Ruth's Report: Ava and C.I. cover the handsome Alan Ritchson while Hillary sinks into her own cesspool

Ava and C.I.'s "TV: REACHER, IN FROM THE COLD, PEACEMAKER and AMEND: THE FIGHT FOR AMERICA" is a must read. And I am so glad they included this:

REACHER stars Alan Ritchson and, we're not complaining, his curvy butt -- continuing a tradition dating back to at least TITANS on which he played Hawk and, let's not forget, it's the same hot ass that Simon Cowell reached for when Alan sang "You Are The Sunshine of My Life" to Paula Abdul on AMERICAN IDOL. The six-foot-two-inch actor registers a very strong physical impression. Maybe that's why his acting hasn't gotten the acclaim it deserves?

REACHER is an action-adventure series built around the character of Jack Reacher from the Lee Child novels. Reacher was trained in the military and is now out (of the military -- out of the military only, be great if we had a gay action character as a lead in an AMAZON series). He gets into various scraps in the novels, in the films starring Tom Cruise and now in the AMAZON series.

It's not an acting role, not on the page. You have to fill it out and that's especially true in the series. They've given him so damn little in the script and apparently wrote it for a 70s Charles Bronson. Again, the world needs -- now -- both love and to grow the hell up. Fortunately, Alan's smart enough to bring his own style -- which is more than current -- into the role and breathe life into it. He floods it with charm and a warmth that cold, inexpressive (to the point of wooden) Bronson never could.

That's important because, as hot as Alan is, as Shirley MacLaine says in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, "Gorgeous isn't everything." If Alan was just coasting on his looks, we'd still be thrilled with the shower scene he has with Willa Fitzgerald (Roscoe) but we wouldn't really care if the two made it beyond one quick hump. We also wouldn't care about the death of his brother. That's the event that keeps him in a town he was just wondering through. And the script doesn't provide Alan with much but he brings out the pain in looks, in varying his vocal reactions and in his body tension. Yes, Alan is something to look at, to marvel over, but, if you pay attention, you also see he's also a very strong actor.

I am old enough to be Alan Ritchson's mother -- maybe even his grandmother But even my ancient eyes can see that he is ''smoking!'' as Jim Carey says in THE MASK. :D REACHER is a show worth watching for many reasons but especially to get lost in Mr. Ritchson. He looks like a movie star. He is just amazing.

Now to another man. Dick Morris is not someone I ever found attractive. I did find him puzzling and could not understand why President Bill Clinton kept bringing Mr. Morris back into the fold?

I still do not understand it. But clearly former President Clinton trusted Mr. Morris' judgement.

Reader Weldon e-mailed and asked me to take a look at that video. Thank you for that, Weldon. I am sharing it here. Mr. Morris is correct, it is appalling what Hillary Clinton did. I am appalled for Ms. Clinton. I supported her 2008 run. I would never have guessed she could be that corrupt. Spying on President Donald Trump when he was in the White House.

I think terms like ''treason'' may need to be raised. Clearly, she -- bare minimum -- led and participated in a criminal conspiracy. What she did is disgusting. She needs to be brought up on charges.

I am embarrassed for her.

This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:

Monday, February 14, 2022. Forget the grapevine, if you heard it through the US media, you probably heard it wrong.

Dropping back to the February 4th snapshot, we'll note this:

The White House issued the following:

Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place. Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation. I will deliver remarks to the American people later this morning. May God protect our troops.

###

Margaret Kimberley rightly Tweets:

This is BS. Poll numbers dropping, Ukraine hoax stalled, 2,000+ covid deaths per day. What to do? Easy. Find an Arab, claim he was an ISIS leader and kill him and his family. Later the story changed to say he blew himself up. Don't believe that either. #Bogus

9:47 AM · Feb 3, 2022

This is how bad things have gotten for Joe Biden, he's aping Bully Boy Bush and hoping that somehow this helps him look good.

ISIS is not followers with one mighty leader. ISIS exists to be a headless snake. Is the White House not getting that reality or are they hoping the American people are too stupid to grasp it?

Today, Steve Sweeney offers his take at MORNING STAR:

Quraishi was detained at the camp after US forces picked him up in Mosul, Iraq in January 2008, although details of the operation are scant.

In a press release at the time, US forces claimed to have captured “a wanted individual believed to be the deputy leader of al-Qaida in Iraq for the network operating in the city.”

It added that Quraishi — known by the alternative name Amir Muhammad Said Abd al-Rahman al-Mawla — had “previously served as a judge of an illegal court system involved in ordering and approving abductions and executions.”

During interrogations by US intelligence services he gave the names of some 88 individuals, some of whom he said were key figures in Isis. He gave the organisational positions of 64 of them, detailing their responsibilities in the legal, military security, media and administrative branches of the organisation.

In one document he appears to offer an affidavit, testifying against 20 named individuals and identifying illegal activities including kidnappings, assassinations and attacks on coalition forces.

He also gave information about the structure of the jihadist organisation completing “a line and block chart” showing the names and positions of 40 individuals. This information is believed to have led to 39 of them being killed by US forces.

It is clear that Quraishi was useful to the US. The level of detailed information he shared makes him a US asset, or at the very least an informant. The nature of the operation to take him out — which Turkey was not told about in advance — poses more questions than it answers.

Was he killed by US operatives as he had served his purpose or because of fears his role and links to Washington could be exposed?

Is it really conceivable that both he and his predecessor Baghdadi were simply released into the wilds and allowed to find their way to the very top position in Isis without being tracked or monitored by US intelligence services?

It seems highly unlikely.

Just as it stretches credibility to suggest that the attack on the prison in Hasakah province could have been planned and carried out in an area teeming with US soldiers and intelligence without Washington’s knowledge.

It would represent the biggest intelligence failure since the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon if this was also missed.

In other news, "It's not the end of the world." So declared Hoshyar Zebari yesterday as Iraq's Supereme Court issued a ruling on whether or not he could run for president. Feburary 7th, the Parliament was supposed to vote on the presidency per the country's Constituion. Instead, they postponed the vote because they did not have enough members attending the session. Zebari belongs to the KDP party which had teamed with Moqtada al-Sadr to form a coalition. Moqtada's coalition voycotted the session because the 2016 charges against Hoshyar were revived. Back then, he'd been in government forever and a day. He'd served in the Cabinets consequetively since 2016. In fact, in 2011, he held two Cabinet posts. In 2016, charges of corruption brought an end to the career of Hillary Clinton's closet friend and ally in Iraq. Four years later, th KDP foolishly thought he was the one to go with to take the presidency. They didn't factor in that the charges would be brought back up. But theyw ere and they have derailed his campaign. PRESS TV notes:

The court said in a statement that a decision by parliament to accept his presidential bid was incorrect as the 68-year-old Kurdish politician did not fulfill the conditions for nomination stipulated in the country's constitution. It also barred him from running for the post in the future, the official Iraq News Agency reported on Sunday.

“We were surprised by our exclusion from our right to nominate,” Zebari said in a news conference following the ruling.

“We respect the judiciary, but I have the right to say that there has been injustice and arbitrariness in the decision.”

The oint of Hoshyar was to claim the presidency. In the past, it has been held by a Kurd from the PUK party (the prty of the Talabanis). However, the October 10th election saw the continued eroision of the PUK. They are no longer a major political party. So why should they hold the post? The KDP thought Hoshyar would be the easiest way to defeat Barham Salih (PUK member and the current president of Iraq) because Zebari was not just a national figure, he was an international figure. They also assumed that, as a long standing member of Parliament, he would be a safe and popular choice to both Iraq and the international community. They underestimated Nouri al-Maliki.

Former prime miniser and forever thug Nouri is known for his paranoia. It's why Bully Boy Bush installed him as prime minister in 2006 -- the CIA assessment noted his high degree of paranoia and that this could be used to manipulate Nouri for US interests.

We have repeatedly noted the 2010 Erbil Agreement that gave Nouri his second term. The voters didn't want that and made it clear in March of 2010. But Nouri refused to step down. Eight months later, in November of 2010, the voters were tossed aside via the US overseen Erbil Agreement.

Nouri used the contract to get a second term and then he walked away from it claiming it was illegal. The other parties insisted otherwise. Well . . . most of them. The KDP was among those insisting that Nouri honor that contract or face a no-confidence vote in Parliament. Ayad Allawi, Moqtada al-Sadr, Amir al-Hakim and many others insisted the contract be honored. One political group didn't. The same group tha theld the presidency: the PUK. And when the others gathered the needed signatures to hold a no-confidence vote per the Constitituion, Jalal Talabani did what?

Well he didn't follow the Constitution. He created new poers for himself that included the right to toss the petition out. He didn't have that power. He only had the power to introdcue it (read it into the record). Then Jalal high talied it out of Iraq claiming emergency surgery. His life was at risk! It was electibe surgery on his knee. Liar. And karma bit him in his fat ass when six months later, as he had a very loud verbal argument with Nouri, he collapsed from a stroke that he would never recover from.

The PUK has sided with Nouri in the past. And they've sided with him again re: the October 10th elections. While Moatada has claimed victory -- with the press agreeing -- his wins are not enough to put together a government. As he's dithered, Nouri has built his own coaltiion. A war of attrition is how Nouri sees any political battle and he uses old techniques. The issues regarding Zebari? Not all that different from how Nouri tried to derail Saleh al-Mutlaq back in the '00s.

If you don't know (or remember) his playbook, the last months have probably been very confusing. If you do know them, you've seen Nouri launch one counter-measure after another and marveled over how out of it and ignorant Moqtada is.

The shine is off Moqtada, he's no longer a fresh rose. To those watching, he looks like a bumbling fool and that's one of the many points that Nouri's tryied to establish: Moqtada's not up for the power so many are rushing to gift him with. Moqtada, of course, hates Nouri from years back. Nouri was brought to power ty the US governmetn and had the arrest warrant for Moqtada that the US government sought. He repeatedly threatened Moqtada with it. When threatened, Moqtada would usually flee to Iran. In addition, in early 2008, Nouri declared all out war on Moqtada's cult/followers with two battles. (Yes, these battles were supposed to be a joint-US operation but, remember, Nouri jump-started them ahead of the US' planned start date.)

The two are and have been bitter rivals. If that's news to you, you've spent way too much time reading the US press in the last year.

Maybe you caught Jason Beausbien on NPR yesterday with his ridiculous claims:

MARTIN: You know, it's been four months since the elections, but there's still no agreement on a prime minister or a cabinet. Would you explain what's going on?

BEAUBIEN: This is still a young political system. Even today, the supreme court disqualified the leading candidate for the presidency, and that's just for a mainly ceremonial role. Iraq's parliament is divided. That no party got a majority in that last round of elections. The main winner, however, was the populous Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. His party got the largest bloc of votes of anyone. Many people might remember Sadr's militia. It was known for fighting fiercely against U.S. troops. But he's moderated to some degree now, and he's seen as sort of the counterbalance to a lot of the political forces here that are aligned with Iran. And he really looks like the kingmaker at the moment, but he's been driving a hard bargain over sharing power, over how to form a new government.

It's a young political system. Just stop whoring. Moqtada's "moderated"? Stop lying.

Two-bit whores belong on street coerners, not in front of microphones. NEWSWEEK carries a column by Shayan Talabany and Jemima Shelley:

On Feb. 13, 2020, Iraqi streets were awash with pink and purple. In response to influential Islamist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's allegations of "promiscuity" by protesters in popular country-wide protests, women's rights activists donned pink and purple items of clothing to demonstrate their right to be heard in Iraq's male-dominated political arena.

This was two years ago, but today the legacy of the Tishreen (October) movement that precipitated the women's march is as important than ever. It revitalized the history of women-led struggles in Iraq, largely overlooked by the West, and inspired a politically active new generation who are determined to change Iraq for the better.

Despite years of various anti-government protests around the country dating back to 2011, the Tishreen movement that erupted in 2020 was larger than any other protest movement Iraq had seen in recent history. This organic movement represented the sentiments of a large segment of Iraqi society opposed to Iraq's systemic corruption, and sectarian and paternalistic political system that has failed to meet political and economic demands. Iraqi women became integral to its success.

I don't know who the bigger bitch is: Moqtada or Jason?

Moqtada isn't moderate. And his attack on women in 2020 was not a minor thing. Some foolish people e-mail this site about those protesters and tell me that o'of course Sunnis don't like Moqtada.' I'm sorry your media system has failed you and taught you lies about Russia and nothing about Iraq. But The October Revolution had nothing to do with SUnnis. That was Shi'te youngsters. Sunnis weren't a part of it. That was Shi'ites calling out Moqtada. And when he tried to dismiss women, the protesters foguht back and they turned out with signs mocking him. It showed clearly the generational break with Moqtada.

Now the US media couldn't tell you that because they kept turning to Whore of Baghdad Jane Arraf and, as a result, they were ignoring women. In October of 2020, we were pointing out there tha the big story was the number of women at these protests and how the US press was ignoring them.

Moqtada didn't ignore them. He condemened the women for being there and he condemned the men for protesting wit them.

In a previous time, he might have gotten away with it.

But in 2020, he didn't.

And that was a big story . . . unless you were a US outlet.

They never know what's happening because they choose to stay ignorant.

On the presidency, ALJAZEERA adds:

In a separate decision the Federal Court said that President Barham Salih, who is also running for a second term, will continue in his position until a new president is elected.

The court decision is a blow to populist Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who was the biggest winner in the October parliamentary election. He had vowed to quickly push through a government that could exclude Iranian allies.

Sadr, along with the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) of which Zebari is a member, and an alliance of Sunni Muslim lawmakers had supported Zebari's bid for president.

Shelly Kittleson (AL-MONITOR) reports, "The deaths of several soldiers in the western Anbar desert and attacks further south in the same province have drawn attention to the vast expanses that were long a hideout for insurgents." ARAB NEWS notes, "The polls were marred by record-low turnout, post-election threats and violence, and a delay of several months until final results were confirmed." And THE NATIONAL points out, "Some members of the Coordination Framework, including MP Alia Nsayyif, who is allied to former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki, have warned that violence could break out if government formation did not reflect their claimed electoral gains."

A new slate of candidates will have to be proposed. That's not how it had to be. The KDP quickly came up with an alternate to Zebari last week, should the Court (as they did on Sunday) rule him out of running. But a non-Moqtada-friendly Parliament has said, "Nope, scratch it all, we're starting over." But, hey, let's all be the US media and pretend like Moqtada's running something in Iraq.

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