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Trump appoints Fox News commentator and retired Army general to National Security Council posts


Sputnik
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:35 UTC
trump
© REUTERS/ Carlo Allegri
President-elect Trump plans to appoint retired US Army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg and conservative commentator Monica Crowley to posts on the National Security Council, media reported Thursday.

According to the Washington Examiner, Trump will make Kellogg chief of staff and executive secretary of the Council, while Crowley will be senior director of strategic communications.

Kellogg served in the Vietnam War, later commanded the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and was chief operating officer for the Coalition Provisional Authority that administered Iraq in the months following the 2003 US-led invasion of that country. He also has been an adviser to Trump on national-security matters.

Crowley is an author and newspaper columnist who frequently appears on Fox News Channel.

Previously announced picks for national-security posts in the incoming Trump administration are retired Marine general James Mattis as defense secretary, John Kelly as homeland-security secretary and Michael Flynn as national security adviser.
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Pirates

John Podesta crumbles into hysteria, blames FBI for not covering up Clinton's corruption

Charlie Spiering
Breitbart
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 16:03 UTC
John Podesta
© Carlos Barria / Reuters
Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta is blaming the FBI, after Russians successfully hacked the Democratic National Committee's emails. Podesta complained that the FBI failed to physically send an agent to warn the DNC, even though FBI agents repeatedly called the DNC to warn it of Russian cyber attacks on their network.

"What takes this from baffling to downright infuriating is that at nearly the exact same time that no one at the FBI could be bothered to drive 10 minutes to raise the alarm at DNC headquarters, two agents accompanied by attorneys from the Justice Department were in Denver visiting a tech firm that had helped maintain Clinton's email server," he said.

Podesta called the FBI "broken" saying it spent more time investigating Hillary Clinton's email server than protecting Democrats from hacking.
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Snowflake

Sorry Liberal Snowflakes, Don't Look To Electoral College To Upend Trump Victory

Calvin Woodward and Rachel La Corte
AP
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:56 UTC
trump
© Getty
There's more hustle than hope behind an effort to derail Donald Trump's presidency in the Electoral College.

Republican electors are being swamped with pleas to buck tradition and cast ballots for someone else at meetings across the country Monday that are on course to ratify Trump as the winner. AP interviews with more than 330 electors from both parties found little appetite for a revolt.

Whether they like Trump or not, and some plainly don't, scores of the Republicans chosen to cast votes in the state-capital meetings told AP they feel bound by history, duty, party loyalty or the law to rubber-stamp their state's results and make him president. Appeals numbering in the tens of thousands — drowning inboxes, ringing cellphones, stuffing home and office mailboxes with actual handwritten letters — have not swayed them.

The interviews found widespread Democratic aggravation with the electoral process but little expectation that the rush of anti-Trump maneuvering can stop him. For that to happen, Republican-appointed electors would have to stage an unprecedented defection.

Still, people going to the typically ho-hum electoral gatherings have been drawn into the rough and tumble of campaign-season politics. Republicans are being beseeched to revolt in a torrent of lobbying, centered on the arguments that Clinton won the popular vote and that Trump is unsuited to the presidency. Most of it is falling on deaf ears, but it has also led to some acquaintances being made across the great political divide.

Comment: A poll conducted by the AP contacted 10 of the 30 states Trump won in November, and of the 170 delegates in those states 169 promised to deliver their vote to Trump. Here are statements from various states on who their delegates will vote for on Monday:

Florida:
"We're certain about how our electors will vote," Florida GOP chairman Blaise Ingoglia told The Hill. "There is a better chance of Hillary Clinton telling the truth about something than any of our 29 electoral votes going for anyone other than Donald Trump."
North Carolina:
"We have been in contact with all of North Carolina's electors, and as far as they have told us, they are all very excited and confident in their vote for Donald Trump," North Carolina GOP spokeswoman Emily Weeks told The Hill.

"Most of the questions and concerns have been about event rehearsal prep and just making sure everyone has their ducks in a row."
South Carolina:
GOP chairman Matt Moore said he attended a Christmas party with all nine of his state's electors this week.

"I saw every single one last night, and I'm absolutely confident," Moore said.
Arizona:
Chairman Robert Graham said he's held a roundtable meeting with his 11 electors and stays in touch through private discussions, much of which is focused on the deluge of angry correspondence and threats they've received.

"We're getting hundreds of thousands of emails, but as it stands, every one of our members signed a pledge to support the nominee before this brouhaha," Graham said. "Nothing has changed. All 11 will be delivered."
Texas:
"They called to ask me who I planned to vote for and I told them Trump," said Will Hickman, a Texas elector. "There is the one guy who said he'd vote for another Republican, and another who said he'd resign, but I'd be surprised if anyone else voted differently."
Ohio:
"All of Ohio's electors will vote for Donald Trump on Monday," said Ohio GOP chairman Matt Borges. "We specifically asked the campaign to hand-pick their electors so no issues like this would come up here."
Michigan:
"We have been in contact with all of our electors and fully anticipate all of them to cast their ballots for Donald J. Trump for president and Mike Pence for vice president," said Michigan GOP executive director Steve Ostrow.
Idaho:
"Less than zero percent chance any of Idaho's four electors will cast ballots for anyone other than the overwhelming winner of our state, President-elect Donald Trump," said Idaho GOP chairman Steven Yates.

"We have been in regular contact with them. They have weathered a truly sad bullying campaign via phone, email and social media. They are standing strong by the will of our voters."


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Books

Vladimir Putin and lessons from the Syrian-sarin false flag attack

Ray McGovern
Consortium News
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 16:11 UTC
Putin and Obama
© Pete SouzaPresident Vladimir Putin of Russia welcomed President Barack Obama to the G20 Summit at Konstantinovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013.
A review of events leading to the very edge of full-blown U.S. shock-and-awe on Syria three years ago provides a case study with important lessons for new policymakers as they begin to arrive in Washington.

It is high time to expose the whys and wherefores of the almost-successful attempt to mousetrap President Barack Obama into an open attack on Syria three years ago. Little-known and still less appreciated is the last-minute intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin as deus ex machina rescuing Obama from the corner into which he had let himself be painted.

President Vladimir Putin of Russia welcomed President Barack Obama to the G20 Summit at Konstantinovsky Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Accumulating evidence offers persuasive proof that Syrian rebels supported by Turkish intelligence - not Syrian Army troops - bear responsibility for the infamous sarin nerve-gas attack killing hundreds of people on Aug. 21, 2013 in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus. The incident bears all the earmarks of a false-flag attack.

But U.S. and other "rebel-friendly" media outlets wasted no time in offering "compelling" evidence from "social media" - which Secretary of State John Kerry described as an "extraordinary tool" - to place the onus on the Syrian government.

However, as the war juggernaut started rolling toward war, enter Putin from stage right with an offer difficult for Obama to refuse - guaranteed destruction of Syria's chemical weapons on a U.S. ship outfitted for such purpose. This cheated Washington's neocon mousetrap-setters out of their war on Syria. They would get back at Putin six months later by orchestrating an anti-Russian coup in Kiev.

But the play-by-play in U.S.-Russian relations in summer 2013 arguably surpasses in importance even the avoidance of an overt U.S. assault on Syria. Thus, it is important to appreciate the lessons drawn by Russian leaders from the entire experience.

Putting Cheese in the Mousetrap

So, let us recall that on Dec. 10, 2015, just over one year ago, Turkish Member of Parliament Eren Erdem testified about how Turkey's intelligence service helped deliver sarin precursors to rebels in Syria.
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Attention

Russia's UK ambassador: 'I asked MPs how they will fight terrorists in Syria, I got no answer', then summoned by Johnson


RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:57 UTC
Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko meets British MPs in the Russian embassy
© Russian Embassy in the UKAmbassador Alexander Yakovenko meets British MPs in the Russian embassy in London.
A cross-party group of British parliamentarians met with Russia's UK ambassador, Alexander Yakovenko, in a bid to heal the rift in the countries' approach to Syria. On Thursday, Yakovenko was also summoned to the Foreign Office over concerns related to Aleppo.

The MPs, who called the meeting and spoke with the Russian diplomat for an hour and a half at the Russian Embassy in London, included Labour's Dan Jarvis, Hilary Benn and Ann Clwyd; Tania Mathias from the Conservatives; and representatives from the Liberal Democrats, the SNP, and Northern Ireland's SDLP.

Conversation focused on eastern Aleppo, a former rebel stronghold, which was retaken by Syrian government forces earlier this week after four years of fighting.

"They were concerned about humanitarian aid, but I said I see no plans from the UK to provide direct humanitarian aid. I informed them what Russia was doing - 35 tons of food a day, supplies for two hospitals, capable of treating 450 people a day," Yakovenko told RT in an interview straight after the talks. "All this talk of humanitarian problems in Aleppo should be supported by deeds."
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TV

White House press secretary: Media reporting on hacked DNC emails acted as 'arms of Russian intelligence'


RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:09 UTC
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest
© Jonathan Ernst / Reuters White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest
White House press secretary Josh Earnest has accused media outlets which reported on the contents of the hacked DNC emails as being "arms of Russian intelligence," once again accusing Moscow of being behind the cyberattack.

The statement was made during the White House press briefing on Wednesday, in response to New York Times reporter Gardiner Harris, who, siding with the official White House rhetoric, stated that "from the first days, investigators knew it had Russian ties."

Harris then asked why it took until October for Washington to announce it believed the hack was carried out by Russia, when the cyberattack was confirmed in April.

Comment:

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Propaganda

Hypocrites: The Associated Press joining the 'fight against the scourge' of fake news

Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 19:01 UTC
The Associated Press
© Chris Hondros/NewsMakers
One by one, all the mainstream media outlets are announcing they will join Facebook's "fight" against "fraudulent stories" and the "scourge of fake news" to be defined arbitrarily by said media outlets. First it was "fact-checkers" such as Snopes and Politifact, now it's AP, and soon to follow, the rest of the mainstream.

From AP's blog:

The fight against fake news
As part of its broader fact-checking efforts, The Associated Press announced Thursday that it will work with Facebook to help identify and debunk trending "news" stories being shared online that are false.

AP stories dispelling patently false trending news articles already appear on the AP wire, on APNews.com and on the AP News app. These stories, which will now say "AP Fact Check" in the headline, include details on AP's efforts to verify the facts in fake news stories.

Now, when AP or another participating fact-check organization flags a piece of content as fake, Facebook users will see that it has been disputed and there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining why. That flag will follow the content if a Facebook user chooses to share it.

"AP has long done some of the most thorough fact-checking in the news business," said Sally Buzbee, AP's incoming executive editor. "This initiative is a natural extension of that tradition, and of the AP's long-standing role setting the standards for accuracy and ethics in journalism."

AP has consistently provided nonpartisan fact checks to its member news organizations and customers, which objectively examine the claims of politicians and government and other officials.

In recent weeks, AP has been identifying fake news stories, such as a false report that President-elect Donald Trump had allowed a homeless woman to live in Trump Tower. It also debunked a trending story that claimed Hillary Clinton won only 57 counties in the U.S. presidential election.

AP has long set the industry standard for accuracy and ethics in journalism, through its rigorous code of News Values and Principles and through The Associated Press Stylebook, which is used by news organizations around the world.
In an earlier memo to staff signed by AP news leaders, Vice President for U.S. News Brian Carovillano explained:
It is our job - more than ever before - to guide people to legitimate news and help them sort out "fake news" from the real thing.The AP has a critical role to play in fighting the scourge of fake news. We are not going to transform ourselves into the fake news police of the internet, but we are going to be more aggressive about knocking down fraudulent stories when we can.

Comment: See also:

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Bullseye

Trump rails against Obama's 'foolish' press secretary Josh Earnest


RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:44 UTC
Trump Josh Earnest
© ReutersTrump called Earnest 'foolish.'
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has had a tough week. Just days after a press briefing blunder, Donald Trump has now slammed Earnest, calling him a "foolish guy" who makes everything "sound bad."

The president-elect made the comments on Thursday during an appearance in Hershey, Pennsylvania as part of his 'Thank You' tour.

"This foolish guy Josh Earnest, I don't know if he's talking to President Obama. You know, having the right press secretary is so important because he is so bad, the way he delivers a message," Trump told his supporters, complimenting them on how they were "laid-back" now they have won the election.

Trump criticized Earnest for his inability to deliver a positive message without making it "sound bad."

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Attention

UK and US claim Russia 'preventing' Aleppo aid as Red Cross and UN speak of close cooperation


RT
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:45 UTC
humanitarian aid to Aleppo refugees
© RuptlyThe Russian Center for Reconciliation of opposing sides in Syria delivered nearly 35 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the refugees of the al-Mahaledzh camp in eastern Aleppo.
As Moscow is wondering why there is no aid coming to Syria from the US and the EU, despite statements on civilians' plight in Aleppo, the UK and US defense ministers allege that Russia is hampering humanitarian action. The Red Cross and the UN say the opposite.

RT's Anastasia Churkina asked UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon and US Defense Secretary Ash Carter to comment on their governments' claims that Russia is preventing humanitarian aid deliveries to Aleppo. The two spoke to reporters at a news conference following a London meeting of defense ministers on Syria.

"We've been trying to get food and medicines and other humanitarian aid into Aleppo since the summer and we had absolutely zero cooperation from Russia," Fallon said.

"On the contrary, we've seen aid convoys attacked and we've seen hospitals bombed and a barbaric attitude to the plight of civilians in Aleppo," he added.
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Info

Trump team reviewing options to Obama's executive orders for first 100 days

Alex Swoyer
Breitbart
Thu, 15 Dec 2016 15:38 UTC
Trump and Obama
© AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
President-elect Donald Trump's spokesman Jason Miller tells reporters that the policy team is looking at a number of different options on how to handle President Obama's executive orders.

Miller was asked specifically about the current administration blocking states from not dispersing federal funds to Planned Parenthood in a new rule, which was finalized on Wednesday. "The policy team is reviewing a number of different options for day one executive order as well as additional executive orders during the first 100 days," Miller told reporters.

"There's not yet been a final list that's put forward, but as most of you saw Stephen Miller, who is our national policy director, [...] is working with a team to get those put together."
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