My thanks to the SHR Media Network for allowing me to broadcast in their studio and over their air twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as appear on the Sack Heads Radio Show™ each Wednesday evening.
This was BZ’s third night running the new SHR laptop, bristling as it does with a full 16 gigs of buttery RAM goodness and a nice sound card. Once again, like Tuesday, BZ discovered that Windows 10 wanted to update right in the middle of the show. Uh, no. Learned that lesson.
Tonight in the Saloon we discussed:
“I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now”;
Happy Stories: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer shuts down Diane Feinstein when he doesn’t get the answer he wants from her;
Senator Ted Cruz chats with former temp AG Sally Yates, fired by Trump;
8 USC 1182: it exists, get over it;
Thousands flee Cook County because of Chicago violence;
I was vastly wrong: NYPD has 34,000 officers, not 24,000;
Pat Dollard was busy; we’re hoping for another appearance shortly;
Obama says: you need to eat a bug;
What is “anthropogenic”?
Scientists: you need to eat insects to stop “global warming”;
Memorial Day represents nothing but US oppression around the globe;
Obama’s rampant hypocrisy: $400,000 speeches & $3.26 million dollar cash grab;
Obama’s private jet and 14-vehicle convoy to Milan’s Globalist Food Control meet;
I tell you about the Religious Left: it takes faith to believe in global warming;
Al Gore only wants $15 trillion dollars from every nation and tax payer;
Elizabeth “Fauxcahontas” Warren thinks Obama might be just a bit hypocritical;
Bernie Sanders thinks Obama might be just a bit hypocritical;
Bill Maher thinks Obama might be just a bit hypocritical;
The sky began falling this past Tuesday;
An in-depth analysis of the firing of James Comey by President Donald Trump.
Please join me, the Bloviating Zeppelin(on Twitter @BZep and on Gab.ai @BZep), every Tuesday and Thursday night on the SHR Media Network from 11 PM to 1 AM Eastern and 8 PM to 10 PM Pacific, at the Berserk Bobcat Saloon — where the speech is free but the drinks are not.
As ever, thank you so kindly for listening, commenting, and interacting in the chat room or listening via podcast. With luck all screens will be functioning next week. Shaun said so. Heh. Perhaps, if I speak soothing words, I’ll have the live feed on YouTube up and running. No promises yet. Besides, after last Wednesday on Sack Heads, why would you want to look at my ugly mug?
Want to listen to all the Berserk Bobcat Saloon archives in podcast? Go here.
Truer words, as above, have not recently been written. It’s all about James Comey.
And the testimony of FBI Director James Comey on Wednesday before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on FBI Oversight only serves to underline and prove one thing: Mr Comey needs to be forced to resign, and immediately.
Certainly Hillary Clinton thinks so. It was Comey and the Russians who did her in despite saying she is taking “absolute personal full responsibility” for her loss. Uh, no. She doesn’t take full responsibility. She spoke to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Tuesday.
“If the election had been on October 27, I would be your president,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour at a Women for Women International event in New York.
“I take absolute personal responsibility. I was the candidate, I was the person who was on the ballot. I am very aware of the challenges, the problems, the shortfalls that we had,” Clinton said, before adding that she was “on the way to winning until a combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me and got scared off.”
This is the same Hillary Clinton who was enraged that the election wasn’t simply handed over to her as required by us underlings, proles. commoners, serfs and unwashed rabble.
[It’s interesting to note that Hillary Clinton is writing a book about her loss, Huma Abedin is writing a book and Barack Hussein Obama is making $400,000 speeches to Wall Street.]
The very next day following Clinton’s fuzzy softball interview, Director Comey’s testimony in the Senate was jam-gepacked with bursting volumes of self-serving and contradictory statements. (The full testimony can be read here. Full video is here.) Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley originally called the Wednesday oversight hearing of the FBI to examine what the agency knows about a 2015 terrorist attack in Garland, Texas. Things got a bit off-topic, however.
Comey: Anthony Weiner Received Classified Clinton Emails
by Kristina Wong
FBI Director James Comey hit back Wednesday against Democratic criticism of his decision to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails 11 days before the 2016 election.
He said although it made him “mildly nauseous” to think he could have had some impact on the election, he believes he did the right thing and to this day, would not change his mind.
In explaining his decision to reopen the investigation, he said investigators found metadata on the seized laptop of Anthony Weiner — top Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s husband — that showed there were “thousands” of Clinton’s emails on the device, including classified information.
Investigators believed the emails could include emails missing from her first three months as secretary of state.
Comey said after repeatedly telling members of Congress that the FBI had concluded its investigation into Clinton, the only right thing to do was to let Congress know the case was reopened.
“I could see two doors and they were both actions. One was labeled ‘speak,’ the other was labeled ‘conceal,’” he said.
But wait. Was classified information really involved in any of those emails?
He said Abedin forwarded “hundreds of thousands” of emails to Weiner, 40,000 of which they reviewed. Three thousand of those were work-related, and 12 of them contained classified information, he said.
But he said Abedin and Weiner were not charged with any wrongdoing since investigators did not find a general sense of criminal intent — a decision that Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) scoffed at.
The hearing conducted on Wednesday featured Senator Diane Feinstein asking a question that, in retrospect, she wished she never touched.
She received a lot more information, damning information, than she wanted. She opened the door and FBI Director James Comey walked right through it. I suspect she was hoping Comey would simply reply that the information was classified. Sorry, senator. Feinstein was just pissed, regarding 702 data**, that her Demorat ox got gored.
But what really happened here? Again, just like July of 2016, Comey makes an argument for prosecution — first, against Hillary Clinton now, here, against Huma Abedin — and then does nothing about it. How did Weiner come to be in possession of classified information? Huma Abedin sent it to him. This is a violation of 18 USC 793 — Gathering, transmitting or losing defense information, to wit:
(f) Whoever, being entrusted with or having lawful possession or control of any document, writing, code book, signal book, sketch, photograph, photographic negative, blueprint, plan, map, model, instrument, appliance, note, or information, relating to the national defense, (1) through gross negligence permits the same to be removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of his trust, or to be lost, stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, or (2) having knowledge that the same has been illegally removed from its proper place of custody or delivered to anyone in violation of its trust, or lost, or stolen, abstracted, or destroyed, and fails to make prompt report of such loss, theft, abstraction, or destruction to his superior officer—
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.
As I wrote in July of last year regarding Director Comey’s decision to refuse sending the Hillary Clinton case on to DOJ:
To me it is quite clear that FBI Director James Comey, about whose probity I wrote quite a number of times on the blog, has dishonored his law enforcement oath, showing that he has no fidelity, no bravery and no integrity with regard to his decision to not recommend prosecution of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
But in today’s hearing with Trey Gowdy and Jason Chaffetz as documented at Politico, James Comey revealed his flawed and craven, cowardly political thinking when one is familiar with law enforcement prosecutorial thresholds as I am.
Director Comey determined a manner in which to weasel his way out of recommending the prosecution of Clinton. At Thursday’s hearing he went out of his way — again, just like Wednesday — to make his own case and then fall back on a position/decision that isn’t his to make.
But the most insightful part has arrived. Comey outs himself:
Chaffetz then asked whether it was that he was just not able to prosecute it or that Clinton broke the law.
“Well, I don’t want to give an overly lawyerly answer,” Comey said. “The question I always look at is there evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that somebody engaged in conduct that violated a criminal statute, and my judgment here is there is not. “
And this is how James Comey attempts to rationalize his decision. He states he does not believe his case established guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
NEWSFLASH: It is not UP to YOU, Director Comey, to assemble a case that yields a determination of “beyond a reasonable doubt.” That threshold is up to the DOJ or more pointedly a Grand Jury, not you or your organization. All you need to compile a case for submission is “probable cause.” That’s what real cops and real DAs in America do. Their jobs. They stay in their lanes and do their jobs.
As noted about Comey’s wrong-headed decision to give a pass to Hillary Clinton regarding the classified information on her server and in her emails, there are crimes of specific intent and general intent. Comey insists he must have specific intent before forwarding a case to DOJ. That’s wrong. There are sections, as above, that demand no such thing. Watch:
“She had no sense that what she was doing was a violation of the law.” Really, Mr Comey? “We couldn’t prove any sort of criminal intent.” You might try reading the law, Mr Comey. Federal law. The law you’re tasked with following and upholding.
Senator Ted Cruz had questions.
The fact patterns in Hillary Clinton’s case and Huma Abedin’s case do violate federal law as indicated by Senator Cruz above and common sense.
Director Comey’s job is not to be the attorney, but to be the compiler, and assembler of cases and, then, submitting a case to the Department of Justice. He essentially has and is usurping the function of prosecutors by withholding cases from the DOJ.
Tucker Carlson, below, interviews Democrat Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio and, more pointedly, former US Attorney Jim Digenova. Listen to Digenova’s clear and cogent case against FBI Director James Comey.
On Wednesday, for good measure, Director Comey decided to throw former US Attorney General Loretta Lynch under the bus — deservedly but quite willingly.
Now there is information from RightScoop.com, announced by Catherine Herridge of Fox News:
REVEALED: FBI found email that Lynch would do everything she could to protect Hillary from CRIMINAL CHARGES
Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge says this is one of the biggest headlines out of the hearing today with the FBI director, pointing out that the FBI had found an email was obtained by Russian hackers that indicated that former DOJ hack Loretta Lynch would do everything she could to protect Hillary from prosecution:
This was the story from Wednesday. And who covered it? Anyone but Fox?
Note how Director Comey refuses to answer. The fix was in. Comey is a disreputable political hack and has proven himself time and again to be so.
FBI Director James Comey must go. He is too self-centered, too much the political animal and, frankly, too narcissistic to continue in his current position. He insists he is apolitical but every movement he makes and statement he gives proves otherwise.
Section 702 permits the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence to jointly authorize targeting of persons reasonably believed to be located outside the United States, but is limited to targeting non-U.S. persons. Once authorized, such acquisitions may last for periods of up to one year.
Under subsection 702(b) of the FISA Amendments Act, such an acquisition is also subject to several limitations. Specifically, an acquisition:
May not intentionally target any person known at the time of acquisition to be located in the United States;
May not intentionally target a person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States if the purpose of such acquisition is to target a particular, known person reasonably believed to be in the United States;
May not intentionally target a U.S. person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States;
May not intentionally acquire any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of the acquisition to be located in the United States;
Proving that Diane Feinstein couldn’t care less about your sons or your daughters, serving in the military around the world.
Publicizing these details makes no sense. No other country would even consider doing this: costing lives of your nationals.
Even John Kerry called up DiFi and said, “please don’t do this.”
This NOT a bi-partisan document or a bi-partisan release. This is a last-gasp for attention by a doddering senator. This will become nothing but propaganda fodder and will hurt our ability to acquire cooperation from other nations. This will become a recruiting tool for terrorists. These details do nothing but inflame Jihadists. They harm national security interests.
Of what do I refer? The report on enhanced interrogation by the US, released by the outgoing Chairman on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Are the Demorats out to smear the CIA and to dissuade/make a head-fake on other topics? Like: Gruber’s testimony today?
The Demorats are doing nothing but attempting to smear where they can, because they have a Loser President and are trying to buttress “their” candidate for 2016, Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is also their last chance slam on Bush before the transition to a GOP majority in the Senate.
This is nothing more than a deeply inflammatory report released whilst our young men and women, our troops, are physically in harm’s way around the globe. This isn’t a matter of criminality, it’s a matter of US policy at the time. There was Congressional blessing at the time and Congressional oversight.
McCaskill: CIA report ‘would never happen in North Korea or China’
by Martin Matishak
The release of a report on CIA enhanced interrogations techniques “would never happen” in less open and accountable nations, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) said on Monday. The assessment, which could be released as soon as Monday, “exposes what the world already knows, and that is that the United States engaged in torture,” McCaskill said during an interview with CBS.
“But my feeling about this is that this is a gut-check moment for our democracy. The world knows we tortured. But does the world know yet that we’ll hold up our values and hold our government accountable?” she said. McCaskill added that the report “would never happen in North Korea or China or Russia. But in the United States, we hold our government accountable. And I think that process is so important, so fundamental to our democracy that it’s essential that this report comes out.”
The report is the result of a probe by the Senate Intelligence Committee into the CIA’s enhanced interrogations during the George W. Bush administration.
Officials fear torture report could spark violence
by Erin Kelly
WASHINGTON — Federal officials braced for possible violence at U.S. facilities around the world as senators prepared to release a report Tuesday detailing the CIA’s torture of suspected terrorists in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
“There are some indications that the release of the report could lead to a greater risk that is posed to U.S. facilities and individuals all around the world,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday. “So the administration has taken the prudent steps to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe.”
The Intelligence Committee is expected to release Tuesday a 500-page summary of a 6,200-page report on the the CIA’s use of waterboarding, sleep deprivation, humiliation and other “enhanced interrogation techniques” against al-Qaeda prisoners during the George W. Bush administration.
Diane Feinstein is Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. She is in charge. She determined if the report was released or not. The report is here.
This is nothing but vengeance by an aging, doddering and outgoing 81-year-old US Senator. Call her at (202) 224-3841, contact her on Twitter @SenFeinstein, or e-mail her.
She said: “Releasing this report is an important step to restoring our values and showing the world that we are a just society.” It is also your final “getback” at Bush and the GOP. What was the first thing your own Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel did in anticipation of the report’s release? That’s correct, he put the US military on general alert, knowing the release would do nothing but stir the Middle East and terrorists.
Thanks so kindly, Feinstein.
BZ
P.S.
Overlooked in the “torture” report: how many terrorists were forced to burn alive, jump to their deaths, beheaded, received clitorectomies, or had hands severed from arms? Right. None.
“This is one more event to add to the litany of massacres that occur when a deranged person or grievance killer is able to obtain multiple weapons — including a military-style assault rifle — and kill many people in a short amount of time. When will enough be enough?” asked Feinstein. “Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life.”
The heinous AR-15 was demagogued once again. The AMM (American Media Maggots) fixated on the so-called “assault rifle.” This is nothing more than what I would term “Outcome Based Journalism,” or OBJ.
Piers Morgan blames all on the AR-15 or “assault rifle.”
Despite that, it was Open Season again on firearms and assault rifles in particular. Fornicalia is reacting with nothing but restrictions, to include the definition of an “assault rifle” being any long gun with a detachable magazine.
One of the most restrictive states is soon to become infinitely more restrictive. I’m lucky because I’m a cop. But those who may actually wish to protect themselves via a firearm in Fornicalia? Good damned luck.
But the DC mayor weighing in on the real reason for the yard shooting? Leftists opine on their purple skies, because they are blithering idiots:
It’s the Republicans’ fault because of the sequester. Despite the fact that Alexis was a liberal and voted for Obama and that his job status had changed. Middle class families today make less than middle class families in 1989. In adjusted dollars, families make less. Thank you kindly, Mr Barack Hussein Obama, the Solver of All, the Stagnator of All, the Racist of All. For blacks, their earnings have decreased by 18%. Under Obama.
Let’s step back for a moment, shall we, and attempt to insert some logic here — logic that Leftists simply don’t want to address or face. What or who was Aaron Alexis?
Because this event could be placed into the category of “mass killing.”
Even USA Today thinks mass killings are overblown.
In the past 30 years, there have been roughly 500+ persons attributed to so-called “mass killings,” defined as events resulting in a minimum of four persons killed.
And but upon that fact the current administration would wish to strike out the entire Second Amendment, via a statistic that is miniscule upon miniscule.
That’s like having a $590,000 budget, but predicating all of your decisions based upon a $500 variable.
My thanks to the SHR Media Network for allowing me to broadcast in their studio and over their air twice weekly, Tuesdays and Thursdays, as well as appear on the Sack Heads Radio Show™ each Wednesday evening.
Truer words, as above, have not recently been written. It’s all about James Comey.
But wait. Was classified information really involved in any of those emails?
The hearing conducted on Wednesday featured Senator Diane Feinstein asking a question that, in retrospect, she wished she never touched.
