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Former NSA official says impeachment circus is manufactured by permanent Washington: 'Looks like an inside job'

schiff nunes impeachment inquiry
© Shawn Thew/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Nunes call out Adam Schiff's 'story time' impeachment hearings
Former national security adviser Michael Anton suggested Wednesday the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump looks "like an inside job" lawmakers unhappy with the president manufactured.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff interrupted Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman's testimony during an impeachment hearing Tuesday and cited an effort to protect a whistleblower.

"It looks like an inside job of a bunch of career bureaucrats getting together and saying, 'We've wanted to impeach this guy for three years. How do we do it? Oh wait, I think we've found a way,'" Anton, a former National Security Council (NSC) spokesman, said to WMAL's Mornings on the Mall co-hosts Vince Coglianese and Mary Walter Wednesday. "Here's the issue."

Mr. Potato

Yet another gaffe: Biden, in Democratic debate, says you have to 'keep punching' to address domestic violence

joe biden democratic debate
Vice President Joe Biden was asked Wednesday night how he would address sexual violence.

His response during the Democratic debate drew laughter from the crowd.

The former vice president was on firm ground when he began his answer by reminding the audience that he authored legislation to address violence against women.

Comment: Add it to the list of gaffes Biden has spewed out of his talk-hole over the past few months. The guy would do better in the long run if he said nothing.

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Newspaper

Labour's Corbyn will 'stay neutral as PM' when/if he orders 2nd Brexit referendum

Corbyn
© REUTERS/Phil Noble
Labour's Party Jeremy Corbyn at the launch of the party manifesto in Birmingham on November 21, 2019.
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that he would remain neutral on a potential second Brexit referendum if he were elected Prime Minister next month. Corbyn promised in September to hold the Brexit vote again.

"I will adopt as prime minister, if I am, at the time, a neutral stance so that I can credibly carry out the results of that [referendum]," Corbyn told a BBC audience on Friday. Corbyn had hinted for some time that he would remain neutral on the topic, but had not addressed it directly until now.

Some Labour Party MPs have nevertheless vowed to campaign against Britain's departure from the EU. Scottish Labour's Richard Leonard said on Friday that his sub-party will continue to push back against Brexit, even if Corbyn secures a better deal with the EU next year and puts it to a referendum.

Comment: Sadly, as it is, on this issue, Corbyn has already turned off many of those who voted for Brexit. Although it's not over just yet, and he certainly has a lot going in his favor, because many of these same voters rightly fear a Conservative party who, for the most part, have been actively working towards dismantling the beloved and few remaining national institutions - such as the NHS - just waiting for the chance to sell them off to the highest bidder:


Quenelle

US says 'destroy or return' Russian S-400s as Turkey's troops prepare for their activation

s400
© Sputnik/ Ilya Pitalev
The news comes a week after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refused to ditch the S-400 air defence systems that Ankara has purchased from Russia, stating it is "not right". The politician noted that his country is ready to buy Patriot systems from the US on favourable terms, but dismissed the US demands as meddling in Turkey's sovereign affairs.

A senior US State Department official has urged the Turkish authorities to stop using Russian air defence systems, suggesting a radical solution to get Ankara back into the F-35 stealth fighter programme.

"There is room for Turkey to come back to the table. They know that to make this work they need to either destroy or return or somehow get rid of the S-400", the official told reporters at a briefing.

Comment: More details from Sputnik
The State Department said that Turkey must get rid of the S-400 systems that it obtained from Russia this year in order to "move forward" in its relations with the US, which has threatened to impose additional sanctions on the country otherwise.

Turkish Minister of Defence Hulusi Akar stated on 21 November that his country is going to activate and make use of the air defence systems that it bought under a contract with Russia inked in 2017.

"The S-400 will be functioning. At the moment, Turkish military personnel are undergoing training on the use of the S-400s. After this is concluded, the planned [use of the S-400s] will start. Do not doubt it", he said.

At the same time, Akar said that Turkey is currently working on making the use of both the S-400s and US-made F-35 jets possible. The minister stressed that the country is not going to sacrifice one weapon in order to make use of another, referring to the US unwillingness to ship its fifth generation jets to Ankara unless it ditches the S-400s.

"Can the F-35 and the S-400 work together? What are the negative effects on each other? Can they be prevented? How can we use it without any harm? We have started working on it. Even if they won't be able to work together, we will find a formula [to resolve the issue]", he said.
s400
© Sputnik / Vitaliy Ankov
US-Turkish Working Group

This year, Washington suspended shipments of F-35s ordered and paid for by Turkey, claiming that the Russian S-400s the country obtained earlier could harm the jet by revealing its weaknesses to Moscow. Ankara has repeatedly dismissed these concerns, arguing that Russia won't have access to air defence systems deployed in Turkey.

In addition to this, the US has threatened to impose sanctions against Turkey if it doesn't get rid of the S-400 systems, something that Ankara has repeatedly ruled out doing.

Following negotiations between Trump and Erdogan in November, the two countries established a group, including members of their national security teams, to address the bilateral issue that has recently been spoiling relations between Turkey and the US.
It's almost as though the US is blind to how feeble it looks with its increasingly hollow threats.

See also:


Newspaper

"World war" on Iran failed, interrogations of fuel hike protesters reveal hand of "Zionists, America and Saudi Arabia" - RGC paramilitary General

Tehran
© AP Photo/Vahid Salemi
File: Iranian Basij paramilitary forces chant slogans during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of establishment of the force, at Felestin (Palestine) square in Tehran, Iran, in 2014
Iran's Basij militia said the nationwide unrest sparked by fuel price hikes amounted to a "world war" against the Islamic republic that had been foiled.

The protests erupted across the sanctions-hit country on November 15, after the price of gas was raised by as much as 200 percent.

Authorities said leaders of the protests in which police stations were attacked, gas pumps torched and shops looted had been arrested.

Comment: The General's claims aren't without precedent:


Take 2

CIA helped shape 'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' series into bigoted Venezuela regime change fantasy

Analysis by researcher Tom Secker reveals how Amazon's regime change fantasy "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" was shaped by CIA and US military consultants - and how the TV show's producers hid their role from viewers.
Jack Ryan
Actor John Krasinski is one of the CIA's biggest fans.

"The CIA is something that we should all not only cherish, but be saying thank you every single day," he declared.

"The coolest thing ever for me, I mean I totally nerded out when we got to the CIA," Krasinski effused. "They were the most unbelievably generous, kind, smart people."

Krasinski's comments flowed directly from his experience as the star of the second season of the Amazon series "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan."

In a new video analysis of the show (embedded at the end of this article), researcher Tom Secker exposed the show as straightforward US imperial propaganda which was produced in direct collaboration with the CIA and Pentagon.

The editor of the website Spy Culture, Secker has elucidated the role of Hollywood in disseminating propaganda aimed at instilling a militaristic mindset in the public.

Through FOIA documents, Secker has methodically demonstrated the role of the Pentagon, CIA, and FBI in shaping scripts and setting the agenda of some of the most popular American films and TV shows.

Comment: See also:


Network

Trump and Xi underscore desire to sign initial trade deal and defuse tariff war

trump

The leaders of the United States and China on Friday both underscored their desire to sign an initial trade deal and defuse a 16-month tariff war that has lowered global growth, providing a welcome boost to financial markets.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in rare comments on the trade tensions with Washington, said Beijing wants to work out an interim or 'phase one' trade pact, but is not afraid to retaliate when necessary.

Hours later, U.S. President Donald Trump said a trade accord with China is "potentially very close," although he insisted that any deal would have to be weighted to favor the United States after years of trade imbalances with China.

Speaking on Fox New Channel's "Fox & Friends," Trump also urged China and Hong Kong to calm the situation in Hong Kong, wracked by months of pro-democracy protests, calling it a complicating factor in the trade talks.

Comment: While an agreement will surely help in the short term, up ahead another global economic crisis is brewing:


Newspaper

Five Examples of Ukrainian interference in 2016 US elections against Trump

Trump ukraine cookies jar
© Ben Garrison
One of the most important issues in President Trump's impeachment defense is also one of the least explored: To what degree were Trump's concerns about Ukraine valid? It's well documented that the president fixated on Ukrainian activity in the 2016 election and on the Bidens' actions in the Burisma matter. Democrats and many in the media dismiss his concerns as "conspiracy theories." But to what extent were those concerns, in fact, legitimate?

If they were even mostly legitimate, then Trump defenders could say: "Look, he had a point. Even if one thinks he handled the issue inappropriately, the fact is, what was going on in Ukraine was worrisome enough for a United States president to take notice." That would not change minds among those dead set on impeachment, but among others, it would make the case for impeachment and removal much harder to make.

Smiley

Failed Media Circus: CNN's Cuomo faceplants while trying to prove Trump wrong yet again

CNN’s Chris Cuomo
© Reuters / Mike Blake; inset: Pixabay / 526663
CNN's Chris Cuomo attempted to prove President Donald Trump wrong about whether a non-speakerphone call could be overheard by a bystander - by calling his mother, live on air. Cringe ensued.

Cuomo called up his mom to disprove Trump's claim that "he's never been able to hear a phone call when it wasn't on speakerphone from anybody," asking her to say hello to his co-host, Dana Bash. If Cuomo was right, and Trump was wrong, Bash should have been able to hear Mom's voice. It didn't quite go that way.

Comment: Schiff brings lip-reading witnesses and angry bureaucrats into impeachment theater


Star of David

Israel's war with Syria escalates under cover of US impeachment

israel
Perhaps under cover of impeachment hearings in Washington or perhaps due to the appointment of Naftali Bennett as Defense Minister, the hot war between Israel and Syria escalated dramatically on the night of November 19th.

Israel's military repeated its usual claim that missiles were fired at Israel from Syria (detected at Mt Hermon) and all incoming were defeated by a short-range missile defense system given to Israel by the United States. Israeli sources claim that one 'Iranian rocket' had targeted a 'snowy ski resort' and was shot down, however no independent source will verify that claim or that the destroyed missile was Iranian-made.

In its retaliatory response, Israel attempted to strike twenty-three targets around Damascus on November 19th, conducting air strikes from Lebanese airspace over Marjaayoun. One source states that nine targets near Damascus were struck by Israeli missiles and that a potentially larger attack was deterred by electronic warfare counter-measures.* If confirmed, that represents a less-than 50% success ratio for the Israeli strikes.