Marco’s Moment

 

Speaking of windows of opportunity, Marco Rubio has one now. Monday, he was appointed by Mitch McConnell to chair the Senate Intelligence Committee in Senator Burr’s absence.

This talented young Senator is now looking at an “either/or” moment, whether he wants it or not. He’s got a chance to get back in the good graces of the base and prove he’s not a swamp creature. If he doesn’t take it, they’ll be done with him. If he does, the Washington DC establishment that backed him in 2016 will be done with him.

Praying he rises to the right challenge.

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  1. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    His support for an immigration bill only a Democrat could love has soured him with me.  However, I’ll sit back and watch his performance.  If he gets adulation from the press, his career as a Republican is over . . .

    • #1
  2. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    Stad (View Comment):

    His support for an immigration bill only a Democrat could love has soured him with me. However, I’ll sit back and watch his performance. If he gets adulation from the press, his career as a Republican is over . . .

    I saw someone else somewhere point out that he was backed by the group of establishment Republicans who first commissioned FusionGPS to find dirt on Trump.

    He’s likely going to have risk losing the goodwill of big backers and key colleagues to prove himself with the base. It’s not going to be easy.

    • #2
  3. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    He needs to investigate counterintelligence up and down the security agencies and see what reforms are needed. 

    • #3
  4. Kevin Schulte Member
    Kevin Schulte
    @KevinSchulte

    It was Burr that blocked Ratcliffe confirmation to the DNI the first time around. He is only getting a second look because the Temp appointment is Richard Grinnel. RG is a smiling pit bull that kicks but and takes names and declassifies them. 

    The Turtle 🐢  does not want the intelligence community cleaned up.  Rhino 🦏 bones are buried there as well as donkey bones. 

    Expect Rubio to be a deep state party man.  Mitch would not permit any other. 

    If Rubio goes swamp cleaning , he will be dispatched quickly.  He knows that.  

    • #4
  5. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    …Expect Rubio to be a deep state party man. Mitch would not permit any other.

    If Rubio goes swamp cleaning , he will be dispatched quickly. He knows that.

    I guess that is sort of what I expect. But I’m holding onto some hope that he’ll beat my expectations. Trump certainly did.

    • #5
  6. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    I mean he’s a filthy Trump supporter. He will use his chairmanship to push Trump lies and shield our garbage president from responsibility and accountability. Like all establishment Repbulicans have been doing for the last 3.5 years. I dont see what you guys are worried about? That he won’t be pushing all your stupid conspiracy theories cause he still has some shred of self respect? I wouldn’t worry though I doubt he has much left, and he will be all too eager to please you guys to get the Republican nomination in 2024. 

     

    • #6
  7. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    • #7
  8. Richard Fulmer Inactive
    Richard Fulmer
    @RichardFulmer

    After all these years of searching, has the Senate Intelligence Committee found any Senate intelligence?

    • #8
  9. DonG (skeptic) Coolidge
    DonG (skeptic)
    @DonG

    Anybody appointed by McConnell is suspect.  If Radcliffe is smoothly approved to head DNI and James Wolfe is prosecuted, we’ll know things are on the path to honesty.

    • #9
  10. Stina Inactive
    Stina
    @CM

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Val hasn’t got the memo that consensus here is wrt Trump, rumors are worse than reality.

    • #10
  11. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Not all of us.  And there are others who have left Ricochet who also don’t support Trump like The Gold Tooth. 

    After the 2020 defeat and the Dems taking the Senate, perhaps former Reagan Conservatives will realize what they did not to lose their way in thrall to Trump.

    • #11
  12. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    Expect Rubio to be a deep state party man. Mitch would not permit any other.

    If Rubio goes swamp cleaning , he will be dispatched quickly. He knows that.

    Sundance at CTH writes:

    Against the backdrop of all things DC swamp, this move was entirely predictable.  No-one takes over as chair of the SSCI without senate leadership having (blackmail) material on the appointee to have full control over their activity.  Marco Rubio is fully compromised. . . .

    To understand numerous layers within the overall dynamic it is important to remember Rubio was a never-Trumper.  Nikki Haley, Trey Gowdy and Marco Rubio formed the trio of GOPe advocates to defend the interests of the deep state during campaign 2016.  The original opposition research into Trump by Fusion-GPS came as an outcome of Rubio supporters initiating and funding the research.  That effort evolved into the Steele Dossier after team Rubio dropped funding in March 2016; and the Clinton campaign took over.

    There has long been an open secret within DC that Rubio was a compromised individual and there was/is a considerable amount of blackmail material known about him.

    As a result of the FBI investigation into SSCI leaks by security director James Wolfe, covert communications in the spring of 2017 between SSCI Vice-Chair Mark Warner and Christopher Steele were discovered.

    Six months after Warner was conspiring with Christopher Steele… (in October of 2017), the FBI questioned Senator Warner’s staff and requested the messaging information.

    Mark Warner’s efforts with Chris Steele were February through May 2017.  Warner waited until he was caught, then told the committee about his “no paper trail” attempts to coordinate with Steele in October 2017.  The contacts and text messages were later made public in February 2018.

    As soon as the covert SSCI communications surfaced (Feb ’18); which were part of the overall committee effort to remove President Trump; chairman Richard Burr and Marco Rubio provided cover by claiming Warner was honest with them in October 2017. . . .

    Senator Warner only came forward after he was caught in the Wolfe leak investigation.

    The committee was notified in October 2017, yet not a single member of the SSCI (R or D) demanded Vice-Chairman Mark Warner make an immediate, full and public disclosure of the VERY SERIOUS conflict he engaged in.  Instead the committee waited until after the covert communication was public in February 2018 and then Burr and Rubio defended Warner.

    The SSCI is the enabler for a weaponized intelligence apparatus.  McConnell appointing Marco Rubio to the position of acting chair of the committee is simply more swamp defensive positioning. . . .  one of the biggest scandals continues to revolve around the SSCI and the failure of the DOJ to prosecute James Wolfe for the leak.

    Once the Dept. of Justice Wolfe decision was made… it set into action a chain of events that continues to go forward to today.

    Who holds the kompromat on Rubio?

    POSTSCRIPT: Who besides the Senate leadership holds kompromat?

    • #12
  13. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Deplorables all. I embrace it.

    • #13
  14. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Not all of us. And there are others who have left Ricochet who also don’t support Trump like The Gold Tooth.

    After the 2020 defeat and the Dems taking the Senate, perhaps former Reagan Conservatives will realize what they did not to lose their way in thrall to Trump.

    I’m banking that there are lots more like me, viz. people who didn’t support Trump in 2016, who do now, because he’s proved himself more-than-worthy of our support, while his Never-Trump Republican detractors have been exposed as much more corrupt and complicit than we had imagined in our most cynical nightmares.

    I have among my friends many (mostly ardent pro-lifers) who voted for him reluctantly last time who will vote enthusiastically this time. I know at least several others who didn’t vote for him last time who will this time. I don’t know anyone who voted for him last time who won’t this time. 

     

    • #14
  15. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Kevin Schulte (View Comment):

    Expect Rubio to be a deep state party man. Mitch would not permit any other.

    If Rubio goes swamp cleaning , he will be dispatched quickly. He knows that.

    Sundance at CTH writes:

    Against the backdrop of all things DC swamp, this move was entirely predictable. No-one takes over as chair of the SSCI without senate leadership having (blackmail) material on the appointee to have full control over their activity. Marco Rubio is fully compromised. . . .

    To understand numerous layers within the overall dynamic it is important to remember Rubio was a never-Trumper. Nikki Haley, Trey Gowdy and Marco Rubio formed the trio of GOPe advocates to defend the interests of the deep state during campaign 2016. The original opposition research into Trump by Fusion-GPS came as an outcome of Rubio supporters initiating and funding the research. That effort evolved into the Steele Dossier after team Rubio dropped funding in March 2016; and the Clinton campaign took over.

    There has long been an open secret within DC that Rubio was a compromised individual and there was/is a considerable amount of blackmail material known about him…

    Who holds the kompromat on Rubio?

    Well, that’s depressing. I can only hope it will turn out not to be true, that he’ll find within himself the stuff to take on the PTB on behalf of his constituents and the Republic as a whole. It’s not a terribly high hope, though.

    • #15
  16. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Not all of us. And there are others who have left Ricochet who also don’t support Trump like The Gold Tooth.

    After the 2020 defeat and the Dems taking the Senate, perhaps former Reagan Conservatives will realize what they did not to lose their way in thrall to Trump.

    I was being facetious, as in “Aren’t all of us who support Trump filthy?”

    • #16
  17. Hang On Member
    Hang On
    @HangOn

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

     

    Not all of us. And there are others who have left Ricochet who also don’t support Trump like The Gold Tooth. 

    Well that’s good news. Good to see the back of the likes. If only @Valiuth would follow. Nothing but tripe from him.

    • #17
  18. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Deplorables all. I embrace it.

    I think I’ll wear my “Proud to be HUMAN SCUM; NeverTrump 2020” t-shirt today.

    • #18
  19. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    katievs (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    Not all of us. And there are others who have left Ricochet who also don’t support Trump like The Gold Tooth.

    After the 2020 defeat and the Dems taking the Senate, perhaps former Reagan Conservatives will realize what they did not to lose their way in thrall to Trump.

    I’m banking that there are lots more like me, viz. people who didn’t support Trump in 2016, who do now, because he’s proved himself more-than-worthy of our support, while his Never-Trump Republican detractors have been exposed as much more corrupt and complicit than we had imagined in our most cynical nightmares.

    ”Corrupt”?  Am I corrupt?  How?

    I have among my friends many (mostly ardent pro-lifers) who voted for him reluctantly last time who will vote enthusiastically this time. I know at least several others who didn’t vote for him last time who will this time. I don’t know anyone who voted for him last time who won’t this time.

    • #19
  20. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    katievs (View Comment):

     

    I’m banking that there are lots more like me, viz. people who didn’t support Trump in 2016, who do now, because he’s proved himself more-than-worthy of our support, while his Never-Trump Republican detractors have been exposed as much more corrupt and complicit than we had imagined in our most cynical nightmares.

    ”Corrupt”? Am I corrupt? How?

    I should have said “so many of his Never-Trump detractors”. I had in mind those like Burr and “Anonymous” and Boot and Kristol and Rubin (whose brand of corruption is intellectual), not every individual who professes Never-Trump notions. I’m sure many of them are just deluded, not corrupt. I think it’s even possible that some Never-Trumpers are really nice and good people generally. Maybe you’re one of those. I hope so.

    • #20
  21. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    katievs (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    katievs (View Comment):

     

    I’m banking that there are lots more like me, viz. people who didn’t support Trump in 2016, who do now, because he’s proved himself more-than-worthy of our support, while his Never-Trump Republican detractors have been exposed as much more corrupt and complicit than we had imagined in our most cynical nightmares.

    ”Corrupt”? Am I corrupt? How?

    I should have said “so many of his Never-Trump detractors”. I had in mind those like Burr and “Anonymous” and Boot and Kristol and Rubin (whose brand of corruption is intellectual), not every individual who professes Never-Trump notions. I’m sure many of them are just deluded, not corrupt. I think it’s even possible that some Never-Trumpers are really nice and good people generally. Maybe you’re one of those. I hope so.

    Thank you so much.  I took that far too personally.

    Gary

    • #21
  22. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    katievs (View Comment):

    Boot and Kristol and Rubin (whose brand of corruption is intellectual),

    If Pierre Omidyar is getting his money’s worth from Bulwark, intellectual corruption is one way to put it; I guess whores are corrupt.

    • #22
  23. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Richard Fulmer (View Comment):

    After all these years of searching, has the Senate Intelligence Committee found any Senate intelligence?

    Not with a flashlight and both hands.

    • #23
  24. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    katievs (View Comment):

    Boot and Kristol and Rubin (whose brand of corruption is intellectual),

    If Pierre Omidyar is getting his money’s worth from Bulwark, intellectual corruption is one way to put it; I guess whores are corrupt.

    To be fair, the term is mercenaries, and a good mercenary performs according to the terms of his contract, properly paid. It is just business.

    • #24
  25. DubyaC Inactive
    DubyaC
    @DubyaC

    Rubio’s presence on the ballot was the only reason I voted in 2016.   I was going to blow it off on the basis that I believed Trump would be his own worst enemy if elected President and that even in 2000 my vote wasn’t decisive. Then I remembered I wanted to vote to re-elect Rubio to the Senate. So I went to the polls and voted for both.  My vote for Trump was 90% an anti-Hillary effort.

    Considering that Rubio won his race by 7 plus % while Trump carried the state by only 1.5%, I’ve wondered ever since if Rubio’s presence on the ballot helped get Trump over the finish line in Florida.  I know Trump got more votes than Rubio but still – how many FL Republicans voted with the same attitude I had.  It would ironic if so.

    I’ve been completely happy with Trump – and I think you’ll be happy with Rubio, notwithstanding all the cryptic “dot connecting” of his critics.

    • #25
  26. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    I take a bath every day.

    –Quoting Rev Al Sharpton.

    • #26
  27. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Clifford A. Brown (View Comment):

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    katievs (View Comment):

    Boot and Kristol and Rubin (whose brand of corruption is intellectual),

    If Pierre Omidyar is getting his money’s worth from Bulwark, intellectual corruption is one way to put it; I guess whores are corrupt.

    To be fair, the term is mercenaries, and a good mercenary performs according to the terms of his contract, properly paid. It is just business.

    The real problem with Kristol and the rest of them is that you start wondering whether all their work, including what you agreed with, was equally mercenary and that the “principles” were just window dressing. 

    • #27
  28. Ontheleftcoast Inactive
    Ontheleftcoast
    @Ontheleftcoast

    Instugator (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Valiuth (View Comment):
    he’s a filthy Trump supporter.

    Aren’t we all?

    I take a bath every day.

    –Quoting Rev Al Sharpton.

    “I deny the allegation and I deny the allegator”

    Likewise quoting the Rev.

    • #28
  29. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Hang On (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

     

    Not all of us. And there are others who have left Ricochet who also don’t support Trump like The Gold Tooth.

    Well that’s good news. Good to see the back of the likes. If only @Valiuth would follow. Nothing but tripe from him.

    And give you the satisfaction of having your safe space all to yourself? Never!! …maybe after the election in November I will mosey on out and stop paying Ricochet. Though if Biden wins it would be worth sticking around to keep posting inflammatory comments and posts rubbing the loss in your faces. Oh the joy of seeing the Republican party burned to the ground all their supporters gnashing their teeth in anguish. I’m all about the Trumpist tears now. Whatever it takes baby. Flight 93! Take my country back!  

    • #29
  30. katievs Inactive
    katievs
    @katievs

    Marco was on Fox this morning. I can’t say it inspired a lot of confidence. He sounds to me like a man who is pulling punches and hedging bets. I noted particularly that he seemed to want to shift responsibility for oversight of potential Obamagate crimes to the judiciary committee, as if it’s not in the purview of the Intelligence committee.

    • #30
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