Well, this is scary as hell. What can he do to completely screw up the election? And my ongoing question: Why hasn't something been done about this shit show before now?
He can't stuff a ballot box. He can decide what the FBI chases...what it IGNORES...and...crucially...WHEN it speaks.
That's the Comey lesson: timing is a weapon.
Why has nothing been done? Because the system runs on norms...and norms ONLY bind people who FEEL bound. The formal fixes...like impeachment...oversight...the IG...are real...but...PAINFULLY slow...and Congress won't move without pressure.
That's the answer to both questions: the safeguards exist. They just don't self-activate. We have to be the activation. And, yes...I know; we have a mighty hill to climb.
You didn't just feel the alarm...you routed it somewhere it can do WORK. Wyden's a good target; he sits on Intelligence...AND...he actually asks these questions.
Now make it echo: send the same two lines to your OWN two senators...and your House member...because a message from a constituent lands harder than one from out of state. And...keep the receipts.
This is an example of how pressure...becomes OVERSIGHT; not one loud voice...but the SAME clear question...arriving from a hundred zip codes...at once.
Thanks Jack. Wyden is one of my senators. I'll get busy + copy to Sen. Merkely and Rep. Dexter. Thanks to you these comms have become a new ( long overdue) habit. Getting to Wyden thru his website form was exvellent advice that recently bore fruit:
Dear Buck:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your support for the reauthorization of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. I appreciate hearing from you. It is the valuable opinions and suggestions that I receive from my constituents, like you, that help me better serve Oregonians.
Please be assured that if this issue comes before me in the Senate, I will keep your views in mind. Again, thank you for keeping me apprised of the issues that are important to you. If I may be of assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Make people feel it's already "TOO LATE"...and they stop trying...which is the only thing that would make it too late.
It isn't...yet.
The midterms are real. The courts still rule against them...sometimes. Oversight still exists...when ENOUGH people demand it.
The window's damn sure narrowing, yes...which is exactly why the answer is SOONER and louder...not someday. Despair...is the one outcome they can't lose with, and the thing we MUST avoid. That's my whole reason for the Bedrock series that just started yesterday.
I fully believe...democracy will be won...or lost...based on psychology...and psychological states of the citizenry.
GOOD GOD. I have sent my concerns to our Congressional delegation. This is insanity. I have asked each of them to work with their colleagues to put an immediate end to this. This is a clear and present danger, sending this fool into the lion's den. #HoldingFast and #PissedasHell
Roberta...GOOD GOD is right...and look what you did with it. You didn't just rage...you routed it straight to the people who can ACT.
That's the difference between noise...and PRESSURE.
"Clear and present danger" isn't hyperbole here; it's the PRECISE phrase...and asking your delegation to work their colleagues...is EXACTLY the lever; one voice is a letter...a BLOC...is a problem they can't file away.
Stay this loud. #PissedAsHell is fuel. #HoldingFast is the ENGINE.
Jack - you may or may not know this, but last I checked, the International Documentary Association (& most studios & networks) frown on payments to documentary interviewees for their appearances.
In my day, it was a scandal-level thing.
After 30+ years of doing docs, you’ll find people you JUST HAVE TO HAVE who balk at showing up for free. You get around that by paying the cost of licensing visual materials, for airfare, ground transportation, hotels & meals during shoots, or (as news & network organisations do in true crime series), as “consultants.”
But the head of the FBI & Trump’s lawyer taking money from a KGB-linked filmmaker?
Any serious documentary filmmaker or news journalist would tell you it’s highly irregular & unethical.
Melissa...THIS... is the detail I didn't have the standing to say...and you just said it with 30 years behind it!
That's the part that reframes the ENTIRE story: it's not only WHO paid...it's that paying an interviewee at ALL... is a line the field doesn't cross.
Licensing, travel, a "consultant" credit...those are the honest workarounds...and their existence proves EVERYONE knows the rule. So...a flat fee...to the guy who'd go on to run the FBI....is NOT a gray area.
By your profession's own standard...it's a GIANT red flag...whipping in the wind.
Paula...I laughed out loud...and I NEEDED it...thank you.
Then I got quiet...because...here's the uncomfortable version: intelligence isn't the qualification the other side is screening for. PLIABLE is.
Someone who can be charmed...handled...and POINTED. As much as we've seen Patel's eagerness to be in the spotlight...there are signs he's more pliable than Play-Doh.
So the very thing that makes it absurd...is the thing that makes it DANGEROUS.
Yes, this is crazy; BAT SHIT crazy....and the sane response is to stay loud...stay clear-eyed...and keep NAMING it...which is exactly what you just did!
Well, this is scary as hell. What can he do to completely screw up the election? And my ongoing question: Why hasn't something been done about this shit show before now?
Jan...right question, wrong fear.
He can't stuff a ballot box. He can decide what the FBI chases...what it IGNORES...and...crucially...WHEN it speaks.
That's the Comey lesson: timing is a weapon.
Why has nothing been done? Because the system runs on norms...and norms ONLY bind people who FEEL bound. The formal fixes...like impeachment...oversight...the IG...are real...but...PAINFULLY slow...and Congress won't move without pressure.
That's the answer to both questions: the safeguards exist. They just don't self-activate. We have to be the activation. And, yes...I know; we have a mighty hill to climb.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Going forward. " Norms" are no longer adequate. Sociopaths and greed crazed politicians don't give a damn about norms.
Exactly.
It could be that he’s the shit show with the perfect plan to defect: no one will believe it until it happens.
I like the “training upgrade” bit, Buck.
I'm about to read this, but first, here's my instant answer to the question. He's being recalled for a training upgrade.
I've read + sent the following to Ron Wyden's website:
Why does the head of the FBI need an FSB welcome party three weeks before Americans vote? What’s on the agenda that’s too sensitive to write down?
Demand the itinerary. Demand the transcript.
Buck...damn right! This is exactly it.
You didn't just feel the alarm...you routed it somewhere it can do WORK. Wyden's a good target; he sits on Intelligence...AND...he actually asks these questions.
Now make it echo: send the same two lines to your OWN two senators...and your House member...because a message from a constituent lands harder than one from out of state. And...keep the receipts.
This is an example of how pressure...becomes OVERSIGHT; not one loud voice...but the SAME clear question...arriving from a hundred zip codes...at once.
Well done, Buck!
-Jack
Thanks Jack. Wyden is one of my senators. I'll get busy + copy to Sen. Merkely and Rep. Dexter. Thanks to you these comms have become a new ( long overdue) habit. Getting to Wyden thru his website form was exvellent advice that recently bore fruit:
Dear Buck:
Thank you for contacting me regarding your support for the reauthorization of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act. I appreciate hearing from you. It is the valuable opinions and suggestions that I receive from my constituents, like you, that help me better serve Oregonians.
Please be assured that if this issue comes before me in the Senate, I will keep your views in mind. Again, thank you for keeping me apprised of the issues that are important to you. If I may be of assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Ron Wyden
United States Senator
Buck O'Kelly...outstanding!
People like you...and others in the group...never fail to make me smile. This is a gathering of people...who DO.
I salute you!
-Jack
If we don't soon do something significant about this crap, we're not going to be able to!
TimE...right...and that's precisely the design.
Make people feel it's already "TOO LATE"...and they stop trying...which is the only thing that would make it too late.
It isn't...yet.
The midterms are real. The courts still rule against them...sometimes. Oversight still exists...when ENOUGH people demand it.
The window's damn sure narrowing, yes...which is exactly why the answer is SOONER and louder...not someday. Despair...is the one outcome they can't lose with, and the thing we MUST avoid. That's my whole reason for the Bedrock series that just started yesterday.
I fully believe...democracy will be won...or lost...based on psychology...and psychological states of the citizenry.
Don't hand it to them.
#HoldFast
-Jack
Definitely NOT handing it to them! I'm at the other end of the spectrum!
As I KNEW you were!
-Jack
One word Putin's Puppet, trump 😖❗
GOOD GOD. I have sent my concerns to our Congressional delegation. This is insanity. I have asked each of them to work with their colleagues to put an immediate end to this. This is a clear and present danger, sending this fool into the lion's den. #HoldingFast and #PissedasHell
Roberta...GOOD GOD is right...and look what you did with it. You didn't just rage...you routed it straight to the people who can ACT.
That's the difference between noise...and PRESSURE.
"Clear and present danger" isn't hyperbole here; it's the PRECISE phrase...and asking your delegation to work their colleagues...is EXACTLY the lever; one voice is a letter...a BLOC...is a problem they can't file away.
Stay this loud. #PissedAsHell is fuel. #HoldingFast is the ENGINE.
You're running both!
#HoldFast
-Jack
Jack - you may or may not know this, but last I checked, the International Documentary Association (& most studios & networks) frown on payments to documentary interviewees for their appearances.
In my day, it was a scandal-level thing.
After 30+ years of doing docs, you’ll find people you JUST HAVE TO HAVE who balk at showing up for free. You get around that by paying the cost of licensing visual materials, for airfare, ground transportation, hotels & meals during shoots, or (as news & network organisations do in true crime series), as “consultants.”
But the head of the FBI & Trump’s lawyer taking money from a KGB-linked filmmaker?
Any serious documentary filmmaker or news journalist would tell you it’s highly irregular & unethical.
Melissa...THIS... is the detail I didn't have the standing to say...and you just said it with 30 years behind it!
That's the part that reframes the ENTIRE story: it's not only WHO paid...it's that paying an interviewee at ALL... is a line the field doesn't cross.
Licensing, travel, a "consultant" credit...those are the honest workarounds...and their existence proves EVERYONE knows the rule. So...a flat fee...to the guy who'd go on to run the FBI....is NOT a gray area.
By your profession's own standard...it's a GIANT red flag...whipping in the wind.
Thank you, Melissa; you sharpened this...a lot!
-Jack
Insanity reigns Supreme with Patel & the Trump administration.
Lillian...no lies detected. They can put "INSANITY" on the Kennedy Center. I'd be okay with that.
-Jack
Trying
How Much More In Our Faces Can It Get?
Sher'...this is about as in the face...as one would think it could get.
Something tells me, though...that they're going to surprise us...again.
-Jack
That man is too stupid to meet with Ronald McDonald, let alone the Russian Intelligence. What? Are we fucking crazy?
Paula...I laughed out loud...and I NEEDED it...thank you.
Then I got quiet...because...here's the uncomfortable version: intelligence isn't the qualification the other side is screening for. PLIABLE is.
Someone who can be charmed...handled...and POINTED. As much as we've seen Patel's eagerness to be in the spotlight...there are signs he's more pliable than Play-Doh.
So the very thing that makes it absurd...is the thing that makes it DANGEROUS.
Yes, this is crazy; BAT SHIT crazy....and the sane response is to stay loud...stay clear-eyed...and keep NAMING it...which is exactly what you just did!
#HoldFast
-Jack
Glad you got a laugh- the world is so screwed up I am not laughing much these days. Its all so awful.
Paula...humor...especially DARK humor...is as important now...as it has been for a long while in US history.
As a Navy Corpsman...I survived on it. I didn't forget.
Glad you're here!
-Jack