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In Which Mr. Hinderaker Tells MORE Patently Silly Lies…

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untitledAhem. Because 45 has continued to assert that as many as five million undocumented people voted (illegally), Mr. Hinderaker has been put in the position of dissembling for this clear lie.

And John himself tells patently silly lies, in trying to do so.

The “study” both 45’s current Press Secretary Spicer, and Mr. Hinderaker obviously point to, makes a small claim, on small numbers, that the 2008 and 2012 elections may have seen small numbers of illegal votes cast. Not 2016. Not at all.

Even so, the authors of that study have walked even their meager conclusions back, and significantly so, in 2014 and later writings — due to small size, and small effect. John doesn’t mention that.

Of course, he couldn’t — if he were trying to defend 45’s outright lie.

The “study” — flawed though it was — was actually a survey, in which some 38 illegal votes were self reported, on a sample size of over 58,000. That’s an incidence rate of just about 6/100ths of ONE PER CENT — or 0.00065.

If we multiply that infinitesimal “incidence rate” by what is the most generous estimate of 2016 registered voters, some 200 million people in the USA… we then arrive at a upper limit of about 131,000 illegal votes cast, on over 200 million legal ones.

Mr. Trump (in his speeches) continually claims that about 38 times as many illegal votes were cast, in 2016. Poppycock. No survey could EVER be that far off — he needs to find almost 40 times as many illegal votes as his best supporter can theorize, in order to be right.

Mr. Hinderaker leaps this yawning Grand Canyon of mathematics — in a single bound — by foolishly spouting that “illegal immigration has risen since 2012.”

whopperlie-hinderaker-2017Maybe there are more undocumented workers here than were here in 2012. Maybe. But 38 times as many? Said another way, all New York — the entire population — state-wide, combined… must now be illegal (must have magically transmorgified from citizens, to aliens — in under four years — all of them), in order for John’s (and Spicer’s and 45’s) math to be remotely plausible. [Or a similar number, nation-wide — in hundreds of thousands of pockets, in towns across our nation.]

No… Mr. Trump and his wife (we presume) are here lawfully. They are residents of New York — and they were in 2012. His claim is — per force — flatly false.

Impossibly, and verifiably false. On math alone, we may quibble about whether 100,000 or 300,000 votes were cast unlawfully — but not 5 million. There is no chance that number could ever be forced out of this data.

Here endeth the lesson.

John Hinderaker be-clowns his law degree, once again. He knows his is a lie. Of course he does. He has lost his soul.

 

 

Most Things Mr. Hinderaker Writes Are Inherently Self Mocking…

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Life-01-21-17.pngNow that 45 is in the White House, John’s sad little diary will be almost uniformly self-deflating.

Defending Trump is uniformly… self-deflating, you see. So, I’ll not likely write about it much any longer.

Take today, so that you may understand. This stuff mocks itself: since 45 chose to devote substantial portions of his Saturday speech to the CIA folks to… crowd size at his inaugural, John Hinderaker must fall in line, and say that the over 2.7 million people peacefully resisting 45 this day are not the story of the day. No, the story of the day, John says — is 45’s speech claiming falsely that media people are “lying” when the two photos — of Obama 2009 and Trump 2017  — inaugural crowds are compared, side by side.

whopperlie-hinderaker-2017Mr. Hinderaker dutifully ignores the fact that easily five times as many people protested Trump on his first full day, around the nation, as attended his inaugural. He ignores the fact that 45 drew 18 per cent lower Nielsen ratings than Mr. Obama did, on his first inaugural.

So yes — I intend to leave his mostly self mocking writing alone for  while. Fish. Barrel. Shoot. Repeat. All rather tedious, isn’t it?

 

Unlike Any MLK Day In Decades

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life-lewis-selma-2017Mr. Hinderaker did not serve in Vietnam.

Mr. Hinderaker did not march in Selma — or anywhere else — for civil rights.

Mr. Hinderaker did not join the Peace Corps. [All of that based on a marginally complete review of public record documents. ]

In sum, Messrs. Trump and Hinderaker are quite alike — at least on these dimensions.

Which leads me to remark upon a King weekend unlike any I’ve seen in a generation. Both of them think they should insult and demean a sitting Congressman, for exercising his right to dissent from the incoming administration — as Dr. King no doubt would have.

This is a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Day weekend that saw the President-elect choose to deride-by-tweet Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a senior Congressman whose skull was fractured by police during a civil rights march, in Selma, Alabama with Dr. King — over a half century ago. In fact, after Rep. Lewis exercised his right to resist the President-elect’s legitimacy (citing the Russian influence concerns), and said he would not attend the inaugural, Mr. Trump insulted him as a man who is “all talk, talk, talk — no action or results.” Recall here that as Rep. Lewis was being beaten by police, on the bridge in Selma, to win us all the freedom of our full civil rights, Mr. Trump was dodging the draft at a privileged private school, in upstate New York. [And that was only when Trump wasn’t discriminating against people of color — in his father’s rental empire. Talk? Meet action. . . .] This is also however, a weekend that saw Jennifer Holliday decide she could not be part of any endorsement of 45, or his policies — and after first waffling a bit — declined to sing on the night before the inaugural. So, I still remain optimistic.

whopperline-geo-washington-quote-intel-2017I am optimistic because Rep. Lewis’s book has sold out in stores around the nation, in response to 45’s hateful, demeaning rhetoric. I am optimistic that people will simply turn off their TVs on Friday (as Cher has asked by tweet) — as ratings are the only numbers 45 seems to value. I am optimistic that the crowds arriving by over 1,200 buses cleared into DC for Saturday next — for the Womens’ Protest March — will dwarf the crowds delivered by those 200 buses cleared for the inaugural itself, on Friday.

I think Dr. King would say this is a time for peaceful, non-violent action — but a time for action, no doubt.

नमस्ते

Of Mr. Hinderaker’s Fecklessly Autocratic Nature: 35 Page Dossier Edition

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whopperline-hinderaker-cia-2017Though essentially admitting that he hasn’t paid much attention to it, Mr. Hinderaker tonight (end of Day One — in what we will call the Trump Russian Dossier matter) calls for “heads to roll” at the CIA — when 45 is sworn in, end of next week.

He cites zero evidence that any CIA employee was involved in any part of the 35 page dossier being transmitted to the press. Moreover, he blows directly past any consideration that any part of the intelligence therein might be… credible.

Yet CIA people should be fired. Uh-huh.

Once again — for the record — it is undisputed that the FBI was actively seeking wiretaps on high level Trump confidants, as the FBI regarded it as credible enough to investigate. It is also undisputed now that both the sitting President, and 45 were briefed on it all, last Friday — on a confidential basis. Again, these two facts alone suggest there is some credibility, as to at least some parts of it.

But that would all be devastating to Mr. Trump’s claims that his wealth makes him untouchable, on a conflicted interests basis.  It would also — as to parts of it (if corroborated) — raise a “Watergate, on crack” style scandal, maybe even before 45 is sworn in.

In a purely craven leap of faith, however, John Hinderaker recites the canard that the CIA has long been considered a “liberal” organ of government, and so — his feckless nature would tell us — it must be purged, as the presumptive source of the leak.

Poppycock. Based on what is now known, it is far more likely that a member of Congress was the transmission source. And, based on entirely separate British reporting, from British intelligence sources —  some parts of the dossier’s assertions are being corroborated, as I write this, this evening.

So, at a minimum, as of tonight — end of full Day One — the 35 pager seriously buries any hint that 45 might have been right to insist that Russians were NOT behind the DNC e-mail releases. It adds a clear, common sense explanation of 45’s motivation — in defending Putin, against all three agencies’ consensus view that Putin’s people were behind the delivery to WikiLeaks. Why? Because we now see the linear connection: 45 cannot have Putin angry with 45, ever. That’s the reasoning, thus far. [And to be clear, parts of the 35 pages are flat out likely wrong. But that doesn’t mean the entire thing — or even most of it — is fabricated. Far from it.]

whopperlie-hinderaker-2017And we must now recall here that because Mr. Hinderaker has repeatedly poo-pooed that consensus US intel view — it means that Mr. Hinderaker must (if he is honest) admit that he too was in the wrong, in choosing against his own fellow patriots in our US agencies, when he chose to believe the naked assertions of a tyrant, on the other side of the globe.

Now he (I gather) must believe the naked assertions of an incoming local tyrant, soon to occupy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This more than anything may explain his silence all day, today. This is a huge story from every possible angle. But he has mostly crickets — on it.

Welcome to your own private Hell, Mr. Hinderaker.

 

Because Mr. Hinderaker Doesn’t Approve — “Meryl Streep: Patriot & Hero”

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life-ot-streep-trump-despot-2017If 45-Elect thinks she is “over-rated” — that is all I need to hear. It makes me all the more eager to see what she had to say.  [And… Mr. Hinderaker whines — but watches, just the same.]

Do watch the Washington Post’s annotated version. It is excellent.

. . . .Streep accepted the Cecil B. DeMille Award — basically a lifetime achievement award — but didn’t say much about her career. Instead, she spent the minutes allotted to her to speak critically of the current political climate and Trump, although she did not mention the president-elect by name.

“There was one performance this year that stunned me,” she said. “It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good. There was nothing good about it. But it was effective, and it did its job. It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth.

“It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter. Someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it. I still can’t get it out of my head because it wasn’t in a movie. It was real life. . . .”

Now you know.

नमस्ते

Mr. Hinderaker Thinks Simply Because He Can’t Read It — It Must not EXIST.

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whopperlie-hinderaker-2017Now that “The Donald” (scratch that: let’s call him 45, to be more respectful)  admits there is a possibility that Russia was meddling in US electoral politics (after receiving a classified consensus three agency briefing on it), one might expect that he — or at least his better educated surrogates (like the Dartmouth man Hinderaker)  might take a moment to reflect on what that means for the legitimacy of his claims to a mandate.

After all, the nation already knows that HRC won the popular vote by a margin of nearly  three million votes. 45’s technical win rests on razor thin margins in only three “winner take all” states — Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.  So some humility would be appropriate.

One might expect that there would be a moment’s pause, by at least the Dartmouth man, to consider whether Vladimir Putin — and a foreign power — had tipped the scales.

Whopperline-Hinderaker-Script-Trump-2016Nope. Not a chance. Like 45, Mr. Hinderaker tonight jumps immediately to blaming the three US agencies — for uncovering a truth. And then (in an immediately following post) Mr. Hinderaker quibbles that he hasn’t been allowed to see the top secret sources and methods. In short, no John, you can’t see a classified report, in full. So also in short — John has nothing of substance to say, about perhaps the most important development in foreign intelligence/espionage, in at least a pair of decades’ time.

For his part, 45 (like a loon!) is calling for a Congressional inquiry into how the Washington Post and New York Times came to report this truth, and do so quickly.

Confidential to Mr. Trump and Mr. Hinderaker: this is how a free press works. It is a check upon the excesses of tyrants and despots. Just read the Federalist Papers, sons.

Full stop. The two of you boys ought to buckle up for lots more of this. Four years worth — if Mr. Trump is not impeached by his own party at two, that is.

 

Amid The President Elect’s Abject Failures Of Leadership On Intel: Crickets, From Mr. Hinderaker

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whopperline-geo-washington-quote-intel-2017UPDATED: 01.06.2017 @ 9 AM EST — This was expected, at least by me. Woolsey is a solid intel policy wonk. So, a consensus intel report is soon to be released in DC — in which the operatives of the Russian government thought responsible for the DNC e-mail leaks (and for the ultimate transfer to Julian Assange) will be named. And so, the man the President-elect had tapped to run his national security portfolio for him has… resigned, even prior to the inaugural. Amid tension over the president-elect’s vision for intelligence agencies, R. James Woolsey Jr. said he did not want to “fly under false colors….” Expect to see more of this, as true patriots stand to be counted. [End, updated portion.]

In truth, I had Senator McCain’s hearings on in the background all day, yesterday — in the office. [It has been over a decade since I ran a blog that touched on national security matters. Even so, I cannot just look the other way at key moments, in our republic’s history, on this topic. We may disagree about certain matters of national security and methods of gathering intelligence, but we should never disparage the patriotism of our intelligence officers, in Langley, Virginia — or in the field.]

That said, I thought this would all have sorted itself out, by now. But it has not. Director Clapper is right: “A dose of skepticism is healthy. But disparagement — is not.”

The notion that the incoming President would take a Wiki-Leaker at his word, alone — when it is painfully obvious that said Wiki-Leaker cannot even credibly guess at who might have been the conduit through which he received the DNC e-mails, is in itself jaw-slacking.

But it is quite-nearly treasonous for 45 do do so, in the face of unbiased, credible, and consensus views of our entire intelligence community — those with assets deployed across the globe — with access to many more sources and methods than Julian Assange would ever have, as a simple “drop-ship point” — for what were almost certainly Russian government sourced bulk e-mail deliveries.

Let me say that again — the incoming President is inclined to take the word of a “drop ship recipient” of a hack — a man holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, working alone — INSTEAD of the CIA, FBI and NSA. [Where on Earth is 45’s patriotism?]

In this matter, the notion that 45 would continue to give V. Putin any “benefit of the doubt” is… disgusting. Senator McCain (a man whose other politics I’ve long disagreed vehemently with — but a man whose patriotism is absolutely beyond reproach) would be right to call that wrong-headed enough to be “treasonous“.

And Mr. Hinderaker? His narrative is stuck in white victim mode, crowing left and right about an isolated but horrific black on white bit of crime in Chicago — as though it is commonplace. In John’s world, there is apparently no time for thoughtful consideration of efforts to protect our republic against the obvious Russian espionage — when there is an odd-ball race story to peddle. Here endeth the sermon.

[He has since posted a blurb — not mentioning Woolsey’s resignation in protest — but rather complaining about the way in which we are learning of the truth: the truth that 45 proves himself entirely unfit for office, every single day. This is what Mr. Trump has always been — a showboating charlatan. And now, he is Mr. Hinderaker’s… albatross.]

नमस्ते

Q. For Mr. John Hinderaker: What Makes One A “Banana Republic” Leader?

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trumpequalsperonAt the outset, let us ignore the obvious racial tinge — to this mindless repeated taunt.

The reason we ignore it is that Mr. Hinderaker has never really shown himself capable of non-race baiting rhetoric — in his imagined criticisms of Mr. Obama. Not in eight and three quarters years (including early first run campaign time). So a racial tinge comes with the territory, it seems, from Mr. Hinderaker. Always, insofar as it regards Mr. and Mrs. Obama. So be it.

I write today though, as 2016 closes out, to take Mr. Hinderaker “on the merits” — given that his preferred candidate in this election cycle hasn’t yet taken office — but has, in fact, shown all the earmarks of an ACTUAL “Banana Republic” dictator.

[Right down to the preposterous orange/copper-ish skin color perma-faux-tan bronzer. See — we are able to “go there”, too. But we certainly need not do so, to find manifold fault with POTUS 45. Word.]

Back to the main point, then: John Hinderaker is particularly fond of referring to Mr. Obama’s actions — by invoking that odious, outdated turn of phrase.

whopperlie-oct-23-2016And though he did so again, right before Christmas this year — this is not by any means new, for his own particularly dishonest form of rhetoric — he’s been doing so for nearly a decade.

In point of fact, though — as “facts are stubborn things” — we would note that even before he has taken office, the 45th President, whom Mr. Hinderaker rabidly supported, has already made more moves to ensure he runs an ACTUAL “banana republic” form of government — than Mr. Obama ever even hinted at, in eight long years as leader fo the free world.

Just consider any of 50 or so questionable transactions involving Mr. Trump’s running of an Eva Peron style charity. Consider his public view that the UN is just a “club of people put together to have a good time.” Or consider his plugging his own private business interests in Turkey while fielding an Erdogan congrats call. Or… how about his DC hotel — that he leases from the federal government? Or his public expression of hopes for a foreign currency devaluation move — to benefit his Scottish businesses (luxury golf courses and hotels). Finally — since I am simply pointing to the most glaring examples — how about the fact that several of his real estate holdings entities are deeply indebted to a German money center bank?

Let’s call a Peron’s Peron… a Peron, eh — Mr. Hinderaker?

Yes. Let’s — if we are are being honest.

[U] John Hinderaker (That Dainty Shrinking Violet) Thinks It An “Outrage”: How DARE The “Little People” Try To Speak To Any VP-Elect, About Matters Of Substantial Concern?!

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life-alt-trump-unpresidential-reply-amendment-one-2016I get it. This guy — John Hinderaker, was apparently never — and is not now made of very stern stuff.

He thinks it an “outrage” that cast members of “Hamilton” — in a curtain call, dared speak to the Vice President to be, about their concerns, in a loving but public way. Doubling the hilarity of the entire Hard Right’s fainting vapors, we saw Mr. Trump hissself tweet a hissy fit about it — this morning.

In the last post (at another blog), I included an actual clip of the speech by Brandon Victor Dixon (playing VP Aaron Burr), as well as the text — so that the world might see and know that the cast was both respectful, and loving, in expressing their concerns to the VP-Elect. [The cast even asked the audience to refrain from booing “don’t boo” — as the cast clearly believes that ideas — even controversial ones (Trump/Pence ideas) — are to be heard, and evaluated, in the theater.]

In my view (and that of almost all constitutional scholars), the theater has long been a core First Amendment Zone — free expression shall reign. [At the theater, ideas wear the crown of royalty — not any one person, any longer, here in America.] Here is the purported “offense” (apparently against the Crown) — in full (preposterous!):

. . . .“We, sir — we — are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. . . .

We truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us”. . . .

Mr. Hinderaker would do well to remember here also that Mr. Pence chose to come to the theater (no one forced him to be there) — to see a musical (in part) about political revolutions, and incendiary ideas — ideas that form the core of this nation’s birth. He Whopperline-Hinderaker-Script-Trump-2016chose to go see a play about people the British would have called “traitors to the crown.” [It should give him hope — not fear, that our citizenry is so engaged in their own DEMOCRACY. But whatever — it is a political play. The VP cannot live in a bubble, any more than the President can.]

If he recognized himself (as Mr. Trump plainly has this morning, by Tweet), in the role of the 18th Century Crown — not the patriot. . . and felt a little uncomfortable about that — well, that is the whole point (in my view).

The completely daft notion — that Mr. Trump thinks an apology is warranted — where Mr. Pence stepped into the theater, and paid money, specifically to see an exchange of (what some might think of as) “incendiary” political ideas — ideas he might disagree with. . . is stupefying.

Mr. Trump ought to grow up, and read a little First Amendment history. And he ought to get used to being booed, as well. He no longer can exclusively run “invite only” private rallies/appearances — he’s accountable to ALL of us, now — 24/7.

And it will be a long four years for John and Donald if each  can’t/won’t grow some thicker skin than this. Here it is again, for the record:

Finally, I don’t recall Mr. Trump (or Mr. Hinderaker) asking for an apology — when more than a few sitting GOP Senators (not just simple theater folk!) booed Mr. Obama, when he started to give his State of the Union address a few years ago.

UPDATED — Sunday Night At 8 PM EST: In what the patron must have decided was retaliation — for the events at the New York show on Friday night (described above) — here in Chicago, on Saturday night, an inebriated Trump supporter heckled the cast through two numbers — beginning his profanity laced rant at the line “Immigrants — we get the job done.” Will Mr. Trump and Mr. Hinderaker demand an apology from this drunken supporter? Don’t hold your breath, here. . . [“The theater must always be a safe place. . .” — Donald Trump. Heh.]

Here is the Trib’s account of the moment: “. . .According to audience member Brea Hayes of Batavia, who was at the performance, an audience member seated in the front of the balcony shouted profanities and election-related political statements after the cast sang the line, “Immigrants / We get the job done,” which is part of the show’s “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” number. . . .”

[End, updated portion.]

I guess they just don’t understand what they’ve signed up for — Trump & Pence. Welcome to the Bigs, Mr. Trump. That’s called a shave and a haircut — God save you — if the Infinite deems you worthy.

नमस्ते

In Which Mr. Hinderaker Complains That The Press Reports What His Candidate Says FIRST… Okay. Uh-Huh.

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whopperlie-oct-23-2016Because — like Mr. Trump himself  — Mr. Hinderaker is simply incapable of admitting it, when he is wrong, John last night chose to lie, about what the press covered. John is angry that the AP reports the things Mr. Trump says at the top of his speaking engagements — this time on an old battlefield, at Civil War history-soaked Gettysburg:

“…Today Trump went to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and delivered a major, substantive speech, outlining what he proposes to do in the first 100 days of his administration. This is the kind of thing that must be kept secret [by the AP]–marked with a “c” perhaps–lest voters be reminded that they actually agree with the reviled Republican nominee. Let’s not take any chances!

How did the liberal press suppress information about Trump’s proposals? They buried the lede….”

Whopperline-BHO-Hanna-Trump-Unfit-08-2016Um, not so much, John. What actually happened in Gettysburg was that Mr. Trump spent the first ten minutes of his speech decrying all his usual largely imaginary hob-goblins: a rigged press, a rigged court system; a rigged 2013 Emmy voting procedure(!); imaginary people “poisoning the minds” of voters, and… yes — he openly and repeatedly threatened to sue the now 12 female accusers.

That’s right — but, in John Hinderaker’s topsy-turvy illogical world, the AP is to be vilified — for repeating what Mr. Trump felt was so important that he mentioned it first. And at considerable length.

I think John simply cannot accept that he has foolishly backed a chowder-headed demon.

And in the process, he has sold his soul — for a few silver pieces. His integrity (insofar as ACTUAL Republicans are concerned) is… shot.

Good riddance, John.