Smudge the cat is giving Trump " the finger"

[bodysong]

Smudge the cat is giving Trump " the finger"

(Smudge is the white cat, from the 'Woman Yelling at Cat' Meme )

https://www.boredpanda.com/woman-yelling-at-cat-meme-smudge-lord/

Of a matter of course, the Republicans that are Trump loyalists
are all screaming, yelling, crying, and pointing at Smudge.

It is only natural that Smudge would give Trump "the finger."

"The Finger," is Trump's campaign theme. He gives everyone "the finger."

Trump's fans, followers, and supporters love him for "owning the Libs,"
but look the other way when Trump "owns" members of the Trump
alliance.

Does Trump resent cats, because he feels the privilege of disregarding
everything in favor of himself, is his brand, alone ?

Everyone chosen by Trump, at one point, will plead with Trump
to not knock over something on the mantlepiece, or bookshelf,
or kitchen counter. It does not help the matter, when Putin's
subversion places objects where they will be knocked over.
Democrats requests to keep spaces clear, and keep objects
in locked cabinets and drawers, are ignored.

At this point in time, Democrats and some Republicans are
pointing at all of the smashed and broken objects that resulted
from the brief trip to the floor, and are pointing at Trump.

Some Republicans are pretending to have blind spots.
They look the other way when they hear the sounds of
splintering, cracking, and tinkling. They refuse to turn
their gaze towards the evidence of (distruction )
(destruction)

They avoid the areas where they have heard "things."

No matter how many recordings of the instances
are presented, they stubbornly insist that nothing
happened. Photographs, and electronic copies are
avoided.

They cannot unhear the witnesses, but they can pretend
that they never listened.

 

[bodysong]

Remember during all the Benghazi investigations when Obama
blocked access to documents and refused to let Hillary testify?
of course you don't. Obama handed over everything and Hillary
sat for 11 hours straight, because they had nothing to hide and
they aren't dipsh*t man-babies.

- Jeff Tiedrich

Jeff Tiedrich
Twitter › itsJeffTiedrich

at this very moment, a white man in America, born into obscene wealth
and handed every opportunity, a man who failed upwards his entire life
and fell ass-backwards into the United States presidency, is sitting in a
White House bedroom and complaining about how unfair his life is

2 days ago

no one could have predicted that the party of Nazis, compromised
Russian assets, (...) wrestling coaches, sex-trafficking plutocrats,
blackout-drunk rapist judges, concentration camp fanboys and
bone saw murder apologists would also be the party of
whistleblower betrayers

3 days ago

if I'm ever caught doing crimes should I shout BUT OTHER PEOPLE CRIME TOO
and refuse to show up in court or does that only work for Republicans

4 days ago

@jefftiedrich

 

[bodysong]

Republicans appear to have run out of questions and are giving speeches instead.

—@StevenTDennis

24 minutes ago

Steven Dennis ✓
Twitter › StevenTDennis

Lot of 'what about Obama' from the Rs in this hearing.

57 minutes ago

 

[bodysong]

Maggie Haberman ✓
Twitter › maggieNYT

Republicans keep saying these witnesses have no direct knowledge,
without acknowledging the White House has blocked those who
have such knowledge from testifying. Democrats have not made
that point during their own time.

59 minutes ago

 

[bodysong]

Ambassador Bill Taylor is entitled to wear a Smudge the Cat mask
when Rep. John Ratcliffe (R- Texas) yells out a question, and then
blocks Taylor from answering the question.

“Where is the impeachable offense in that call?” Ratcliffe asked,
referring to Trump’s infamous July 25 call with the president of Ukraine.


“Are either of you here today to assert there was an impeachable offense
on that call? Shout it out!” Ratcliffe said, sarcastically, demanding an
answer from either of the witnesses. “Anyone?”

Frustrated, Ratcliffe – who Trump once tried to nominate to be
Director of National Intelligence, but isn’t qualified and his
resume had been “exaggerated” – looked down at his notes.

“Mr. Ratcliffe, if I could just respond,” Ambassador Taylor said,
attempting to answer. “If I could just reiterate –”

“I’ve got one minute left,” Ratcliffe interjected.

“I know you’ve only got a minute left,” Ambassador Taylor,
who has proven to be nearly stoic and a straight shooter, said,
somewhat frustrated.

Chairman Adam Schiff then intervened:
“You asked the witness a question, the witness will –”

“I withdraw the question!” Rep. Ratcliffe declared, interrupting
both Chairman Schiff and Ambassador Taylor.

Ratcliffe then demanded the clock get suspended – stopped – saying,
“I withdrew the question” as Schiff took control.

Taylor finally got to answer:
“I’m not here to decide anything about impeachment,” he announced, rightfully.
“This is your job.”

 

[bodysong]

The real US ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch
has earned the right to wear a Smudge the cat mask.

Marie Yovanovitch says state department fails to fight 'corrupt interests'

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...fight-corrupt-interests-impeachment-testimony

Yovanovitch delivers powerful riposte to Trump as he smears her – again

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...ch-testimony-trump-impeachment-inquiry-smears

 

[bodysong]

The writing on the cover does not match the writing inside

November 15, 2019

In an effort to seize the narrative, the White House released a transcript
Friday morning of Donald Trump’s first phone call with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky on April 21, immediately following Zelensky’s election
to office. It was cordial, upbeat, and exposed the initial White House readout
of the call as pure diplomatic fantasy.

https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/wh...ealing-its-initial-call-readout-was-all-lies/

The transcript of Trump's April 21 call with his Ukrainian counterpart
was released moments before former Ukraine Ambassador Marie
Yovanovitch began testifying before Congress.

The April and July calls are labeled differently, suggesting that they
were handled differently at the White House. The first call was labeled
as "unclassified" and "for official use only," while the second was
identified as "secret."

https://www.salon.com/2019/11/15/discrepancies-in-trumps-initial-call-with-zelensky-under-scrutiny/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...b9f0f4-0726-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html

Official White House readout of first Trump-Zelensky call was drafted
before it occurred, according to a person familiar with the matter

In response to questions about the discrepancy Friday, White House
deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley blamed National Security Council
Ukraine expert Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who he said prepared the
readout.

But Vindman was not responsible for making the final update to the readout,
according to a person familiar with his account, who said he recalls that
then-press secretary Sarah Sanders held onto the readout before turning
it over for public release.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...5bc92c-080e-11ea-ae28-7d1898012861_story.html

Deb Riechmann, Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin

November 15, 2019

” The word “corruption” is not mentioned in the rough transcript of the actual call."

Corruption did feature prominently in Trump’s second call with Zelenskiy
July 25, the call that helped spark the impeachment drama.

“It’s certainly not normal for the readout to be nearly entirely divorced
from the reality of the call,"

"The discrepancies between the transcript and the readout
in this case are profound.”

- Ned Price, a former NSC spokesman under Obama and now director
of policy at National Security Action

(last)

Under the current process, readouts and rough transcripts are produced
separately. The rough transcripts are created by those who listen in on
the call and policy experts in the NSC, while readouts are prepared by
media teams in the NSC and the White House press secretary’s office.

However, one of the former Trump White House officials familiar with
the process said there is no “procedural step” in place to ensure the two
are in agreement.

Another former Trump administration official familiar with the process
said draft readouts of calls were written ahead of time, but since Trump
does not adhere to talking points for meetings or calls, “it’s a crap shoot
on what is actually said.”

 

[bodysong]

November 15, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said President Trump’s tweet
attacking Yovanovitch was the “wrong thing” to do, adding,
“he knows her strength and he was trying to undermine it.”

“Of course presidents appoint ambassadors,” Pelosi said in an interview
on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “But people don’t insult people, especially
when they’re giving testimony before the Congress of the United States.
I think even his most ardent supporters have to honestly admit this was
the wrong thing for the president to do.”

Pelosi said Trump’s word’s carry a lot of weight and that he should avoid
frivolously throwing out insults.

“I think part of it is his own insecurity as an impostor. I think he knows
full well that he’s in that office way over his head,” Pelosi said.
“And so he has to diminish everyone else.”

- Michael Brice-Saddler

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...b9f0f4-0726-11ea-8292-c46ee8cb3dce_story.html

Ken Starr on Fox News:

“The president was not advised by counsel in deciding to do this tweet.
Extraordinarily poor judgment… Obviously this was quite injurious.”

— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) November 15, 2019

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019...tness-intimidation-for-yovanovitch-tweet.html

 

[bodysong]

18 Nov 2019
- Art Cullen


Marie Yovanovitch represents something Americans are desperate for:

decency

Donald Trump finally jumped the shark on Twitter last week when he smeared
the former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch while she was testifying
to the House intelligence committee.

Immediately the words of Joseph Welch, a native of Primghar, Iowa, and
general counsel to the army in 1954, sprang to mind:

“Have you no sense of decency, sir?”

They were written on her stunned face and echoed in the standing ovation
(Marie) Yovanovitch received as she was escorted from the Capitol hearing
room on Friday.

This woman of understatement and restraint has become a symbol of something
America yearns for down to its very core, as it did in the McCarthy era ended by
Welch’s seven words of exasperated pleading.

Trump could not resist bursting out his tweet trying to defame her.

That’s where the reality TV circus stopped.

Yovanovitch told Congress she felt threatened and intimidated. Devastated.

House Republicans could not defend Trump in the face of this 61-year-old
woman whose song was her work in the cause of freedom by means of
rooting out corruption.

She rooted out Trump in the middle of the hearing as he blurted more bile.

It changed the course of the impeachment hearings.

It will change the course of politics, just as Joe Welch did. We were reminded
of the redeeming power of decency, which properly resides in a healthy sense
of shame that is very much alive right now.

It will take down Trump and revive the Republic.

https://www.theguardian.com/comment...something-americans-are-desperate-for-decency

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag
and the Republic for which it stands,
one nation, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all.

The gripping sermon that got ‘under God’ added to the Pledge of Allegiance
on Flag Day

The controversial phrase “under God” was not always part of the Pledge of
Allegiance. It was added by law on June 14, 1954.

Rev. George Docherty

Docherty had previously sermonized about the need to insert “under God”
into the pledge, but he found his prime audience in February 1954, when
President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended Docherty’s service in honor of
Lincoln’s birthday.

“An atheistic American is a contradiction in terms,” Docherty said in his sermon.
“If you deny the Christian ethic, you fall short of the American ideal of life.”

Calls to add “under God” to the pledge had been promoted by groups including
the Knights of Columbus and a veterans organization. But Eisenhower proved
to be the audience the movement was missing.

The week of Docherty’s sermon, bills were introduced in Congress to add the
phrase, and Eisenhower signed the act into law on Flag Day — June 14, 1954.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...dded-to-the-pledge-of-allegiance-on-flag-day/

The Spanish King Philip II was convinced that their God would give Spain
victory over Elizabeth I of England, but something else decided that Spain
would not have it.

Francisco de Goya, a witness to what followed

Goya’s world view was darkened by the famine, poverty and cruelty he witnessed
(and sketched) during the Peninsular war between Napoleon and Bourbon Spain;
by the restoration of King Ferdinand VII and the denial of the new, enlightened
country that was promised by the Spanish constitution of 1812.

- Stephen Phelan
30 Jan 2019

“Some people can hardly even look at them,” says Teresa Vega, an art historian
who leads guided tours in the museum and leaves that room for last.
“I’ve had plenty of clients who didn’t like them at all. But when they walk in,
they are always surprised. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a visitor whose expression
hasn’t changed. Even a yawning teenager will wake up when they see them.”

It is not Vega’s job to tell visitors what a painting means, though with other
masterpieces she can point them in the right direction by way of context.
Confronted with a Goya horror show, such as Saturn Devouring His Son,
she can only cite the Greek myth it draws on and invite the group to look
into the mad eyes of the main figure. To her, these suggest “not evil, but
a kind of shock at his own monstrousness”.

Perhaps, someone should show Persiderp Trump " Saturn Devouring His Son."

https://www.theguardian.com/artandd...aintings-prado-madrid-bicentennial-exhibition

 

[bodysong]

Schiff says President Donald Trump's pressure on Ukraine for political
investigations was “a failed effort to bribe Ukraine.”

November 19, 2019

Republicans are only upset because Trump got caught, Schiff says

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.)
delivered a scathing critique of Republicans in his closing statement,
arguing that Trump’s allies are angry not that the president engaged
in alleged wrongdoing, but that he got caught.

“Now, my Republican colleagues, all they seem to be upset about
with this is not that the president sought an investigation of his
political rival, not that he withheld a White House meeting and
$400 million in aid,” Schiff said.

He continued:
“Their objection is that someone blew the whistle, and they
would like this whistleblower identified, and the president
wants this whistleblower punished. That’s their objection.
Not that the president engaged in this conduct, but that
he got caught.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...ea3bba-0a54-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html

 

[bodysong]

Democratic counsel Daniel Goldman questioned Gordon Sondland

November 20, 2019

“That was the problem, Mr. Goldman,” Sondland said at one point. “
No one told me directly that the aid was tied to anything.
I was presuming it was.”

Sondland also refused to directly contradict the testimony of Ambassador
William B. Taylor Jr. and forner National Security Council senior adviser
Tim Morrison, who said that Trump wanted Zelensky to personally make
a public statement about the investigations.

Schiff took over questioning from Goldman and sought to get an answer:

“What they related was-
although President Trump claimed to you there was no quid pro quo,
he also made it clear to you in that call that President Zelensky had
to, quote, ‘clear things up and do it in public.’
You have a reason to dispute that?”

Sondland said he didn’t “have any reason to dispute” that, but
“what I’m trying to be very clear about was President Trump never told me directly
that the aid was tied to that statement,” he said, referring to previous testimony
describing a Sept. 9 conversation where Trump told him he wanted
“no quid pro quo.”

“Did you also get from President Trump, as reflected by Ambassador Taylor,
that he said he was adamant that President Zelensky had to, quote,
‘clear things up and do it in public’?”

“That part I can agree to, yes,” Sondland said.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...ec806a-0b20-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html

Opinion writer
November 20, 2019

Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, a rich hotel mogul
who gave $1 million to President Trump’s inaugural committee

- Rubin

Sondland explicitly testified that he understood there was a quid pro quo —
a White House meeting in exchange for an investigation of the
2016 debunked conspiracy theory and Burisma, which he later learned
meant the Bidens. (Throughout he maintained he did not understand this
was about the Bidens, although news accounts of and TV appearances
by Giuliani made clear this was about the Bidens.)

Sondland also confirmed that in a July 26 call Trump brought up the
investigations, something he had been hearing all along from Giuliani.
He does not dispute telling the State Department official who overheard
the call that Trump did not care about Ukraine, only the “big stuff,”
meaning investigations.

Asked by House Intelligence Committee counsel if he figured out the aid
was conditioned on the announcements because “two plus two equals four,”
Sondland said though the connection between an announcement of investigations
and the aid hold was not specifically communicated from Trump, it was the only
logical explanation and “everyone” understood this by September.

The impact of Sondland’s account cannot be covered up, obscured or spun.

If Republicans continue to insist Trump did nothing wrong or that he did not s
acrifice our national security for political gain, it will be because they willfully
reject facts that demonstrate Trump violated his oath. As for the public, anyone
who cares to can see that the Republicans who do so are simply enablers in a
corrupt scheme that harmed our national security.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...peo-pence-are-implicated-sondlands-testimony/

 

[bodysong]

It took Sondland three tries, but he finally confirms
Trump would benefit from Biden investigation

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, Democrat of New York earns the right to
wear a Smudge the cat mask-

...tired of Gordon Sondland’s games in the sharpest questioning he’s yet faced
from Democratic members of the House in the impeachment hearings into
Donald Trump, after repeated back-and-forth in which Maloney was attempting
to elicit a simple answer to a simple question.

"Who would benefit from an investigation of the Bidens?" Maloney asked repeatedly.

"I assume President Trump would benefit," Sondland eventually answered.

"There we have it!" Maloney replied. "Didn’t hurt a bit, did it?"

Sondland tried to put on an indignant front, saying that he has been very forthright
and “resents” the implication that he’s not been forthcoming in his interactions
with the committee.

Frustrated when the audience burst into applause, Sondland
said he was trying to be forthright with the committee and didn’t
appreciate Maloney’s line of questioning.

Mistake.

Maloney pounced. “Fair enough, you’ve been very forthright.
This is your third try to do so, sir. Didn’t work so well the first time, did it?
We had a little declaration come in after, you remember that?
And now we’re here a third time, and we got a doozy of a statement
from you, there’s a whole bunch of stuff you don’t recall."

"So all due respect, sir, we appreciate your candor, but let’s be really clear
what it took to get it out of you."

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...-Trump-would-benefit-from-Biden-investigation

Sondland was questioned at one point that day by Rep. Michael McCaul (Tex.),
the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
McCaul asked Sondland whether he had any conversation
with Zelensky about withholding U.S. aid in connection
with the investigations sought by Trump.

“I don’t recall any conversation about this,” Sondland replied.

Another investigator later asked-
“So, you’ve never made a statement relating the aid to conditions
that the Ukraine ought to comply with?”

Again, Sondland testified, “I don’t remember that, no.”

After his denials were contradicted in testimony later provided by
William B. Taylor Jr., the acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine,
and Tim Morrison, the top Russia and Europe adviser on the
National Security Council, Sondland filed a supplemental statement
early this month, stating the testimony of Taylor and Morrison had
“refreshed my recollection about conversations involving the
suspension of U.S. aid.”

It marked the second time Sondland had become a more problematic witness for the White House.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...741e3c-0b92-11ea-8397-a955cd542d00_story.html

 

[bodysong]

Donald Trump's No-Quid-Pro-Quo Defense Is Crushed.

The GOP Didn't Get the Memo.

https://www.motherjones.com/politic...efense-is-crushed-the-gop-didnt-get-the-memo/

 

[bodysong]

Dr. Fiona Hill has earned the right to wear a Smudge the cat mask.
Day 5, at the impeachment hearing, Republicans devolved into a list
of Trump loyalists attacking and accusing Dr. Hill and David Holmes.

Rep. Elise Stefanik

Republican of New York:
“Not a single Republican member of this committee has said that Russia
did not meddle in the 2016 elections. ... To have our Democratic colleagues
say these untruthful statements just reeks of political desperation.”

THE FACTS:
Stefanik may be right that Republicans on the committee did not explicitly
deny that Russia attacked the U.S. election. Yet Schiff and Hill may also be
right in saying that Republicans left that impression at the hearings.

Some Republicans on the committee repeatedly gave credence to the
conspiracy theory that connects Ukraine, not Russia, to the 2016 interference
and the hacking of the Democratic National Committee To buy into this theory
is to minimize Russian culpability at the very least, if not to discount it entirely.

Trump himself lent credence to the notion in his phone call with Ukraine’s
president, pressing for an investigation into a theory that senior advisers
had told him much earlier was groundless. “The server, they say Ukraine
has it,” he said on the call.

https://apnews.com/92fd8a4743e8447a8f8a7ec301ebe993

 

[bodysong]

Trump trashes Maria Yovanovich in sexist rant:

"They went easy on her because she’s a woman"

(What would anyone expect, if Presiderp is talking to FOX TV ?)

https://occupydemocrats.com/2019/11...t-they-went-easy-on-her-because-shes-a-woman/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...arings-democrats-2020-election-latest-updates

 

[bodysong]

22 November 2019

Respected and admired Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch has another
chance to wear the Smudge the cat mask.

Trump lied, again.

It was not the first time the Republican president has attacked Ms Yovanovitch.

He lambasted her in a tweet while she was testifying last Friday -
a move that Democrats argued amounted to witness intimidation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50520652

 

[bodysong]

(bodysong- A cat may slap a King that Is Not Real in the face with a fish ?)

Intelligence chair Schiff not ruling out more impeachment hearings –

Nov. 22, 2019

Adam Schiff chair of the House intelligence committee,

“We’re not foreclosing the possibility of additional depositions
or hearings, but we’re also not willing to wait months and months
and let them play rope-a-dope with us in the courts,” Schiff said,
referring to ongoing legal battles over the refusal of some witnesses
to testify or provide documents.

“We are going to have to make a decision about whether we’re
prepared to say the kind of conduct that has been demonstrated
in these hearings is compatible with the office of the presidency,”
he said. “Are we willing to accept that kind of flagrant misconduct?”
he continued, warning of the precedent it would set for the rest of
(Presiderp)’s term or for a future president.

Schiff said the committee will work on “both tracks” of continuing
to investigate while “beginning to put our report together.”
He refused to say when the report may come out or whether
he believes articles of impeachment are warranted.

https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-11-22/schiff-not-ruling-out-more-impeachment-hearings

 

[bodysong]

Dr. Fiona Hill did not venture to voice the indelicate and brutal truth-

Trump, Giuliani, Perry, and Sondland were working in opposition to
the legitimate American security team, working against corruption.

"How the election of Zelensky threatened Trump’s plan to exploit corruption"

November 23, 2019

The crucial piece in understanding the Ukraine scandal is that two months before
Zelensky won power – in February 2019 – Trump thought that he had done a deal
which would transform Ukraine into a domestic political bludgeon…

By late February, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, Poroshenko was open
to a deal pushed by Parnas and Fruman in which the Ukrainian leader would get
electoral help via a state visit to the U.S., while he would give Trump a lift by
announcing investigations into the Bidens and potential Ukrainian interference
in the 2016 elections.

When Poroshenko lost in a landslide to Volodymyr Zelensky on April 21, it set off
a mad scramble in Trumpworld to make inroads with the new government.
It’s no coincidence that the flurry of activity in early May, which has been
the focus of investigators, comes in the weeks after Zelensky’s win and before
his May 20 inauguration.

Trump was counting on the corruption of people like Poroshenko and
Lutsenko to get his dirt on Biden and Clinton.

All of that takes us back to what might be the most important moment
of the impeachment hearings, when Representative Jim Himes questioned
George Kent.

Himes captured exactly what happened when he closed by saying,
“President Trump wasn’t trying to end corruption in Ukraine, I think he
was trying to aim corruption in Ukraine at Vice-President Biden and at the
2020 election.” The corrupt president of the United States wanted to exploit
corruption in Ukraine for his own personal gain.

https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/ho...threatened-trumps-plan-to-exploit-corruption/

 

[bodysong]

Lead investigator in the impeachment inquiry, Rep. Adam Schiff
has earned the right to wear a Smudge the cat mask when he faces
Devin Nunes.

Trump loyalists have been noted to be shameless.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...f391ca-162a-11ea-80d6-d0ca7007273f_story.html

 

[bodysong]

Smudge the cat re-emerges, to take part in snarky memes about Trump's ballot count whines.