If I read correctly...

The Saudis and the Turks are going to create "A Joint Commission" to investigate the murder of Jamil Khashoggi. Or as I like to think of it, the Perpetrators of the Crime and the Enablers of the Crime, are investigating the Crime.

Oh and Donald Trump has vowed to get to the bottom of this abomination, just remember his idea of "Discussing Russian Election Interference" with Putin started with kissing the same's ruby red ring.

Or still another way of thinking of it, a total of three journalism-hating regimes are now gonna figure out who tortured, killed & dismembered a journalist....how ya think thats gonna turn out?

Turkey throws in the Towel...

and finally frees Pastor Brunson which I am sure has nothing to do with the disappearance/alleged death of Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.  The BBC is claiming that Turkish Intelligence has a recording of Khashoggi's interrogation and murder.
The current theory is, Khashoggi was literally dismembered, which is good old fashioned Nazi Terror Tactics designed specifically to intimidate the opposition and especially journalists worldwide, the German Word is Schrecklichkeit "frightfulness".
Such civilized allies we have, In The House of Saud, who are themselves "Putin Class" Trump enabler$ which likely explains why US Intelligence never warned Khashoggi that Riyadh was gunning for him, literally.
Moreover, Turkish Intelligence was listening in, and did nothing, as Khashoggi (a brother Muslim I might add) was tortured, killed and dismembered, not only that they, let the Saudi Hit Squad depart unmolested.
God Almighty only knows what else The Turks know about this horror show whatever it is, it was enough to scare them into releasing Brunson.
Good they ought to be scared...more transparency seems to be the only thing that sways these barbarians.

"Yeah, when WILL Charlie Baker gonna fire someone at the State Police"?

Here I echo sentiments expressed by Jay Gonzalez at the last Gubernatorial Debate.
We all know the answer to that, a republican even a republican with a two billion percent approval rating like Lumpy, would sooner blow their own brains out than let any daylight get between them and "Our Police Force" especially the Staties.
This is why Lumpy is content to keep track of the issue by reading the Boston Globe faithfully every single morning and leave the rest to the AG, the DA and the Feds.  It certainly looks craven (hell it is craven), and so far as I can see, Lumpy will be marinated in craveness by election day.
I'll give props to Jay Gonzalez for at least rhetorically confronting the problem (normally democrats have their inhibitions about confronting a public sector union) so that is at least some progress. Meanwhile someone at the State Police wants to start shredding documents, the plan got scotched at the last minute and all Lumpy seems to be able to mumble "thats a good fail-safe"...
There is no better fail safe than a Governor willing to take action against chiselers and corruptards....think on that Lumpy.

"BTW"

Governor Charlie "Lumpy" Baker quietly endorsed the "Yes on Three" campaign thus boxing the compass on LGBT issues, but then remember this is also a man who a scant month ago endorsed notorious fag basher Geoff Diehl for the US Senate. The whole thing however, was entirely downed out by the National Kavanaugh Hangover this weekend. All this tells me is that Baker's campaign must be less concerned about "Scott Lively" voters defecting or blanking their ballots on election day.  In other words, their numbers must look good for Lumpy to embrace a measure related to simple human decency.  I'm sure if there was a risk of even a quiet schism in the GOP Lumpy would run from Question Three like a vampire fears holy water.

"That Could Have Gone Better"...

We keep learning the same painful lesson over and over again in this country, that if we are waiting for Maine Senator Susan Collins to save our rights and liberties, we wait in vain.
Because as of right now, the Supreme Court is packed with Spectrumy Ideological Suicide Bombers, and somehow despite all her misgivings, lower lip pulling, anguished cries, Senator Collins managed to vote for all of them.
But then, I've been saying for years that "republican moderation" is basically a racket.  It allows access to certain fundraising resources that are denied to a grass-eater and it gets plenty of good ink from credulous outfits like the Boston Globe that are eager to pretend that "moderate republicans" are a potent force within the GOP.
In voting for Kavanaugh last week, Senator Collins simply buried for good the notion that "republican moderation" abides and is well positioned to "moderate something".  She sat silently as Judge Kavanaugh slipped into a berserker rage and literally blamed his binge drinking on Hillary Clinton when he wasn't pledging allegiance to some notional one party state.  Maybe you can make an argument that  there is but hearsay evidence as to his drinking and philandering...but the man basically shouted threats at the US Senate, and the lot of them and Susan Goddamn Collins just sat there!
Simple regard for judicial impartiality and sanctity of the US Senate dictated a "No Vote", but McConnell, Grassley & Graham long ago emigrated to a dark foreign place where any conflict between the Constitution and  mere Ideology must be won by the One True Faith.
I give Senator Heitkamp her due, she correctly saw the mortal threat posed to an impartial judiciary by Judge Kavanaugh's bestial outburst and voted no accordingly, she at least has a sense of institutional self preservation.
Otherwise the US Senate has officially hit rock bottom, why should they defend any of our rights, when they won't even stand up for their own dignity?
My big takeaway from all this is that threats, belligerence and escalation all work, at least on the US Senate.

Kay Bailey Hutchinson...

Our Ambassador to NATO (I was wondering where she ended up...) is the first member of the current administration to notice that Putin's Russia has casually broken it's INF Treaty obligations by deploying a new generation of cruise missiles in Eastern Russia.
She briefly mused over "taking out" those missiles before hastily walking back those comments, so while we've finally acknowledged the existence of the cruise missiles we've responded by making a threat we can't back up that was of itself subsequently withdrawn.
For the record, we've no regional capacity to "take out" said missiles because the USA is still keeping it's INF Treaty obligations in the face of a clear Russian violation of the same.
That's Putin's harsh wintery laughter on the soundtrack by the way.
So far as anyone can tell President Trump has not taken up this issue with the Russian Despot in any manner shape or form.

Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Nazi Germany was more artfully arranged than this humiliating mishaugas.

Liz Don't Do It...

I know every Bernie-crat and PUMA from Here to Guam, wants you to pile into the 2020 race, just remember a generation ago, their parents were blowing smoke into Ted Kennedy's face, and he fell well short in 1980.  Since that time five other guys from Massachusetts, four democrats and one republican have all tried and failed to grab off the Big Brass Ring.
I repeat myself, beyond the Berkshires, they hate us. Dunno why...maybe its Tom Brady's infuriating Barrymore-esque Profile, or the fact that they ship their kids in by the Regiment for very expensive educations...whatever it is, you mention Massachusetts in Shreveport and blood pressures start spiking.
I don't know how to fix that, I suspect only time can redress the matter, and we only get one more shot at Trump in the electoral college.  I don't think a woman from Massachusetts is the winning ticket in 2020....I've already seen the men all fall short,  All you will accomplish is keeping Bernie on the sidelines at the cost of listening to dumbasses war-whooping for eighteen months.
That and likely losing either the primaries or the big one.
Think about it Senator, just don't listen to those urgent souls who insist "its now or never"....