Friday Afternoon Reads: With a Hack, Hack here and a Hack, Hack there …
Posted: January 13, 2017 Filed under: We are so F'd 24 CommentsHi Skydancers!
I’m moving slow today so bear with me. Some really weird, odd glitchy things have been happening on the TV these days which kinda makes me think we’re seeing a bit of a hack of our communications satellites . The Russians could possibly be behind it and what a great group of overlords they’d make for women: “Russian lawmakers move to decriminalize domestic violence in 368-to-1 vote”. That fits right in there with Peeotus Pussy Grabber.
Meanwhile back on the weirdness of TV news interruptions we have two examples. Yesterday, “C-SPAN Live Online Broadcast Taken Over By Russian Television” during a speech by Congresswoman Maxine Waters who was discussing SEC.
As allegations of Russia hacking the US presidential election continue to dominate headlines, C-SPAN’s live coverage of the House of Representatives was abruptly interrupted Thursday by a broadcast of Russia Today.
CSPAN says the RT airing, which cut away from a floor speech by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., for about 10 minutes, was likely due to “an internal routing issue.”
“This afternoon the online feed for C-SPAN was briefly interrupted by RT programming,” C-SPAN said in a statement.
Later, MSNBC and Hardball experienced a glitch during an interview with David Ignatius.
On Thursday, the lights mysteriously went out during the confirmation hearing for Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) while he was being vetted by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Even stranger, the topic of conversation that was happening in the room at the time of the unexplained light outage was about Russian hacks.
Then, a C-SPAN feed was abruptly interrupted later in the day and in its place suddenly appeared a feed for Russia Today television (RT), the Kremlin-run news organization. Representative Maxine Waters (D – CA) was mid-sentence when the 10-minutes of RT footage overtook the airwaves. While C-SPAN meekly offered that is was likely a technical glitch, it has not established any further substantial explanation, though noted it was the first time in the network’s history that anything like that had occurred.
And THEN — mystery struck a third time Thursday night, and it also involved Russia.
During Hardball With Chris Matthews, an interview with David Ignatius was suddenly cut short when the journalist was discussing — surprise surprise — the Kremlin’s interference with the general election. “It’s dangerous when you have Russian jets buzzing U.S. warships in the baltic,” Ignatius said on Hardball. “But I think this whole flap — whatever the Russians intended with this their hacking has made it much more difficult to get to where they want,” he said.
Then, this happened, fully transcribed below as it appeared live on MSNBC:
“When you hear General Mattis today, Mike Pompeo, the CIA Director, [all] almost swearing that they’re gonna be hardliners on Russia Russia Russia Russia Russia Russia Russia Russia…”
Ignatius’ voice hung on that word over and over again, appearing to be a glitch of some kind. Eventually the feed was cut to black, and before long Matthews was back on the air, discussing FBI Director James Comey.
Well, isn’t that special?
Ignatius wrote a bombastic piece at WAPO yesterday accusing President Obama of “dawdling” over the Russian Hacks. This is for NW Luna whose been wondering the same thing. BB posted a link on Thursday’s reads downthread but I thought I’d repost this part because it’s interesting that the same day it was published that the glitch occurred later that day.
The intelligence community issued a statement Oct. 7 charging that “Russia’s senior-most officials” had sought to “interfere with the U.S. election process.” Given that, why didn’t Obama do more?
The White House probably feared that further action might trigger a process of escalation that could bring even worse election turmoil. Trump was barnstorming the country claiming that the election was rigged and warning he might not accept the outcome. Did the administration worry that the Russians would take additional steps to hurt Clinton and help Trump, and might disrupt balloting itself? We need to know.
Meanwhile, it seems possible that Penthouse has got the infamous Donald porn show tapes. I have a weird little hypothesis that the Republican Establishment is getting ready to kick T-Rump to the curve in favor of Pence the Putrid. So, this is the first in their little black ops adventures. Let us not forget that the Bushes still have close ties to the CIA and the Bushes probably can still pull a few strings to undermine the short-fingered Vulgarian.
Adult magazine Penthouse has received three claims for its $1 million offer to anyone who could provide real tapes of President-elect Donald Trump’s alleged and unproven sexual escapades at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow, the publication’s editor exclusively revealed to International Business Times Thursday.
Penthouse editor Raphie Aronowitz said the magazine isn’t conducting a “witch hunt,” but wants to prove whether the allegations against Trump are true. Aronowitz said the lucrative offer falls in line with the magazine’s well-established brand, though to his knowledge Penthouse has never made such an exorbitant offer before.
“If the story is real, which we don’t know if it is or not, it really kind of hits at the intersection between politics, scandal and sex, which as a brand both historically and currently is our sweet spot,” Aronowitz said in a phone interview.
He also said the advent and effect of “fake news” – articles containing false or inaccurate information spread by social media sites that many have credited with helping Trump win the Oval Office, including President Barack Obama – played a role in the offer.
“For us, this was the type of story that we wanted to jump all over. But at the same time there’s been so much floating around – as far as fake news stories – there have been so many people who have just been taking shots at President-elect Donald Trump because he’s an easy target, and we as a brand and as an informational source, we didn’t want to jump on the bandwagon,” Aronowitz said. “We wanted to make sure this story could be verified, that the murmurings of their being actual video documentation that corroborates the allegations, do exist. For us, this was a very real ask, which is just ‘Give us some facts, and let us share the real story with our readers and with the public.'”
We always knew Jason Chaffetz was both creepy and highly partisan but this is just about got me thinking he’s as corrupt as they come. AND he’s in charge of Ethics. Catch this: “Chaffetz threatens to subpoena federal ethics watchdog over Trump criticism”. My favorite adjectives these days are Orwellian and dystopian. I feel like I’ve had more occasions to use them than I would if I were writing criticisms of Mad Max and Terminator Movies.
House Republicans have found a subject for their opening review of conflicts of interest under Donald Trump: the federal official in charge of investigating conflicts of interest.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the head of the House Oversight Committee, criticized the director of the federal Office of Government Ethics on Thursday over his criticism of Donald Trump’s plan to address conflicts of interest. And he threatened to subpoena the official, Walter Shaub, if he refuses to participate in an official interview.
“He seems to be acting prematurely at best, without doing investigations or thorough looks,” Chaffetz said in an interview. “He’s rendering opinions publicly that really cause you to scratch your head. We need the Office of Government Ethics to act ethically. Ironically, that’s not what they’re doing.”
Shaub, an appointee of President Barack Obama, has been a frequent critics of the incoming administration’s ethics plans, peaking Wednesday when he called Trump’s newly unveiled conflicts of interest policy “meaningless.”
The public rebuke of Trump’s business arrangements came during a press conference at the Brookings Institution that included the outspoken former White House ethics lawyers for Obama and former President George W. Bush. In his remarks, Shaub said the president-elect “stepping back from running his positions is meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective.”
“The plan does not comport with the tradition of our presidents over the last 40 years,” he added.
Chaffetz said Shaub has refused since the election to agree to a meeting to discuss matters related to OGE’s public remarks about Trump, as well as the Republican-led panel’s plans to pass language reauthorizing the office. If Shaub continues to resist, Chaffetz said he’d issue a subpoena “if we have to.”
Trump not only summarily dismissed the man who had been announcing inaugural parades since the Eisenhower years, he’s just gotten ridden of the head of the DC National Guard who has always been part of the security arrangements. Why are so many people being dismissed so handily? This man was a Dubya Bush appointee.
In a bizarre move, Donald Trump has demanded that the commanding officer of the Washington, D.C. National Guard resign from his post in the middle of the Inauguration ceremony, even though the general will be in the middle of helping oversee the event’s security, the Washington Post reported on Friday.
Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz will be removed from his post at 12:01 p.m. on Inauguration Day, just after Trump is sworn in but before the Inaugural parade begins, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Post.
Schwartz has helped plan the security for Inauguration weekend, and he will be charged with overseeing the D.C. National Guard as well as an additional 5,000 troops sent in for the weekend. But he will have to hand over commend to an interim officer in the middle of Inauguration Day.
“The timing is extremely unusual,” Schwartz told the Washington Post on Friday.
“My troops will be on the street,” he added. “I’ll see them off but I won’t be able to welcome them back to the armory.
So, these last few comics that I’ve shared are by Drew Sheneman. Go check him out. He also illustrates children’s books.
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
peej
Carissa
ecocatwoman
mablue2
peggysue22
quixote
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
7 Reasons The Russia Controversy Just Got Much Worse For Trump
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/7-reasons-the-memogate-controversy-got-much-worse-for_us_5876de6be4b0f8a7254484d6
It’s not so much Trump’s sexual kompromat that’s alarming (and for his good ol’ boy misogynist racist followers it won’t matter). It’s that he’s owned by Putin and his closest advisors have treasonous ties with Russian.
I agree – any video of the hotel thing would be hard to take a face value – it’s so easy to fake that stuff. But the money connections and the mob ties are unacceptable.
I kind of figured (and still hope) when he started in with the CIA he would be no match for them.
The @FEC just sent Trump a 256 page letter listing what appear to be illegal campaign contributions. RESPONSE DUE DATE is February 14, 2017. Read the FEC January 10, 2017 letter here:
Click to access 201701100300074964.pdf
Saw the Ignatius piece when BB posted it on Thurs thread in the morning. If Comey hadn’t have influenced the election right before Nov 8th, Obama’s cautiousness might not have been an issue. Certainly that congressional committee which was briefed bears responsibility also. Yet the President’s desk is where the buck stops, and it must have been made clear to Obama throughout his terms that the Republicans won’t be bipartisan if it means going after one of their own.
John Schindler says the Russians probably have all of the GOP emails. Chaffetz has probably been warned about it.
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How Putin Played the Far Left
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/13/how-putin-played-the-far-left.html
United States government taken over by a coup engineered by Russia, the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, the FBI, elements of the media. Rightful winner of the election probably woud have had an additional two million votes were it not for voter suppression of all kinds, including utterly illegal “Operation Crosscheck,” and 20 Republican secretaries of various states colluding with Republicans in Congresss to limit Democratic votes. The President who had to realize what a coup would mean to the country, and yet did not take all steps to inform the populace of what was going on.
An outrage and a tragedy on infinite levels. All the evil forces combining at one nexus to accomplish this. The media busily chasing fake Hillary stories, because that is what they do, out of ineptness or political bias.The Democratic Left being duped by all of them just as in 2000; their own enduring sanctimony and spitefulness being easy prey for the machinations of Russia and the Right.. Mere anarchy let loose upon the world. The WSJ now wants Comey to resign; why not, since he accomplished his purpose, and now can give way to a Trumpian lackey who will turn it into the Gestapo. No one that I see, standing up, putting principle and the nation’s good, over their own soulless greed and partisanship. History and morality cries out for a do-over, but the coup has already taken place, and now it’s just a question of which evildoers get to profit the most. In a satisfying cinema production, Trump, Comey, Giuliani, Christie, Stone, Manafort, many others, would all end up in jail for long terms, some might even be executed for treason. Hillary would become President; the VRWC would be dismantled. But of course this isn’t ciinema, though the awful parts of the story are more incredible than anything a screenwriter could come up with.
Burr says Intel panel will investigate possible Russia-Trump links
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/01/burr-says-intel-panel-will-investigate-possible-russia-trump-links-233621
I’ve been reading about the impeachment and hoping even though it probably won’t happen. I agree with John Lewis that the trump presidency is illegitimate.
Who’s the Illegitimate President Now, Mr. Birtherism?
Trump spent five years trying to delegitimize Obama. Now he’s taking office under a cloud of suspicion, and only has himself to blame.
BY BRIAN BEUTLER
January 13, 2017
https://newrepublic.com/article/139840/whos-illegitimate-president-now-mr-birtherism
Thanks for the post and the links, Dak. Especially the Huffpo article: its great to read a news item that doesn’t take the mandatory slap at Hillary or at least the Dems along with their reporting. The Hill and Politico, necessary as their content is, always have to have their demeaning little verbs, adverbs and adjectives to go along with the facts.
I wonder if this is what had Democrats so furious after the Friday morning meeting with Comey:
https://twitter.com/jonlovett/status/819406146649755648
Has this already been reported elsewhere and I missed it? It seems fairly explosive to me.
It appears that the CIA had enough information in April on Kremlin money going into an American campaign (hmmm, wonder whose?) to create a taskforce that ultimately sought a FISA order for electronic bank records for two Russian banks that was rejected twice, then finally granted the 15th of October. Comey’s letter was sent to Congress on the 28th, two weeks after that.
Also, remember the stories about the bank in Moscow that, starting in late spring, kept irregularly pinging a server registered to the Trump Organization on Fifth Avenue? The server that was shut down immediately after the Russian bank connection made the news then was recreated and first contacted again by the Russian bank? The stealth and furtiveness of whose logs were vouched for by no less an authority than Paul Vixie?
All with Manafort still living on in Trump Towers. I’m cautiously hopeful this is all starting to come together.
Akk! Left out the link!
https://twitter.com/jonlovett/status/819406146649755648
Nope, it just took too long to load – apologies for the double post and messy commenting.
If the Republicans will own up to their role in enabling treason and act. It looks like McCain is out there.
I am waiting for the middle of the night tweet hitting back at John Lewis. Will tRump attack? He will bring down a sh*tstorm if he can’t control his ego and vengeful nature.
What do you think? Will he or won’t he?
https://twitter.com/Khanoisseur/status/819695503453483008
https://twitter.com/richardhine/status/820080318455681029
Great post!! Kat, thanks so much for your work on this.
Wow. This is fucked up.