The Watergate Road Map

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Crime, History, L'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

The Jaworski “Road Map,” the last great still-secret Watergate document, became public Wednesday when the National Archives released it under Judge Howell’s ruling from earlier this month. It sees the light of day for the first time in four and a half decades at a remarkable moment, one in which a different special prosecutor is considering the conduct of a different president and … Read More

Trump Wants To Defy Constitution By Ending Birthright Citizenship

Ken AshfordConstitution, Immigration and Xenophobia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

He can’t do this.  He should know it: President Trump said he was preparing an executive order to end birthright citizenship in the United States, his latest attention-grabbing maneuver days before midterm congressional elections, during which he has sought to activate his base by vowing to clamp down on immigrants and immigration. “We’re the only country in the world where … Read More

Goodbye, Gab

Ken AshfordRightwing Extremism/Violence, Social Media & NetworkingLeave a Comment

CNN: Gab has been taken offline following revelations that the suspected Pittsburgh synagogue gunman used the social network to threaten Jews. A statement on the platform’s website Monday said it would be “inaccessible for a period of time” after several web hosting services declined its business. Gab said it has also been removed from app stores and refused service by payment … Read More

Max Boot: Fox And Right Wing Media Is Reponsible

Ken AshfordImmigration and Xenophobia, Right Wing and Inept Media, Right Wing Punditry/Idiocy, Rightwing Extremism/ViolenceLeave a Comment

Boy, I am old enough to remember when Max Boot was a staple of the right wing media, at least in print. Back in the aughts, he famously wrote this bizarre defense of the War in Iraq: Yes, folks. The fact that we had bad intelligence relating to WMDs is a GOOD (not a BAD) pretext for starting a war … Read More

The Squirrel Hill Massacre And The Abhorrent White House Response

Ken AshfordCrime, Godstuff, Immigration and Xenophobia, Racial Homicides, Rightwing Extremism/Violence, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

WaPo: Conspiracy theories are flourishing in America, from the Oval Office to the fever swamps of the Internet. They include the viral notion that the liberal 88-year-old billionaire George Soros, a Hungarian American Holocaust survivor, is funding the migrant caravan slowly making its way from Central America in the direction of the United States. It’s not true, but it has … Read More

Trump Is A Welsher Too

Ken AshfordElection 2020, Immigration and Xenophobia, Race, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Sen. Elizabeth Warren released the results of a DNA test today that “strongly support” her claims of Native American ancestry, hitting back at President Donald Trump for mocking her and showing her seriousness about a 2020 presidential run. The DNA test, conducted by Stanford University professor Carlos Bustamante, showed Warren’s likely Native American ancestry dates back six to 10 generations. … Read More

A Scary Time For Men

Ken AshfordElection 2018, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Trump apologized “on behalf of America” to Brett Kavanaugh last night at his induction ceremony. It marked the end of one of the ugliest chapters in Supreme Court history — ugly in the sense that this asshole got on the court despite his obvious lying and political manipulation, made worse by Trump’s victory lap. Trump framed this as a victory … Read More

Kavanaugh Pens Op-Ed; Tensions Fly [UPDATE: It’s done]

Ken AshfordSex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who last week accused Democrats of plotting a political hit job against him on behalf of Bill and Hillary Clinton to smear his good name as he faces sexual assault allegations, wants America to know he is an impartial judge. Kavanaugh wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal published last night with the self-serving headline: “I … Read More

RIP Juan Romero

Ken AshfordHistory, In PassingLeave a Comment

The 17 year old busboy who tried to help a wounded Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 died. He was shaking Kennedy’s hand when the shots were fired.  He had rosary beads in his pocket and he gave them to RFK.  Afterwards, his life was haunted by the violence he saw that day, even to the point of being unable to … Read More

Kavanaugh Supplemental Investigation Is Over: Report Being Read

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Guess what?  The White House has found no corroboration of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after examining interview reports from the FBI’s latest probe into the judge’s background.  Neither has the GOP majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee. This leaves senators in much the same position as last week—faced with two witnesses providing mutually exclusive … Read More

FBI Report On Kavanaugh Will Be Kept Secret (For A While)

Ken AshfordCongress, Sex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Greg Sargeant: As early as today, the FBI may conclude its renewed background investigation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — and predictably enough, Senate Republicans are already insisting that the report will never see the light of day. The FBI’s report will be given to all Senators, but it will not be released publicly, because, as Republican Senate Majority … Read More

Is It Any Wonder Women Don’t Come Forward With Sexual Assault Allegations?

Ken AshfordSex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Even though Trump himself said that Dr. Christine Ford’s allegations were “credible”, he somehow managed to attack her last night at a rally. BREAKING: President Trump mocks Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, during a rally in Mississippi. https://t.co/yjrqDceYv6 pic.twitter.com/iv22aHRwhn — NBC News (@NBCNews) October 3, 2018 What do you … Read More

People Reaching Out To FBI Don’t Seem To Be On Team Kavanaugh

Ken AshfordSex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

NBC News: In the days leading up to a public allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh exposed himself to a college classmate, the judge and his team were communicating behind the scenes with friends to refute the claim, according to text messages obtained by NBC News. Kerry Berchem, who was at Yale with both Kavanaugh and his accuser, Deborah … Read More

Is The Fix In?

Ken AshfordSex Scandals, Sex/Morality/Family Values, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

Jane Mayer and Ronan Farrow talk about this FBI investigation: As the F.B.I. began its investigation this weekend into allegations of sexual misconduct by Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, several people who hope to contribute information about him to the F.B.I. said that they were unable to make contact with agents. President Trumphas promised to give the F.B.I. “free rein” in … Read More

And Now The Committee Vote [NOPE! An FBI Investigation!]

Ken AshfordCongress, Republicans, Sex Scandals, Supreme Court, Trump & Administration, Women's IssuesLeave a Comment

SEPT. 28, 2018. The front pages. pic.twitter.com/LxSjyD0eaS — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 28, 2018 With the embarrassingly empty Kavanaugh hearings behind us, and a nation left wrecked by the he said/she said testimonies, the Senate is going ahead with the votes to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. After a closed-door meeting of the Republican conference late last … Read More