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Tues.,Oct.17, 2017
~All Gave Some~Some Gave All~God Bless America
BREAKING: Bergdahl Pleads Guilty To Desertion and Misbehavior Before The Enemy
"I left my observation post on my own."
By Jack Davis
By Jack Davis
Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told a military judge he’s pleading guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy.
“I understand leaving was against the law,” he also said.
He told the judge that he now understands that what he did caused others to search for him.
“We may as well go back to kangaroo courts and lynch mobs that got what they wanted,” Bergdahl said in an interview aired by ABC News on Monday. “The people who want to hang me, you’re never going to convince those people.”
In August 2015, Trump called Bergdahl a “dirty, rotten traitor.” He also tweeted that same year that he believes that Bergdahl should “face the death penalty” for deserting his post in Afghanistan, according to Fox News.
During one campaign riff on Bergdahl, Trump mocked an execution.
“You know in the old days — Bing. Bong,” Trump said as he mimicked firing a rifle. “When we were strong.”
Bergdahl’s lawyer said no deal was reached to limit his potential punishment. He faces up to five years in prison for the charge of desertion and a life sentence for the charge of misbehavior before an enemy.
The United States Code outlines the following as the options facing Bergdahl.
“Any person found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert shall be punished, if the offense is committed in time of war, by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct, but if the desertion or attempt to desert occurs at any other time, by such punishment, other than death, as a court-martial may direct,” the code says.
Bergdahl deserted his Afghanistan post in 2009, and was captured by the members of the Taliban. He was held captive by the Taliban for roughly five years, during which time the terrorist group posted a video online showing Bergdahl indicating he was “scared” that he wouldn’t return home safely.
In another video, he criticized the U.S. military and took issue with the United States’ operations in the region.
He claimed that he was captured by the Taliban after lagging behind his patrol in Afghanistan. Bergdahl also said he deserted his post to warn nearby people about problems he perceived were associated within his military unit.
The former Army sergeant was released by the Taliban in May 2014 after former President Barack Obama’s administration agreed to release five Taliban detainees from in Guantanamo Bay, the U.S. prison in Cuba which houses terrorists.
Steve Bannon is orchestrating a 'bloody civil war' in the GOP in 2018
Steve Bannon has vowed to challenge six of the seven incumbent GOP senators up for reelection in 2018.AP Photo/Brynn Anderson***Steve Bannon has pledged to put forth candidates to challenge six of the seven incumbent GOP senators in 2018, provoking fear that the party will suffer avoidable losses.
***The GOP establishment is furious and fearful of Bannon's vow to blow up the party establishment.
***While some think Bannon is on a mission to repair his personal image and boost his power, others say he remains a devoted loyalist of President Donald Trump who is intent on remaking the party in the president's image.
Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager and top White House strategist, is on a mission to blow up the Republican Party.
While Bannon, who left the White House in August, claims to be fighting for Trump and the West Wing's agenda, his pledge to challenge every incumbent GOP senator — save for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — in the 2018 midterm elections may well empower Democrats in competitive races, leading to avoidable GOP losses.
Following a chaotic seven months in a White House defined by infighting and few substantial achievements, Bannon has attempted to reassert influence over the direction of the administration and the Republican Party more broadly.
On Monday, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he is "declaring war on the Republican establishment" in an effort to promote GOP leaders loyal to the populist, nationalist platform Trump campaigned on.
And Bannon has just two requirements for these candidates: They must disavow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and they must vote to end the Senate filibuster.
'Nobody's safe': GOP senators under fire
Bannon has vowed to back right-wing challengers to six Republican incumbents up for reelection in 2018. And he scored his first victory when right-wing candidate Roy Moore beat GOP incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, who was endorsed by Trump, in Alabama's September primary runoff for the Senate seat Jeff Sessions left when he became attorney general.
While all of the incumbents have voted with Trump at least 90% of the time, Bannon claims that the "establishment globalist clique on Capitol Hill" has "total contempt for the forgotten man," the white working class voters Trump purports to be fighting for.
"Even safe incumbents like Barrasso and Deb Fischer, they have to understand something — just voting is not good enough, you have to have a sense of urgency," Bannon told Hannity on Monday, referring to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso and Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer.
"Nobody's safe, we're coming after all of them, and we're gonna win," he said.
In Nevada and Arizona, where Sen. Dean Heller and Sen. Jeff Flake, respectively, are widely viewed as the most vulnerable GOP incumbents, primary challengers have already announced their bids. Kelli Ward, a former Arizona state senator who was unofficially endorsed by Trump, has raised more than $1 million so far in 2017, while in Nevada, Danny Tarkanian, an independently wealthy businessman, is polling well among primary voters, more than half of whom say they'll vote for someone besides Heller.
'Strategically suicidal'
The GOP establishment is both furious and fearful of Bannon's organized attack and are warning that the party must take his threats seriously.
Matt Mackowiak, a GOP strategist and president of the Potomac Strategy Group, told Business Insider that Bannon's plan may well leave the GOP with devastating losses in key states, while diverting needed resources from races against vulnerable Democrats.
"We have limited resources. Where are they gonna go? Are they going to go to try to shore up establishment senators in red seats in red states?" he asked. "That is strategically insane. That is strategically suicidal. We ought to be spending 95% of our money on the five most competitive US Senate races next cycle."
Indeed, Bannon alleges that top GOP donors are abandoning McConnell and the establishment, opting to fund his efforts instead.
"Karl Rove, Steven Law, these guys should get the joke," Bannon told Hannity, referring to top GOP operatives. "Their donors are coming to us because they are tired of having their money burned up by trying to destroy people like Judge Moore. There's a new game in town."
Others on team Trump argue that there's plenty of money to go around.
"I've never known a Senate race to lose for lack of resources," Ed Brookover, a former senior adviser to Trump's transition and a partner at a DC public affairs firm, told Business Insider. "I don't have a concern about the primaries draining the budgets of conservative and Republican organizations."
Bannon's most prominent benefactors are the Mercer family — billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer, who have poured tens of millions of dollars into conservative politics and funded Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign before turning their support over to Trump.
Challenging Cruz is likely off the table in part because of the senator's close relationship with the Mercers.
While it's unlikely that more than a few of the primary challengers will upset their opponents, the possibility may leave Democrats in a stronger position in competitive states like Arizona and Nevada.
An 'irresponsible populist cowboy'
Some mainstream Republicans argue that Bannon, who resumed his job as head of the right-wing Breitbart News after leaving the White House, is on a personal mission to repair his image and boost his power to the detriment of the Trump presidency and the party.
"I think he's trying to mask his failure inside the White House and blame others for his seven months being effectively fruitless, certainly legislatively fruitless," Mackowiak said, calling Bannon "a net negative" in the West Wing who was incapable of negotiating on Capitol Hill. "We have one irresponsible populist cowboy that's threatening to blow the whole thing up for his own reasons and I think that is deeply irresponsible, strategically unwise, and that threat is very real."
Others say Bannon is, in fact, being strategic, given that his stated goal is to effectively recreate the GOP in Trump's image.
"There's already a fracture within the GOP, but it's not a clean break yet," Galen said. "I think he is looking to make as jagged a break and as ugly a break as he can between what he sees as the nationalist, nativist Trump wing and the establishment, whatever's left of Rockefeller Republicans."
Bannon's risky approach may stem from his fatalistic view of the Trump administration, which he reportedly predicts won't make it to 2020. Behind closed doors, Bannon has reportedly argued that Trump has a 30% chance of completing his first term and that his own cabinet and vice president will eventually force him out of office. (mvl comment . Bannon has vehemently denied the assertion.)
Whether or not Bannon is successful in remaking the Republican Party, in the short term Democrats are poised to benefit from the party's disunity.
"A fractious, bloody, nasty, expensive civil war within the Republican Party next year benefits the Democratic Party," Mackowiak said. "The only people cheering are Democrats, they're absolutely thrilled to death."
***The GOP establishment is furious and fearful of Bannon's vow to blow up the party establishment.
***While some think Bannon is on a mission to repair his personal image and boost his power, others say he remains a devoted loyalist of President Donald Trump who is intent on remaking the party in the president's image.
Steve Bannon, President Donald Trump's former campaign manager and top White House strategist, is on a mission to blow up the Republican Party.
While Bannon, who left the White House in August, claims to be fighting for Trump and the West Wing's agenda, his pledge to challenge every incumbent GOP senator — save for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz — in the 2018 midterm elections may well empower Democrats in competitive races, leading to avoidable GOP losses.
Following a chaotic seven months in a White House defined by infighting and few substantial achievements, Bannon has attempted to reassert influence over the direction of the administration and the Republican Party more broadly.
On Monday, he told Fox News host Sean Hannity that he is "declaring war on the Republican establishment" in an effort to promote GOP leaders loyal to the populist, nationalist platform Trump campaigned on.
And Bannon has just two requirements for these candidates: They must disavow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and they must vote to end the Senate filibuster.
'Nobody's safe': GOP senators under fire
Bannon has vowed to back right-wing challengers to six Republican incumbents up for reelection in 2018. And he scored his first victory when right-wing candidate Roy Moore beat GOP incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, who was endorsed by Trump, in Alabama's September primary runoff for the Senate seat Jeff Sessions left when he became attorney general.
While all of the incumbents have voted with Trump at least 90% of the time, Bannon claims that the "establishment globalist clique on Capitol Hill" has "total contempt for the forgotten man," the white working class voters Trump purports to be fighting for.
"Even safe incumbents like Barrasso and Deb Fischer, they have to understand something — just voting is not good enough, you have to have a sense of urgency," Bannon told Hannity on Monday, referring to Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso and Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer.
"Nobody's safe, we're coming after all of them, and we're gonna win," he said.
In Nevada and Arizona, where Sen. Dean Heller and Sen. Jeff Flake, respectively, are widely viewed as the most vulnerable GOP incumbents, primary challengers have already announced their bids. Kelli Ward, a former Arizona state senator who was unofficially endorsed by Trump, has raised more than $1 million so far in 2017, while in Nevada, Danny Tarkanian, an independently wealthy businessman, is polling well among primary voters, more than half of whom say they'll vote for someone besides Heller.
'Strategically suicidal'
The GOP establishment is both furious and fearful of Bannon's organized attack and are warning that the party must take his threats seriously.
Matt Mackowiak, a GOP strategist and president of the Potomac Strategy Group, told Business Insider that Bannon's plan may well leave the GOP with devastating losses in key states, while diverting needed resources from races against vulnerable Democrats.
"We have limited resources. Where are they gonna go? Are they going to go to try to shore up establishment senators in red seats in red states?" he asked. "That is strategically insane. That is strategically suicidal. We ought to be spending 95% of our money on the five most competitive US Senate races next cycle."
Indeed, Bannon alleges that top GOP donors are abandoning McConnell and the establishment, opting to fund his efforts instead.
"Karl Rove, Steven Law, these guys should get the joke," Bannon told Hannity, referring to top GOP operatives. "Their donors are coming to us because they are tired of having their money burned up by trying to destroy people like Judge Moore. There's a new game in town."
Others on team Trump argue that there's plenty of money to go around.
"I've never known a Senate race to lose for lack of resources," Ed Brookover, a former senior adviser to Trump's transition and a partner at a DC public affairs firm, told Business Insider. "I don't have a concern about the primaries draining the budgets of conservative and Republican organizations."
Bannon's most prominent benefactors are the Mercer family — billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebekah Mercer, who have poured tens of millions of dollars into conservative politics and funded Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign before turning their support over to Trump.
Challenging Cruz is likely off the table in part because of the senator's close relationship with the Mercers.
While it's unlikely that more than a few of the primary challengers will upset their opponents, the possibility may leave Democrats in a stronger position in competitive states like Arizona and Nevada.
An 'irresponsible populist cowboy'
Some mainstream Republicans argue that Bannon, who resumed his job as head of the right-wing Breitbart News after leaving the White House, is on a personal mission to repair his image and boost his power to the detriment of the Trump presidency and the party.
"I think he's trying to mask his failure inside the White House and blame others for his seven months being effectively fruitless, certainly legislatively fruitless," Mackowiak said, calling Bannon "a net negative" in the West Wing who was incapable of negotiating on Capitol Hill. "We have one irresponsible populist cowboy that's threatening to blow the whole thing up for his own reasons and I think that is deeply irresponsible, strategically unwise, and that threat is very real."
Others say Bannon is, in fact, being strategic, given that his stated goal is to effectively recreate the GOP in Trump's image.
"There's already a fracture within the GOP, but it's not a clean break yet," Galen said. "I think he is looking to make as jagged a break and as ugly a break as he can between what he sees as the nationalist, nativist Trump wing and the establishment, whatever's left of Rockefeller Republicans."
Bannon's risky approach may stem from his fatalistic view of the Trump administration, which he reportedly predicts won't make it to 2020. Behind closed doors, Bannon has reportedly argued that Trump has a 30% chance of completing his first term and that his own cabinet and vice president will eventually force him out of office. (mvl comment . Bannon has vehemently denied the assertion.)
Whether or not Bannon is successful in remaking the Republican Party, in the short term Democrats are poised to benefit from the party's disunity.
"A fractious, bloody, nasty, expensive civil war within the Republican Party next year benefits the Democratic Party," Mackowiak said. "The only people cheering are Democrats, they're absolutely thrilled to death."
The Investigation Into The Las Vegas Shooting Took A Disturbing Twist
The ever-changing story surrounding the Las Vegas shooting just took another twist.According to the police, there was a six minute gap between the time the gunman sprayed a hallway with 200 rounds in a confrontation with a hotel security guard and when he began his massacre on fans at a country music festival.
The management group of the Mandalay Bay hotel is refuting this account.
They contend the gunman began firing upon concert goers within seconds of shooting their employee.
The Los Angeles Times reports:
“The company that runs the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino has disputed the timeline offered by Las Vegas police for the Oct. 1 mass shooting at the hotel, suggesting Thursday that very little time had elapsed between when gunman Stephen Paddock shot a hotel security guard and when he started firing on a concert crowd outside.
The police timeline indicates that six minutes elapsed after security guard Jesus Campos was shot outside Paddock’s hotel room door before Paddock fired his first shots at the crowd, but MGM Resorts International managers say they are “now confident” that the timeline is “not accurate.”
“We know that shots were being fired at the festival lot at the same time as, or within 40 seconds after, the time Jesus Campos first reported that shots were fired over the radio,” the company, which owns Mandalay Bay, said in a statement.”
But the Los Angeles Times reports the hotel’s statement raises even further questions because it only indicates when the security guard reported being shot, not when the gunman actually shot him:
“One crucial element missing from the hotel’s statement: What time Campos was shot, as opposed to what time he reported being shot.
The statement confirms that Campos, who was wounded in a leg after Paddock fired an estimated 200 bullets through his hotel room door, may have reported a gunman in the hotel sometime before the massacre began at 10:05 p.m.. It continues to raise questions about why it took police at least 12 minutes to reach the gunman’s floor when armed security and Las Vegas police were already in the building.
Pressure has mounted on Mandalay Bay to comment in recent days after Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo said Monday that the gunman shot Campos in the leg in the 32nd floor hallway at 9:59 p.m., a full six minutes before the massacre began.
An assistant sheriff told The Times on Tuesday that Campos called in the shooting before Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nev., started firing out his windows at the 21,000 people attending the Route 91 Harvest country music festival across the street.
MGM’s statement Thursday said company managers now believed the 9:59 p.m. time given for Campos’ shooting was not accurate. They said an erroneous report was given to investigators by Mandalay Bay “without the benefit of information we now have.”
As this investigation continues, the more information made available to the public, the more questions that are raised as opposed to answered.
We will continue to keep you updated on any new developments in this investigation.
Fitzgerald: John Farrell blew chance to show leadership
Joe Fitzgerald
Credit: AP photo Former Boston Red Sox manager John FarrellSometimes we have reason to regret things we didn’t say as much as we might rue things we did say. And the guessing here is, if life gave deposed Red Sox manager John Farrell another chance to deal with the insolent David Price, he might be more inclined to inform the bratty southpaw that unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated.
But life doesn’t work that way, so Farrell — a decent guy who, in addition to beating cancer, skippered the Sox to back-to-back AL East titles and a World Series championship — leaves with a stigma that will forever be linked to his name.
When Price ambushed Dennis Eckersley on a charter flight in June, blasting and mocking the popular Hall of Famer for his critical candor as a NESN commentator, it was an affront to a baseball community that regards Eck as a Fenway Park treasure.
To hear he was trashed in front of the team was flat-out offensive.
It was also Farrell’s moment to shine. Punks and prima donnas have never been looked upon with favor in this town, so Farrell was the voice of fans longing to see Price put in his place.
Instead he remained mum, blowing a chance to exhibit the kind of leadership Boston fans have always savored.
Remember Morgan Magic? That’s what they called it when Walpole’s Joe Morgan, the Sox’ third base coach, was elevated to manager after John McNamara was fired for bringing a 43-42 record into the All-Star break.
It was like giving spinach to Popeye. The Sox won 19 of their next 20 games, but what cemented Joe’s stature was an early run-in he had with Jim Rice.
“It was a see-saw game with the Twins,” Joe, now 87, recalled yesterday. “We had a one-run lead going into the last of the eighth. Ellis Burks was on first. I’m not a bunting manager, but I thought, ‘I’ve got to play for an extra run here.’ It so happened Jim was the second hitter up and I wasn’t going to make him try to bunt.”
So Joe dispatched Spike Owen to the plate, enraging Rice, who began shouting at him. Soon the two were locked in a runway tussle with Morgan shouting, “I’m the manager!” as cooler heads pulled them apart.
In the heat of that moment Walpole Joe, who very much remains a Jim Rice admirer, forever endeared himself to denizens of this baseball town.
Farrell could have had such a moment.
Instead he let it slip by, and that silence will follow him forever.
Mueller Gets Bad News, He Deserves This
Frank Spear
Mueller’s special counsel has admitted to not finding any wrongdoing on President Trump’s behalf, yet they are still searching.
Now, Mueller received a message that he needs to take seriously. According to the The Daily Caller, nineteen Republican members of Congress signed a letter requesting hearings in Congress regarding Mueller and his investigation. The goal is to make sure that Mueller and his team of lawyers are being held accountable. This is something that has been on the minds of many Americans leading up to the investigation.
The letter was signed and sent out on Friday. It was directed to both House Judiciary Committee chairman Bob Goodlatte, and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley.
“This team has sweeping authority and an open-ended mission, yet they are allowed to operate largely in secret, selected by and ultimately accountable to only one person: Mr. Mueller himself,” the letter states.
An attempt to get this letter signed and organized was started back in August. Texas Rep. Brian Babin urged his fellow Republicans to sign on so that people can finally achieve some transparency. Investigations are markedly hindered by the information relevant to it making its way into the public sphere of knowledge prematurely. In a word, that means that some silence is obviously to be expected, if indeed we do expect a thorough and unbiased investigation. However, the total silence surrounding the issue is beyond deafening. It’s been the better part of a year — if the investigation isn’t bearing any fruit, and there’s nothing whatsoever that can be disclosed to the public, is that not indicative of an investigation gone cold?
“With numerous reports emerging almost every day on possible conflicts of interest and allegations of political bias, it would be in the interest of both the public and the Special Counsel team to speak to the American people through their elected representatives in Congress,” the letter points out.
They have the goal of bringing “Mueller and his team out of the shadows and into the public square.” This will offer the level of transparency that the American people expect — and deserve.
Out of the lawyers hired by Mueller, only one is a registered Republican, out of seventeen. Nine of the seventeen have made around $65,000 dollars in donations to the Democrats.
AP
G’ day…Ciao…
Helen and Moe Lauzier
G’ day…Ciao…
Helen and Moe Lauzier
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