Posts by Russell Brown
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Well, the "Trump Dossier" story just moved on a bit. The WSJ reports that the key source (whether he knew it or not) looks like it may be Russian Trump booster and "businessman" Sergei Millian.
The Financial Times covered Millian as a probable intermediary between the Trump campaign and Russian back in November.
Mother Jones has a useful backgrounder which notes, among many other things:
Millian seemed delighted to spin for Trump and push the impression he was a Trump insider. During the Republican convention, he told the Daily Beast that Trump was a "powerful, charismatic, and highly intelligent leader with a realistic approach toward Russia." He added, "I, personally, wholeheartedly support his presidential aspirations. It's been a great pleasure representing Mr. Trump's projects in Russia." But weeks later, as the Russia hacking controversy was heating up, Millian, in another exchange with the Daily Beast, downplayed his connection to Trump. And the website reported that after its reporter spoke him, Millian removed mentions of his Trump association from an online biography. It also appears that references to the Trump Organization working with the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce in the USA were at some point scraped from its website.
The Trump camp is now claiming Trump and Millian have met only once and barely know each other.
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This from Josh Marshall nails it.
The Trump White House not only leaks like crazy. It casually leaks the most intimate and humiliating details about the President - hurt feelings, ego injury, childlike behavior, self-destructive rages over tweets, media failure to credit his own grandiosity. We have simply never seen this level of leaking, with this little respect for the President's dignity or reputation, this early.
The faithful will blame the liberal media even harder, but the truth is, it's going to be a shitshow in the media because it's a shitshow inside the tent, from well before day one. These people are going to stab each other to pieces.
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Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Sure, and practically this is a perfect time and place to be doing some stress testing on a general election ground game. Turn Mount Albert into a giant focus ground, and at least get some bang for your time and effort.
Yes, and see it as a next step from Roskill and the local body campaign (the latter undertaken jointly with the Greens, of course). I do think they perceive that they're onto something, doubtless to their relief.
And while I realise that there are local claims on the nomination, I'd be delighted to see Deborah Russell standing for Labour in New Lynn. There are many Auckland electorates outside the South that don't and won't fancy Labour, but there are quite a few they can get momentum in.
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Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Sacha,
Flowery is not compelling. Speaking clearly in a way that connects with what is important to voters is a basic political competence. Somebody had better be coaching Little to repeat key points and themes whether or not it feels natural to his cautious lawyerly self to do so.
Stop him immediately qualifying his answers in interviews is the main one, I reckon.
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Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Mr Mark,
This in a seat that Farrar has already loudly proclaimed one of “Labour’s” safest (in fact, it’s a Shearer stronghold, not a Labour one. Labour received just 29% of the Party-Vote at the last Election).
So you can imagine the media headlines. Potentially, at least, an own goal for the Left. Hope not, but fear it may be.
I think Labour knows that, but they see a way forward in how Roskill went – which is traditional, door-knocking campaigning.
I also think that there will be National/Shearer voters who will take the same approach to Ardern. The problem Labour has to address in Auckland for the general election is persuading those voters to confer their party votes too.
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Hard News: The next four years, in reply to Emma Hart,
The Women’s March have put out a Ten actions for the First 100 Days.
This is another big difference from Occupy, which insisted on having no defined goals.
Well, that and the blessed absence of fucking V for Vendetta masks on the march.
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Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Sigh – clearly the most important thing is how he appears. Not content.
Presentation is part of politics. As irksome as it may seem, Helen Clark's political stocks rose after she got styled.
But it's not only appearance: being able to speak and present your ideas engagingly is vital.
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Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Deborah,
Something else that was interesting was that there are a lot of younger activists getting involved.
Yes. I’ve been to local Labour events that have had the distinct feel of God’s Waiting Room.
Jacinda had a team of mainly young people lined up to go doorknocking after the speech.
That was a great move. It said “It starts now! Who’s with me?”
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Hard News: The next four years, in reply to Tom Semmens,
The women’s march appealed to so many because Trump’s culture of rampant sexism affects women of every class everywhere, be they pretty young scions of the middle class being condescended to in the law firm or a middle aged woman working in diner putting up with emboldened truck drivers. That broad appeal gave them mass.
I was at the Auckland march and the range of issues aired by speakers was considerably wider than that. Tracey Barnett spoke largely about refugees, for example.
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Hard News: Taking the stage in Mount Albert, in reply to Brent Jackson,
Aren’t those odds 100% now? Whoever wins the by-election will become the MP for Mt Albert.
Ha. Right. I meant, y'know, Labour MP, as they've all been.
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