The Trump Presidency and the End of Intelligence

There are two excellent, even important articles in today's New York Times it would be terrific if every voting age American would read today.

Here's the first.

The End of Intelligence

A bit from the article:

It is..."no accident that the Oxford Dictionaries’ word of the year in 2016 was 'post-truth,' a condition where facts are less influential in shaping opinion than emotion and personal belief. To adopt post-truth thinking is to depart from Enlightenment ideas, dominant in the West since the 17th century, that value experience and expertise, the centrality of fact, humility in the face of complexity, the need for study and a respect for ideas.

President Trump both reflects and exploits this kind of thinking. It is fair to say that the Trump campaign normalized lying to an unprecedented degree. There was the candidate’s claim that legions of Arabs celebrated wildly in New Jersey as the World Trade Center collapsed. He defended his calls for the intentional killing of the Sept. 11 terrorists’ families because 'they knew what was happening' and had 'watched their husband on television flying into the World Trade Center,' something for which there is zero evidence. He insinuated that Senator Ted Cruz’s father had a hand in John F. Kennedy’s assassination and that the Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia had been murdered.

When pressed on specifics, the president has routinely denigrated those who questioned him, whether the 'fake' media, 'so called' judges, Washington insiders or the 'deep state.'”

The second article is on not President Trump but someone from his political party, Devin Nunes, the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chief.

How Devin Nunes Turned the House Intelligence Committee Inside Out

In inquiries on Benghazi and Russia and beyond, the California congressman has displayed a deep mistrust of the expert consensus on reality — a disposition that has helped him make friends in the current White House.

I submit that this is a truly twisted man we have as President of our United States presently, making these potentially dangerous times. I also submit that this is not an over-reaction, in any way.

This, third article is from last year, last July and is equally important and, again, even frightening on what has been happening to our State Department.

How Rex Tillerson Is Wrecking 

the State Department

Finally, the "end of intelligence" is a double-entendre on my part. I mean it as both the end of some of our nation's intelligence communities, like the CIA and FBI and DoJ as well as the end of some human intelligence.

I hope people are reading.

The Trump Administration

What you get when you place people against government, IN your government.

Insanity.

Link:  Oh Dear God. They're Giving Rick Perry Nukes.

Betsy DeVos and the Plan to Break Public Schools

Big Republican Problems Today, After Their 11 Hour Fiasco Yesterday

Republicans, today, this morning, don't just have one problem because yesterday's Benghazi interrogation/investigation/committee went badly. They have at least a few.  And they're not small.

The first is this--this poll came out just as yesterday's interrogation went down:

Poll: 3-in-4 say Benghazi panel politically motivated

Second, both Congressmen Trey Gowdy and Jim Jordan, at minimum, came across as attacking, impatient, rude people who then appeared slanted, biased, one-sided, negative and just ugly.

Next, what the media thinks and ends up saying will also make a difference. Last evening, reporter Carl Bernstein, of the Watergate Woodward/Bernstein crew, said last evening on CNN that this investigation of Benghazi today has become as abusive as Joe McCarthy and his McCarthy hearings, all those decades ago.

Fourth, the fact that this interrogation of former Secretary Clinton took 11 full hours yesterday will, I think, hurt the Republicans, since no new material was covered, factually. In fact, Congressman Gowdy said nothing new came from this 11 hours of interrogation, once it was over. All that and nothing new. If that doesn't spell waste of time and energy and, worst of all, money, nothing does.

Then there is the point I made here last evening---

According to PBS NewsHour last evening, there have been 22 individual hearings on Benghazi. For a sharp comparison, there were 21 hearings on the 9/11 tragedy. That's a lot of wasted time. And worse, money. Our government tax money.

Then there's this, for anyone who might think or say this isn't a political witch hunt:

Finally, this may be the most damaging, for the Republicans, of all, out of yesterday's hearings. Instead of hurting Secretary Clinton---

Fox's Ed Henry: Clinton "Did Look Presidential, She Did Look In Command Today, Just Like She Did At That Last Debate"

Besides finding nothing new and instead of hurting former Secretary Clinton/candidate Clinton, it likely, apparently helped, even strengthened her.

Ironically, even wonderfully, the Republicans were nearly immediately being pilloried in the media even during the hearings, let alone after, for this Benghazi grilling, ongoing and ugly as it is.

Followed, this week by last week's inability to even come up with a Speaker of the House quickly and easily, it's obvious, very obvious, the Republican Party is in worse shape internally and externally, both, than they ever imagined possible.

2016 looks better and better, doesn't it?

Muslim- and Islamist-extremists are a threat to the world--and to Islam

So now we're mourning a US Ambassador to Libya--a friendly nation we just helped liberate, thanks very much--along with 3 other Americans, all because some ignorant, religious, right-wing zealot in our country made and posted a movie some other ultra-conservative, way-overly religious zealots in that nation didn't like.

Where--and when--does this end? How soon?

I was going to approach this post today with a list of just some of the different people Muslim- and Islamist extremists have killed in the recent past but figured we're all extremely aware of them and secondly, that we know there are so many of them.

For what it's worth, you can go here to see a list of Muslim extremist attacks just since the 9/11 attack:

http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/index.html#Attacks

Here we are one of the lead nations that helped liberate this nation--Libya--from its dictator yet these lunatics got emotionally riled, went out and attacked the US Embassy and killed 4 people who just happened to be working for Libyan citizen's freedoms.

And this is the man they killed:



Of course, we have to keep in mind, too, that the idiot, Right-wing, Christian "Pastor" who did this--one Terry Jones--is the same small-minded, ugly leader who publicly burned Korans in order to get attention for himself. And with that situation, again, people died because of his actions. Clearly this is a man who refuses to learn his actions have ugly and utterly unnecessary consequences on others.

I stand by the headline, above. That is, the Islam nation and the Muslim faith around the world is hurt to a great degree by all the Muslim extremists in the world and their repeated and repeating attacks that leave so many dead and wounded.

If Muslim is a faith and religion of peace, the rest of the Muslims across the world must stand up and demand this insanity cease.

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/florida-pastor-terry-joness-koran-burning-has-far-reaching-effect/2011/04/02/AFpiFoQC_story.html

To be sure you know: How you can help Haiti and Haitians

From the US State Department: you can text "HAITI" to "90999" and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill.

And this from UPS: UPS is shipping anything under 50lbs for free to Haiti. You can send food clothes or shoes...

and American Airlines is taking doctors and nurses to Haiti for free.

Please call 212-697-9767. Spread the word...Red Cross needs Creole speaking volunteers for a 24hr phone bank. Call Mr. Wilfrid @ 305-776-6900.

Spread the word.