Sunday, January 13, 2019

Why are GOPs in DC sticking with Trump? Because they're also crooked

Is this a bad thing? It seems like a bad thing.





It almost makes we wonder if the Idiot-in-Chief is doubling down on this stupid shutdown/wall talk because the Russia side is even worse.

Trump's foolishness is a given. However, this shutdown could be stopped in its tracks by a Congress that would shrug its shoulders at the dope in the White House and let government function as normal. But they're not, as Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to hold a vote on the same bill that passed the Senate unanimously less than a month ago, and Republicans in the Senate refuse to push Mitch aside to end the shutdown (as it surely would).

Why? Why does McConnell care so much about what Trump thinks, especially when it's hurting the standing of himself and his fellow Republicans? And why aren't other Republicans in the Senate (the majority of whom will not face election until after 2020) telling McConnell to buzz off, keep government functioning, and deal with immigration and budget issues later?

I think it's related to a story McClatchy first reported on nearly a year ago.
The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump win the presidency, two sources familiar with the matter have told McClatchy.

FBI counterintelligence investigators have focused on the activities of Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who is known for his close relationships with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and the NRA, the sources said....

The extent to which the FBI has evidence of money flowing from Torshin to the NRA, or of the NRA’s participation in the transfer of funds, could not be learned.

However, the NRA reported spending a record $55 million on the 2016 elections, including $30 million to support Trump – triple what the group devoted to backing Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race. Most of that was money was spent by an arm of the NRA that is not required to disclose its donors.
Who is Alexander Torshin? He's the guy on the left in this picture, with then-presidential candidate Scott Walker.


The person on the right is Maria Butina, now awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty last month for being an agent of Russia while coordinating with the NRA during the 2016 campaign. Where was that picture with Walker taken? At the NRA convention in April 2015.

Know who else was in power after the 2016 elections with help from the NRA, and who infamously covered up for the Russians? This guy.


In addition, we just saw this week that the NRA and certain Republican Senate candidates were using the same company to buy ads and perform media strategy for the same candidate in this November's elections. The Citizens United decision said that candidates and the NRA had to act separate from each other, but they clearly are not doing that, and the story showed that the media buyer even created a fake front group to make the buys for the NRA.

Know who else benefitted from Russian-NRA assistance in 2016 and knew about it before that election? Wisconsin's own Dumb Senator, Ron Johnson. And here was (mo)Ron this morning, trying to blow off the allegations that Trump is hiding what he and Putin have spoken about.


You'd think the Chair of the Senate's Homeland Security Committee might care about a president who is hiding information that world leaders told him from his advisors and Congress. Why doesn't he care? Because it's pretty obvious that RoJo, his boss Mitch, and many other GOPs are tied up in Trump-Russia as well, and they are too compromised to throw Trump to the side without it blowing back on them. He goes down, they go down.

The real story here is that today's Republican Party, from Donald Trump, through Mitch McConnell, to Ron Johnson, to Scott Walker, is completely AMORAL. They don't care about anything other than power, and accumulating the means to get and (ab)use that power. Some of that is through money, some of that is through hardball tactics and appealing the lowest tactics and policies if it stirs up votes. And if it means getting help from the Russians and covering up for illegal and sickening acts, so be it.

They are ALL guilty until proven otherwise. None should be treated as "one of the good ones."
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4 comments:

  1. Middle class guyJanuary 13, 2019 at 12:52 PM

    Agree with your post. Makes me wonder if threre is a connection between these current Russian connections and John Doe II. I seem to remember millions in out of state money defending Walker in John Doe II. Has how dark money was used in Wisconsin to put the GOP in power become the template for the Republicans through out the US?

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    1. Jake formerly of the LPJanuary 13, 2019 at 1:23 PM

      Wisconsin was a testing group for a lot of today's GOP scuzziness. And John Dow's money-laundering and donor-hiding is certainly a main part of that. As is big-time NRA money and pay-ops thru social media (Brad Parscale worked for Walker in 2014, I believe)

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  2. GeoffTJanuary 13, 2019 at 7:31 PM

    I'd like to point out that McConnell would also be extending the shutdown if:

    (a) He wants a prolonged shutdown in order to drive the talent out of the Federal government workforce in search of jobs that actually pay money. Lowering the quality of Federal services (or increasing the cost of hiring talented people willing to accept the additional risk of prolonged non-payment of salary) makes them easier to privatize in future for extra grafting opportunities; and

    (b) He had someone else already take responsibility for it, thus diverting the negative political consequences away from himself.

    McConnell won't budge an inch until the spotlight moves to him and his intransigence.

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  3. Middle class guyJanuary 14, 2019 at 11:03 AM

    Agree. McConnell is missing in action. Question is why? Maybe Trump/Russia have something on him?

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