White House chief of staff John Kelly has waded into the debate over Confederate statues, stating that the Civil War was prompted by an inability to compromise while suggesting both sides acted in “good faith”.
Speaking with Fox News in a rare interview, Kelly described Confederate general Robert E Lee as “an honorable man” while discussing the recent push to remove monuments and symbols memorializing the pro-slavery Confederacy.
“There are certain things in history that were good, and other things that were not so good,” Kelly told new Fox News host Laura Ingraham
Speaking with Fox News in a rare interview, Kelly described Confederate general Robert E Lee as “an honorable man” while discussing the recent push to remove monuments and symbols memorializing the pro-slavery Confederacy.
“There are certain things in history that were good, and other things that were not so good,” Kelly told new Fox News host Laura Ingraham
...Kelly then went on to say Lee, the general of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War, “was a man that gave up his country to fight for his state”.
“It was always loyalty to state first back in those days,” said Kelly, while adding: “But the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War. And men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had to make their stand.”
Kelly’s comments echoed those made by Donald Trump in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in August, when a white supremacist drove his car into counter protesters, leaving one woman dead and several others injured. The president sparked controversy in the days that followed by blaming violence “on both sides”, appearing to put neo-Nazis and white supremacists on equal footing with demonstrators from the left.
“It was always loyalty to state first back in those days,” said Kelly, while adding: “But the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War. And men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had to make their stand.”
Kelly’s comments echoed those made by Donald Trump in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in August, when a white supremacist drove his car into counter protesters, leaving one woman dead and several others injured. The president sparked controversy in the days that followed by blaming violence “on both sides”, appearing to put neo-Nazis and white supremacists on equal footing with demonstrators from the left.
...By framing the Civil War as an issue of states’ rights, Kelly perpetuated a popular claim on the right that downplays the role of slavery as central to the conflict. But while declaring their right to secede from the Federal Union, delegates from Confederate states cited the future of slavery as fundamental to their cause.
....During his appearance, Kelly also declined to walk back his attacks on Representative Frederica Wilson, a Democratic congresswoman who made public details of Trump’s phone call with the widow of a US soldier killed in the ambush in Niger.
Kelly sharply criticized Wilson at a White House press briefing earlier this month as an “empty barrel” and falsely stated the congresswoman had bragged in a speech he attended about securing funding for a building dedicated to two fallen FBI agents. Video footage of Wilson’s speech showed she did not make comments matching Kelly’s characterization.
Asked by Ingraham if he felt the need to apologize, Kelly said he would “never” do so.
“Well, I’ll apologize if I need to. But for something like that, absolutely not,” he said. “I stand by my comments.”
Kelly sharply criticized Wilson at a White House press briefing earlier this month as an “empty barrel” and falsely stated the congresswoman had bragged in a speech he attended about securing funding for a building dedicated to two fallen FBI agents. Video footage of Wilson’s speech showed she did not make comments matching Kelly’s characterization.
Asked by Ingraham if he felt the need to apologize, Kelly said he would “never” do so.
“Well, I’ll apologize if I need to. But for something like that, absolutely not,” he said. “I stand by my comments.”
Rex Tillerson may say he hasn’t been castrated yet, but John Kelly made clear just how loyal he is now by also calling for a special prosecutor over that bullshit uranium bidness.
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“The vast majority of the staff would have nothing to do with any of this kind of thing. So, there’s no worry about it.”
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Breitbart settles an old score:
Here were two pieces of required reading this past weekend. The first was Tim Alberta’s revelatory visit to John Boehner in retirement during which Boehner smoked, drank, fixed his lawnmower, and unlimbered himself to Alberta on practically everyone he left behind in the House Of Representatives. Here is a, well, representative sampling of Boehner At Leisure. From Politico:
Here’s what he thinks about the Freedom Caucus vandals in the House.
Here’s what he thinks about the Freedom Caucus vandals in the House.
“They can’t tell you what they’re for. They can tell you everything they’re against. They’re anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That’s where their mind-set is.”
But what about its founder, Rep. Jim Jordan of Boehner’s own Ohio:
“Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio House and Senate … A terrorist. A legislative terrorist.”
OK, but Mark Meadows of North Carolina is running the Freedom Caucus now.
“He’s an idiot.”
And, just because I agree with it, here’s what Boehner thinks about Jason Chaffetz of Utah and Trey Gowdy, the lop-headed Javert of Benghazi, Benghazi!, BENGHAZI!
“Fuck Jordan. Fuck Chaffetz. They’re both assholes.”
I am interested in this fellow’s views and intend to subscribe to his newsletter. And, Mr. Boehner, if you feel the need further to unburden yourself on these topics, this shebeen is always open.
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Transition Expert
Even after he was officially shown the door, Paul Manafort still hung around in the Team Treason parking lot, helping to transition President Stupid into the White House.
Ousted campaign chief Paul Manafort seeks to shape Trump transition.
Now it looks like he may be instrumental in helping to transition him out.
Kinda poetic.
Kinda poetic.
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In MOTUSLand, loyalty is a one-way street, ending at his feet:
In March 2016, Trump had given Papadopoulos a shout-out during a presser, calling him “an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy.”
....came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
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Deep in the throes of Spacey-gate, Netflix is figuring out how to move forward with House of Cards. The network already announced that next season will be the show’s last, stressing that the decision to ax the political drama came months before Kevin Spacey’s sexual misconduct scandal broke—though the announcement came just one day after Spacey was accused of sexually pursuing a teenager. Now word is out that Netflix is also considering a more traditional Hollywood fix—a spin-off.
Variety reports that the streaming service has been mulling over ways to keep the franchise going after the House of Cards finale, and a spin-off set in the same political world might be the way to go. If Netflix does go forward with a spin-off, it would be a first for the platform.
One potential idea, per Variety? A follow-up series about Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), Francis Underwood’s loyal henchman with outrageously thick eyebrows. The series would be penned by Eric Roth, who produced the first four seasons of Cards before decamping to TNT’s The Alienist. There are at least two more spin-off ideas in the works as well, but further details about them are still under wraps. Netflix is clearly hoping to go the Game of Thrones route on this one; HBO will also launch a spin-off after its flagship fantasy series ends, and has tapped several teams of writers to come up with competing ideas.
Variety reports that the streaming service has been mulling over ways to keep the franchise going after the House of Cards finale, and a spin-off set in the same political world might be the way to go. If Netflix does go forward with a spin-off, it would be a first for the platform.
One potential idea, per Variety? A follow-up series about Doug Stamper (Michael Kelly), Francis Underwood’s loyal henchman with outrageously thick eyebrows. The series would be penned by Eric Roth, who produced the first four seasons of Cards before decamping to TNT’s The Alienist. There are at least two more spin-off ideas in the works as well, but further details about them are still under wraps. Netflix is clearly hoping to go the Game of Thrones route on this one; HBO will also launch a spin-off after its flagship fantasy series ends, and has tapped several teams of writers to come up with competing ideas.
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Silicon Valley dismissed the Russian ad campaigns.
Now they are fessing up, and a staggering number of American who click Share Without Reading are finding out just how gullible they are:
Now they are fessing up, and a staggering number of American who click Share Without Reading are finding out just how gullible they are:
...Facebook, for instance, has found that 126 million users in the country may have been exposed to 80,000 divisive political posts written by a Kremlin-back Russian company, according to The New York Times.
Twitter uncovered over 36,000 accounts possibly linked with Russia that generated 1.4 million automated election-related tweets, according to a source familiar with its upcoming testimony. Those tweets received 288 million impressions.
Google, on the other hand, found 1,108 videos on YouTube probably associated with a suspected Russian campaign to spread propaganda. The videos attracted 309,000 views in the U.S.
More details will be presented during today's congressional hearing on Russian interference in last year's election. Representatives from all three U.S. tech companies are set to testify.
Facebook will reportedly disclose that a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency controlled 470 accounts to publish the 80,000 posts. Those posts were served directly to 29 million users, and then liked, shared or followed by others, magnifying their spread.
Russia's Internet Research Agency, which is notorious for being an Internet troll farm, also spent $100,000 to display 3,000 ads on the platform with divisive political and social messages, Facebook claimed last month.
Twitter also tracked over 2,700 users accounts to the Russian company, up from the 201 accounts it initially reported last month. All the accounts have been suspended. In addition, Twitter identified over 36,000 accounts found generating automated election-related content that possessed "at least one characteristic" associated with Russian user accounts.
Although the accounts produced 1.4 million tweets, that only represented 0.74 percent of overall election-related tweets during the Sept. 1 to Nov. 15 time period, according to Twitter's upcoming testimony.
Despite Facebook's and Twitter's attempts to crack down on the abuse, U.S. lawmakers remain concerned that foreign governments will try to spread propaganda over their platforms in future elections. That may put Silicon Valley and Washington at odds over attempts to regulate social media.
Twitter uncovered over 36,000 accounts possibly linked with Russia that generated 1.4 million automated election-related tweets, according to a source familiar with its upcoming testimony. Those tweets received 288 million impressions.
Google, on the other hand, found 1,108 videos on YouTube probably associated with a suspected Russian campaign to spread propaganda. The videos attracted 309,000 views in the U.S.
More details will be presented during today's congressional hearing on Russian interference in last year's election. Representatives from all three U.S. tech companies are set to testify.
Facebook will reportedly disclose that a Russian company called the Internet Research Agency controlled 470 accounts to publish the 80,000 posts. Those posts were served directly to 29 million users, and then liked, shared or followed by others, magnifying their spread.
Russia's Internet Research Agency, which is notorious for being an Internet troll farm, also spent $100,000 to display 3,000 ads on the platform with divisive political and social messages, Facebook claimed last month.
Twitter also tracked over 2,700 users accounts to the Russian company, up from the 201 accounts it initially reported last month. All the accounts have been suspended. In addition, Twitter identified over 36,000 accounts found generating automated election-related content that possessed "at least one characteristic" associated with Russian user accounts.
Although the accounts produced 1.4 million tweets, that only represented 0.74 percent of overall election-related tweets during the Sept. 1 to Nov. 15 time period, according to Twitter's upcoming testimony.
Despite Facebook's and Twitter's attempts to crack down on the abuse, U.S. lawmakers remain concerned that foreign governments will try to spread propaganda over their platforms in future elections. That may put Silicon Valley and Washington at odds over attempts to regulate social media.
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Today, after the first successful terrorist attack in the US since 9/11, and on his watch, MOTUS reached for the Twitter. Nine minutes after it ocurred, he bragged about home prices reaching new highs.
36 minutes after the attack, he wallowed in a bin of clean coal to celebrate a marginal increase in producttion.
It took him until 5.30 pm to assemble a thought on the New York attack:
In NYC, looks like another attack by a very sick and deranged person. Law enforcement is following this closely. NOT IN THE U.S.A.!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
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