Just as Bush family foreign policy defined itself and stood when "Operation Iraqi Liberation," because the acronym was too raw, was rechristened "Operation Iraqi Freedom;" today we learn ---

Or not? You decide.

https://www.juancole.com/images/2019/10/trump-hands-oil-gas-to-syria-rus-750x422.jpg

"New War for Oil? Trump to Occupy Oil-Rich Syrian Province with Tank Corps, Asks for Kurdish Displacement There"
 --  Juan Cole 10/25/2019

- compare -

"What does THAT mean? Trump says US ‘secured the oil’ in Syria, causes confusion"
RT -- 18 Oct, 2019 17:53 (i.e., days ago)

https://www.bing.com/search?q=trump+oil+syria&FORM=HDRSC1

"After American troop withdrawal, Trump shifts focus to Syria oil fields," [undated]
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2019/10/25/after-american-troop-withdrawal-trump-shifts-focus-to-syria-oil-fields/

The latter item begins:

The Pentagon released a statement Thursday [Oct. 24] saying it is committed to sending additional military forces to eastern Syria to “reinforce” control of the oil fields and prevent them from “falling back to into the hands of ISIS or other destabilizing actors.”

No details were provided on how many or what kind of forces would be sent, or whether decisions on those details have been made.

Trump’s decision to withdraw the bulk of roughly 1,000 American troops from Syria drew bipartisan condemnation. The decision came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Trump earlier this month that he intended to carry out an operation to clear the Turkey-Syria border of Kurdish fighters who fought side-by-side with U.S. troops in beating back IS fighters in northeast Syria.

The president’s comments this week raised fresh concerns that he has an incomplete understanding, or is indifferent to, the fragile dynamics of the region, his critics say.

“The President of the United States of America appears to be calling for a mass migration of Kurds to the desert where they can resettle atop a tiny oil field,” Brett McGurk, Trump’s former special envoy to the global coalition to defeat IS, wrote on Twitter.

But the idea of keeping troops in eastern Syria to guard the oil fields resonated with Trump and presented military commanders with a way to keep at least a residual force inside the country. In addition to a presence near the oil fields in eastern Syria, some U.S. forces will remain in southern Syria.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the main goal of the American troop presence is to make sure the Islamic State is contained and unable to gain control of the oil fields and the revenue they generate. The administration also sees some benefit to Kurds being in control of the oil, according to a senior administration official, who briefed reporters on the administration’s deliberations on the Syria withdrawal.

A thought experiment - If you were a young couple with a new baby boy, wouldn't you want him to grow up just like Rudy Guiliani?

While the answer is easy, take time to think about all the implications. Such as how a Rudy Giuliani is allowed by the system imposed upon us to prosper. Then the hard question - that system, if described in a single word, which works best, "sick" or "corrupt?" (Making it hard, you cannot choose both.)

Yesterday's top sidebar item gets preempted. With all the garbage around, Ukraine this, Adam Schiff that, there was meaningful true news Saturday in Queens.

Yes, "Imeachment Roulette" stuff has its very ugly reality, so an earlier sidebar item got moved to the top as a reminder of how ugly a reality might ensue should any impeachment/Senate trial actually be other than the moot exercise in dithering that it seems to be.

That said, the real news is that crowds will prove more than polls by whoever, among some suspect demographic.

Reporting; Guardian, Jewish News, The Hill.

People attended. People rejoiced.

credit for the new top sidebar image

DownWithTyranny!

Mainstream media took no notice. Or make that, gave no notice. No easy soundbite headlining probably quelled any will to report this -- "So far, I don't see any evidence that this was really targeted," said Reid Wightman, senior vulnerability analyst at industrial cybersecurity firm Dragos Inc. "This was probably just an automated bot that was scanning the internet for vulnerable devices, or some script kiddie," he said, using a term for an unskilled hacker. Nevertheless, the case turned heads at multiple federal agencies, collectively responsible for keeping the lights on in the face of an onslaught of cyber and physical threats. The blind spots would have left grid operators in the dark for five-minute spans — not enough time to risk power outages but still posing a setback to normal operations.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

The italicized part of the headlining is a run-together of two mid-item paragraphs from Sept. 6 reporting of release of a government report of a power grid event sequence "in the west" which happened March 5, and presumably went largely unreported to the public for half a year [source of the opening image; captioning added].

Grid passages through the Rockies are few and far between, so that alternate grid adaptations to normal/abnormal operation impacts are most difficult, through the Rockies. The item links to an online four-page government [NERC] document copy, itself dated Sept. 4, 2019. A "Lessons Learned" document. (Also linked, an April 30 item published online by the same reporting outlet.)

Tune time. Hat tip to a friend for forwarding info.

"The Walz administration and Minnesota’s attorney general Keith Ellison have demonstrated a studied lack of concern about Glencore/PolyMet and the obvious regulatory corruption that occurred, which is discouraging."

The headline is an early paragraph in Steve Timmer's latest post at left.mn - which all should read.

In that headline text, corruption is called out for what it is, and not called less by euphemism. An adage on intention as an element to prove in any context where wrongful intent is required, is that of Justice Holmes, "Even a dog knows whether it is kicked or stumbled over." This situation is not by any measure "neglegence" by regulators and politicians. It is intentional, in every detail.

Don't blame me. I supported the double Erin ticket for Governor; expecting the best. Yet I voted Walz once he'd been made my only choice. He's due to do something impressive. In a good sense. We await that, since his oversight of the Polymet/Glencore mischief is hand in glove with Republicans Stauber and Emmer, and with the disappointing Senator Smith. No acolades to Master Sgt. Walz on mining courage. We've another Mark Dayton who willingly gave up "Tax the Rich" at the drop of a hat [a/k/a the Zeller government shutdown]. In the present case the Dayton/Smith immediate successor is willingly giving up, "Respect our waters." With zero pressure from the other party, and that's a worse give-it-away than Dayton's.

Sad. Lean on the guy. Lean really hard. This is a sell out of the earth, over Iron Range political navel gazing. And as Timmer noted, letting nobody off the hook; Ellison being totally MIA on the issue is also saddening. Ellison is a Boundary Waters user. Who took a hike.

Big question, (besides will this showing of corruption in the administrative agency ranks be mooted by the cramdown being redone with a blt less ham-handedness); is the question of will heads roll over the issue? Where it looks like the admin "watchdogs" followed orders to stand down, "No bark! Sit! Stay!"

It is bad politics by people who know better. The last Minnesota CD8 election risks for the DFL fails to justify compromising the waters of the State for a handful of jobs - and Radinovich, the inner party Chosen One, lost big anyway! For now it looks like a lesson, but no learning curve.

Not precisely an "I endorse" but also not an ending throw in comment without meaning. Ralph likes Liz. And why not?

TruthDig, Nader asking a question that puzzles many: Ralph Nader: Why Isn't the 99% Revolting?

Not even angry, much less informed, too much of the 99% likely still reveres the very worse president we've ever had, at least one steps worse than Trump, Ronald Reagan. Worse than either Bush, winner of a close tie with Dick Nixon. Reagan set the table for the likes of Trump; and too much of the 99% loves flamboyant autocrats having bluster but too little between the ears. It is a Quixotic trait, loving most the most vile of them. For such a puzzling bloc of non-affluent voters effectively signing their own death warrants, the saying goes, "We get the government they deserve."

BOTTOM LINE: Read Ralph's listing of things; see how he ties up the bundle. Enjoy.

How to waste millions of dollars? Learn from a politician with no actual sense of reality.

Strib. Item title: Democrat Amy Klobuchar raises $4.8M for presidential bid - By SARA BURNETT Associated Press - October 7, 2019 — 4:26pm; saying in relevant part:

[...]

"We feel good about our number," Klobuchar said. "I'm staying in this race till the end."

She began airing her first TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire last week. The ads feature Klobuchar's closing remarks from last month's Democratic presidential debate, in which the moderate Democrat described herself as someone who tells the truth and doesn't make promises she can't keep.

"I don't want to be president for half of America. I want to be president for all of America," she says.

[...]

More need not be said. But say it anyway. She should run her campaign ad: "I have no son-Hunter in my closet, and am the same middling potato as Joe, progressivism being anathema to me too, and unjustified blind ambition makes me refuse to see that the end for this campaign is now." It might not gain votes. But it would be telling the truth.

REAL NEWS SOMEBODY REPORTS: DC old-timers have been shellacking us for years. The beat goes on.

Do you suppose that ... secure.joebiden.com/ ... stuff is anything we real people could access to see?

At any rate, hat tip to CNBC having the balls to report such actual news. No mention was made whether Hunter Biden will attend either establishment shindig. Probably away on business.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could vote tomorrow? Vote Trump out. Vote Bernie in. Become the nation most of us want us to be.

This crap is tiring.

 Pompeo should learn silence is golden. Ditto the guy at the other end of Pompeo's leash. Mediocrity chose mediocrity on that appointment. Even Ivanka could handle things with a touch more class, when not designing a line of clothing. And then there is Pelosi, Schumer, Hoyer. McConnell. If Iran nuked DC, would it be an act of war, or an act of mercy? An act of liberation for our people? (Just clearly best if done when Bernie and Warren are on the campaign trail, Iowa or some place.) The press doing its lazy game of impeachment roulette is sickeningly relentless. Don't they have real jobs?

Cohn, Tyrnauer said, “understood that the press is trained to report accurately what you say. So as long as you have access to the reporters, they will print your point of view, and if you can get that point of view near the top of the article, generally your opinion in the first few paragraphs, or in the first sentences the newsman speaks on TV; through that tactic he succeeded in getting all the attention he could ever hope for and usually came out ahead.”

The headline is a mid-item paragraph from Strib's published, "Rash Report: A film about Roy Cohn, but also about Donald Trump."

Read the item. Try to find the film playing in your town, and go see it. Information is always useful in understanding the present from what happened in the past. Trump's handling of the press seems to fit the above headline synopsis.

Having never thought I would write anything good about Dick Cheney, here I do it, but in a good way - about health, not policy.

Berine had stent surgery. So did Dick Cheney, multiple times, with a history of heavy smoking and heart trouble.

Cheney is about the Bernie/Biden age, and still sucking air. A link about how heart healthcare has progressed from the days of the Eisenhower heart attack.

Those who would write Bernie out of the script now should consider Cheney. Still going. And Bernie has tenacity. With regard to policy hopes and actions, and in general, with a cogency that adds to the Trump appearance of buffoonery and unjustified hubris, with Bernie as a contrast. Consistent over the years. No rattling skeletons. Surely no bimbo payments.

Bernie will not quit, so supporters shoiuld be cautious about quitting on Bernie.

Cheney survived by meanness. Bernie will survive two Presidential terms out of passion and total decency toward the plight of others. Two different people, one however an example in thinking of the other - if Cheney survived, and prospered, Bernie will too.

Seattle PI reports on a new short Bernie video "on Twitter" but without posting a link.

BOTTOM LINE: Stent surgery will not quell Bernie's passion to be a reformer of a broken-down system. He will continue, and supporters should not be looking too soon at Warren as "the alternative" since she has similar policy beliefs. To do that would be to wrongly write off Bernie. Keep the faith.

Trump staged what he must have thought was a sanitized phone call "no quid pro quo mentioned" but earlier facts show he was bullshittintg about that call, for effect.

Reporting is quoted from Guardian(where links in the Guardian original item are omitted). After that a few parallel reporting links are given.

Guardian:

The texts, released on Thursday night, show that the diplomats made clear that any improvement in Kyiv’s relations with Washington would be dependent on Zelenskiy’s cooperation in Trump’s quest to find damaging material about Hunter Biden, the son of his leading political opponent, and on the Democrats in general.

The conversations leave no doubt that the US state department was deeply involved in the effort to use the office of the presidency to pressure a foreign government to investigate Trump’s political enemies. At one point, the diplomats even draft a statement for Zelenskiy to read out.

[...] Trump openly called on Ukraine to investigate the Bidens this week, but he continued to deny wrongdoing on Friday, repeating his refrain there was no “quid pro quo” attached to the requests. The text messages reveal that this was not the understanding of US diplomats dealing with Ukraine.

In August, Zelenskiy’s government became aware, through a US press report, that military aid for its struggle with Russia had been withheld by Trump in an apparent effort to increase pressure on the Ukrainian government.

The texts represent exchanges from July to early September between three US diplomats – Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the EU, Kurt Volker, the then special envoy on Ukraine, and Bill Taylor, the acting ambassador to Kyiv. Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani and a Zelenskiy aide, Andrey Yermak, also make brief appearances in the correspondence.

[...] The early conversations came before a 25 July phone call between Trump and Zelenskiy that was the trigger for the impeachment proceedings now consuming Congress. They show that Sondland coached Zelenskiy on the call, making clear what would be required from him.

“I [spoke] to Zelenskiy and gave him a full briefing. He’s got it,” Sondland, a major donor to Trump and the Republican party, texted Volker.

[...] For their part, the Ukrainians were quite aware about what was happening and were deeply uneasy about what they were being asked to do. They made their concerns clear to Bill Taylor, who had taken on the acting ambassador’s job in May.

“Gordon, one thing Kurt and I talked about yesterday was [Ukranian finance minister] Sasha Danyliuk’s point that President Zelenskiy is sensitive about Ukraine being taken seriously, not merely as an instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics,” Taylor wrote to Sondland on 21 July.

Sondland, the Trump donor and ambassador to the EU, brushed aside the concerns, arguing they had to move forward “irrespective of the pretext.”

[...] On 25 July, just before the Trump-Zelenskiy call, Volker texted Yermak, the Zelenskiy aide: “Heard from White House – assuming President Z convinces Trump he will investigate/ “get to the bottom of what happened” in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington.”

[...] After the 25 July presidential call, Yermak confirmed it “went well” and Trump told Zelenskiy to pick a date for his White House visit. However, a final agreement was clearly delayed. By 9 August, Sondland told Volker the White House was ready to confirm the visit “as soon as Yermak confirms”. He added: “I think Potus [Trump] really wants the deliverable.”

Sondland suggested asking Yermak to forward a draft of what Zelenskiy is going to say. On the same day, Volker checked in with Giuliani and told him about the statement the Ukrainian president is going to make.

“Can we all get on the phone to make sure I advise Z correctly as to what he should be saying? Want to make sure we get this done right,” Volker said. Giuliani agreed.

The next day, it was clear the Ukrainians were nervous about trusting Trump. They asked for the date of the White House visit to be announced before Zelenskiy made his statement.

[...] On the same day, Volker presented a US draft of what Zelenskiy should say to Sondland.

“Special attention should be paid to the problem of interference in the political processes of the United States, especially with the alleged involvement of some Ukrainian politicians. I want to declare that this is unacceptable,” the draft statement said. “We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 US elections, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future.”

“Perfect. Let’s send to Andrey after our call,” Sondland replied.

However, the plan to exchange Zelenskiy’s statement for a White House visit was torpedoed when the Ukrainians read a report on Politico that Trump had blocked $250m in military aid to Ukraine, as well as state department funding.

The news made the Ukrainians even more skittish. Taylor, increasingly uneasy himself, asked Sondland directly: “Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting are conditioned on investigations.”

In reply, Sondland told him to call to get a reply, instead of texting.

[...] The last published text is dated 9 September and is between a distressed Taylor and Sondland.

“The message to the Ukrainians (and Russians) we send with the decision on security assistance is key. With the hold, we have already shaken their faith in us. Thus my nightmare scenario,” Taylor said, adding: “As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

These State Department types knew, "... it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.” That bit of evidence by diplomats leaving a trail shoots the White House buffoon's pretenses about no quid pro quo because it went unmentioned in the one phone call.

Ehough quoting. Parallel coverage: TheOregonian, Salon, Bloombeerg, and TheHill.

This is not speculative. This is tangible evidence of what the Buffoon of the United States was up to; it being rotten to the core; with no figleaf left to hide it behind. These State Department savants pulled that figleaf away.

UPDATE: In retrospect the Ukranian gas tycoon should have hired Jarad onto his board of directors. Hindsight is 20/20 but Hunter looked then to be the better bet. It probably is a bit late to think to hire Jarad, now. In all this theater, the point is the tycoon gave Hunter Biden a pile of money, and what could Hunter have offered to justify it? If you come up with an answer that does not circumstantially tar and feather daddy Joe, bless you. I cannot. We must not let the furor over how Trump behaved sweep the money to Hunter situation under the carpet. It speaks for itself. Strib has published twelve candidates have qualified for the fourth Dem debate. That's eleven besides Joe Biden, so he can be scrapped without any viewpoint being given too little attention. He's baggage to the party at this point and the rats need to jump ship. It is not as if Bernie is the only alternative with the money barons being dead set against a Sanders presidency, hell or high water. They need to reevaluate their investments, their candidacy portfolio. Joe's an underproforming asset at this point. Take the haircut. Move on. Amy and Beto and so forth. Neither would likely bite the hands that write contribution checks. Either is as status quo as Joe.

Anoka County tax news. Rates are going up, as well as assessed values. Double whammy.

Link.

Now Trump wants China to dig for dirt on the Biden family. He announced how he'd like to see it, but appears to have made no phone call to advance the idea

Strib carrying an AP feed, beginning:

Trump calls for China to investigate Bidens
By JILL COLVIN and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press - October 3, 2019 — 10:05am

WASHINGTON — Ensnarled in an impeachment investigation over his request for Ukraine to investigate a chief political rival, President Donald Trump Thursday called on another nation to probe former Vice President Joe Biden: China.

"China should start an investigation into the Bidens," Trump said in remarks to reporters outside the White House. Trump said he hadn't directly asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to investigate Biden and his son Hunter but said it's "certainly something we could start thinking about."

Trump and personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani have also tried to raise suspicions about Hunter Biden's business dealings in China, leaning on the writings of conservative author Peter Schweizer. But there is no evidence that the former vice president benefited financially from his son's business relationships.

More inviting foreign governmental interference in U.S. election matters. (And then there is Netanyahu. He who we dare not name.}

The 78-year-old Sanders was taken to a Las Vegas hospital after he experienced chest discomfort during a campaign event Tuesday and sought medical evaluation. Two stents were "successfully inserted" and Sanders "is conversing and in good spirits," according to the campaign. [UPDATED - per Bern Notice]

SeattlePI carries an AP report of Bernie having two coronary stents placed after suffering chest pain while in Las Vegas for a campaign event. (The post headline is the second paragraph of the AP feed.)

Strib carries same AP feed.

____________UPDATE____________
Bern Notice, today's edition:

BERN NOTICE: When You See The Word "Stent" -- Remember Medicare for All -- Bernie's routine medical procedure spotlights why we must pass his health care agenda

Bernie is conversing and in great spirits as he rests up from what medical experts note is a routine procedure (roughly 1.8 million stent procedures happen in the United States every year).

This campaign’s motto is “Not Me, Us” — and because we are always on message for the 99%, we are encouraging media outlets that are reporting on stents to note that stents are a perfect example of why the United States needs to join the rest of the world and pass Bernie’s Medicare for All legislation.

An October 2018 study published in Health Affairs found that stents — which are very common — cost up to six times more in the United States than in other industrialized countries with government-sponsored health care systems. The study found that one set of stents cost $670 in the United States “but only $120 and $130 in Germany and the U.K., respectively.” Another form of stent “remained about $1,000 more expensive in the U.S. than Germany.”

Why the price differential? In part, because America’s dysfunctional health care system involves a complex web of payers — rather than a single-payer Medicare for All system that can negotiate better prices.

“Purchase prices are often the result of negotiations or tendering between manufacturers and individual hospitals, group purchasing organizations, or healthcare payers,” the study authors wrote. “It is commonly accepted that prices are confidential, which allows manufacturers to increase profits by charging different prices to different buyers, depending on their bargaining power.”

So as you see the headlines about Bernie today, send him your good vibes — and remember how important the fight for Medicare for All really is.

[links in original omitted] It is a learning experience. Whatever the procedure was, however routine especially for someone over 75, it will cost more here, with uneven what-the-market-will-bear pricing by the medical service providers, here, in our U.S. of A. Why? They can get away with it because they bought congressional loyalty via lobbying and campaign contributions.

WE ARE GETTING PRICED UNFAIRLY. IT CAN BE FIXED. IT HAS TO BE FIXED. SINGLE PAYER NOW.

THE POLICY - AS IT NOW EXISTS

STRIB: Dan Feehan announces rematch with U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn in southern Minnesota - By J. Patrick Coolican Star Tribune October 1, 2019 — 11:29am

The headline is the post title, and largely tells the story. Link.

Bob Kroll. An asshole?

ONLINE - from 2016 election time

He was Doug Wardlow's memtor. In part a cause of the drubbing by Ellison. He is the center focus of the above image, Wardlow at his left hand. Wardlow is the one in civies. All those cops in uniform. Wardlow using that on a campaign website, (along with his flame logo). In a run for the State's Attorney General opening.

today's news link

That offensive show of uniformed city police persons has been memorialized in Minnesota.

You have first amendment rights. Your uniform DOES NOT. Any fool, besides an asshole, can see the difference. Besides Bob Kroll, that is. He is a special kind.

BOTTOM LINE: If the city, as employer, has the sound policy that cops dabbling in politics are doing it personally and not with any city tie and hence do not wear official uniforms and gear when posing with another politician - if so - you live by the requirement or quit the force. Kroll quitting would be a event of consequence, one welcome by many, many citizens. Kroll needs to be contained. His overreaching offends greatly. So read Strib's latest item, see news of Kroll's reported dislike of sound policy:

The Police Department said Monday that the new policy goes into effect Tuesday.

"The new policy prohibits MPD employees from wearing the MPD uniform while endorsing political candidates. Trust is the cornerstone of our service, and I believe this policy helps to strengthen that," Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said in a statement.

Frey said Monday evening that he supports Arradondo's decision: "The Minneapolis police department is not an ideological or political entity, neither Democrat nor Republican," he said in a statement.

The new policy reads in total: "No employee shall make appearances in political advertisements while wearing the MPD uniform, or cause MPD trademarks to appear in political advertisements or be used in any other way that could lead a reasonable person to believe the MPD is endorsing a political party, candidate or campaign."

Sensible policy. Bothersome Kroll? Readers are encouraged to answer the headline question, each in his or her mind, who/what Kroll is. (Ditto, Wardlow.)