Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude: 11/07

11/11/2021

it takes a dumb ass ...

and his name is clayton davis.

jerking off, he asks c-c-c-can lady gaga be cher??????????????????

There’s not much that Lady Gaga cannot do. A 12-time Grammy winner, the pop superstar has made a seamless transition to features (“A Star Is Born”) and television (“American Horror Story: Hotel”). As the world awaits her interpretation of the murderess Patrizia Reggiani in “House of Gucci,” are we also waiting on a future best actress winner, who could mimic a trajectory once executed by Cher (“Moonstruck”)?

[...]

After becoming a megastar with a musical career that began with a Grammy nom in 1966 for best new artist, followed by a hit television show with the variety series “The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour,” which earned the performer four Emmy noms over its run, she made a transition to movies in the early 1980s. The icon decided to play her hand with Mike Nichols’ film “Silkwood” (1983), portraying lesbian plant employee Dolly Pelliker. Surprising critics and Academy voters, she was nominated for supporting actress, losing the prize to Linda Hunt as a Chinese Australian man in “The Year of Living Dangerously.”

Four years later, Cher would return to the Oscars, with a much different outcome, in the Norman Jewison romantic comedy “Moonstruck” (1987). Her witty turn as Loretta Castorini won the hearts of cinephiles, and she beat some incredible performances to the podium, including those of Glenn Close (“Fatal Attraction”) and “Silkwood” co-star Meryl Streep (“Ironweed”).

Gaga is an Oscar winner for co-writing the song “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born” (2019), but she also was nominated for best actress for the film, losing to Olivia Colman (“The Favourite”), who will be contending once again for her work in “The Lost Daughter.” So if “A Star Is Born” is Gaga’s “Silkwood,” could “House of Gucci” be her “Moonstruck?”

cher did not go from 'silkwood' to 'moonstruck.'

she also established herself on broadway unlike gaga - cher did robert altman's 'come back to the five and dime, jimmy dean, jimmy dean.' she then made the film of the play and was nominated for a golden globe. the next year, she won the globe for 'silkwood.' then came 'mask.' she won the best actress at the cannes film festival for that performance. she as also nominated for a golden globe for the film. she was snubbed by the oscars and that was a huge story.

then she kicked off 1987 with 'the witches of eastwick,' followed by 'suspect' and then 'moonstruck.' all in 1987. in 1988, cher was awarded the golden globe and the oscar for 'moonstruck.'

don't compare gaga's spotty acting career with cher.

equally true, don't think gaga's film is going to be a blockbuster. i could be wrong, but i don't see it happening. and if it's not a blockbuster, the industry will likely not honor her with any awards. she's not an actress. she's a singer who acts. before 'a star is born,' she hadn't delivered anything on film worth praising - she's the 21st billed in 'sin city: a dame to kill for,' for example.

maybe 'vareity' needs to hire experienced writers and not just let fan fiction get posted at their website.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Thursday, November 11, 2021. Burn pits get some media attention and the count goes on in Iraq over the so-long-ago October 19th elections.

Barbara Miller (Australia's ABC) reports:

Julie Tomáška knew that living in the shadow of a burning waste dump the size of football field couldn't be good for her.

How could she not?

"No matter where we were, no matter how the wind shifted, we were smelling and kind of breathing in the smoke and the soot from these burn pits ... 24 hours a day," she said.

The burn pit was the inescapable backdrop to life on the Balad air base in Iraq for Staff Sergeant Tomáška and her colleagues from the Minnesota Air National Guard during her two tours of duty in 2005 and 2007.

The pits were used by the US military across Iraq and Afghanistan to dispose of pretty much anything – styrofoam plates from the canteen, electronics, chemicals, classified materials, contraband and even bombed-out vehicles.

When the flames died down, jet fuel was used as accelerant.

"It permeates everything and there's a layer of soot on everything," Julie Tomáška said.

At the time, Sergeant Tomáška and her colleagues deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom would joke about it.

"You sort of have a morbid sense of humour in a situation like that," the now 42-year-old said.

"We sort of stepped back and said, 'Well, this is really going to come back to bite us.'"

Years after she returned home to Minnesota, the prophecy came true when Julie Tomáška was diagnosed with deployment-related lung disease.

Specifically, she's been told she has a range of conditions, including constrictive bronchiolitis, chronic pleuritis, and pleural fibrosis.

First off, BURN PITS 360 is a good resource for this issue. Over the years, we've heard of veterans like Bethany Bugay who developed chronic myelomonocytic leukemia due to exposure to the burn pits while serving in Iraq.

There have been numerous hearing. Let's drop back to the November 6, ,2009 snapshot:

Rick Lamberth and L. Russell Keith were two of the four witnesses appearing before the Democratic Policy Committee today, for a hearing into burn pits led by Committee Chair Byron Dorgan. Also appearing as witnesses were Lt Col Darrin Curtis and Dr. Anthony Szema. At the start of the hearing, Chair Dorgan explained, "This is the twenty-first in a long series of hearings that we have held in the Policy Committee to examine contracting waste and abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. A number of these hearings have focused on substantial abuse which have put out troops lives in danger. Some focused just on waste and some on fraud. Today we're going to have a discussion and have a hearing on how, as early as 2002, US military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan began relying on open-air burn pits -- disposing of waste materials in a very dangerous manner. And those burn pits included materials such as hazardous waste, medical waste, virtually all of the waste without segregation of the waste, put in burn pits. We'll hear how there were dire health warnings by Air Force officials about the dangers of burn pit smoke, the toxicity of that smoke, the danger for human health. We'll hear how the Department of Defense regulations in place said that burn pits should be used only in short-term emergency situations -- regulations that have now been codified. And we will hear how, despite all the warnings and all the regulations, the Army and the contractor in charge of this waste disposal, Kellogg Brown & Root, made frequent and unnecessary use of these burn pits and exposed thousands of US troops to toxic smoke."

That's from Chair Dorgan's opening remarks and you can [PDF format hearing warning] click here to read his prepared remarks (the above is what was stated which differs slightly from the prepared remarks). You can also visit the Democratic Policy Committee's home page for more information and streaming video of today's hearing should be up there as well. (If it's not up already, it will be up by Monday.)

Now let's go to the November 10th snapshot of that year:

KBR's burn pits were the subject of a hearing, see Friday's snapshot, by the Democratic Policy Committee. Senator Byorn Dorgan chaired the hearing. Video is posted at the Democratic Policy Committee website. And Kat's "Democratic Policy Committee" went up Friday. Sunday, at Third, we noted some of the testimony the committee heard but that Staff Sgt. Steven Gregory Ochs and Staff Sgt. Matt Bumpus did not testify at Friday's hearing. They couldn't because both men are dead. October 8th, Ochs' sister Stacy Pennington testified to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on behalf of her brother and her family and on behalf of Bumpus and his family.

Stacy Pennington: Both of these brave soldiers you see before you dodged bullets, mortar attacks, roadside bombs and suicide bombers. Eventually their tours of duty would take their lives. The ultimate sacrifice for a soldier, for his country, is death. However, their deaths did not show up in the manner you may assume. In Balad is the site of the infamous enormous burn pit that has been called by Lt Col Darrin L. Curtis, USAF and Bio-environmental Engineering Flight Commander, as "the worst environmental site" he had ever visited. Staff Sgt Ochs and Staf Sgt Bumpus were both stationed in Balad and war, as strategic as it is, followed them home. Death lay dormant in their blood and waited for them to return safely home and into the arms of their loved ones. Like every silent ticking bomb, it eventually exploded. On September 28, 2007, just months after Steve's return home from his third tour, he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia, also known as AML. He spent the next ten months as a patient -- more like a resident -- at Duke University Hospital. Doctors at Duke said his aggressive form of AML was definitely chemically induced and, like Steve, both agreed it was due to the exposures he experienced while in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the doctors refused to go on record citing as the reason that they could not prove it. The aggressive AML that Steve endured was similar to bullets ricocheting in the body causing torturous pain. The graphic images embedded in my mind are of Steve's last screams for air as he was rushed into ICU. Steve waved goodbye to my husband. Steve, with very little strength, said, "I love you, sis" and my mom kissed his forehead and said, "We will see you when you get comfortable." Five minutes later, while in the ICU waiting room, the nurse came in to tell us Steve went into cardiac arrest and they were working on him now. My mom ran into ICU -- fell to her knees as she realized her son was dying. Screams filled the air as we begged God to keep Steve here with us. We know Steve heard us as tears were in Steve's eyes. Doctors and nurses pumped on Steve's chest trying to revive him. But I knew immediately he was gone. His spirit that surrounded my dear, sweet brother was gone. We were left alone with Steve's body for hours as we were all in pure shock. My mom looked upon my brother's face and wiped away the tears puddled in his eyes. And at that very moment, our lives were changed forever. Steve died on July 12, 2008. Two weeks later, on the opposite of the coast, Staff Sgt Bumpus would succumb to the same fate. For Staff Sgt Matt Bumpus, the ticking time bomb exploded with a vengeance on July 31, 2006. Matt was rushed to the hospital by ambulance with acute appendicitis. In Matt's own words, I quote, "The next thing I remember is hearing that I had been diagnosed with AML." Doctors declared that there was chromosome damage due to exposures he must have come in contact with while in Iraq. Matt ended his prestigious service to the Army one short year before the war zone chemical warfare showed signs of its presence. As if this was not enough suffering, Staff Sgt Bumpus' family was met by the VA with harsh claims of denial to benefits. This battle continues to this day as Lisa, Staff Sgt Bumpus' wife, is left alone with two small children to raise with no VA or military benefits for her family. The aggressive assault of the AML in Matt's body was taking claim. Jo, Matt's mother, recalls the haunted look in Matt's eyes as he revealed to her that the AML invasion was back. Matt's mother will never forget the discouragement and sadness that overwhelmed Matt as the realization that promises he made to his wife and children to provide for his family, to love and protect them, and that his sacred word would be broken. He knew now that the battle was over and he would be leaving his family behind. Tuesday, July 29, 2008, Matt once again entered the hospital with fever and septic infection that discharged throughout his body. Doctors notified the family that it would just be days before his demise. Matt was heavily sedated as the pain and incubation was unbearable. Nate, Matt's ten-year-old son, bravely entered his father's hospital room to lay on his daddy's chest as he said his final goodbye. Nate curled up by his dad and cried and cried. Despite Matt's heavy sedation, Matt too was crying. Matt, being a devoted Christian, appropriately passed away on a Sunday morning, surrounded by his wife, mother, father and sister as they expressed to Matt their everlasting love. They, too, were in shock and stayed with Matt's body as the realization overwhelmed them that Matt would not be going home. Matt died on August 3, 2008.

Hearing after hearing, and nothing ever gets done.

VOX recently wrote what looked like a slam piece on Jon Stewart. I know Jon and like him as a person. I think his comedy is funny. But the glorification of him that took place? Sadly, misplaced. And we called it out at THIRD. So the notion that we might need to examine Jon doesn't bother me. I think it would be better to examine the media's coverage of Jon. Jon's Jon. He's who he always has been.

The VOX piece -- no link to trash -- blames young people. I'm sorry, what?

Did young people explain Dana Milbank?

Have we all forgotten "angry bitch beer"? His beverage choice for Hillary Clinton?

The problem is not -- and never was -- Jon being Jon. It was the media and how they responded. It was the very clear destruction of journalism that followed. That's not Jon's fault. He's a comedian. That was the whole point in his comments on CNN's CROSSFIRE.

But because Jon is funny others thought they were too. Dana Milbank? The only time he's ever been funny was when he thought he was funny. Yes, the notion that Dana has a good sense of humor is a laugh getter.

And he and THE WASHINGTON POST weren't content to do journalism. No, they needed to do comedy. Which is how you got that sexist and horrible "angry bitch beer" video posted to THE WASHINGTON POST's website.

Jon's Jon. He is not the problem. His popularity is not the problem.

He maybe bears some responsibility for having a gift that makes it look so easy and leads idiots in the news media to think that they can do what he does. They can't. Most importantly, they shouldn't be trying to do what he does. Not grasping that is one of the many reasons that the media remains in the toilet.

While VOX hissed at Jon recently, I had to wonder, what issues has VOX ever led on?

I know they're a party organ for the Democratic Party. I know they're not a real news outlet. Everything is done through the filter of what will get votes for the Democratic Party. It's why THE WASHINGTON POST cut Ezzie Kelin free to begin with -- well, one of the main reasons. A calculation was done. Was his latest scandal worth keeping him. The latest scandal was the Journo-list scandal where he and other journalists plotted on how to cover Barack so that he'd get the Democratic Party nomination for president in 2008. And the problem was that Ezzie had yet again embarrassed the outlet. And he had no real reason to be there. He was only hired because he was popular and a 'new media' star. Why, since he was so popular, wasn't that translating to clicks for THE POST?

Good question. Ezzie was like an actor who slept with a certain male director and ended up on the cover of VANITY FAIR with a big push as the next big star only to then disappear. Those male 'celebs' never were celebs. They were created and pushed by the media. When revealed to be hollow bunnies, they were forgotten and tossed aside.

That's basically Ezzie. He wasn't that popular. He was created. Largely by the incestuous cluster-f**k at CJR's online site. They did their daily blog 'reports,' remember/ Those weren't reports. Those were them doing reach arounds to their friends. It was a circle jerk. And it gave the appearance of popularity but outside of the let's-all-link-to-each-other-and-not-disclose-that-fun-night-in-the-hot-tub (true story, Ezzie and some boys had a fun time in the hot tub) it didn't reach anyone.

The circle-jerk was able to create a buzz but that's all they were able to do and that made outsiders think these men (it was always men) were popular but they never were. And that's why Ezzie was never able to deliver.

It's all these years later and his outlet is tearing down Jon Stewart. For what Jon did or does? No, they're trying to blame the media's problems on Jon. The media's first step would be for various talking heads to grasp that they are not comedians. Stop trying to amuse the world -- there are entertainers who are trained in that. Your job is to address serious issues. Stop thinking you can turn MSNBC into THE DAILY SHOW. Stop thinking that and stop trying to do it.

On his new APPLE+ series, Jon is still championing issues like burn pits.

Help me out with what VOX has spent their time with over the years because, despite claiming to be a news outlet, they really have nothing to show for it.

Courtney Kube (NBC NEWS) reports:

The Biden administration will announce a series of actions Thursday to help veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other contaminants while serving overseas, including making it easier for vets to prove that they were exposed and pushing to find links between exposure and potentially deadly diseases, administration officials said.

The open-air pits were common at U.S. military bases during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dangerous materials from electronics and vehicles to human waste were regularly doused in jet fuel and set ablaze, spewing toxic fumes and carcinogens into the air.

A senior administration official said the issue is personal to President Joe Biden. Biden has said he believes his son Beau died of cancer that was linked to exposure to burn pits during his deployment to Iraq.

"He volunteered to join the National Guard at age 32 because he thought he had an obligation to go," Biden said at a Service Employees International Union convention in 2019. "And because of exposure to burn pits, in my view, I can't prove it yet, he came back with stage 4 glioblastoma."

In August, the Department of Veterans Affairs began processing claims for veterans suffering from asthma, rhinitis and sinusitis based on exposure to the pits.

We'll note this Tweet.

Rest In Peace, Wes. You made a hell of a difference.  

After a terminal colon cancer diagnosis linked to his exposure to burn pits in combat zones, retired Staff Sgt Wesley Black became a tireless advocate for post 9/11 veterans. He passed away Sunday. He was 36.

8:24 AM · Nov 9, 2021

In case the CNN video doesn't show up in the Tweet above, here it is below.

And, below, you can see Jon speaking this week on the issue.

I'm not really getting what VOX has ever put their weight behind other than churning out the vote for the DNC.

Turning to Iraq, THE NEW ARAB offers up a Joe Show video commenting on the October 10th elections and the possible meanings. And, for any wondering, the recount is still ongoing. Maybe someday soon there will be a final and official tally of the votes? Don't hold your breath on that. The word is that certain candidates are already preparing judicial challenges.

In the Tweet below, there's video of Nouri al-Maliki -- former prime minister and forever thug -- noting there can be no do over with the election.

Former #Iraqi PM Nouri al #Maliki says there is no point in new #elections in #Iraq because he admits voter turnout recently was only at 20% 

#failedstate

11:32 AM · Nov 10, 2021

His comments are in response to various groups, such as the Hashd militia, calling for a redo on the elections.

The following sites updated:

11/10/2021

impeachment on fx and alpha bayton

i'm going to write about the final episode of 'impeachment' next time. i figure we already know how it ends. that was a joke.

i want to instead call out some nonsnese.

i'm not linking to the idiot. but they're a tv 'critic' at a major publication. and they wrote about 'impeachment' yesterday. they insisted that it didn't need to be made.

why?

because tt was the same story that monica lewinsky told 'vanity fair' in 2014.

and?

i lived through it.

the story needed to be told.

mainly because times have changed and we need to look at this whole thing with new eyes.

but equally true, they made monica out to be cray.

hillary has no higher ground. they used her whole tear the accuser apart strategy - the 1 that they had used on the women before. and they painted monica as a predator and as a stalker and as crazy and as a liar.

the press went along with it.

monica was just some crazy intern who developed a crush on bill clinton and created a fantasy that she was too sick to tell from reality.

so stop lying for the clintons.

that was what they said and they said it on camera and said it repeatedly.

so monica told her story in 2014 to 'vanity fair.' wo what?

how many people read 'vainity fair.' so much fewer than heard the lies over and over that the clintons told the media. they kept insisting that monica was lying. and she was part of a 'vast right wing conspiracy.' that's what hillary said on 'the today show.'

the idiots at 'wsws' were pimping that as the only true thing hillary ever said. which left ava and c.i. to serve up reality ('TV: Can we Impeach WSWS?'):

Did we really need IMPEACHMENT?

It covers a period of lying -- lying by Bill, lying by the media. And it's still about lying.

Doubt us? Patrick actually types the following:

Contrary to moralizing critics at the time, like the disgusting Senator Joe Lieberman, and more recent #MeToo advocates, like Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the mini-series treats Clinton’s affair with Lewinsky in a mature and apparently honest way. Lewinsky was infatuated with him. Clinton, presented as lonely and isolated, was moved by her enthusiasm, and a relationship began. It was, to be blunt, a relationship between two consenting adults. It is not portrayed as exploitative or based on Clinton’s power over Lewinsky as her employer -- here Lewinsky’s role as a co-producer and contributor to Impeachment adds weight.

It's not a consenting relationship. It's a very powerful man, the most powerful man in the world, lying to a young woman. It's amazing what Patrick Martin's revealing about himself in the paragraph we just quoted. He only watched the first three episodes but in those episodes you see Bill lie to Monica repeatedly. You see him hustle her out of the White House. You see her believe the lie that he'll bring her back. You see her wait and wait by the phone. You see him use her over and over.

Patrick deems that abusive relationship to be a "consenting" one. We're really worried -- both about his mental health and about his own personal relationships.

His outlet being WSWS, facts never matter -- which is how we get this:

In probably her last public statement that was entirely truthful, Hillary Clinton denounced the “vast right-wing conspiracy” to force her husband out of office—Toobin took the title of his book from this comment, and he clearly agrees with it.

Her statement wasn't at all truthful. She made it on THE TODAY SHOW. She was referring to Monica Lewinsky. She was stating that the rumor of an affair was all "a vast right-wing conspiracy." We know that because we try to nail down the facts and we did so, going to the original transcript of that interview, when we wrote about why we believed Juanita Broaddrick's accusation of rape against Bill Clinton.

That was a few years back and we could provide a link but then we'd be guilty of what we find most offensive about WSWS' 'review' of IMPEACHMENT.

It's got nothing to do with IMPEACHMENT. It's got everything to do with them linking to a bunch of articles that they wrote years ago and trying to pretend like they did something that matters.

Did something that matters? They can't even review accurately. And if there was a reason to do IMPEACHMENT this season, it was to take a fresh look at those late 90s events. That Patrick saw it as an excuse to link to 14 WSWS articles from 1998 says everything you need to know about WSWS. In 21 years, per WSWS, nothing has happened to add meaning or context, nothing has changed, nothing has evolved. Humanity is at a fixed point and never progresses, if you believe their argument. What's really strange is that they give lip service to Socialism, they just never manage to actually practice it at WSWS. Maybe Ryan Murphy could make that the subject of next year's AMERICAN CRIME STORY?

so, yes, we need to hear monica's story.

and, by the way, bill does owe her an apology. he lied about her, he defamed her and he led her on. he abused his position of power. he needs to apologize to her.

mercy e-mailed to note 'alpha bayton.'

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Wednesday, November 11, 2021. We focus on a number of topics, including the October 10th election. But the main point is probably: If you want to stop people from questioning a narrative you're trying to sell, maybe don't deploy your well known CIA stenographer.

Starting with? The CIA's chief scribe has spoken and that's supposed to be 'end of story.' They should have chosen a better scribe who takes their dictation. Here's the garbage:

Even by the brutal political rules of Baghdad, the recent attempt to assassinate Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi appears to have shocked many Iraqis — and undermined the Iranian-sponsored militias who had been trying to drive him from power.

The “cowardly” attack, as Kadhimi described it, has been condemned by the United Nations, the Biden administration, a wide range of Iraqi politicians — and even Iran, a prime suspect in the strike by three drones early Sunday morning. Two of the drones were shot down, but one hit Kadhimi’s residence, a small villa decorated with modern art where I met with him just a few months ago.

The implications of the Baghdad drone attack were summarized in an email from Randa Slim, director of conflict resolution at the Middle East Institute. “There is enough circumstantial evidence pointing to Iran-backed Iraqi militias having orchestrated this attack. But it already backfired on them. It was a stupid and shortsighted move that achieved the exact opposite of their objective to deny Prime Minister Kadhimi a second term. This assassination attempt made his second term in office almost certain.”

That distortion of fact and reality courtesy of David Ignatius, longterm stenographer for the CIA.

Years ago, five? ten?, it was said of David, by a reporter at THE WASHINGTON POST, "He's such a good whore that his well worn floppy requires a drawstring to close." Indeed.

Did the drone attack turn people away from the militias?

No. David, you stupid whore. Did they not use lube this time? Did that make you work less hard at spinning for them? I have no idea. But the reason the militias did poorly in the voting -- which took place weeks before the drone attack last Saturday -- was two-fold. One, they were disenfranchised and not allowed to vote -- a large number of them. (They were prevented from early voting despite the fact that on election day they would be required to be at polling places. They were the only part of the Iraqi security forces who were disenfranchised. And, yes, they are an official part of the security forces. Something I long objected to while David, voice of the CIA, remained silent because the CIA backed bringing the militias in. They thought, originally, it would put them under control. It did nothing of the sort. Wow, the CIA got it wrong. That would be news . . . if it wasn't pretty much always the outcome. Maybe they should stop trying to offer predictions? If not, just outsource the work to some online psychic.)

What turned people against the militias? The violence aimed at the Iraqi people -- especially members of The October Revolution (the protest movement that started in the fall of 2019). The fact that Iraq and Iran share a border and will always squabble -- over water rights, border lines, etc. The fact that the two have had armed conflict in the past and that isn't forgotten (on either side of the border). The fact that the Iraqi people want a national identity -- made clear in the 2010 elections (the ones Joe Biden and the US government overturned with The Erbil Agreement). The simple fact that no one wants some other country ordering them around.

The drone attack has not let to an outcry on the part of the Iraqi people.

Most don't care.

Some who don't care see the whole thing as a stunt and believe that the US government staged it.

You'll note (a) David treis to speak for the Iraqi people but doesn't quote one, no note even one.

Randa Slim? Maybe she, the person David does quote, looks "Iraqi" to David?

To the rest of the world, she's a Lebanese American.

So why are you quoting her when you present as representing what the Iraqi people are saying.

Oh, if whorese were bound by reality, they'd never get paid, right?

David knows the big thing is: Get the money upfront.

And let's hope he did because this column was a huge mistake.

I have no idea what happened last Saturday or who the target was (it may have been Mustafa) or who launched the attack. But as we noted Saturday night (it was Saturday night in the US when the attack took place but it was already Sunday in Iraq), there was a huge pushback on social media from Iraqis.

They didn't take it as a real attack. Large numbers were expressing the belief that this was a plan carried out by the US government to try to force Mustafa off on the Iraqi people.

So when David -- with his well known and longterm ties to the CIA -- publishes the column he did? He feeds into these beliefs. They can say, "We thought it was a CIA operation and look, here's the American pig who is the voice of the CIA and he's twisting reality."

Because David is twisting reality. He's lucky that so few in the US pay attention to Iraq. Or they'd realize that his claim that an alleged assassination attempt wasn't going to change the Iraqi people's feelings towards the miliitas (most are opposed) or towards the inept Mustafa al-Kahdimi.

And we need to point out something. I am disclosed as anti-militia and have been forever. I opposed them being brought into the government forces. Sometimes I short hand and assume most people are already aware of certain things because we have covered them over and over.

But beyond the natural conflict between Iraq and Iran, we do need to note another issue.

Sawha. Sons (Daughters) Of Iraq. Awakenings.

Ring a bell?

Sunnis militias.

I didn't support those either and for the same reason that the Iraqi people didn't support them -- they don't want militias. The Sunni militias were not linked to Iran.

The core issue is that people don't like miliitias.

I remember when we had to call out reporters regularly as they sold SOI as beloved by the Iraqi people.

No, that was never reality.

Had it been, Nouri al-Maliki wouldn't have gotten away with not paying them.

The US government created tehm -- using elements of the Sunni mafia, let's be honest. Individuals already in organized crime who often used the cement industry in Iraq as their front.

They were never popular with the Iraqi people despite the lies told by various US newspapers.

And the US government needed them to be popular because they were using the American people's money to pay them.

When that little tidbit emerged, Senator Barbara Boxer managed to force the issue of payment off to the Iraqi government (she did that in an April 2008 hearing -- one David never covered but when the CIA briefs you, I guess you don't need to attend hearings). Nouri had to say that he'd pay. He didnt't have a choice. The US Congress loathed the 'leader' that the CIA had backed. (The CIA assessment on Nouri al-Maliki was that his paranoia was so extreme, it would be easy for the US government to play to it and manipulate him. In other words, they put a mad dog in charge and then kicked the dog and threw stones at him and when he unleashed on the Iraqi people, that same US government looked the other way.)

Militias are never popular when you have a standing government. They were never going to be controlled by the Iraqi government and the stupidity on the part of the CIA really needs to be called out.

Did the CIA have a hand in Saturday's events?

I have no idea.

But it is what a large number of Iraqi people on social media believe.

So it wasn't a good thing for the CIA to deploy their known whore David Ignatius. They will notice. And not just because I know this will be reposted -- this part of the snapshot if not the full thing -- by two Iraqi papers. (And that's fine. I've never had a problem with that. This is their story, any of their outlets can use the writing here and many have.)

David's an old whore and the CIA should probably move on to someone younger. Someone a little more fresh. And someone with a lot less baggage.

David's attachment will only confirm the belief of some Iraqis that the attack or 'attack' was a US plot to try to force Mustafa down their throats.

They don't want them.

And, here's the thing, Mustafa isn't direct in line for a second term. And most people paying attention are aware of that. So David just looks like a paid liar around the world.

Mustafa did not stand for election. He thought he was popular but he wasn't The US government -- Joe Biden -- promised him he had their full backing (ask Ayad Allawi how that worked out when then-President Barack Obama made the same promise).

Is Moqtada al-Sadr a "king maker." He might end up one, he might not. There was nothing to argue strongly that he was, nothing in the record. But didn't the press, the western press, insist he was.

Moqtada is on the US payroll. The August bribe to get him to support the elections wasn't the only time the US government has paid Moqtada. And that goes a long way towards explaining why the western press has gone out of their way to promote Moqtada.

But the narrative they've presented has insisted Moqtada will decide who is prime minister.

It overlooked reality -- 73 seats is not a lot of seats and is not the necessary amount to form a government, for example. The reality of Moqtada's skill was also overlooked. We pointed out that he did not have the political or diplomatic skills to be deemed a king maker at present.

All this time later and he still can't pull together a coalition.

But Nouri? Thug Nouri is pulling together support. It is the story the western press continues to ignore.

Mustafa was named prime minister in May of 2020 and he was supposed to be a one-term prime minister. He got greedy and wanted more. The Iraqi people, seeing his incompetence, doesn't want more.

Let's note a Tweet about Nouri.

Nouri al-Maliki is the only person in the world who believes that God created him as a head of state and not a citizen.

5:30 AM · Nov 9, 2021

And another.

يمكنكم أن تطلب من نوري المالكي تفاصيل حول اغتيال الكاظمي ، لأنه على دراية كاملة بها..
You can ask Nouri al-Maliki for details about the assassination of al-Kadhimi, because he is fully aware of it..۰
#اغتيال_الكاظمي

12:17 AM · Nov 8, 2021

Does Nouri know who's responsible? Is Nouri himself responsible?

These are conversations taking place and they are conversation that Iraq 'expert' David is completely unwilling to acknowledge.

Paid whore.

And anyone paying attention can see it.

The US government ought to spend the taxpayer money better. But they don't, as noted below:

Bombshell: Turkish President sought to influence #Iraq's election at the behest of the White House, and in exchange for $15 billion - Report https://thecradle.co/Article/news/3167

 via @TheCradleMedia

thecradle.co

Turkish President sought to influence Iraqi election at the behest of the White House: Report

The Biden administration reportedly asked Erdogan to help form a Sunni political coalition in Iraq ahead of last month's parliamentary elections

3:33 PM · Nov 5, 2021

So they paid off thug Recep? No real surprise. Come to the US and, on American soil, order your bodyguards to assault Americans and Joe Biden and company are fine with that. Their only question is: Recep, how much do you need? And then they use tax power money to pay off a despot who is carrying out a genocide on the Kurdish people.

Where's the final tally on the votes?

Iraqis voted October 10th. It's a month later. Where's the final tally?