New York Times: President Trump Has Been Indicted by Manhattan Grand Jury – Indictment Under Seal, Terms for Arrest Ongoing


Posted originally on the CTH on March 30, 2023 | Sundance


Breaking moments ago, the New York Times is reporting that President Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, the sealed indictment will be released in the next few days and the surrender of President Trump to law enforcement in New York City is being worked out.

(NEW YORK TIMES) – A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict Donald J. Trump on Thursday for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, according to four people with knowledge of the matter, a historic development that will shake up the 2024 presidential race and forever mark him as the nation’s first former president to face criminal charges.

The felony indictment, filed under seal by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, will likely be announced in the coming days. By then, prosecutors working for the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, will have asked Mr. Trump to surrender and to face arraignment on charges that remain unknown for now.

[..] Mr. Trump has consistently denied all wrongdoing and attacked Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, accusing him of leading a politically motivated prosecution. He has also denied any affair with the porn star, Stormy Daniels, who had been looking to sell her story of a tryst with Mr. Trump during the campaign.

Here’s what else you need to know:

♦ Mr. Bragg and his lawyers will likely attempt to negotiate Mr. Trump’s surrender. If he agrees, it will raise the prospect of a former president, with the Secret Service in tow, being photographed and fingerprinted in the bowels of a New York State courthouse.

♦ The prosecution’s star witness is Michael D. Cohen, Mr. Trump’s former fixer who paid the $130,000 to keep Ms. Daniels quiet. Mr. Cohen has said that Mr. Trump directed him to buy Ms. Daniels’s silence, and that Mr. Trump and his family business, the Trump Organization, helped cover the whole thing up. The company’s internal records falsely identified the reimbursements as legal expenses, which helped conceal the purpose of the payments.

♦ Although the specific charges remain unknown, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors have zeroed in on that hush money payment and the false records created by Mr. Trump’s company. A conviction is not a sure thing: An attempt to combine a charge relating to the false records with an election violation relating to the payment to Ms. Daniels would be based on a legal theory that has yet to be evaluated by judges, raising the possibility that a court could throw out or limit the charges.

♦ The vote to indict, the product of a nearly five-year investigation, kicks off a new and volatile phase in Mr. Trump’s post-presidential life as he makes a third run for the White House. And it could throw the race for the Republican nomination — which he leads in most polls — into uncharted territory.

♦ Mr. Bragg is the first prosecutor to lead an indictment of Mr. Trump. He is now likely to become a national figure enduring a harsh political spotlight. (LINK)

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Team DeSantis Say They Have Been Hoodwinked by Disney Inc. as Orlando Board Changed Covenants Before New Officials Appointed


Posted originally on the CTH on March 30, 2023 | Sundance 

Apparently, the Florida takeover of the Walt Disney Co. Reedy Creek special development zone has run into a snag.  As normally happens in such events, within the battle of wits the government will always lose; that’s ultimately why they need guns.

Days before the five DeSantis appointees showed up to take control of Walt Disney World zoning board in Orange County, the former board held a public hearing to codify pre-existing rules and covenants extending for “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England living as of the date of the declaration.”  Essentially, the new board is moot, except for deciding on roadways and bridges.

As a result, a long and protracted legal battle is now anticipated, which will likely cost Florida taxpayers millions in lawyer fees as the appointees of the board try and challenge the construct put into place prior to their arrival.   Either that, or the board will be reduced to a weekly meeting for coffee and donuts as they discuss things of minor relevance to the district.

FLORIDA – […] Ahead of an expected state takeover, the Walt Disney Co. quietly pushed through the pact and restrictive covenants that would tie the hands of future board members for decades, according to a legal presentation by the district’s lawyers on Wednesday.

The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s new Board of Supervisors voted to bring in outside legal firepower to examine the agreement, including a conservative Washington, D.C., law firm that has defended several of DeSantis’ culture war priorities.

“We’re going to have to deal with it and correct it,” board member Brian Aungst Jr. said. “It’s a subversion of the will of the voters and the Legislature and the governor. It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern.”

Disney defended its actions.

“All agreements signed between Disney and the district were appropriate and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law,” an unsigned company statement read. (read more)

Meanwhile…  The economic priorities of the residents of Florida linger unattended.  Working class Floridians being absolutely crushed with massive inflation and unavoidable increases in the cost of living.  Ultimately, perhaps this is a telling forecast of what might happen on a national scale if RdS ever gained higher office.

Today Florida’s Zelenskyy is visiting a Georgia gun store to promote his new book.

(Politico) – […] There’s a trip to Pennsylvania and Long Island this weekend followed by a reported visit to Tennessee early next week. DeSantis is scheduled to be at Hillsdale College in Michigan — yes, the same institution the governor wants New College to emulate — for a panel discussion, reception and dinner on April 6.

The middle of April includes stops in Ohio and crucial early primary state New Hampshire. And the end of the month is coming into focus as well: DeSantis is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Utah Republican Party convention on April 22. Puck reports that DeSantis will be in Austin, Texas, that same evening for a reception and dinner hosted by Jon Lonsdale and his wife Taylor. The report says that business and political contacts of Lonsdale, an investor and co-founder of Palantir, are expected to attend.

Then, DeSantis will head to Jerusalem, Israel, for just his second trip abroad since becoming governor in 2019. Amid the recent turmoil in the country, DeSantis will talk about the importance of the U.S.-Israeli relationship during a April 27 speech at the Jerusalem Post and Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem. (link)

Rand Paul Shreds Josh Hawley Over “Restrict Act” While Blocking Unanimous Consent and Reminding About Constitution and “Bills of Attainder”


Posted originally on the CTH on March 30, 2023 | Sundance 

Senator Rand Paul can be both frustrating at times and brutally purposeful at times.  While Paul is a legislative enigma and often a hot mess…. When he is incorrect, he is allowing the DeceptiCons to advance; but when he is correct on the core issue, Senator Paul can be brilliant.

Senator Josh Hawley took to the Senate floor yesterday to present a modified version of the “Restrict Act” as an alternative to the complete government takeover of all internet content – a worthy endeavor.

Hawley tried to strip out the DHS takeover component of the Restrict Act, and just present a bill that bans TikTok.   Senator Rand Paul refused to permit Unanimous Consent for the bill to proceed immediately to a vote.  Senator Paul slows down the Senate deliberations while asking some bigger questions.

The entire Hawley -vs- Paul debate is worth watching (there are two videos, one long – one short).  I sense that Hawley’s intent is good, but Rand Paul is on the right side of the argument.  The American people have never, not once, benefited from any legislative endeavor such as what is being proposed in the effort to ban TikTok.   It’s not about TikTok, it’s about freedom.

The originating debate is below the fold.  This segment is the shorter follow-up that follows Senator Paul blocking unanimous consent.   If you have time, watch both. If you do not have the time, this first one is solid enough to understand the arguments.  Notice how Senator Paul says everything inside this rush to ban is based on “speculation and conjecture.”  This is a point DC doesn’t want people to think about.  Nothing has been proven, only accused.  WATCH:

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WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) – U.S. Republican Senator Rand Paul on Wednesday blocked a bid to fast-track a ban of popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, which more than 150 million Americans use, citing concerns about free speech and uneven treatment of social media companies.

“I think we should beware of those who use fear to coax Americans to relinquish our liberties,” Paul said on the Senate floor. “Every accusation of data gathering that has been attributed to TikTok could also be attributed to domestic big tech companies.”

Republican Senator Josh Hawley had sought unanimous consent for a TikTok ban bill. “It protects the American people and it sends a message to Communist China that you cannot buy us,” Hawley said, adding the app is spying on Americans.

“If Republicans want to continuously lose elections for a generation they should pass this bill to ban TikTok — a social media app used by 150 million people, primarily young Americans,” Paul said on the Senate floor. “Do we really want to emulate Chinese speech bans?… We’re going to be just like China and ban speech we’re afraid of?”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said last week he expects the house will take up a bill to address TikTok but the timing is unclear. It is also not clear what a final bill to address TikTok might look like.

A small but growing number of Democrats and Republicans have raised concerns, citing free speech and other issues and have objected to legislation targeting TikTok as overly broad. (read more)

Longer debate…

Manhattan Grand Jury Now Scheduled to Break for a Month Before Deciding on Trump Indictment


Posted originally on the CTH on March 29, 2023 | Sundance 

Important reminder, The State Dept use CNN.  The CIA/DNI use Washington Post.  The FBI/DOJ and domestic IC use New York Times and Politico.

About the pending Manhattan indictment, yesterday we noted, “A delay in the timing would seem likely given the nature of the political winds that generally coordinate to manipulate public opinion. An indictment timed in support of, and in concert with a Ron DeSantis campaign launch, would be more appropriate given the nature of the intentions.” (link)

TodayPolitico reports:

NEW YORK — The Manhattan grand jury examining Donald Trump’s alleged role in a hush money payment to a porn star isn’t expected to hear evidence in the case for the next month largely due to a previously scheduled hiatus, according to a person familiar with the proceedings.

The break would push any indictment of the former president to late April at the earliest, although it is possible that the grand jury’s schedule could change. (more)

The common interest?  “DeSantis will head to Jerusalem, Israel, for just his second trip abroad since becoming governor in 2019. Amid the recent turmoil in the country, DeSantis will talk about the importance of the U.S.-Israeli relationship during a April 27 speech at the Jerusalem Post and Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem “Celebrate the Faces of Israel” event.” (link)

Everything in the corrupt world of manipulative politics is connected to itself by the interests of those conducting the manipulation.  An ideological alignment of individual people, institutions and organizations working in concert toward a common goal is not a conspiracy.

Once the objective of the common interest is identified, all benefactory components operate individually.  What becomes visible is the similarity of the actions.

This is where we see patterns and common actions taken toward a common goal. This reality is the context to understand how the political dynamic is constructed in opposition to Donald Trump, and more specifically how the America First policy platform of Presidential candidate Donald Trump is viewed as a common threat.

FBI Ran to Senate Intel Committee for Discussions of Trump Posture Following Reports of Looming Manhattan DA Indictment


Posted originally on the CTH on March 29, 2023 | Sundance

If you have followed the construct of the Fourth Branch of Government, you will note the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) and current Democrat Chairman Mark Warner play(ed) a key role in the political weaponization of the intelligence apparatus.

In 2015 and 2016, it was the SSCI who were at the tip of the spear in the legislative branch at supporting what Chuck Schumer called the “seven ways to Sunday” approach used by the U.S. intelligence community to target anyone viewed as a threat against their interests. The larger Intelligence Community (IC) is a close alliance of the SSCI as a fictitious oversight mechanism; however, in reality the relationship is co-dependent enabling.

The SSCI constructed the weaponized political agenda of the IC, the SSCI supports the weaponized political agenda of the IC, and the SSCI holds the powerful position of confirmation over anyone who would work in the top tier of the IC. In short, the weaponized IC cannot exist without the support of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Their relationship is symbiotic.

You will note the evidence of this relationship shows up in the coordination between the SSCI and the weaponized Trump-Russia targeting operation, also known as the Trump-Russia investigation. More recently, the purpose of the SSCI as an institution to support weaponized government, appears in the Twitter files as outlined by Matt Taibbi, and the efforts of The Dept of Homeland Security (DHS), FBI and CISA to control speech and content within the platform.

Additionally, it is not coincidental the “TicTok ban” legislation (SB686), which is a fraudulent auspice for total internet control by the intelligence community, comes from within bipartisan legislation spearheaded by the aligned interests of Senator Warner, the SSCI and DHS. None of this is accidental, and the legislative branch is walking into the creation of an online control mechanism that has nothing whatsoever to do with banning TikTok.

In very simple and direct terms, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence represents the most entrenched and dangerous institution within the current construct of government. Without the full support of the SSCI, the various agencies within a weaponized U.S. government could not exist.

The SSCI is the core enterprise within the center of the system of weaponized government. This is the Senate group stripping away freedom and installing the surveillance state every single day.

A recent story in Reuters about the FBI running to the SSCI, what they call a “briefing”, is the latest example of how the foot soldiers of the weaponized state, in this example the FBI, report to their control officers within the SSCI.

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Mark Warner said on Sunday he was briefed by the FBI on Donald Trump’s rhetoric after the former president verbally lashed out at a New York prosecutor overseeing a grand jury investigation into alleged hush-money payments.

“I have been briefed by the FBI. They say they are fully prepared,” Warner, a Democrat and the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told CNN on Sunday. “They have seen no specific threats but the level of rhetoric on some of these right-wing sites has increased.” (read more)

Once you know how bad the corruption is within government, you can understand what the motives and agenda are for those elected politicians who control the levers of power within it.   It is information in, from and around the SSCI that coordinates the daily political activity we see every day as it relates to the oppressive law enforcement and manipulative schemes within a weaponized justice system.

A weaponized DOJ, FBI and Intelligence Community, the ‘six ways to Sunday’ group, could not exist without the support of the SSCI.  The weaponized justice system could not exist without the support of the SSCI.  Keep peeling back the layers and layers of weaponized issues, and you will always find yourself on the doorstep of the SSCI.   Who ‘watches the watchers’? Who ‘guards the guards’…. The SSCI is the issue here!

The people in/around Washington DC, those who still hold some concept of a moral compass, are scared to death of this weaponized system.

Things are escalating very quickly now…. the broader awakening is happening much faster now… the American people are becoming increasingly aware now…. and that means this weaponized system of government is even more dangerous than ever before.

I will share more on what this means for all of us very soon, but rest assured nothing at the end of this path is good.   However, that said, I am willing to take it head on. More later….

On March 2, 2023, the people in control of the Joe Biden administration officially announced that government control of internet content was now officially a part of the national security apparatus. [White House Link] If you have followed the history of how the Fourth Branch of Government has been created, you will immediately recognize the intent of this new framework.

The “National Cybersecurity Strategy” aligns with, supports, and works in concert with a total U.S. surveillance system, where definitions of information are then applied to “cybersecurity” and communication vectors.  This policy is both a surveillance system and an information filtration prism where the government will decide what is information, disinformation, misinformation and malinformation, then act upon it.

Now put this executive branch fiat together with  Senate Bill 686 [SB686 HERE], “The Restrict Act”, also known as the bipartisan bill to empower the executive branch to shut down TikTok.

The Restrict Act, has very little to do with TikTok and everything to do with the United States government controlling online content.  If you read the bill, what you quickly discover is that congress is giving the Commerce Department and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence the power to shut down internet content they view as against their interests.

Posted in 1st Amendment4th Amendment6th AmendmentBig GovernmentBig Stupid GovernmentBig TechConspiracy ?Deep StateDept Of JusticeDHSDonald TrumpElection 2024FBILawfareLegislationmedia biasNotorious LiarsPatriotismPresident TrumpProfessional IdiotspropagandaSpygateSpyingUncategorizedUSA

James O’Keefe Starts Looking at Fraudulent Campaign Donations – FEC Reported Donations Via Act Blue Appear to be Money Laundering


Posted originally on the CTH on March 29, 2023 | Sundance

“The O’Keefe Media Group broke its first story investigating what appears to be a national plot to utilize senior citizens matching a similar profile as vehicles to launder millions of dollars into political campaigns.” [link]

James O’Keefe uses publicly available FEC data to locate donors who are reported to have given thousands of donations to Act Blue.  However, the people listed on the FEC reports have no idea why there is a massive difference between the number, frequency and scale of their contributions, compared to their actual donations.  The differences are massive.  WATCH:

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One of the possible explanations is that people inside ACT BLUE use previous organic donor activity to fraudulently launder donations that come from larger networks.  By breaking up large donations into smaller amounts, it gives the appearance of a larger support base (small donors) and washes the fingerprints away from the identity of the originating large donor, individual, group or institution.

Tucker Carlson Notes Why the Transgender Movement is Openly Targeting Christians


Posted originally on the CTH on March 28, 2023 | Sundance 

In the aftermath of the Nashville mass murder, Tucker Carlson notes the increasing conflict between the “transgender” movement and Christianity.

Carlson notes, “Trans ideology claims dominion over nature itself. We can change the identity we were born with, they will tell you with wild-eyed certainty. Christians can never agree with this statement because these are powers they believe God alone possesses.”  Within that conflict lies the origin of the need for transgender advocates to violently target Christians.  WATCH:

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Pulling No Punches – Senator Ted Cruz Accuses DHS Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas of Facilitating Child Rape and Sex Trafficking


Posted originally on the CTH on March 28, 2023 | Sundance 

In a scorching round of questioning today, Texas Senator Ted Cruz confronts Dept of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border.

During one segment of the questioning, Senator Cruz holds up the color-coded wrist bands that are worn by illegal aliens as smuggled to the border by Mexican cartels.  Cruz then confronts Mayorkas about the rape and sex trafficking that is required in order to pay the cartels.  Mayorkas sits jaw agape as Senator Cruz accuses him directly of facilitating child rape and sexploitation.  WATCH:

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IRS Makes Visit to Matt Taibbi Home on Day of His Congressional Testimony


Posted originally on the CTH on March 28, 2023 | Sundance

If there is one additional person that I would be certain is under full spectrum surveillance, it’s dissident comrade Matt Taibbi.  With the background of Twitter and the DHS national security interests still part of the social media construct, you can be sure all elements of the administrative state have a focus on his internal search requests.

One of the reasons why I give Matt Taibbi a lot of credit, is because I am well aware how the shadow dwellers, what DC would call ‘stakeholders’, are watching him; yet he persists on his reviews and investigations.

Secondly, given his general Michael Hastings aligned disposition, Taibbi would be the first person to dismiss his own risk status.  Something akin to, ‘nah, they wouldn’t‘, but oh yes, they would.

On the day that Taibbi was giving testimony to the House committee reviewing the ‘Weaponization of Federal Government’, an IRS agent just happened to coincidentally visit his home.  Committee Chairman Jim Jordan now wants to know if the two coincidences are connected.

(Via Wall Street Journal) – […] House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan sent a letter Monday to IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen seeking an explanation for why journalist Matt Taibbi received an unannounced home visit from an IRS agent. We’ve seen the letter, and both the circumstances and timing of the IRS focus on this journalist raise serious questions.

Mr. Taibbi has provoked the ire of Democrats and other journalists for his role in researching Twitter records and then releasing internal communications from the social-media giant that expose its censorship and its contacts with government officials. This effort has already inspired government bullying, with Chair Lina Khan’s Federal Trade Commission targeting new Twitter owner Elon Musk and demanding the company “identify all journalists” granted access to the Twitter files.

Now Mr. Taibbi has told Mr. Jordan’s committee that an IRS agent showed up at his personal residence in New Jersey on March 9. That happens to be the same day Mr. Taibbi testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government about what he learned about Twitter. The taxman left a note instructing Mr. Taibbi to call the IRS four days later. Mr. Taibbi was told in a call with the agent that both his 2018 and 2021 tax returns had been rejected owing to concerns over identity theft. (read more)

Manhattan Grand Jury Not Expected to Vote on Trump Indictment This Week


Posted originally on the CTH on March 28, 2023 | Sundance

According to a leak provided to NBC News, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not anticipated to poll the grand jury for a potential indictment of President Trump this week.

A delay in the timing would seem likely given the nature of the political winds that generally coordinate to manipulate public opinion.  An indictment timed in support of, and in concert with a Ron DeSantis campaign launch, would be more appropriate given the nature of the intentions.

(Via NBC) – The New York grand jury considering possible criminal charges against former President Donald Trump related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election is not expected to be asked to vote on an indictment this week, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The grand jury is not expected to meet on Wednesday, the sources said, the next day the panel was regularly scheduled to convene. (more)

Everything in the corrupt world of manipulative politics is connected to itself by the interests of those conducting the manipulation.  An ideological alignment of individual people, institutions and organizations working in concert toward a common goal is not a conspiracy.

Organized coordination between individuals, groups and institutions is generally labeled as a conspiracy in order to avoid the reality of the connective tissue.  However, that dismissive labeling also allows the downstream beneficiaries of the outcome to dispatch, avoid, or more commonly pretend to ignore the collective goal.  But organized coordination is not needed in order to pursue a common goal; the only thing needed is an understanding of the objective.

Once the objective of the common interest is identified, all benefactory components operate individually.  What becomes visible is the similarity of the actions.

This is where we see patterns and common actions taken toward a common goal. This reality is the context to understand how the political dynamic is constructed in opposition to Donald Trump, and more specifically how the America First policy platform of Presidential candidate Donald Trump is viewed as a common threat.

Individuals, institutions, government ‘stakeholders’, and generally all status-quo interests stand in opposition, as reflected in the historic Niccolò Machiavelli quote:

“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”

When the new system is constructed to the benefit of the many yet disrupts the status of the few (the proverbial elite), who benefit from retention of the old, those in the at-risk minority must pretend not to know things.  Additionally, through passive aggressive undermining that same elite group frame their opposition to provide themselves plausible deniability.

It is in this political mix of eclectic interests where a person needs an intellectual filtration system, tuned to the granular nuances, in order to make sense of the landscape and see the big picture.

Do not disregard the difficulty of this process, for it takes a keen – almost exhaustive – state of awareness to maintain vigilance against the conniving schemes that flow as an outcome of the process.

However, once you see the patterns, you are essentially tuning in to see the strings on the marionettes.

Once you see the strings on the marionettes, you can never return to that moment in the performance when you did not see them.

In the 1980’s and 90’s, there was a fad of optical illusion images known as autostereograms.  For many people when you stare at the autostereogram image, a hidden 3D scene emerges.  It often takes a few seconds or even minutes to see the 3D aspect to the image; however, once your eyes adapt to the image it becomes easier to spot.  This is a metaphor for modern politics.  Often it is difficult to spot the 3D aspect to what we see, but over time the picture gains clarity.

Consider…. Much has been written about Mitch McConnell spending $10 million on the Alaska Republican Senate race when the race was between two Republicans.  Yet Mitch McConnell refused to support Republican Senate Candidate Blake Masters in Arizona?  However, less has been written critically about the Republican Governors Association, likely because it’s more challenging to accept the corporate Machievellian approaches extend far beyond DC, into our own backyards.

The Republican Governor’s Association (RGA) gave $21 million to the Super PAC “Friends of Ron DeSantis” in 2022 {Source}; however, in every single poll DeSantis was leading by double digits, and even the most die-hard leftists admitted months before the election that Florida was a lost cause; DeSantis was going to win.

So, why did the RGA transmit $21 million to the coffers of DeSantis, while the Arizona Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake, struggled with major donor funding?  Arizona’s current Republican Governor Doug Ducey is head of the RGA.

Accepting these passive aggressive political realities only leads the intellectually honest observer in one researched direction.  The McConnell Senate Leadership Fund and the Republican Governors Association (RGA) all receive funds from the same Wall Street and multinational corporate mechanisms.

It is easy to see the agenda of McConnell because he’s been using the same ‘Citizens United’ playbook for over a decade, and the media draws attention to it.  McConnell is the enmity and preservation group that Machiavelli described.  However, it’s much more difficult to see the RGA as the ‘lukewarm defender’ group in our backyard.

The corporate alignment of the RGA is also more difficult to accept; but that is, as my grandpa would say, “the reality of the thing.”

I am going to begin outlining the 2023 and 2024 political club landscape soon.  Much of the continued exposing will be on a granular, cited and difficult to accept level. Yet, it becomes necessary because we need to see the strings on these GOPe marionettes if we are going to avoid the “illusion of choice” that each component element, RNC, GOP, RGA, RCCC, is constructing for us.

(SOURCE PIC)

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Blackstone Inc (BX.N) Chief Executive Stephen Schwarzman [pictured left], who has been one of Wall Street’s biggest donors to Donald Trump’s election campaigns, said on Wednesday he will not back the former president in 2024.

Trump announced he would run in the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Tuesday, launching an early bid to become the Republican nominee in an effort to pre-empt potential rivals.

Schwarzman said it was time for new party leadership and that he would back a different Republican in the presidential contest. “It is time for the Republican Party to turn to a new generation of leaders and I intend to support one of them in the presidential primaries,” he said in a statement, which was first reported by Axios.

Schwarzman, 75, is a prominent Republican donor. He spent $35.5 million to support Republicans ahead of last week’s midterm election. Republicans are still one seat short of capturing control of the U.S. House of Representatives and have failed to take over the U.S. Senate. (more)

NEW YORK – Rupert Murdoch has reportedly warned Donald Trump his media empire will not back any attempt to return to the White House, as former supporters turn to the youthful Florida governor Ron DeSantis.

After the Republican party’s disappointing performance in the US midterm elections, in particular the poor showing by candidates backed by Trump, Murdoch’s rightwing media empire appears to be seeking a clean break from the former president’s damaged reputation and perceived waning political power.

[…] “We have been clear with Donald. There have been conversations between them during which Rupert made it clear to Donald that we cannot back another run for the White House.”

[…] Lachlan Murdoch, the heir apparent and eldest son, who co-chairs News Corp and runs the parent company of Fox News, has reportedly told DeSantis that the group would back him if he ran in the next election. “Lachlan has been keen on Ron for some time,” said the i’s source. “He’s viewed within the organization as a sanitized version of Donald.” (read more)

Once you see the strings on the corporate marionettes, it’s impossible to return to that moment in the political performance when you did not see them.

Wall Street -vs- Main Street.

Giddy up…