I stand with McCabe…

Posted on by

The Washington Post, (paywall), laid out the basics of Jeff Sessions’ firing of Andrew McCabe, an act one can only describe as petty and vengeful:

Some in the bureau might view McCabe’s termination so close to retirement as an unnecessarily harsh and politically influenced punishment for a man who spent more than 20 years at the FBI.

Uh, yeah. Beyond harsh, it’s certainly infantile and most assuredly another sign of how morally compromised this administration really is. Let the howls of indignation begin…

A day later, the Washington Post, (paywall), opined on how this might come back and bite the Thief-in-Chief™ squarely in the ass, saying:

And it was made abundantly clear Friday night that McCabe is incensed by the decision. He released a lengthy statement deriding his firing as “slander” and arguing that the inspector general’s report was accelerated in response to his closed-door testimony saying he would corroborate key claims made by Comey. He suggested that the whole thing was part of a campaign to undermine the investigations involving Trump.

On Monday, the New York Times, (paywall), published an explainer on the McCabe situation – definitely worth a read!

…and because I haven’t issued a poster in a while, enjoy!

A .PDF version of today’s poster available here.

…this won’t hurt, not one bit!

Posted on by

WTF is going on over at the Securities and Exchange Commission?!

No admission of guilt?!
Surrender 18.9M shares, (and voting control), of utterly worthless stock?!
Can’t serve as an officer or director of a public company for a decade?!
A laughably affordable $500,000 fine?!

Elizabeth Holmes, self-styled acolyte of Steve Jobs, (yes, of course I’m referring to the late technologist, also fond of stretching the truth), will not – I repeat not – be severely punished by the SEC – nope, not even a slap on the wrist – it’s more like a lousy pin prick… Sorry, I couldn’t resist. :-(

Let’s hope the Department of Justice aggressively pursues a criminal case against this public menace, (quote sourced from MarketWatch on Thursday):

Michael Rivera, an attorney with Shiff Hardin who served as chief investigative counsel for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said, “It is not surprising, as has been reported, that Holmes remains subject to a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. Based on the allegations in the SEC complaint — and they are just allegations since there was no admission of guilt — this case presents the type of securities violations the Department of Justice might be interested in pursuing. The fact that the alleged fraud was not just financial but also presented a potential a harm to public safety is a further factor that could motivate DOJ to investigate.”

Let’s hope.

I stumbled across one of Maya Kosoff’s articles from the Vanity Fair website Thursday evening and thought it was worth adding to my post. Apparently the boys on Sand Hill Road are doing a little soul-searching after watching was has been described as a “…slow-motion car crash…”, a.k.a. the rise and fall of Theranos. Sure, venture capital firms were snookered, as were a whole host of other people, but the fact remains the charlatan primarily responsible for this disaster needs to be held accountable – and I do mean fully accountable – for her fraudulent behavior. Handing over what amounts to little more than confederate script, being sidelined for a while and writing a check doesn’t even come close!

One of the chagrined interviewed by Kosoff is quoted as saying:

“If what she’s been charged with is true, she’s a criminal who should be in prison.”

True ‘dat.

Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

The Lamb that Roared

Posted on by

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, (paywall), Democratic candidate Conor Lamb clings to a small – but sufficient – lead in the Pennsylvania special election held on Tuesday, boldly declaring victory Wednesday morning, despite his opponent’s unwillingness to concede – sound familiar?

The Republican candidate Rick Saccone is a delusional idiot, claiming Democrats hate God while stumping during the final days of his campaign, proffering this little gem early Wednesday morning (sourced from the Washington Post – paywall):

“We’re not giving up,” Mr. Saccone said. “We’re going to win it.”

Uh, Ricky, I’d give up if I were you, d*ckhead…

The outcome is a tad surprising, particularly in view of the GOP’s efforts to marginalize Democratic votes in the district. Eric Lach, a columnist for the New Yorker, (paywall), spoke with Eliza Griswold Tuesday evening and here’s what Griswold had to say about this election:

“As much as Conor Lamb and everyone else in the district stressed the local importance of the election, the truth is that it is a national referendum also, or else the stakes wouldn’t be what they are,” Griswold said. “As close as it is, the success, the idea that a Democrat is neck and neck in a gerrymandered Republican district, a district created to sustain Republican leadership, is stunning.”

Better yet, an eleventh-hour endorsement from the Thief-in-Chief™ didn’t help one bit. Sure, the New York Times, (paywall), is exercising caution in terms of calling the election, (always a wise choice), but they go on to point out:

“…Mr. Lamb’s strong showing demonstrated that the Trump-inspired energy propelling Democrats across the country is not confined to liberal-leaning regions. Republicans were left with the prospect of defending a far broader range of districts this fall than they had hoped.”

The GOP’s laughable ineptitude will cost Republican candidates dearly in November, just as it should.

Tillerson goin’ bye, bye…

Posted on by

Aw, shucks, guess Sexie Rexie got the boot! ;-)

The New York Times reports Rex W. Tillerson’s employment as Secretary of State was abruptly terminated on Tuesday (paywall). Yeah, and the Thief-in-Chief™ did it in such a classy way too – again, from the Times:

Mr. Tillerson learned he had been fired on Tuesday morning when a top aide showed him a tweet…

The Washington Post headline reads “Trump Ousts Tillerson” (paywall), going on to confirm:

Steve Goldstein, undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, said that Tillerson was “unaware of the reason” for his firing and had not spoken directly with Trump.

…and was promptly terminated for having told the truth instead of lying to the public! According to the Post:

…a top State Department spokesman [Goldstein] offered a different version of events — and was swiftly fired for contradicting the White House.

The Post goes on to say Mike Pompeo, Director of the CIA, is Trump’s choice as Tillerson’s replacement. So I guess the primary qualifier for pretty much any senior position in the White House is “likeability”… Again, from the Washington Post:

Pompeo long has been mentioned as Tillerson’s most likely replacement. As CIA director, the former Republican lawmaker from Kansas developed a warm relationship with Trump, often delivering the President’s Daily Brief to Trump in person and racing over to the West Wing at a moment’s notice to field the president’s queries on a range of topics.

Wow, Pompeo sounds like a boot-licking sycophant! Sad. The so-called “adult quotient” in the White House continues to decline – who’s next?