Leaks? Leaks! LEAKS?!??

Today’s screaming headlines:

Paul Ryan: Intel leaks ‘the problem of the leaker, not the journalist’
Joe Concha / The Hill

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) defended journalists Friday, saying that while intelligence leaks compromise national security, it’s “the problem of the leaker, not the journalist. Leaks are concerning because leaks can often compromise national security, but that’s the problem of the leaker not the journalist,” Ryan said at an event in Muskego, Wis., on Friday afternoon.

Ryan’s comment comes just hours after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a government-wide crackdown on leakers.

Then again, I already WROTE this column., On Valentine’s Day:

Unplugged From The Chaos

I guess I’m not the only one who’s sick of the Trump clown car:

Trump Is Woody Allen Without the Humor
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal

Half his tweets show utter weakness.  They are plaintive, shrill little cries, usually just after dawn.  —  The president’s primary problem as a leader is not that he is impetuous, brash or naive.  It’s not that he is inexperienced, crude, an outsider…

A few weeks ago, we unplugged from cable and went to streaming TV only. The transition was smooth. And, soon, we noticed something wonderful:

‘Assassin’s Screed’, or Why Ted Nugent Fears Me Part ii.

UPDATED BELOW

This is part ii. Part i is here.

Our Story So Far: July 3, 2007, Ted Nugent writes a vicious screed tossing the entire “60s” generation on the bonfire of his own vanity. I respond on July 3. Joe Farah’s scrofulous WorldNetDaily anonymously attacks me for “waxing my eloquence.”

“As a die-hard musician, I terribly miss these very talented people who squandered God’s gifts in favor of poison and the joke of hipness. I often wonder what musical peaks they could have climbed had they not gagged to death on their own vomit….While I salute and commend the political and cultural activism of the 1960s that fueled the civil rights movement, other than that, the decade is barren of any positive cultural or social impact. Honest people will remember 1967 for what is truly was.”  — Ted Nugent, Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2004

Hannity picks up on the column and cribs it (twice). On July 9, Sean Hannity and Brent Bozell attempt, on Faux Nooz™, to paint me as the liberal equivalent of Ann Coulter. Not having kicked me enough, on July 13, noted craven wussy Ted Nugent goes on Hannity & Colmes to weep crocodile tears, claim I’m a “nut case” and belittle the late Alan Colmes. I am accused of FOMENTING civil war and internal rebellion when, clearly, that is what I was warning AGAINST. Rightie projection über alles.

And now, as we come ten years later, the civil war I warned about is much closer to reality than any of us would care to admit.

‘Assassin’s Screed’, or Why Ted Nugent Fears Me Part i.

No: this is exactly what they did to Clinton, and if we allow it, they’ll steal another legitimately elected presidency. Did you know that less than HALF of Obama’s top appointees are in office yet? The GOP strategy is to completely stymie the art and practice of governance until they can (they hope) retake the government by WHATEVER means, and you who were born before the 2000 election know precisely what I am talking about.)  

~ this blog August 23, 2009 (President Obama’s first year in office)

Ten years ago, the printers were done, and the physical distribution of papers  for  the July 3, 2007 issue of the Wall Street Journal (pre-Rupert Murdoch) was complete. And Ted Nugent had written an editorial attacking a generation in a squalid slander* entitled “The Summer of Drugs” – Wall Street Journal, Jul 3, 2007.

[* Yes, I know it’s ‘libel’ but alliterative imperatives must sometimes prevail. Ars longa vita brevis]

Having Their Fake and Eating It, Too

Is there any cry of oppression and unfairness more plaintive or heartfelt than the case of the oppressed “conservatives”?*

Very Fake News Scandal Consumes CNN as Jeff Zucker, Network Flack Refuse to Comment on Russia Retraction to Own Network

Matthew Boyle / Breitbart

—  The scandal surrounding CNN’s mishandling of a very fake news hit piece on President Donald Trump and his associates grows bigger on Sunday night as the network’s president Jeff Zucker …

Right. Even though a faceless group has decided that smearing all “opposition” extends to an independent counsel that both sides of the aisle agree is a paragon of integrity and impartiality:

Republican Health Care Plan Revealed

Notwithstanding Trump’s timed tweet that there are no tapes, the Senate GOP has released their version of “Obamacare Lite” and already (NPR reports) four GOP Senators are stating their opposition: Lee, Paul, Cruz and one other from the “libertarian” (mislabeled as “conservative”) wing. But soft:

The conservative health care problem
Caitlin Owens / Axios

— Even before the Senate health care bill is released, conservatives already want to amend it. Sen. Ted Cruz may try to amend the bill to let insurers sell health plans that don’t comply with Affordable Care Act rules — but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may not let him, because he doesn’t want any Republican amendments….

The general consensus is that it’s merely the House bill with some provisions re-stated in order to seem less cruel.

We Have No Reason To Believe The Election WASN’T Stolen

Democrats Seethe After Georgia Loss: ‘Our Brand Is Worse Than Trump’
New York Times

—  Democrats seethed, second-guessed and sought to regroup on Wednesday after a disappointing special election defeat in Georgia, with the party’s campaign chief in the House of Representatives outlining alternative paths to taking power …

Until we have transparency in our elections there is no reason to accept them as valid. I fear that we may not have had a “legitimate” election since at least 2000. The only reason Obama was allowed to win is that they couldn’t cover up landslides. The REAL “tell” was the 2014 off-year elections in which EVERY election broke (mirabile dictu!) in the GOP’s way.