So Many Scandals, So Little Time
There are so many scandals and 'Gates' in the last year I though I'd take a thread to review them all. It is easy to confuse them two -- I count 26, and that's just in the US related to Clinton, Trump, and the Election. I'm pretty sure that the US Public gets confused wheneer computers are mentioned -- which is one reason the Russians Haxor Us! story never dies. It's got moar versions than there are Star Wars trilogies now.
By my count, first 4 scandals are 'ongoing' as we arrived in 2016...
01 Trump won't release his tax forms
02 Trump's business dealings with the Russians seem cozy, including his early campaign
These two didn't get a lot of traction, but they are there, and we needn't be partisan -- I don't think they've gone away either.
My motives aren't entirely pure -- I need these scandals to explain later ones. :D
03 wikileaks, snowden, and the guardian/intercept are Russian assets
This seems to be the settled opinion of the Intelligence Community, and they sure love to repeat it. I'm not convinced -- there's another reading that has the CIA clipping the NSA's wing by running the Snowden operation themselves. For one thing, very little of substance has ever been leaked, which is pretty suspicious of the Russians are trying to damage us.
I'm willing to entertain the idea, but what I'd like is some evidence that lets me *eliminate* one or the other hypothesis. Confirming instances, in Science, are not as interesting as the hard to explain data.
04 alleged soft coup attempt 1 - includes Benghazi, Obama's BLM silence, silence about inauguration violence
This is the only scandal I'm going to put in the list that deals with Obama. Clinton and Obama are alleged (by FBI Anon, Steele, and Pieczenik, and maybe Alex Jones) to have done a 'Soft Coup' on the US. Exactly what that means has never been spelled out, but the allegations are always coupled with #PedoGate. I'm pretty sure *this* scandal originates from our Intel Community, and it may have feet.
05 Comey's initial announcement, and FBIAnon
The thing with Loretta Lynch dropping the investigation into Emailgate (see below) was a scandal in and of itself. Comey's handling was odd -- it is clear there was a problem there. The first appearance of 'FBI Anon' is right after this sub-scandal. It was to prove the gift that keeps on giving.
FBI Anon says whatever they found on the Benghazi server (see scandal #4) really shook the analysts up.
06 Guccifer 2.0 and the DNC Hacks
The early story about this was goofy. Later on, it was shown that the leaked documents were modified within 30 minutes of creation. Probably, an insider leaked them and invented the hacker backstory as cover. it didn't work.
07 Hillary's Emailgate
Schindler was carping on this for ages too. Clinton passed around GAMMA level info like it was an invitation to the golf club. She had access to information she had no need to know, and held it in insecure places -- even the SCIF she allegedly had at home is (1) not where the server was kept and (2) probably not secure. Then there's the 'pay for play' angle, which is treason.
08 Clinton Foundation Scandal
The darkest of them all. 'Nuff said. I'm not sure the world really wants to know.
I once looked out my bedroom window at 3am and saw a bum picking through my weber grill, looking for meat to eat. I asked him what he was up to. 'No good, Sir' was his reply -- indeed.
09 Clinton Gun Running
I'm surprised no one really cares. Where there are guns, there are drugs and human trafficking, which people do care about though. And who the Hell *did* we arm in the Middle East. All roads do lead back to Benghazi.
10 #PizzaGate and Spirit Cooking
What a nasty view we got of our 'elites'. I've always been a skeptic about the specifics of PizzaGate, and moast especially against the idea these sorts of thing will ever see the light of day. Probably best to close the books on this one, and roll any findings that have traction over into...
11 #PedoGate
I take this to mean the stuff around Epstein, Weiner, blackmailing and leaking to the Mossad. It involves members of Congress who will need to be arrested and tried. There are plenty of small fry in the lower echelons in the process of being cleaned up. Arrests will be in the 1000s if they aren't already.
12 PussyGate and #NeverTrump Cuckservative Revolt in October
It's clear this was the Bush family jewels leaked to help the McCain - Clinton - McMuffin love triangle at the last minute. it didn't work but came close.
13 Comey's Last Minute Flip-Flopping
Remember this? Two weekends before the election he re-opens the case on an investigation of one of the candidates (Weiner's laptop and subordinates might have forced his hand, or the NYPD). Then, under pressure, he backed off. I still reserve judgment about whether he's a good guy or not. He's had a very tough position to play, maybe even tougher than Trump's. There's good reason to say he's just a Clinton loyalist shilling for them, but I'm not so sure. He may have served the Republic in the best way he could, but it was a damn fine thing.
14 Debate Scandals
Nobody really cares but it is quite offensive -- the HQ candidate gets questions in advance (against Bernie, and maybe a teleprompter against Trump), kid glove treatment by judges, and reveals Nuclear secrets, committing treason live on the air in front of a national audience, without so much as a wrist slap. Disgusting, and proof that our Democracy is the merest farce, and the MSM no moar then civil servants and not servants to the Public either.
15 Election Rigging - Bernie edition
This story really needs moar investigation, since there may have been hanky-panky with the machines in the Hillary/Bernie contest. It's a good thing Kenya supervised our *national* election or we might have had trouble with that.
16 Russian alleged hacking of critical infrastructure, National Election
The rumour the Russians hacked our voating machines floated by the Obama administration was clear proof the Lawn Jockey in Chief was irresponsible and unworthy of his office.
I'm pretty sure there are Liberals who think this happened, and confuse it with all other mentions of 'computer' and 'Russian' in the same breath.
17 Last minute FBIVault Tweets
I lean towards the theory this was a software glitch, but I can't disprove the idea someone might have exploited the software to send a 'message' on a one time basis, around the time of Comey's late October surprise.
18 Weiner's Laptop and the non-Revolt by the NYPD
This one was odd. Weiner's laptop is a scandal in its own right -- probably close to the 'big one' that is still out there.
19 Russian 'Electoral Interference' and the attempt at subserting the Electoral College - Soft Coup 2
People who like to say 'there was a soft coup' like to shift the goal poasts and turn scandal #4 (2011-2012) to scandal #19 (2016). But it is true that the powers behind the Soft Coup did try a last minute Hail Mary pass with recounts, protests, and electoral college shenanigans, greatly harming both the democratic process and our Republic in the process. *That* is the scandal -- it didn't work.
20 DNI Report on Russian Hacking
What a farce. No one technical was convinced, and the quality of information so low the theory died and came back from the dead as a Vampire in other scandals. It will probably never die -- or be able to tolerate sunlight.
21 The Trump Dossier and its leak
Schindler called it right -- it's raw HUMINT. Analysis to make it real intelligence has led nowhere too. The people behind it should have been warning enough for any analyst to run.
22 Flynn resignation, and revelation of his name as having been under investigation
Flynn resigned, and none of the reasons given have learned to extract oxygen from water, much less gotten legs and crawled on land into the sunlight. Probably, he mentioned to the Russian ambassador that someone near Pence was involved in #PedoGate, and Pence wanted blood. In any event, the real crime was the unknown 'leaker' who revealed the name of a government official under investigation -- that's a Federal crime, that is.
This sort of thing is as serious as it gets (as one article put it). We are in Valerie Plame territory -- targeting government workers to add credibility to a false cover story that is coming apart. We're not done with this one.
23 7th part of FBI Vault series on HRC Emailgate
We learned two important things: the chain of custody of a server that 'civil servants' were inclined to pretend they didn't have, and the fact that the 'SCIF' in Clinton's residence was routinely un-monitored and invaded by non-cleared personnel who, uh, took out the trash. Right.
24 Trumps tweets about Wiretapping Trump tower
These had better be true, as the charges are very serious. I'm inclined to give it a few months to see if this information is actionable, rather than a political tactic hoping for the short news cycle to bury it. I believe the allegations and I think they'll stick, but it will take time.
25 Wikileaks Vault7, release 1
A very limited quantity of information, but only 1% of the total. Nothing we didn't really know, and I have some questions about how much 'massaging' of the data they do to -- both too much and not enough to prevent very serious damage to the CIA. Not that I mind, in our current national mood.
I expect there to be some really nasty surprises in the other 99%, but people will get boared with the low pace of release. This will, however, be bigger than Snowden.
26 Trump's Tax form release
What a fizzle. But I don't think we've seen the end of this sort of thing. It might have been an internal float to trace leaks and do spin control in advance.
Whew -- that was 26 scandals. A whole alphabet's worth. Wow.
By my count, first 4 scandals are 'ongoing' as we arrived in 2016...
01 Trump won't release his tax forms
02 Trump's business dealings with the Russians seem cozy, including his early campaign
These two didn't get a lot of traction, but they are there, and we needn't be partisan -- I don't think they've gone away either.
My motives aren't entirely pure -- I need these scandals to explain later ones. :D
03 wikileaks, snowden, and the guardian/intercept are Russian assets
This seems to be the settled opinion of the Intelligence Community, and they sure love to repeat it. I'm not convinced -- there's another reading that has the CIA clipping the NSA's wing by running the Snowden operation themselves. For one thing, very little of substance has ever been leaked, which is pretty suspicious of the Russians are trying to damage us.
I'm willing to entertain the idea, but what I'd like is some evidence that lets me *eliminate* one or the other hypothesis. Confirming instances, in Science, are not as interesting as the hard to explain data.
04 alleged soft coup attempt 1 - includes Benghazi, Obama's BLM silence, silence about inauguration violence
This is the only scandal I'm going to put in the list that deals with Obama. Clinton and Obama are alleged (by FBI Anon, Steele, and Pieczenik, and maybe Alex Jones) to have done a 'Soft Coup' on the US. Exactly what that means has never been spelled out, but the allegations are always coupled with #PedoGate. I'm pretty sure *this* scandal originates from our Intel Community, and it may have feet.
05 Comey's initial announcement, and FBIAnon
The thing with Loretta Lynch dropping the investigation into Emailgate (see below) was a scandal in and of itself. Comey's handling was odd -- it is clear there was a problem there. The first appearance of 'FBI Anon' is right after this sub-scandal. It was to prove the gift that keeps on giving.
FBI Anon says whatever they found on the Benghazi server (see scandal #4) really shook the analysts up.
06 Guccifer 2.0 and the DNC Hacks
The early story about this was goofy. Later on, it was shown that the leaked documents were modified within 30 minutes of creation. Probably, an insider leaked them and invented the hacker backstory as cover. it didn't work.
07 Hillary's Emailgate
Schindler was carping on this for ages too. Clinton passed around GAMMA level info like it was an invitation to the golf club. She had access to information she had no need to know, and held it in insecure places -- even the SCIF she allegedly had at home is (1) not where the server was kept and (2) probably not secure. Then there's the 'pay for play' angle, which is treason.
08 Clinton Foundation Scandal
The darkest of them all. 'Nuff said. I'm not sure the world really wants to know.
I once looked out my bedroom window at 3am and saw a bum picking through my weber grill, looking for meat to eat. I asked him what he was up to. 'No good, Sir' was his reply -- indeed.
09 Clinton Gun Running
I'm surprised no one really cares. Where there are guns, there are drugs and human trafficking, which people do care about though. And who the Hell *did* we arm in the Middle East. All roads do lead back to Benghazi.
10 #PizzaGate and Spirit Cooking
What a nasty view we got of our 'elites'. I've always been a skeptic about the specifics of PizzaGate, and moast especially against the idea these sorts of thing will ever see the light of day. Probably best to close the books on this one, and roll any findings that have traction over into...
11 #PedoGate
I take this to mean the stuff around Epstein, Weiner, blackmailing and leaking to the Mossad. It involves members of Congress who will need to be arrested and tried. There are plenty of small fry in the lower echelons in the process of being cleaned up. Arrests will be in the 1000s if they aren't already.
12 PussyGate and #NeverTrump Cuckservative Revolt in October
It's clear this was the Bush family jewels leaked to help the McCain - Clinton - McMuffin love triangle at the last minute. it didn't work but came close.
13 Comey's Last Minute Flip-Flopping
Remember this? Two weekends before the election he re-opens the case on an investigation of one of the candidates (Weiner's laptop and subordinates might have forced his hand, or the NYPD). Then, under pressure, he backed off. I still reserve judgment about whether he's a good guy or not. He's had a very tough position to play, maybe even tougher than Trump's. There's good reason to say he's just a Clinton loyalist shilling for them, but I'm not so sure. He may have served the Republic in the best way he could, but it was a damn fine thing.
14 Debate Scandals
Nobody really cares but it is quite offensive -- the HQ candidate gets questions in advance (against Bernie, and maybe a teleprompter against Trump), kid glove treatment by judges, and reveals Nuclear secrets, committing treason live on the air in front of a national audience, without so much as a wrist slap. Disgusting, and proof that our Democracy is the merest farce, and the MSM no moar then civil servants and not servants to the Public either.
15 Election Rigging - Bernie edition
This story really needs moar investigation, since there may have been hanky-panky with the machines in the Hillary/Bernie contest. It's a good thing Kenya supervised our *national* election or we might have had trouble with that.
16 Russian alleged hacking of critical infrastructure, National Election
The rumour the Russians hacked our voating machines floated by the Obama administration was clear proof the Lawn Jockey in Chief was irresponsible and unworthy of his office.
I'm pretty sure there are Liberals who think this happened, and confuse it with all other mentions of 'computer' and 'Russian' in the same breath.
17 Last minute FBIVault Tweets
I lean towards the theory this was a software glitch, but I can't disprove the idea someone might have exploited the software to send a 'message' on a one time basis, around the time of Comey's late October surprise.
18 Weiner's Laptop and the non-Revolt by the NYPD
This one was odd. Weiner's laptop is a scandal in its own right -- probably close to the 'big one' that is still out there.
19 Russian 'Electoral Interference' and the attempt at subserting the Electoral College - Soft Coup 2
People who like to say 'there was a soft coup' like to shift the goal poasts and turn scandal #4 (2011-2012) to scandal #19 (2016). But it is true that the powers behind the Soft Coup did try a last minute Hail Mary pass with recounts, protests, and electoral college shenanigans, greatly harming both the democratic process and our Republic in the process. *That* is the scandal -- it didn't work.
20 DNI Report on Russian Hacking
What a farce. No one technical was convinced, and the quality of information so low the theory died and came back from the dead as a Vampire in other scandals. It will probably never die -- or be able to tolerate sunlight.
21 The Trump Dossier and its leak
Schindler called it right -- it's raw HUMINT. Analysis to make it real intelligence has led nowhere too. The people behind it should have been warning enough for any analyst to run.
22 Flynn resignation, and revelation of his name as having been under investigation
Flynn resigned, and none of the reasons given have learned to extract oxygen from water, much less gotten legs and crawled on land into the sunlight. Probably, he mentioned to the Russian ambassador that someone near Pence was involved in #PedoGate, and Pence wanted blood. In any event, the real crime was the unknown 'leaker' who revealed the name of a government official under investigation -- that's a Federal crime, that is.
This sort of thing is as serious as it gets (as one article put it). We are in Valerie Plame territory -- targeting government workers to add credibility to a false cover story that is coming apart. We're not done with this one.
23 7th part of FBI Vault series on HRC Emailgate
We learned two important things: the chain of custody of a server that 'civil servants' were inclined to pretend they didn't have, and the fact that the 'SCIF' in Clinton's residence was routinely un-monitored and invaded by non-cleared personnel who, uh, took out the trash. Right.
24 Trumps tweets about Wiretapping Trump tower
These had better be true, as the charges are very serious. I'm inclined to give it a few months to see if this information is actionable, rather than a political tactic hoping for the short news cycle to bury it. I believe the allegations and I think they'll stick, but it will take time.
25 Wikileaks Vault7, release 1
A very limited quantity of information, but only 1% of the total. Nothing we didn't really know, and I have some questions about how much 'massaging' of the data they do to -- both too much and not enough to prevent very serious damage to the CIA. Not that I mind, in our current national mood.
I expect there to be some really nasty surprises in the other 99%, but people will get boared with the low pace of release. This will, however, be bigger than Snowden.
26 Trump's Tax form release
What a fizzle. But I don't think we've seen the end of this sort of thing. It might have been an internal float to trace leaks and do spin control in advance.
Whew -- that was 26 scandals. A whole alphabet's worth. Wow.
posted by Macrobius at 4:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home