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HOW TO SPOT A STOLEN NOMINATION.

(JOURNALISM 101, CIRCA 2020)

DEAR JOURNALISM STUDENT, you are entering the final phase of your journalism education. Up till now we’ve taught you the basics of investigative reporting, ie. tracking down leads, vetting your sources, verifying tips; but now, before you graduate, you need to learn some of the key signs that indicate the theft of a United States primary election.

balloons

Obviously, this lesson arises from the controversial events of 2016, when the entire American mainstream media failed to expose Hillary Clinton’s theft of the Democratic nomination. Historians have now come to agree Hillary’s race against Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination was a complete bag job facilitated by Bill and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic National Committee, a majority of state Democratic parties and dozens of party sycophants looking for government jobs. As to whether the mainstream media purposely ignored all signs of election fraud to ensure Hillary’s nomination or was just enveloped in an unexplainable fog of journalistic incompetence still remains a subject for debate.

The theft of the 2016 Democratic nomination was not pretty. It was so clumsy and ham-fisted it appeared to be executed by desperate clowns wearing party masks and balloon-sized gloves. There was no subtlety, no artful subterfuge, no attempt to smooth out the rougher edges. Vote tallies were hacked and changed in full view of TV cameras, so that millions watched as Bernie’s numbers climbed steadily to the bottom while Hillary’s totals rose to magical heights. Voting stations were eliminated, relocated or basically hidden, making it almost impossible for voters—especially Bernie voters—to actually find a place where they could vote. Other Bernie supporters had their party registrations mysteriously changed, their names purged from voter rolls, or were given provisional ballots that would never be counted. A few of the more hapless Berners were reportedly kidnapped or run over on their way to vote.

Given the blatant and pervasive nature of Hillary’s election fraud, it is surprising America’s top journalists weren’t able to expose Hillary’s brazen theft, by far the biggest news story of that year. But you can learn from their mistakes by watching diligently for these familiar signs of a stolen primary.

Billary

LESSON 1: LOOK FOR THE PLAN.

It takes a well-constructed plan to steal a primary contest or a national election. And it takes people. People, ideally, who are part of a network—a network like the Democratic Party, which has 50 separate state parties and more than enough manpower to staff a full-scale assault on an American election. Prior to the 2016 primaries, we now know, Hillary’s campaign set up special relationships with 33 state Democratic parties. The program was named “The Hillary Victory Fund” and was basically a money-laundering scheme to allow Hillary to fundraise from donors who had already contributed the legal limit to her campaign.

LESSON 2: FOLLOW THE MONEY.

The Hillary Victory Fund was also a cheap way for Hillary to purchase the loyalty of local parties as well as a national network of conspirators to help steal the nomination. Millions in donations were promised to the local Democratic parties. Millions donated by Hillary’s maxed-out donors, but quickly vacuumed out of state party coffers and shipped back to Hillary’s campaign, all but a meager 1% of the swag which the state parties were allowed to keep. So it was, in fact, a cheap way to access the people Hillary would need for the theft of the nomination. People to transform a highly disliked candidate into the next President of the United States. People to eliminate voting stations in key districts; people to flip electronic votes; people to purge voters from voting lists; people to switch voters’ registered party affiliations; people to shred Bernie supporter ballots; people to arrange shortages of ballots at key voting stations; people to spread misinformation about voting dates and polling locations; people to troll the internet and raise havoc with pro-Bernie sites; people to infiltrate Bernie’s campaign apparatus.

And people to stand-in-place for the legions of Hillary supporters who consistently failed to show up at Hillary’s rallies.

LESSON 3: YOU CAN’T HAVE A CONSPIRACY WITHOUT P.O.P. (PLENTY OF PEOPLE)

3

With all the people involved in a conspiracy of this magnitude, and as clumsily as it was perpetrated, it’s striking that no inkling of the story ever leaked to the press, and that no individual vote-shifting hacker or dirty trickster left enough of a trail for a serious investigative reporter to follow. It was a perfect storm of criminal bravado, mass delusion and journalistic ineptitude.

LESSON 4: WATCH ONLINE FOR TELLTALE SIGNS.

Today, four years later, it’s still shocking to think nobody in 2016’s national media had any idea of the wide-scale election fraud taking place across the primaries. Not even when videos and stories began to spread across the internet revealing clear evidence of vote tampering and voter suppression—Clinton caucus workers purposely miscounting Bernie delegates at the Iowa caucus; electronic vote tallies shifting dramatically, without explanation, in Hillary’s favor; elections being called for Hillary with only 1% of the vote counted; shredder trucks suspiciously parked behind polling stations.

As a journalist at the threshold of your career, you could easily fall prey to the same cloud of ignorance that descended upon the mainstream media in 2016. If an entire generation of reporters, broadcasters, and network anchors could overlook the theft of the 2016 Democratic nomination, there’s a good chance you could as well.

LESSON 5: TAKE NOTE OF CONSISTENT IRREGULARITIES.

The good news is that stealing a presidential election is a messy job; there are too many people doing too many things in too many places to keep it all quiet. If you’re a good reporter, you’ll instinctively know something is going on. You’ll smell it in the air. Your sources will feed you tips. Telltale signs will flash all around you, as they did in 2016. Irregularities will be spotted, inconsistencies seen. And then you, you fledgling journalist, all you have to do is WRITE UP THE F@#CKING STORY!

In 2016, nobody in the press thought of connecting the dots.

But you—as a young, enthusiastic and unsullied journalist—can do a better job if it happens again. A much better job.

A brain-dead monkey couldn’t do any worse.

LESSON 6: PAY ATTENTION TO THE EXIT POLLS.

In 2016, working under a mind-numbing fog of ignorance and professional incompetence, nobody in the national press thought to report on the exit polls which showed anywhere from 6% to 23% deviation from final election results in the various primaries. (In Third World Nations, a deviation of more than 2% is an indicator of election fraud.) Once again, not one reporter had the insight, initiative or journalistic integrity to report any of it in the mainstream press. Although a columnist in the New York Times actually wrote a piece to discredit exit poll discrepancies and explain their worrisome revelations, but that was before leaked DNC emails proved the exit polls knew what they were talking about.

In conclusion, dear journalism student, America’s proud tradition of journalistic excellence was greatly challenged in 2016 and found sadly lacking. As we later learned, it took more than a village to steal an election, and more than a clueless, lazy mainstream media to dig out the story.

hilary-omaha-gym-575x431

Hillary’s Omaha rally. Note how they jammed people tightly together to give a sense of crowdedness to this anemic and ineffectual ‘crowd’ event.

REVIEW QUIZ

A. The Strongest Indicator of a Stolen Democratic Primary is:

  1. The losing candidate’s rallies draw tens of thousands of enthusiastic supporters while the winning candidate can’t fill a high school gymnasium.
  2. The Chairwoman of the Nevada state Democratic convention seeks asylum in the Federal Witness Protection Program.
  3. The US Attorney General meets in secret with the husband of the winning candidate who is currently under FBI investigation.
  4. All of the above.

B. Standing in line at an Arizona voting station, how long should you wait before deciding your vote will be ignored, suppressed or flipped to the winning candidate?

1. Two days.

2. Wait, I can’t find my voting station!

3. This is a trick question since Arizona doesn’t allow its citizens to vote for whomever they want.

4. None of the above, except maybe “3.”

C. Why do you believe the American media totally blew it in 2016?

1. They were engulfed by a fog of confusion and incompetence.

2. They were part of nationwide conspiracy to crown Hillary Clinton president.

3. They made a wrong turn leaving Iowa.

4. Most journalism jobs had been taken over by illegal immigrants who couldn’t speak English.

5. Vladimir Putin frightened them off

6. How the hell should I know?

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To relive those glorious days of the 2016 Bernie campaign, check out mine and Bill Dahlgren’s “CHANNELING BERNIE,” ad campaign. 51 glorious ads in pursuit of the real American Dream.

ONE NATION UNDER TRUMP

America The (Once) Beautiful

Has there ever been a time in our history when the moral fabric that undergirds America’s laws and behavior has been so shredded that it represents an immediate threat to the republic’s survival?

If not, then that time has arrived. 

Today.

Under President Donald J. Trump.

The Existential Threat himself.

Trump is not merely a rogue president, or a half-demented billionaire run amuck with the playground toys of the presidency. He is a clear and present danger whose actions and words repeatedly challenge the principles of justice, ethics and humanity this country was founded upon. 

Under Trump, America is no longer one nation indivisible, but one nation totally divided. Under Trump, neighbor is encouraged to hate and fear neighbor, branches of the government no longer work together, and the Truth has become so twisted and tormented it is most often unrecognizable.

Can’t help but wonder what
they’re plotting…?

Under Trump there is no transparency or honoring of tradition to explain any of his aberrant behavior. Should we be surprised that the same man who colluded with Russia, a de facto enemy, to steal the 2016 election, is the very President who used military aid to extort the Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political rival? A Ukraine so weak and under threat by Russia that its very existence could hang in the balance?

Under Trump, Republicans appear to have abandoned their values, their commitment to national security and their ability to recognize or speak the truth. 

Under Trump, none of the ordinary safeguards of the two-party political system appear to be in place. Rather than serve the nation that pays their salaries, Trump’s political sycophants give their allegiance to Trump in the same way Mafia soldiers serve their Don. 

The Great Seal of Ukraine
(Not a shithole country!)

In light of the events of the last two days, it is sadly obvious that the Departments of State and Justice have become rogue arms of our government. Where one appears to have dived head first into the attempt to bully the Ukraine at the expense of our National Security, the other is totally focused on protecting a President whose every word and deed seems to defy our laws and Constitution.

And now both departments have drawn their wagons in a circle around the White House.

Hang on, Nelly!

And now, under Trump, these forces battle to hold onto the levers of power they were never worthy of in the first place. And Trump will never release those levers, no matter what happens.

If he goes down, he’ll try to take all of us with him. Count on it!

And what about us? 

Like children caught in the crossfire, we are left to watch—shocked, frightened and frozen—as the United States government under Trump, undergoes a psychotic breakdown, and attempts, against all rational belief, to turn a lie into the truth, and a country into a nation of dullards too stupid to know the difference.

Under Trump, we are all in danger. 

Especially those of us who don’t know it.

TRUMP SENDS OUT FOR CHINESE.

“Hello, Xi Jinping’s Chinese Garden. Order for pick up or delivery, please?”

“Delivery.”

“And what is name?”

“And what is name?”

“Donald The President.”

“Donald The President? President of what?”

“Of the United States, you moron! What are you, a Fake News reporter? I’ll tell you when to ask questions. And when you have a question, I want you to raise your hand.” 

“Raise hand? On phone? Why?”

“Again with the questions! Why does everyone want to question me? I guess there’s nobody else worth questioning. That’s because I give great answers. Best answers anywhere. Everyone says so.”

“Are you ready to order, Mr. President?”

“Yes, I’m ordering from your take out menu. (calling to someone in the room) Rudy, Mike, Billy…what do you guys want? (murmurs rise in the distance) Really? (into the phone) Are you ready?”

“Fire away!”

“Just remember, if you take notes of this call, you have to burn them when we’re through.”

“Sure, always burn notes. Only way Chinese Communist restaurant stay in business. What is order, please?”

“First, we want three orders of Shit-on-Biden, extra spicy.”

“Large size or small?”

“Super-size! Can I get those with photos?”

Shit-on-Biden, extra spicy.

“Three order, Shit-on-Biden with photos! You want photos showing Biden fooling around with Chinese women, maybe, or mongrel dogs? Perfect for casual slander or dedicated destruction of reputation. Today’s special: fake photos of Joe Biden naked or in underwear?”

“What kind of underwear?”

Looking good, Joe!

“Tighty-whitey.”

“We’ll take a dozen of both.  Can I get poster sized blow-ups?”

“Of course. Is very popular item on menu.” 

“You know, I just realized something, Xi. This a beautiful phone call. Don’t you think? Simply beautiful. If Lindsey Graham were here kissing my derriere, he’d damn well agree.”

(silence)

“Next I’d like three orders of Sweet-and-Sour-Bullshit; the kind despots order when they’re winning a trade war.”

“Three order Sweet-and-Sour-Bullshit. With or without beansprouts?”

“Beansprouts? I don’t give a shit about beansprouts. Are you making a joke?”

“Beansprouts! I don’t give a shit about beansprouts.”

“No, no. Sorry, no joke. Also, no beansprouts.”

“Okay, now this is important, I want you to send the bill for our order to the Department of the Treasury, attention Stevie M.”

“Department of Treasury?”

“Did you just ask another question?” 

“Sorry, you not see, I first raise hand.” 

“You sure you’re not working with Crooked Hillary or her skirt-chasing husband? Or perhaps Adam Schiff is wire-tapping this phone call…?”

“Xi Jinping have one more question, Mr. President.”

“I can tell your hand is raised, so ask away.”

“What happen if Treasury Department refuse pay bill?” 

Then send it to Present Zelensky in Kiev. I believe that’s located in Ukraine. If it hasn’t already been moved to Russia.”

“Zelensky is also President?”

President of a shithole country.

“Yeah, but of a shithole country.”

But what if Zelensky tell me ‘no,’ just like Treasury Department?”

“If Zelensky says no, tell him I’ll be sending him those Javelin missiles he asked for. And very soon!

“Oh, and don’t forget the fortune cookies.”

From Donald With Love.

Republicans Struck Blind By Sudden Exposure To The Truth.

Six Republicans on their way
to a strategy meeting at Fox News.

Something unusual happened last week, and continues to afflict a majority of the nation’s Republican office-holders. I am not speaking about the release of notes from Donald Trump’s July 25th phone conversation with Ukraine’s president. Nor am I referencing the release of the whistleblower’s report the very next day.

“Thank you, Godfather.”

Quite simply—and defying any logical explanation—the mass of Republicans in Washington has been struck blind, all at once, all seemingly by the same toxic agent, namely The Truth. After releasing phone transcript notes that, in concert with the whistleblower’s complaint, show incontrovertibly that President Volodymyr Zelensky was given an offer he could not refuse. Not if he wished his small sovereign nation to survive.

The offer: find me dirt on Joe Biden or risk losing all military aid voted by Congress. Nearly $400 million crucial to Ukraine’s survival. Aid that was absolutely critical to their defense against ongoing Russian aggression.

(At this point in our post, one can almost hear the haunting musical strains from “The Godfather” soundtrack playing in the background.)

Not since “Day of the Triffids,” a sci-fi movie in which the entire planet’s population was struck blind, has widespread blindness struck with such surprising ferocity. And for those Republicans not blinded by the sudden revelations of this past week, there arose a mass inability to comprehend or evaluate obvious criminal acts or statements made by President Trump.

Typical Russian defender of Donald Trump (not the dog).

The Republican Blindness and Feigned Stupidity Syndrome appears to render Republicans incapable of defending anything of real value—the Constitution, their fellow lawmakers, government institutions, America’s elections, National Security, honest whistleblowers, Muslims, Mexicans, members of the intelligence community, institutional civility, or anyone cruelly attacked by an infantile president.

An infantile president, it should be mentioned, whose ego is so large the Ukraine would sit in its shadow. 

Which is just another way of describing exactly what happened last week. 

The Liberation of Washington, D.C.

The first sign of the impending liberation came from deep within the bowels of the American Intelligence Community. A whistleblower last August fired off a salvo that will echo till the day of liberation itself when Donald J. Trump, 45th (so-called) President of the United States will board his plane and fly away, never to be seen or heard from again in the nation’s capital. And never again to betray his office and country under the pretense of tending to presidential duties.

The pre-liberation barrage of artillery fire erupted suddenly in the quiet of a sleepy Washington morning. The Hero Of The Day, the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, sent word to Congress that a whistleblower complaint judged to be of “urgent concern” by the IG, and verified as “credible” in a limited investigation, had been released to the Director of National Intelligence (as the Whistleblower Act requires) but after its release had apparently dropped off the face of the earth. 

An orange suit in The Donald’s future?

Meanwhile, the Director of National Intelligence, Andrew McGuire, a retired Navy Seal, barely settled and just days into his temporary appointment as DNI, found himself confronting a monumental and seemingly unprecedented dilemma. The nation’s Whistleblower Act required him to forward all whistleblower complaints to Congress within 7 days. However, seeing that the president was the focus of the complaint, McGuire was concerned about violating Executive Privilege and chose to forward it first to the Office of Legal Counsel within the Justice Department. In that moment, inside a Justice Department tightly controlled by William Barr, Trump’s Attorney General, the complaint disappeared as if it had never existed.

 Until…

Adam Schiff, Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and his Senate counterpart, Richard Burr, received word of the errant whistleblower’s complaint from the Intelligence IG and all hell broke loose. Suddenly The New York Times and Washington Post began firing news reports in all directions, and it soon became clear that somewhere in the bowels of the Executive Branch there was a bombshell whistleblower complaint and it most likely involved the President himself and his ‘questionable’ pursuit of dirt to bury political rival, Joe Biden. 

Founding members of The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.

‘Questionable’ because he and his chief henchman, Rudy Giuliani, chose to dig for that dirt in the cold climate of the Ukraine, where they worked a tag team strategy to force Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukraine’s newly elected president, to dig up or manufacture political dirt on Joe Biden. As leverage, The Donald held up payments of congressionally authorized military aid for the Ukraine until Zelensky showed he was willing “to play ball” as the president required.

As so often happens in battle, there were scattered and isolated confrontations and bursts of leaked information. Information so damaging in its reconstruction in news reports that the President had little choice but to release notes detailing his July 25th phone conversation with the Ukraine’s president. Everyone in Washington expected the notes would reveal little or nothing about the shakedown of an ally whose very existence depended on the military aid President Trump had ordered suspended.

Everyone was wrong.

What me worry?

It is not known yet why the forces surrounding and protecting the president chose to release phone call notes as damaging as the ones released to Congress. Notes that mentioned William Barr’s involvement as well as Rudy Giuliani’s. Was this another example of Deep State sabotage? Or just the panicked behavior of villains caught in the act, scattering in panic like cockroaches in the kitchen when the light comes on?

Reality Check: the authorized military aid was intended to assist the Ukraine in fighting off Russian incursions or possible invasion, a real threat since Russian irregulars were still wreaking havoc in the Ukraine’s Eastern territory.

“Thank you, Godfather.”

Yes, assemble the known details and you will quickly realize two shocking facts. First, that Trump’s actions in weakening Zelensky only strengthened Putin’s hand in his quest for conquest, an interesting outcome in light of all the questions about Trump being Putin’s lap dog. And second, Trump was actually willing to put an entire country—almost 44 million people— at risk to pursue his own political purposes! 

Even if they were in opposition to America’s National Security concerns!

It’s safe to say the liberation of Washington D.C. has definitely and irreversibly begun. It commenced when the Democrats won a majority of seats in the House in 2018, thereby ending Republican domination of all branches of government. And it continues as the gears of impeachment are set free to fully digest and act upon all the leads offered by the whistleblower’s complaint.

And leads there are aplenty!

Beginning with the highly classified server on which White House lawyers entombed the highly incriminating transcript of the July 25th phone call. A server on which, the complaint suggests, Trump’s White House staff had hid other damaging and disturbing evidence of Trump’s…what…? His felonies, his deals, his cons, his shakedowns…?

“Don’t look at the man behind the curtain!

Time will tell. And as we wait for the story to unwind, as it happily will, and as The Donald freaks out and lashes out in blind fury, the smell of liberation is in the air. If you lift your nose high above the stench of corruption, dishonesty and flagrant abuse of power, you can smell it. 

And just beyond, another scent…the liberation of America!