Roger Stone

The Times wonders with the rest of us just what the relationship between Trump advisor Stone and Wikileak's Julian Assange:

Roger Stone Sold Himself to Trump’s Campaign as a WikiLeaks Pipeline. Was He?

One wonders why this remains an open question two years after Trump's election. One might also wonder how many members of The Resistance consider this to be an open question.

Mr. Bannon and two other former senior campaign officials have detailed to prosecutors for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, how Mr. Stone created that impression, according to people familiar with their accounts. One of them told investigators that Mr. Stone not only seemed to predict WikiLeaks’s actions, but that he also took credit afterward for the timing of its disclosures that damaged Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.

But at the same time, the top tier of Mr. Trump’s campaign was deeply skeptical of Mr. Stone, who has made a career of merging fact and fiction and seems to prize attention over credibility.

Whether Mr. Stone was, in fact, a trusted intermediary to WikiLeaks — or simply a master of puffery that made him appear so — remains a paramount question for Mr. Mueller’s investigators, who are examining Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential race and whether any Trump associates conspired with Moscow’s effort.

To tease out the truth, prosecutors have summoned Mr. Stone’s former employees and longtime political allies to testify before a federal grand jury in Washington or be interviewed at the special counsel’s office. Investigators asked them about a range of issues, including Mr. Stone’s relationship with WikiLeaks, his attempts during the presidential race to raise money for his political causes and whether he tried to persuade one associate not to cooperate with the inquiry.

Resist!

Comments

[Bernardi Dr la paz]

Interesting I'd never heard of czardas.

[DrJ]

JMH,

Thanks for that! Here's a very different version of Czardas, from Strauss's Fledermaus:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgTyM0XhfCM

The entire album is worth listening to, especially if one can follow German. Reboff as Orlovsky in particular is wonderful.

[narciso]

katotsky or hopak, I think the first is the Ukrainian version.

[DrJ]

There is one line from Fledermaus that I should keep more in mind:

Glücklich ist, wer vergißt, was doch nicht zu ändern ist.

It means roughly that "happy is he who forgets what he cannot change."

[rich]

Posted by: Another Bob | November 01, 2018 at 08:58 PM

it is conceding to their assumptions and premises ... then you spend all your time digging a deep hole.

[rich]

Posted by: Momto2 | November 01, 2018 at 09:07 PM

the devil works in mysterious ways ... and some not so mysterious.

[rich]

>>>It occurs to me, and doubtless to all, that no campaign can afford to turn away volunteers.
It is probably just as easy to infiltrate Repub candidate orgs.
Still, there is that second pathway into the Dems: pretend to be a reporter. Dems will assume you are on their side and Repubs will assume you are an enemy.

Posted by: JimNorCal | November 01, 2018 at 10:35 PM<<<

and internal security of the campaign isn't a problem or concern? would think that even a volunteer would need to provide some bonafides ... prior work with a progressive campaign, a teacher with a recommendation, a murder of feminists saying 'he's good' ...

[glasater]

Ext,

So late in thanking you for the Circa article re the wronged female FBI agent by a top boss. Didn't have any names to do the search. Didn't remember McCabe was involved. I did find this article.. https://www.circa.com/story/2017/08/30/politics/former-fbi-agent-battling-deputy-director-mccabe-said-there-is-a-cancer-inside-the-fbi ..that was what I think I had in mind but yours added more to the story.

Thanks again!!

[rich]

Posted by: Pinandpuller | November 01, 2018 at 10:57 PM

not to intrude but did she ever look at opportunities in the scientific instruments field ... might be small but could be an avenue? [a long story here that i thought about typing out, but then didn't want to because it would be pretty easy to figure out the instrument and my role ...] anyway, at a former job we needed to hire a welder to fix a dewer and our welder was an artist in the best sense of the word. fixed it too after taking about 200 lbs of it apart-still in service after more than a decade of use. our welder billed over 200/hr.

[rich]

JMH

Kaзaчoк

[Pinandpuller]

Posted by: rich | November 02, 2018 at 02:56 AM

I don't know exactly about all that but according to my dad she's really good. They rebuilt a REAL Power Wagon. 50's era.

I have NO problem passing on ideas and information. I'm kind of an aggregator.

[Pinandpuller]

Is this your experience?

[Pinandpuller]

1. They're not unarmed. Several of them got arrested less than a week ago for shooting at the Mexican police who are protecting them.

2. They're not asylum seekers. They were offered asylum by Mexico and refused it, which means they forfeit all rights to claiming asylum according to international law.

[JMHanes]

So, back again despite myself, because I started wondering about Hungarian folk dances (Csárdás). Apparently a lot of folks wrote them and played them. Here's Liszt's
Csárdás Obstiné which is wild (and short!). Here's the Vittorio Monti Csárdás on an accordion which actually sounds more "authentic" after you see what the dances look like!

Here's some archival footage:

Öcsödi cigánytánc Per Google translate, "The male dancer is the legendary singer-dancer Rostás Károly "Huttyán" I had him pegged for a legend in his own mind before I read the caption.

These old guys just hanging out on a a dusty square, are the Magyarpalatkai Banda (Palatka Gypsy Band) with a "Suite of Hungarian dances. I love how beaten up their violins are.

More archival footage of Cigánycsárdás (Gypsy Csárdás) from the village of Nagypalad. I wasn't wrong about the kick dancing! It seems like this whole folk dancing tradition is basically a guy thing.

Moving forward to the now, I'm not sure if this is a demonstration or a competition, but here are Lili and Kristóf dancing the Milotai cigánytánc és csárdás.

And here's the whole bunch making their own music for Szólótánc Gála - Cigányos.

Ditto these present day gypsy guys lightin' up the barbie and getting struck by the impulse to dance in Transylvania. It takes about half the video to get to that point, but the colors and the setting may be the most interesting of the lot.

There are some much more touristy samples around, if you're looking for something a little more polished. Frankly, I think I've seen as much as I ever need to!

This time that's really it for KJART tonight!

[rich]

mueller inquisitors: have you ever used a russian word before?

rich: don't think so? drink plenty of vodka though. do white russians and black russians count?

mueller inquisitors: thinking about russians is serious business? have you collaborated with the russians ... posting secret russian codes on the internet?

rich: wha ...

mueller inquisitors: posting in russian on a blog ... we will ruin you for this treason! we demand this mad dog be shot!

rich: казачок is what google translate pukes up for kazachok that russian kicking dance.

mueller inquisitors: VADE RETRO SATANA! This devilry! Bring the wood and oil! grape and the lash to make him talk!

rich: ... you know that russian kicking dance ...

mueller inquisitors [chanting]:

(we demand this mad dog be shot!
We demand this mad dog b shot)

Double, double toil and trouble
fire burn and cauldron bubble
russian stout and russian word
rich in the cauldron boil and bake

...
...
...

[DrJ]

(Csárdás). Apparently a lot of folks wrote them and played them.

Right. I chose not to get into it too much. But I'm very pleased that you explored some of them!

[JMHanes]

OK One more, because it's probably more interesting than all the dances put together. Here's a violinist testing out Stradivari, Amati and Vuillaume violins. I kept wanting to tell the folks at the party to shut the hell up, but you could still tell the differences between the insturments.

[rich]

Pin-

sort of. we knew there was a leak but couldn't fix it. our welder could. needed a little more than duck tape.

[rich]

i think it was JiB who linked a joke about the consultant and the piece of chalk ...

>>>There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired. Many years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multimillion dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past. The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and stated, "This is where your problem is." The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges. The engineer responded briefly: "One chalk mark $1. Knowing where to put it $49,999"<<<

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Probably missed JMH, but in response to this:

“I don't want to mope all by myself. According to the Cook Report”

I’m just wondering what the Cook Report said two years ago before the 2016 election.

[DrJ]

JMH,

If you'd like some more in the Czardas vein, do try the Brahms Hungarian Dances. The Dvorak Slavonic Dances would work too, which I like more than the Brahms.

[Pinandpuller]

Makes Sense

[Pinandpuller]

Sounds like it was more of a vacuum cauldron in your case rich.

You reminded me of a variation of this joke:

Old man O'Malley had worked down at the brewery for years, but one day he just wasn't paying attention and he tripped on the walkway and fell over into the beer vat and drowned. The foreman thought it should be his job to inform the Widow O'Malley of her old man's death. He showed up at the front door and rang the bell. When she came to the door, he said, "I'm sorry to tell you, but your poor husband passed away at work today when he fell into the vat and drowned." She wept and covered her face with her apron and after a time, between sobs, she asked, "Tell me, did he suffer?" "Knowing Brian O'Malley as well as I did, I don't think so," said the foreman, "He got out three times to go to the men's room."

[Pinandpuller]

An old Jewish man is talking long-distance to California when all of a sudden he gets cut off. He hollers, "Operator, giff me beck the party!"She says, "I'm sorry sir, you'll have to make the call all over again." He says, "What do you want from my life? Giff me beck da party." She says, "I'm sorry sir, you'll have to place the call again." He says, "Operator, ya know vat? Take da telephone and shove it in you-know-vere!" And he hangs up. Two days later he opens the door and there are two big, strapping guys standing there who say, "We came to take your telephone out." He says, "Vy?" They say, "Because you insulted Operator 28 two days ago. But if you'd like to call up and apologize, we'll leave the telephone here." He says, "Vait a minute, vat's da rush, vat's da hurry?" He goes to the telephone and dials. "Hello? Get me Operator 28. Hello, Operator28? Remember me? Two days ago I insulted you? I told you to take da telephone and shove it in you-know-vere?" She says, "Yes?" He says, "Vell, get ready -- dey're bringin' it to ya!"

That man was...George Soros.

[rich]

>>>I’m just wondering what the Cook Report said two years ago before the 2016 election.

Posted by: jimmyk on iPhone | November 02, 2018 at 03:45 AM<<<

their presidential forecast called a Hillary victory and they missed MI, WI, PA, NC, and FL (this was a quick look)

they had the house as a Rep hold

[jimmyk on iPhone]

Here’s what Cook had to say on the eve of the 2016 election. He didn’t give Trump zero chance (as he had a couple weeks earlier) but:

“I would say the chances of Clinton exceeding 330 electoral votes are better than Trump reaching 270,” he said.

“To me the question is whether Clinton gets an Electoral College vote that is in or just barely above the 270s or does she clear 300. A week or two ago she had a good chance of getting 300 or more. That is now fairly unlikely.”

He had also predicted a week earlier that Dems would take the Senate.

So why would we move over his predictions now?

[jimmyk on iPhone]

nope, not move

[jimmyk on iPhone]

grrr MOPE

Thanks, rich, hadn’t seen your response before posting mine.

[Pinandpuller]

Oh Snap Sistah!!!

[rich]

Posted by: jimmyk on iPhone | November 02, 2018 at 04:04 AM

build a loser and bet against it?

so the reps gain in the house, maybe a surprising loss or 2 in the senate, and we are plagued with consultants and talking heads for another 2 years ...

[jim nj]

I think we are at a point where we need to ignore the polls. They give us hope and lead to despair.

No matter what happens this will be a very different Senate and house.

We have had more than 30 republicans announce their retirement this year. There is no way they will be back, but they may run for other offices.

Without an incumbent the race becomes harder for us. Since most of the resignations were in the House it puts our House majority in jeopardy for us.

OTOH, the Senate may gain more republican seats than we dare imagine. If so, expect some coattails for republican representatives.

So I see the House as a 50-50 proposition. We may lose the House, have a slight majority, or a slight majority.

My hopeful thought is that we will retain the house barely. But if we don't, I am convinced that we will own the Senate.

Gridlock? No, not if we hold the Senate and Trump goes for Executive Orders. Obama showed that you don't even need one legislative branch to do that dance.

But going back to the beginning, I don't put a lot of faith in the polls. It's statistical analysis that needs to make some assumptions and some adjustments to be valid. If the assumptions or adjustments are incorrect, the poll results are incorrect.

And, worse, some of these pollsters may be biased or using models that no longer pertain.

So let's not worry about the polls over the next few days. Tuesday or Wednesday, we'll be exultant, or find some other way to survive the next two years.

[jimmyk on iPhone]

If it’s even close there will be pressure on any liberal or anti-Trump Rs in the House to pull a Jeffords move and switch parties. Or an R or two will commit “suicide” in Ft Marcy Park.

[rich]

Paul Ryan will help them come out of the closet. He'll do what he can to help the progressives.

[hoyden]

Say it's not so, jim nj! "And, worse, some of these pollsters may be biased..."

FIFY! "...[and] using models that no longer pertain."

I appreciate your analysis. I don't know how it will all turn out. We survived 8 years of Teh Won.

It's weird I cannot login to my Typepad account from either Windoze PC with Chrome but can from iPhone on Chrome.

Off to work in a few.

[rich]

Posted by: jim nj | November 02, 2018 at 04:15 AM

i agree about the polls-have been ignoring them as best i can! i just don't see how the reps could gain in the senate-with strong turn out-but still lose the house. Sure ND has only a Senate race and a single house seat on the ballot, but i would think there would be a bandwagoning effect ... strong turn out in some states would carry over to others even without contested state wide or senate seats on the ballot. maybe i'm just missing something.

[rich]

i'm still drinking beer and hoyden is getting up to go to work?

YIKES!!!

[Miss Marple]

https://nypost.com/2018/11/01/early-voting-in-2018-midterms-is-record-breaking/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow

[Pinandpuller]

Sounds Like a Parade

[Pinandpuller]

Sad Face

[Pinandpuller]

His last words were,"Let's Rock."

[Miss Marple]

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-11-02/trump-reportedly-asks-cabinet-draw-trade-deal-after-conversation-chinas-xi

[James D.]

Romney: I cannot conceive of saying the media 'is an enemy'

So people who openly lie about him, ridicule him, mock his faith and slander his wife aren't his enemy?

I think I'd rather lose the Utah seat to the Dems than have him as part of the GOP Senate contingent.

[James D.]

It's weird I cannot login to my Typepad account from either Windoze PC with Chrome but can from iPhone on Chrome.

I am having exacty the opposite situation. I can log in on my PC with no problem, but not from my iPhone.

[Miss Marple]

https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2018/11/01/weekly-unemployment-claims-fall-to-214000/

[Miss Marple]

I cannot log in from my iPhone either.

I had hoped to post here while at the rally. Not gonna happen.

However, I will post on Twitter. My Twitter name is @MissMarple2, so anyone who is on Twitter can follow me there.

[Miss Marple]

I am going back to bed for a little while. I didn't sleep well last night.

[anonamom]

One: I think I'd rather lose the Utah seat to the Dems than have him as part of the GOP Senate contingent.
Two: I am going back to bed for a little while. I didn't sleep well last night.

I woke during the night, and what am I thinking?

"I'm not going to be able to stand listening to Mitt for the next two years. With Sasse echoing him."

JOM hive mind here?

Pray my friends, please pray.
(To keep the House. I know Senator Mitt's a done deal. Ugh!
Not even a good use of his talents.)

[gentlejim]

Miss Marple won’t be warm today, but she should stay dry. The rain has finally headed east. I hope her and her sis have a blast. Maybe poke at some protesters. I know she’ll want to. :)

[daddy on iPad]

New Thread!!!

[JimNorCal]

via Insty
ABC Orders Only One More Episode of Roseanne-Free “The Conners” After Ratings Do Exactly What You’d Expect Them To Do

[Another Bob]

JMHanes | November 01, 2018 at 11:46 PM

That’s a great point Kinball makes. Trump should roll that into his rallies and his own campaign. Can you imagine Trump hollering “Let ‘em know you really meant it!”?

[Extraneus]

I cannot log in from my iPhone either.

What's the need to "log in"? The site doesn't require logging in.