Steve Thomas

7 details from a new report expose financial turmoil — and bitter backstabbing — inside the Trump campaign By Cody Fenwick, AlterNet September 7, 2020 https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/7-details-from-a-new-report-expose-financial-turmoil-and-bitter-backstabbing-inside-the-trump-campaign/ 1. The big takeaway: Trump has poured $800 million down the drain with little to show for it 7. Much of the money remains mysteriously unaccounted for What a surprise. Steve Thomas

- Donald Trump 09/07/20 - "I'm not saying the military's in love with me. The soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren't because they want to do nothing but fight wars, so all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy" Is Trump setting up the average soldier to ignore their chain of command, and take orders only from him? I don't know how far he will get with calling them losers and suckers and everything, but I have read that he's pissed because no top generals have risen to dispute the allegations that have come out. He'll probably say that the average grunts are suckers for following all those military-industrial war mongers. Steve Thomas

A Trump campaign staffer mocked Joe Biden for visiting his son's grave. https://twitter.com/scottycatt/status/1302731179091587072 scottycatt @scottycatt 5:11 PM · Sep 6, 2020 Replying to @michs_usa @PattyArquette and @FrancisBrennan "These MAGATS can always go lower. Count on it." Steve Thomas

What does Arlington National Cemetery make you think of? From Donald Trump, Jr.’s new book: "Triggered: How the Left Thrives on Hate and Wants to Silence Us." "Meanwhile, it also took two months for me to realize the enormity of what my father had accomplished, and the weight of the job that he’d won. It was the day before the inauguration, and we were driving into Arlington National Cemetery, where he was to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I rarely get emotional, if ever. I guess you’d call me hyper-rational, stoic. Yet, as we drove past the rows of white grave markers, in the gravity of the moment, I had a deep sense of the importance of the presidency and a love of our country. I was never prouder of my father than when I watched as he stood before the tomb, his hand over his heart, while the Army bugler played 'Taps.' "In that moment, I also thought of all the attacks we’d already suffered as a family, and about all the sacrifices we’d have to make to help my father succeed—voluntarily giving up a huge chunk of our business and all international deals to avoid the appearance that we were 'profiting off the office.'" Steve Thomas

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Military officials are discussing ‘disobeying unlawful’ orders over fears of what Trump might do: ex-Marine lawmaker By Tom Boggioni September 6, 2020 https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/military-officials-are-discussing-disobeying-unlawful-orders-over-fears-of-what-trump-might-do-ex-marine-lawmaker/ “Speaking remotely with MSNBC’s Alex Witt, Rep. Seth Mouton (D) — who served in Iraq as a Marine — criticized Donald Trump for his comments calling U.S. servicepeople “losers and suckers” and said dissatisfaction with the president is pervasive within the armed forces. Asked by the host how past and present U.S. military members view the president, the moderate Massachusetts lawmaker was blunt. “What have you heard from troops? ” host Witt asked. “Those that are your constituent, veterans that have come home or those who you’re in contact?” “Well, I’m not going to speak for every veteran, but I can’t tell you how many have reached out to me and said that they have discussions now in the military about what it means to disobey unlawful orders, because they fully expect them from the commander in chief,” Mouton replied. “There are a lot of people, even inside the White House, who believe that he’s going to try to get the military to keep him in power after he loses this election to Joe Biden.”” Steve Thomas

"Hello Dispatcher"? I'd like to report a metaphor for the Trump campaign at Travis Lake." Steve Thomas

The Republican convention was an altar call at the Church of White Masculinity The RNC wasn't just a celebration of Trump — it was a religious revival meant to harken back to a lost golden age https://www.salon.com/2020/09/06/the-republican-convention-was-an-altar-call-at-the-church-of-white-masculinity/ By Eric McDaniel September 6, 2020 “This altar call is not much different from Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" or D.W. Griffith's "Birth of a Nation," which both portrayed white men as the saviors of civilization.” “As ordained bishop of the church of white masculinity, President Trump has attempted to impose his masculinity by questioning the masculinity of his male opponents and showing disgust for his female adversaries.” On the opening night of the Republican Convention, Charlie Kirk, the young founder of the organization Turning Point USA, dubbed President Trump the “bodyguard of western civilization.” Steve Thomas

Joe, Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/10/the-changing-profile-of-the-u-s-military/ The changing profile of the U.S. military: "A look at the racial and ethnic profile of active duty service members shows that while the majority of the military is non-Hispanic white, black and Hispanic adults represent sizable and growing shares of the armed forces. In 2017, 57% of U.S. service members were white, 16% were black and 16% were Hispanic. Some 4% of all active duty personnel were Asian and an additional 6% identified as “other” or unknown. The share of racial and ethnic minorities in the military has grown steadily in recent decades. Hispanics, in particular, are the fastest growing minority population in the military – a shift that aligns with larger demographic trends in the United States. In 2004, 36% of active duty military were black, Hispanic, Asian or some other racial or ethnic group. Black service members made up about half of all racial and ethnic minorities at that time. By 2017, the share of active duty military who were non-Hispanic white had fallen, while racial and ethnic minorities made up 43% – and within that group, blacks dropped from 51% in 2004 to 39% in 2017 just as the share of Hispanics rose from 25% to 36%." Sorry, I should have said, "racial and ethnic minorities". Steve Thomas

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Bill, Yes, it is. You can also go here and read what Oswald was supposed to be doing in Irving while he is also supposed to be shooting a gun at the Sports Drome: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=40391#relPageId=286&tab=page Steve Thomas

To James DiEugenio Jim, Just as an aside, how about this for coincidence? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/49th_Armored_Division “In September 1961, an executive order alerted the division for mobilization at Dallas due to the 1961 Berlin Crisis.[1] On October 15, 1961, the division entered federal service, and it subsequently deployed to Fort Polk, LA. The division was to stay there ten months. In May 1962, the division staged the large-scale Exercise Iron Dragoon, still remembered among National Guard armor exercises. Also while at Fort Polk the division's missile unit became the first Army National Guard unit to fire the Honest John nuclear-tipped surface-to-surface missile. The 49th Armored Division reverted to Texas State control in August 1962.” http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/russ/testimony/ryder.htm Mr. LIEBELER. Have you been in the military service? Mr. RYDER. Yes, sir. Mr. LIEBELER. What branch were you in? Mr. RYDER. Went in the National Guard. 49th Armored Division which I am still an active member. Mr. LIEBELER. Of the National Guard? Mr. RYDER. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. Where were you stationed while on active duty? Mr. RYDER. Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Knox for advanced individual training, and Fort Polk, La., with the 49th. Mr. LIEBELER. What kind of training did you receive? Mr. RYDER. Armored tank training. Mr. LIEBELER. You served as a tanker at Fort Polk? Mr. RYDER. Yes, sir. Mr. LIEBELER. What is your rank in the National Guard? Mr. RYDER. Now? Mr. LIEBELER. Yes. Mr. RYDER. Sergeant. Posted by Rosh Plumlee in the Education Forum 11/12/2004 http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/topic/1972-felipe-vidal-santiago/?page=4 (In a response to Larry Hancock) “I too was in the Texas National Guard 49th Armord Div before I went into the regular Army in 1953 at Ft Bliss Texas... Capt Siewell was my CO officer at Love Field in 1954 until 1956... Do you have my military files? If so who signed off on my becoming a CPL in 1954? So am I lying? You say he resigned the Guard, true... but he actually transfered to the regular Army Reserve, the same as I did... MOS: WR Plumlee 1795, 3795 Tank Crew man Tk Comander, Sherman Tank. Cpl. Plumlee Mos 'Unknown; Unknown" Ft Bliss Texas; Texas National Guard; Unknown. OO Records at Office of Adjutant General State of Texas Camp Mabry, Texas. Texas National Guard; Texas Forth Army Reserve; Certified Copy of Available Document By; XXX referenced doc.” Steve Thomas

Jim, Ryder said, "Mr. LIEBELER. You did have quite a lot of work at this time mounting telescopic sights? Mr. RYDER. Yes; when they left, that's 2 weeks prior to the opening of the deer season here and I guess that 2 weeks I mounted 35, 40, maybe 50 scopes in that week..." There could have been any number of people named Oswald. The ticket that had the name Oswald on it was for drilling and tapping and boresighting. Out Oswald would not have needed that for a rifle he bought that already had a scope mounted on it. Steve Thomas

Jennifer Griffin @JenGriffinFNC National Security Correspondent for @FoxNews https://twitter.com/JenGriffinFNC Acccording to a former senior Trump administration official. is confirming everything that was in the Atlantic magazine concerning what Trump said about the military. Fox News. Oh my. Steve Thomas

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/09/04/trump-and-stars-and-stripes-attacking-american-icon-column/5706859002/ The Pentagon has ordered Stars and Stripes to shut down for no good reason Trump wants to pull funding from Stars and Stripes, a newspaper for American troops that began in the Civil War and has been serving our soldiers. By Kathy Kiely Opinion contributor “Even for those of us who are all too wearily familiar with President Donald Trump’s disdain for journalists, his administration’s latest attack on the free press is a bit of a jaw-dropper. In a heretofore unpublicized recent memo, the Pentagon delivered an order to shutter Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that has been a lifeline and a voice for American troops since the Civil War. The memo orders the publisher of the news organization (which now publishes online as well as in print) to present a plan that “dissolves the Stars and Stripes” by Sept. 15 including "specific timeline for vacating government owned/leased space worldwide.”” “The memo ordering the publication’s dissolution claims the administration has the authority to make this move under the president’s fiscal year 2021 defense department budget request. It zeroed out the $15.5 million annual subsidy for Stars and Stripes. But Congress, which under the Constitution has the power to make decisions about how the public’s money is spent, has not yet approved the president’s request. In fact, the version the House approved earlier this summer explicitly overruled the decision to pull the plug on Stars and Stripes, restoring funding for the paper.” Our current president loves the military. Steve Thomas

https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/gop-lawmaker-advocated-burning-blm-supporters-homes-now-hes-under-investigation/ "Local news station WCVB reports that four-term GOP state Rep. James Spillane wrote in a Facebook post this week that anyone who has a Black Lives Matter sign on their lawn deserves to have their house burned and looted. “Public Service Announcement: If you see a BLM sign on a lawn it’s the same as having the porch light on for Halloween,” he wrote. “You’re free to loot and burn that house.” The post has since been deleted, but that hasn’t stopped the New Hampshire Department of Justice from launching an investigation into his advocacy of violence against political opponents." Steve Thomas

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/09/03/trump-backed-qanon-candidate-posts-meme-showing-off-gun-and-urging-offense-against-aoc-the-squad/#37f9bd146aca Marjorie Taylor Greene, the House candidate and professed QAnon acolyte whom President Trump called “a future Republican star,” posted a photo of herself holding a gun she plans to raffle off, saying she wanted to go on the “offense” against the three Congresswomen known as “The Squad”—and her campaign said anyone who takes offense is “paranoid and ridiculous.” “On Thursday, Greene posted a photoshopped graphic on Facebook that pictured her holding her AR-15 and standing next to three progressive members of Congress known as “The Squad”—Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) (after this story was published, Greene restricted users from seeing the image on Facebook).” “In the caption above the graphic, Greene wrote that America needed “strong conservative Christians” to “go on the offense against these socialists who want to rip our country apart.” God, guns and Trump. That's all it takes. This is insanity, just insanity. Steve Thomas

Jim, I just don't know. It's very hard to reconcile just exactly what is going on with this ticket. Mr. LIEBELER. But you have no recollection of this tag? Mr. GREENER. None whatsoever, until, I believe, it was the day on Thanksgiving when they came down here. Mr. GREENER. No; I said it could possibly be after the newspaper story appeared, but I believe when the tag was found lying on the desk somewhere, that the FBI man was here when it was found. Mr. RYDER. So, we went up to the Irving Sports Shop and I opened it up and got the ticket and showed him. It was just a little repair ticket actually what it amounted to. Mr. LIEBELER. Did it have a number on it? Mr. RYDER. Yes, sir; I don't remember the number. Mr. LIEBELER. Did you give the tag to Mr. Horton? Mr. RYDER. No; he told us to hold on to it, keep it and they would probably get it later on and they did. It seems to me like it was 2 or 3 weeks ago they came and got it now. Mr. LIEBELER. Just 2 or 3 weeks ago? Mr. RYDER. Yes. Mr. LIEBELER. Who came and got it? Mr. RYDER. I don't know; the boss, Mr. Greener, gave it to him. It was on Saturday, I believe it was. So, who is telling the truth? As far as it being Oswald at the gun shop, Dial Ryder said, "Mr. RYDER. Of course, we were closed on that Monday. Mr. LIEBELER. The Irving Sports Shop was closed? Mr. RYDER. Right, and he came to the house, so, at that time he showed me pictures of Lee Harvey Oswald and pictures of the gun and asked me about it. I said "Well, the face and the body features of Oswald there was real common in this country." I mean, you know, in this area in Texas Just like I told everybody all along, I couldn't say specifically if it was by seeing pictures if it was him or another Oswald." Steve Thomas

The Minority Report Florida sheriff created algorithm to predict who would commit crimes — then had cops harass them: report https://www.rawstory.com/2020/09/florida-sheriff-created-algorithm-to-predict-who-would-commit-crimes-then-had-cops-harass-them-report/ “The department created a 30-person intelligence department and devised an algorithm to predict who was likely to commit crimes in the future. “One of the people caught up in this system was 15-year-old Rio Wojtecki, who was identified as a future crime risk for stealing motorized bicycles.” “Those were the only charges against Rio, and he already had a state-issued juvenile probation officer checking on him. Yet from September 2019 to January 2020, Pasco Sheriff’s deputies went to his home at least 21 times, dispatch logs show,” said the report. “They showed up at the car dealership where his mom worked, looked for him at a friend’s house and checked his gym to see if he had signed in.” Even after acknowledging he wasn’t getting in trouble or doing anything suspicious, they continued to harass him.” “In another case, said the report, “Deputies gave the mother of one teenage target a $2,500 fine because she had five chickens in her backyard. They arrested another target’s father after peering through a window in his house and noticing a 17-year-old friend of his son smoking a cigarette inside. As they make checks, deputies feed information back into the system, not just on the people they target, but on family members, friends and anyone else in the target’s orbit.”“ Steve Thomas

Dan Rather https://twitter.com/DanRather/status/1301550489394388992 @DanRather 10:59 AM · Sep 3, 2020 "A reminder: It’s illegal to vote twice. But not to impeach twice." Steve Thomas

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David, So, anyway, I was headed down to North Carolina with my AR-15 to vote twice like my president told me to, and I said, "Aw, the heck with it. I'll just head over to North Korea like Sarah Sanders and Take one for the Team." Steve Thomas

I live in constant fear. I can't even go outside anymore. I'm terrified that some wild, crazy-eyed anarchist dressed all in black is going to throw a big bag of soup at me. Steve Thomas

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-says-people-in-north-carolina-should-vote-twice_n_5f50a6b7c5b62b3add3c2e15 “Let them send it in and let them go vote,” Trump said in an interview with WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina, when asked about the security of mail-in votes. “And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote” in person. U.S. Attorney General William Barr told CNN that Trump “was trying to make the point that the ability to monitor this system is not good.” Told that voting twice is illegal, he said, “I don’t know what the law in the particular state says.” Trump and Barr aren't stupid. They know that voting twice is illegal everywhere. The whole idea is voter suppression. If you clog up the polling places with frivolous fake voters, it will prevent legitimate voters from getting the chance to cast their ballot. The clock will run out and the polling place will close. Steve Thomas