Mediaboss Marketing

Brian Howey, Columnist Published 7:15 p.m. CT Nov. 26, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS The spooks eyes at the Londonskaya Hotel bar burned holes in me. Every time I glanced in his direction they were trained on me. I had entered Odessa, Ukraine as part of the last hurrah of Sen. Richard Lugars old Republican internationalist order in this pre-partitioned nation.

Brian Howey(Photo: Provided)

Vladimir Putin held only shadow power in the old Soviet remnants. His fractured standing belied a reeling nation, the former Soviet Union, in steep demographic decline. High rates of alcoholism, suicide and plunging birth rates defined this former empire. Donald Trump was a wannabe presidential aspirant who owned a couple of Gary riverboat casinos and a New York real estate empire.

It would have been impossible to foresee how this churn of events would play out a dozen years hence in Moscow, Kiev, Washington and even Indianapolis. The old Republican internationalist order that once thrived in Indiana has ended, begging the question in the emergent era of the Trumpian cult of personality, so what if it has?

The Indiana aspect of this story can be told through the hyper-supplicant Pences, with the Vice President accepting full ownership of that cult; Indianas two Republican senators, Mike Braun, who owes his station to Trump, and Todd Young, a former Lugar staffer who, had he taken a different career path, might have found himself briefing the Senate in a manner similar to Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman.

Last week Vindman, former Ukrainian ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, and State Department Ukrainian expert Dr. Fiona Hill testified before Congress of a disinformation campaign echoing Putins Kremlin that it was the Ukrainians, not the Russians, who meddled in the US 2016 elections. The Republican senators received a briefing on the Ukrainian fiction as multiple sources discredited the story.

In the wake of the sensational impeachment testimony which appears not to have swayed public opinion, the question for Hoosier voters remains, does it matter? Do people care? I dont think they do. Hoosier voters appear to be giving President Trump the benefit of the doubt, preferring to decide his future at the November 2020 ballot box.

Two recent polls in Indiana, the Old National/Ball State and the Bowen Center poll, put Trumps approval at 52%, while a Morning Consult poll had Trumps Indiana approval at 50%. While the perception is that Trump remains wildly popular in Indiana, particularly after he used the immigrant caravan and the Kavanagh hearings to help forge Sen. Brauns upset of Joe DonneLlly in 2018, another way to read this would-be Trump has faced a steep decline even in Indiana, given he won the state in 2016 with 59% of the vote. In 2018, Trump routinely drew capacity crowds on behalf of Braun, filling arenas with overflow crowds in Fort Wayne, Elkhart, Evansville, and Indianapolis. So the perception persists that he remains an outsized political force to be reckoned with. A national CNN/SRSS poll puts support for Trumps impeachmenrt at 50%, with 43% opposing. Neither figure has changed since October, with support for impeachment remaining at its highest level thus far in CNN polling.

Back in Odessa, Ukraine, HPI was confronted with a female beggar outside the Londonskaya hotel. We gave her American money and she threw it on the ground and spat on it. Americans were never very popular here. The question American voters may ponder heading into the 2020 elections is whether the cult of personality that is Trumpism is ultimately diminishing our standing in the world. Trump seems to think siding with Vladimir Putin is a politically expedient move.

Luga used this particular mission to Odessa to outfit Ukrainian Navy vessels with equipment that detects highly enriched uranium signatures on shipping entering ports like Odessa. He had the begrudging approval of Presidents Boris Yeltsin, Putin, Dmitri Medvedev and Bush41.

But its the Chinese who are poised to become a global powerhouse, particularly after Trump withdrew from the Trans Pacific Partnership, which would have cemented Western rule of law and economic norms in that sphere. Instead, Trump has opted for a trade war that does not promise resolution prior to the 2020 election, another factor that could impact his Indiana base of support.

What Hoosier voters should ponder is President Trump sidling up to the waning petro kleptocrasy despot of Putin and ask the question on whether the old international order matters.

HPI asked Sens. Young and Braun about the emerging and widely discredited Ukriane narrative pushed by The Kremlin and Trump White House. Braun did not respond to my inquiry. Young did, citing a Nov. 20, 2017 Brian Howey column, in which he said, President Trump said he believed Russian President Putin didnt meddle in the U.S. election.. I asked if Young believes Putin? No.1, theres something known as a diplomatic lie that is often deployed by sophisticated diplomats and leaders in furtherance of our national interest. Lets keep that in mind, he explained. No. 2, our intelligence community, which I trust, has indicated that Russia has hacked our elections. It never indicated that Russia has influenced our elections.

In a December 2018 Howey Poliiics Indiana Interview, Sen. Young said he generally trusts U.S. intelligence assessments. As a former Marine Corps intelligence officer, I've spent a lot of years relying on the work produce of our intelligence professionals. I trust their work product, Young responded to HPI questions about the gruesome dismemberment murder of Washington Post columnist and Indiana State University graduate Jamal Khashoggi. They don't always get it right but they're the best in the world. That informs my work on this and on other issues.

Young added, I'm always wanting to more information on what's going on in the world and the conversations that top leaders have. That will always be imperfect information I'll have. Vis-a-vis Russia, the Trump administration has been as vigilant as I can imagine with respect to their actual actions. President Trump and others in this administration, working with this Republican Congress, has sent heavy weaponry into Ukraine, to try and deter to the extent possible Russian encroachment. Clearly this president is a different sort of president than those I've served in my life time. That's one of the reasons the American people elected him. He communicates differently, he makes decisions differently. He wants to shape policy in different directions. I've not only accepted that, in many cases I embrace it.

One key final point: While U.S. ambassadorial class is in chagrin over Trumps protocol breaches, the masses dont appear to care. It may take a decade or more before we know if it matters.

The columnist is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana at http://www.howeypolitics.com. Find Howey on Facebook and Twitter @hwypol.

Read or Share this story: https://www.courierpress.com/story/opinion/2019/11/26/brian-howey-end-old-republican-internationalist-order/4314975002/

See the original post:
Brian Howey: The end of the old Republican internationalist order - Courier & Press

The election is over. The votes are in. The Virginia Legislature will now be free from Republican control for the first time in decades. Having the Democrats in control of all three branches of state government is NOT the end of the world, even if some readers seem to think so. Democrats are not perfect, but I have confidence that the newly elected majority will pursue policies which will do the most good for the most people.

Initiatives regarding education, gun safety, climate change/environmental protection, expanding health care to more residents, the ERA and many other areas which affect us all will now be debated and voted upon, rather than being smothered to death in Republican controlled committees. And maybe there can be needed corrections made in matters like gerrymandering, pay-day lending, and campaign finance reform.

Now the task for all of us is to free our country from the Party of Trump. The image of America and what it represents to its citizens and to the rest of the world has been steadily degraded over three years. The ongoing testimony from the impeachment hearings is showing that the intentions of this president are even more foul and corrupt than anyone would have imagined from an occupant of that office. What he did was not a simple quid pro quo, but more a situation of bribery/extortion, with implications for our National Security. Vladimer Putin must be delighted.

It is becoming clear that there may, in fact, be nothing that Trump wouldnt do to further his own personal interests. And he acts with impunity because no one will stop him. The silence of nearly the entire collection of elected Republicans to Trumps awful words and his crude, cruel, and dangerous actions has been shocking. They are choosing party over country.

Even worse, they have chosen him over country.

In the televised impeachment hearings, many Republicans have abandoned all sense of right and wrong, as they try to defend the indefensible. Meanwhile, the dear leader and his agents heap scorn on the military officers and career diplomats who have stepped forward to tell the truth.

To anyone, in the midst of all this, who still plans to vote Republican, I ask, Why? Years ago there were reasons people might do that, but what does the Republican Party stand for NOW? What good things has it done recently? Seriously.

In Frederick County, the myth of the Republican Party endures. At different polling sites on Election Day I heard too many voters ask, Which candidates are the Republicans? Thats who Im voting for.

How sad that so many remain tied to a party which, in spirit, no longer exists. What a loss for Virginia to not have Ronnie Ross, Irina Khanin, and Mavis Taintor in the Legislature to contribute their skills to the states leadership. Instead, the incumbent placeholders will continue to represent us.

And what a shame that Frederick County will not benefit from any new blood. We had the opportunity to elect 3 energetic, forward-thinking people Heidi David-Young, Steve Jennings, and John Lamanna to the Board of Supervisors. How exciting that would have been! Frederick County is on the cusp of another growth spurt. I do hope that the old guard is up to the task.

Kevin Kennedy is a resident of Frederick County.

Go here to see the original:
Open Forum: Does the Republican Party still exist? - The Winchester Star

Its not every day a fundraising email containsmore thanhyperbolic talking points.

But South Carolina state Rep. Nancy Mace, whos vying for the Republican nomination in one of the GOPs top pick-up opportunities for Congress next year, got a little more personal this week, offeringin an email to supporters to release her student records from The Citadel.

I got FOIAed, read the subject line.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee submitted a Freedom of Information Act request earlier this month for those records, but the Citadel determined they were protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and notified Mace of the request.

So Mace, the first woman to graduate from the military college, decided to use the episode to make a political point and released the records herself, while also taking the opportunity to raise money and build her own email list.

What the Democrats are trying to do to keep this seat is why people hate politics. Its time to teach Joe Cunningham, Nancy Pelosi and the DCCC a lesson about attacking Republican women, Mace wrote in the Tuesday night email.

Conducting opposition researchis a routine part of campaigns in both parties. At the same time, candidates often complain aboutoppo to make the case that theyre rising above politics as usual.

If youre going to go digging for dirt when I was 18, when I had one of the toughest challenges in my life personally, then have at it, Mace, 41, told CQ Roll Call on Wednesday. It says more about you and your tactics than it does about me.

National Democrats are working to defend freshman Rep. Joe Cunningham, who flipped a Charleston-area seat last fall. He was No. 3 on CQ Roll Calls ranking of the most vulnerable House members. His race is rated a Toss-up byInside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales.

The DCCC on Wednesday accused Mace of being a career politician whos pushed extreme ideas.

Now shes trying to fundraise off the fact that folks in the Lowcountry will learn shes only interested in adding to the partisanship in Washington instead of fighting for their interests, spokesman Avery Jaffe said in a statement.

Mace saidher campaign is not conducting oppositionresearch on Cunningham. But its not uncommon for that dirty work to be done by outside groups that use the information for attacks, while the candidates those groups support focus on telling positive stories about themselves.

Last cycle, for example, the super PAC tied to House GOP leadership attacked Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia using records that the GOP opposition research firm America Rising obtained through a Freedom of Information request. Those records included a confidential national security form known as Standard Form 86 (SF-86), which the Postal Service had improperly released to them.

Republicans have already taken personal shots at Cunningham. The National RepublicanCongressional Committee has mocked the congressman and his wife, for example, for seeking marriage counseling.

But Mace drew a distinction there since Cunninghams wife was the one who posted a video on Instagram about how their health care didnt cover the counseling sessions.

If your spouse does that, that opens themselves up to criticism, and I think theres an argument thats fair, Mace said.

Pressed on whether shed disavow ads from GOP outside groups that use opposition research or make personal attacks, Mace said she has a record of standing up to her own party.

Mace was a field and coalitions director during the 2016 campaign for President Donald Trump, whose request to Ukraine to investigate a politicalrival is now the subject of House impeachment proceedings. Trump carried South Carolinas 1st District by 11 points.

Asked about Trumps commentsthis summer that hedtake opposition research from a foreign government, Mace said she hadnt seen that statement.

I personally would never accept information from a foreign agent or foreign country, Mace said.

Maces email to supporters was written in the style of most fundraising emails, with erratic bolding,underlining and italics to try to drive attention to important points.

But it was unusually lengthy. She doesnt reveal that she requested her own records until the 17th paragraph.

Recipients of the email who click on the link to access her records had to first provide the campaign with their name and email address.

If you want to see my my private life, I want your email for it, Mace said when asked about that requirement.

The records, which are mostly transcripts and press releases about her academic achievement, dont reveal much that could be used against her. She earned mostly straight As her lowest grade was a C in physics and she was recommended for a commission despite being prescribed Ritalin for attention deficit disorder, which the letter said would normally make her ineligible.

Revealing that medical information, Mace said, was important to make her point.

Its sort of ridiculous the lengths that political operatives will go to hurt someone whos running for public office, Mace said. And its important to me to expose some of that, because its really ugly.

Shes submitted FOIA requests for all of her emails as a state legislator, paper copies of which she was planning to take to her local newspaper, The Charleston Post and Courier, this week.

Mace is no stranger to politics. She lost a Senate primary against Lindsey Graham in 2014 and ran a consulting firm with clients such as South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former Rep. Mick Mulvaney, whos now Trumps acting chief of staff.

Asingle mother to two children, Mace made national headlines earlier this year when she shared her own story ofrape on the state House floor to make the case for a rape and incest exception in an anti-abortion bill.

Mace will face a June primary. Shes been endorsed by New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the former NRCC recruitment chairwoman whos been trying to help GOP women through primaries. The anti-tax Club for Growth, which was on the opposite side of GOP womens groups in a high-profile primary earlier this year, has also backed Mace, who had raised $518,000 by the end of September.

Get breaking news alerts and more from Roll Call on your iPhone.

Go here to read the rest:
SC Republican tries to turn tables on oppo research and raise money, too - Roll Call

Beijing (AFP)

The Chinese billionaire behind teen phenomenon TikTok is a 36-year-old tech guru whose eye for youth trends and pioneering use of AI has blasted the app to global success -- while working hand-in-glove with censors to control content within China.

Zhang Yiming's Beijing-based startup Bytedance owns TikTok, whose kaleidoscopic feeds of 15 to 60-second clips feature everything from hair-dye tutorials to dance routines and jokes about daily life.

Since launching in 2017, TikTok has been downloaded more than 1.5 billion times, according to US-based research agency Sensor Tower. It has huge followings in India, the US, Indonesia and elsewhere.

But its rise has raised security fears and last month two senior US senators called for a government review of the app, saying it could leave users vulnerable to spying by Beijing.

Bytedance, which Zhang founded in 2012, prides itself on using artificial intelligence to personalise newsfeeds according to users' interests.

The company has had "huge and immediate success" because it pays close attention to its young users, said Bo Ji, assistant dean for the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

"The new generation... want to share their real feelings, whether good or bad. They are more direct and expressive," he said.

TikTok is Bytedance's most popular overseas app, while its other products in China and abroad include news aggregators and productivity tools.

Together they have taken Zhang -- a programmer before he became a businessman -- to the highest echelons of China's billionaire club.

In 2019, he was listed in the top 20 of the Hurun China Rich List with $13.5 billion in wealth, surpassing more established tech tycoons, such as the founder of search giant Baidu.

Zhang's fortunes were given a huge boost with Bytedance's 2017 acquisition of lip-syncing video app Musical.ly -- later merged with TikTok -- in a deal reportedly worth as much as $1 billion.

"Mr Zhang is unusual Chinese entrepreneur," said Bo.

"He built something for the world; he understands the young people and their psychology."

- Disruptive technology -

Liu Xingliang, dean of the DCCI research centre, told AFP that Zhang represents a new wave of entrepreneurs and a different breed to China's most famous tycoon, Alibaba's Jack Ma.

He is "more like a young Pony Ma," Liu said, comparing Zhang to the 48-year-old co-founder of Chinese internet giant Tencent.

This is because Zhang "used to be a programmer, paid more attention to products, and knew technology well", he said.

Bytedance also operates a Chinese version of TikTok, called Douyin. It is the top short video app in China, with over 400 million monthly active users, according to iResearch.

Douyin, launched in 2016, attracted users by bringing on board top celebrities like Chinese actor and singer Kris Wu.

But Bytedance's first flagship product was the immensely popular Chinese news aggregation app Jinri Toutiao, or "today's headlines".

"(Toutiao) has changed Chinese reading habits... they will know what you like to watch, and you will have the things you like to see recommended to you,' said Liu.

Aside from TikTok, Bytedance also runs TopBuzz in the US, an English-language news aggregation app that the company was reportedly trying to sell in September.

In 2016 it became a controlling stakeholder of BaBe, an Indonesian news app with more than 30 million downloads since its launch in October 2013.

Productivity app and Slack-competitor Lark is Bytedance's latest product, which features cloud storage, chat and calendar functions.

And according to recent reports, the company is also planning to launch its own music streaming service to compete with subscription models like Spotify and Apple.

- Chinese censorship -

In mainland China Bytedance employs thousands of censors to scrub out inappropriate content in its domestic platforms -- at a significant cost to the company.

It reportedly hired 2,000 censors in January 2018 after Beijing accused its news aggregation app of "spreading pornographic and vulgar information".

It then promised to increase its internal censorship staff to 10,000 after being temporarily banned by the government in a widening content crackdown.

Censorship is common in China where the internet is tightly controlled.

But going global has brought its own censorship challenges for TikTok, which is blocked in Bangladesh and was briefly banned by an Indian court over claims it was promoting pornography among children.

It was also hit with an enormous fine in the US for illegally collecting information from children.

One TikTok video that went viral this week contained criticism -- hidden within a clip that appeared to offer tips on eyelash curling -- of China's mass detention of Muslims in its Xinjiang region.

A Twitter account apparently belonging to the same teenager who posted the video said she had been suspended "for trying to spread awareness" -- a claim disputed by the app. The video was readily available on TikTok Wednesday.

TikTok has sought to distance itself from China, saying in October that it is "not influenced by any foreign government, including the Chinese government."

But US senators have warned in a letter that TikTok's owner ByteDance could be forced to share user information with Chinese intelligence, and could also be used to influence upcoming US elections.

2019 AFP

See the original post:
Bytedance: The Chinese company behind global TikTok craze - FRANCE 24

This appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post.

- - -

U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday eviscerated the Trump administration's lawless intransigence in a ruling that was as sharp as it should have been predictable. No, former White House counsel Donald McGahn is not "absolutely immune from compelled congressional testimony." No, President Donald Trump cannot prevent McGahn from responding to legal congressional subpoenas. "Compulsory appearance by dint of a subpoena is a legal construct, not a political one, and per the Constitution, no one is above the law," the judge wrote.

Previous presidents and congressional leaders have found ways to defuse disputes. George Washington and Ronald Reagan turned overdocuments to congressional investigators. During Barack Obama's presidency, Congress held then-Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.in contempt when he failed to respond to a congressional subpoena in the overhyped investigation of the "Fast and Furious" gun-running scheme, but the two sides eventually worked out a compromise that prevented lengthy litigation. President George W. Bush asserted broad "absolute" authorities to ignore Congress until a federal district judge rejected them and, again, the two sides struck a deal that mooted the case. Compromises have been found before courts could anoint victors with finality, preserving the possibility for healthy give-and-take between the branches.

Trump has evinced no interest in compromise. In a pugnacious Oct. 8 letter, White House counsel Pat Cipollone declared a policy of total noncooperation with the House impeachment inquiry, essentially arguing that the president gets to decide when congressional proceedings are legitimate and, therefore, when to respect - and when to ignore - Congress' legal orders. In the McGahn case, the Trump Justice Department appears determined to appeal Judge Jackson's ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

It should find no solace there. Though past presidents have at times claimed "absolute" authorities and immunities relative to Congress or the judiciary, there is scant caselaw evaluating such sweeping assertions - and little in the American constitutional tradition suggesting that the executive is an unaccountable branch of government. Rather than appeal, the administration should respect American tradition and comply with valid congressional subpoenas.

Meanwhile, potential witnesses with knowledge relevant to the House Intelligence Committee investigation on Ukraine, whether subpoenaed or not, should testify - among them acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former national security adviser John Bolton. They likely could clarify precisely why Trump suddenly halted military aid to Ukraine and what the president was demanding in exchange for its resumption. If the president has not abused his power for personal political gain - and if these officials are not complicit - why are they so reluctant to tell their side of the story?

Link:
'No one is above the law' - Greenwich Time