxies, escalating their attacks against our own personnel, our own people. We’re taking every measure to make sure that we can defend them and if necessary, respond decisively. Not at all what we’re looking for, not all we want, but we’ll be prepared, if that’s what they choose to do.

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