Hello 'Pussy' it's Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Pippi Longstocking:
John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A.
director, described on Tuesday a nerve-fraying few months last year as
American authorities realized that the presidential election was under
attack and feared that your campaign might be aiding that fight.
Mr.
Brennan, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, said he
was concerned by a series of suspicious contacts between Russian
government officials and your associates.
Should I remain in bed, leave my country or fight against the dragon?
( see also the story by Wolfgang Hampel,
' Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say ' )
Betty and Don MacDonald in Hollywood
Betty MacDonald's mother Sydney with grandchild Alison Beck
Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
if you know who is this very beautiful lady send us her name, please.
Deadline: May 31, 2017
Do you have any books by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen with funny or interesting dedications?
If so would you be so kind to share them.
Our next Betty MacDonald fan club project is a collection of these unique dedications.
If you share your dedication from your Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard Jensen collection you might be the winner of our new Betty MacDonald fan club items.
Thank you so much in advance for your support.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
This very new Betty MacDonald biography includes all the results we got during a very successful Betty MacDonald fan club research which started in 1983.
You'll be able to find unique Betty MacDonald treasures in our Betty MacDonald biography.
Betty MacDonald biography includes for example interviews with Betty MacDonald, her family and friends.
We got many letters by Betty MacDonald and other family members even very important original ones.
Our goal is to publish a Betty MacDonald biography that shows all the details of Betty MacDonald's life and work but also to present her fascinating siblings.
Dear Betty MacDonald fan club fans let us know please what you are interested most in a future Betty MacDonald biography.
We are working on a Who is who? in Betty MacDonald's books.
Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shared her unique memories in these treasure interviews with Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
Don't miss Vita Magica on May 30th, please.
There are several writers reading stories about their Heidelberg experiences and you'll be able to hear the original very famous Heidelberg songs.
Betty MacDonald influenced many writers, artists and fans to move to Washington State.
They adore her books and her unique descriptions of nature.
Patricia Longhi is one of many examples.
What are the reasons so many people love Evergreen State?
Don't miss the very interesting article below.
Posted in Washington May 03, 2017
11 Completely Absurd Reasons To Love Washington
Yes, Washington is breathtakingly beautiful… and our scenery is diverse… and our produce is second to none. That being said, when you live in the Evergreen State long enough, you start to love it for its quirks. You develop quite a sense of humor about your home, and when people ask what you adore so much about it, you can hardly contain yourself.Even if you don’t agree with these 11 reasons to love Washington, you must admit they’re valid, if not a bit silly.
see article below
That's such a great story of Vashon Islander Kay Longhi.
Don't miss this very interesting story, please.
Reading this delightful story I'd like to move to Vashon Island.
Islander Kay Longhi and her twin sister were only 6 years old when they moved to Vashon from Chicago in the 1950s, but Longhi, now in her 60s and still living on Vashon, can vividly recall the move and the events leading up to it.
The decision to leave the Midwest was made by Longhi’s mother, Patricia Longhi, who Kay said was tired of living in cities and longed for the same kind of authenticity she witnessed on childhood vacations to a farm in Maine. Patricia found that opportunity in a 1954 radio interview with infamous island author Betty MacDonald.
“Arthur Godfrey interviewed Betty MacDonald on his radio program. She talked about her book ‘Onions in the Stew,’ and it intrigued Mother,” Kay Longhi said. “When Daddy came home, she announced that we were moving to Vashon.”
( see article below )
I totally agree the author of an oustanding Betty MacDonald biography needs a very good sense of humor.
We will be able to offer you very witty and exciting stories because of our outstanding Betty MacDonald research and many interviews with Betty MacDonald's family and friends by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald fan club items including new Betty MacDonald interviews by Wolfgang Hampel.
Work and life of Betty MacDonald had been honored by Wolfgang Hampel in Vita Magica.
More Betty MacDonald events will follow.
Anyway - we agree that Betty MacDonald's brilliant sister Alison Bard Burnett and Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel have a very good sense of humor.
Betty MacDonald fan club fans from 5 continents enjoy these unique very witty interviews and new ones will follow.
We are looking for signed or dedicated first editions in great condition with dust jackets by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen for our fans.
Betty MacDonald Memorial Award Winner Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography and new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Join one of our Betty MacDonald fan club research teams, please.
Thanks a million in advance for your outstanding support.
Let's talk about Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest.
You can vote for your favourite Betty MacDonald book cover.
Deadline: June 30, 2017
Betty MacDonald fan club book cover contest winner will be owner of a signed first edition of one of Betty MacDonald's books.
Send us your mail, please and maybe you'll be the winner of Betty MacDonald fan club surprise.
Good luck!
Our most important research item is an updated Betty MacDonald documentary with lots of new info and interviews with Betty MacDonald, her family and friends.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel told us that Betty MacDonald fan club research team does an excellent job in supporting him with his several Betty MacDonald projects especially an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
Reading this updated Betty MacDonald biography you'll learn the true story of many personalities in Betty MacDonald's books for example the mysterious and rather strange Ms. Dorita Hess from 'Anybody can do anything'.
Tell us, please what should a Betty MacDonald biography include?
Don't hesitate to send us your thoughts, please.
I'd say a real Betty MacDonald biography should also include fascinating info on Betty MacDonald's fascinating brother and sisters including adopted sister Madge.
As we can see Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett got so many fans because of her unique interviews with Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
We are going to offer some interviews by Wolfgang Hampel, never published before.
Many fans adore the new outstanding website of beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli.
Don't miss it, please.
Surprise, surprise!
We found new radio manuscripts and shows.
We are working on Betty MacDonald fan club exhibit and an updated Betty MacDonald documentary.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel told us that Betty MacDonald fan club research team does an excellent job in supporting him with his several Betty MacDonald projects especially an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
Betty MacDonald fan club event team is very happy to hear from you and they got some really great ideas for the next International event.
Thanks a lot!
You can join Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club on Facebook.
Join us, please. We have lots of fun and joy and had several International ESC meetings in the past.
Vita Magica with Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Letizia Maninco was outstanding.
The audience enjoyed it very much.
Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica is fascinating because he includes Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.
Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.
Letizia Mancino's magical Betty MacDonald Gallery is a special gift for our Betty MacDonald fan club fans.
We'll have several International Betty MacDonald fan club events in 2017.
Join us in voting for your favourite city, please.
Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica guest was a very famous TV lady, author and singer and she is our new Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member.
I guess our Casanova adores our Betty MacDonald fan club honor member very much because author and TV moderator Tatjana Geßler is a very beautiful, charming and intelligent lady.
Tatjana Geßler's books are outstanding. I've read several of them.
Enjoy Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island, please.
Great Betty MacDonald fan club news!
You can join
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald Society
Vita Magica
on Facebook.
Thank you so much in advance for your support and interest.
If you join Betty MacDonald fan club blog as a follower during March you'll receive a very special Betty MacDonald fan club Welcome gift.
Send your email-address to our contact address, please.
Great news!
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back and his fans are delighted.
We'll have several International Betty MacDonald fan club events in 2017.
Don't miss Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica March, please.
You'll enjoy it very much.
You can see brilliant Brad Craft.
"This is Me," by Bad Kid Billy. [Official Music Video]
Seems I'm in this for a hot second. I remember being asked to participate one day on the street in front of the bookstore where I work. I didn't think to ask what it was for, or even so much as the name of the song or the band. Didn't want to be late coming back from lunch. Silly bugger. The very nice young woman with the green hair also featured herein happens to work at Magus Books. She mentioned she'd seen me. Told me the name of the band, and here we are.
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Monica Sone and other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's new project 'Vita Magica'.
We got very interesting new info for updated Betty MacDonald biography.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to include all these new details and info in updated Betty MacDonald biography.
If you'd like to join Betty MacDonald fan club you only have to press the join button on Betty MacDonald fan club blog.
New Betty MacDonald fan club fans will receive a special Betty MacDonald fan club Welcome gift during May.
Send us your email address to our contact address, please.
Wolfgang Hampel's Vita Magica February was outstanding and so was Vita Magica Betty MacDonald event with Wolfgang Hampel, Thomas Bödigheimer and Friedrich von Hoheneichen
Wolfgang Hampel and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are working on an updated Betty MacDonald biography.
This very new Betty MacDonald biography includes all the results we got during a very successful Betty MacDonald fan club research which started in 1983.
You'll be able to find unique Betty MacDonald treasures in our Betty MacDonald biography.
Betty MacDonald biography includes for example interviews with Betty MacDonald, her family and friends.
We got many letters by Betty MacDonald and other family members even very important original ones.
Our goal is to publish a Betty MacDonald biography that shows all the details of Betty MacDonald's life and work but also to present her fascinating siblings.
Dear Betty MacDonald fan club fans let us know please what you are interested most in a future Betty MacDonald biography.
Do you prefer an e-book or a so called real book?
Wolfgang Hampel and Friends of Vita Magica visited Minister of Science of Baden-Württemberg, Theresia Bauer in Stuttgart.
They visited Landtag and had a great time there.
Thank you so much for sending us your favourite Betty MacDonald quote.
We are so glad that our beloved Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is back.
New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many new interviews.
Alison Bard Burnett and other Betty MacDonald fan club honor members will be included in Wolfgang Hampel's fascinating project Vita Magica.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel interviewed Betty MacDonald's daughter Joan MacDonald Keil and her husband Jerry Keil.
This interview will be published for the first time ever.
New Betty MacDonald documentary will be very interesting with many interviews never published before.
We adore Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli
Thank you so much for sharing this witty memories with us.
Wolfgang Hampel's literary event Vita Magica is very fascinating because he is going to include Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.
It's simply great to read Wolfgang Hampel's new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others.
Linde Lund and many fans from all over the world adore this funny sketch by Wolfgang Hampel very much although our German isn't the best.
I won't ever forget the way Wolfgang Hampel is shouting ' Brexit '.
Don't miss it, please.
It's simply great!
You can hear that Wolfgang Hampel got an outstandig voice.
He presented one of Linde Lund's favourite songs ' Try to remember ' like a professional singer.
Thanks a million!
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.
Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.
Letizia Mancino's magical Betty MacDonald Gallery is a special gift for Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world.
Don't miss Brad Craft's 'More friends', please.
Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island is one of my favourites.
I agree with Betty in this very witty Betty MacDonald story Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say by Wolfgang Hampel.
I can't imagine to live in a country with him as so-called elected President although there are very good reasons to remain there to fight against these brainless politics.
WASHINGTON — John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A.
director, described on Tuesday a nerve-fraying few months last year as
American authorities realized that the presidential election was under
attack and feared that Donald J. Trump’s campaign might be aiding that fight.
Mr.
Brennan, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, said he
was concerned by a series of suspicious contacts between Russian
government officials and Mr. Trump’s associates. The C.I.A. learned
about those meetings just as it was beginning to grapple with Russian
hackers and propagandists trying to manipulate the presidential race.
His
remarks were the fullest public account to date of the origins of an
F.B.I. investigation that continues to shadow the Trump administration.
“I
know what the Russians try to do,” Mr. Brennan said. “They try to
suborn individuals and try to get individuals, including U.S.
individuals, to act on their behalf, wittingly or unwittingly.”
I think the future dinosaur flatulence will be the behaviour of 'Pussy' and his very strange government.
Poor World! Poor America!
Don't miss these very interesting articles below, please.
The most difficult case in Mrs.Piggle-Wiggle's career
Hello 'Pussy', this is Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle.
You took calls from foreign leaders on unsecured phone lines, without consultung the State Department. We have to change your silly behaviour with a new Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle cure. I know you are the most difficult case in my career - but we have to try everything.......................
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sent his brilliant thoughts. Thank you so much dear Wolfgang!
Hi Libi, nice to meet you. Can you feel it?
I'm the most powerful leader in the world.
Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say
Copyright 2016 by Wolfgang Hampel
All rights reserved
Betty MacDonald was sitting on her egg-shaped cloud and listened to a rather strange guy.
He said to his friends: So sorry to keep you waiting. Very complicated business! Very complicated!
Betty said: Obviously much too complicated for you old toupee!
Besides him ( by the way the First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech.
The old man could be his great-grandfather.
The boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.
Dear 'great-grandfather' continued and praised the Democratic candidate.
He congratulated her and her family for a very strong campaign although he wanted to put her in jail.
He always called her the most corrupt person ever and repeated it over and over again in the fashion of a Tibetan prayer wheel.
She is so corrupt. She is so corrupt. Do you know how corrupt she is?
Betty MacDonald couldn't believe it when he said: She has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.
Afterwards old toupee praised his parents, wife, children, siblings and friends.
He asked the same question like a parrot all the time:
Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
I know you are here!
Betty MacDonald answered: No Pussy they are not! They left the country.
They immigrated to Canada because they are very much afraid of the future in the U.S.A. with you as their leader like the majority of all so-called more or less normal citizens.
By the way keep your finger far away from the pussies and the Red Button, please.
I'm going to fly with my egg-shaped cloud to Canada within a minute too.
Away - away - there is nothing more to say!
Daniel Mount wrote a great article about Betty MacDonald and her garden.
We hope you'll enjoy it very much.
I adore Mount Rainier and Betty MacDonald's outstanding descriptions
Can you remember in which book you can find it?
If so let us know, please and you might be the next Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner.
I hope we'll be able to read Wolfgang Hampel's new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others - very soon.
It' s such a pleasure to read them.
Let's go to magical Betty MacDonald's Vashon Island.
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund and Betty MacDonald fan club research team share their recent Betty MacDonald fan club research results.
Congratulations! They found the most interesting and important info for Wolfgang Hampel's oustanding Betty MacDonald biography.
I enjoy Bradley Craft's story very much.
Don't miss our Betty MacDonald fan club contests, please.
You can win a never published before Alison Bard Burnett interview by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
Good luck!
This CD is a golden treasure because Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shares unique stories about Betty MacDonald, Mary Bard Jensen, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Nancy and Plum.
Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans.
Many Betty MacDonald - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories.
We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is beloved all over the World.
We are so happy that our 'Casanova' is back.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very
interesting info on ' Betty MacDonald and the movie The Egg and I '.
Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.
The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952.
Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.
Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Enjoy a great breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.
Take care,
Rena
Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.
The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952.
Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.
Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Enjoy a great breakfast at the bookstore with Brad and Nick, please.
Take care,
Rena
you can join
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald Society
Vita Magica
Eurovision Song Contest Fan Club
on Facebook
Vita Magica Betty MacDonald event with Wolfgang Hampel, Thomas Bödigheimer and Friedrich von Hoheneichen
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald fan club on Facebook
Betty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German ) Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - cyclopaedia.net ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia ( English / German )
Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )
Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
Betty MacDonald fan club groups
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Greta Larson
WASHINGTON — John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A.
director, described on Tuesday a nerve-fraying few months last year as
American authorities realized that the presidential election was under
attack and feared that Donald J. Trump’s campaign might be aiding that fight.
Mr.
Brennan, in testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, said he
was concerned by a series of suspicious contacts between Russian
government officials and Mr. Trump’s associates. The C.I.A. learned
about those meetings just as it was beginning to grapple with Russian
hackers and propagandists trying to manipulate the presidential race.
His
remarks were the fullest public account to date of the origins of an
F.B.I. investigation that continues to shadow the Trump administration.
“I
know what the Russians try to do,” Mr. Brennan said. “They try to
suborn individuals and try to get individuals, including U.S.
individuals, to act on their behalf, wittingly or unwittingly.”
When
he left his post in January, he said, “I had unresolved questions in my
mind as to whether or not the Russians had been successful in getting
U.S. persons involved in the campaign or not to work on their behalf.”
Mr.
Brennan acknowledged that he did not know whether the Trump campaign
colluded with Russian operatives and said the contacts might have been
benign.
American intelligence agencies have concluded that the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, tried to damage Hillary Clinton’s candidacy and help Mr. Trump. On Aug. 4, as evidence of that campaign mounted, Mr. Brennan warned Alexander V. Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s
Federal Security Service, known as the F.S.B., not to meddle in the
election. Not only would such interference damage relations between the
countries, he said, but it was also certain to backfire.
“I
said that all Americans, regardless of political affiliation or whom
they might support in the election, cherish their ability to elect their
own leaders without outside interference or disruption,” Mr. Brennan
said. “I said American voters would be outraged by any Russian attempt
to interfere in the election.”
Mr.
Brennan’s prediction proved inaccurate. Though intelligence agencies
are unanimous in their belief that Russia directly interfered in the
election, it has become a divisive partisan issue,
with Democrats far more likely than Republicans to accept the
conclusion. Mr. Trump has declared that “Russia is fake news” and has
tried to undermine the conclusions of his own intelligence services.
He
has also tried repeatedly to beat back news reports about his
campaign’s ties to Russia. White House officials tried to enlist the
F.B.I. and C.I.A. to dispute stories early this year. Then, after the F.B.I. publicly confirmed its investigation,
Mr. Trump asked Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, and
Michael S. Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, to
publicly deny any collusion between Russia and his campaign, according
to two former American officials. The Washington Post first reported Mr. Trump’s entreaties.
On
the day of the F.B.I.’s confirmation, a call from the White House
switchboard came in to Mr. Coats’s office with a request to speak to the
director, a former intelligence official said. Calls from the
switchboard are usually from the highest-ranking officials at the White
House — the president, the vice president or the national security
adviser.
Mr. Coats took the call. The official would not confirm what was discussed.
Mr.
Coats, who testified on Tuesday in a separate congressional hearing,
declined to discuss his conversations with the president.
The
White House regarded Mr. Brennan’s testimony as the latest example of a
former official from the Obama administration describing great concern
but offering no public proof of wrongdoing.
“This
morning’s hearings back up what we’ve been saying all along: that
despite a year of investigation, there is still no evidence of any
Russia-Trump campaign collusion,” the White House said in a statement on
Tuesday.
During
the campaign, a spokeswoman for Mr. Trump declared that “there was no
communication” with foreign entities. And in January, Vice President
Mike Pence flatly denied
that there had been any contacts with Russians. Journalists have since
reported repeated undisclosed meetings with Russians. Mr. Trump’s first
national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, was forced to resign over misstatements about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States, Sergey I. Kislyak.
A Justice Department special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is investigating whether any collusion took place.
A grand jury in Northern Virginia has issued subpoenas for information
related to Mr. Flynn’s lobbying and businesses. That investigation is
separate from multiple congressional investigations into Russian
meddling. Mr. Flynn has declined to be interviewed or provide documents
to Congress, citing his constitutional right not to incriminate himself.
The
Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday issued subpoenas for documents
from two businesses owned by Mr. Flynn — Flynn Intel L.L.C. and Flynn
Intel Inc. — escalating efforts to learn more about his potential
business ties to Russia.
Senator
Richard M. Burr, Republican of North Carolina and the committee’s
chairman, left open the possibility of holding Mr. Flynn in contempt of
Congress.
“At
the end of that option is a contempt charge,” he told reporters on
Capitol Hill. “And I’ve said that everything is on the table.”
But
the committee’s members are not ready to take that step, Mr. Burr said,
adding that they want to give Mr. Flynn the opportunity he requested to
tell his story.
During
his testimony on Tuesday, Mr. Brennan described Russia’s efforts around
the world to use politicians to further Moscow’s objectives. “I
certainly was concerned that they were practicing the same types of
activities here in the United States,” he said.
He
added that American targets were often unwitting in such efforts.
“Frequently, people who go along a treasonous path do not know they are
on a treasonous path until it is too late,” he said.
In
late July, officials established a group of N.S.A., C.I.A. and F.B.I.
officials to investigate the election interference. The information was
tightly held, and the F.B.I. took the lead on investigating potential
collusion, Mr. Brennan said.
“I
made sure that anything that was involving U.S. persons, including
anything involving the individuals involved in the Trump campaign, was
shared with the bureau,” he said.
That investigation was on Mr. Trump’s mind this month when he fired James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, the president has said. And the next day, Mr. Trump told Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting that firing Mr. Comey had eased pressure on him.
Such comments, in addition to Mr. Trump’s efforts to publicly undermine
the F.B.I. investigation, have fueled suspicion among Democrats and
some Republicans that Mr. Trump is trying to obstruct the case.
Mr.
Brennan said Russia was trying to capitalize on the turmoil in
Washington. “Even though the election is over,” he said, “I think Mr.
Putin and Russian intelligence services are trying to actively exploit
what is going on now in Washington to their benefit and to our
detriment.”
US officials: Info suggests Trump associates may have coordinated with Russians
Washington (CNN) The FBI has information that indicates associates of President Donald Trump communicated with suspected Russian operatives to possibly coordinate the release of information damaging to Hillary Clinton's campaign, US officials told CNN.
This
is partly what FBI Director James Comey was referring to when he made a
bombshell announcement Monday before Congress that the FBI is
investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, according to one
source.
The
FBI is now reviewing that information, which includes human
intelligence, travel, business and phone records and accounts of
in-person meetings, according to those U.S. officials. The information
is raising the suspicions of FBI counterintelligence investigators that
the coordination may have taken place, though officials cautioned that
the information was not conclusive and that the investigation is
ongoing.
In
his statement on Monday Comey said the FBI began looking into possible
coordination between Trump campaign associates and suspected Russian
operatives because the bureau had gathered "a credible allegation of
wrongdoing or reasonable basis to believe an American may be acting as
an agent of a foreign power."
The
White House did not comment and the FBI declined to comment. Dmitry
Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said Thursday the Russian government would
not comment on information from unnamed sources.
"This
is another piece of information without any sources which can't be
commented on, neither can it be taken as some serious thing," Peskov
told reporters in response to a question about CNN's reporting.
White
House press secretary Sean Spicer maintained Monday after Comey's
testimony that there was no evidence to suggest any collusion took
place.
"Investigating it and having proof of it are two different things," Spicer said.
One
law enforcement official said the information in hand suggests "people
connected to the campaign were in contact and it appeared they were
giving the thumbs up to release information when it was ready." But
other U.S. officials who spoke to CNN say it's premature to draw that
inference from the information gathered so far since it's largely
circumstantial.
The
FBI cannot yet prove that collusion took place, but the information
suggesting collusion is now a large focus of the investigation, the
officials said.
The
FBI has already been investigating four former Trump campaign
associates -- Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Carter Page
-- for contacts with Russians known to US intelligence. All four have
denied improper contacts and CNN has not confirmed any of them are the
subjects of the information the FBI is reviewing.
One
of the obstacles the sources say the FBI now faces in finding
conclusive intelligence is that communications between Trump's
associates and Russians have ceased in recent months given the public
focus on Russia's alleged ties to the Trump campaign. Some Russian
officials have also changed their methods of communications, making
monitoring more difficult, the officials said.
Last
July, Russian intelligence agencies began orchestrating the release of
hacked emails stolen in a breach of the Democratic National Committee
and associated organizations, as well as email accounts belonging to
Clinton campaign officials, according to U.S. intelligence agencies.
The
Russian operation was also in part focused on the publication of
so-called "fake news" stories aimed at undermining Hillary Clinton's
campaign. But FBI investigators say they are less focused on the
coordination and publication of those "fake news" stories, in part
because those publications are generally protected free speech.
The
release of the stolen emails, meanwhile, transformed an ordinary
cyber-intrusion investigation into a much bigger case handled by the
FBI's counterintelligence division.
FBI
counterintelligence investigations are notoriously lengthy and often
involve some of the U.S. government's most highly classified programs,
such as those focused on intelligence-gathering, which can make it
difficult for investigators to bring criminal charges without exposing
those programs.
Investigators
continue to analyze the material and information from multiple sources
for any possible indications of coordination, according to US officials.
Director Comey in Monday's hearing refused to reveal what specifically
the FBI was looking for or who they're focusing on.
US
officials said the information was not drawn from the leaked dossier of
unverified information compiled by a former British intelligence
official compiled for Trump's political opponents, though the dossier
also suggested coordination between Trump campaign associates and
Russian operatives.
The Opinion Pages | Op-Ed Columnist
Blood in the Water
Donald
Trump has left the country for his first foreign trip as president and
what he has left behind is a brewing crisis that appears to deepen by
the day, and even the hour.
There
is a sense that blood is in the water, that Trump’s erratic,
self-destructive behavior, aversion to honesty and authoritarian desire
for absolute control may in some way, at some point, lead to his undoing
and that the pace of that undoing is quickening.
Last
week Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein took the extraordinary
step of naming former F.B.I. Director Robert Mueller as a special
counsel to oversee the investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation.”
This
was a significant ratcheting up. This is a criminal inquiry, by an
independent operator who is well respected. The investigation is now
largely insulated from politics. This investigation must now run its
course, whether that takes months or years, and go wherever the facts
may lead.
But
that has not stopped Trump from whining in a tweet, “This is the single
greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” and saying
during a commencement address:
“Look
at the way I’ve been treated lately, especially by the media. No
politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been
treated worse or more unfairly.”
Not
only is this a laughable assertion that could only be uttered by
someone who isn’t a student of history or a reader of books, but it also
resurfaces one of Trump’s most vexatious qualities: perpetual wallowing
in self-victimization and the shedding of his own tears for a spurious
suffering that only exists in the muddle of his mind.
Grow
up! Just correction is not jaundiced crucifixion. Any hell you’re in is
a hell you made. You are the author of your own demise. You are not
being unfairly targeted; instead your above-the-rules, beyond-the-law
sense of privilege is being tested and found insufficient. It will not
immunize you against truth and justice.
There
are very serious questions here, ones that include but are not limited
to collusion. They also now include the possibility of treason,
obstruction of justice and making false statements.
It is increasingly clear that there is more to know than we now know.
There
is more to know about former National Security Adviser Michael T.
Flynn’s activities, and who knew what about those activities and when.
There is more to know about the president’s interactions with James
Comey and the reason for Comey’s firing. There is more to know about the
true extent of contact between Trump associates and the Russians.
Did
the president have inappropriate conversations with Comey, then
director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, in an effort to
exculpate himself and mitigate inquiries about Flynn?
Trump’s
and Comey’s accounts, at least as they are being reported, conflict on
these counts. One of these men is lying. And while I am no fan of Comey —
his buzzer-beating hijinks with Hillary’s email just before the
election helped hand this country over to Trump and his cabal of
corruption — I am more prone to believe him than Trump, a proven,
pathological liar.
The crisis isn’t limited only to Trump.
Did Vice President Mike Pence not know that Flynn was under investigation by the F.B.I. for lobbying on behalf of Turkey until “March, upon first hearing the news”? How can that be when, as The New York Times
reported last week, Flynn “told President Trump’s transition team weeks
before the inauguration that he was under federal investigation for
secretly working as a paid lobbyist for Turkey during the campaign,
according to two people familiar with the case.” Pence led the
transition team.
How
can Pence claim ignorance when Representative Elijah E. Cummings,
ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, sent Pence a letter on Nov. 18, explicitly spelling out:
“Lt.
Gen. Flynn’s General Counsel and Principal, Robert Kelley, confirmed
that they were hired by a foreign company to lobby for Turkish
interests, stating: ‘They want to keep posted on what we all want to be
informed of: the present situation, the transition between President
Obama and President-Elect Trump.’ When asked whether the firm had been
hired because of Lt. Gen. Flynn’s close ties to President-elect Trump,
Mr. Kelley responded, ‘I hope so.’ ”
It isn’t possible Pence knew nothing. I believe Pence is a liar like his boss.
We knew that Pence was a liar when during the vice-presidential debate he repeatedly claimed that Trump had not in fact said things that he was recorded on television saying.
The
only difference between the two is delivery. Trump is bombastic and
abrasive with his lies. Pence cleverly delivers his with earnestness and
solemnity. But a lie is a lie.
The
whole White House crew must be fully investigated and held to account.
It is time for justice to be served and honor restored. The dishonest
must be dislodged.
Continue reading the main story
SundayReview | Editorial
Watergate? We’re Not There Yet
Now
that Robert Mueller III has been appointed special counsel to
investigate ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia,
Democrats and even a few Republicans are drawing comparisons between the
present mess and the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon.
Senator
John McCain of Arizona pegged the president’s problems at a “point
where it’s of Watergate size and scale” after reports surfaced that Mr.
Trump had pressed James Comey, then the F.B.I. director, to quash an
investigation of Mike Flynn, the Trump loyalist and former national
security adviser. David Gergen, who was a White House aide to four
presidents in Republican and Democratic administrations, contended that
“we’re in impeachment territory now.” A few other Republicans have
broken away from their party’s blind defense of the president and called
for deeper investigations.
The
national interest and the integrity of the democratic process are
undeniably at stake in the investigation. And it may turn out that the
president and his associates have engaged in an attempt to obstruct
justice; really bad stuff could turn up. But Watergate? We’re not there
yet. That’s a word that summons obstruction on a monumental scale, with
evidence to prove overt criminal acts — not least the White House
conspiracy to burglarize the Democratic Party headquarters. Scores of
administration officials were indicted or jailed when President Nixon
had to flee from office on the eve of certain impeachment.
Mr. Trump has made the parallel easier to draw as he complains of a
“witch hunt,” tramples ethical standards and shows no sign of the
reasonable political behavior the nation sorely needs from him. Like Mr.
Nixon, he regularly denounces real and imagined “enemies”; his White
House is full of sycophantic assistants pressed to defend fantastic
claims and policy distortions, as was Mr. Nixon’s. Like the Nixonites,
Trump loyalists in the administration are clearly fearful of crossing
their boss by attempting helpful criticism as the president plays daily
with political fire.
Yet
the differences are also worth noting. The public learned then that the
Nixon team had plunged into rank criminality, discussing a
million-dollar bribe for the burglars after they demanded ransom money
for protecting the White House. And the political realities in Congress
were of a different order. Back then, the Democrats enjoyed subpoena
power through majority control of both houses so that, unlike now, they
could freely investigate the scandal. Bipartisanship was such in 1973
that the Senate voted 77 to zero to create the select Watergate
committee once the F.B.I. established the burglary’s connection to the
Nixon re-election campaign.
In
contrast, current Republicans revel in tooth-and-claw partisanship.
Democrats remain a largely powerless minority as Republican leaders
pretend they have no grave doubts about Mr. Trump, hoping to survive
next year’s elections despite his unpopularity.
Most
striking of all in the Nixon impeachment was the deus ex machina
revealed unexpectedly in the Watergate hearings that gripped the nation
on television and radio — Mr. Nixon’s supreme folly of crafting his
conspiracies before the attentive microphones of a White House taping
system to record his utterances for some imagined high place in history.
When the Supreme Court ruled that the tapes were fair game for
investigators, the nation finally grasped the extent of Mr. Nixon’s
scheming. Denials from his “silent majority” base became pointless.
President
Trump has hinted threateningly at the existence of tapes; so far it
sounds like his characteristic bluffing. (Ironies abound. Mr. Trump’s
complaints to the F.B.I. about damaging leaks recall that Deep Throat,
the ultimate Watergate leaker to The Washington Post, was revealed to be
W. Mark Felt, then the associate director of the F.B.I.)
Watergate
remains a tall bar. The Clinton and Reagan scandals couldn’t come
close. In President Bill Clinton’s case, an independent counsel
capitalized on his writ to wander widely into the president’s sex life,
elevating a sex-and-mendacity saga into a perjury trial in which the
Senate calmly voted to acquit, finding it all insufficient reason to
evict a popular president. In the Iran-contra affair, President Ronald
Reagan was never convincingly depicted as the mastermind of the illegal
arms-for-hostages scheme run by his aides.
For
Democrats, too much indulgence of impeachment notions could prove a
distraction from the more workaday and politically achievable challenge
at hand. Their main job is to rouse the public to use Mr. Trump’s
unimpressive polling numbers as leverage on Republicans, who already are
citing the Mueller investigation as reason to slow down congressional
inquiries into the Trump and Russia affair. Beyond that, they and other
critics should be working hard to win back a majority next year in at
least one house of Congress. This would secure them the subpoena power
to shed far better light for the nation on Mr. Trump’s and his enablers’
sorry deeds.
Louis
XIV of France summed up his view of power with the phrase “L’État,
c’est moi,” or “I am the State.” Donald Trump became president four
months ago with roughly the same idea. In the Trump universe, he had
been judge, jury and executioner. He saw no reason why that would
change.
Trump
had no knowledge of, or interest in, the checks and balances enshrined
in the Constitution. Circumscribed power was for losers, a category of
humanity for which he reserves his greatest disdain. Just this week,
after passing along classified information about the Islamic State to
Russia, and so jeopardizing an ally’s intelligence asset, Trump tweeted
that he had the “absolute right” to do so.
Absolutism
is Trump’s thing. He’s installed his family in senior White House posts
where influence and business intersect. His aides are terrified. His
press secretary hides “among the bushes.”
The family knows everything; nobody else knows anything. He demanded
loyalty of the F.B.I. director he subsequently fired for lèse-majesté.
All this is right out of Despotism 101.
Absolutism
is not, however, America’s thing. In fact it is what the United States
was created to escape from. The Declaration of Independence excoriates
the “absolute Tyranny over these States,” exercised by King George III.
Among the British king’s usurpations: “He has made Judges dependent on
his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and
payment of their salaries.”
No
wonder the Constitution ratified a dozen years later has this to say
about the judicial branch: “The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior
Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at
stated Times, receive for their Services a Compensation, which shall not
be diminished.”
But Trump came into office with what Stephen Burbank,
a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, described to
me as “little regard for the law.” Nor would a man so ahistorical have
had any notion that the Constitution diffuses power between three
branches of government because it reflects the experience of dealing
with a king. The clash between an autocratic president and the
institutions of American freedom that intensified this week with the appointment of a special prosecutor, Robert S. Mueller III, was inevitable.
The president can declassify
information if he wishes but that’s not an open invitation to
recklessness. Giving sensitive intelligence to Russia, a rival power
that of late has resembled an enemy, could raise legal issues. For Trump
to then use the word “absolute” in his defense recalls Lord Acton:
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Trump
did not need much corrupting. He was already well schooled. He has
poured scorn on an independent judiciary (dismissing as “so-called” a
federal judge who ruled against him) and called the press “the enemy of the American people.”
The
president’s contempt for the Constitution was signaled in his inaugural
speech when he invoked his “oath of allegiance to all Americans.” No,
the president’s oath is to “preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.” His allegiance is to the law. We
know where allegiance to the “volk” can lead.
In firing James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director, Trump used a letter
from Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, as justification,
before finding other reasons. Rosenstein got played. He knows it.
Trump’s contempt for the judiciary, in the person of this United States
attorney with a 27-year career in the Justice Department, was evident.
Rosenstein
has now done the right thing by appointing Mueller to look into
possible ties between Trump campaign associates and Russia. The former
F.B.I. director is a man of undisputed integrity. He will give backbone
to the post-Comey F.B.I.
Mueller’s
investigation must be complemented by congressional inquiries into the
Trump campaign’s Russian connections that are likely to move faster and
more openly. The one must not preclude the other; they are
complementary. It is past time for the Republican firewall of support
for Trump to crumble. Mueller, whose work will take many months at
least, is investigating violations of criminal law, but “high crimes and
misdemeanors,” the grounds for impeachment, are not confined to that.
“Something
that violates criminal law is likely to be a high crime and
misdemeanor, but not necessarily vice-versa,” Burbank said.
It
is against this confrontational domestic backdrop that Trump will be
consorting with autocrats and democrats on his first foreign trip (to
Saudi Arabia, Israel, Belgium, the Vatican and Italy), without the world
knowing which he favors. He can only blame himself for the turmoil.
Trump’s White House is a valueless place that has already neutered the
American idea. That this shallow, shifting president now sees himself as
a possible advocate of global religious tolerance is a measure of how
far ego can induce blindness.
Richard Nixon once said
that, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.”
But the state was not Nixon, as he learned, and nor is it Trump, whose
education in the coming months will be harsh. Trump calls it a “witch hunt.” No, Mr. President, it’s called the law.
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Trump, Citing ‘a Witch Hunt,’ Denies Any Collusion With Russia
WASHINGTON
— President Trump declared angrily on Thursday that he was the victim
of a witch hunt, and all but contradicted his deputy attorney general on
the firing of the F.B.I. director, in an extensive denial of any collusion between his campaign and Russia.
Mr.
Trump used a chaotic White House news conference with Colombia’s leader
to directly confront a weeklong barrage of criticism and questions in a
political storm that he said was dividing the nation. He also
conspicuously distanced himself from aides like his former national
security adviser, Michael T. Flynn, in repeating his claim that Moscow and its agents had not secretly assisted his campaign.
“I respect the move,” Mr. Trump said of the Justice Department’s decision on Wednesday to appoint a special counsel to investigate the matter. “But the entire thing has been a witch hunt.”
“And
there is no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign — but I
can always speak for myself — and the Russians,” he said. “Zero.”
Moments later, he added, “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!”
The
president was correct in his observation about the rarity of a special
counsel, though his references to the Clinton campaign and the Obama
administration did little to bolster his case. There were multiple
congressional investigations into the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, and
the role played by Mrs. Clinton, then the secretary of state, and Mr.
Obama.
It
was not the first time Mr. Trump likened the questions about his
campaign and Russia to a witch hunt. In January, while president-elect,
he said in an interview with The New York Times that the persistent
focus on Russia’s hacking of the American presidential campaign was a
witch hunt carried out by people bitter at his victory.
The
president elaborated on that theme in the news conference, casting the
investigation as a needless distraction from the achievements of his
administration, which he enthusiastically enumerated.
“We’ve had tremendous success,” he said. “You look at our job numbers. You look at what’s going on at the border.”
Some
of Mr. Trump’s claims raised more questions than answers. “You’re going
to see some incredible numbers with respect to the success of General
Mattis and others with the ISIS situation,” he said, referring to the
defense secretary, Jim Mattis. “The numbers are staggering, how
successful they’ve been.”
He
promised to name a new F.B.I. director soon, having acknowledged to
reporters earlier in the day that former Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of
Connecticut was a top contender.
Mr.
Trump’s sense of grievance over the Russia investigations had been
deepening even before the naming of a special counsel. On Thursday, he
arrived in the East Room primed for confrontation.
Rather
than call on a reporter from a conservative-leaning news organization,
as he has in the past, Mr. Trump pointed to Jonathan Karl, an ABC News
correspondent known for his close questioning during White House
briefings.
When
a second reporter, Scott Thuman of the broadcaster Sinclair, asked Mr.
Trump whether he had urged Mr. Comey to drop the Russia investigation,
Mr. Thuman could not finish the question before the president
interrupted. “No. No,” Mr. Trump snapped. “Next question.”
Mr.
Santos, a Harvard-trained economist who won the Nobel Peace Prize last
year for negotiating a peace treaty with the FARC guerrillas, watched
the spectacle with an inscrutable expression. After he sidestepped a
question about whether he agreed with the White House plan to build a
wall on the border with Mexico to halt the flow of drugs into the United
States, Mr. Trump jumped in.
“That was a very long and very diplomatic answer,” Mr. Trump said. “I will say it a bit shorter: Walls work. Just ask Israel.”
Earlier,
Mr. Trump said that coca cultivation and cocaine production had risen
to record levels in Colombia, and challenged Mr. Santos to remedy the
problem.
Mr. Santos returned the favor minutes later when asked whether he had advice for Mr. Trump.
“I
don’t think I’m in a position to give any advice to President Trump,”
Mr. Santos said with a smile. “He can take care of himself.”
Correction: May 18, 2017
An earlier version of this article misstated a quotation from
President Trump. He said, “I can always speak for myself,” not “I can
only speak for myself.”
11 Completely Absurd Reasons To Love Washington
Yes, Washington is breathtakingly beautiful… and our scenery is diverse… and our produce is second to none. That being said, when you live in the Evergreen State long enough, you start to love it for its quirks. You develop quite a sense of humor about your home, and when people ask what you adore so much about it, you can hardly contain yourself.Even if you don’t agree with these 11 reasons to love Washington, you must admit they’re valid, if not a bit silly.
Although this mythical creature has
never been proven real, there are tons of reported Bigfoot sightings in
Washington. We like to keep the mystery alive.
How many years has DMB played at
The Gorge on Labor Day weekend? 10? 20? It's hard to remember due to all
the fun (and the contact highs) of the weekend.
We really know how to keep the doctor away here.
No matter how many games the
Mariners lose in a row, we will be there. We love our Sounders, and we
love our Hawks. Don't even get us started on the Sonics.
Have you ever seen the Hoh? It's incredible.
"High" fives to Colorado, who joined us that year.
Humptulips. Tokeland. Puyallup. Nooksack. Big Bottom Valley. Need we go on?
The Space Needle was the country's
first revolving restaurant. The world's first soft-serve ice cream
machine was in a Dairy Queen in Olympia. The first Cinnabon opened in
Federal Way, and of course, there's that whole Starbucks thing.
What can we say, we love to get creative with our coffee.
Kay Longhi’s parents, Francis and Patricia Longhi, at their north-end home on Cowan Road in the 1960s. (Courtesy Photo)
Coming Home: Betty MacDonald interview drew Longhis from Chicago
“Because I was raised here, I never lacked a sense of home,” she said. “The community here has been my go-to place both mentally and physically. I’ve always been very centered. There’s a real sense of community and home I’ve never felt anywhere else.”
Longhi moved back to Seattle in 1997. By 2008, her mother was in her 80s and suffering from dementia, and Kay moved into a small cabin on her mother’s property to take of her. She was eventually moved to a memory care home in 2011 and died in 2014, but her mother’s dream of rural living in the north-end home continues to this day, as her great-grandchildren are growing up in the same house.
“My sister’s child, so my niece and her family, live there,” Longhi said. “Houses don’t come up for sale on Vashon because one generation leaves and another comes in.”
But the Vashon home is not the only lasting evidence of Patricia Longhi’s search for a more rural, authentic life. During her life on Vashon, she discovered the Washington coast, and Kay said her mother saw many similarities between it and the Maine coastline of her childhood. She and a few other island families bought land and primitive cabins in the mid-60s on a strip of coast that is now part of the Olympic National Park.
“The federal government came in and claimed eminent domain and declared it wilderness. There were two choices, either have the home torn down and take the money the government gives you, or have the government take it over when the owner dies. Mother put the home in her children’s names, so it’s still there.”
The three-story cabin has no electricity and no running water. It’s tall and skinny, perched on a cliff so her mother could see the water below her.
“For Mother, it was the ultimate solitude,” Longhi said. “It was just about where she wanted to be.”
Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
we share a very special gift by beloved and very popular Betty MacDonald Fan Club Honor member Letizia Mancino.
We know you'll enjoy it as much as we do.
Thanks a Million, dear Letizia Mancino.
You are an outstanding writer and artist.
We are so proud and happy to have you with us.
Letizia writes: One should not underestimate Wolfgang Hampel’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty MacDonald’s friends.
We agree. Thank you so much dear Wolfgang Hampel for doing this. You founded Betty MacDonald Fan Club with four members.
Now we have members in 40 countries around the world. A dream came true.
Mary Holmes did an excellent job in translating this great story.
Thank you so much dear Mary Holmes.
We are really very grateful.
All the best to Letizia, Wolfgang and Mary and to all Betty MacDonald Fan Club fans from all over the world!
Lenard
Following in Betty’s footsteps in Seattle:
or some small talk with Betty
Copyright 2011/2016 by Letizia Mancino
All rights reserved
translated by Mary Holmes
We were going to Canada in the summer. “When we are in Edmonton”, I said to Christoph Cremer, “let’s make a quick trip to Seattle”. And that’s how it happened. At Edmonton Airport we climbed into a plane and two hours later we landed in the city where Betty had lived. I was so happy to be in Seattle at last and to be able to trace Betty’s tracks!
Wolfgang Hampel had told Betty’s friends about our arrival.
They were happy to plan a small marathon through the town and it’s surroundings with us. We only had a few days free. One should not underestimate Wolfgang’s talent in speedily mobilizing Betty’s friends, even though it was holiday time. E-mails flew backwards and forwards between Heidelberg and Seattle, and soon a well prepared itinerary was ready for us. Shortly before my departure Wolfgang handed me several parcels, presents for Betty MacDonald's friends. I rushed to pack the heavy gifts in my luggage but because of the extra weight had to throw out a pair of pajamas!
After we had landed we took a taxi to the Hotel in downtown Seattle. I was so curious to see everything. I turned my head in all directions like one of the hungry hens from Betty’s farm searching for food! Fortunately it was quite a short journey otherwise I would have lost my head like a loose screw!
Our hotel room was on the 22nd floor and looked directly out onto the 16-lane highway. There might have been even more than 16 but it made me too giddy to count! It was like a glimpse of hell! “And is this Seattle?” I asked myself. I was horrified! The cars racing by were enough to drive one mad. The traffic roared by day and night.
We immediately contacted Betty MacDonald's friends and let them know we had arrived and they confirmed the times when we should see them.
On the next morning I planned my first excursion tracing Betty’s tracks. I spread out the map of Seattle. “Oh dear” I realized “the Olympic Peninsula is much too far away for me to get there.”
Betty nodded to me! “Very difficult, Letizia, without a car.”
“But I so much wanted to see your chicken farm”
“My chickens are no longer there and you can admire the mountains from a distance”
But I wanted to go there. I left the hotel and walked to the waterfront where the State Ferry terminal is. Mamma mia, the streets in Seattle are so steep! I couldn’t prevent my feet from running down the hill. Why hadn’t I asked for brakes to be fixed on my shoes? I looked at the drivers. How incredibly good they must be to accelerate away from the red traffic lights. The people were walking uphill towards me as briskly as agile salmon. Good heavens, these Americans! I tried to keep my balance. The force of gravity is relentless. I grasped hold of objects where I could and staggered down.
In Canada a friend had warned me that in Seattle I would see a lot of people with crutches.
Betty laughed. “ It’s not surprising, Letizia, walking salmon don’t fall directly into the soft mouth of a bear!”
“ Betty, stop making these gruesome remarks. We are not in Firlands!”
I went further. Like a small deranged ant at the foot of a palace monster I came to a tunnel. The noise was unbearable. On the motorway, “The Alaskan Way Viaduct”, cars, busses and trucks were driving at the speed of light right over my head. They puffed out their poisonous gas into the open balconies and cultivated terraces of the luxurious sky- scrapers without a thought in the world. America! You are crazy!
“Betty, are all people in Seattle deaf? Or is it perhaps a privilege for wealthy people to be able to enjoy having cars so near to their eyes and noses to save them from boredom?”
“When the fog democratically allows everything to disappear into nothing, it makes a bit of a change, Letizia”
“ Your irony is incorrigible, Betty, but tell me, Seattle is meant to be a beautiful city, But where?”
I had at last reached the State Ferry terminal.
“No Madam, the ferry for Vashon Island doesn’t start from here,” one of the men in the ticket office tells me. ”Take a buss and go to the ferry terminal in West Seattle.”
Betty explained to me “The island lies in Puget Sound and not in Elliott Bay! It is opposite the airport. You must have seen it when you were landing!”
“Betty, when I am landing I shut my eyes and pray!”
It’s time for lunch. The weather is beautiful and warm. Who said to me that it always rains here?
“Sure to be some envious man who wanted to frighten you away from coming to Seattle. The city is really beautiful, you’ll see. Stay by the waterfront, choose the best restaurant with a view of Elliott Bay and enjoy it.”
“Thank you Betty!”
I find a table on the terrace of “Elliott’s Oyster House”. The view of the island is wonderful. It lies quietly in the sun like a green fleecy cushion on the blue water.
Betty plays with my words:
“Vashon Island is a big cushion, even bigger than Bainbridge which you see in front of your eyes, Letizia. The islands look similar. They have well kept houses and beautiful gardens”.
I relax during this introduction, “Bainbridge” you are Vashon Island, and order a mineral water.
“At one time the hotel belonging to the parents of Monica Sone stood on the waterfront.”
“Oh, of your friend Kimi!” Unfortunately I forget to ask Betty exactly where it was.
My mind wanders and I think of my mountain hike back to the hotel! “Why is there no donkey for tourists?” Betty laughs:
“I’m sure you can walk back to the hotel. “Letizia can do everything.””
“Yes, Betty, I am my own donkey!”
But I don’t remember that San Francisco is so steep. It doesn’t matter, I sit and wait. The waiter comes and brings me the menu. I almost fall off my chair!
“ What, you have geoduck on the menu! I have to try it” (I confess I hate the look of geoduck meat. Betty’s recipe with the pieces made me feel quite sick – I must try Betty’s favourite dish!)
“Proof that you love me!” said Betty enthusiastically “ Isn’t the way to the heart through the stomach?”
I order the geoduck. The waiter looks at me. He would have liked to recommend oysters.
“Geoduck no good for you!”
Had he perhaps read my deepest thoughts? Fate! Then no geoduck. “No good for me.”
“Neither geoduck nor tuberculosis in Seattle” whispered Betty in my ear!
“Oh Betty, my best friend, you take such good care of me!”
I order salmon with salad.
“Which salmon? Those that swim in water or those that run through Seattle?”
“Betty, I believe you want me to have a taste of your black humour.”
“Enjoy it then, Letizia.”
During lunch we talked about tuberculosis, and that quite spoilt our appetite.
“Have you read my book “The Plague and I”?”
“Oh Betty, I’ve started to read it twice but both times I felt so sad I had to stop again!”
“But why?” asked Betty “Nearly everybody has tuberculosis! I recovered very quickly and put on 20 pounds! There was no talk of me wasting away! What did you think of my jokes in the book?”
“Those would have been a good reason for choosing another sanitorium. I would have been afraid of becoming a victim of your humour! You would have certainly given me a nickname! You always thought up such amusing names!” Betty laughed.
“You’re right. I would have called you “Roman nose”. I would have said to Urbi and Orbi “ Early this morning “Roman nose” was brought here. She speaks broken English, doesn’t eat geoduck but she does love cats.”
“Oh Betty, I would have felt so ashamed to cough. To cough in your presence, how embarrassing! You would have talked about how I coughed, how many coughs!”
“It depends on that “how”, Letizia!”
“Please, leave Goethe quotations out of it. You have certainly learnt from the Indians how to differentiate between noises. It’s incredible how you can distinguish between so many sorts of cough! At least 10!”
“So few?”
”And also your descriptions of the patients and the nurses were pitiless. An artistic revenge! The smallest pimple on their face didn’t escape your notice! Amazing.”
“ I was also pitiless to myself. Don’t forget my irony against myself!”
Betty was silent. She was thinking about Kimi, the “Princess” from Japan! No, she had only written good things about her best friend, Monica Sone, in her book “The Plague and I”. A deep friendship had started in the hospital. The pearl that developed from the illness.
“Isn’t it wonderful, Betty, that an unknown seed can make its way into a mollusk in the sea and develop into a beautiful jewel?” Betty is paying attention.
“Betty, the friendship between you and Monica reminds me of Goethe’s poem “Gingo-Biloba”. You must know it?” Betty nods and I begin to recite it:
The leaf of this Eastern tree
Which has been entrusted to my garden
Offers a feast of secret significance,
For the edification of the initiate.
Is it one living thing.
That has become divided within itself?
Are these two who have chosen each other,
So that we know them as one?
The friendship with Monica is like the wonderful gingo-biloba leaf, the tree from the east. Betty was touched. There was a deep feeling of trust between us.
“Our friendship never broke up, partly because she was in distress, endangered by the deadly illness. We understood and supplemented each other. We were like one lung with two lobes, one from the east and one from the west!”
“A beautiful picture, Betty. You were like two red gingo-biloba leaves!”
Betty was sad and said ” Monica, although Japanese, before she really knew me felt she was also an American. But she was interned in America, Letizia, during the second world war. Isn’t that terrible?”
“Betty, I never knew her personally. I have only seen her on a video, but what dignity in her face, and she speaks and moves so gracefully!”
“Fate could not change her”
“Yes, Betty, like the gingo-biloba tree in Hiroshima. It was the only tree that blossomed again after the atom bomb!”
The bill came and I paid at once. In America one is urged away from the table when one has finished eating. If one wants to go on chatting one has to order something else.
“That’s why all those people gossiping at the tables are so fat!” Betty remarks. “Haven’t you seen how many massively obese people walk around in the streets of America. Like dustbins that have never been emptied!” With this typically unsentimental remark Betty ended our conversation.
Ciao! I so enjoyed the talk; the humour, the irony and the empathy. I waved to her and now I too felt like moving! I take a lovely walk along the waterfront.
Now I am back in Heidelberg and when I think about how Betty’s “Princessin” left this world on September 5th and that in August I was speaking about her with Betty in Seattle I feel very sad. The readers who knew her well (we feel that every author and hero of a book is nearer to us than our fleeting neighbours next door) yes we, who thought of her as immortal, cannot believe that even she would die after 92 years. How unforeseen and unexpected that her death should come four days after her birthday on September 1th. On September 5th I was on my way to Turkey, once again in seventh heaven, looking back on the unforgettable days in Seattle. I was flying from west to east towards the rising sun.
Is this Mr. Tigerli?
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