Paul Manafort is on trial for various criminal offenses. The outcome of a trial is never certain. The evidence against him seems strong but how strong will be judged by the twelve jurors who listen to it and make a finding. Having been in that business most of my life I never banked on a win, whether a defense attorney or prosecutor, until I heard it from the jury. That’s why the time between the judge’s charge and the jury’s verdict for me was always stomach wrenching. I’d tell myself I did the best so relax. It didn’t work. I’d always dwell on other things like some evidence I left out, some cross-examination question I did not frame correctly, or the things I omitted in final argument.
That’s why the Manafort outcome is not important to me. No matter what he is convicted of doing, or if he is not convicted at all, his biggest evil was working with Putin and Viktor Yanukovych in an attempt to take freedom away from the Ukrainian people. Naively I thought Americans were supposed to support liberty and justice for all throughout the world but Manafort was attempting to subvert that of a whole nation. Sadly it wasn’t something that was a Republican problem. Democratic operatives too were working along the same line trying to destroy democracy in Ukraine. The Podesta Group which was founded by Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta and whose brother operated it also represented Yanukovych. Leaving no stone upturned, Yanukovych emptied the Ukrainian treasury of money to turn America against the Ukrainian people. Manafort by some reports received over 60 million dollars.
Ukraine is the only country in the world that has had two revolutions within a decade of each other where the people rose up against the leaders trying to undermine their freedoms. The Ukrainian people are in a constant battle against Russia trying to take over their country. It is tragic Americans are willing to help Russia do this. The allegations that these revolutions are sponsored from the outside of the country are put out by Russia and its American well-paid lobbyists. They are belied by the numbers of people who took to the streets.
The first revolution was the Orange Revolution in 2005 which resulted from an election in which Victor Yanukovych who was born in Eastern Ukraine to a Russian mother and a Polish father claimed victory even though it was fraudulently achieved. The Ukrainian people took to the streets demanding a fair election which was eventually brought about. Another person a man who was quite weak won that.
Yanukovych was elected in 2010 with most of his support coming from the Russian areas of Ukraine. After assuming office he filled the major positions with his buddies most of who had Russian backgrounds. He pretended to toy with the idea of seeking to work with the EU but then suddenly rejected it for closer alliance with Russia. That started the protests. When Yanukovych’s special police composed mainly of Russians from eastern Ukraine tried to brutally suppress the protesters the nation rose up. The people occupied what has become known as Maidan. Yanukovych was forced to flee to Russian. A good analysis is here.
Manafort and others did all in their power to help Yanukovych and Putin drag Ukraine into the Russian orbit. Andrey Kirkov in a dispatch to the BBC wrote: “I do believe Ukraine will withstand it all and will maintain her independence and that the Ukrainian people will hold on to their desire to live in a civilised state cleared of a corrupt elite and corrupt judiciary. But without the European Union’s help, Ukraine will not be able to achieve this. Not because the Ukrainians lack determination, but because beside Ukraine stands a Russia which needs Ukraine to remain as it was under Yanukovych and other presidents – weak, passive and corrupt.” (My emphasis)
Perhaps I just don’t understand the limits of greed but I’ll never understand how an American can sell out another person’s freedom for money. Unfortunately, we see more and more of this happening with respect to our own country where things we believed must be protected like clean air, pure waterways and endangered species are losing their protection because they are considered impediments to monetary gains.
This is really attention-grabbing, You are an overly skilled blogger.
I’ve joined your rss feed and look forward to in quest of more of your wonderful post.
Additionally, I’ve shared your web site in my social networks
There’s certainly a lot to learn about this topic. I like all of the points you have made.
Cue everyone rushing to post a comment in defense of Manafort and Russia
forgot to add link
ugh
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yPYcwMlc2GY
One of my musical favorites
Slavonic Mass by Janacek
back story
sung in the original slavonic language
if you listen closely you can hear
the chorus sing
“ son of a bitchey “
An overlooked Mass and an overlooked composer. I wonder why many of the composers from his homeland has such a high and fanciful spirit in their music. Did their grand-mas tell them better fairy tales? Was their upbringing more peaceful and fun? I have a copy of his Lachian Dances that stands out.
And he was from an area in The South of the Czech Republic so the chorus probably sings “sum bitchey”.
My error Abe
That son of a bitchey is how we sing
and pronounce it with our Maine
Yankee Down East accent
Here is our Choirmaster Marshall Dodge
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=u9LYvER9Lao
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ps-54E4_ENs
in other FBI Crime Family Newes
https://theintercept.com/2018/08/05/death-penalty-lethal-injection-trial-tennessee/
“OUR MOST CRUEL EXPERIMENT YET”
Chilling Testimony in a Tennessee Trial Exposes Lethal Injection as Court-Sanctioned Torture
August 5 2018
Freeh retires to the neutral corner. The linguistic bolo puncher again demonstrating to universal satisfaction that life is a bichey .
Abe ?!?
I’m appalled that you would instigate a conflict. I’ll take my 8 count and come back with Tim Sample!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuZxRIzSXYw
Keep it up and I’ll find “Wally Ballou Covers A Cribbage Game In A Turhan Bey, Maine Firehouse”. Don’t make me do it.
Because of Trump’s immigration policies
Maine now has a Turkish Delight Depletion
Allowance
see
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001947/
in other newes
https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1946-7.html
Hoover’s FBI and the Fourth Estate
The Campaign to Control the Press and the Bureau’s Image
Matthew Cecil
AEJMC Book Award
Finalist, Frank Luther Mott-Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2018/08/05/dick-wolf-fbi-cbs-show-not-political-celebrates-agents/910394002/
Dick Wolf says new CBS show ‘FBI’ is ‘not political,’ celebrates agents
Bill Keveney, USA TODAYPublished 2:18 p.m. ET Aug. 5, 2018 | Updated 11:57 a.
“Finalist, Frank Luther Mott-Kappa Tau Alpha Research Award”
This guy has to be a relative of Frank Zappa.
WOW!
We got a heated discussion going on here!
in other non essential newes….
https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/Hottest-Rain-Record-Rain-falls-119F-Imperial-California
CATEGORY 6™ NEW STORIES INFOGRAPHICS POSTERS
Hottest Rain on Record: Rain Falls at 119°F in Imperial, California
Dr. Jeff Masters · August 2, 2018, 3:28 PM EDT
Rooshan to judgment ???
Bill … Elmer asked you a question.
Wasn’t today’s Belorus (sp) called White Russia and the Ukraine “Little Russia” at one time, not so very long ago? I’ll have to look it up to refresh my memory.
Bill: Before the modern era, the whole area was known as Ruthenia. After the Mongol destruction of the Kievan kingdom, and, it’s native nobility, the Poles, and, Lithuanians, began introducing feudalism to the area. The Russians battled them for influence, and, eventually, pushed them out. The Cossacks played the three powers against themselves, until, they finally succumbed to military pressure from the Russian empire (Stenka Razin), and, became part of the Tsar’s army. During the course of the 17th century, scholars and maps started referring to the southern part of Ruthenia, as Ukraine, and, the northern part, as White Russia.
You can google all the info. Have fun.
Elmer, when I say Russia (one of the Republics) did such and such, it’s because Moscow basically controlled the Soviet Union . . .the RED ARMY . . .STALINISTAS . . .and I am well aware Georgians, Ukrainians, Siberians, Slovakians, Hungarians served in the RED ARMY . . .but it was the army of Peter the Great and the Tsars and Tsarinas, of Nicholas and Alexandria, of Lenin and Stalin…
You, like Matt, err in saying Yanakovitch appointed (then you use a disparaging term Rooshkies) as if they were non-Ukrainian citizens . . .Like Ireland was split, Catholic South sought Independence; Protestant North sought to remain united with Great Britain or England or London . . . . so too Ukraine was split between the heavily Russian-speaking East . . .many Ukrainian citizens are of Russian descent . . .and the predominantly Ukrainian speaking West (folks in both West and East are usually fluent in both and many languages as many Europeans are bilingual or multilingual, unlike most Americans) . . . .Yanukovitch appointed to high office mainly those of Russian descent and predominantly Russian speakers from the East, who after all were his strongest supporters . . .
Yes, I read heavily on this Maidan Revolution and on the history of Ukraine . . .not perhaps as heavily as you . . .and yes I use the word steer decidedly because that is what many American Consultants (Dems, Repubs, liberals, conservatives) oftentimes try to do . . .steer countries toward the West, toward America
That 1% of the wealthiest rule Russia or the Ukraine is how much different from the 1% of the wealthiest in America that control 60% of the wealth. Who do you think runs Washington . . . .Hillary and her machine of lobbyists, paid by the Wealthiest Americans, and Trump and his machine of lobbyists, paid by the Wealthiest Americans, and Congress always beholden to the lobbyists who fine-tune every piece of legislation to make sure the Wealthiest remain in control . . .of the USA and of the UKRAINE
CORRUPTION, BIG BUCK CORRUPTION, IS WHAT STEERED YANUKOVITCH AWAY FROM HIS COMMITMENTS . . .AND BIG BUCK CORRUPTION IS AFOOT IN THIS COUNTRY AND ELSEWHERE
THE SOLUTION: REIGN IN THE LOBBYISTS (CONSULTANTS/CONTRACTORS) HERE ….I propose all lobbyists/consultants must be limited to contacting Congress by (1) writing only (2) by one piece of paper per issue per year . . .that way the Constitutional Rights to Petition Government and Free Speech may be equally applied to all Americans when it comes to LOBBYING Government . . .get the big bucks out of Governmentf
Do the same overseas . . .get the US billions and Russian billions and British billions and Saudi billions out of influencing (steering) corrupt and corruption prone governments like present-day Ukraine . . .
The history of who owns Crimea is there for all to see, as is the history of who owns Serbia and Kosovo . . .and who owns NATO, and what that “defensive” organization is supposed to do and not do
Bottom line: Want a better world . . .Get the Big Bucks of the top 1% out of government by diminishing the role of Lobbyists to equal the role of John Doe and Jane Q Citizen . . .equal access for all who care to write . . .to speak, limit phone calls to 30 seconds per lobbyist per issue per year . . .and put it on tape recorders available to the public . .
Overseas, stop USA and Russia from trying to STEER other nation’s citizens to their wills . . .let Poland be Poland, Ukraine be Ukraine, and Ireland be Ireland . . .let the Irish and Ukrainian citizens decide . . .and of course We the People can say whatever we want . . .but we can decide to stop our own Interventionism and Imperialism and Corruption via corrupting others with the Big Bucks (US TAX BUCKS, to the tune of how many billions spent to steer Ukraine in our direction?)
Bill C, in Ukraine, there are people of many ethnic origins – Estonian, Greek, etc., etc., just as there are Ukrainians in Kazakhstan.
Why? Because in the sovok union, people were re-settled. In fact, stalin totally eliminated Tatars from Crimea.
Why were people re-settled? Because Marx and Luxembourg and the sovok union sought to eliminate nationalities, and force allegiance only to the state – a Rooshan-speaking state.
Why did people kak-a in rooshan all over the sovok union? Because, like many other empires, the sovok evil empire, centered and controlled by Kremlinoids in the Kremlin, sought to “standardize” the language.
So Ukraine had approximately 19% ethnic Russians – all over Ukraine.
The only people who sought to use language as a political tool were – the thugs in the Party of Regions.
Surprise – many, many of the jerks in the Party of Regions knew and spoke Ukrainian as well as they did Russian. Guess what? I saw many of them on TV speaking Ukrainian, but only briefly, and some of them freely admitted that they were deliberately refusing to speak Ukrainian.
The Savik Shuster Show, and many other political talk shows, had people freely conversing back and forth in Ukrainian and Russian – because they knew and understood both languages.
Thus, the “russian east” in Ukraine is a myth – a false one, in the sense of ethnicity. Even the Party of Regions finally gave up on that myth, because they were the only ones using it.
The fact that Yanukonvikt appointed rooshans – meaning citizens of Russia – to Ukrainian government posts was well-publicized in Ukraine.
As far as a “historical” claim to Crimea – that makes about as much sense as a claim that California and Texas and all of the US Southwest should now be ceded back to Mexico, because all of that territory was once part of Mexico.
Putler invaded Georgia, Ukraine and Syria – he and his Kremlinoids violated territorial integrity and territorial sovereignty.
Manafort is a slimewad – a loathsome piece of slime, and that is an insult to all slime everywhere.
I challenge you to produce just one piece of evidence – just one – that Manafort tried to “steer” Yanukonvikt and his ilk towards the West.
And while you’re looking, you might glance at this very brief video clip – the guy that you do not recognize is former Prez Kuchma. All of them are sovok mafia, and all the sovok mafia knew and know each other very, very well:
Wa-llhi Elmer, aren’t the Russian, and, Ukrainian, languages, both, descended from High Church Slavonic? They share a common syntax, and, morphology. The difference between the two languages is, mostly, a matter of phonetics. (Mykola Skripnik). Elmer, do you have a background in Slavic linguistics? We could have a wonderful discussion.
The main difference between Russian and (Western) Ukrainian variants of Church Slavonic lies in the pronunciation of the letter yat (ѣ). The Russian pronunciation is the same as е [je]~[ʲe] whereas the Ukrainian is the same as и [i]. Greek Catholic variants of Church Slavonic books printed in variants of the Latin alphabet (a method used in Austro-Hungary and Czechoslovakia) just contain the letter “i” for yat. Other distinctions reflect differences between palatalization rules of Ukrainian and Russian (for example, ⟨ч⟩ is always “soft” (palatalized) in Russian pronunciation and “hard” in Ukrainian one), different pronunciation of letters ⟨г⟩ and ⟨щ⟩, etc.
Bill, you’re starting to talk like a bro. All good. Join the Party. Eat the rich!
But, Bill, what happens when Poles, and, Ukrainians, lay claim to the same soil. Historically, speaking, the two peoples put some real energy, and, effort, into murdering each other, especially, during the early to mid twentieth century.
Massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia
Lipikach.jpg
Polish victims of a massacre committed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in the village of Lipniki, Wołyń (Volhynia), 1943
Location Volhynia
Eastern Galicia
Polesie
Lublin region
Date 1943–45
Target Poles
Attack type
Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide
Deaths 40,000- 60,000 in Volhynia and 30,000- 40,000 in Eastern Galicia
Perpetrators Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Mykola Lebed
The massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia (Polish: rzeź wołyńska, literally: Volhynian slaughter; Ukrainian: Волинська трагедія, Volyn tragedy), was a genocide[1][2][3][4] carried out in Nazi German-occupied Poland by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) against Poles in the area of Volhynia, Polesia, Lublin region and Eastern Galicia beginning in 1943 and lasting up to 1945.[4] The peak of the genocide took place in July and August 1943. Most of the victims were women and children.[5] UPA’s methods were particularly brutal, with many of the victims being tortured and mutilated,[6][7] and resulted in 40,000–60,000 Polish deaths in Volhynia and 30,000–40,000 in Eastern Galicia, with the other regions for the total about 100,000.[8][9][10][11]
After reading this Narrative about Manfort
undermining the Ukraine I was reminded
of how the Deep State/FBI undermined the
Maine prison reform group SCAR during
the early 1970’s.
http://www.oocities.org/tom-manning/snitch.html
I came to Maine in 1973 to take a job as a
probation-parole liason at Tri County Mental
Health working with adjudicated men and
women in the Maine state and county
correctional system.
I invited some of the members of SCAR to
speak at a screening of Titicut Follies if I remember
correctly. That is where I met ex-cons Alan Caron
and Ray Levasseur along with other members of
the group.
Today as I write this Alan Caron is a candidate for
Governor of Maine.
http://www.theforecaster.net/politics-other-mistakes-carons-checkered-past/
A new documentary about Ray Levasseur was aired on May20 2018
in Bangor Maine
https://bangordailynews.com/bdn-maine/event/2018/05/20/film-showing-of-an-american-portrait-of-raymond-luc-levasseur-on-may-20-in-bangor/
Levasseur was a stand-up guy, and, a solid con. Like Lenin said, there’s no revolutionist worth squat, who hasn’t done hard time. It’s a tempering process.
GUV-NAH!
Hey grab a perogi,suck on a kielbasa drink some borscht.
remember
if you don’t like the newes
go out and make some of your own
Holy Miedre Batman
https://theoutline.com/post/5410/toxic-prisons-fayette-tacoma-contaminated?zd=1&zi=7mcnmi6b
HOW PRISONS ARE POISONINGTHEIR INMATES
Hundreds of U.S. prisons and ICE detention centers are built on toxic sites, and people inside are getting
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/minnesota/articles/2018-08-03/former-minneapolis-fbi-agent-to-be-sentenced-in-october
Minneapolis FBI Agent to Be Sentenced in October
A sentencing date has been set for a former Minnesota FBI counterterrorism agent who was caught leaking classified documents to the Intercept news outlet.
Aug. 3, 2018, at 5:09 p.m.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-palmdale-sheriff-tattoo-20180804-story.html#nt=oft-Single%20Chain~Flex%20Feature~daily-chain~sheriff-5am~~1~yes-art~curated~curatedpage
Inked with a skull in a cowboy hat, L.A. sheriff’s deputy describes exclusive society of lawmen at Palmdale station
Oleg Polissky’s testimony is the latest account of deputy cliques that have been active in recent years despite department reform efforts.
Abe, we need Superman’s X-Ray vision to solve some of these issues . . .you know the saying, “Better men than us have tried . . . .”
Divine Intervention, maybe, and prayers from persons of all faiths . . . .
You are right. I can’t help the cynicism. It comes from my Cossack ancestry.
My mother’s father was born in Moscow, raised in Kiev and then moved to Bialystok. I don’t know if it was in Russian or Polish hands when he got there. He and his cousin were in the cavalry and at 19 years of age didn’t want to go by boat to Asia and fight on horseback, so they deserted. The went to England, then by boat from Liverpool to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and then a seven day train ride to beautiful Boston. On the boat ride he met his future wife, a beautiful teen from Vienna that gave him five sons and my mother. They were all born in the same house on Adams Street in Dorchester. I’m sure you know the area.
And now I am inside The Beltway. Who knew?
Google: Nestor Makhno was a revolutionary anarchist Cossack. Allied to the Soviets, he led the Black Army against the White reactionaries. The Black Army had a unit composed of Jews. At the end of the Russian Civil War, Makhno quarreled with Bolsheviks, and, broke the mutual assistance pact, between, the Red, and, Black Armies. He lost his last battle to Trotsky, and, fled to Paris, where, he designed, and, constructed, sets for stage plays, until, his death. Cossacks are often described as, adamantly, anti-semetic. Many of the murderous anti-Jew pogroms were led by Cossacks. That’s what makes Makhno so interesting. He held no hate for Jews, and, welcomed them into the Black Army. The Jews ran his artillery, and, agit-prop sections. They came up with the machine-gun tachanka, an automatic weapon mounted on a horse-drawn cart. Ukraine, being mostly a rolling steppe in the east, had a terrain where mobility was essential. With the tachanka, Makno could control the crest of one swell from another.
Learn more. Google Nestor Makhno/Black Army
Abe, inside the Beltway where I lived for 8 years and where my wife, who was Irish, English, German and one-sixteenth Cherokee Indian was born and raised.
There’s a big family of Hutchinson’s in Savin Hill. . .a stone’s throw from Adams street and Adams Village . . . their great-grandfather was a cabin boy on a British Ship stationed in the Black Sea off the Crimean Peninsula . . . he jumped ship off the coast of Florida sometime after the Charge of the Light Brigade and worked his way up the coast to Boston . . .where eventually came some of my best friends . . .FASCINATING, THE ROOTS WE HAVE . . .THE GOOD OLD USA BRINGS US ALL TOGETHER, WORLDWIDE AS FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, LOVERS, FAMILY . . .GOD BLESS AMERICA . . .
I guess rose-colored glasses have come back into style.
Wa-llahi! A common Arabic expression. Translates to , “Oh, my goodness! and/or, what the f*ck!”
Pompeo is a lying sovok, who got his job by parroting Trump’s untruths. The one thing we know for sure about Glorious Leader, and, his sovki, is that they’ll go back on anything they say. It is foolish to trust them, unless, one is a fascist, who shares their beliefs. In that case, carry on Elmer. You’re in good company.
Wa-llahi! Glorious Leader, and, his sovoks, are selling out Ukraine. Kyiv expects nothing from Trump. They know he is an agent of Putin. Trump epitomizes the moral decadence of the oligarch class. Excuses, and, windy circumlocutions about corruption, won’t whitewash the would be American dictator. Trump is the enemy of Ukraine.
oh, geez – Wail-mahi-mahi or whatever
https://www.state.gov/p/eur/ci/up/
Michael R. Pompeo
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
July 25, 2018
Russia, through its 2014 invasion of Ukraine and its attempted annexation of Crimea, sought to undermine a bedrock international principle shared by democratic states: that no country can change the borders of another by force. The states of the world, including Russia, agreed to this principle in the United Nations Charter, pledging to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state. This fundamental principle — which was reaffirmed in the Helsinki Final Act — constitutes one of the foundations upon which our shared security and safety rests.
As we did in the Welles Declaration in 1940, the United States reaffirms as policy its refusal to recognize the Kremlin’s claims of sovereignty over territory seized by force in contravention of international law. In concert with allies, partners, and the international community, the United States rejects Russia’s attempted annexation of Crimea and pledges to maintain this policy until Ukraine’s territorial integrity is restored.
what about Kosovo being ripped from Serbia
Secondly, Russia gave Ukraine the Crimea when the Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union, as I understand it . . .who has the better historical claim to the Crimea
If I were a Russian, I’d say “Give Kosovo back to Serbia first, and then we’ll think about the Crimean Peninsula.”
geez, Bill C, you’re spouting Kremlinoid propaganda which I have seen and heard a million times over the years
next you’re going to start spouting about “slavic brotherhood”
If anyone has a historical claim to Crimea, it’s the Tatars; or we could go way back to the Greeks and the Romans!!!!
Russia was one of 15 republics of the sovok union; Russia didn’t “give” Crimea to Ukraine.
In 1991, at the fall of the sovok union, Crimea was a part of Ukraine.
Roosha agreed to the territorial integrity of Ukraine via the Budapest Memorandum, and by other treaties, and agreed to lease a port in Crimea.
Then Roosha invaded Crimea by force, violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And has turned Crimea into a wasteland, as is typical of Kremlinoids.
If I were a Russian, I would be working to get rid of a thug Kremlinoid government, complete with “sistema” and “siloviki” – strongmen, and, oh, yes, “managed democracy.”
Russia is a state in search of a nation. It has always, always, been held together by fear, force, threats and intimidation.
And most of the 140 million “Russians” are sucking eggs, while Putler and Deripaska and Sechin and a few favored other live in obscenely lavish luxury.
I don’t think they’re too worried about Kosovo – I think they’re more worried about where their next meal is coming from, and the disconnect between their refrigerator and the TV (propaganda).
Attorney John Clarke was a speaker
at our conference dealing with crimes
committed by FBI agents.
He exposed the FBI coverup of the
Clinton Vince Foster muder.
He just posted this about the Deep State
http://www.fbicover-up.com
Welcome to our website about the murder of Vince Foster, Deputy White House Counsel under President Clinton. Brett Kavanaugh was in charge of the Foster death investigation and led the cover-up inside the Office of the Independent Counsel. A federal court ordered Independent Counsel Ken Starr to include evidence, found in government records, of an FBI cover-up, to the final Report.
Yes, as we all agree: it’s complicated . . .
No, Bill C, it’s not complicated
What did the sovok union create? Corruption. People spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get around the system, to the point where barter for bottles of vodka became the medium of commerce.
What did the sovok union create? Politicians who learned how to knife fight on the edge of a razor blade – that’s a phrase that I picked up, not my own original phrase.
And people who were cowed, and beaten into submission.
What happened when the sovok union fell apart? All of the commie sovok insiders came forward – and they no longer had to hide their corruption. Through insider deals, they swept up all the wealth.
And that was done with the aid of the West, through all sorts of financing, including hedge fund.
In every single former sovok republic, strongmen oligarchs emerged, and with that went a cowed population, and rigged elections.
Survival for most of the population in the sovok union – and afterwards – meant staying under the radar.
Thus, in Ukraine, the saying was that Ukraine is a territory occupied by 2 sets – oligarchs, and the rest of the people.
And the oligarchs were and are ruthless – not only ownership and manipulation of government, but also use of thugs and force.
And, as far as elections are concerned, you can think “company towns” – votes were bought, or were falsified, or people were threatened with loss of jobs, etc.
And the thugs employed on behalf of oligarchs made sure to count votes in towns and cities, in order to enforce the threats.
Oligarchs owned, and own, mass media – TV stations, etc.
They don’t care about profit – they use their media to keep power and money.
Did Manafort really provide anything? You’ve got to be kidding if you believe he did; the only thing Manafort and his ilk provided is information about how to put some kind of a gloss for a Western audience on all this corruption.
The big lesson here is – what kind of people did the sovok union produce?
Bernie Sanders, the commie, and the new Latina commie darling in New York, are having fun pushing communism.
Obummer also pushed communism.
And Pandersuit Klinton did everything to try to gain power – her goal was more focused. She was what Putler has, and she wanted the same. Blind ambition welded to a total lack of ethics.
Americans would do well to learn a lesson from the experience of the former sovok republics.
Manafort is truly a slimewad. Ukraine has not prosecuted corruption, starting with former Prime Minister Lazarenko, who ended up buying Eddie Murphy’s old mansion in California with the 3 swimming pools, and trying to launder stolen money.
He got prosecuted in the US – that particular slimewad should have been prosecuted in Ukraine, but he was not. Which tells you a lot about Ukraine. And Roosha, and Putler and his Kremlinoids.
But thank God that Donald Trump won – God Bless America.
Elmer, thanks for the insights on the Ukraine situation post Soviets, a situation paralleled in many former Soviet Republics/regions . . .and we agree, Thank God Donald Trump won . . .
where we disagree, is here: I think Manafort was and is a good man, who,, when he consulted, tried to steer Yanukovitch (sp?) and others inside the Ukraine towards the West . . . and towards NATO, EU . . .I was struck by the NBC article that quoted a poll in Ukraine showing the majority of Ukrainians did not want to become a part of NATO . . . .I never knew why NATO was soliciting Poland, Bulgaria, etc, to become part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, nor what NATO was doing bombing Serbia or bombing Libya, or at least supporting aggressive military operations against those nations and elsewhere far beyond the North Atlantic . . . .militaristic imperialism, land-grabbing and power grubbing are attributes shared East and West . . . .purge the nations of the Commie Sandinistas-types and the Capitalistic Clintonistas types . . .who lust for power, with little moral constraints upon their greed . . .
And as we purge, don’t paint with too broad a brush nor treat differently similarly situated folks . . .I say that as a caution to all, not to anyone in particular . . . .too much selective outrage going around . . . .for example, folks forget how vehemently some of our Founding Fathers excoriated reporters and the press . . .or they label someone evil for doing what Bill and Hillary and their associates did for decades . . .or they throw stones at some country for doing X, forgetting the US did the same or worse . . .
I still insist the situation in the Ukraine is as complex today as the situation in Ireland was in 1916 . . .
Bill C, Manafort was not there to steer anyone
Yanukonvikt was a part of the Party of Regions, which was centered in the Donbas region; the current prez, Poroshenko, was at one time a member of the Party of Regions; if you’d like, I can’ provide you with a video of Yulia Tymoshenko praising Gazprom, way back when, when she was first making money in the gas trade – with Gazprom
The sovok mafia in Ukraine and Roosha are joined at the hip, and as Matt points out, Yanukonvikt and his thugs installed rooshans – that means rooshan citizens – in his “government,” even in the secret service
This collection of sovok mafia thugs jointly owned apartment and other buildings in Ukraine (which would blow up), and coal mines in Ukraine (which would blow up due to deliberate safety violations), and banks, etc.
If you watched video of Yanukonvikt’s campaign appearances way back when, it would consist of “hey, how about these good looking girls in Odessa”
So Manafort tried to dress up the thug a little bit, but the message was still “stabilnist” – stability – meaning thugs stay in power and continue to steal, and everything will be alright.
Yanukonvikt strung people along on Ukraine signing the EU Association Agreement, which came to be viewed by the people as a means and a spur to get rid of endemic, systemic, pandemic oligarchic corruption.
Ukraine was not a country – it was a territory inhabited by people and infested by a corps of sovok mafia thug oligarchs.
Then Putler gave him a well-publicized huge loan, Yanukonvikt refused to sign the Association Agreement, Merkel is on video telling the thug that she expected better of him, and people came out on the street to protest.
What spurred the protest? A Facebook post by Mustafa Nayem.
Hence, the Euromaidan Revolution.
The NY Slimes and other US media are trying to portray all of this as being discovered for the first time by Muddler and his current show in court.
But, again – all of this was well publicized in Ukraine by Leshchenko, Nayem, Ukrainian Pravda and other Ukrainian media.
Take a close look at the exhibits in the motion in limine – I assure you that Manafort, Devine, the Podestas, and Greg Craig , and Skadden Arps were not there to steer anything. They were there to feast on corruption.
Just like the Klinton Krime Family feasted on corruption in Nigeria, and Roosha, and other places.
And remember that the shysters at Skadden Arps took part in trying to whitewash the stalinist show trial of Yulia Tymoshenko and Lutsenko and other former cabinet members and officials who were going through stalinist show trials.
Rosa Luxembourg?
Ukrainian nationalists used language as political tool, as, well.
Wa-llahi! Didn’t we already cover all this territory last year?
I hold with Robert De Niro. F#ck Trump!
Manafort did not create corruption in Ukraine – he took advantage of it.
I’ve looked at the emails, memos, etc., which were exhibits to the defense motion in limine – as one might expect, Yanukonvikt, Akhmetov and that whole crowd had far more money than brains, and Manafort and company hosed them real good. So did the Podesta crowd, and Greg Craig, and all the other “consultants” who came in to feast on the corruption in Ukraine.
And let’s not forget Victor Pinchuk’s $7 million or more “donation” – largest individual “donor” – to the Klinton Krime Family Foundation. Still trying to figure out what he got for that, other than pictures with Chelsea at various spots in buildings around Ukraine. I can email the pictures to you.
All of these “consultants” were very well known in Ukraine, long before Muddler started putting on his show, and all the info was publicized by Serhiy Leshchenko and Mustafa Nayem and Ukrainian Pravda and other publications.
Ukraine’s policy under Prez Kuchma was “triangulation” – balancing money from the West with money from the Kremlinoids, all the while more or less keeping out from under the thumb of Putler and his Kremlinoids. Prez Yushchenko, the one who was poisoned with dioxin, did the same thing more or less.
Yanukonvikt tried to do the same thing, but he was far more interested in making himself and the “family” wealthy, under the principle that the prez of Ukraine should be the richest one in Ukraine. Yanukonvikt was and is a thug with very little brain power – but when one has a thuggish government, one doesn’t need a lot of brain power.
The oligarchs in Ukraine were and, to a certain extent, still are joined at the hip with the oligarchs in Russia. And that is a very huge problem.
Firtash, one of the Jewish oligarchs in Ukraine, declared himself to be the “savior of Ukraine” on Inter TV – which at that time was owned by him. I saw the broadcast live. It became possible to track media in Ukraine via the Internet, TV and print, and other.
Even sitting in Vienna, Firtash the thug criminal exerts influence in Ukraine in order to extort money:
http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/why-is-ukraine-giving-fugitive-oligarch-dmytro-firtash-a-1-billion-windfall
That’s all for now, except for this:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-08-01/ukraine-reforms-stall-as-economy-lags-and-corruption-lingers
Who will protect us from the Deep State?
The POLICE ?
Just a reminder Professor Alec Vitale will be speaking at the main
branch of the Cambridge Public library at 6 pm on
August 8 2018.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cohr_Czs5T8
“The End of Policing” Alex Vitale at the James Connolly Forum, 2/15/18
in other news
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2018/jul/31/police-dv-update/
Help release records related to police domestic violence
by Caitlin Russell
July 31, 2018
Forty percent of police families deal with domestic violence compared to 25 percent of the general population, and getting out hands on the records that detail these abuses is proving to be expensive. Here’s how you can help.
Read More
also see
https://www.muckrock.com/news/archives/2018/jul/31/cia-ellsburg/
Declassified records show extent of CIA’s involvement in efforts to discredit Daniel Ellsberg
by Emma Best
July 31, 2018
A previously classified document that the Central Intelligence Agency provided to Congress during the investigation of the Watergate affair shows that G. Gordon Liddy used papers that the Agency had provided – without authorization – while traveling to California to break into the office of Dr. Lewis Fielding, Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist. This newly released document shows that CIA’s Inspector General report on Watergate left out key details, and exposes CIA’s Deputy Director Vernon Walters’ claim that the assistance was provided in response to a “duly authorized extra-Agency request” as false.
Read More
What Muellar’s Biased and Overzealous Team is going after Manafort for a Technical Paper Filing Mistakes, in the main, as I understand it . . . .did he properly file the FED paper work on that Mortgage he took out in 2012 and paid back by December the same year . . . .that sort of B.S.
That Manafort made $6 million a year for 10 years working in the Ukraine is peanuts besides Bill and Hillary’s $150 million personal portfolio ($1 million to Bill from a Russian Bank for a one hour speech) and the $billions funneled to the Clinton Foundation by Foreign Governments, including the Ukraine, Russia, Khazakstan (Uranium One deals, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera
UKRAINIAN POLITICS ARE COMPLEX . . .The following is from NBC News:
Said Herbst, “They were pro-Russian because that’s where their voters were politically and culturally. So they would not have gotten them if they were arguing for NATO — let’s join NATO — policies.”
Skepticism about NATO had the virtue of appealing to many Ukrainian speakers as well. Nationwide, more than half of the public opposed joining the military alliance.
“They were pro-Russian because that’s where their voters were.”
He (Yanukovich) could attract pro-Western Ukrainians, meanwhile, by broadcasting his support for European Union membership. Some oligarchs behind the party were eager to do business with Europe anyway.
Bill Taylor, who was U.S. ambassador to Ukraine from 2006 to 2009, said Manafort would contact the U.S. embassy and tell them he was urging his client to look West. “[He said] he’d tell Yanukovych, ‘You’ll do better in Western Ukraine if you orient more toward Europe,” recalled Taylor. “‘To broaden your base, you should orient toward the EU.'”
For the next eight years, Yanukovych would adjust his positions on NATO and the EU as needed, tacking East or West depending on the electoral winds and his audience.
Sometimes his party’s public actions and Yanukovych’s private assurances to Western officials were at odds.
“[Yanukovych] was willing to allow all kinds of cooperation with NATO,” which the Russians did not like, said Amb. Herbst, “but it’s true that [Yanukovych] was organizing rallies against NATO exercises.”
NC has the correct insights.
Foreign Nationals pay Americans to consult, lobby, advise, and invest. It’s done all over the World.
American Officials try to influence the policies in other countries, and sometimes hire contractors to do the same.
Americans try to orient countries to America and NATO and the EU.
Russia, China, Vietnam, Iran, Sweden try to orient countries to their ways.
2. Gloria Nyland said the US spent $5 billion to turn Urkrainians to US ways.
3. There are private actors inside Ukraine today who are hiring contractors to turn politics in their favored direction.
4. In Serbia, the US/NATO interfered to rip Kosovo from Serbia violating UN regulations.
5. You seem to disparage a native-born Ukrainian whose parents were born outside of Ukraine. Is there a loyalty blood test in Urkaine? Likewise you seem to disparage Ukrainians of Russian descent. Why?
6. Ukrainians, of all backgrounds, cannot be isolated from international influences from the left or right, from America or Russia or Bulgaria or China. Individual Ukrainians may spend their time, energy and resources attempting to move their country in whatever direction they deem best and they may hire outside contractors to help them. Hillary hired a British-Spy to help her dig up dirt on Trump in a dossier.
7. Any idea how many Ukrainians or Brits or Chinese citizens are receiving US moneys or moneys from private American firms, corps, individuals?
8. Why was it “evil” to support Yanukovich? Because he was more pro-Russian than pro-NATO? Oh, because he was a thief . . .so prosecute him for theft.
9. I hope the Ukrainians find a way forward towards peace and harmony, like the Irish did . . .you won’t get there by throwing stones at pro-Russian Ukrainians . . .maybe a further partition, or a semi-partition and DMZ zone created in the East is a solution.
10. The rights of pro-Russian Ukrainians and Ukrainian citizens of Russian, Polish, Chinese, Bulgarian etc., descent must also be respected.
11. Opposing views must be respected, like this following idea: No one is trying to gut clean air, clean water, clean soil, toxic-chemical standards . . .folks are trying to maintain legitimate environmental protection regulations while getting rid of the economy-stiffling job-crushing red tape.
12. The Russian people are as good as the Ukrainian people who are as good as the British and American people. Evil people exist in every country: in America many who hold office or sit in federal deep state offices or DOJ offices have done immeasurable evil in this world and some are evil in their hearts . . .some delight in others’ sufferings and delight in inflicting sufferings on others. America has its own sadists and evil men and evil women. Paul Manafort is a good man. Mueller formed a team made up of pro-Hillary, pro-Democratic liberals . . .substantially comprised thereof, if not exclusively so. Mueller’s bias has been demonstrated from the git-go . . .it was evident when he headed the FBI. He seems not to mind seeing folks sold down the drain by his underlings and associates. He sat silently, as far as I know, while John Connolly and H. Paul Rico were falsely prosecuted.
Manafort is indicted. Podesta is not. Is Mueller engaged in a partisan witch hunt? It seems obvious that politics have played a major role. A double standard. Not Equal Protection. 2. Thankfully Trump has reversed the failed policy of the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations. Regime Change hasn’t worked in Serbia, Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Syria. It has been a disaster. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Millions of displaced people. The Intel community’s false claims of WMD and genocide prompted clueless Presidents to react. 3. When Hillary was Secretary of State her chief assistant was Victoria Neuland. Once a month she would attend a Think Tank meeting in DC to hash out her options. Much of the foreign policy establishment was present. Nueland’s husband Robert Kagan presided at the meeting. So who does Romney hire as his foreign policy chief consultant in the 2012 campaign? Robert Kagan. The entrenched Deep State captures both parties. Nueland was caught on a wire saying that the US had spent $5 billion to re orient the Ukrainians into action. This was blatant interference in a foreign country to implement Regime Change. 4. Ukraine has to emulate Poland. It has three times the per capita income and relatively stable politics. Commerce and development are the key ingredients to success. Politics are not a panacea
Stop making sense.
Agree.