A liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen...

"Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen." – Maimonides
                             ....Or his photograph.

Sunday it was reported that mega bad guy, ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was killed (he reportedly blew up himself and some children after being chased down a dead-end tunnel) in a U.S. military raid on Saturday. It was a risky operation, made riskier by 45's earlier capricious decision to pull troops out of Syria. All the meticulous planning – which the president* was aware of – had to be speeded up before troops and equipment were lost to the retreat. What a dumb-ass.

According to Wikipedia, this isn't the first time his death has been reported. In fact, al-Baghdadi apparently has had more lives than a cat. Reportedly, soldiers were able to gather DNA from the scene and confirm the identity within a couple hours. Amazing.

And then, this photo was released.

My first impression was "yeah, right." And then it was adding a thought bubble to the TV-Addict-in-Chief: "I wonder when 'Hogan's Heroes' is on." Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark Milley on the right is pleading with us with his eyes. "Get. Me. Out. Of. Here."

I'm not the only one to be skeptical of this photo. Pete Souza, official Obama photographer, jumped on it. See his tweet:

The raid, as reported, took place at 3:30PM Washington time. The photo, as shown in the camera IPTC data, was taken at "17:05:24". https://t.co/XV0MFfFiTt

— Pete Souza (@PeteSouza) October 27, 2019

It doesn't take a genius photographer to know that this was staged. Where the hell are they all looking? And why aren't their machines plugged in?

Compare this picture to Souza's iconic photo of President Obama during the raid and killing of Osama bin Laden.

Even 45's propaganda is amateur.

Anyway, I guess the death of al-Baghdadi good for the War On Terror, but the loss of the leader is just that....the loss of the leader. ISIS isn't going away. Especially after TЯUMP let them out of the Kurdish prison with his stupid decision to withdraw from northern Syria.

If you don't quite understand the full situation in Syria, you're not alone. It's a hugely complex situation, as is all of the Middle East. This is worth the watch. John Oliver, in his no-nonsense and frequently funny style, explains it. And you get to laugh, too.




How does the death of al-Baghdadi affect the impeachment inquiry? It doesn't.


Other events of the last few days, impeachment and otherwise:

Rep. Elijiah Cummings was laid to rest on Friday. Such a loss of a fine statesman, dedicated to the country literally until his dying day. Within hours before his death, he signed subpoenas for the impeachment inquiry. May he rest in power.


Congress gets to see grand jury information presented during the Mueller investigation, according to a court ruling. The ruling also deemed the impeachment inquiry legal to proceed without a formal vote, which we already knew it was. Judge Beryl A. Howell of the Federal District Court in Washington indicates that 45's obstructive tactic actually worked against him. She wrote, “The White House’s stated policy of noncooperation with the impeachment inquiry weighs heavily in favor of disclosure. Congress’s need to access grand jury material relevant to potential impeachable conduct by a president is heightened when the executive branch willfully obstructs channels for accessing other relevant evidence.”

Good judges make good checks and balances.


There was fall-out from the storming the SCIF by idiot Repug lawmakers. There are calls for investigation and censure, as the Congressmen violated the law by bringing – and using – cell phones within the secure facility. Here's a good Q and A explanation of the SCIF situation from the New York University School of Law.


Kelly Anne Conway was her usual charming self last week. This time, she railed against a Washington Examiner reporter. See some of her 7-minute rant here.

"Don't pull the crap where you're trying to undercut another, a woman based on who she is married to." Hillary much, Kelly Anne? Later, Mrs. Conway took offense to the suggestion that she threatened the reporter, saying, "If I threaten someone, you'll know it." Straight out of the script of an abuser.


Late one night, another clown in the circus butt-dialed a reporter from NBC and left a nice long 3-minute voicemail. And Rudy Giuliani's conversation mistakenly recorded wasn't some idiotic thing like plans for lunch. Rudy was heard discussing going to Bahrain and for needing "several hundred thousand dollars." It's not the first time he butt-dialed this reporter. The first time the accidental voicemail centered around dishing on -- you guessed it -- Hunter Biden. Read about – and listen to – the goings on in the Center ring here at NBC.com. Seriously, you can't make this stuff up!


Former Chief of Staff John Kelly said in an interview over the weekend that he had warned his boss about impeachment. “I said, whatever you do — and we were still in the process of trying to find someone to take my place — I said whatever you do, don’t hire a ‘yes man,’ someone who won’t tell you the truth — don’t do that. Because if you do, I believe you will be impeached,” Kelly said. Clearly, as he has done throughout the last three years, he ignored good advice.


Yesterday, SCROTUS attended a World Series game at Nationals Park. When he was announced, the cheers surrounding game time turned to boos, and then to chants of "Lock him up!" Poor Trumpty Drumpfty got hims feelings hurt (videos in link - you'll want to see his face). It's probably the first time that he's been in front of a crowd that wasn't filled with his sycophantic base. Poor baby.


Upcoming impeachment inquiry testimony:

From the New York Times's impeachment briefing:

There will be weekend testimony: Investigators are scheduled to talk tomorrow (Saturday) to Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia. 

Charles Kupperman, who served until last month as deputy national security adviser at the White House, is scheduled to sit for questioning on Monday. Mr. Kupperman worked closely with Mr. Bolton. 

And Timothy Morrison, the senior director for Europe and Russia on the National Security Council and a Bolton loyalist, is scheduled to appear next Thursday. He would be the first current White House official to speak with investigators.

Regarding Charles Kupperman: he has asked a federal judge to rule on the admissibility of his testifying. Congress has issued a subpoena but his boss at the State Department has forbidden anyone from cooperating. He is asking the court for direction. EXACTLY the reason why our founding fathers created three co-equal branches of government. Let's hope the courts rule the right way.


As always, thanks for reading! I'll be back with more!