Pizzagate in the news

"Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn's son sparred with CNN's Jake Tapper on Twitter over the "pizzagate" conspiracy that led an armed man into a Washington, DC, pizza shop Sunday.

Flynn's son, Michael Flynn Jr., vehemently defended the story, which baselessly alleged that a pedophilia ring involving high-level Democratic Party officials — including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's   campaign chair, John Podesta — is operating out of a Washington pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong.

Flynn is President-elect Donald Trump's incoming national security adviser.

The conspiracy led a 28-year-old man to bring an assault rifle to the restaurant on Sunday, police said. They said the gunman was looking to investigate the story himself.

"Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it'll remain a story," Flynn Jr. posted to Twitter. "The left seems to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it."

http://www.businessinsider.com/jake-tapper-pizzagate-michael-flynn-son-2016-12?op=1

Roger Stone: [Jonh F. Kennedy, Jr.] was murdered by the Clintons

"Roger Stone is writing a book based on his conspiracy theory that the Clintons murdered John F. Kennedy Jr. Stone is an longtime ally and friend of Donald Trump, who has previously used the discredited operative's research in attacks against the Clintons.

Stone worked as a top political aide to Trump's presidential campaign before exiting in August. Stone is a notorious "dirty trickster" who formed the anti-Hillary Clinton group C.U.N.T. in 2008 and has spent much of the 2016 cycle pushing smears about the Clintons. He has a history of using racist and sexist attacks against media figures, and was recently banned by CNN and MSNBC. He currently heads the pro-Trump super PAC Committee to Restore America's Greatness and is a frequent Trump supporter in the media. Stone has been under heavy criticism recently because of his stated plan to "disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in" allegedly stealing the nomination from Trump at the Republican convention.

Stone last month appeared on the internet radio show of fringe conspiracy theorist James Fetzer, who believes the Holocaust, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and 9/11 attacks were faked. During a brief aside, Stone mentioned he was writing books about Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and the alleged murder of John F. Kennedy Jr. “by the Clintons”:

(video at link)

http://mediamatters.org/blog/2016/04/12/trump-ally-roger-stone-writing-entire-book-alleging-clintons-secretly-murdered-jfk-jr/209885

Overheard: Amartel

Amartel:

"[C]andidacy is about...persuasion. Reps are constantly caught in the cross-hairs of the Dem Media, looking mean and/or stupid when faced with sad refugee children, widows, orphans, devoted old gay couples who can't get married. etc etcetcetcetc. The list never ends because, of course, the victim parade is politically expedient and opportunistic. Of course it's not fair, but it is the reality. THEREFORE, effective Rep candidates MUST be able to deal with this effectively, turn it around, spin it on its ass (including but not limited to pointing out how obviously political and opportunistic and infinite the Dem party's interest in their victimhood is), argue the facts and the law, and do it with consummate ease, and (IMHO) without looking like a holy roller or some other nut...I'm advocating for an effective presentation of actual conservatism. Yes we can."

Josh Marshall, TPM:

"...[I]ntra-Republican political battles are really about demonstrating dominance - not policy mastery or polling leads but a series of symbols and actions that mark the dominating from the dominated.

...Trump doesn't apologize. He hurts people and they go away. He says things that would kill a political mortal (ban members of an entire religion from entering the country) and yet he doesn't get hurt. Virtually everything Trump has done over the last six months, whether it's a policy proposal or personal attack, has driven home this basic point: Trump is strong. He does things other people can't.

This is why Trump has so shaken up and so dominated the GOP primary cycle, at least thus far. As I've said, this kind of dominance symbolism is pervasive in GOP politics. It's not new with Trump at all. Most successful Republican politicians speak this language. And yet somehow for most it is nonetheless a second language. But it's Trump's native language. I still believe it's rooted in the mix of the hyper-aggressive New York real estate world, his decades of immersion in the city's febrile tabloid culture and just being, at the most basic level, a bully. Wherever it comes from, he seems to intuitively get that for this constituency and at this moment just demonstrating that he gets his way, always, is all that really matters. Policy details, protecting the candidate through careful press releases and structured media opportunities ... none of that matters. Trump doesn't kiss babies. Babies kiss him. He doesn't have a billionaire backer; he is a billionaire. Trump doesn't ask for support. He just tells you that you need to stop being a loser and get on board.

So this debate power play is all of a piece. He can just take the table, flip it over and walk out of the room. It's all about him."

Warren to Reid: no you may not help Casino constituents avoid bankruptcy

"A move by Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to help Caesars Entertainment Corp. avoid bankruptcy has put the Senate Democratic leader at odds with one of his star colleagues, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Reid is seeking to insert language in an end-of-year spending bill that would allow the gaming corporation to restructure the debt of a subsidiary out of court despite opposition from holdout bond holders.

If Caesars doesn’t get the help and folds, it could cost Reid’s state thousands of union jobs.

The problem is that the language could also help Education Management Corp. — a top target of Warren’s.

She argues the private education company, which operates for-profit colleges such as the Art Institutes, Argosy and Brown Mackie, uses “scam recruiting practices” to bilk students.

Earlier this year, Warren called for tougher federal oversight of for-profit colleges, and last month she sent a letter to the Departments of Education and Justice criticizing a settlement with Education Management for being too lenient.

Decisions by two courts involving Caesars and Education Management make it more difficult for corporations to cut their debts without going into bankruptcy if their debt-cutting plans are opposed by minority shareholders.

Reid’s language is meant to override those decisions to allow Caesars to cut its debt without going through bankruptcy despite opposition from some stockholders.

He argues the language has been drafted so that it would not apply to Education Management, but allies of Warren say it does not pass muster.

Adam Levitin, a law professor at Georgetown University who is a friend and former student of Warren’s, said Reid’s legislative language is poorly drafted and will not exempt Education Management from protection."

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/262741-casino-rider-pits-reid-against-warren