Why Is #MoscowMitch Trending So Strongly On Twitter?

Former Florida congressman, former Republican Party hack, former Trumpanzee amigo Joe Scarborough first pounded and pounded and pounded on the term "Moscow Mitch" on his MSNBC morning show this past Friday. If you missed it, watch what may well wind up being an historic television moment in the video clip above.

You have Robert Mueller, a lifelong Republican, the most respected FBI director in the history of this country, a Vietnam War hero, a guy who made the U.S. Army Rangers Hall of Fame, a guy who said "Russia is trying to invade Americ right now"... Moscow Mitch says it's a hoax. You have his own Intelligence Committee in the Senate, led by Republican Richard Burr, saying that Russia tried to infiltrate all 50 states in 2016 and is going to it again. Moscow Mitch calls it a hoax. You have the Republican, Trump-appointed FBI director saying that the Russians infiltrated America's democracy and are going to try again. Moscow Mitch calls it a hoax. You have the Director of National Intelligence saving that the Russians tried to infiltrate our election system, tried to subvert American democracy [and] they're going to try it again. Moscow Mitch said it's a hoax. You have Trump's appointed director of the CIA saying that the Russians are trying to undermine American democracy, that the Russians tried in '16 [and] will try again. Moscow Mitch calls it a hoax. You have military intel community knowing-- because they were fighting the Russians in 2015-2016 and are still fighting them everyday to stop they from continuing to infiltrate American democracy... Moscow Mitch says it's a hoax. I understand that there's an oligarch that;'s going to be setting up a big aluminum plant in Moscow Mitch's home state...

"What am I supposed to call him," Scarborough continued, all worked up into a self-righteous rage, "Cocaine Mitch?... He's Moscow Mitch! He is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin's on-going attempts to subvert American democracy according to the Republican FBI, CIA, DNI, Intel Committee... all Republicans-- are all saying Russia is subverting American democracy and Moscow Mitch won't even let the Senate take a vote on it. That is unAmerican!

McConnell is under fire-- and not just by Scarborough. Reporting for the New Republic, Seth Hettena, author of Trump/Russia: A Definitive History wrote on Thursday that close to the end of Mueller's day of testimony, Raja Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, "got Mueller to admit that the FBI currently has an ongoing investigation involving false statements by Michael Flynn, President Trump’s short-lived national security advisor... The job of FBI counterintelligence was and is to neutralize the threat posed by foreign intelligence-- which, in this case, means dealing with what the special counsel’s report called Russia’s 'sweeping and systematic' effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. But the investigation’s low visibility shouldn’t diminish its importance, which is no less than a probe into whether the president himself was acting on behalf of Russia’s interests.

The FBI, as the lead agency for exposing, preventing, and investigating intelligence activities on U.S. soil, sent officials with the bureau’s Counterintelligence Division to meet regularly with members of the special counsel’s team. For more than a year, FBI agents were embedded in Mueller’s office. Their purpose, according to a little-noticed section of the special counsel’s report, was “to review the results of the investigation and to send-- in writing-- summaries of foreign intelligence and counterintelligence information to FBIHQ and FBI Field Offices.” But not all of the information in those summaries appeared in Mueller’s final report.

...While Mueller may not have found enough evidence to support criminal charges over the Trump campaign’s ties to the Russian government, there is little doubt that the president’s behavior toward Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, poses a threat to national security. A criminal president is obviously a threat to the nation, but so is a president who can’t or won’t respond to the ongoing threat of foreign interference.

Mueller said Wednesday that Russia’s efforts to interfere in U.S. elections were occurring “as we sit here,” and he almost seemed to regret that the danger posed by Russia wasn’t more strongly emphasized in his report. “Over the course of my career, I’ve seen a number of challenges to our democracy,” Mueller said. “The Russian government’s effort to interfere in our election is among the most serious.”

Mueller warned that during the coming presidential election, the U.S. would face an even bigger threat than the one he investigated. “Many more countries are developing the capability to replicate what the Russians have done,” he said.

“This deserves the attention of every American,” said Mueller, reiterating a plea from his brief May 29 press conference.

But attention will not likely come from Trump. During last month’s G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, the president treated the threat to the 2020 election as an opportunity to further bond with his Russian counterpart. Responding to a reporter’s question, Trump playfully pointed his finger at Putin and said, “Don’t meddle in the election.” Putin just laughed.

The president might think that the ongoing Russian effort to interfere in American democracy is still a big joke. Here’s hoping the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division still doesn’t.

Looking for something to do August 12th? Bring a Russian flag

What's this all have to do with McConnell and why #MoscowMitch is a thing. McConnell blocked Obama from going public with the information about Russia trying to steal the election in real time while it was happening. (I bet Obama is sorry he was such a woos and paid any attention to the treasonous McConnell.) And now McConnell is preventing the Senate from even voting on legislation from preventing Russian meddling again in 2020. Schumer, too scared to refer to McConnell as Moscow Mitch, said, not-memorably this week, "We are not going to let Leader McConnell put the bills passed by the House into his legislative graveyard without a fight. You're going to hear from us on this issue over and over again." The Senate Democrats are such a bunch of pussies they deserve this kind of non-leadership. But we don't.

At least Wyden (D-OR) publicly called McConnell "Russia's biggest ally" and Durbin (D-IL) accused him of "abdicating his responsibility to protect American democracy so he can protect a President who unravels it day-by-day."

Miss McConnell MoscowMitch, with as straight a face as a compulsive liar and lifelong closet case can ever have, claimed the legislation he blocked was "partisan." One bill requires the use of paper ballots and the other mandates that candidates and campaign officials notify the FBI of assistance offers from foreign governments. That could only sound "partisan" to traitors working for a foreign pay-master.

I hate to see the endearing term "McTurtle" disappear, but... because it's Mitch McConnell, we're talking about, there's got to be even more money changing hands. And, sure enough, Nicole Goodkind's report last week for Newsweek covered that:

"McConnell said he wouldn't allow a vote on the bills because they were 'so partisan,' but, as previously reported, earlier this year McConnell received a slew of donations from four of the top voting machine lobbyists in the country," wrote Goodkind. "The plans would likely burden the two largest electronic voting machine vendors in the United States, Election Systems & Software and Dominion Voting Systems, with new regulations and financial burdens. Together, the companies make up about 80 percent of all voting machines used in the country and both have far-reaching lobbying arms in Washington D.C. Many of those lobbyists have contributed to the McConnell campaign, reported Sludge last month, an investigative outlet that focuses on money in politics."

"It's not surprising to me that Mitch McConnell is receiving these campaign contributions," the Brennan Center for Justice's Lawrence Norden told Sludge last month. "He seems single-handedly to be standing in the way of anything passing in Congress around election security, and that includes things that the vendors might want, like money for the states to replace antiquated equipment."

McConnell's actions seemed even more out of balance with his party, as the Senate Intelligence Committee⁠—led by Republicans⁠—released a report later on Thursday claiming Russians have targeted voting systems in all 50 states in 2016. Though there was no evidence votes were changed, in Illinois "Russian cyberactors were in a position to delete or change voter data."

Laughably, most Senate Republican zombies are absolutely behind McConnell on this; in other words: traitors. Last month it was Tennessee traitor Marsha Blackburn. This time it was Mississippi traitor Cindy Hyde-Smith-- who blocked two election protection bills and cybersecurity legislation on the Senate floor right after Mueller’s testimony and then dismissed the storm of criticism she got as nothing more than "political theater." Other Republicans are claiming it's too late to do anything for 2020 and they should focus on protecting the voting systems for the 2022 midterms and just let "nature" take its course for 2020; Oklahoma Republican James Lankford leads that camp.