In her Fast Forward news summary for the Boston Globe today, Teresa Hanafin writes:
Today’s witness in the hot seat on Capitol Hill is Gordon Sondland, the hotelier who donated a million bucks to Trump’s inauguration and in exchange, got to be the US ambassador to the European Union. He’s neck-deep in the Ukraine mess because Trump pushed aside the experienced diplomats and tapped the naif Sondland — and Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani — to lead the pressure campaign against Ukraine designed to dirty up Joe Biden.
Sondland is expected to tell lawmakers that he didn’t like Trump’s request that he coordinate all Ukraine contacts through Giuliani, and that by mid-summer, he realized that Trump had a preconditionbefore he would agree to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office: an investigation into Joe and Hunter Biden that would benefit Trump politically. He’ll also testify that the text message he sent to Bill Taylor, a top US diplomat for Ukraine, denying that there was a quid pro quo, was dictated by Trump.
Fiona Hill, one of Trump’s former top foreign policy advisers who testified earlier this week, told lawmakers that she considered Sondland to be a national security risk because of his inexperience, a naiveté that she thought foreign bad actors could easily exploit. Plus he used a personal cell phone for official business.
The back-slapping, glad-handing businessman also didn’t understand protocol: For example, he constantly invited foreign officials to visit the White House any time they wanted, but he never made any definite arrangements. Sure enough, a Romanian delegation showed up unannounced at the White House door one day, saying Sondland had invited them. I hope they at least got a meal and some MAGA hats for their trouble.
Sondland is undergoing scrutiny for another matter: He is spending close to $1 million in taxpayer money to jazz up the ambassador’s residence on the outskirts of Brussels. These are not simple renovations: He’s spending $400,000 to build a second kitchen and spruce up the main one, $33,000 for handmade furniture from Italy, nearly $30,000 for a new sound system, and $95,000 for an outdoor “living pod” with a pergola that has electric heating, LED lighting strips, and a remote-control system.
Jeez, if the Ukraine president can’t wrangle a White House invitation, maybe he can get a luxury hot tub session at Sondland’s fancy digs.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
If there is any person left in the US intelligence community who doesn’t understand that a) Trump is a Russian asset and b) Trump is using the Presidency to further his personal ends, as he has done with everything else in his lifetime (his charity, other people), then we really need to rethink using the term “intelligence” to refer to him or her.
Trump spends very little time on the job. We should probably refer to him as the Resident of the Whiter House rather than as the President. And when he is on the job, he’s thinking about Trump–screaming in immigration meetings that he wants legal asylum seekers shot because “It’s my issue!”; calling on Russia to hack his opponent’s emails and on Ukraine to investigate Biden in exchange for military aid and a meeting; making defense policy unilaterally, in opposition to everyone around him, to please his handler, Vlad, who bailed him out of bankruptcy and then put enormous resources into getting Trump elected; using his charity as a personal piggybank; propping up his failing businesses by having military officers and visiting diplomats stay at his hotels and by having major officials pay to use his facilities (Barr’s party); suggesting that international meetings be held at his resorts; and so on.
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Vlad’s Asset Orange, the Russian Resident of the Whiter House, Moscow’s Asset Governing America (MAGA), Don the Con, aka The Don Cheeto (Bloody Little Fingers) Trumpbalone.
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You are right, Bob.
dpt works for Putin.
Putin is worth billions: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a14480615/vladimir-putin-net-worth/
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The corruption knows no end and is overwhelming. Meanwhile sellouts like Moscow Mitch protect a BLOATUS who extorts vulnerable foreign powers with the public’s money for his own personal benefit. And this from the party that purports to be for family values and religion and this from the party that purports to be for family values and religion. I must’ve missed those Bible verses in religion class…
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Diane, I do enjoy some of these articles but as teacher for 25 years in Chicago I am frightened that there will be no changes. I watched the recent democratic debate and there as no mention of k12 education. I like Warren but I am shocked to see that her campaign is still ignoring calls for them to release a plan or even an update on her policies. I think it is unfair and its disheartning to see it being ignored on these platforms. Great shame.
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OMG a hotelier conducting state business on his personal cell phone. Does it get any shoddier? I know Tillerman emptied out the State Dept, but somehow you’d think there’d be a nice little orientation aide or something to clue in newbies. And the poor guy didn’t even have enough background to think twice about texting lies dictated by prez on said easily-traceable phone…
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“Most Americans couldn’t find Ukraine on a map, much less follow the intricacies of this hyped-up political soap opera. The only thing most American voters (who are not partisan Dems) are going to take from this is something they understand quite well: Biden’s grinning idiot son got a sweet $50k/mo(!) because daddy was VP. Biden can protest all day long that no one did anything “illegal”, but try convincing Joe Lunchbucket, who doesn’t even make $50k/yr, that it isn’t corruption.
“Maybe that’s the problem with the Dem elite — they’re all millionaires who cannot fathom that $50,000 is a helluva lot of money to average working people. The only way the average person would see that much money rolling in every month is if they won the lottery.
“The Dems shot themselves in the foot (and head) going after Trump on Ukraine.”
Comment from “TopCat” on The Intercept https://theintercept.com/2019/10/17/ukrainian-oligarch-helping-trump-smear-biden-evade-u-s-corruption-charges/?comments=1#comments
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Maybe the good news is this will hurt Biden’s chances to get the Dem nomination.
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And then they go after Bernie, whose wife got a $200,000 “severance” package after she bankrupted a college.
And then they go after Elizabeth Warren for some other “outrage” in which the propaganda fools the “average” guy to think that it is outrageous that Bernie’s wife got a $200,000 severance for doing nothing when they can’t earn $50,000/year.
I get why the right wing promotes that propaganda and looks for reasons to make the little guy hate Joe Biden or Bernie Sanders and think they are frauds because his wife or his son got money they clearly didn’t earn from their hard work.
But I don’t understand why the left would be repeating that dreck. I think that anyone who criticizes Biden’s son or Bernie’s wife and works hard to repeat the right wing talking points that the “little guy” who doesn’t get a $200,000 severance package will not like it is someone who wants the Republicans to win.
Anyone who really cared about corruption would hate the Republicans a lot more than the Democrats. When it is the other way around, it is clearly not about corruption at all, that’s just a handy talking point to destroy good people like Bernie or Joe Biden.
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Trump will seek to destroy the Democrats one at a time. First, Biden. Then Warren. Then Bernie. He will find dirt on everyone and blow it up into a scandal. Trump, of course, has led a faultless life.
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One of the unfortunate realities of history is that it is the wealthy are always the ones in position to govern and the ones in position to get positions in business. Take Toussiant L’Ouverture, the leader of the Rebellion against the French and Spanish and then the English in the war that created Haiti. He was actually a planter and slave owner himself.
Perhaps that is because the regular old guy never gets time to read enough to understand politics. Perhaps it is because politics is a dirty business. I cannot say, but I think it unwise to besmirch everybody in politics, for no one will ever want to be in politics except those who do not care. I think this presents us with a real problem that is only solvable with a lot of transparency.
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One of the unfortunate problems is that people who claim to be progressives are much more bothered with the idea that a connected Democrat’s kid might get a $600,000 year job while their parents are fighting for people with high incomes to pay higher taxes, than they are about the Republican’s children who make tens of millions of dollars and their Republican parents are making sure that their taxes stay very low.
What amazes me is how stupid people think the “average voter” is. If they are bothered by Biden’s son, why wouldn’t they be bothered by Bernie’s wife and the money she raked in bankrupting that college she received an extremely generous salary to run? Do you think that voters think getting a $200,000 severance package for bankrupting a college is money earned?
I don’t understand why progressives are so incensed at Bernie’s wife and Biden’s son making way too generous salaries when the Democrats are fighting for their income to be taxed at a higher rate.
Can you imagine the stupidity of someone who says “I refuse to vote for the corrupt Bernie because his wife made too much money from that college she bankrupted, or I refuse to vote for the corrupt Biden because his son made too much money, but I’ll definitely vote for Trump and the other Republicans because not only did their kids earn 100 times more than those lousy Democrats, but i want to support Republicans who can make sure their kids get to keep all their money and pay low tax rates on it.
Really, that’s your argument? That as long as any relative has a high paying job he or she is clearly not qualified to do, that person should not be President?
I think Bernie would make a fine President despite his wife’s job. If you don’t, then you are either a right wing Trump supporter, or a hypocrite.
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Yeah, gotta agree, NYC parent. Well said.
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You are just repeating republican talking points. The same the right are doing to Biden. Jane Sanders is no Hunter Biden. It is really sad to see you try and make that comparison.
Jane Sanders was hired by Vermont college in 2004. The college needed many changes and struggled financially. By 2007/8 she helped turn things around leading to a 300,000 surplus. The problems came when Jane pounced on the opportunity to buy a 33 acre property to expand the college. She did not make this decision alone. It was backed by the College’s board.A local bank, People’s United, approved a loan and financial support provided based on the recommendation of the consulting firm PFM. There were some who were against the deal, citing that it was too massive of a property to undertake for a small college. Others argued that a bold plan was needed. The college was under a great deal of strain with low applicant numbers. It was hoped that a showpiece campus would change that. Ultimately it was a gamble that proved to be a mistake.hindsight is always 20/20. She was dismissed from the college in 2014 following disagreements on the project which was ultimately shelved.
The accusations you raise came up 2 years later. It was started by a republican donor named Rodolphe M. Vallee. Mrs Sanders and Mr Vallee already had a long standing feud. The Trump campaign in 2016 wrote a letter to the justice department requesting an investigation. This was dropped.
Jane absolutely became the subject of a witch hunt spearheaded by Republicans.She made a valiant effort to save the school, but for a host of reasons, it didn’t pan out. And she was investigated and never charged. I suggest you stop with the republican talking points.
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I am pointing out the hypocrisy of people who repeat the entirely dishonest Republican talking points to smear Joe Biden and Dems but don’t realize that embracing the lies of the right wing propaganda is going to come back and bite YOUR candidate. What makes you think Bernie won’t be smeared the same way? If he wins the nomination, this is exactly what he is going to get.
First they go after the trade unionists…
There are A LOT of reasons to criticize Joe Biden on the policies he promotes. Same with criticisms of Elizabeth Warren’s policies. Criticism of policy is legitimate.
So why would you embrace the right wing smear attacks instead of offering up legitimate criticism unless you want to legitimatize those character attacks so that when they come for Bernie, there will be no one left to defend him.
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Do you think “most Americans” are equally offended that Trump’s idiot children rake in millions of dollars every month making business deals, trading on Daddy’s position, while protected by the Secret Service?
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Should the Democrats have ignored Trump’s vigorous efforts to get foreign governments to dig dirt on his opponents? “TopCat” must be a Trump plant.
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Can someone please explain why – when Trump is directing business to his own resort and his children are raking in millions and lowering taxes on the rich while bankrupting this country — some “little guy” would be upset because a Democrat who wants to tax the rich has a kid or wife who is overpaid for their job?
Who is this “little guy” who doesn’t understand why a politician’s wife would get a $200,000 severance package but are okay with the President enriching himself and his children in exchange for foreign policy favors? I don’t think this little guy exists except as a propaganda tool for people who want Trump to win again.
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Party game:
How many members of the US Putin Administration can you name? You must give first and last name, title, and name of the organization that he or she has been selected to undermine. Extra point if you can name the person whom he or she reports to. E.g., Donald Trump, President, Executive Branch. Reports to Vlad.
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“Person of Interest”….the kicker at the top of this post…
That’s a funny phrase. Because Donald Trump might be one of the people I am the LEAST interested in of all time. Except, I have to be interested in him and his ilk because they could possibly destroy the planet I’m living on, home to me and my loved ones.
I remember the moment Trump clinched the election….I was following 538 and watching Diane and friends’ posts on here. And, one of my very first thoughts when Trump won was, oh, NO, please no, my God, 4 tedious years of listening to the world media spout on about the blatherings of this complete idiot. (Yeah, that’s a bit selfish on my part but it was my first reaction.)
But the thing is, the more we know about the Trumps (and believe me, I never wanted to know much to begin with) there’s very little we hear about Trump’s now 13-year-old son, Barron.
Which is the “custom”. And, that is good. Leave the boy out of this mess.
But isn’t THAT odd. Because, for all of Trump’s rantings about the free press, they certainly seem to have given his family a pass out of common human decency. Sure, Trump can try to destroy many of the customs and conventions that help preserve civility in our nation, but when push comes to shove his family is still off limits in some regards (while at the same time he goes about devastating our families!)
So, let me mention Trump’s son. Or, rather, let me mention Donald Trump, the FATHER. And, I truly wish my comments here would go “viral” because someone needs to call out #45 on this one…. Or, probably people already have and I just missed it.
What kind of father is Donald Trump? I mean he’s busy watching Fox News and inviting dictators to the White House and making weirdo phone calls and tweeting his dumbest thoughts and otherwise wrecking the planet. When does Trump actually hang out with his kid, Barron?
I’m trying to figure this one out. I’m a classroom teacher, I own an old, ramshackle house I’m trying to keep from falling into the ground, I read a book now or then. Me and my wife go to the diner in town to have lunch once in a while…that’s a big excursion for us. But I’ve had very little time to do anything else the past 21 years. But when I do, I try to BE WITH MY KIDS.
What kind of father is Donald Trump? I mean, is this guy the ultimate DEADBEAT DAD, or what?
When you hear the phrase “Deadbeat Dad” the first image that tends to come to mind is some low rent guy who isn’t paying child support. Rusty car, cigarette dangling from his mouth. But Trump is cheating ALL the kids in our country, racking up trillions in trillions in national debt, encouraging environmental destruction, making light of a murderous dictator who tortures his people in the most hideous ways… Really, he’s cheating children all over this PLANET.
BTW neighbors tell me that Trump’s older sons sometimes stop by the diner down in town. They own property or something in this corner of Upstate New York. I sometimes wonder what my reaction would be some fine morning if the Trump progeny interrupted my egg and cheese sandwich on a hard roll? There is still a first amendment, though I have to wonder how the so-called secret service would react if I dared to even utter a calm word or two to Donald Jr. -in my local diner?
A footnote: here’s the link to a recent piece about Barron Trump. Note the references to the proper decorum shown to the “first family”. As for the rest of the families in our country, especially ones who work hard to barely get by, well, that’s a WHOLE other story.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2019/08/19/barron-trump-taller-than-mom-heels-sporting-new-haircut/2054629001/
Have a great day, everyone!
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He recently referred—in what was presumably a slip of the tongue—to his youngest son as “her child.” Not “our child,” but “her child.” In all the photos of the Orange One, you never see this child. You don’t see Donald throwing a ball with him or teaching him how to play golf. No interaction. Not, I am guessing, to shield him, but because Donald isn’t interested in him. Sad.
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I’m glad that the boy is being shielded from the spotlight and likely from his father. It is rumored that Barron lives in a gated community not far from his school with Melania’s parents and is offered the privacy that he deserves. The school that Barron attends has the reputation for dealing with wealthy children who “learn differently”……this could be why his father chooses to refer to Barron as “her child”. If you remember, the same thing happened with Tiffany. She was a beautiful child and good for photo ops, until she required real parenting and then Daddy didn’t have the time. It was Ivanka who raised the 3 older children while “The Donald” was off making the fake money. Trump is NOT Daddy material because he can’t handle anyone getting more attention than him…even though they are his own children. The man is sick!
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BLOATUS runs an extortion racket out of the White House and they complain about “socialists”. Got it.
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