The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age

    Followup: Does anyone pay attention to the media anymore?

    By nothere on Wed, 03/22/2017 - 8:36pm |

    In October, I wrote: "This may, but I'm not sure, have Roger Stone written all over it."

    Among other stories: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/us/roger-stone-donald-trump-russia.html

    Weird; it's like everyone is looking at Manafort, or some other random agent. It's Stone. I reiterate: it's Stone. Look there.

    Tricksters always get what's coming to them. He should have picked his role more carefully.

    Comments

    Look at all. I just care about nailing Trump, however they do it.


    by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 03/22/2017 - 9:12pm

    It's impossible for me to tell what you think. Which presents a problem for me: do I reply with "...and so you don't see the international issue here?"; or do I ask "then do you mean to imply that there is no international issue here?" where international in my query does not refer to Russia; rather, it should be taken as waving toward the international nature of the resurgence of a particular behavior among Homo Sapiens - which behavior was last seen in the run-up to, and during, WW2. I put it this way so that I can, hopefully, avoid insulting anyone.

    Currently, people are wildly referencing this behavior as "fascism", or some sort of surging (or resurgent) "white supremacy"; or by some other such term, like alt-right, as if geeking up the behavior fundamentally changes it; or somehow sets it apart from the behavior at which I am waving. NB: geeking it up = lipstick on a pig.

    Anyway, the behavior in question (whatever label one chooses to use) is not random; it's basically, or functionally, conspiratorial in nature, where conspiratorial in this context is intended to mean engaging in complementary evil fucking acts (where the people who support, for instance, Trump are the ones who get fucked...likely with switchblades) across a band of geopolitical boundaries. Oh, and don't forget what is happening in Yemen, nor for one moment will I omit pointing out that what is happening in Yemen is a part of what is happening in Britain with Brexit, France with Le Pen, DC with Trump, and Russia (and its proxies in Europe) under Putin. It's a way of solving the Brown Person Problem perceived by the likes of Bannon, Farage, et al.

    So: why the focus on Trump? The likelihood of "...nailing..." him is small. The Republicans just won't do it. Nail the scum around him, IMO; after all, it wasn't Hitler who designed the particulars of the Final Solution.

    And note well: when I use the word design, I mean it in the sense one might use it to describe furniture; or lighting; an office layout or any other interior where people engage in activities, like work.  Without sufficient support from little Eichmanns and persons junior in the apparatus, such systems don't work. There are persons who must be relied on to coordinate; to plan; to talk over what is happening; to design the means by which the persons of the powerful periphery can shit into the lives of ordinary people in the center.

    That person, the little to medium Eichmann, is vulnerable.


    by nothere on Wed, 03/22/2017 - 10:53pm

    Huh? Trump designed this shithouse, he's the GOP president, let him fall. If it takes 10 Flynns, Stones, Manaforts and banking scandals to do it or 1, I don't care. I'm not looking for a Nürnberg trial - I just want Trump waylaid.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 2:18am

    Trump is not intellectually capable of design. I seriously think he's brain-damaged due to his cocaine use; and his temper might, at this point, be a function of (early onset?) dementia...however, I have no idea what might have explained his abusive behavior earlier in his life.

    But he is, for whatever reason, incapable of design.

    His skill, for certain definitions of the word 'skill', would most likely reach its peak in appreciating a gold-plated toilet. It's exactly what his type of person would judge to be classy: 'my shit is so important, it deserves a gold-plated toilet.'...the epitomy of self-valuation regarding things a normal person would not value, at all.

    There is an image I once saw of a corrupt buddha (yes, such a thing can exist) seated on such a thing; it was jewel-encrusted, and the buddha in question was voiding itself into the toilet. Where once existed its head, was an open cavity; described as the rot resulting from an endless loop of consuming the diet of enlightenment...like the results of eating only candy until the enamel of the tooth decays around the quick. IOW, a sickness. Something worse than narcissism, IMO.

    Now that, that is Trump: a self-enthroned, hollow, self-voided it. Talk about blowing it out your ass...he's a paradigm of the effort.

    But remember: he's functionally hollow. There is no there inside that corpulent orange bag.


    by nothere on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 8:10pm

    It's a multiple choice question. Manafort, Stone, Flynn, Carter Page. One of the above, two of the above, three of the above, or all of the above? They all have these weird connections to Russia. At least some of them were getting paid by the Russians. I'm guessing more than one of the above. The circumstantial evidence is there but can they find proof of collusion? And to what degree was Trump involved?


    by ocean-kat on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 1:01am

    you all know about today's A.P. exclusive on Manafort's Russian contract, right?

    https://apnews.com/122ae0b5848345faa88108a03de40c5a

    Also see tomorrow a new site for compilation of all info.:

    moscowproject.org


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 2:02am

    Yeah, I had this in the Knife In the Back Thread after "Russian lawyer who was to testify pushed off building" as yet another Trump update over a busy day. Scandal Central will be useful to coordinate all the releases - it's getting overwhelming.

    BTW, pls edit your Moscow Project link - it was pointing to the AP story, so I tried to fix it but MoscowProject.org is a site about whale hunting.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 2:29am

    More on our new Commerce Secretary who pumped $400 million of his own money into a Cyprus bank where he was Vice Chairman & Russian money laundering was the forte. The Dutch sidekick he hired had very close relations with Putin & Sberbank. They then sold the Russian side of 120+ branches worth "hundreds of millions" to a Russian for only $8 million - a rather amazing fire sale. Of course this administration didn't allow Democrats to ask any questions before he was confirmed. All good and well - the more to come back and bite him in the ass.

    Any downsides to hiring a bunch of billionaires to "drain the swamp"?


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 6:52am

    Another Russian assassination - this time in Kiev. But hey, the Russians are just like us, only more ethical and concerned about world order.


    by PeraclesPlease on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 10:01am

    As we were asked elsewhere on this site: it's not "the Russians".


    by nothere on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 7:57pm

    oh yes, I remember this well from even before my hiatus of several years from this site. That poor Russian government is just so badly maligned by the American MSM propaganda machine. those assassinations are all made up, just read the truth at RT and listen to Assange who speaks truth to the American hegemon and its MSM parrots. Want proof just look at their peace lovin gun laws! Can't be true! Decent people with good intentions. You think our country is so innocent?

    Sound like anyone elected president recently? devil


    by artappraiser on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 8:12pm

    http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/fellow-americans-please-freeze-cold-war-...

    That blog entry does not sound like RT to me. While you may be content to spew broadly, and append a cute emoji which has some sort of weird-ass meaning, some people in the world actually value specificity.


    by nothere on Thu, 03/23/2017 - 8:18pm

    Please, we're not 12 and speak English.

    If I say "the Russians were caught doping on a massive scale" you know I'm not talking about babushka Olga, but the Russian sports team. Similarly if I say we beat the Russians by upset in 1980, it's not the Soviet army nor some mine worker Dmitry in Magnetogorsk, but the Olympics team. It was all nice of folks on the left to lump in Russian-speaking Ukrainians with ethnic Russian when talking about Donbas, but there I found a useful distinction *sometimes*, depending on the specifics of the debate. And I sometimes refer to the 2 Russian ladies down the hall thusly even though they often self-identify as "girls" while 1 is from a -stan ex-Soviet state, but bith deal with our Russian-speaking clients who frequently aren't Russian.

    In short, our normal English shortcuts handle this ambiguity w/o much problem. What I think people really object to is the image of Russians with deep state ties running around the world with their oil money acting like immoral corrupt mafia types, and I'm afraid that as long as a substantial minority *do* behave that way along with a steady trail of assassinations and money laundering scandals, that reputation will remain. That despite the hard working, very bright and honest engineers and businessmen I deal with in Moscow, St. Petersburg, here where I am and entrepreneurs elsewhere who I would recommend in a heartbeat.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 2:50am

    If you (NB: the singular) are what you imply, then you should realize that the request made of you is a courtesy of low-cost to you personally that you could extend. That you buck that request, and lead with an insult, indicates that mentally and socially you are, in fact, the equivalent of a twelve-year old male of a type currently ignoring basic net-wide civility in discourse. Leading with an insult renders the rest of your post uninteresting. Moving forward, I invite you to refrain from following up to any of my posts since you are incapable of conforming to what you require of others...to behave maturely in your narratives.


    by nothere on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 8:22am

    You are asking an adult to hold his tongue and not use language in the way we daily use it.

    I'm used to my kids getting these kinds of requests from their teachers, which annoys them to no end, and I end up fighting with schools to defend their right to an opinion. Thus my retort at being treated like a 12-year-old.

    If you can point out more specifically how my intro was an insult to you rather than deflecting a perceived insult to me, happy to listen.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 10:17am

    I'm asking an adult to respect a request from a blogger on this site. WRT to daily use of language...that's actually your argument? That, currently, some group you've identified as 'we' use language in a particular manner?

    Once, not so long ago, daily use of language involved a racial obscenity directed at African-Americans; I include the plethora of other racial insults by reference; other examples are available; for instance, a daily use of sex or gender-oriented insults. The list is probably effectively infinite.

    I fail to see how or why 'we' should receive any sort of accommodation, just because they are a 'we'.

    You really need to move on from commenting in this thread, as invited. No, really: move on, and if you cannot behave in keeping with what I've asked, you are as empowered to refrain from future interaction as you are obviously also empowered to continue to do what you are doing.

    My guess (and it's just a guess) is you probably don't really want to do that latter thing.


    by nothere on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:39pm

    Behave myself, eh? Stunning.

    https://youtu.be/PQRbeunfbDE


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 5:52pm

    Move on. Nothing requires you to continue to follow-up to anything in this, nor any other, thread.

    Hint: there is a reason I avoid your sub-blog. I'm pretty sure that, in its entirety, you'll find in it no comment from me.


    by nothere on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 6:40pm

    I'm going nowhere, thanks. Do as you like.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 6:48pm

    I, and others, disagreed with Natasha's blog. She decided not to engage in debate defending her opinions. She is free to do that but debate is what we do here. One cannot demand other people change their behavior. You must convince other people that your arguments are valid. You are free to pick up her banner and become an advocate for her cause but you have the same task. You must be willing to engage in debate and you must come up with convincing arguments to support your opinions. You're not the first person to come here and try to kick people who disagree off their blog's comment section. I've never seen it work in the past nor do I expect it to succeed with you. Because debate is what we do here.


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 6:27pm

    You are, generally, quite the typist. From what I can see, you type and you type and you type. I'm pretty sure that, in the post Natasha made, you are the most prolific replier. What of it? Well, I'm not actually sure. I don't see you actually having a topic proposed by Natasha to debate...unless you think that a request is an invitation to debate? I also don't see anything in one of your replies that proposes anything coherently resembling a topic; where something like "Resolved, foo is bar" is somehow in evidence.

    What I do see, clearly expressed by multiple other persons, is a response to her request taking the rough form of "yeah, you have a fair point. I'll try to be aware." Other persons, including you if I understand your reply in this thread, decided to explain things Russian to an actual Russian. I leave it as an exercise to any other interested reader whether or not that was flavored with mansplaining.


    by nothere on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 6:51pm

    Yeah, that's dagblog, segregated rooms by ethnic group, religion, and gender/sexual predilection. They even gave me own cause they couldn't categorize me.


    by PeraclesPlease on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 7:08pm

    Insults do not constitute a convincing argument. And since you are a complete stranger to me who I will never meet nor have a private conversation with, your insults leave me totally unaffected.

    Not every post by a Russian expresses the views of all Russians. Just as not every post by an American expresses the views of all Americans. In fact any given post by a Russian or an American may represent the view of only a slim minority of Russians or Americans. My main point was that Natasha's attempt to separate the Russian people from the actions of the Putin government was flawed. While it might be true in her case or even a minority of Russians the evidence clearly showed overwhelming support among Russians for Putin. Natasha or anyone was certainly free to dispute that evidence. But I think I was on very solid ground.

    Here's the thing chthonic, in all the years I've been here I have never seen a blog with comments disabled. I have seen people who wished to post here without comments and who have requested, cajoled, and like you insulted people who disagree to get them out of the comment section of their blogs. None of those attempts have ever been successful. Perhaps that's because those who run this site welcome debate. They seem to insist on that option so I feel comfortable in considering everything posted here as open to debate. This may be of particular interest to you, I've found that insulting people was by far the least effective means of stopping people who disagree from posting in their comment section. You might want to reconsider your strategy.

     


    by ocean-kat on Fri, 03/24/2017 - 7:42pm