ZH — Twitter War Breaks Out Between "Russian Asset" Tulsi Gabbard And "Warmongering Queen" Hillary Clinton

Is American politics basically a food fight?

Not just Tulsi either.

And just to make sure she finds yet another scapegoat for her loss, Clinton also accused 2016 Green Party nominee, Jill Stein, who ran against her and Donald Trump in 2016, of also being an asset of Russia: "That’s assuming Jill Stein will give it up, which she might not because she’s also a Russian asset."...

Zero Hedge
Twitter War Breaks Out Between "Russian Asset" Tulsi Gabbard And "Warmongering Queen" Hillary Clinton

Tyler Durden

Also

Bipartisan.

The Hill
Trump knocks Romney as 'Democrat secret asset' in new video

Tal Axelrod

Jonathan Turley — The Steele Dossier and the perils of political insurance policies

This is legal in the US? If not, where was the line crossed? Even if legal, it appears that a line was crossed when participants lied to investigators and the press about it. There are also questions raised about politicization of the US intelligence services, perhaps assisted by British intelligence.

Even if is legal, it proves that HRC was preparing to do exactly what she was accusing DJT of planning to do–contest the result if he lost.

There is a very bad smell about this. In fact, it is beginning to stink.

The Democrats had better get out in front on this or the party apparatus will be even further discredited.

The Hill
The Steele Dossier and the perils of political insurance policies

Jonathan Turley | Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University

Patrick Armstrong — Obama Marries the Liberals to the Neocons

The co-optation of the so-called US left, which is really the center in comparison to "the left" in the rest of the world.

In the Obama years the marriage of the neocons and the humanitarian interventionists was effected. The neocons, with their doctrine of American Exceptionalism are always ready for an intervention and their justification is always the same: "American moral leadership":

Our world needs a policeman. And whether most Americans like it or not, only their indispensable nation is fit for the job.

So there was never any difficulty getting neocons and their ilk to support another bombing campaign to do a bit of "morally exceptional police work". The Obama change is that liberals, whose historic tendency is to oppose another war, are now in the War Party. And so there was hardly anyone was left to go out on protest....

I would not lay this all on Obama. Bill Clinton had a hand in it, and a big reason that Hillary lost is for supporting it. Patrick Armstrong acknowledges the Clinton connection, and points out that Barack Obama provided a rationale for it. Now the Democratic Party is saddled with it until it is repudiated. That will cost more votes than it attracts. But it is great for campaign contributions from the defense sector, a recognition that in the US, military Keynesianism rules.

Strategic Culture Foundation

Obama Marries the Liberals to the Neocons

Patrick Armstrong

John Helmer — Dmitry Peskov Coaches Vladimir Putin at Helsinki Game

Prepped by Peskov, Putin Began at Minute 31 to “Suggest That Your Relevant Commission Led by US Special Counsel – What Is His Name, Mr Mueller or Meller? – Should Send Us, in Compliance With This Treaty, an Official Request for Interrogating the People That He Believes to Be Guilty of Committing a Crime. Our Prosecutor-General’s Office and Investigative Agencies Can Interrogate These People and Forward the Relevant Materials to the United States.

“Moreover, We Can Take Another Step to Meet You Halfway. We Can Allow US Official Representatives, Including Those From the Mueller-Led Commission, to Be Present at the Interrogation. Certainly, in This Case, We Will Be Seeking Reciprocal Steps From the United States. We’ll Expect the American Party to Interrogate the Officials, Including the US Intelligence Officers, Who Are Suspected of Committing Illegal Acts in Russia, in the Presence of Our Investigation Officers.

“I Mean the High-Profile Case, Involving [Bill] Browder’s Hermitage Capital Company. According to Our Investigative Officers, a Group of People – Mr Browder’s Business Partners – Who Illegally Made Over $1.5 Billion in Russia Did Not Pay Taxes Either in Russia or the United States but Transferred This Money to the United States. They Contributed $400 Million to Ms Clinton’s Election Campaign. This Is Official Information Included in Their Reports – $400 Million. Well, It Was Up to Them, They Might Have Done This Legally, but the Gains Were Ill-Gotten….

“The Company I Mentioned, Concord, and One of Our Restaurateurs Are Being Accused of Interference. However, They Do Not Represent the Russian State. Even if That Is the Case, I Can Imagine. So What? I Have Given You Examples. You Have Many People, Including Those With Major Billion-Dollar Fortunes, Such as Mr Soros. He Interferes Everywhere He Can, but What Is This? Is It the Position of the American State? No. This Is the Position of a Private Person. So It Is in This Case.”

Dances with Bears

Dmitry Peskov Coaches Vladimir Putin at Helsinki Game
John Helmer

Patrick Cockburn — It’s wishful thinking to blame Clinton’s loss on Cambridge Analytica; Cambridge Analytica has now joined Russia at the top of a list of conspirators who may have helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016, leaving the real reasons unexamined

Many people who hate and fear Donald Trump feel that only political black magic or some form of trickery can explain his election as US President. They convince themselves that we are the victims of a dark conspiracy rather than that the world we live in is changing, and changing for the worse.

Cambridge Analytica has now joined Russia at the top of a list of conspirators who may have helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. This is satisfactory for Democrats as it shows that they ought to have won, and delegitimises Trump’s mandate.

In the Russian and Cambridge Analytica scandals, dodgy characters abound who claim to have a direct line to Putin or Trump, or to have secret information about political opponents or a unique method of swaying the voting intentions of millions of Americans.

The most doubtful evidence is treated as credible....

The Independent (UK

It’s wishful thinking to blame Clinton’s loss on Cambridge Analytica; Cambridge Analytica has now joined Russia at the top of a list of conspirators who may have helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016, leaving the real reasons unexamined

Patrick Cockburn

Greg Hunter — Former CIA Officer Exposes Clinton Charity Fraud as Biggest Scandal in US History

Former CIA Officer and whistleblower Kevin Shipp says the reason for all the crime and treason at the FBI and DOJ all boils down to one thing – the Clinton's so-called “charity.”

"The shocking thing about that is all the former directors of the CIA that have come out to support her, from Clapper to Brennan to Morell to Robert Gates supporting her being elected, knew about this criminal syndicate. Comey was protecting it. Lynch was protecting it. Weissmann was protecting it. And that is the big why. What’s she got on these people? Are they financial ties? They had to be aware of this, especially the counter-intelligence units. We know it was hacked into by foreign intelligence services because it was just hanging out there. Hillary Clinton was running a secret server outside the Department of State for the purposes of laundering money through the criminal Clinton Foundation.”

The question is whether there is reason enough to cause a DOJ investigation or to appoint a special prosecutor. The mere fact, which seem to be well-established, that the Clinton Foundation was receiving substantial contributions from foreign entities while HRC was US Secretary of State was enough to raise eyebrows about conflict of interest, but servergate was the smoking gun. This issue is unresolved and inquiring minds would like to know more.

USAWatchDog
Clinton Charity Fraud Biggest Scandal in US History – Kevin Shipp

Greg Hunter

Ekaterina Blinova — CCTV Commentator: Trump Dashes Hopes of Clinton-Backing Chinese Elites

CCTV is China Central Television. The article provides insight into the thinking of Chinese elites, business and political.

The Chinese business elites backed the wrong horse, CCTV Panview editor and commentator Tom McGregor has told Sputnik, speaking about them pinning their hopes on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. According to McGregor, some of them still believe Donald Trump will fail and maintain ties with the Clintons and George Soros....

Sputnik International | Opinion
CCTV Commentator: Trump Dashes Hopes of Clinton-Backing Chinese Elites
Ekaterina Blinova

Alexander Mercouris — Here’s the real scandal of the 2016 US election which should be investigated; it’s not Russiagate

What the evidence points to is – as Jared Kushner has admitted – a chaotic and disorganised Trump campaign, incapable of carrying out any sort of secret or illegal collusion not just with the Russians but with anyone, with unpaid and junior staffers like George Papadopoulos and Carter Page amateurishly attempting – in one case enthusiastically, in the second case calculatedly – to do foreign policy with Russia all by themselves, without receiving guidance or encouragement from the Trump campaign.

Nothing those people who were genuinely close to Trump – eg. Manafort, Flynn, Kushner, Sessions and Donald Trump Junior – did during the campaign looks to me wrong or improper.

By contrast, whilst there is no evidence of illegal collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and no prospect of anyone finding such evidence, there is now abundant evidence that the US intelligence community, the Justice Department and the FBI were pulling out the stops during the election to help Hillary Clinton....

Details follow. Mercouris is a London lawyer, by the way.

The Duran
Here’s the real scandal of the 2016 US election which should be investigated; it’s not Russiagate
Alexander Mercouris

Pam and Russ Martens — Brazile Fallout: Hillary Privatized the DNC with Help from a Washington Law Firm

Secret side agreements are a common maneuver by corporate law firms. Here’s how they work. An agreement that is legal and passes the smell test is drafted and submitted to a court or a regulatory body for public consumption. Then, a separate, secret side agreement is written and signed by both sides and it contains all of the smelly, shady, ethically questionable hard details on how the original agreement will be carried out. 

Donna Brazile, the former interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during the 2016 presidential campaign, has written a new book, “Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House,” and has revealed the secret side agreement that the DNC had with Hillary Clinton’s campaign....

This is how Brazile describes the secret side agreement in her book:

“The agreement—signed by Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the DNC, and Robby Mook [Clinton’s campaign manager] with a copy to Marc Elias [lawyer at Perkins Coie] — specified that in exchange for raising money and investing in the DNC, Hillary would control the party’s finances, strategy, and all the money raised. Her campaign had the right of refusal of who would be the party communications director, and it would make final decisions on all the other staff. The DNC also was required to consult with the campaign about all other staffing, budgeting, data, analytics, and mailings.”

The Clinton camp has now attempted to defend itself by saying these terms are standard because they were not going to kick in until the Democratic Party had chosen its official presidential nominee at its party convention in July 2016. But that’s not what the actual secret side agreement says. It indicates the following: “Beginning October 1, 2015,” the HVF would begin transferring $1.2 million to the DNC at the start of each month with that release “conditioned on” Hillary Clinton’s primary campaign personnel being consulted “and have joint authority over strategic decisions over the staffing, budget, expenditures, and general election related communications, data, technology, analytics, and research. The DNC will provide HFA advance opportunity to review on-line or mass email, communications that features a particular Democratic primary candidate.”

Additionally, the secret agreement states that “the DNC agrees that no later than September 11, 2015 it will hire one of two candidates previously identified as acceptable to HFA” (Hillary for America, the primary campaign fund for Clinton) as its Communications Director. All of this is occurring in the fall of 2015 with the official Democratic nominating convention not taking place until July 2016....

It gets worse.

The question that no one seems to be asking is who are the main beneficiaries of Perkins Coie’s heavy influence at the top of the Democratic Party. Despite Obama’s re-election for a second term, the Democratic Party shed nearly 1,000 seats from coast to coast. The Republicans now control both houses of Congress and the Executive Branch. A man with the lowest approval rating in modern history now occupies the Oval Office.

The primary beneficiaries of this hubris have been the 1 percent – Wall Street and hedge fund titans – and giant multi-national corporations that dominate the client roster at Perkins Coie.

Those within the Clinton camp and DNC who are suggesting to the American people that there is nothing to see here, time to move along, are dead wrong. Just because the Republican presidential campaign may have been corrupted by outside forces doesn’t mean that the Democratic campaign wasn’t also corrupted by its own outside forces. It’s time to follow the obscene political money trail wherever it leads.

And it was the Clinton New Democrats that brought in Perkins Coie in the first place.

Wall Street On Parade
Brazile Fallout: Hillary Privatized the DNC with Help from a Washington Law Firm
Pam Martens and Russ Martens

Publius Tacitus — Trump Was Right, The Election Was Rigged

What Americans should be concerned with rather than Russiagate regarding the corrupting of the political process and thereby American "democracy," such as it is.

Sic Semper Tyrannis
Trump Was Right, The Election Was Rigged
Publius Tacitus

See also for the other side

At this point I will defer judgement until Brazile addresses the discrepancies between her account and documents that are available in the public domain. That is precisely what Sen. Warren should have done as well.

Washington Monthly
Some Questions Donna Brazile Must Answer
Nancy LeTourneau

Aslo

The Intercept
Angry About the DNC Scandal? Thank Obama.

Ryan Grim

Zero Hedge — Hillary Compares Trump To Putin: "Hopefully He Hasn't Ordered The Killing Of Journalists"

HRC seems intent on normalizing jumping the shark.

Zero Hedge
Hillary Compares Trump To Putin: "Hopefully He Hasn't Ordered The Killing Of Journalists"
Tyler Durden

Zero Hedge — Hillary Clinton May Challenge Legitimacy Of Presidential Election

This is s joke, right?

Zero Hedge
Hillary Clinton May Challenge Legitimacy Of Presidential Election

Tyler Durden

This too?

Trump Wants July 4th Military Parade Down Pennsylvania Avenue

Pam and Russ Martens — Obama Has the Same Retirement Plan as the Clintons: Lavish Speaking Fees from Wall Street

The “Wall Street Democrats” is the wing of the party created by the Clintons and nurtured further by Barack Obama. It takes money hand over fist from Wall Street for political campaigns, wags a warning finger at Wall Street from the public podium while stuffing its administrations with Wall Street execs, then its leadership reaps millions of dollars in personal speaking fees from the robber barons after leaving office. As of this morning, there’s no longer any debate that Obama is firmly entrenched in this cozy world of money.

Sums up what wrong with the Democratic establishment. They are on make and on the take.

Wall Street On Parade
Obama Has the Same Retirement Plan as the Clintons: Lavish Speaking Fees from Wall Street
Pam Martens and Russ Martens

See also

Regardless of the degree of agreement or disagreement with Professor Davidson's analysis, just about everyone will acknowledge that a wide setgment of American voters, approaching 40% on the right are extrememly disaffected with American politics. The supporters of Bernie Sanders represent the same rejection of the status quo on the left.

This is more anti-establishmentarianism than tradition American populism. In Trump's terminology the establishment is "the swamp," and establishment figures are swamp critters that need to be removed from positions of power and influence. Bernie takes a similar stand on the left, although not in as colorful terms.

This trend promises to influence American politics for the foreseeable future, and the ruling elite and its cronies and minions are not going to go quietly.

As a result, American politics is truining into a reality show, and Donald Trump is just the person to be a major player in it. It could not have been better cast from this perspective.

Consortium News
President Trump’s Mass Movement

Lawrence Davidson is a history professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania

Bill Black — Is Politico or Third Way More Divorced from Reality?

Bill deftly trashes the Third Way New Democrats. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair were as toxic as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher through their "triangulation," which amounted to moving right to capture the center.

New Economic Perspectives
Is Politico or Third Way More Divorced from Reality?
William K. Black | Associate Professor of Economics and Law, UMKC

See also

The title below should read, "Why The Democrats Are Unable to Defend the u.s. From the 'Most Vicious' Republican Party in History."

Ralph Nader deconstructs the present by reviewing the history. This began decades ago, arguably under conservative Jimmy Carter.

The Intercept
Ralph Nader: The Democrats Are Unable to Defend the u.s. From the “Most Vicious” Republican Party in History
Jon Schwarz interviews Ralph Nader

The Russia Explainer Why did #Hillary call #Putin a “white authoritarian leader”?

Hillary doubles down on identity politics and McCarthyism.

Some interesting history and observations too.

Did you know that Pushkin was black by American standards?

Take Alexander Pushkin for example. He’s Russia’s most beloved poet, embraced as the quintessence of Russian romantic poetry. He died in 1837, at a time when slavery was the law of the land in the American South, and serfdom (a form of slavery) was the law of the land in Russia for Russia’s peasant class. Pushkin’s great-grandfather was a full-blooded Ethiopian who became a close friend of Peter the Great and a member of his court. Pushkin himself was born into nobility. The fact that he was one-eighth Black was a nonissue as far as his social standing went, even though under the “one drop” rule in the United States at the time, being one-eighth Black made you an “octoroon,” or fully Black for legal purposes. Thomas Jefferson’s famous slave Sally Hemings, who bore him several children, was one-eighth Black. Pushkin owned serfs, who were white. In Pushkin’s Russia, racial differences were insignificant compared to differences in religion (Pushkin was Russian Orthodox, and his great-grandfather was Ethiopian Orthodox) and social class. A Black nobleman was far socially superior to a white serf in early 1800s Russia.

How about an Asian Buddhist as President of Russia?

Russia doesn’t have many Black people, but it does have a large number of people that would be considered “Asians” by appearance. But if one of these Russian “Asians” were to become president of Russia, it would hardly change anything in terms of race relations in Russia. As a matter of fact, one of the people most seriously considered a potential successor to Putin is an Asian: Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. He not only looks Asian, but he was brought up a Buddhist in the Siberian region of Tuva.

Summary,

EPILOGUE. Some might point out that, rather than being the Russian equivalent of a “white nationalist,” on the Russian political spectrum Putin is not considered a Russian nationalist, though he’s played with Russian nationalist themes in the past. He supports immigration from Central Asia (where the people are, um, Asian), he is supportive of Russia’s large Muslim population, he frequently speaks about Russia’s diversity. Russia’s most famous challenger, Alexey Navalny, is by contrast a Russian nationalist who wants to limit immigration from Muslim countries, limit mosque construction and other visible manifestations of Muslim participation in Russian civic life, and stop financial subsidies and autonomy for Russia’s restive Muslim-majority regions in the Caucusus (Chechnya being the primary target).

Of all the labels Hillary could’ve legitimately hung on Putin, and there are many, emphasizing that he’s “white” is probably the least important, and shows either that Hillary really, really doesn’t understand Russia, or that she couldn’t resist a chance to try to connect Putin to Trump through the thread of them supposedly both being white nationalists.

The Russia Explainer
Why did #Hillary call #Putin a “white authoritarian leader”?
Hank DeBwankey

Jake Novak — By bashing Bernie Sanders in her new book, Hillary Clinton proves she still doesn't get it

• Hillary Clinton's attacks on Bernie Sanders in her new book "What Happened" show why she lost the election.
• Her comments illustrate how out of touch Clinton still is and point to why she didn't recognize widespread voter anger during her presidential campaign.
• Sanders and Trump still come off as authentic fighters who were able to capitalize on voters' anger.

In addition, HRC to Bernie Sanders, HRC also blames Barack Obama, Joe Biden, James Comes and, of course, Vladimir Putin.

And she describes her regret at not facing Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a US president -- a form of vengeance she can now only imagine.

"There's nothing I was looking forward to more than showing Putin that his efforts to influence our election and install a friendly puppet had failed," she writes. "I know he must be enjoying everything that's happened instead. But he hasn't had the last laugh yet."

HRC is making a fool of herself and damaging her party. Someone should tell her to STFU.

Loser.

CNBC
By bashing Bernie Sanders in her new book, Hillary Clinton proves she still doesn't get it

Jake Novak

Mike Whitney — Did Hillary Scapegoat Russia to Save Her Campaign?

The “Russia hacking” flap has nothing to do with Russia and nothing to do with hacking. The story is basically a DNC invention that was concocted to mitigate the political fallout from the nearly 50,000 emails that WikiLeaks planned to publish on July 22, 2016, just 3 days before the Democratic National Convention. That’s what this is really all about. Russia didn’t hack anything, it’s a big diversion that was conjured up on-the-fly to keep Hillary’s bandwagon from going down in flames....

Once they figured that their presidential bid could go up in smoke, they decided to act preemptively, pull out all the stops and “Go Big”....

Counterpunch
Did Hillary Scapegoat Russia to Save Her Campaign?
Mike Whitney

John Helmer — The Improper Association (Maybe Crime) of Victor Pinchuk With Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Covered Up by the Us Media, Us Department of Justice, and the International Monetary Fund

Never in the field of American conflict with Russia has so much wool pulled over the eyes been owed to so few sheep. That was during the losing presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton. Now, in the investigations of President Donald Trump and his family, it’s a case of so many sheep producing so little wool.

The case of the $13 million paid to the Clinton family by the Ukrainian oligarch Victor Pinchuk, in exchange for personal favours and escalation of the war against Russia, was reported in detail throughout 2014. Click to read the opener, and more....

Dances with Bears
The Improper Association (Maybe Crime) of Victor Pinchuk With Hillary, Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Covered Up by the Us Media, Us Department of Justice, and the International Monetary Fund
John Helmer

Zaid Jilani — Study Finds Relationship Between High Military Casualties and Votes for Trump Over Clinton

Russiagate is a canard. First, the Democratic Establishment cannot own up to their lose, and secondly, Trump-bashing is red meat for the base and also a cash-machine.

This election was a rejection of neoliberalism and neoconservatism. Ordinary Americans are facing economic stagnation, and they are tired of foreign adventures that result in endless war.

Hillary Clinton and her advisors did not get the message. So she lost, even though she preferred to run against Donal Trump as a pushover candidate.

Still clueless or in denial.

The Intercept
Study Finds Relationship Between High Military Casualties and Votes for Trump Over Clinton

Zaid Jilani

Zero Hedge "I Was The Victim": Hillary Blames DNC, NYT, "1,000 Russian Agents," Comey And WikiLeaks For Loss

Earlier today Hillary Clinton offered up what some have described as one of the most delusional interviews of all time at Recode's CodeCon conference, in which she blamed everything and everyone, including but certainly not limited to: FBI Director Comey, "1,000s of Russian agents", right-wing media outlets, Russia, sexism, WikiLeaks, Russia, a funding deficit at the DNC, the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, the New York Times (yes, the NYT) ...oh, and Russia, for her 2016 election loss.

And while she certainly "takes responsibility" for every decision she made, Hillary desperately wants you to understand that's not why she lost...because, you know, Russia.

"I take responsibility for every decision I made, but that's not why I lost."

Of course, in all of her rambling, Hillary never offered up a viable conclusion on why "Russian hackers" were only able to sway voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania but not in places like Virginia, Nevada, New Mexico and Colorado, states where anti-Russian tinfoil must be impervious....

Still in denial.

Zero Hedge
"I Was The Victim": Hillary Blames DNC, NYT, "1,000 Russian Agents," Comey And WikiLeaks For Loss

Tyler Durden