Anatomy of a Modern Media Political Smear

If they didn’t continually use the same playbook (reference Trump’s pre-election manufactured sex assault accusers), these insufferable political media constructs would not be so transparent.  There are trillions of dollars at stake.
The framework for the latest narrative begins with a CNN report, constructed by a familiar set of characters (Jake Tapper, Jim Sciutto, Evan Perez and Carl Bernstein), all referencing a vague and intensely obtuse claim about Russians attempting to gain some form of opposition research leverage against President-elect Trump.

To establish the construct of their political narrative they must first set the cornerstone. The cornerstone must appear reasonable and prudent.  The cornerstone establishes their ‘high horse’ credibility position.
The team attempts to do this by presenting notification of a two page addendum to the DNI report on Russian interference with the 2016 election.  The CNN crew claim the addendum discusses Russians attempting to find opposition research on Trump.
The existence of this addendum comes from the ever predictable “unnamed official intelligence sources” etc.  Sound familiar?  It should.
(more…)

The End of An Error

President Obama is delivering his farewell address tonight at 9:00pm in Chicago.  If you’re watching, here’s a Live Stream and an open thread to discuss:

(more…)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump can keep his Twitter insults flying. In a decision made public Tuesday, a New York judge dismissed a lawsuit filed last year against the Republican president-elect by a political strategist who said her reputation was trashed when he called her a “dummy” on Twitter.
Trump’s tweets might be “rife with vague and simplistic insults,” and the barbs he aimed at Republican public relations consultant Cheri Jacobus might have been hurtful, but they were still protected free speech, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Barbara Jaffe ruled.
The case has its roots in a February appearance Jacobus made on CNN in which she said Trump’s presidential campaign had not been transparent about its financing.
(more…)

Update to clarify the context of the FBI release from Katica, the internet researcher who discovered the documents:

(Via Katica) Please keep in mind that this release was not a Sunday doc dump. It is still not on the FBI Vault site. https://vault.fbi.gov/hillary-r.-clinton  And the FBI Vault Twitter account has not Tweeted it out. https://twitter.com/FBIRecordsVault  Nor has the FBI released a statement on it. I imagine they are freaking out right about now. I’m probably on a list for sure now and it isn’t for employment.
The document was only accessible from my archive.is link. Now that it has been shared a million or more times (lol) it is becoming searchable on Google. We have no idea if/when they were going to release it. The FBI has made no mention of the document as of yet either. I do hope that a news site does an article on that aspect of it.

As many of you are aware the FBI mysteriously dumped 300 pages of investigative material in an unusual Sunday evening upload.  For the sake of brevity we are calling it “a release”.
The timing and content of the FBI release are curious and a few people are attempting to understand what’s going on.
It has taken us a full day to look over the #5 release and scour it for information. There’s some rather interesting findings.
What follows below may possibly indicate a motive, and might also outline an internal effort within the FBI to push forward: a.) action by President Obama on behalf of Hillary Clinton, vis-a-vis a pardon; or, b.) action by the incoming administration to ensure  criminal charges.
(more…)

The confirmation hearings for President Trump’s cabinet posts begins today with the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on behalf of the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General.   Judicial Committee Hearing Link
The Attorney General confirmation hearing begins at 9:30am will be broadcast on CSPAN-3 LINK HERE

Additionally, General John Kelly is scheduled at 3:30pm for a confirmation hearing by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs – Link Here –
Hopefully, fingers crossed, a live-stream is also available below:
(more…)

In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the Trump/Pence presidential victory.

Transition Website HERE

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

Sketchy fellow Glenn Beck appeared, quite swollen, on the premier of Tucker Carlson’s new 9:00pm Fox TV show, and for the first time faces direct questioning about some of the previously exhibited odd Cheeto-ism.
Tucker Carlson began the program with Glenn Beck, and right away it got pretty interesting.  The level of sketchy Beck’s inherent oxymoron discomfort is palpable.  Fortunately, Carlson has a great sense for knowing when to just be quiet as he watches his guests lay on the couch.

On both Twitter and Facebook platforms President-Elect Donald Trump recognizes and thanks the men and women of law enforcement:

Thank you to all of the men and women who protect & serve our communities 24/7/365!

Yup,… Still Walking in A Winner Wonderland

Interesting to see Duetsche Bank attempting to quantify a new economic dimension.  They also identify the construct of the two U.S. economies, Wall Street and Main Street, and present the following forward analysis:

[…]  “This policy will be successful in moving the U.S. economy away from low-growth secular stagnation towards significantly more buoyant performance. We would not be taken by surprise by a doubling of the growth rate of real GDP in the U.S. over the next two years, nor by a further significant move up of equity valuations and a material further appreciation of the dollar.”
~  David Folkerts-Landau, Chief Economist, Deutsche Bank

Interestingly, heck, surprisingly, the Deutsche Bank analysis rebukes several years of global economic advocacy and theory. “This approach should produce a new order that will ultimately be more stable in the sense that ‘good fences make good neighbors,'” Folkers-Landau said. (more…)