“As Jennifer Carnahan, the former head of the Minnesota Republican Party weighs her options for her future, her husband, Congressman Jim Hagedorn, a Republican representing Minnesota’s first Congressional District took to Facebook on Thursday, Sept. 16, to voice a full-throated defense of his wife,” reports the St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch. Hagedorn claims his wife was a victim of ‘cancel culture…a radical left tactic, engineered by a small clique devoted to her undoing…The antagonists offered no proof or factual evidence to back up their claims,’ Hagedorn said. ‘Then, working as a mob, they brutally forced Jennifer out without one minute of due process,’ Hagedorn wrote.”

Republican lawmakers have been calling for the court-martial of General Mark Milley over rumors that during the “lame-duck” period following Trump’s loss in the 2020 Presidential election, Milley communicated with other Federal officials and the Chinese government in an effort to prevent Donald J. Trump from either starting a war with China, to create an international catastrophe for the Biden Administration to deal with, or attempting to declare martial law, so that he could suspend the transfer of Presidential power and declare himself dictator. This information has come to light in news articles regarding the upcoming release of Bob Woodward’s new book “Peril”, and allegedly included a conversation Milley had with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi where they agreed the former guy appeared “unhinged”, and a belief held by former CIA Director Gina Haspel that the country was, “on the verge of a right-wing coup”.

US Capitol police report four arrests at the lame disappointment of a “Justice for January 6th” rally protesting the treatment of a few dozen angry redneck assholes being held pending trial for crimes committed during the Capitol riot – most of whom assaulted cops during the melee.

One suspect was arrested for carrying a handgun into the demonstration, another for being armed with a knife, and two more were nailed on outstanding warrant for weapons possession and probation violation charges in Texas, per the USCP’s Twitter account. Capitol Riot 2.0 canceled.

Fox News: “A drone that was being used to deliver contraband to a rural Virginia jail dropped the package instead at a nearby private school. The Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office said the package, which contained marijuana, tobacco and cell phones, was dropped on school grounds around 5:40 a.m. Monday. Shortly afterward, the errant drone was retrieved by people in a dark-colored sedan in the Brunswick Academy’s parking lot, according to the sheriff’s office.”

“Authorities concluded that the package was intended for the Lawrenceville County Correctional Facility, a one-minute drive from the school. Illicit drone deliveries to inmates apparently isn’t unusual in the area. The sheriff’s office say they’ve received a number of calls this year complaining about the ‘same criminal activity.'”

“Indonesia’s most wanted militant with ties to the Islamic State group was killed Saturday in a gunbattle with security forces, the military said, in a victory for the counterterrorism campaign against extremists in the jungles of Sulawesi island. Ali Kalora was one of two militants killed in the shootout, said Central Sulawesi’s regional military chief Brig. Gen. Farid Makruf. He identified the other suspected extremist as Jaka Ramadan” the AP reports.

“The two men were fatally shot during a raid late Saturday by a joint team of military and police officers in Central Sulawesi province’s mountainous Parigi Moutong district, Makruf said. It borders Poso district, considered an extremist hotbed in the province. ‘Ali Kalora was the most wanted terrorist and leader of MIT,’ Makruf said, referring to the Indonesian acronym of the East Indonesia Mujahideen network, a militant group that claims allegiance to the Islamic State. He said that security forces were searching for the four remaining members of the group. The East Indonesia Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several killings of police officers and minority Christians.”

“The head of Russia’s second-largest political party is alleging widespread violations in the election for a new national parliament, in which his party is widely expected to gain seats. Communist Party head Gennady Zyuganov said on Saturday – the second of three days of voting in the election – that police and the national elections commission must respond to reports of ‘a number of absolutely egregious facts’ including ballot-stuffing in several regions. The Golos election-monitoring movement and independent media also reported violations including vote-buying and lax measures for guarding ballots at polling stations.”

“The United Russia party, which is diligently loyal to President Vladimir Putin appears certain to retain dominance in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, but some projections suggest it could lose its current two-thirds majority, which is enough to change the constitution. The Communists are expected to pick up the biggest share of any seats lost by United Russia. Although the Communists generally support Kremlin initiatives in the parliament, their gaining seats would be a loss of face for United Russia. The Communists are seen as potentially benefiting from the ‘Smart Voting’ program promoted by the team of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which aims to undermine United Russia by advising voters on which candidates are in the strongest position to defeat the dominant party’s candidates” – AP.

Teamwork pic.twitter.com/qHPca6qa7j

— The U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) September 18, 2021

National Memo: “The team of Arizona Republican state senators, legislative staff, and advisers finalizing the Cyber Ninjas’ report on the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County is preparing to say that Joe Biden legitimately won the election, according to the largest funder of the Senate’s mostly privatized election review, former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne. ‘The way some of these political RINOs [Republicans In Name Only] are doing this is they’re trying to argue that the [election] report should only be allowed to go and address the original construct of the report, the original assignment of the audit, and leave out other things that have been found,’ Byrne told Creative Destruction Media’s L. Todd Wood.”

“‘The political class is going to try to come in and water this down,’ Byrne said. ‘The Republican political class, the RINOs, the nobodies… They are going to try to water this down. I am sure they all have been promised federal judgeships or sacks of cash under a streetlight if they can get this killed at this late date or watered down. And I think the public of Arizona should go ballistic.’ Byrne’s comments were made on August 29 but have been reposted on pro-Trump media in recent days as Arizona’s Republican Senate leadership is finalizing its report on the election. Trump has also revived his attacks on ‘RINOs’ in recent days on Telegram, a social media site favored by his base.”

“The Arizona Senate’s review team includes Doug Logan, the CEO of the Cyber Ninjas, its lead contractor – which is writing the report and has been paid $3.2 million from Byrne’s organizations. Byrne’s comments underscore what observers of the Arizona Senate’s review have anticipated for months – that any credible review would conclude there were no major problems with Maricopa County’s conduct of the presidential elections, although, as in any election, some procedures could be improved to make the vote-counting process more transparent.”

“Former President Donald Trump snapped that he was ‘fucking tired and fatigued too’ when his pollster warned that his divisive behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was exhausting voters, according to a new book. Authors Bob Woodward and Robert Costa recounted the exchange between Trump and Fabrizio in their forthcoming book ‘Peril,’ a copy of which was obtained by Insider ahead of its September 21 publication. In a July 2020 meeting after Trump’s disastrous rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma that drew paltry attendance and widespread mockery, Fabrizio gave Trump a tough reality check that voters, especially swing voters and independents, were weary of the turmoil of 2020 and checking out. ‘Well to be honest, Mr. President, the voters are just fatigued.”

“They’re tired of the chaos. They’re tired of the tumult,’ Fabrizio told Trump in the Oval Office, the book said. ‘Oh, they’re tired?’ Trump angrily snapped back at the pollster. ‘They’re fucking tired? Well I’m fucking tired and fatigued too.’ Trump then reportedly attacked his opponent, calling now-President Joe Biden ‘too old’ and saying ‘he can’t even string together a sentence.’ ‘You can’t make him into a crazy liberal,’ Fabrizio warned, adding, ‘I don’t think people will buy it'” – Insider.

• The self-proclaimed Party of Fiscal Responsibility should be required to pay the $300 million California spent on the recall election.  The public should not be financially liable for a GOP political stunt.  
• Caitlyn Jenner finished 13th of all the alternate candidates in the recall.  Is this a sign Republicans have tired of Reality TeeVee dilettantes?  I doubt it.  
• When talking about coronavirus in Florida, Ron DeSantis stands behind a podium with a sign that reads “Early treatment saves lives.”  Ya know what else saves lives, Ronnie?  Vacci-freakin’-nations.  
• How is it that people flying around in orbit can post photos to Instagram but I lose cell service if I go to the back corner of my yard?
  Read More ▶ “Random thoughts Friday, Volume XXXVI”

From Brahm Resnik of KPNX NBC 12 Phoenix:  “BREAKING: Maricopa County Board settles with Senate GOP over subpoena for computer routers. County faced loss of hundreds of millions in revenue after GOP AG Brnovich ruled subpoena was valid. Details coming in:

• Senate drops subpoena but won’t get routers.
• Maricopa County will eat the $2.8 million it spent to replace ballot-counting machines it said were irreparably damaged by Senate contractors. County had filed notice of claim with senate to obtain payment for machines.
• A ‘special master’ – former GOP Congressman John Shadegg – appointed to oversee router review w tech experts, to answer Senate GOP questions.

“County Board votes 4-1, along party lines, to approve settlement. (Dem Steve Gallardo a ‘no’).  ONE OTHER THING:   Senate President Fann writes letter to AG Brnovich telling him to call off the dogs.”

Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, boasted Friday about trolling a conference call held by the opposition party two weeks ago, repeatedly seizing the presentation screen and trolled their chat, the Associated Press reports.

Sen’s political party, the Cambodian People’s Party, denied Sen had invaded the call of former members of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, a strong opposition party Sen had courts dissolve in 2017.  However, video of the call had been making its rounds on the internet, and Sen boasted about it during a media event for the opening of a COVID vaccination campaign for children.

Sen can be seen in the video interrupting the speakers by taking over the screen.  In the chat, Sen repeatedly complained that people made fun of him even though he was attempting to unify the nation.  Sen apparently got the access code to the Zoom call when it was distributed by one of the participants to people interested in opposition to Sen.

KDKA: “The Westmoreland County Historical Society said it has been kicked off Facebook after using a word that violates the social media giant’s rules. Run and maintained by the Westmoreland County Historical Society, Hanna’s Town is a great place to visit and learn about early American history in the region. Just don’t go looking for the group’s Facebook page. ‘You just can’t find us. We’re not there,’ Westmoreland County Historical Society Executive Director Lisa Hays said.”

“‘We’re guessing it’s the word militia. Some of our programs involve reenactors who portray the militias of the 1770s, 1780s. So we say the militia is going to be here to demonstrate and discuss living history,’ she added. Hays said not long after the group posted that once such group would be part of an upcoming event, Facebook shut the page down. ‘There was a glitch and we got kicked off. We tried to log back on and we could not log back on,’ Hays said. The society said not only was its Facebook page deactivated, but several people who work for the society also had their Facebook pages deactivated. ‘They lost personal information, personal pictures, personal correspondence,’ Hays said. Hays said the group is not alone. ‘During an internet search, we found that other Revolutionary War period sites were having the same problem,’ Hays told KDKA.”

National Zero file photo of New York real estate heir and convicted murderer Robert Durst (Courtesy: Interscope Records)

Multimillionaire real estate tycoon Robert Durst was found guilty Friday in the murder of Susan Berman, a woman whom prosecutors say he killed to silence her over her role in helping Durst cover up the murder of his first wife Kathie in 1982 – a crime for which Durst remains uncharged – the New York Times reported. The mysteries surrounding Kathie Durst and Susan Berman were the subject of a 2015 HBO documentary that brought renewed media attention which may in turn have spurred the indictment that culminated in Friday’s conviction of Durst.

Conspiracy theorist and scrap foam pitchman Mike Lindell told disgraced evangelist Jim Bakker during a three day virtual sales pitch for his bedding disguised as an election fraud research fundraiser that Lindell was tops on a “kill list” kept by the Biden Administration, Salon reports.

“And guess who was No. 1 on that list to come and get? Me,” Lindell said, referring to the government. “I’m going, ‘God they’re gonna kill me.’ You know, they’re gonna put me and hang me. And basically [that] is what I’m thinking, and at that moment, he said, You know, I got to put a documentary, just put the evidence out there and make it.”

Lindell offered no evidence of the existence of a hit list or that he’s on the top of that list.

Russian spy Maria Butina, convicted in 2018 of spying for Mother Russia while she was embedded in the NRA and sleeping with some asshole Republican consultant – and QAnon psychopath former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne on the side – and I can’t believe some of the sentences I write here, this shit is out of control, is taking some heat from her region’s local communist party in her campaign for the Russian Duma over some payments from Byrne listed on her income statement to whatever the Russian equivalent of the FEC is, Talking Points Memo reported Friday.

As far as attacks go, on balance, it is a pretty lame cheap shot, because whatever fuck around money Butina personally scammed out of Byrne while she was working him was of course part of her occupation as a spy. But because candidates are required to specify any foreign income on their disclosures and what country it came from, Maria Butina went ahead and listed “United States of America” on her form in her campaign for parliament on Putin’s ruling United Russia Party ticket, leaving her open to attack from the communists who – as Talking Points Memo notes – aren’t even fielding a candidate against her in Friday’s election. Interesting how Russian political propaganda, be it from troll farms spewing their hateful garbage on The Hill, or loser domestic communists entering their fourth decade out of power, is still mostly simplistic half-truths and glaring lies by omission. This isn’t to defend Butina so much as point out how consistently the bullshit they come up with implodes on contact with critical analysis. Probably why it works so well on MAGAmericans.

In any event, if Butina wins, she would be the first Trump-era Russia scandal figure to successfully parlay her media fame into a legislative career. We say “successfully” because she’s not the first overall to run for office. That “honor” goes to world-class dipshit George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in 2017 over his knowledge of Russian interference in the 2016 election, then for whatever stupid reason ran for Congress in the March 2020 special election to replace Katie Hill in California’s 25th district. He came in ninth place.

An FDA advisory panel recommended booster shots of the Pfizer vaccine for elderly people and those with compromised health who are at greater risks if they contract a severe case of the coronavirus, the New York Times reports.  The recommendation comes hours after the same panel voted against approving booster shots for all people aged 16 or older.

The issue with the panel is not the safety or efficacy of the vaccine, but centered on debate about the volume of available data to support boosters for those between the ages of 16 and 65 who do not have underlying health conditions.