From somewhere the late fascist FBI Director J Edgar Hoover must have been very pleased with the biased Horowitz Report from the Inspector General. Once again an IG report detailed a long list of seemingly intentional abuses by the FBI and the FISA Court process but in an O Henry twist that is no longer the least bit surprising found “no political bias.”
After the sadly predictable media rush to misconstrue and misrepresent this investigation BY corrupt bureaucrats OF corrupt bureaucrats, even a few of the most anti-Trump figures in the “news” business finally realized something: Donald Trump won’t be president forever, and even if he gets reelected, he’ll be gone after four more years but the rot uncovered at the FBI will still be festering.
Back when I was a Democrat, before I left the party to become an Independent voter, I liked the party’s skepticism and criticism of the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. Unfortunately the party sold its soul and decided that when those organizations’ corrupt behavior benefits Democrats they’re just fine with it.
ROLLING STONE REPORTER MATT TAIBBI, who is very anti-Trump, has once again risen above his own feelings – like reporters are SUPPOSED TO DO – and pointed out that the IG report actually verified the claims made by Congressman Devin Nunes and President Trump himself about the FBI’s political assault on Trump. Taibbi’s Rolling Stone piece shows how damning the IG report was for the FBI, Schiff and the Democrats’ media outlets. “Democrats are not going to want to hear this” are the most appropriate words in his article.
In a previous article, Taibbi (like Sharyl Attkisson one of the few actual “journalists” left in the country) pointed out that the “Russian Collusion” nonsense was “WMD’s times a million” (CLICK HERE ).
Now, in his latest article, Matt points out how the anti-Trump forces need to stop deluding themselves that there isn’t something deeply wrong at the FBI and with the entire FISA process. The link is below, but first some excerpts:
“Horowitz describes at great length an FBI whose “serious” procedural problems and omissions of “significant information” in pursuit of surveillance authority all fell in the direction of expanding the unprecedented investigation of a presidential candidate (later, a president)” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: The fact that the Democrats are willing to ignore this Gestapo-style approach by the FBI just because they hate the man being investigated shows how low that party has sunk.)
“…Officials on the “Crossfire Hurricane” Trump-Russia investigation went to extraordinary, almost comical lengths to seek surveillance authority of figures like Trump aide Carter Page”
“…Likewise, the use of reports by ex-spy/campaign researcher Christopher Steele in pursuit of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) authority had far-reaching ramifications. Not only did obtaining a FISA warrant allow authorities a window into other Trump figures with whom Page communicated, they led to a slew of leaked “bombshell” news stories that advanced many public misconceptions, including that a court had ruled there was “probable cause” that a Trump figure was an “agent of a foreign power.” There are too many to list in one column, but the Horowitz report shows years of breathless headlines were wrong.” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: Yes, those headlines were VERY wrong.)
“Press figures have derided the idea that Steele was crucial to the FISA application, with some insisting it was only a “small part” of the application. Horowitz is clear: ‘We determined that the Crossfire Hurricane team’s receipt of Steele’s election reporting on September 19, 2016 played a central and essential role in the FBI’s and Department’s decision to seek the FISA order.”
“… The Steele report reads like a pile of rumors surrounded by public information pulled off the Internet, and the Horowitz report does nothing to dispel this notion. At the time the FBI submitted its first FISA application, Horowitz writes, it had “corroborated limited information in Steele’s election reporting, and most of that was publicly available information.”
“Horowitz says of Steele’s reports: “The CIA viewed it as ‘internet rumor.’” Worse (and this part of the story should be tattooed on the heads of Russia truthers), the FBI’s interviews of Steele’s sources revealed Steele embellished the most explosive parts of his report.” (NOTE FROM BALLADEER: And this is exactly like the way J Edgar Hoover’s FBI would allow even the most salacious and unconfirmed rumors about his political targets to be included in FBI files, knowing that to laymen the fact that something comes from “an FBI file” lends it undeserved credibility.) Continue reading
For assorted reasons the potential of a new Supreme Court vacancy has been much discussed in recent months. Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at the various Supreme Court nominees who were REJECTED by the Senate. I’m omitting John Rutledge since – because he was a recess appointment – he actually served as Chief Justice for one of the Court’s terms before the official Senate vote rejecting his nomination by President Washington. 
ALEXANDER WOLCOTT 
JOHN C SPENCER
Welcome back to Independent Voter site Balladeer’s Blog. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I feel neither Bill Clinton nor Donald Trump deserved impeachment. It’s a cheapening of the process. 
I will point out once again that America’s Democrats don’t understand what the words “debunked” and “discredited” mean. They seem to think that as long as there is ANY alternate point of view to any information or argument being put forth that that means the information has been debunked or discredited. 
The Democrats at Politico, the Washington Post and elsewhere have reported on this: “George Nader, a convicted pedophile that special counsel Robert Mueller used in his Russia investigation, was indicted on Tuesday for allegedly concealing millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”
“According to the indictment, from March 2016 through January 2017, Khawaja conspired with Nader to conceal the source of more than $3.5 million in campaign contributions, directed to political committees associated with a candidate for President of the United States in the 2016 election. By design, these contributions appeared to be in the names of Khawaja, his wife, and his company. In reality, they allegedly were funded by Nader. Khawaja and Nader allegedly made these contributions in an effort to gain influence with high-level political figures, including the candidate. As Khawaja and Nader arranged these payments, Nader allegedly reported to an official from a foreign government about his efforts to gain influence.” (Note from Balladeer: Yes, a foreign government) 
And per Daily Wire, ” … Sean Davis noted in a tweet that Nader was ‘a top Mueller (left) source during the anti-Trump Russia probe – a pedophile and child porn trafficker WHOM MUELLER REFUSED TO ARREST (All caps mine – Balladeer) 
Joe Biden’s hilariously bizarre but endlessly entertaining political campaign continues. Nibbling on his wife’s fingers while she was trying to deliver a speech on his behalf, telling pervy stories about little kids rubbing his “hairy legs” around a public swimming pool, claiming he comes from “the black community” and that he went to “an HBCU,” Joe always brings the crazy. 
Biden’s inept coverup of his and his son Hunter’s corruption, the inane “gang member Corn Pop” tall tale, and so much more came to mind when I learned Quid Pro Joe’s newest slogan: “No Malarkey!” Seriously. THAT’S what he and his staff came up with. I guess they feel that slogan is the bee’s knees. Or the cat’s pajamas. 
Deneen Borelli, one of Balladeer’s Blog’s Martin Luther King People of Courage, is another of the countless African-Americans proving that the old “Left vs Right,” “Democrat vs Republican” paradigm is more and more outdated the further we get into the 21st Century. 
Sharyl Attkisson, the Ida Tarbell of the 21st Century, weighed in with some more clarity in the midst of all the bizarre anti-Trump fascism coming from the Democrats. On social media she posted a reminder that even the Democrats at Politico had run an article about Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign colluding with Ukraine against Trump’s presidential campaign. 
Here at Independent Voter Site Balladeer’s Blog I’ve made no secret of the fact that I feel neither Bill Clinton nor Donald Trump deserved impeachment. The Democrats’ Kafkaesque distortion of all previous impeachment procedures is alienating Independent Voters, as is their ridiculous reliance on nothing but HEARSAY against de facto Third Party President Donald Trump. 
The Vanity Fair article was even headlined “‘It Is Hard to Read This as Anything but a Warning’: New Polling Suggests Democrats’ Impeachment Push Could Alienate Key Voters.” 
And let’s remember four crucial FACTS:
Balladeer's Blog 