Biasing Google
Trump is on the front page today alleging that Google searches are biased against him and against conservatism in general. This tears the scab off the deeper wound, which has to do with "fake news" and rightwing conspiracy theories.
Consider Pizzagate. Conservatives by the millions believed that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile ring out of a DC pizza joint. They had a list of clues and a cast of characters that involved every prominent liberal you can think of. Plus murders by the dozen -- they were sure the Clintons were killing people right and left. Well, they still believe that.
Pizzagate hit a brick wall when a guy started shooting up the pizza place and discovered there were no children hidden there, but it morphed into the even-more-unlikely QAnon conspiracy theory, where Trump is actually secretly running the Mueller investigation in order to convict Hillary and others of pedophilia-related crimes. This is mainstream conservative stuff -- Trump has even invited leading QAnon proponents to have their pictures taken with him in the Oval Office.
So, to be clear, stories about Hillary Clinton's pedophilia ring are fake news. There is no evidence for the belief. Someone has imagined the worst thing they can think of, and then they pretend it is real. It doesn't really matter if Russian bots are involved or not. A certain kind of people think the stories are true, and they forward them to one another. CNN, the Washington Post, are not fake news: they are "news." They can be wrong, and they can even be biased, but at the end of the day they are accountable for accuracy, that is, what they print has to reflect objective reality or they will lose their readership.
Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, without the Internet. The newspapers are not going to print Pizzagate and QAnon stories because they are false. Without the Internet some rightwing AM radio shows might talk about it, a few extremely nutty people might fixate on it but they would not be invited into the White House.
The Internet has several big hubs -- Google, Facebook, YouTube, and a couple others -- and each of these hubs has to filter and prioritize information for users. Google can't give you everything at once, it has to put something first. That's what makes it useful, when you ask about a subject it gives you the information you want. Google puts a lot of effort into figuring out how to do that. The problem is not "the Internet," which contains all kinds of stuff, the problem, if there is one, lies with these companies, which select items for the user.
Now these companies face an ethical issue. For example, if you ask Google "How old is the earth?" it comes back with the answer "4.543 billion years." That is the right answer, or as close as science can figure, and for sensible people that is the actual answer. Then it gives you some links to web sites that talk about the earth and how old it is.
But if you looked at a conservative web site, Conservapedia, for instance, you would read that "All verifiable evidence indicates that the Earth is about 6,000 years old." This is what conservatives believe. This belief is not correct, but they have convinced one another that it is, and as far as they are concerned the Internet should reflect their views, not the liberal opinion. Conservatives believe the big companies like Google and YouTube should place their false belief on equal priority with the scientific one, or give it higher priority.
Oddly we now live in a world with two competing realities. The liberal reality encompasses an objective world that can be understood by scientific methods, and the conservative reality is formed out of beliefs that are consistent with one another and are vaguely connected to biblical theology.
Trump is complaining because Google searches return negative information about him. That is because he lies all the time and is a racist and does not know how to run a government -- relying on "Fox and Friends," for instance, rather than his own intelligence agencies. There is not really much good to say about him, and so when you Google you get some current news stories, which are almost certainly about some stupid thing he has done; you get his latest tweets, which are almost certainly idiotic; and you get some videos which are mostly of stupid things he has done. True, the results are negative, and that is because most people hold a negative view of him, most of the things he does look bad -- he is a great reality-TV personality but he does not look good in a neutral search for information.
So should Google wait until Trump learns how to use the speakerphone, and then post that video at the top of the page, instead of the one that is there now, where Trump is pushing buttons and saying "Hello?" to nobody, with cameras clicking? Should they wait for him to say something intelligent, or to make a policy decision that is not hateful or ignorant? I don't see how Google can provide the service they do, giving people the information they want, if they let themselves become a rightwing propaganda machine.
Just as he has taken the phrase "fake news" and turned it around to mean real news, Trump is accusing Google of bias against him, and he wants to force them to introduce a bias in his favor. White House people are thinking about "regulating" Google, so that search results are more favorable to Trump -- that is a chilling thought. It almost certainly violates the First Amendment, for one thing, and it is a step toward dictatorship that Americans should not permit.
What they should do is set up their own "Conservoogle," a search engine that will provide the user with conservatively-biased results. And then, just like Conservapedia, nobody would use it. Because it would be wrong.
Consider Pizzagate. Conservatives by the millions believed that Hillary Clinton was running a pedophile ring out of a DC pizza joint. They had a list of clues and a cast of characters that involved every prominent liberal you can think of. Plus murders by the dozen -- they were sure the Clintons were killing people right and left. Well, they still believe that.
Pizzagate hit a brick wall when a guy started shooting up the pizza place and discovered there were no children hidden there, but it morphed into the even-more-unlikely QAnon conspiracy theory, where Trump is actually secretly running the Mueller investigation in order to convict Hillary and others of pedophilia-related crimes. This is mainstream conservative stuff -- Trump has even invited leading QAnon proponents to have their pictures taken with him in the Oval Office.
So, to be clear, stories about Hillary Clinton's pedophilia ring are fake news. There is no evidence for the belief. Someone has imagined the worst thing they can think of, and then they pretend it is real. It doesn't really matter if Russian bots are involved or not. A certain kind of people think the stories are true, and they forward them to one another. CNN, the Washington Post, are not fake news: they are "news." They can be wrong, and they can even be biased, but at the end of the day they are accountable for accuracy, that is, what they print has to reflect objective reality or they will lose their readership.
Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, without the Internet. The newspapers are not going to print Pizzagate and QAnon stories because they are false. Without the Internet some rightwing AM radio shows might talk about it, a few extremely nutty people might fixate on it but they would not be invited into the White House.
The Internet has several big hubs -- Google, Facebook, YouTube, and a couple others -- and each of these hubs has to filter and prioritize information for users. Google can't give you everything at once, it has to put something first. That's what makes it useful, when you ask about a subject it gives you the information you want. Google puts a lot of effort into figuring out how to do that. The problem is not "the Internet," which contains all kinds of stuff, the problem, if there is one, lies with these companies, which select items for the user.
Now these companies face an ethical issue. For example, if you ask Google "How old is the earth?" it comes back with the answer "4.543 billion years." That is the right answer, or as close as science can figure, and for sensible people that is the actual answer. Then it gives you some links to web sites that talk about the earth and how old it is.
But if you looked at a conservative web site, Conservapedia, for instance, you would read that "All verifiable evidence indicates that the Earth is about 6,000 years old." This is what conservatives believe. This belief is not correct, but they have convinced one another that it is, and as far as they are concerned the Internet should reflect their views, not the liberal opinion. Conservatives believe the big companies like Google and YouTube should place their false belief on equal priority with the scientific one, or give it higher priority.
Oddly we now live in a world with two competing realities. The liberal reality encompasses an objective world that can be understood by scientific methods, and the conservative reality is formed out of beliefs that are consistent with one another and are vaguely connected to biblical theology.
Trump is complaining because Google searches return negative information about him. That is because he lies all the time and is a racist and does not know how to run a government -- relying on "Fox and Friends," for instance, rather than his own intelligence agencies. There is not really much good to say about him, and so when you Google you get some current news stories, which are almost certainly about some stupid thing he has done; you get his latest tweets, which are almost certainly idiotic; and you get some videos which are mostly of stupid things he has done. True, the results are negative, and that is because most people hold a negative view of him, most of the things he does look bad -- he is a great reality-TV personality but he does not look good in a neutral search for information.
So should Google wait until Trump learns how to use the speakerphone, and then post that video at the top of the page, instead of the one that is there now, where Trump is pushing buttons and saying "Hello?" to nobody, with cameras clicking? Should they wait for him to say something intelligent, or to make a policy decision that is not hateful or ignorant? I don't see how Google can provide the service they do, giving people the information they want, if they let themselves become a rightwing propaganda machine.
Just as he has taken the phrase "fake news" and turned it around to mean real news, Trump is accusing Google of bias against him, and he wants to force them to introduce a bias in his favor. White House people are thinking about "regulating" Google, so that search results are more favorable to Trump -- that is a chilling thought. It almost certainly violates the First Amendment, for one thing, and it is a step toward dictatorship that Americans should not permit.
What they should do is set up their own "Conservoogle," a search engine that will provide the user with conservatively-biased results. And then, just like Conservapedia, nobody would use it. Because it would be wrong.
278 Comments:
Canadian Muslims showing Pride, flashing the rainbow
North American Muslims are less bigoted than American evangelical christians
------------------------
Hee Hee Hee!
Panicky Trump's been telling people that if Democrats win the midterm they'll end everything Trump has done with violence. This coming from the man who during the 2016 election suggested that if Hillary was elected Republicans could fix that with "second amendment solutions". The desperation in Trump is palpable.
More Trump desperation:
Trump Lies to Evangelical Leaders, Urges Them to Violate the Law
Trump held what amounts to a state dinner honoring Christian right leaders at the White House the other day and, after the press had left, lied to them about the Johnson Amendment and encouraged them to violate the law by telling their followers to vote for Republicans from the pulpit.
In a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders Monday night, President Donald Trump repeated his debunked claim that he had gotten “rid of” a law forbidding churches and charitable organizations from endorsing political candidates, according to recorded excerpts reviewed by NBC News.
In fact, the law remains on the books, after efforts to kill it in Congress last year failed…
“Now one of the things I’m most proud of is getting rid of the Johnson Amendment,” the president said. “That was a disaster for you.”
And once again we see Trump claiming to have done something he didn’t do. Despite attempts to pass it, the Johnson Amendment, which forbids all non-profits from endorsing political candidates, remains the law of the land. But in Trumpworld, it doesn’t matter whether he actually achieved something, he’ll just declare it achieved and then, magically, it becomes true. No word on whether he had to sprinkle it with fairy dust first or not. Then, after telling them the law is no longer the law, he urged them to break the law by endorsing Republicans. And then he repeated the moronic lie that before he was elected, you weren’t allowed to say “Marry Christmas.”
“Little thing — Merry Christmas. You couldn’t say Merry Christmas,” Trump said. “I’m telling you — when I started running I used to talk about it and I hate to mention it in August, but I used to talk about it. They don’t say Merry Christmas anymore.”
Trump added, to applause: “They say Merry Christmas a lot right now. It’s all changed. It’s all changed.”
Absolutely nothing has changed. People said it before, they’re still saying it, and Trump is still lying about it. You’d think these Christian right leaders would be offended at the insult of their intelligence that he lies right to their face and expects them to believe it, but they’re too busy sucking at the power tit to notice or to care.
Jim, you've got a lot of nerve posting something like this
LOL
"White House people are thinking about "regulating" Google, so that search results are more favorable to Trump -- that is a chilling thought. It almost certainly violates the First Amendment,"
won't endorse your entire post but I couldn't agree with these lines more
anyone can start their own search engine
although, I think this would also fall under freedom of the press
CNN, CNBC are clearly biased but I wouldn't ever want the government to regulate them
I use Bing myself
I like their pictures
btw, liberals love to bring up Comet Ping Pong
I'd been there many time before the story came out
I've never met, spoken to, read about, or heard about anyoe who believed it
have you?
btw, while I wouldn't regulate them, there is no no doubt that CNN and CNBC are biased
I flipped between them the night of the Cohen plea, and they both had panels of "experts" and not one even mentioned the idea that the campaign violation charges were bogus
you didn't have to be an expert to see that the law could not consistently be applied that way
yet, not one brought up that point
Trump's problem is that his ego won't let him acknowledge that 95% of what Trump's done is bad news so of course unbiased search engines like Google give almost entirely bad news about him.
Speaking of Republicans getting crazy with conspiracy theories like Hillary running a pedophile ring out of the basement of a pizza place that doesn't have a basement...
No Republicans have dived deeper into the tin-foil hat wearing crowd than Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous
They're so desperate to defend the indefensible Trump they are now repeatedly making the absurd claim that Trump's people are pleading guilty to "bogus" criminal charges.
Obviously Trump's attack dogs would never plead guilty to bogus charges.
And how out of touch with reality do you have to be to believe the lawyers of Trump's people pleading guilty to these crimes would risk their careers to happily go along with it if the charges were "bogus"?
Apparently all the lawyers for Trump's cronies are in on the global conspiracy against Trump and his people as well.
Further, a judge has to approve guilty pleas to prosecutorial charges. By law, the judge can't just accept an unsupported guilty plea, there must be supporting evidence that the person pleading guilty did it.
Wyatt and Regina have lost their grip on reality. Their paranoia has reached such epic levels they think the entire Justice Department is conspiring to make up charges for Trump's people and somehow there's a mountain of evidence Hillary is guilty of crimes five years ago and no one has ever tried to charge her and every Justice Department employee is risking their career to lie about it.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
You two need anti-psychotic medication stat!
"Trump's problem is that his ego won't let him acknowledge that 95% of what Trump's done is bad news so of course unbiased search engines like Google give almost entirely bad news about him."
oh, I have a call in to Donald to let him know where to look
btw, Priya's 95% claim is fake news
Priya is actually a very fake person
"Speaking of Republicans getting crazy with conspiracy theories like Hillary running a pedophile ring out of the basement of a pizza place that doesn't have a basement..."
no one ever believed that story
it would be long forgotten if liberals didn't constantly bring it up
"repeatedly making the absurd claim that Trump's people are pleading guilty to "bogus" criminal charges.
Obviously Trump's attack dogs would never plead guilty to bogus charges.
And how out of touch with reality do you have to be to believe the lawyers of Trump's people pleading guilty to these crimes would risk their careers to happily go along with it if the charges were "bogus"?"
well, I was referring to the campaign violations charge against Cohen and the perjury charge against Flynn
Cohen pleaded to the charges as part of a deal to get reduced sentences for fraud crimes he was guilty of
he didn't lose anything by pleading to the bogus charges and it helped Mueller create the impression of wrongdoing by Trump, something he is having trouble finding
Cohen's lawyer, the despicable Lanny Davis, would certainly like the deal
as for Flynn's perjury charge, the FBI agent who interviewed him when he supposedly lied said he thought the misstatement was inadvertent
no prosecutor would have brought this charge unless he had an agenda
why Flynn pleaded is a mystery but it's been suggested Mueller was threatening to involve Flynn's children
Mueller has a history of destroying innocent lives
at least one such person commited suicide
that these charges are bogus is something that few argue with but I guess Priya's credibility is so shot that there's no point worrying about that
btw, Mueller is menace to society and needs to be dealt with at the conclusion of this matter
if his tactics are left unaddressed, civil liberty in the US is in trouble
I was going to be a Trump voter for Halloween, but my head wouldn't fit up my ass.
Did you see that last post by Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous??? Wow!
They've clearly had a complete psychotic break with reality!
If you see Wyatt or Regina Hardiman in public get as far away from them as fast as you can - they are dangerous in this condition!
We can only hope they soon get the help they need - thoughts and prayers.
"But if you looked at a conservative web site, Conservapedia, for instance, you would read that "All verifiable evidence indicates that the Earth is about 6,000 years old."".
"All verifiable evidence" LOL!
These people are totally committed to a lifestyle of telling preposterous lies. No shame whatsoever!
"liberals love to bring up Comet Ping Pong
I'd been there many time before the story came out
I've never met, spoken to, read about, or heard about anyoe who believed it
have you?"
Yes, I've read that Alex Jones, Michael G. Flynn, and Edgar Maddison Welch believed it.
'Pizzagate' gunman pleads guilty as conspiracy theorist apologizes over case
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) couldn’t even wait 24 hours after winning the Republican nomination for the Florida governor’s race before unfurling an insulting attack on his black opponent — an attack that was too far even for Fox News.
“Let’s build off the success we’ve had on Gov. [Rick] Scott. The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda with huge tax increases bankrupting the state,” DeSantis said of his Democratic opponent, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum. Gillum is the firstAfrican-American to be nominated for governor in Florida.
DeSantis’ dog whistle was so loud, even Fox felt the need to distance itself from the Trump-backed nominee.
“We do not condone this language and wanted to make our viewers aware that he has since clarified his statement,” Fox News anchor Sandra Smith said later on air.
It’s quite a statement coming from the same outlet that helped fuel DeSantis’ primary campaign by giving him $9 million in free airtime.
"I was going to be a Trump voter for Halloween, but my head wouldn't fit up my ass"
you could go to a head shrink
just, don't go to Priya's
he obviously doesn't know what he's doing
and be careful not to hurt your neck like you did that other time
"All verifiable evidence" LOL!"
what's your verifiable evidence say?
"Yes, I've read that Alex Jones, Michael G. Flynn, and Edgar Maddison Welch believed it."
sounds like that nationwide white supremacist movement that Dems say Trump unleashed
all dozen of them showed up at the White House a couple of weeks ago
LOL
any empirical evidence on how many believed this Comet Ping Pong story?
more or less than the membership of Westboro Baptist?
ROFL
"It’s quite a statement coming from the same outlet that helped fuel DeSantis’ primary campaign by giving him $9 million in free airtime."
you don't believe in freedom of the press, do you?
fact of the day that liberals love:
85% of blue collar workers believe their futures are much brighter since Trump took office
EIGHTY
FIVE
PER
CENT
That approaches the kind of numbers Dems used to get from blacks, although blacks are starting to move away from Dems now.
Could blue-collar workers blunt a blue wave? A new poll suggests they will.
For decades, blue-collar voters helped form the backbone of the Democratic Party. They were such a reliable voting bloc that sunk the Dems whenever they defected in significant enough numbers to elect Republican presidents, : Nixon, Reagan.
Bill Clinton was able to bring those voters back into the Democratic fold by embracing centrist policies. Sixteen years later, Barack Obama alienated traditional blue-collar voters who were turned off by his radicalism. As the Democratic party increasingly catered to the coastal elites and moved further to the left, those blue-collar voters became ever more alienated. They waited for someone — anyone — to address their economic, national security and values-based anxieties. To respect them. To “get” them.
In 2016, that person arrived in the unlikely form of a New York real estate mogul who was far more comfortable with the hardhats on his construction sites than he was with the bankers and foremen. That raw authenticity was valued by blue-collar folks, who considered him to be “one of them.”
They, in turn, rewarded him on election day. Trump won working-class voters by about 39 percentage points. They made up the basis for his wins in the critical swing states, particularly in the industrial rust belt, from Pennsylvania to Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Today, they continue to support Trump. Particularly his economic agenda as they benefit from the bounce-back in manufacturing, energy-sector and construction jobs, wage growth and the successful renegotiation of trade deals — like this week’s new NAFTA deal with Mexico — that disproportionately slammed them.
A new Harris poll of blue-collar workers bears this out.
Blue-collar laborers are the most optimistic group in the country: A whopping “85 percent of them see their lives heading ‘in the right direction.’
That optimism carries over into other areas. A stunning 88 percent of blue-collar parents agree with the statement, “My children will have a better future than I will.”
Eighty percent also agree that “the harder you work, the more successful you will be,” and 70 percent believe that the “American dream is alive for people like me.”
Blue-collar workers' confidence in the future is high. And they approve of the job President Trump is doing, largely because they are enjoying the economic boom he is delivering and are tuning out the media-driven noise.
These are dangerous data points for Democrats, who continue to ignore them at their electoral peril. These voters were indispensable in putting Trump over the top in the states that matter, and they look poised to deliver for him and his party again in the midterm elections and in 2020. The much-hyped blue wave may hit a blue wall thanks to the unlikely “blue-collar billionaire” who is directly improving their lives after decades of empty promises from Democrats who took them for granted.
The approval and optimism of the key blue-collar voting bloc — combined with rising approval numbers from other traditionally Democratic constituencies such as African-Americans, Hispanics and young people, who also are enjoying historically low unemployment rates — is an encroaching existential threat to the left.
The dramatic realignment Trump led in 2016 is still underway, roiling expectations and defying prediction. And while Democrats are merrily anticipating big gains in November, many of their core voters may have an unwelcome surprise in store.
In the last 18 years Republicans have voted 9 times in favour of raising their own salary, raising it a total of $99,000.
In that same time they've also voted 14 times against raising the minimum wage and attempted 71 times to take away people's healthcare.
-----------------------------------
Remember when Trump and his allies like lap dog Devin Nunes in an effort to discredit the FBI (when the Repbulican controlled House Intelligence Committee was tasked with investigating Trump/Russia collusion) outed an informant on Russia? 3 months later: U.S. intelligence sources in Russia go dark
They were warned outing this source would harm the U.S. intelligence gathering operation and put the country in danger, but Republicans didn't care. Instead of performing their duty and being a check on the Executive branch they're behaving corruptly to help keep a corrupt illegitimate president in power.
Puerto Rico raises official Hurricane Maria death toll from 64 to 2,975
- New estimate is based on the finding that the number of deaths from September 2017 to February 2018 was up 22% year on year
Currently on Fox and Friends is a sleeping bag challenge. They have to see who can pack the sleeping bag the fastest. Meanwhile, on CNN, discussion about Hurricane Maria's death toll.
Crooked Trump when asked how he rated his response to the disaster in Puerto Rico stunningly said "10 out of 10"!
Thousands of people died needlessly because of the wholely inadequate response of the Trump administration to the disaster in Puerto Rico.
NRA's Wayne LaPierre: "Academic elites, political elites, and media elites. These are america's greatest domestic threats."
Sure. Remember when Harvard's math department killed all those kindergarteners at Sandy Hook?
Anti-gay Hate Group Leader Backs Trump's Desperate Claim that Democrats Will Become Violent If They Win The Midterms
I smell a blue wave coming on :)
"Family" "Research" Council president Tony Perkins is just as panicky as Trump about the trend towards Democrats since Trump was elected. Hee Hee Hee!
In 2016 when it looked like Trump was going to lose he called for "second amendment solutions" if Hillary was elected president.
Republicans are really evil through and through.
Incredibly stupid and silly, marking yet another nadir for the American Taliban and the Party of the Anti-Christ.
1. First, if/when decent people win in November, why on earth would we want to be violent?
2. Who was it who throughout his campaign called for his trumpanzees to act violently? Who was it who called for "Second Amendment solutions" against the President and her nominees should Hillary win? Who called for armed insurrection should Benedict Trump not be declared winner of the election? Who emphasized his belief that violent Klanspeople, neoNazis, and actual Nazis are "good people"? Who explicitly and publicly called for MORE police brutality?
Frankly, as soon as Traitor Chump called for "Second Amendment Solutions" and then later for armed insurrection, anybody who might even vaguely been considering a vote for him should have sped away.
The polls and most prognosticators agree, the Democrats will likely win the House back in the mid-term elections and possibly the Senate.
Obviously the only risk of violence after this happens is from losing Republicans. :)
"85% of blue collar workers"
Impressive, but....
The National Trend in Blue-Collar Employment
In 1970, blue-collar jobs were 31.2 percent of total nonfarm employment. By 2016, their share had fallen to 13.6 percent of total employment. While blue-collar jobs have been declining as a share of total employment over this whole period, this was mostly due to the growth in total employment. The number of blue-collar jobs did not change much through most of this period. In 2000 there were 24.6 million blue-collar jobs, only slightly below the peak of 25.0 million in 1979. However the numbers plunged in the next decade due to the impact of the exploding trade deficit and the 2008-2009 recession. Blue-collar jobs fell to 17.8 million in 2010 and have since rebounded modestly to 19.6 million in the most recent data.
Donald preaches the gospel: Steal from the poor to pay the rich, collude with Russian spies, incite violence, pay off porn stars and grab women by the ...
Some of us would rather go to church with more conventional people like ... Robert Mueller.
"I was going to be a Trump voter for Halloween, but my head wouldn't fit up my ass."
but you tried, right?
"Did you see that last post by brilliant anonymous??? Wow!
He's clearly had a complete psychotic break with reality!"
this is the common reaction Priya has to facts
fingers in ears and chant lalalalalalala
much of Priya's life is a fantasy
some more facts liberals love so much:
1. when lawyers make payments to be reimbursed for clients who are candidates for office, that's not a political contribution
2. Hillary's lawyer paid for the Steele dossier with the expectation of reimbursement
3. some of these funds went to sources in the Russian government
4. when a candidate expends money to enhance or protect his personal reputation, by law those expenditures are not campaign expenditures
5. candidates can make unlimited campaign expenditures from their personal funds
6. Michael Cohen is not guilty of campaign finance violations
7. the FBI agent whose interview was the basis of a perjury against Michael Flynn says he doesn't think Flynn lied
8. Mueller has a history of harassing innocent people in connection with his faulty theories: on victim sued and won an award of 5.8 million from the FBI, another committed suicide
"The polls and most prognosticators agree, the Democrats will likely win the House back in the mid-term elections and possibly the Senate."
poor Hillary
these "polls and most prognosticators" agreed she was going to win 2016 so she kicked back with a glass of Chardonnay the weekend before the election while her opponent kept holding rallies in the Rust Belt until 5 am on election day
those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it
Canada is scrambling to meet a Friday deadline that Trump has given them.
Under pressure, Canada rejoined the talks to modernize the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement after Mexico and the United States announced a bilateral deal on Monday.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said late on Wednesday that talks were at “a very intense moment” and that Canada will work all night to make Trump happy.
“Our officials are meeting now and will be meeting until very late tonight. Possibly they’ll be meeting all night long,” Freeland said.
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said he would review Canada's progress on Thursday.
Trump has warned he would proceed with a deal with Mexico alone and levy tariffs on Canadian-made cars if Ottawa does not come on board by Friday.
“Canada want to be part of the deal, and we gave until Friday. We’ll see what happens.” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will comply with the Friday deadline, as he was instructed to do by Trump.
Freeland, who is Canada’s lead negotiator, bas been told to accept the terms the United States and Mexico worked out.
Ottawa is will make concessions on Canada’s protected dairy market, The Globe and Mail reported late on Tuesday.
"some more facts liberals love so much:
1. when lawyers make payments to be reimbursed for clients who are candidates for office, that's not a political contribution"
Facts morons like to ignore:
1. That's not what Cohen pleaded guilty to.
2. Cohen pleaded guilty for making an excessive campaign contribution and causing an unlawful corporate contribution.
3. There's a $2700 limit for per election for a federal candidate.
4. Each of these crimes is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
Mentally ill Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "when lawyers make payments to be reimbursed for clients who are candidates for office, that's not a political contribution"
So, once again, in a psychotic break with reality, Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous put on their tin-foil hats and bizarrely assert that Cohen pleaded guilty to fake criminal charges and his lawyer happily went along with the sham, as did the judge who had to accept Cohen's guilty plea and by law could only do so with evidence showing the guilty plea was correct. In other words psychotic Wyatt/Regina thinks there was a grand conspiracy involving the prosecutors at the southern district of New York, the judge, Cohen's lawyer, and Cohen himself to plead guilty to a "bogus" charge that will send Cohen to jail. And somehow there isn't a mass expression of outrage by thousands in the legal profession at this "miscarriage" of justice - I guess the entire legal profession is in on the conspiracy too.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!
By Wyatt/Regina's logic, if they robbed a bank and then months later returned the money and said "no harm no foul :)"
they wouldn't have committed a crime.
Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!
If Cohen hadn't committed a campaign contribution crime to influence the 2016 election, when the SDNY charged him with such a campaign contribution crime he wouldn't have pleaded guilty and accepted jail time, he and his lawyer would have told the SDNY prosecutor to go phuque his hat.
9 year old boy killed himself after classmates tormented him for being gay
That's the primary reason Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous come to TTF - to do everything they can to create a hostile environment that leads to attacks on LGBT children and adults.
They're constantly trying to troll LGBT readers of TTF by saying things like "Trump is the most gay friendly president ever" hoping that this will upset LGBT people as no president has attacked gays than him. Research shows internet trolls like Wyatt/Regina bad anonymous are sadists and they've proven that they are again and again.
In this thread starting at January 14, 2016 12:12 PM they repeatedly called for LGBT school children to be viciously assaulted and clearly were delighted with themselves for doing so.
Its evil people like Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous who created the hostile environment that killed this precious innocent 9 year old boy. They have blood on their hands and are happy about it.
"1. when lawyers make payments to be reimbursed for clients who are candidates for office, that's not a political contribution"
Facts morons like to ignore:
1. That's not what Cohen pleaded guilty to."
that's the exact transaction that the prosecutors characterized as:
"making an excessive campaign contribution"
other than that, Cohen made no excessive contribution
and that transaction wasn't a contribution at all
there is no campaign that hasn't done the same
"and causing an unlawful corporate contribution."
this is an even scarier and more unconstitutional characterization by the prosecutors
the corporate entity referred to is a media organization
their decision to publish or not is protected by the Constitution
if not, CNN's entire budget for 2016 was a contribution to Hillary
"So, once again, in a psychotic break with reality, brilliant anonymous put on their tin-foil hats and bizarrely assert that Cohen pleaded guilty to fake criminal charges and his lawyer happily went along with the sham, as did the judge who had to accept Cohen's guilty plea and by law could only do so with evidence showing the guilty plea was correct."
I guess it's mass psychosis because most lawyers believe that
"In other words, there was a grand conspiracy involving the prosecutors at the southern district of New York, the judge, Cohen's lawyer, and Cohen himself to plead guilty to a "bogus" charge that will send Cohen to jail."
it's called a plea bargain
with your extra time in the mental ward, you should read up on it
"And somehow there isn't a mass expression of outrage by thousands in the legal profession at this "miscarriage" of justice - I guess the entire legal profession is in on the conspiracy too."
actually, most lawyers agree with what I said
there's no outrage because the fake charges don't change anything for Cohen
the only one affected by the fake charge is Trump, which is the point
"if they robbed a bank and then months later returned the money and said "no harm no foul :)"
they wouldn't have committed a crime."
completely ignorant comment
no campaign pays its expenditures in cash
I've looked at the books of many of them
they actually often take years to pay back their vendors, and there is no history of these extensions of credit being characterized as a contribution
ever
"Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"
thanks for sharing what the voices in your head say to you
make sure you tell your shrink too!
have you tried to stick our head up your ass like your friend who found it didn't fit
"If Cohen hadn't committed a campaign contribution crime to influence the 2016 election, when the SDNY charged him with such a campaign contribution crime he wouldn't have pleaded guilty and accepted jail time, he and his lawyer would have told the SDNY prosecutor to go phuque his hat."
he won't serve any extra time for the campaign violation
Priya knows this and also knows Trump has committed no crime
Priya is desperate to get Trump out to save the special privileges granted to homosexuals by Obama the Worst
"the hostile environment that killed this precious innocent 9 year old boy"
could we hear more details about that whole story?
because it doesn't make much sense
what kind of parent would tell a nine-year-old kid to go to school and tell everyone he's gay?
what kind of nine-year-old kid even thinks such things?
what kind of nine-year-old kid knows how to kill himself?
does Priya actually know anything about this?
Why is it that whenever I google "Idi Amin news" or "Chairman Mao news" only bad stuff comes up?
David Fahrenthold✔
@Fahrenthold
.@realDonaldTrump once had 19 companies paying him to use his name on their products. By this yr, just 2 were left. Now, it might be 1.
Panamanian company HomeStudio S.A., which sold Trump-branded bed linens in Latin America, has shut website and stopped answering the phone.
10:17 AM - Aug 29, 2018
.
.
.
tRump is TOXIC
"other than that, Cohen made no excessive contribution"
Fool in court:
"Well, other than the ONE bank I robbed, I didn't rob any other banks. Therefore, I didn't commit a crime."
It would be SOOOO much fun watching you represent yourself in court!
I can't even imagine why you think this line of reasoning is plausible. You must be joking. Or insane. Or possibly both.
Ted Cruz Misses Senate Votes To Campaign Back In Texas
Cruz's Democratic opponent in the mid-term elections is in a statistical tie for voters according to polls. That this would be the case in deep red Texas shows how far Republican support has slipped across the country since Trump was elected (and only a minority of the public supported Republicans in the 2016 eletion to begin with).
Ted Cruz is panicking - good!
--------------------------------
@DonaldJTrumpJr ""The experts" said it couldn't be done. This is what happens when you have a real leader and businessman in the White House. @realdDonaldTrump's policies are working. 4.2% Baby!!!"
Truth: It was done in four different quarters under President Obama with one difference:
Growth in those four quarters was higher - 4.5%, 4.7%, 4.9%, and 5.1%
Boom! Mike drop!
Donald Trump's presidency by the numbers:
2975 deaths in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria
2500 children separated from families with 500 children still separated
75 contacts with Russia discovered after Trump and his people repeatedly claim there were none
26 Russians indicted
19 sexual assault allegations
5 Trump advisors guilty
And 1 unindicted co-conspirator: DONALD TRUMP
-------------------------
The Republicans spent millions of taxpayer dollars trying to put Hillary in jail for Benghazi, over a tragedy that was caused by Republican Paul Ryan's refusal to fund security for embassies per request of then Secretary Clinton.
Trump Lawyer Rudy Giuliana condemns Romania's efforts to end corruption
----------------------------
We saw Nuns kill children at St. Joseph's Catholic Orphanage
Watch Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous try to blame it on lesbians.
The truth is only churches that oppose gay marriage have a child molestation problem.
"Well, other than the ONE bank I robbed, I didn't rob any other banks. Therefore, I didn't commit a crime."
actually, you're mixed up
Cohen's "crime" is like a bank saying you robbed them when you made a withdrawal from our account
"It would be SOOOO much fun watching you represent yourself in court!"
oh, I'd hire a lawyer
btw, what grade are you in this year and are you looking forward to school starting up next week?
"I can't even imagine why you think this line of reasoning is plausible."
I know TTFers lack imagination but, no matter, I've explained my reasoning in detail
that's why you attempt to create a diversion from the facts
"You must be joking. Or insane. Or possibly both."
yeah, me and all the lawyers in the country
"And 1 unindicted co-conspirator: DONALD TRUMP"
this is a lie
no grand jury or prosecutor has named Trump an unindicted co-conspirator
believe or not, Anderson Cooper doesn't have that power
"The Republicans spent millions of taxpayer dollars trying to put Hillary in jail for Benghazi"
I don't think anyone ever suggested jailing Hillary over her negligence in Benghazi
you don't think that either
"The truth is only churches that oppose gay marriage have a child molestation problem."
there is only one church with a child molestation problem
the one that tolerated homosexuals in its leadership for decades
how about that?
Trump is freezing pay for civilian government workers
YAY!!
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous during the 2016 election campaign:
Corporations before the people!
More tax breaks for the rich!
Cut Medicaid now!
Please cut my Social Security now!
No black sheep allowed! (cause W&R are sheep)
Please take away my Healthcare!
I demand polluted drinking water!
---------------------------------
Every day I have to marvel at what the billionaires and Fox "News" have pulled off. They got working whites to hate the very people that want them to have more pay, clean air and water, free healthcare and the power to fight back against big banks and big corporations. It's truly remarkable.
"Stock market is at an all time high, Libtards!"
"I know TTFers lack imagination but, no matter, I've explained my reasoning in detail
that's why you attempt to create a diversion from the facts"
Yes, you have explained your "reasoning" in detail. I bet Cohen is really bummed he didn't have you as a lawyer. Why are you wasting your time here? You should be getting paid big bucks for all your lawyer skillz!
Yes, that was sarcasm, and I'm RotFLMAoffing.
Your attempt to provide a diversion from the facts don't change the simple facts of the crime. It doesn't take imagination to interpret laws - they're pretty straight forward in most cases.
A relative of mine recently went through a nasty divorce. They spent a week in court with his ex and his mother-in-law using "reasoning" like yours to convince the jury her hubby was the source of all the problems in the marriage.
It took the jury all of ten minutes vote on a foreman and to realize they had all seen through her smokescreen and awarded primary custody to him.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has failed to shut down a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the parents of a Sandy Hook victim.
Judge Scott Jenkins of the 53rd District Court ruled in Austin, Texas, on Thursday that the Infowars host must face claims from Leonard Pozner and Veronique De La Rosa. They’re seeking more than $1 million in damages for his repeated lies about the 2012 massacre. The ruling came after Jones attempted to get his case dismissed earlier this month.
“After considering the arguments of counsel and the record, including plaintiffs’ declarations filed on August 2, the court ORDERS that defendants’ motion is in all respects DENIED,” the court filing said.
Pozner and De La Rosa lost their 6-year-old son, Noah, when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
In the years since, Sandy Hook parents have received death threats and online harassment from followers of Jones’ Infowars, an online conspiracy outlet that has claimed the shooting was a hoax and the parents are “crisis actors.”
Jones’ lawyer Mark Enoch argued the case should be dismissed under the Texas Citizens Participation Act, which protects citizens who have been sued for exercising their First Amendment rights. Jones had also been seeking more than $100,000 in court costs from the parents.
Infowars followers have hounded the parents for years. In one case detailed in the complaint, Pozner received threatening voicemails that eventually led to the arrest and conviction of Florida woman Lucy Richards. In June 2017, Richards, then 57, was sentenced to five months in prison after sending Pozner a voicemail that warned, “You gonna die. Death is coming to you real soon.”
As part of her sentence, Richards will no longer be allowed to access Infowars, according to the lawsuit.
During the hearing, Kelly Jones, the former wife of Alex Jones, protested outside the Travis County courthouse in support of the parents, with signs that read “Honk 4 Sandy Hook kids.”
“Texans do care about justice, we care about bullies,” Kelly said. “We’re a strong state and we don’t put up with people bullying kids or parents of murdered schoolkids. We’re not gonna tolerate that, we’re gonna stand out here and protest peacefully.”
Jones’ legal battles are wide-ranging and have no immediate end in sight. Earlier this month, Jones was also in court for a motion to dismiss a different defamation lawsuit against him, brought by Marcel Fontaine. Infowars incorrectly identified Fontaine as the Parkland, Florida, shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Mark Bankston, of the law firm Farrar & Ball, is representing both the Pozner family and Fontaine in their respective lawsuits. Fontaine’s lawsuit will also move forward, Jenkins determined Thursday. Jones was removed as a defendant in that case, but Infowars and Free Speech LLC, which Jones owns and operates, will still be defendants.
Jones is also facing a defamation lawsuit from Brennan Gilmore, who recorded the violent vehicular attack that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer during last year’s “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Jones called Gilmore a “deep state shill” and a “CIA asset.”
And then there are the six Sandy Hook families in Connecticut who filed a defamation lawsuit against Jones in May. In their suit, the families, along with an FBI agent who responded to the shooting that day, listed number of videos by Jones with titles including “Sandy Hook Shooting Exposed As A Fraud.”
Jones is being represented by lawyer Marc Randazza and Jay Wolman of the Las Vegas-based Randazza Legal Group in the Connecticut suit. The firm is also currently representing neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin, co-founder of hate-based website the Daily Stormer. Jones’ lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss that case.
"Trump is freezing pay for civilian government workers
YAY!!"
To pay for tax cuts for rich folks and corporations like him and his.
Maybe they want civilian government employees to need food assistance like military employees do.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/03/02/lawmakers-push-military-access-food-assistance-program.html
http://americanhomefront.wunc.org/post/va-partners-food-banks-more-veterans-struggle-afford-food
Why Being Liberal Really Is Better Than Being Conservative
What researchers are finding is that liberals prioritize very different values from conservatives. When asked a series of questions about different ethical situations, self-described liberals strongly tend to prioritize fairness and harm as the most important of these core values -- while self-described conservatives are more likely to prioritize authority, loyalty and purity.
And of course, when I heard about this research, my instant reaction was to say, "But fairness and harm are more important! We were right all along! This proves it -- liberal values are better!"
But, being someone who places a strong ethical value on fairness -- I realize that of course I'm going to say that. After all, those are my values. Of course I think they're better. And -- again, being someone who highly values fairness -- I realize that conservatives are going to say the exact same thing. "But authority and loyalty are more important! This proves it! Conservative values are better!"
If these are core values, when they come into conflict, as they often do, how do we step back from them, and decide which ones we should prioritize?
The answer was dropped into my lap, so clearly and succinctly that I kicked myself for not having thought of it myself, by MacArthur genius Rebecca Goldstein. Here's the idea.
Fairness and harm are better values -- because they can be universal. The basic philosophical underpinning of ethics ) are:
(a) the starting axiom that we, ourselves, matter;
and (b) the understanding that, if we step back from ourselves and view life from an outside perspective, we have to acknowledge that we don't, cosmically speaking, matter more than anyone else; that other people matter to themselves as much as we matter to ourselves; and that any rules of ethics ought to apply to other people as much as they do to ourselves. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," and all that. (Some version of the Golden Rule seems to exist in every society.)
In other words, the philosophical underpinning of ethics are that they ought to be applicable to everyone. They ought to be universalizable.
And liberal values -- fairness and harm -- are universalizable.
In fact, it's inherent in the very nature of these values that they are universalizable.
Fairness is the most obvious example of this. I mean, the whole freaking idea of fairness is that it be ought to be applied universally. Tit for tat. What's sauce for the goose is what's sauce for the gander. Yada, yada, yada. The whole idea of fairness is that everyone ought to be treated, not identically, but as if they matter equally.
And the value of harm, and the avoidance thereof, can easily be universalized as well. It can be applied to everybody. In fact, the history of the evolution of human ethics can be seen as the history of this principle being expanded to a wider and wider population: to people from other countries, to people of color, to women, etc. etc. etc.
Conservative values, on the other hand, are not universalizable.
Quite the contrary.
It is in the very nature of conservative values -- authority, loyalty, and purity -- that they are applied differently to different people. It is in the very nature of conservative values that some animals are, and ought to be, more equal than others.
The conservative value of authority has, at its very core, the idea that certain special people -- i.e., authority figures -- ought to be respected and obeyed more than others, and ought to have the right to tell other people what to do, and ought to have the power to enforce those dictums. The conservative value of loyalty has, at its very core, the idea that certain special people -- i.e., people inside the in-group, the family or country or faith or what have you -- ought to be valued more than others.
So if you accept the idea that the philosophical foundation of ethics is that other people matter as much as we ourselves do, and that any principles of ethics ought to apply to other people as much as they do to ourselves, then that makes liberal values... well, better. Closer to that philosophical foundation.
So I'm not saying that typically conservative values have no place in a human ethical system, or that thoughtful, non-teabag-loony conservatives don't have a valid voice in conversations and decisions about ethics, and how ethics should be applied in policy and law.
I'm saying that, when we debate political issues, it will be much more productive to look, not only at the specific issue, but at the broader differences in our core values, and how we're applying them to the issue at hand. And I'm saying that we can actually distinguish between different core values, and prioritize some over others -- and that, unless there's a specific compelling reason to prioritize the "some animals are more equal than others" values of authority or loyalty or purity, we ought to prioritize the universalizable values of fairness and the avoidance of harm.
And you know what? I'll go even further.
I'm saying that any moral progress humanity has made over the centuries and millennia has been made, not in the direction of greater adherence to authority or purity or tribal/group loyalty, but in the direction of expanding our understanding and application of fairness and the avoidance of harm. I'm saying that, in every example I can think of where our morality is a clear improvement over the morality of the past -- democracy, banning slavery, religious freedom, women's suffrage, etc. etc. etc. -- the core values being strengthened have been the values of fairness and the avoidance of harm: the liberal values, the ones that can be applied to everyone.
[This is a summary, full article at the link)
President Trump’s disapproval rating has hit a high point of 60 percent, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that also finds that clear majorities of Americans support the special counsel’s Russia investigation and say the president should not fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
At the dawn of the fall campaign sprint to the midterm elections, which will determine whether Democrats retake control of Congress, the poll finds a majority of the public has turned against Trump and is on guard against his efforts to influence the Justice Department and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s wide-ranging probe.
Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, say Congress should begin impeachment proceedings that could lead to Trump being removed from office, while 46 percent say Congress should not.
And a narrow majority — 53 percent — say they think Trump has tried to interfere with Mueller’s investigation in a way that amounts to obstruction of justice; 35 percent say they do not think the president has tried to interfere.
Overall, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with 36 percent approving, according to the poll. This is only a slight shift from the last Post-ABC survey, in April, which measured Trump’s rating at 56 percent disapproval and 40 percent approval.
The new poll was conducted Aug. 26 to 29, in the week after former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was convicted of federal tax and bank fraud and after former Trump attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty and implicated the president in illegal payments to silence women who alleged sexual encounters with Trump.
The four-month gap between Post-ABC polls makes it difficult to attribute the modest uptick in disapproval of Trump to specific events. Other public polls have shown Trump’s disapproval rating in the low- to mid-50s and have not tracked a rise since the Manafort conviction and Cohen guilty plea.
Trump has tried to rally support for Republican candidates in the Nov. 6 elections by pointing to his economic record. This week’s poll finds that despite the president’s unpopularity with voters, he gets better ratings when it comes to the economy: 45 percent of Americans approve and 47 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy...
"self-described liberals strongly tend to prioritize fairness and harm as the most important of these core values -- while self-described conservatives are more likely to prioritize authority, loyalty and purity"
let's consider the words of a Nobel laureate
some self-ordained professor's tongue
too serious to fool
spouted out that liberty
is just equality in school
equality, I spoke the word
as if a wedding vow
ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now
I've never had gay people show up at my door and give me pamphlets, trying to get me to come to their gay club - It's always religious people showing up, giving me pamphlets and trying to get me to come to their church.
Now tell me again who has an agenda.
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "some self-ordained professor spouted out that liberty is just equality in school"
The article "Why Being Liberal Really Is Better Than Being Conservative" never said any such thing.
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous think liberty is being able to force gays to live according to W&R's demands.
That's the conservative value of "authority" - they feel strongly not everyone has equal value and their tribe should get to control others.
"Authority" is not a value that can apply to everyone which is why its inferior to the value of fairness which can.
"I've never had gay people show up at my door and give me pamphlets, trying to get me to come to their gay club"
that's a good point
they prefer to do their recruiting in public restrooms, Catholic churches, and public schools
"It's always religious people showing up, giving me pamphlets and trying to get me to come to their church."
oh, how horrible
how you withstand such a horrendous situation?
you could try what I do: when these Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons come knocking, I tell them what I believe and why they're wrong
they skedaddle pretty quickly
"Now tell me again who has an agenda."
hopefully, everyone
hate to think people are walking around with no purpose in life
the gay agenda isn't abhorrent because it's an agenda, it's because it's gay
"anonymous think liberty is being able to force gays to live according to demands."
really?
could you give me an example
what demands am i trying to force gays to lie according to
"That's the conservative value of "authority" - they feel strongly not everyone has equal value and their tribe should get to control others."
you're the ones always citing some credentialed expert as an authority
the latest is this pathetic thing you and our alter-egos spouting about how Cohen must be guilty of campaign violations because the prosecutor said so
""Authority" is not a value that can apply to everyone which is why its inferior to the value of fairness which can."
I'm a libertarian, which is the opposite of authoritarian
liberals, in general, and homosexual advocates, in particular are the ones always seeking laws to police everyone's behavior
worse, they also so everything they can to make speech that they disagree with illegal
liberty is being able to force gays
let's go to the Nobel laureate again:
my guard stood hard when abstract threats
too noble to neglect
deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
good and bad, I defined these terms
quite clear, no doubt, somehow
ah, but I was so much older then
I'm younger than that now
...W. Samuel Patten, 47, was charged with one count of violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act for failing to register with the Justice Department when he represented a Ukrainian political party known as the Opposition Bloc from 2014 through this year.
Patten pleaded to the count before Judge Amy Berman Jackson in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“I would like to plead guilty,” Patten told Jackson during a hearing.
Patten also agreed he had steered an illegal foreign donation to Donald Trump’s inauguration, telling prosecutors that he arranged for an American citizen to act as a “straw donor” to give $50,000 to Trump’s inauguration in place of a Ukrainian businessman who was legally barred from contributing to the event...
REPORT: WH Unprepared For Impeachment Battle
From a Washington Post story titled “Winter Is Coming”:
President Trump’s advisers and allies are increasingly worried that he has neither the staff nor the strategy to protect himself from a possible Democratic takeover of the House, which would empower the opposition party to shower the administration with subpoenas or even pursue impeachment charges.
Within Trump’s orbit, there is consensus that his current legal team is not equipped to effectively navigate an onslaught of congressional demands, and there has been broad discussion about bringing on new lawyers experienced in white-collar defense and political scandals.
This account of the president and his team grappling with a potential crisis is based on interviews this week with 26 White House officials, presidential advisers, and lawyers and strategists close to the administration, most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.
Definitely read the full article.
----------------------
Trump’s average approval rating since taking office is the lowest for any president in modern polling since the 1940s. One factor: Contrary to his “drain the swamp” rhetoric, 45 percent say corruption in Washington has increased under Trump, while just 13 percent say it’s declined.
He’s at new lows among college-educated Americans (albeit just by a point; 29 percent approve), moderates (24 percent) and blacks (3 percent, with a nearly unanimous 93 percent disapproving).
The single biggest shift is among college-educated white women – just 23 percent now approve of Trump, down 17 points from the peak in April 2017, with disapproval up 20 points, from 55 percent then to 75 percent now. Still, even among non-college white men, a core Trump group, his approval is down 15 points, from 70 percent just this spring to 55 percent today.
As if Trump didn't have enough troubles, now a photo of him with two prostitutes has emerged
Watching a nation die in real time is both fascinating and frightening to watch. Truly sad. 2 Months and so many days USA, that's all the time you have left to resuscitate the patient or they will flatline. Even if November brings new life, the fact of the matter is, the patient will never be the same again.
Harsh truth is still truth; regardless of what Ghouliani says.
Religious hypocrite Franklin Graham blames the rise in American STD rates on "Sexual immorality" but said its no one's business that Trump the slut has had multiple extra-marital affairs.
STDs are on the rise because the Republican politicians Graham helped get elected keep cutting funding for evidence--based sex education in schools and screening and treatment services at Planned Parenthood.
Evangelical christianity is a public health hazard.
"I'm a libertarian, which is the opposite of authoritarian"
Calling yourself a libertarian doesn't make you one.
"you could try what I do: when these Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons come knocking, I tell them what I believe and why they're wrong
they skedaddle pretty quickly"
They leave not because they are wrong - many religious people, especially those who go out and proselytize are pretty convinced they're right - but because they quickly realize that you are the LAST person they want in their church.
I don't blame them.
From the REAL Libertarians...
http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Libertarian_Party_Civil_Rights.htm
Let consenting adults choose their own sexual relationships
Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government's treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws. Government does not have the authority to define, license or restrict personal relationships. Consenting adults should be free to choose their own sexual practices and personal relationships.
Source: 2014 Libertarian Party Platform , Nov 1, 2014
Support individual’s right to choose, even if we disapprove
Individuals should be free to make choices for themselves and to accept responsibility for the consequences of the choices they make. No individual, group, or government may initiate force against any other individual, group, or government. Our support of an individual’s right to make choices in life does not mean that we necessarily approve or disapprove of those choices.
Source: National platform adopted at Denver L.P. convention , May 30, 2008
Repeal all laws against homosexuality
We advocate the repeal of laws regarding consensual sexual relations, including prostitution, and the cessation of state harassment of homosexuals; [and] the repeal of laws prohibiting the distribution of sexually explicit material.
Source: National Platform of the Libertarian Party , Jul 2, 2000
Redress the wrongs of the U.S. towards the Indians
The rights of American Indians have been usurped over the years. We support the following remedies: (1) individuals should be free to select their own citizenship, (2) Indians should have their property rights restored, including rights of easement, access, hunting, and fishing, (3) the Bureau of Indian Affairs should be abolished leaving tribal members to determine their own system of governance, and (4) negotiations should be undertaken to resolve all differences between tribes and government.
Source: National Platform of the Libertarian Party , Jul 2, 2000
A State Department unit created two years ago to lead the U.S. fight against anti-democratic propaganda abroad, including Russian disinformation campaigns, still has not received millions of dollars in funding allocated to it by Congress.
And even if some money comes through for the Global Engagement Center before the end of the fiscal year, it will now be just one-sixth of the amount originally directed to the center to counteract terrorist messaging and foreign efforts to influence elections. Russia, in particular, has been accused of attempting to interfere with elections not only in the U.S. but in Germany, France, Norway and multiple former Soviet states.
Foreign policy experts suggest that the funding delay is a combination of previous disinterest at the State Department and current foot-dragging at the Defense Department.
Back in 2016, Congress allocated $120 million to cover two years of the Global Engagement Center’s efforts. The money was to be shifted from the Defense Department’s coffers to the State Department.
But last year then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson chose not to access the first $60 million, as Politico reported in August 2017. Congressional lawmakers expressed outrage that the unit was not getting the repurposed funds.
This March, after additional complaints from lawmakers, the Defense Department agreed to send over $40 million. The reduced sum was supposed to arrive in April, according to The New York Times.
But Senate Foreign Relations Committee members Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) noted last week that the money had still not arrived more than four months later. And two sources with knowledge of the situation told HuffPost that the center didn’t have the funds a week later.
Furthermore, a Senate aide told HuffPost that the undelivered $40 million has since been halved to $20 million during the congressional appropriations process necessary when repurposing money...
Brett Bruen, a former U.S. diplomat in touch with State Department employees involved in the funding matter, is worried that if none of the money allocated for 2018 is transferred by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, the center will be stuck waiting for Congress to repurpose or appropriate funds for 2019.
“If this was a priority, it would be solved in a matter of days,” Bruen told HuffPost. “So we’re in a situation where you have a threat that’s not just theoretical, but has already inflicted exceptional damage on our institutions, and our democracy and our government is still fumbling around trying to figure out how to write the check.”
Ronald Reagan’s budget director slammed President Donald Trump as an “ignoramus” and a “Neanderthal” over his understanding of trade and fiscal policy.
During an interview on Bloomberg Television, David Stockman characterized Trump’s pending NAFTA replacement deal with Mexico as essentially the old NAFTA with Trump screw-ups added in.
“There was never a problem with NAFTA anyway, and what he has done is basically remove the name and complicated the machinery [and] given a big wage increase to Mexican workers,” Stockman, who served as the director of Management and Budget in the Reagan administration from 1981to 1985, said on Thursday.
Stockman also described the deal as a “sideshow.”
“And it is proof that Trump is an absolute Neanderthal on trade, has no idea what he’s doing,” Stockman said. “He is a complete ignoramus on fiscal policy and the debt — which is soaring.”
The deal with Mexico would require up to 45 percent of cars to be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Though it’s intended to keep jobs in the U.S., it will likely result in a massive pay hike for Mexicans, Stockman said.
Trump: No Pay Raise for You!
Trump wants Congress to eliminate a small pay raise for civilian federal employees because a measly 2.1% pay increase is too much to pay. But $90 million for a military parade? Gobs of money for that. And the enormous cost of transporting him and protecting him every weekend as he goes golfing? No problem!
President Donald Trump told lawmakers on Thursday he wants to scrap a pay raise for civilian federal workers, saying the nation’s budget couldn’t support it.
In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Trump described the pay increase as “inappropriate.”
“We must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course, and Federal agency budgets cannot sustain such increases,” the President wrote.
So more than doubling the annual deficit, putting it over $1 trillion a year, to pay for tax cuts for the rich — including him and his own family, of course — is perfectly fine. But a small increase in pay for government workers is fiscally irresponsible and “inappropriate.” Absolutely appalling, but entirely predictable.
Trump voters cannot stand admitting that they've been conned, so they support him regardless of anything he says or does. It's really intolerable to them to admit to being taken in.
Trump freezes federal pay raises citing "serious economic conditions"
Yep, yep, yep. That's your standard Republican bullshit. When Trump's talking about his own performance the economy is "fantastic! Never been better!". When he wants to screw the average Joe there are "serious economic conditions". Just like when Obama was president according to Republicans the economy was "a disaster" but now with the same economic performance under Trump its suddenly "excellent! Best economy ever!"
What the truth is never enters a Republicans mind. They just say whatever they think immediately benefits them even if it contradicts what they said earlier.
This week in Trumponomics: Half a deal on NAFTA
Yahoo Finance
Well, this is awkward.
Facing a deadline of August 31 to produce a deal to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, President Donald Trump persuaded one of the two trading partners involved to sign on.
Mexico agreed to new terms of a deal early in the week. But Canada, um, didn’t. So Trump is moving forward anyway, notifying Congress, as required, that he plans to have the full text of a deal with both countries by the next deadline, which is 30 days from now.
You read that right. Trump is assuming Canada will attend the party even though it hasn’t accepted the invitation. And without Canada, it’s possible there can be no deal with Mexico, because of technicalities in U.S. law. So the NAFTA drama has actually intensified, with both Canada and the United States refusing to concede key points required to get to a deal.
This is partial good news that could turn out to be bad news. The Trump-o-meter for this week reads MEDIOCRE, our third best grade.
Source: Yahoo Finance
The good news is that Trump seems to have buried the hatchet with Mexico, refusing to insist, for example, that Mexico pay for his border wall as a condition of remaining in a free-trade deal with the U.S. There are problems with the Mexico deal, which, among other things, would probably raise the cost of automobiles sold in the U.S. But it reopens pathways for tariff-free exports of U.S. agricultural products to Mexico, and is far better than no deal at all. So, OK.
Canada is taking a harder line. America’s biggest trading partner reportedly insists on maintaining protections for its dairy industry, which is politically powerful within Canada. Canada also will never give in to the American desire to scrap the present independent dispute resolution mechanism. Trump claims he won’t back down. So there’s no deal with Canada, even though both sides say they’ll continue talking.
As the clock ticks, Canada’s leverage may strengthen, since Trump may need a deal more than Canada does. Congress must pass legislation approving any new version of NAFTA Trump negotiates, and federal law authorizes Congress to approve a three-way deal by simple majority. If it’s not a three-way deal, approval would require 60 votes in the Senate, which is 10 more than the Republican majority at the moment. So if Democrats want to kill Trump’s Mexico only deal, they could.
For the first time, Papadopoulos’s lawyers revealed that the young adviser felt encouraged by Trump to continue those efforts, writing in the court filing that “Mr. Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr. Sessions, who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it.”
That account conflicts with what Sessions, now attorney general, testified to Congress.
Sessions told the House Judiciary Committee in November 2017 that he remembered offering a “push back” when Papadopoulos raised the idea, suggesting he had shut down the young adviser’s proposal for a Trump-Putin meeting.
Papadopoulos’s lawyers also asserted for the first time that the adviser detailed for prosecutors a discussion he had in late May 2016 with the foreign minister of Greece, where he told the minister about the claim that the Russians held dirt on Clinton. The meeting took place days before Putin traveled to Greece and met with officials there, Papadopoulos’s lawyers wrote.
In a 16-page court filing, Papadopoulos’s lawyers said that despite the gravity of his offense, “he was just a small part of a large-scale investigation,” in over his head and “giddy” at the boost to his career from joining Trump’s team.
“To say George was out of his depth would be a gross understatement. Despite being a young energy policy guru, he had no experience in dealing with Russian policy or its officials,” wrote attorneys Robert W. Stanley, Thomas M. Breen and Todd S. Pugh.
"In remarks Trump wanted to be “off the record,” Trump told Bloomberg News reporters on Thursday, according to a source, that he is not making any compromises at all in the talks with Canada — but that he cannot say this publicly because “it’s going to be so insulting they’re not going to be able to make a deal.”
“Here’s the problem. If I say no — the answer’s no. If I say no, then you’re going to put that, and it’s going to be so insulting they’re not going to be able to make a deal ... I can’t kill these people,” he said of the Canadian government.
In another remark he did not want published, Trump said, according to the source, that the possible deal with Canada would be “totally on our terms.” He suggested he was scaring the Canadians into submission by repeatedly threatening to impose tariffs.
“Off the record, Canada’s working their ass off. And every time we have a problem with a point, I just put up a picture of a Chevrolet Impala,” Trump said, according to the source. The Impala is produced at the General Motors plant in Oshawa, Ontario.
Trump made the remarks in an Oval Office interview with Bloomberg. He deemed them off the record, and Bloomberg accepted his request not to reveal them.
But the Star is not bound by any promises Bloomberg made to Trump. And the remarks immediately became a factor in the negotiations: Trudeau’s officials, who saw them as evidence for their previous suspicions that Trump’s team had not been bargaining in good faith, raised them at the beginning of a meeting with their U.S. counterparts on Friday morning, a U.S. source confirmed."
He is such a fool. He can't help but pose and preen because it's really all he knows how to do.
Whatever "deals" he did in his business career were almost certainly actually hammered out by lawyers when he wasn't in the room. And I'll bet they rolled their eyes and said, "don't pay any attention to him ..." He's the worst negotiator in the world.
And he does not deny saying it.
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!
2:37 PM - Aug 31, 2018
"I can’t kill these people,” [Trump] said of the Canadian government."
So Trump is saying he'd like to kill Canadians, that he would do that if it weren't for some unspecified restraint on him.
Far from being the great deal maker he falsely claims to be, Trump is the bull in the China shop of deal making. He screwed up the powerful restrictions on Iran's nuclear program and started them back on producing a nuclear bomb and got played by North Korea which left him stupidly thinking he had made some great deal when in fact the "agreement" was a useless photo-op that did nothing to restrain North Korea and lead to an easing of the pressure on North Korea.
"Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!"
So, by Trump's own admission the press accurately reported what he said but somehow this is supposed to be "dishonest reporting"
You can pretty much guarantee that when Trump calls reporting "fake news" it is true.
Trump just threatened to plunge the whole world into an unprecedented economic crisis
President Trump stunned the world and the nation this afternoon when he casually threatened to withdraw the United States from the World Trade Organization in a new interview with Bloomberg.
It goes without saying that the withdrawal of the United States from the World Trade Organization would cause economic upheaval and drastically curtail our influence on the global economy — something that the President’s patron in Moscow, Vladimir Putin, would surely celebrate to see.
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The "The FBI is out to get me!" narrative that Trump is pushing here is well beyond being merely ridiculous. He wants you to think that the FBI is so anti-Trump and so pro-Clinton that it did sham investigation, falsely exonerated her and is covering it all up, while simultaneously hating him so much that they launched the Russia investigation to prevent him from being elected. But if they wanted to keep him from being elected, why did they go to such lengths to keep that investigation quiet until after the election? If Comey wanted to hurt his chances of being elected, surely leaking the fact that his campaign was the target of a major counter-intelligence operation would have been the way to do it. But they intentionally kept it secret, limiting knowledge of the investigation to a very few people, not one of whom leaked it to the press (and all of whom Trump has since cast as a villain out to destroy him). The facts not only do not support this idiotic conspiracy theory, they conclusively show it to be false.
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Trump's birth certificate is simply a letter of apology from the condom factory
Florida voters started receiving ugly robocalls Friday targeting Democrat Andrew Gillum, the African-American candidate for governor, that are linked to a neo-Nazi website in Idaho, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.
In the automated phone calls, someone speaking in an exaggerated dialect pretends to be Gillum as drums and jungle noises can be heard in the background.
A voice says at the end of the call that it was funded by The Road to Power, an Idaho neo-Nazi website and video podcast, according to the newspaper.
At one point in an audio of the call obtained by NBC, the speaker says that blacks “done made mud huts while white folk waste a bunch of time making their home out of wood an’ stone.” The caller also says he’ll pass a law letting black people escape arrest if “fo’ sho he didn’t do nothin.”
The same white supremacy site has been linked to robocalls in Iowa about the death of college student Mollie Tibbetts, who was allegedly killed by an immigrant, the Des Moines Register reported Wednesday. The group is also believed to be responsible for similar racist, anti-immigrant or anti-Semitic phone calls in California and Oregon, and in Charlottesville, Virginia, after the deadly attack there last year during a white nationalist march.
A Florida woman with a biracial daughter who received the call targeting Gillum told the Tallahassee paper that she became very emotional when she heard it.
Gillum spokesman Geoff Burgan told the newspaper said the calls were “reprehensible” and clearly came from “someone with intentions to fuel hatred and seek publicity.”
Race quickly became an issue in the Florida gubernatorial contest when Gillum’s Republican rival, Rep. Ron DeSantis, made comments that were widely viewed as a dog whistle to racists. DeSantis, strongly supported by President Donald Trump, said on Fox News after Tuesday’s primary that the “last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda.” Gillum won the Democratic primary Tuesday, becoming the first black nominee for Florida governor.
The neo-Nazi robocalls about Tibbetts echo Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric about her death. Trump, who offered no condolences to Tibbetts’ family, instead railed this month that her accused killer was believed to be an undocumented immigrant.
Tibbetts’ family has complained about Trump turning the tragedy into a political issue. A relative wrote to Trump on Facebook: “It is not your right to exacerbate this grievous act by hijacking Mollie and all she believed with your racist fear-mongering.”
Authorities confirmed to NBC that the Tibbetts’ robocalls were created by The Road to Power, but there’s little they can do about them. A spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office told the network Friday that it’s a “tricky First Amendment issue” because there’s no apparent effort to deceive anyone for commercial gain.
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What's the commercial gain for yelling FIRE in a crowded movie theater?
Thor Benson✔
@thor_benson
Sounds like @tedcruz is afraid of @BetoORourke and is asking for help from the guy who called his wife ugly and said his dad helped kill JFK. What a brave candidate.
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
I will be doing a major rally for Senator Ted Cruz in October. I’m picking the biggest stadium in Texas we can find. As you know, Ted has my complete and total Endorsement. His opponent is a disaster for Texas - weak on Second Amendment, Crime, Borders, Military, and Vets!
2:14 PM - Aug 31, 2018
Oh sure, we remember Lyin' Ted has your "complete and total Endorsement."
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Why would the people of Texas support Ted Cruz when he has accomplish absolutely nothing for them. He is another all talk, no action pol!
2/28j/16 10:47AM
Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump
Lyin' Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a G.Q. shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lyin' Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife!
6:53 PM - 22 Mar 2016
“His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to [Kennedy’s] being—you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous,” he [tRump] said. “What is this, right prior to his being shot, and nobody even brings it up? They don’t even talk about that. That was reported, and nobody talks about it.” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade muttered that the report was unverified and full of holes, but allowed the candidate to steamroll any such suggestion. “I mean, what was he doing?” Trump continued. “What was he doing with Lee Harvey Oswald shortly before the death? Before the shooting? It’s horrible.”
--https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-cruzs-father-helped-jfk-assassin
Trump claims his golf course is on largest man-made lake in the world, not remotely true says world
You've got to be an incredibly pathetic loser to constantly lie about trivial things like this.
But of course Trump lies constantly about very important things as well.
He's just an all-around liar - much like Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous.
Talk about petty!
The popular vote losing admitted sexual predator complained that coverage of John McCain's death was "over-the-top" and it distracted from his recent trade "deal" with Mexico.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
tRump bitches about missing emails yet Trump officials withhold 100K pages of Kavanaugh's records
@realDonaldTrump "You have a Fake Dossier, gathered by Steele, paid by the Clinton team to get information on Trump. The Dossier is Fake, nothing in it has been verified, it then filters into our American court system in order to spy on Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton's political opponent..."
@John_sipher "Steele first reported in June 16. Your narrative at that time was zero contact with Russia or Russians. Zero. His sources said they hacked documents, tried to pass dirt on Hillary, engaged with Carter Page, Manafort, and Cohen. Which narrative was closer to what we'ver learned?"
The truth is a lot of what's in the Steele dossier has been verified and NONE of it has been disproven.
Richard Nixon: "I am not a crook."
Ronald Reagan: "I did not trade arms for hostages."
Donald Trump "I don't know Putin, I have nothing to do with Russia - no deals, no loans, no nothing."
Fox "News" Laura Ingraham suggests it may be time for the government to take over Facebook and Twitter and run them as public utilities to eliminate alleged bias against conservatives.
Imagine when Democrats argue that the government should take over Fox "News" to eliminate bias against liberals.
Happy Labor Day to the American worker!!
On Labor Day 2017, the polls were dismal for President Trump -- according to Real Clear Politics, his average approval rating was 38.5 percent, and his disapproval rating on average was 56.5 —18 points under water. But after a year of Robert Mueller investigation headlines, porn-star payoffs and strange Twitter rants, Trump's numbers are…up: 42 percent approve, 54 percent disapprove. Not great numbers, but an improvement.
A year of virtually non-stop negative media attacks and self-inflicted political wounds, and the president is more popular? How does that happen? To quote Joe Biden from the 2008 campaign trail, "It all comes down to one three-letter word: 'Jobs.'"
Everybody knows the news of the red-hot Trump economy: Quarterly growth at 4.2 percent (the average under Obama: 1.6 percent) Unemployment is bouncing around record lows. The overall rate is 3.9 percent, and in May of this year, it hit an 18-year-low 3.8 percent—and the lowest rate ever recorded for black Americans.
But that's only part of the story. After all, more jobs were added under President Obama in his first two years than under President Trump: 3.8 million jobs added in Trump's first 20 months versus 4.3 million jobs added under Obama during the same period. This is due in part to Obama taking over an economy on the rebound from the Great Recession—the "nowhere to go but up" effect. Still, on paper today's job improvement is a continuation of a trend already in place. Why is it resonating to Trump's benefit?
Because Trump's job growth is different. President Trump campaigned in the Rust Belt and told men—in particular, blue-collar, non-college-degree-holding men—that their economic future could be brighter, too.
In 2013, well into the Obama economy, 18 percent of Americans workers said they feared it was very or somewhat likely they would lose their job in the next 12 month. This Labor Day, that number is down to 11 percent.
Since 2013, the number of people who say there are plenty of jobs available in their communities has doubled, from around 25 percent to 50 percent today.
In August of 2014, 30 percent of Americans said it was a good time to find a quality job. In August of 2018, it's 65 percent.
After years of talk about the benefits of globalism and new technology for white-collar Americans, Trump told the "forgotten Americans" they would be forgotten no more, and he's kept that promise.
The top two sectors of job growth under Trump: not financial analysts or college administrators, but the mining and logging industry (up 13.5 percent since the election), along with construction and transportation. The Labor Department expects jobs in construction and extraction to grow 11 percent from 2016 to 2026.
In fact, growth in manufacturing jobs over the past year was greater than at any time since 1995. Blue-collar work for blue-collar skills and blue-collar guys.
This comes after years of being told by Washington elites and the media that their way of life was obsolete, that the people J.D. Vance wrote so eloquently about in "Hillbilly Elegy" had no future. Then Trump shows up, tells them they have reason to hope, and jobs—their kind of jobs—follow. Is it any surprise those workers and their families are sticking with Trump?
And then there's the way President Trump talks about jobs and the economy. His current NAFTA fight is a perfect example of how Trump frames the jobs conversation in terms of these traditional laborers, as opposed to the broad, positive impact of increased trade. North America is essentially a $1 trillion trade zone. Much of that trade involves the white-collar economy and high-tech jobs. But when Trump talks, his focus is manufacturing jobs. He's demanding increases in the content in cars that must be made by American workers, putting pressure to raise wages from the low end in Mexico to make American wage earners more competitive.
These are relatively small changes on what, in the big picture, is a tiny part of our international trade. But when these families hears Trump taking on Canada, Mexico and China over trade, they hear him taking on the world for them.
Economists tell us that automation and tech will continue to erode jobs -- growth in manufacturing may be higher now than it's been in decades, but it's still a fraction of what it was in the 1950s. They say the work these families rely on won't be part of our future economy. And they're almost certainly right.
But on this Labor Day, thousands of workers in mining, manufacturing and construction are enjoying a day off from a job they feared they had lost forever. And that's good news for President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump has done more to hurt American workers than help them, the leader of the largest federation of unions in the nation declared on Sunday. Union workers will likely support Democratic candidates in November, predicted AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka.
Trumka also said that Trump’s proposed replacement for the North America Free Trade Agreement won’t work without Canada. That pointedly contradicts claims by Trump that Canadian participation isn’t necessary in his new trade pact.
As for workers, “unfortunately, to date, the things that he has done to hurt workers outpace what he’s done to help workers,” said Trumka, who represents more more than 12.5 million people.
Though unemployment is down, wages have also been down “since the first of the year,” he said. “Gas prices have been up since the first year. So overall, workers aren’t doing as well,” Trumka told Chris Wallace on “Fox News Sunday.”
In addition, Trump “hasn’t come up with an infrastructure program that could put a lot of us back to work,” Trumka added. “He overturned some health and safety regulations that will hurt us on the job.” The president also helped scuttle an Obama administration Labor Department rule that would have extended overtime benefits to close to 5 million workers, Trumka said.
Come November, Trumka said, it “probably will be Democrats” his members support “because Democrats support working people more than Republicans.” But decisions will be made candidate by candidate because “it’s about electing people who will support working people,” he said.
As for NAFTA, he said that the economies of the U.S., Mexico and Canada are so “integrated” that “it’s pretty hard to see how” the NAFTA replacement “would work without having Canada in the deal.”
He added: “We’re anxious to move forward” with a new agreement, “anxious to have all three countries involved.”
He said that NAFTA has had a “devastating effect on the working people of the this country for the last 25 years. So we’ve been aggressively pursuing an agreement that works for the workers in all three countries, and I can say we’re not done yet.”
He said the unions were seeking a way to monitor trade deal compliance, regardless of who is president.
“We’ve been told for over 25 years, ‘Trust us, this agreement will be good for workers.’ What we need is an agreement that we can enforce, no matter who’s in the White House,” he said.
Trump threatened Saturday to scuttle NAFTA and negotiate a new bilateral trade deal with Mexico only, saying there is “no political necessity” to include Canada.
Talks between the White House and Canadian leaders broke down Friday after the Toronto Star published damaging off-the-record comments Trump made the previous day in a Bloomberg interview. Trump said he wasn’t going to make any concessions to Canada in negotiations.
An apparently furious Trump then blasted Bloomberg in a tweet for leaking the quotes, and demanded an apology. Bloomberg denied leaking the off-the-record comments.
On Sunday Toronto Star reporter Daniel Dale tweeted that the information did not come from Bloomberg. He said he didn’t want to be a “party to the president’s smearing of excellent, ethical journalists.”
Labor Day is a time to celebrate American workers – the backbone of our economy. But it’s also a time to acknowledge that our economy doesn’t do enough to reward all that work.
In the richest country in the world, anyone who works full-time should be able to feed their children and provide for their family.
It really should be that simple.
But corporate greed and special interests in Washington have rigged the playing field against working families, and that toxic mix has led to record inequality.
Let me be clear. I believe in capitalism and a strong free market. What I don’t believe in is greed and exploitation. Right now, we need our policies to catch up with our economy. We need to pass the $15 minimum wage that Americans deserve – that they can actually live on. We need to pass the FAMILY Act to create a national system of real paid leave, so workers can take time off to care for a newborn or a loved one in need.
Our economy isn’t rigged against working families by accident. It’s by design. Just this year, workers’ rights were dealt a huge blow when the Supreme Court ruled to allow government workers to reap the benefits of union representation without paying the financial dues that make this invaluable representation possible. Special interests have bought off members of state legislatures and Congress to ensure that when bills get written, special interests win – and families across this country lose.
We can never accept this.
Americans who work hard deserve to prosper, not be exploited. They deserve the right to form unions to organize around shared interests. Above all, Americans deserve to be heard.
Democrats have always been the party on the side of workers. We’ve been the party that gives voice to the issues working Americans care about – that advocates for strong unions empowered to protect workers, equal pay for equal work and paid leave.
CHICAGO (The Borowitz Report)—In an appearance at the University of Chicago on Monday, former President Barack Obama unloaded a relentless barrage of complete sentences in what was widely seen as a brutal attack on his successor, Donald Trump.
Appearing at his first public event since leaving office, Obama fired off a punishing fusillade of grammatically correct sentences, the likes of which the American people have not heard from the White House since he departed.
“He totally restricted his speech to complete sentences,” Tracy Klugian, a student at the event, said. “It was the most vicious takedown of Trump I’d ever seen.”
“About five or six sentences in, I noticed that all of his sentences had both nouns and verbs in them,” Carol Foyler, another student, said. “I couldn’t believe he was going after Trump like that.”
Obama’s blistering deployment of complete sentences clearly got under the skin of their intended target, who, moments after the event, responded with an angry tweet: “Obama bad (or sick) guy. Failing. Sad!”
I can't imagine being someone like Betsy DeVos. She's worth billions of dollars. She could retire forever on an island somewhere. But she chose to go through a grueling public humiliation just for the opportunity to take education away from poor kids. Imagine being that depraved. No doubt Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous can.
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous said "Everybody knows the news of the red-hot Trump economy: Quarterly growth at 4.2 percent."
That was one quarter of growth, his average is much less.
LOL, Obama had quarters of GDP growth of 4.7%, 4.9%, and 5.1% - much better than Trump.
If the economy is so great under Trump, why did he cancel the pay raise of Federal workers and say it was necessary due to the "serious economic situation"?
The truth is Trump has added trillions to the deficit and is now using the crisis he created to justify cutting Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. He's taken away health care from millions of Americans and dramatically increased costs for the rest. That's Republicans for you, take from the poor to give to the rich.
Trump has been an economic disaster for ordinary Americans.
And the last quarter of growth under Trump was artificially inflated by companies ramping up production to escape the negative consequences of the global trade war Trump started which will be a long term problem for the U.S. if Trump keeps it up.
And I missed another quarter of economic growth that exceeded Trump's best (which was artificially inflated by his global trade war).
4.5%
So, Obama had four quarters of economic growth that exceeded Trump's artificially inflated best:
4.5%, 4.7%, 4.9%, and 5.1%!
The truth is Trump inherited a great economy from Obama and is going to screw that up with his global trade war and taking away health care from millions of Americans.
"...former President Barack Obama unloaded a relentless barrage of complete sentences..."
Complete sentences? How elitist. He must be homosexual
A study released Monday found stark disparities in income between blacks and whites throughout Baltimore.
The region’s black workers are concentrated in low-wage industries and jobs and tend to earn less and have higher job turnover than their white counterparts, according to the report released by Associated Black Charities of Maryland.
“Baltimore doesn’t have to be a city where African American household income is nearly half that of whites,” said Diane Bell-McKoy, the organization’s president and CEO, during a presentation of the findings during a panel discussion at Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Baltimore headquarters. “We know we can do better economically for our citizens, regardless of their race.”
Overall, blacks in Baltimore city earned about half of what white workers earned — a median of $38,688 compared to $76,992. The gap is narrower for the region, with black workers earning a median of $38,798 compared to $66,612 for white workers.
Racial wage disparities occur across industries and within nearly every industry, according to the analysis of racial differences in employment, job growth, earnings and turnover compiled by the University of Baltimore’s Jacob France Institute...
The income disparities persist despite the fact that employment for African Americans has grown much faster since the recession than total employment and white employment across nearly all industries.
Between 2009 and 2016, black employment rose 19 percent in the Baltimore region, compared with 4 percent for whites and 10 percent overall.
Associated Black Charities said it commissioned the study to better understand racial patterns of employment as a first step toward removing “systemic and institutional racialized barriers that continue to keep people of color locked out of opportunities.”
It said the analysis sought to answer the question: “Is African American employment concentrated in lower-paying or higher-turnover sectors of the city and regional economy?”
Four industries with high numbers or concentrations of African American employment are retail trade; transportation and warehousing; health care and social assistance; and administrative and support and waste management services, all areas in which wages tend to be lower, the study found.
Well over half — 63 percent — of all African American workers in Baltimore are employed in those four sectors. In the metro area, 58 percent of employed African Americans work in them.
By contrast, African American employment lags well behind white employment in construction and in the professional, scientific and technical services sector, the analysis found. In construction, black workers make up less than 12 percent of the workforce in the city and just 13.2 percent in the region.
In professional, scientific and technical services, the region’s leading sector — and one with opportunities for high wages — African Americans make up fewer than one in six workers in the city and region.
Wage gaps persist within industries, even those that tend of offer higher wages, such as professional, scientific and technical services or utilities, finance and insurance. Black employees in finance and insurance earned nearly half of what white workers earned — median earnings of $61,656 compared to $122,964.
Even in sectors with significant black employment, the income gap is apparent. In transportation and warehousing, white workers earned a median of $64,740, while black workers earned $37,116. In retail, white workers earned $37,560 compared with $25,680 for blacks...
In the first quarter of 2018, African American workers had the highest unemployment rate nationally, at 7.2 percent, followed by Hispanic (5.1 percent), white (3.3 percent), and Asian workers (3.0 percent).1
This report provides a state-by-state breakdown of unemployment rates by race and ethnicity and racial/ethnic unemployment rate gaps for the first quarter of 2018. It shows that while there have been state-by-state improvements in prospects for black and Hispanic workers, their unemployment rates remain high relative to those of white workers. Following are some key highlights of the report:
While the African American unemployment rate is at or below its pre-recession level in 17 states (of the 22 states and the District of Columbia for which these data are available), in 14 states and the District of Columbia, African American unemployment rates exceed white unemployment rates by a ratio of 2-to-1 or higher.
The District of Columbia has the highest black–white unemployment rate ratio overall, at 8.5-to-1, while South Carolina and Maryland have the highest ratios among states (3.2-to-1 and 2.8-to-1, respectively).
The highest African American unemployment rate is in the District of Columbia (12.9 percent), followed by Illinois (9.1 percent) and New Jersey (9.0 percent). The highest Hispanic state unemployment rate is in Connecticut (10.0 percent). In contrast, the highest white state unemployment rate is 5.2 percent, in West Virginia.
While the Hispanic unemployment rate is at or below its pre-recession level in 13 states (of the 16 states for which these data are available), there is no state where the Hispanic unemployment rate is lower than the white rate.
In five states and the District of Columbia, Hispanic unemployment rates exceed white unemployment rates by a ratio of 2-to-1 or higher (Connecticut, 3.4-to-1; Massachusetts, 2.1-to-1; Washington, 2.1-to-1; Colorado, 2.0-to-1; District of Columbia, 2.0-to-1, and Idaho, 2.0-to-1)...
The black unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2018 was at or below its pre-recession level in 17 states: Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. (Data on the change in black unemployment over this period are available for 22 states and the District of Columbia). However, all states except for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas have black labor force participation rates that were lower in the first quarter of 2018 than at the end of 2007, indicating that the return to pre-recession levels of unemployment in these states was not a full recovery for African American workers because not all discouraged job seekers have returned to the market...
The host of Fox & Friends were outraged on Sunday over what they perceived as indirect criticism of President Donald Trump at John McCain’s funeral on Saturday. Co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy said she was sure that a lot of “elites” were “gleeful at some of the shots taken at President Trump.” The hosts appeared to concede that praising decency and criticizing despotism now means criticizing the President. The speakers at the funeral never mentioned Trump’s name.
Fox News correspondent Garrett Tenney highlighted three examples of what he said many people interpreted as “subtle and not so subtle shots at the current commander in chief:” Barack Obama lamenting “mean and petty” discourse, George W. Bush saying McCain “detested the abuse of power” and “could not abide bigots and swaggering despots,” and Meghan McCain, the late Senator’s daughter, saying America was always great.
Campos-Duffy went on to highlight a fourth criticism: Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) tweeting a photo of Bush, Obama, and Clinton at the funeral captioned “Decency Wins.” Fellow host Ed Henry said a funeral was an odd place to talk about “winners and losers.”
Co-host Pete Hegseth noted that, “I appreciate a grieving daughter, a grieving family. All of that is legitimate.” But, he added, shaming people for supporting Trump by highlighting McCain’s “goodness” wasn’t going to change anyone’s views. John McCain was a “good man” he said, but “we can also be in a different chapter where different tools and different leaders can take the mantle and carry forward what America represents.”
Henry also criticized Obama for talking too much about himself during his eulogy. “Shocker,” Hegseth interjected. “It’s about the man who passed away,” Henry added. “It’s about his awesome life and legacy, not about yours.” Last month, Trump reacted to Aretha Franklin’s death by noting that she “worked for me on numerous occasions.”
Read the full sections highlighted by Fox and Friends below.
Barack Obama: So much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse can seem small and mean and petty, trafficking in bombast and insult and phony controversies and manufactured outrage. It’s a politics that pretends to be brave and tough, but in fact is born of fear. John called on us to be bigger than that. He called on us to be better than that.
George W. Bush: He respected the dignity inherent in every life — a dignity that does not stop at borders and cannot be erased by dictators. Perhaps above all, John detested the abuse of power. He could not abide bigots and swaggering despots. There was something deep inside him that made him stand up for the little guy — to speak for forgotten people in forgotten places.
One friend from his Naval Academy days recalled how John — while a lowly plebe — reacted to seeing an upperclassman verbally abuse a steward. Against all tradition, he told the jerk to pick on someone his own size. It was a familiar refrain during his six decades of service.
Meghan McCain: The America of John McCain is generous and welcoming and bold. She is resourceful, confident, and secure. She meets her responsibilities. She speaks quietly because she’s strong. America does not boast because she has no need to. The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great.
If Republicans retain control of Congress in the mid-terms they're going to take away health care from tens of millions more Americans.
"If Republicans retain control of Congress in the mid-terms they're going to take away health care from tens of millions more Americans."
the government doesn't grant health care to anyone, you ass
someone pays for it
Repubs will cancel Obamacare, a cock-a-mamie scheme that resulted in deductibles so high that poor people cannot afford healthcare and, to add insult to injury, penalized them for not buying until Trump cancelled the mandate
Dems go on about the increase in numbers covered, never mentioning that it's worthless insurance
LEXINGTON, Va. — A small town in Virginia is trying to recover its image after The Red Hen restaurant infamously refused to serve White House spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The Roanoke Times reported Sunday that a regional tourism board is pulling together emergency funds to boost its digital marketing campaign.
Normally that money is saved for emergencies but officials agreed the region is in desperate need of positive coverage.
The tourism board serves Lexington, where The Red Hen is located, and other communities that are about three hours from Washington.
The Red Hen incident in June prompted thousands of a calls and emails to the tourism office. They’re still coming in. The office received a letter on Thursday from a Georgia family that wrote to say it would never return because of what happened.
On Labor Day 2017, the polls were dismal for President Trump -- 18 points under water. But after a year of Robert Mueller investigation headlines, porn-star payoffs and strange Twitter rants, Trump's numbers are…up: 42 percent approve, 54 percent disapprove -- 18 points under water. Not great numbers, but an improvement.
A year of virtually non-stop negative media attacks, and the president is more popular? How does that happen? To quote Joe Biden from the 2008 campaign trail, "It all comes down to one three-letter word: 'Jobs.'"
Everybody knows the news of the red-hot Trump economy: Quarterly growth at 4.2 percent (the average under Obama: 1.6 percent) Unemployment is bouncing around record lows. The overall rate is 3.9 percent, and in May of this year, it hit an 18-year-low 3.8 percent—and the lowest rate ever recorded for black Americans.
But that's only part of the story. After all, more jobs were added under President Obama in his first two years than under President Trump: 3.8 million jobs added in Trump's first 20 months versus 4.3 million jobs added under Obama during the same period. This is due in part to Obama taking over an economy on the rebound from the Great Recession—the "nowhere to go but up" effect. Still, on paper today's job improvement is a continuation of a trend already in place. Why is it resonating to Trump's benefit?
In part because Trump's job growth is different. President Trump campaigned in the Rust Belt and told men—in particular, blue-collar, non-college-degree-holding men—that their economic future could be brighter, too.
In 2013, well into the Obama economy, 18 percent of Americans workers said they feared it was very or somewhat likely they would lose their job in the next 12 month. This Labor Day, that number is down to 11 percent.
Since 2013, the number of people who say there are plenty of jobs available in their communities has doubled, from around 25 percent to 50 percent today.
In August of 2014, 30 percent of Americans said it was a good time to find a quality job. In August of 2018, it's 65 percent.
After years of talk about the benefits of globalism and new technology for white-collar Americans, Trump told the "forgotten Americans" they would be forgotten no more, and he's kept that promise.
The top two sectors of job growth under Trump: not financial analysts or college administrators, but the mining and logging industry (up 13.5 percent since the election), along with construction and transportation. The Labor Department expects jobs in construction and extraction to grow 11 percent from 2016 to 2026.
In fact, growth in manufacturing jobs over the past year was greater than at any time since 1995. Blue-collar work for blue-collar skills and blue-collar guys.
This comes after years of being told by Washington elites and the media that their way of life was obsolete. Then Trump shows up, tells them they have reason to hope, and jobs—their kind of jobs—follow. Is it any surprise those workers and their families are sticking with Trump?
And then there's the way President Trump talks about jobs and the economy. His current NAFTA fight is a perfect example of how Trump frames the jobs conversation in terms of these traditional laborers, as opposed to the broad, positive impact of increased trade. North America is essentially a $1 trillion trade zone. Much of that trade involves the white-collar economy and high-tech jobs. But when Trump talks, his focus is manufacturing jobs. He's demanding increases in the content in cars that must be made by American workers, putting pressure to raise wages from the low end in Mexico to make American wage earners more competitive.
These are relatively small changes on what, in the big picture, is a tiny part of our international trade. But when these families hears Trump taking on Canada, Mexico and China over trade, they hear him taking on the world for them.
On this Labor Day, thousands of workers in mining, manufacturing and construction are enjoying a day off from a job they feared they had lost forever. And that's good news for President Donald Trump
Trump Blames Sessions For Arrests Of GOP Reps
Donald Trump on Sunday mounted another extraordinary attack on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, blaming him for charges against two congressmen he said jeopardised Republican chances in the forthcoming midterm elections.
Last month Duncan Hunter, a California representative, was charged with the misuse of campaign funds while Chris Collins of New York was indicted for insider trading. Both are Trump supporters.
It is 100% outside of Trump's comprehension why its inappropriate for him to make such statements. He actually think Sessions isn't doing his job properly if any Republicans are investigated or charged with crimes. Trump actually thinks the job of the Justice Department is only to investigate or charge Democrats when he's president. This man is so corrupt he's angry that this isn't happening!
During the 2016 election Trump repeatedly promised he'd look out for the "forgotten American", the "little guy" and said he couldn't be bought off by money because he was too rich to be influenced by it.
And of course he was lying the entire time.
Since Trump became president he's taken away healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and raised the cost of healthcare for all the rest. He killed legislation that would have helped women get equal pay and legislation that protected women from violence. He took away the rights of employees to sue their employer when the employer forced them to work without pay or forced them to work in unsafe conditions. He killed safety and health regulations that protected employees and he has allowed businesses to pollute a great deal more and that will kill tens of thousands of Americans prematurely each year and hurt the quality of life of millions more.
Trump has exploded the deficit to give more money to billionaires and saddle future generations of middle class Americans with paying the debt. And now he's using the trillions in debt he's added to the country as an excuse to harm the most vulnerable by demanding cuts in Medicare, Medicade, and Social Security. His global trade war is devastating American farmers and forcing more American manufacturing to go overseas. His never endin g threats to widen the trade war are harming not just the American economy, but the global economy. The poor and the middle class suffer and the billionaires and Trump laugh at their plight and plot how to make the income gap between the poor and the rich even wider.
Trump is a disaster for the average american and its only going to get worse until Democratic politicians get back in control.
Trump thinks the purpose of the Justice Department is to persecute his political rivals. And he's furious that isn't happening.
"Whoever...corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be (guilty of an offence)."
Clearly, by all accounts, Trump has committed obstruction of justice several times over, and continues to do so on a regular basis!
"Donald Trump on Sunday mounted another extraordinary attack on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, blaming him for charges against two congressmen he said jeopardised Republican chances in the forthcoming midterm elections."
Trump's right. The timing is a violation of voters' rights. Either announce in time for the news to be factored into the primary or wait until after the election. As it is, Repub voters haven't got a reasonable alternative.
"It is 100% outside of Trump's comprehension why its inappropriate for him to make such statements."
it's 100% outside of your comprehension that two viable major party candidates are necessary for a democracy to function
"He actually think Sessions isn't doing his job properly if any Republicans are investigated or charged with crimes. Trump actually thinks the job of the Justice Department is only to investigate or charge Democrats when he's president."
two months before an election, handing down indictments needs to be done only in egregious cases
neither charge is all that serious as to necessitate destroying the integrity of the electoral process
"This man is so corrupt he's angry that this isn't happening!"
yes, we know you hate Trump
"Since Trump became president he's taken away healthcare from tens of millions of Americans and raised the cost of healthcare for all the rest."
he hasn't done either
"He killed legislation that would have helped women get equal pay and legislation that protected women from violence."
if that was necessary, how did Obama fail to do it?
"He took away the rights of employees to sue their employer when the employer forced them to work without pay or forced them to work in unsafe conditions."
no, he didn't
"He killed safety and health regulations that protected employees and he has allowed businesses to pollute a great deal more and that will kill tens of thousands of Americans prematurely each year and hurt the quality of life of millions more."
no, he didn't
"Trump has exploded the deficit to give more money to billionaires"
he didn't give them anything
he did reduce the amount we take from but they still fund most of our government, beneficent charities, arts, humanities, education, et al
"Trump is a disaster for the average american and its only going to get worse until Democratic politicians get back in control."
funny, polls show the voters disagree
they don't like him but think he's doing a great job with the economy
"Trump thinks the purpose of the Justice Department is to persecute his political rivals. And he's furious that isn't happening."
all Americans should be furious that no one is investigating the Obama administration's abuse of its power to weaponize agencies of the government against it's opponents
"September 04, 2018 12:32 AM
Blogger Priya Lynn said...
"Whoever...corruptly or by threats or force, or by any threatening letter or communication, influences, obstructs, or impedes, or endeavors to influence, obstruct, or impede, the due administration of justice, shall be (guilty of an offence)."
Clearly, by all accounts, Trump has committed obstruction of justice several times over, and continues to do so on a regular basis!"
when it says "by threats or force", that means threats to use force not threats to fire someone for making poor decisions
not only has Trump not obstructed justice, he has bent over backwards to cooperate with Mueller
the only thing he hasn't agreed to is play word games with Mueller under oath
remember the Davey Fishback sex curriculum that students needed to keep them safe from STDs?
over a decade later, Montgomery County is facing an STD epidemic among its teens
time to take a second look at that abstinence program
well, today marks the beginning of the end of the gay agenda
i would imagine TTf will hold some type of memorial service to remember the good times
once Brett Kavanaugh is approved, imminently, the gay agenda will begin to rollback
maybe Hillary and Tim Kaine will show up for your service
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PHOENIX – Jon Kyl, once one of the most powerful Republicans in the U.S. Senate, has been appointed by the Arizona governor to return to Capitol Hill to succeed the late Sen. John McCain.
Cindy McCain tweeted her approval: "Jon Kyl is a dear friend of mine and John's. It's a great tribute to John that he is prepared to go back into public service to help the state of Arizona."
Kyl is leading President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, through the confirmation process and will now be able to vote to confirm Kavanaugh, which is the final nail in the coffin of the Dem effort to stop Kavanaugh.
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top three jokes of the day:
Merrick Garland
Tim Kaine
Hillary Clinton
Haters Mocked For Wrecking Their Own Nike Stuff To Protest Kaepernick Deal
People are burning and slashing their shoes, caps, shorts and socks to protest the company’s deal with the former NFL star.
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Levi Strauss CEO Sets Up Fund To Help Groups Working to Lessen U.S. Gun Violence
“Americans shouldn’t have to live in fear of gun violence,” CEO Chip Bergh said.
"Levi Strauss & Co. is taking a much higher profile in efforts to reduce gun violence in the U.S., committing itself to donating more than $1 million to groups pursuing that goal.
Company president and CEO Chip Bergh, in a letter published in Fortune on Tuesday, detailed why the denim-jean manufacturing behemoth would start partnering with gun safety advocates. He cited a 2016 letter he wrote requesting gun owners not bring weapons into his stores after a customer in Georgia shot himself while trying on a pair of jeans.
“In the days after I published that letter, I received threats to our stores, our business, and even on my life. It was unsettling,” Bergh said. But referring to the mass shooting at a Florida high school in February and 2012 slaughter at a Connecticut elementary school, added that “these personal attacks pale in comparison to the threats that activists and survivors from Parkland, Sandy Hook, and daily incidents of gun violence face every time they speak up on this issue.”
Bergh in his letter announced the company’s establishment of the Safer Tomorrow Fund, which intends to funnel grants totaling more than $1 million over the next four years to nonprofits working to end gun violence in the country. Bergh said the company also would double all donations made by its employees to the Safer Tomorrow Fund.
And Strauss & Co. will be working with Everytown for Gun Safety, which former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg set up in 2014 to, according to its mission statement, help build “a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities.”
“You may wonder why a company that doesn’t manufacture or sell guns is wading into this issue, but for us, it’s simple,” Bergh wrote. “Americans shouldn’t have to live in fear of gun violence. It’s an issue that affects all of us—all generations and all walks of life.”..."
Trump’s Version of the ‘Big Lie’
The propaganda technique of the Big Lie is often attributed to Adolf Hitler, but Hitler himself argued in Mein Kampf that it was the Jews who used that technique, not him. Donald Trump uses a similarly related technique, though I doubt it’s thought through as a strategy and is more just second nature to him. I’ll explain the differences after this passage from the Washington Post’s fact check column about Trump’s astonishing dishonesty.
"Trump has a proclivity to repeat, over and over, many of his false or misleading statements. We’ve counted nearly 160 claims that the president has repeated at least three times, some with breathtaking frequency…
More often than not, the president can’t let go of a favorite talking point. On June 20, he claimed he had received a phone call from the head of U.S. Steel and learned the company had announced it would open “six major facilities.” But U.S. Steel had made no such announcement and we debunked this claim as worthy of Four Pinocchios. Yet 23 more times over 10 weeks, the president has asserted that U.S. Steel was building new plants, inflating it even to seven facilities and then to eight.
Not surprisingly, immigration is the top source of Trump’s misleading claims, now totaling 592. Forty-three times just in the past six months, for instance, the president has falsely claimed his long-promised border wall with Mexico is being built, even though Congress has denied funding for it."
As I’ve pointed out many times, every politician lies (just Republicans far more often then Democrats, as research shows). And this was one of the arguments that Hitler made for why the Big Lie works. In his formulation, if you’re going to lie, lie big, about really big things, because people are used to mundane, everyday lies. They’ll more easily catch on to such lies and identify them, while dismissing their importance. A Big Lie, on the other hand, will seem so audacious to them that, perversely, they give it more credibility because they can’t imagine someone would lie about something so important. He wrote:
"All this was inspired by the principle—which is quite true within itself—that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted...since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods....It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. "
Hitler’s deputy, Joseph Goebbels said “The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it, they keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.” Trump’s version is rather similar to the Goebbels version, in that he tells a lie and then sticks to it, forever and ever, and repeats it so often that people almost can’t believe he would do it. They grant him a certain credibility because of the sheer volume of his lies and the frequency with which he repeats them even after they’ve been conclusively, undeniably debunked.
In competitive high school and college policy debate there’s a common technique called the “spread.” It relies not on the quality of one’s arguments but on the quantity of them, putting out so many one-line, shallow arguments that it’s nearly impossible to cover them all and one ends up winning by default as a result of “dropped” (unanswered) arguments. There’s something similar going on here. It isn’t just that Trump lies and it isn’t just that he repeats those lies ad nauseum in the face of overwhelming evidence that disproves them, it’s that he lies as such a breathtaking pace that it becomes impossible to keep up. Most people end up just tuning it out, chalking it up to “politics as usual.”
But this is one reason why it’s so important that the media, the fact checkers in particular, stop using euphemisms to describe Trump’s tendencies. A spade must be called a spade, as often and as loudly as one can. Trump doesn’t merely have an “uncomfortable relationship with the truth.” He isn’t merely “detached from reality.” He’s a liar, as bold and audacious a liar as any of us have ever encountered, or will ever. Even attaching the word “pathological” to it seems almost too mild a description. I suspect even George Orwell, were he alive today, would be a bit taken aback at Trump.
We cannot allow this to become the new norm. We must continue to call it out in the strongest possible terms each and every time. What is at stake is not just the immediate political future of the United States but the very idea of objective reality. We must resist every step toward becoming a “post-truth society.”
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous are devotees of the Nazi "Big Lie". For example, In this thread at May 14, 2017 5:26 PM they falsely accused a transwoman they don't know of preying on young girls in the bathroom and even when confronted with the link to their own words, they lie again and repeatedly falsely claim they didn't say that. Its not convincing from them though, as their many lies have been documented over and over and their reputation precedes them.
Donald Trump Sept 2015 on health care:
Trump: "Everybody is going to be covered."
60 Min: "Universal Health care?"
Trump: "I am going to take care of everybody. I don't care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody is going to be taken care of, much better than they are taken care of now."
60 Min: "The uninsured person?"
Trump: "Right."
60 Min:"is going to be taken care of how?"
Trump: "They're going to be taken care of. How? I would make a deal with the existing hospitals to take care of people and you know what, this is probably...".
60 Min: "You make a deal, who pays for it?"
Trump: "The government is going to pay for it."
Of course that was nothing but a typical Yuge Trump lie. Instead of universal health care he's taken away health care from millions of people and if Republicans are re-elected in the mid-terms he's promised to take health care away from tens of millions more. And in the meantime he's blocking every effort to expand the number of Americans with health care.
Trump pampers the super rich, but is a disaster for the average American.
‘Fox & Friends’ Scrambles to Defend Trump From Their Own Legal Expert
When Andrew Napolitano slammed the infamous tweet about two indicted congressmen, the president’s favorite morning hosts circled the wagons.
It was news the hosts of Fox & Friends were apparently unprepared to hear.
Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano told the anchors of Donald Trump’s favorite morning show on Tuesday that the president’s Monday tweet about the indictments of two Republican congressmen is potential “fodder” for special counsel Robert Mueller’s obstruction-of-justice probe.
“When the president says these things—basically, ‘I want you to use the Justice Department to help the Republican Party’—that is fodder for the cannon of Bob Mueller and the never-Trumpers,” said Napolitano. “It’s his using his own words out of his own mouth to help put him in a box of the use of government for political purposes.”
In a Monday tweet, Trump accused Attorney General Jeff Sessions of jeopardizing the Republican Party with the indictments of Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) and Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY).
“Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff......” he wrote.
To the stiffly silent Fox & Friends hosts, Napolitano further defended the Justice Department, saying it would have been “most unwise” to wait until after the midterm elections to indict Hunter and Collins.
Napolitano said the Justice Department was right to indict the congressmen. “There can’t be two standards, one for members of Congress—Republican members of Congress—and one for others.” he said. “It is the duty of the Justice Department to prosecute crimes when they find them.”
When Trump's corruption is too much for Fox "News" legal analyst you know there are several slam dunk counts of obstruction of justice against Trump.
Hee Hee Hee!
‘Impeach Trump.’ ‘Open Borders.’ Fake political signs posted in heated Va. congressional race
RICHMOND — Phony political signs suggesting that Democrat Abigail Spanberger is running for Congress on promises to impeach President Trump and open the nation’s borders popped up in the Richmond suburbs over the weekend.
The red-white-and-blue placards bore Spanberger’s name and a variety of slogans, including “Impeach Trump,” “Open borders” and “Abolish ICE.” Campaign staff for Spanberger, who is trying to unseat Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), spotted them Sunday morning in Chesterfield County and quickly pulled them down.
Spanberger, a former CIA officer who has positioned herself as a moderate as she runs in the swing district, has said she opposes open borders and the abolishment of the federal agency known as ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As for Trump, she has said that he deserves due process and that she wants to see special counsel Robert S. Mueller III complete his investigation into whether the president’s campaign colluded with Russians who interfered in the 2016 election.
“These signs are nothing but a desperate smear tactic due to the strength of our campaign and how we are resonating with voters across the 7th District,” Spanberger spokesman Justin Jones said.
Brat spokeswoman Katey Price said the campaign had nothing to do with the signs, which did not include the disclaimer required under federal law identifying who paid for them...
Happy World Sexual Health Day!
Yes, there’s a day dedicated to sexual health worldwide. What does sexual health mean to you? Here I provide some reflections of my own.
I always like to start by defining the topic under discussion, so let’s go with the definition of sexual health used by the World Health Organization (WHO):
"Sexual health is a state of physical, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality. It requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence."
In my view this is spot-on, and best of yet, it includes the word “pleasurable.” I’ve noticed in many sex education contexts that pleasure is not discussed – for a variety of reasons, sex-negativity and body shame and attempts at (religious) control among them – and I think that’s unfortunate if not outright abusive. Our bodies are made for pleasure (among other things), and to leave that out of sex education does not prepare people to explore that to the degree they desire. Obviously we can’t leave elements like physical health out of our definition of sexual health, but it definitely shouldn’t end there.
Sexual health is inherently inclusive and should be intersectional. I see it as a feminist enterprise through and through, made stronger by attention to diversity, power, and systemic issues of inequality. It means talking about condoms and consent but also about body image and what the most marginalized groups say they need (which is most often, just a place at the table, or as one sex workers rights slogan put it, Nothing About Us Without Us).
That’s why I opened this post with such a conversational tone: sexual health is a conversational topic. There’s biological stuff and evidence-based facts, but there’s also a complex mix of cultures and relationships. This is why I like the idea of being a beacon, because we can normalize sex, gender, and relationships topics simply by signaling our openness to talking about them.
The American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) released this statement to celebrate World Sexual Health Day:
"Sexual health and sexual rights are human rights that can transform the destinies of those who have access to them. Today, the war against sex/gender freedom seems to threaten gains we have spent our lifetimes working for. Let’s recognize and reaffirm our commitment to making the world safe for sexual health and sexual rights today by showing each other how much we appreciate the special work each of us does to further sexual and social justice."
Obviously, there is no justifiable reason to oppose monogamous same sex relationships. Sexual health necessarily includes the right of sexual minorities to the harmless relationships they enjoy. The more individuals society makes happy the better off society is :)
"The propaganda technique of the Big Lie is often attributed to Adolf Hitler,"
must be where the Clintons and Obama got it from
current big lie:
Trump colluded with the Russian to hack Hillary's email
"Obviously, there is no justifiable reason to oppose monogamous same sex relationships"
on a personal level, homosexuality is bad for society and has been considered immoral by every major civilization in history
on a legal level, it's OK for it to be legal but these relationships shouldn't be recognized as "marriage" by the state
that term should be reserved for the type of relationships that produce life
the type of relationships that produce life, heterosexual ones, should be preferenced, supported, and encouraged by all our societal institutions
homosexuals can't understand this because they hate life
they support abortion, euthanasia, non-reproductive sexual relationships, random promiscuity resulting in fatal STDs, dissemination of dangerous misinformation to youth about homosexuality
all of these destroy, endanger, or prevent life
meaning they are evil
back in 1968, fifty years ago last week, Dems turned off a generation with riots at their convention
today, Dems try for a repeat by embarrassing tactics to disrupt hearings for the new SCOTUS nominee
the whole world is watching...
POLL: 66% Of All Female Voters Disapprove Of Trump
The Washington Post reports:
Two months ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats hold a clear advantage over Republicans in congressional vote support, with antipathy toward President Trump fueling Democratic enthusiasm, even among those in the party who stayed home four years ago, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.
The gender gap in views of Trump continues to be a key factor looking ahead to the fall campaign, with the Post-ABC poll finding 66 percent of female registered voters disapproving of Trump, including 59 percent who disapprove “strongly.” Among men, 52 percent disapprove, 45 percent strongly.
the type of relationships that produce life, heterosexual ones, should be preferenced, supported, and encouraged by all our societal institutions
And post menopausal women should be put out to pasture.
The Real Story of Unemployment Over The Last Decade
There was a huge drop in the unemployment rate under Obama. There's been a trivial further drop under Trump.
Trump inherited a booming economy from Obama and has done virtually nothing since.
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Trump repeatedly trying to pervert the DOJ into a weapon to go after his political rivals, and now shamelessly complaining that the DOJ should protect his political allies to maintain his majority in the midterms, is nothing short of an all out assault on the rule of law.
Combined with his betrayal of his country in Helsinki and his refusal to protect American elections from foreign (and domestic) sabotage, is enough for a FREE people to demand his immediate removal from power--these are profound violations of his oath of office!
Reporter who broke Watergate has bookd come out "It's crazy town in the White House!"
President Donald Trump's closest aides have taken extraordinary measures in the White House to try to stop what they saw as his most dangerous impulses, going so far as to swipe and hide papers from his desk so he wouldn't sign them, according to a new book from legendary journalist Bob Woodward.
Woodward's 448-page book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," provides an unprecedented inside-the-room look through the eyes of the President's inner circle. From the Oval Office to the Situation Room to the White House residence, Woodward uses confidential background interviews to illustrate how some of the President's top advisers view him as a danger to national security and have sought to circumvent the commander in chief.
Many of the feuds and daily clashes have been well documented, but the picture painted by Trump's confidants, senior staff and Cabinet officials reveal that many of them see an even more alarming situation — worse than previously known or understood. Woodward offers a devastating portrait of a dysfunctional Trump White House, detailing how senior aides — both current and former Trump administration officials — grew exasperated with the President and increasingly worried about his erratic behavior, ignorance and penchant for lying.
Chief of staff John Kelly describes Trump as an "idiot" and "unhinged," Woodward reports. Defense Secretary James Mattis describes Trump as having the understanding of "a fifth or sixth grader." And Trump's former personal lawyer John Dowd describes the President as "a fucking liar," telling Trump he would end up in an "orange jump suit" if he testified to special counsel Robert Mueller.
"He's an idiot. It's pointless to try to convince him of anything. He's gone off the rails. We're in crazytown," Kelly is quoted as saying at a staff meeting in his office. "I don't even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I've ever had."
The book recounts a dramatic session in the White House residence in which Trump failed a mock Mueller interview with his lawyers.
Trump's lawyer, convinced the President would perjure himself, put Trump through a test — a practice interview for the one he might have with Mueller. Trump failed, according to Dowd, but the President still insisted he should testify.
Woodward writes that Dowd saw the "full nightmare" of a potential Mueller interview, and felt Trump acted like an "aggrieved Shakespearean king."
But Trump seemed surprised at Dowd's reaction, Woodward writes. "You think I was struggling?" Trump asked.
Then, in an even more remarkable move, Dowd and Trump's current personal attorney Jay Sekulow went to Mueller's office and re-enacted the mock interview. Their goal: to argue that Trump couldn't possibly testify because he was incapable of telling the truth.
"He just made something up. That's his nature," Dowd said to Mueller.
Former chief economic adviser Gary Cohn saw a draft letter he considered dangerous to national security on the Oval Office desk. The letter would have withdrawn the US from a critical trade agreement with South Korea. Trump's aides feared the fallout could jeopardize a top-secret national security program: the ability to detect a North Korean missile launch within just seven seconds.
Woodward reports Cohn was "appalled" that Trump might sign the letter. "I stole it off his desk," Cohn told an associate. "I wouldn't let him see it. He's never going to see that document. Got to protect the country."
Cohn was not alone. Former staff secretary Rob Porter worked with Cohn and used the same tactic on multiple occasions, Woodward writes. In addition to literally stealing or hiding documents from Trump's desk, they sought to stall and delay decisions or distract Trump from orders they thought would endanger national security.
Woodward's book relies on hundreds of hours of taped interviews and dozens of sources in Trump's inner circle, as well as documents, files, diaries and memos, including a note handwritten by Trump himself. Woodward explains that he talked with sources on "deep background," meaning he could use all the information but not say who provided it.
His reporting comes with the credibility of a long and storied history that separates this book from previous efforts on Trump. The author and Washington Post journalist has won two Pulitzer Prizes, including one for his coverage of the Watergate scandal that led to President Richard Nixon's resignation.
After Trump's Charlottesville, Virginia, controversy, in which he failed to condemn white supremacists, Cohn tried to resign but was instead dressed down by Trump and accused of "treason."
Kelly, who is Trump's current chief of staff, told Cohn afterward, according to notes Cohn made of the exchange: "If that was me, I would have taken that resignation letter and shoved it up his ass six different times."
In meeting after meeting, Trump questions why the US has to pay for such a large troop presence in South Korea.
"We're doing this in order to prevent World War III," Mattis, the defense secretary, bluntly explained to Trump at one January 2018 meeting, which prompted Mattis to tell close associates afterward that Trump had the understanding of a "fifth or sixth grader."
A woman was murdered by a white supremacist in Charlottesville and nearly 20 people were brutally injured. Trump was forced to condemn them.
Bob Woodward just revealed that Trump immediately told aides that condemning them "Was the biggest f*ing mistake I've made."
Overpopulation is destroying the planet and the human race.
The type of relationships that don't overpopulate the earth should be preferenced, supported, and encouraged by all our societal institutions.
The ability or desire to have children has never been a requirement for marriage and never will be.
President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani on Tuesday said that White House staffers quoted as ripping the president in veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s forthcoming book should “go get another job.”
“If they said it, they should be questioning why they are there,” Giuliani told CNBC in an interview. “Why don’t they go get another job? That’s the kind of disloyalty that leads to you leaving, not staying and undermining the president.”
LOL Rudy, its obvious why they're staying!
Their loyalty is to their country, not a corrupt buffoon out solely to aggrandize and enrich himself. They're staying precisely because they want to protect their nation from Trump!
In one meeting, Kelly reportedly said Trump was “an idiot,” and it was “pointless to try to convince him of anything.”
“He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had,” Kelly said, according to the book.
"Infertile couples should have no right to call their relationship "marriage""
they do, because they are recognizing the sanctity of marriage as a gender diverse institution
the fact that they can't bear children is not their own fault
those who choose to engage in exclusive homosexual activity have forsaken their capacity to produce life
they are free to do so, but society shouldn't preference such a choice with special benefits
the fact that they won't produce life is their fault
"There was a huge drop in the unemployment rate under Obama."
that would have happened even if Bozo the Clown were President
the American economy tends to rebound from recessions
generally, it rebounds symmetrically, as it had under several GOP Presidents
under Obama, the unemployment rate dropped much further for the first year and a half, and when the recovery came it was listless
"Trump inherited a booming economy from Obama and has done virtually nothing since."
only the most hardened core of the resistance holds to this stupid assertion
"Trump repeatedly trying to pervert the DOJ into a weapon to go after his political rivals,"
and, by "go after", you are referring to investigating Obama's trying to pervert the DOJ into a weapon to bhinder his successor
"and now shamelessly complaining that the DOJ should protect his political allies to maintain his majority in the midterms, is nothing short of an all out assault on the rule of law"
actually, it's something short of that
"Combined with his betrayal of his country in Helsinki"
nothing about his approach to Putin was treasonous
GW said he looked into Putin's soul through his eyes and saw that he could trust him
Obama set he was resetting and unilaterally removed anti-ballistics from Eastern Europe
he also told the Russians he would be more flexible with them after he fooled Americans into re-electing him
"and his refusal to protect American elections from foreign (and domestic) sabotage,"
American elections are not in danger
if they were, states would be responsible for protecting their votes
"is enough for a FREE people to demand his immediate removal from power"
we are all free, and many have already done this
but there is no valid reason to remove him
"--these are profound violations of his oath of office!"
Obama the Worst did both!
"Reporter who broke Watergate has bookd come out "It's crazy town in the White House!""
poor Bob Woodward
he wants to be noticed again so much
"Overpopulation is destroying the planet and the human race.
The type of relationships that don't overpopulate the earth should be preferenced, supported, and encouraged by all our societal institutions."
homosexuals hate life
"The ability or desire to have children has never been a requirement for marriage and never will be."
engaging in the type of relationship that creates life has always been a requirement for marriage
until a bad decision a couple of years ago
the final nails are going in the coffin of that decision in hearings this week
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh said the court "must never, never be viewed as a partisan institution," as he closed out the first day of a rancorous Senate hearing that has bitterly divided Republicans and Democrats.
"The justices on the Supreme Court do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle," Kavanaugh told the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday. "They do not caucus in separate rooms. If confirmed to the Supreme Court, I would be part of a team of nine, committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States."
Kavanaugh’s measured remarks stood in contrast to the resistance clown show, which was marked by interruptions and arguments from Democrats, and loud protests by dozens of crazed resistance protestors in the packed audience. Republican John Cornyn of Texas noted that the Democrats of trying to impose "mob rule."
Trump, who chose Kavanaugh as his second high court nominee, said on Twitter that the hearings "are truly a display of how mean, angry, and despicable the other side is. They will say anything."
Democrats' antics haven’t been able to undercut Kavanaugh’s status as a heavy favorite to win confirmation. Senate Republicans can confirm him without any Democratic votes. Committee members will question Kavanaugh on Wednesday and Thursday, and Republicans aim to get him seated before the court opens its term on Oct. 1.
Kavanaugh told the committee Tuesday that judges "must be independent, not swayed by public pressure."
"Over the past 12 years, I have ruled sometimes for the prosecution and sometimes for criminal defendants, sometimes for workers and sometimes for businesses, sometimes for environmentalists and sometimes for coal miners," Kavanaugh said. "In each case, I have followed the law."
In a confirmation hearing, Kavanaugh cast himself as a champion of women’s equality. Most of his 48 law clerks have been women, he said. A basketball coach for his two daughters’ teams, he praised the 1972 federal Title IX law, which he said "helped make girls’ and women’s sports equal."
Kavanaugh briefly choked up as he thanked his family and friends for their support. His wife, daughters and parents sat behind him as he delivered his statement.
During senators’ opening statements earlier Tuesday, Republicans were repeatedly interrupted by audience protesters, including one woman who screamed that the hearing was "a travesty of justice" and another who shouted that she had to leave Missouri to get an abortion.
The United States Capitol Police said that 70 people had been arrested during the hearing; 61 were removed from the hearing room itself, and another nine from the second floor of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The charges included disorderly conduct, and obstructing, the police said.
Grassley said he expects the committee to vote on confirmation on Sept. 20. The chairman told reporters after the hearing that the confirmation is in good shape, as evidenced by the fact that many of Democrats’ complaints were focused on process.
“I think it’s pretty clear that nobody has found any qualification problem with this nominee. It’s all been on process," Grassley said. "I expect that he will be on the court.”
Kavanaugh will give the court a fifth vote to overturn the constitutional right to abortion access. Trump promised during the campaign to appoint "pro-life" justices who would vote to overturn Roe, and Kavanaugh appears to fulfill that vow.
Kavanaugh is likely to cast the pivotal vote on whether the president must obey a subpoena or testify before a grand jury.
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said Kavanaugh would reinforce the Supreme Court’s conservative tilt on business and politically charged cases.
Republicans have reclaimed their 51-49 Senate majority now that Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has selected former Senator Jon Kyl to replace the deceased Senator John McCain.
Please, we must maintain decorum and proper order to ram through the Supreme Court pick of the rapist game show host before he's indicted for a federal crime.
The desire or ability to have children has never been a requirement of marriage...and never will be.
In fact in some American States it is a requirement of marriage between first cousins that they be unable to procreate.
Clearly the idea that same sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't bear children is an idea born of bigotry, not reason.
In a finite resource world being destroyed by human overpopulation society can no longer afford to blindly and recklessly encourage and allow uncontrolled procreation.
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous posted a bullshit partisan smokescreen about Trump's supreme court nominnee Brett Kavanaugh allegedly being impartial.
If this was true Republicans wouldn't be hiding over 90% of the documents about his time in the White House under Bush and have sprung 48,000 documents about Kavanaugh at 5:00 PM the night before his hearing started. Clearly they're hiding Kavanaugh's record for a reason and even with the less than 10% of documents they've provided they did so in such a way as to prevent any congressional review of them before he's voted on - this is a radical break with how every Supreme Court nominee hearings have been held in the past.
Clearly Kavanaugh is not impartial. He's on record as saying a president should not be subject to subpoenas for interviews, should not be indicted for any crimes he commits, should not be investigated for any wrongdoing, and should not be questioned for any reason. He's on record as saying the Watergate 8-0 Supreme Court decision requiring Nixon to turn over the tapes that showed him to be a criminal was wrongly decided.
Kavanaugh was part of the Ken Starr investigation of Bill Clinton. He pushed hard to impeach him, subject him to never ending interviews asking dozens of questions about his sexual encounter such as if he inserted a cigar in a woman's vagina and on and on. He was utterly unconcerned about "distracting a sitting president from running the country" then but suddenly has done a 180 degree reversal on that position when it comes to Trump - Kavanaugh is obviously as partisan as they come.
No doubt one of the main reasons Republicans have refused to follow long standing normal procedure and release all documents relating to a Supreme Court nominee's work is that Kavanaugh was almost certainly involved in providing George Bush with legal sounding bullshit Bush used to excuse illegal torture of detainees and to excuse denying uncharged detainees due process and keeping them locked up essentially for life.
It is very likely that legal questions concerning Trump and Russiagate will come before the Supreme court - whether Trump has to respond to a subpoena from Mueller to interview him, whether he can be indicted for a crime as a sitting president (Justice Department policy is that he can't but this is subject to change and has never been litigated in court), and whether he can pardon himself.
Most in the law profession have noted that Kavanaugh espouses a view of absolute executive power that places the president above the law and is far, far out of the mainstream of legal thought. Clearly this is why Trump picked Kavanaugh, he wants a ringer he know will judge in his favour when his ass is on the line in court. The founding fathers were absolutely opposed to an accused defendant picking his own judge but never anticipated a situation with an utterly corrupt president like Trump.
The corruption of Trump and the Republicans is without president in the entire history of the United States and they are destroying American democracy.
"Please, we must maintain decorum and proper order to ram through the Supreme Court pick of the rapist game show host before he's indicted for a federal crime"
we should not lose civility and decorum just because the Democrats lost the election
Dems need to grow up
if Dems want to chose future justices, they need to do two things
1. win the White House
2. win a majority of Senate seats
neither will happen this November so Dems are powerless, which is why they are pitching a fit and throwing a temper tantrum
but that won't win them any votes
more documentation has been provided on the next SC justice than any nominee in history
that's because he's probably the most qualified SC nominee in history
this nomination is being considered in a deliberate manner by the winners of the most previous election so "ram through" is a mischaracterization
"the rapist game show host before he's indicted for a federal crime"
a statement that epitomizes why Dems lose so many elections
Donald Trump is not a rapist nor is he about to be indicted for any federal crime
he has a number of personal flaws but he is similar to Bill Clinton in that
no new flaws have been uncovered since his election
he is, more than most presidents of the modern era, what we elected
to put this into perspective, go back and see how Dems demonized Ronald Reagan, George W Bush, and John McCain
this is simply the go-to tactic for Dems when they fail to convince voters of their agenda
"The desire or ability to have children has never been a requirement of marriage...and never will be."
the definition of marriage is that it is a relationship of the type that produces life
"Clearly the idea that same sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't bear children is an idea born of bigotry, not reason."
the REASON marriage is preferenced because of its capacity for producing life
the idea of homosexuality is prevent life
read my lips: homosexuality never produces life
"In a finite resource world being destroyed by human overpopulation society can no longer afford to blindly and recklessly encourage and allow uncontrolled procreation."
if you think "the finite resource world is being destroyed by human overpopulation", how many people do you think we need to get rid of to correct the situation?
"anonymous posted a bullshit partisan smokescreen about Trump's supreme court nominnee Brett Kavanaugh allegedly being impartial"
I simply posted the excerpts of his address to the committee that were contained in a mainstream media story
I didn't add or delete any of his comments in that story
Kavanaugh will impartially apply the Constitution
that scares the hell out of those who have gotten past SCs to find their favorite cause in the Constitution, when it was never there
obviously, an originalist judge won't find a right to abortion or homosexual marriage in the Constitution
it's not there
"this is a radical break with how every Supreme Court nominee hearings have been held in the past"
yes, it is
more documents have been provided on Kavanaugh than any nominee in history
also, Grassley has radically broken with the past by allowing any Senator to review the documents, not just members of his committee
"Clearly Kavanaugh is not impartial. He's on record as saying a president should not be subject to subpoenas for interviews, should not be indicted for any crimes he commits, should not be investigated for any wrongdoing, and should not be questioned for any reason. He's on record as saying the Watergate 8-0 Supreme Court decision requiring Nixon to turn over the tapes that showed him to be a criminal was wrongly decided."
you have no basis for saying he didn't arrive at those conclusions impartially
"Kavanaugh was part of the Ken Starr investigation of Bill Clinton. He pushed hard to impeach him, subject him to never ending interviews asking dozens of questions about his sexual encounter such as if he inserted a cigar in a woman's vagina and on and on. He was utterly unconcerned about "distracting a sitting president from running the country" then but suddenly has done a 180 degree reversal on that position when it comes to Trump"
the Ken Starr investigation was conducted under a law that Congress has since eliminated because Congress thought a sitting president shouldn't be distracted from running the country
Kavanaugh supports the law, as instituted by the democratically elected legislature
America will reject Dems in November if they make clear they will do nothing but seek impeachment for the next two years
"It is very likely that legal questions concerning Trump and Russiagate will come before the Supreme court - whether Trump has to respond to a subpoena from Mueller to interview him, whether he can be indicted for a crime as a sitting president (Justice Department policy is that he can't but this is subject to change and has never been litigated in court), and whether he can pardon himself"
and Kavanaugh's position is well-known
his position on this is not what Dems are looking for in the documents
Kavanaugh has the correct position on these issues
which is why he will be confirmed
"Most in the law profession have noted that Kavanaugh espouses a view of absolute executive power that places the president above the law and is far, far out of the mainstream of legal thought. Clearly this is why Trump picked Kavanaugh,"
I thought you said it was to get rid of Roe v Wade
"The founding fathers were absolutely opposed to an accused defendant picking his own judge but never anticipated a situation with an utterly corrupt president like Trump."
an ignorant statement
any historian will tell you they carefully considered corruption quite a bit
"The corruption of Trump and the Republicans is without president in the entire history of the United States and they are destroying American democracy."
here's a test:
Priya, find your misspelling
"It is very likely that legal questions concerning Trump and Russiagate will come before the Supreme court - whether Trump has to respond to a subpoena from Mueller to interview him"
oh?
(WASHINGTON) — Special counsel Robert Mueller is willing to accept written responses from President Donald Trump regarding any potential coordination between his campaign and the Kremlin’s efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, a person familiar with the ongoing negotiations said Tuesday.
The offer was made in a letter Mueller’s office sent Friday to Trump’s legal team, which has not yet responded to it, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not authorized to publicly discuss the negotiations.
The move by Mueller comes after he has issued two lengthy indictments detailing Russian efforts to interfere in the presidential campaign. Mueller has also probed a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian lawyer he believed to have derogatory information on Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump Jr. took the meeting, emails show, after it was described as part of a Russian government effort to help his father’s campaign. Trump has said he knew nothing about the meeting before it happened.
Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment Tuesday.
The two sides have negotiated for months over whether and under what conditions Trump would sit for an interview. Though the president has publicly said he was eager to face questions from Mueller, his lawyers have been far more reluctant to make him available for an interview and have questioned whether Mueller has the right to ask him about actions that he is authorized under the Constitution to take as president.
Anyone who has been in Washington for more than a decade knows that there is nothing more useless than the first day of a Supreme Court nomination hearing.
Usually, it consists of self-important speeches from senators that seem to stretch on to the crack of doom. If there’s anyone on the committee running for president — Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., we're looking at you — he or she tends to be windier and say even more ridiculous things than the others.
At the end, lest everyone forget what the day is for, there’s usually a short speech from the nominee. The process would be shorter and better if all of the speeches were axed, or at most submitted in writing and entered into the Senate Judiciary Committee’s record, but that would deprive publicity-hungry pols of their grandstand.
This Tuesday might have set new records for uselessness because Democrats tried tirelessly to occlude the public eye with a lot of smoke about information they claim bogusly is being hidden from them to prevent thorough scrutiny of the nominee.
They say less than 10 percent of relevant documents have been given to the committee, but the truth is, rather, that Democrats have failed to find any scrap of evidence to derail Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation and now they're clutching at straws. They don't have any evidence against him, and they don't have the votes to stop him. They themselves abolished most judicial filibusters in 2013, and they are now reaping what they sowed. Before the 2016 election, they promised to abolish Supreme Court filibusters when Hillary Clinton won, and they retook the Senate. They lost that election, so Republicans did it for them.
From the position of impotence they thought they were going to impose on their political opponents, Democrats have had to try and look tough to mollify their extreme donor base. It's no accident that Sens. Booker and Harris sent out political fundraising emails during Tuesday’s hearing.
Committee Democrats' tactic has been to make dilatory document requests they knew cannot be met, then spend the hearing itself pretending that failure to meet their impossible demands will strangle democracy in America.
There's no standard checklist of documents to be presented for a Supreme Court nominee, but a record number have been given to the Senate about Kavanaugh — more than for the last five nominees combined.
Kavanaugh has been a judge 12 years and has amassed a long judicial record with hundreds of opinions he wrote or joined. He has also written articles, some controversial. He's been on record from the time he worked with independent counsel Kenneth Starr toward the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.
Democrats decided that their best bet is to hint darkly that something about Kavanaugh is being kept hidden. In public, they fixate on millions of documents from the Bush administration that merely passed across his desk when he served as President George W. Bush’s staff secretary. Most of these papers say nothing about Kavanaugh, but they will contain deliberations by third parties, information about the president’s thinking, and probably also some sensitive national security information.
In the history of Supreme Court nominations, there is NO PRECEDENT for demanding all documents from a nominee’s career. There are boundaries, especially those related to the burden of production and executive or attorney-client privilege, and they have been respected for past nominees with less lengthy public paper trails than Kavanaugh’s.
Democrats’ real intention, although they lack the means to carry it out, is to delay confirmation until after the coming midterm elections, in hope that they can win the Senate and kill the nomination. It isn't going to happen.
There’s one more aspect to the Democrats’ cynicism that should help the Judiciary Committee and voters put things into perspective. Every single Democrat on the committee, and most Democrats in the Senate, have already publicly prejudged the nomination. Some did so even before he was named, so their request for mountains more information is completely disingenuous.
If one-fifth of them weren’t already running for president, there would be no point in any of them attending the hearing. Keep that in mind when you listen to them question Kavanaugh on Wednesday
Kavanaugh may not become the most conservative member of the court, but his background suggests he would be the most partisan. Working for Kenneth W. Starr in the 1990s, he was involved in the Vincent Foster and Monica Lewinsky probes, proposing an explicit line of questioning for President Bill Clinton with graphic queries about genitalia, masturbation, phone sex and oral sex. And as a young lawyer under George W. Bush, Kavanaugh was involved in Bush v. Gore, the probe of Clinton’s pardons and legal decisions about torture.
Hence the importance of the “documents.” Democrats say the committee received only 7 percent of Kavanaugh’s White House documents — and some of those have been altered, while half cannot be discussed publicly.
Why? They would likely reinforce what is already known about Kavanaugh as a nakedly partisan appointment, solidifying the court’s transition from a deliberative body to what is effectively another political branch.
This transition began with the Robert H. Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings, and accelerated during the Bush v. Gore ruling that gave the White House to a Republican president and the Citizens United ruling that advantaged Republicans. It climaxed when Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell refused for a year to hold hearings on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. McConnell, having essentially put the Supreme Court on the ballot, then changed procedures to have President Trump’s nominees approved by a simple majority — thereby ending any possibility of consensus.
And now Senate Republicans are pushing to have Kavanaugh confirmed on a party-line vote before the public knows what he did in the White House. This will have him seated on the high court in time to consider whatever challenges emerge from Trump’s legal problems. Trump is quite literally choosing his judge and jury.
Yet Kavanaugh, like his predecessors, said without irony Tuesday that “the Supreme Court must never — never — be viewed as a partisan institution.”
Among the Kavanaugh documents that have been released: an email sent to him in 2002 by a White House spokeswoman about a column I was writing. “Dude, you’ve got trouble,” it says, informing Kavanaugh that I wanted to discuss Clinton pardons and his work for Starr.
Kavanaugh’s two-word reply: “uh oh.”
Kavanaugh didn’t talk for the piece, which argued that “a cynical view of Kavanaugh’s actions would be that he bases his legal reasoning on his conservative views — that he supports broad powers for a Republican president and circumscribed powers for a Democratic president.”
What has emerged about Kavanaugh — particularly his vulgar plan to humiliate Clinton — reinforces that cynical view. This is why Kavanaugh’s defenders don’t want the documents to come out — and why Democrats, and their Greek chorus in the audience, made it their focus Tuesday.
"Kavanaugh may not become the most conservative member of the court, but his background suggests he would be the most partisan."
being an idiot without any viewpoint has never been a requirement to seat on the Supreme Court...and never will be
in the 20th century, a former Republican President became Chief Justice, and later a former Democratic governor of California did
"Working for Kenneth W. Starr in the 1990s, he was involved in the Vincent Foster and Monica Lewinsky probes, proposing an explicit line of questioning for President Bill Clinton with graphic queries about genitalia, masturbation, phone sex and oral sex. And as a young lawyer under George W. Bush, Kavanaugh was involved in Bush v. Gore, the probe of Clinton’s pardons and legal decisions about torture."
his favorite song has always been "I Get Around" by the Beach Boys
"Hence the importance of the “documents.” Democrats say the committee received only 7 percent of Kavanaugh’s White House documents — and some of those have been altered, while half cannot be discussed publicly."
hey stooopid!
none of what you detailed above happened while he was staff secretary, which is what the sought documents pertain to
"Why?"
why, indeed, do they want these documents when they've already made up their minds?
"This transition began with the Robert H. Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings, and accelerated during the Bush v. Gore ruling that gave the White House to a Republican president and the Citizens United ruling that advantaged Republicans. It climaxed when Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell refused for a year to hold hearings on President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. McConnell, having essentially put the Supreme Court on the ballot, then changed procedures to have President Trump’s nominees approved by a simple majority — thereby ending any possibility of consensus."
you forgot the recent ruling against forced union dues
suddenly, union will have a lot less money to give to Dems
but, you're right
the Supreme Court nomination process became political during the Robert H. Bork and Clarence Thomas hearings
the Dems started it
and they're keeping it up
"This will have him seated on the high court in time to consider whatever challenges emerge from Trump’s legal problems. Trump is quite literally choosing his judge and jury."
cool, huh?
"Democrats, and their Greek chorus in the audience"
will feature prominently in GOP campaign ads this fall
baby Justin is one stupid *&^%$#-!@#$%^
If you’re trying to make sense out of the NAFTA negotiations, where Canada is suddenly rushing to avoid being shut out of a US-Mexico deal, consider this: With his insufferable moral arrogance, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been cruising for a bruising — and now he’s gotten it.
Given Trudeau’s attempt to reinvent the country as the smarmy Eddie Haskell of nations, it’s been fun to watch — but let’s make sure it doesn’t end up costing both Canada and the United States.
Trudeau’s first rude awakening, by the way, didn’t come at the hands of Team Trump. Justin had become a laughingstock when visiting India last February, where he dressed the family Bollywood-style. Even the Indians thought he was a joke.
More serious was his next reality check, via the Saudis. The Canadian foreign ministry had tweeted that Saudi Arabia should release women’s-rights activists, and the Saudis responded by closing their embassy, ordering Saudi students to return home and freezing all trade ties. Diplomatically, that’s going rogue.
Remarkably, the US refused to take sides. Our State Department simply asked both parties to work it out.
Then came Trump’s rebuff of Trudeau over the NAFTA talks. The Canadians had assumed they were in the driver’s seat, and presented a set of initial demands that were guaranteed to infuriate Trump. They wanted gender equality and native rights to be on the table, and suggested that right-to-work laws were an unfair trade practice.
They took their time bargaining, and let the Mexicans know that they’d look after them. They knew Trump had problems with Mexico and told Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto they’d stick up for him.
Except that Justin had gone out of his way to annoy Trump. When the G-7 assembled in Quebec last June, Trudeau prepared the wokiest of politically correct topics to discuss, and showed he was peeved when Trump turned up late at a session.
It all came undone over the last two weeks. First, the Mexicans, to whom the Canadians had condescended, showed that they didn’t need Trudeau’s help and cut a deal with Trump that excluded Canada. Of course we want Canada to be included in NAFTA, they said. But you have to understand that, for us, Mexico comes first and we need a trade deal with the US.
So much for the three amigos.
After the deal with Mexico was announced, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland cut short a European visit to come to Washington and negotiate with the US trade representative. While the talks were ongoing, the Toronto Star revealed that Trump had said off the record that the United States wasn’t going to bend on any item. If they had problems with that, he said he had an easy answer. He’d show them a picture of the Chevy Impala, which is made in Oshawa, Ontario, and shipped to the US duty-free under NAFTA.
If NAFTA goes down, Canada will be the big loser, especially in its auto industry, where 120,000 Canadian jobs are at stake.
Look at the desperate flood of B.S. posted by Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous!
Wow! You can tell when they're losing by the pages and pages of lies and spin they post.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
The father of a student killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting earlier this year attempted to shake the hand of Brett Kavanaugh during the judge’s first day of Senate confirmation hearings to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday.
A video of the moment shows Guttenberg approach Kavanaugh, and the father appears to speak to the judge. Video shows he introduced himself as the father of a slain Parkland child and Kavanaugh clearly heard that. Still images of the moment show Guttenberg with his hand extended as he and Kavanaugh appear to lock eyes:
"Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg's dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence."
What this shows is that Kavanaugh is incapable of empathy - an essential attribute for the job. Kavanaugh is a sociopath just like Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous.
---------------------------------
Rarely does a photo capture emotions as well as this one that shows Fred Guttenberg whose daughter was killed in a mass shooting being brushed off by heartless nominee Kavanaugh.
-------------------------
Kavanaugh's former law clerk Zina Bash is flashing a white power sign behind him during his Senate confirmation hearing.
They literaly want to bring white supremacy to the Supreme Court. What a national outrage and a disgrace to the rule of law.
Trump Officially Condemns Objectivity and the Rule of Law
If there is one thing that should be obvious to all but the most deluded, it’s that Donald Trump simply does not believe in the very concept of justice or the rule of law. In Trumpworld, the only thing that matters is what is good for him personally at the moment. But it’s nice to see him come right out and admit that on — where else? — his Twitter feed:
"Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff..."
The only thing that matters to him, clearly, is getting the win. Never mind that both Duncan Hunter and Chris Collins, the two Republican congressman referred to here, are almost certainly guilty. Nope, that is irrelevant to him. He could not possibly care any less whether they’re innocent or guilty, or that Sessions is also a Republican who certainly has no interest in seeing Republicans convicted, or that the charges were brought by U.S. Attorneys that Trump himself appointed. Absolutely everything is subordinate to the interests of Trump politically. And if you’re shocked by that, you are, by definition, dumber than a pot roast.
Make no mistake about it, this is a demand for outright corruption of the Department of Justice, for putting political ends ahead of judicial means.
The desire or ability to have children has never been a requirement of marriage and never will be.
In fact in some American States it is a requirement of marriage between first cousins that they be unable to procreate.
Clearly the idea that same sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't bear children is an idea born of bigotry, not reason.
In a finite resource world being destroyed by human overpopulation society can no longer afford to blindly and recklessly encourage and allow uncontrolled procreation.
Trump and the Republicans trying to kill mandatory health care coverage for those with preexisting conditions
Every election Republicans bullshit about helping Americans but what they really mean is that they'll help the ultra rich 1% of Americans who have no need of help.
The truth is that, despite their false claims to the contrary, Republicans despise ordinary Americans and are eager to hurt them as much as possible
What kind of monster do you have to be to want to allow insurance companies to deny health care to those with preexisting conditions.
"The desire or ability to have children has never been a requirement of marriage...and never will be."
the definition of marriage is that it is a relationship of the type that produces life
that type is called heterosexuality
society should encourage as much of it as possible
"Clearly the idea that same sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't bear children is an idea born of bigotry, not reason."
the REASON marriage is preferenced because of its capacity for producing life
the idea of homosexuality is prevent life
read my lips: homosexuality never produces life
"In a finite resource world being destroyed by human overpopulation society can no longer afford to blindly and recklessly encourage and allow uncontrolled procreation."
if you think "the finite resource world is being destroyed by human overpopulation", how many people do you think we need to get rid of to correct the situation?
"Look at the desperate flood of B.S. posted by anonymous!
Wow! You can tell when they're losing by the pages and pages of lies and spin they post.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
oh yeah, you can tell I'm desperate cuz I'm losing so bad
of course, someone should tell these liberal groups who think they're losing:
Progressive groups have a blunt assessment of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s work to defeat Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination: “You are failing us.”
Thirteen liberal groups have signed on to a letter, delivered Wednesday morning, that pans the minority leader’s strategy of stopping President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court. They say that “the Democratic Party’s progressive base expects nothing less than all-out resistance to Trump’s dangerous agenda,” and question whether Schumer is delivering it.
But Schumer is grappling with multiple challenges: a base that wants him to stop Kavanaugh even though Republicans can confirm him without Democratic help, as well as a brutal midterm map and vulnerable incumbents who are under pressure to support Trump’s pick.
“Your job as Senate Democratic leader is to lead your caucus in complete opposition to Trump’s attempted Supreme Court takeover and to defend everyone threatened by a Trump Supreme Court,” the letter reads. “But unbelievably, nearly two dozen Democrats have still not come out against Kavanaugh. ... That is not the leadership we need.”
Professor Geoffrey Stone has researched the decisions of conservative and liberal judges and the results show that the moderately liberal justices apply an approach in line with “the original concerns of the Framers of the Constitution and in their distinctive understanding of the special responsibility of courts in our constitutional system,” while the Court’s conservatives’ “votes cannot be explained by any consistent theory of constitutional interpretation” but are instead driven by their own policy preferences.
Yet we have this process by which Republican judicial nominees like the hyper partisan Kavanaugh swear that they are absolutely neutral and all the Republicans pretend that they’re telling the truth. It’s a ridiculous charade.
Republican Ingraham Doubles Down on FL Republican Racism
It must be difficult being a generic blond pundit at Fox News, trying to distinguish yourself from a crowd of mannequins, especially when Ann Coulter has already set the bar so high that it’s hard to get attention. But Laura Ingraham gives it a shot, doubling down on Florida Republican Ron DeSantis making monkey references about his black opponent by playing Peter Gabriel’s Shock the Monkey.
[“Shock The Monkey” by Peter Gabriel plays]
LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Well, this is not at all surprising. We’re going to be talking to Ron DeSantis, Republican candidate for governor of Florida in just a few moments here on The Laura Ingraham Show. But this is the way the Democrats are going to play this all the way to 2020. It is identity politics 24/7, no issue discussion really except we want free stuff, and then the other person has to be just racist. If it’s an African American candidate and a Republican is running against that candidate, more often than not, the left will try to figure out a way to call that Republican opponent racist. And until the public just says no to this, they say, “No, we’re not going to accept this type of bullying from the left, to intimidate people from speaking out,” then this is going to keep happening.
I love how they use this meaningless and vapid phrase “identity politics” as some sort of magic talisman to ward off all accusations of racism, sexism or every other form of bigotry, as if merely invoking that phrase makes those things magically disappear. It’s especially absurd when they do that while making sure to be as racist as possible.
When Republicans complain about "identity politics", what they're opposing is any attempts to rectify injustices against minorities and women - they're absurdly claiming its wrong to attempt to prevent police from disproportionately killing unarmed blacks, or to address the pay gap between men and women or violence against women, or to try to do something about first responders letting an injured transwoman die because helping her is against their religion. When Republicans oppose "identity politics" what they're saying is "You must ignore all abuses or injustices perpetrated on specific groups of people and legislate in such a way that you benefit only white evangelical christians as though everyone were one of those.
Look, this is really, really simple: Historically, racists have compared black people to apes, monkeys, gorillas, and so forth. If you don’t want to be seen as a racist, don’t make such comparisons. And if you not only do that but then defend it, you leave no doubt at all that you are, in fact, a racist.
Of course, this is Fox News, where that’s a feature, not a bug. Ann Coulter would be so proud.
Fox "News" calls Nike ad supporting Kaepernicks protest against racism "an attack on America"
And Fox tries to claim they're not racist. Yeah, right...they obviously are. Very racist. You don't oppose this protest against mistreatment of blacks unless you're a racist.
-----------------------
Republican Joe Walsh tweets: "No matter where you stand on all things Trump, this is an important piece that will force you to think. Give it a read."
Want to save the GOP, Republicans? Vote for every Democrat on this year’s ballot.
The desire or ability to have children has never been a requirement of marriage and never will be.
In fact in some American States it is a requirement of marriage between first cousins that they be unable to procreate.
Clearly the idea that same sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't bear children is an idea born of bigotry, not reason.
In a finite resource world being destroyed by human overpopulation society can no longer afford to blindly and recklessly encourage and allow uncontrolled procreation.
A new study has found that police kill twice as many people as reported in official statistics, and that black men are 3 1/2 times more likely to be killed by police than white men.
And Republican racists like Trump and Regina/Waytt/bad anonymous oppose NFL players protesting this injustice while absurdly claiming there is little or no racism amongst police forces or the United States in general.
You have to be an extreme racist to blatantly lie and claim racism isn't a problem. Clearly white racists like Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous figure "It isn't a problem for me, therefore it doesn't matter."
Again you see the problem with conservative values of authority, purity, and loyalty. Conservatives value some people more than others and that's why they don't care about racism as long as it doesn't affect them.
Liberals place the values of fairness and preventing harm first which values everyone equally and that's why being liberal really is better than being conservative
Research shows nations with higher average intelligence are more liberal, monogamous, less religious, and have lower income inequality.
Generally liberals are smarter than conservatives, and obviously good anonymous and I are smarter than Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous. Combine that with their being morally wrong to want to deny equality to LGBT people and its easy to see why they can't make a rational case for oppressing harmless LGBT people and are frequently seething with anger over that as we can see in this thread with their false show of bravado in the face of repeated humiliating smack downs.
Makes you almost feel sorry for them in their pathetic, desperate, and hopeless need to feel superior to someone... anyone. Almost.
Maybe if they weren't such prolific liars you could feel a bit of pity for their pain in having such low self-esteem.
'Woodward's ultimate conclusions are that the White House in in a state of "nervous breakdown," that Trump's staffers are compelled to engage in "nothing less than an administrative coup d'etat" in order to rein in his worst impulses, and that Trump's attitude and demeanor are reminiscent of Richard Nixon during his final months in office.'
"The desire or ability to have children has never been a requirement of marriage...and never will be."
the definition of marriage is that it is a relationship of the type that produces life
that type is called heterosexuality
society should encourage as much of it as possible
"Clearly the idea that same sex couples shouldn't be allowed to marry because they can't bear children is an idea born of bigotry, not reason."
the REASON marriage is preferenced because of its capacity for producing life
the idea of homosexuality is prevent life
read my lips: homosexuality never produces life
"In a finite resource world being destroyed by human overpopulation society can no longer afford to blindly and recklessly encourage and allow uncontrolled procreation."
if you think "the finite resource world is being destroyed by human overpopulation", how many people do you think we need to get rid of to correct the situation?
we're waiting
hard to see how Priya's anti-life world view is compatible with this statement:
"Liberals place the values of fairness and preventing harm first which values everyone equally and that's why being liberal really is better than being conservative"
if your mother conceives you and decides she would rather travel widely than raise you, Priya thinks your mother should be able to kill you with impunity
seems harmful and unfair
just another little reason why being liberal really is better than being conservative
swirlies all-around!!
You may have noticed that Priya is steadily increasing the numbers of posts per sitting.
You can tell Priya is losing by the pages and pages of lies and spin posted.
This week, on Capitol Hill, the nails are going in the coffin of the gay agenda.
We won't see it again or a generation.
Historians will debate for decades who's most responsible for the demise of the gay agenda.
Hillary Clinton, who never met a national election she didn't lose
Harry Reid, who killed the filibuster
The sad Dems who thought nominating the first woman President would be as magic.
Get back to work lazy Wyatt.
Some Key Revelations About Trump's Incompetence
Bob Woodward has a new book out about Donald Trump and it doesn’t look like there is much in it that will be surprising to anyone with a functioning brain stem. But there are some specific revelations that confirm what we already know about Trump being unfit for (any) office because he is little more than a pathetically insecure bully with serious self-control issues. One little tidbit was that they held a practice run of Trump being questioned by Mueller to convince him that he’d just get himself in trouble if he did the interview.
John Dowd was convinced that President Trump would commit perjury if he talked to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. So, on Jan. 27, the president’s then-personal attorney staged a practice session to try to make his point.
In the White House residence, Dowd peppered Trump with questions about the Russia investigation, provoking stumbles, contradictions and lies until the president eventually lost his cool.
“This thing’s a goddamn hoax,” Trump erupted at the start of a 30-minute rant that finished with him saying, “I don’t really want to testify.”
This, of course, clashes with Trump’s ego, which believes that he is the most persuasive, compelling person the world has ever seen and that he can B.S. his way out of anything. I want that interview to take place and, like Clinton, I want the full video released so the public can watch it. Unfortunately, that seems less and less likely these days, with Mueller apparently being willing to accept written answers from Trump on at least some issues.
And then there’s the fact, widely reported from the very start of the administration, that Trump’s aides — you know, the people who actually know something about the world, unlike him — treat him like a child.
Again and again, Woodward recounts at length how Trump’s national security team was shaken by his lack of curiosity and knowledge about world affairs and his contempt for the mainstream perspectives of military and intelligence leaders.
At a National Security Council meeting on Jan. 19, Trump disregarded the significance of the massive U.S. military presence on the Korean Peninsula, including a special intelligence operation that allows the United States to detect a North Korean missile launch in seven seconds vs. 15 minutes from Alaska, according to Woodward. Trump questioned why the government was spending resources in the region at all.
“We’re doing this in order to prevent World War III,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told him.
After Trump left the meeting, Woodward recounts, “Mattis was particularly exasperated and alarmed, telling close associates that the president acted like — and had the understanding of — ‘a fifth- or sixth-grader.’ ”
He isn’t acting like one, that is genuinely his mentality. No one can teach him anything, he is omniscient, so screw the experts. Indeed, if you claim to know more than him by trying to make him understand something, it only makes him more likely to ignore and reject your counsel because that would be an admission that he doesn’t know everything and the only way he can think of to respond is by being a bully. He is that insecure and that pathetic a figure, which is why some of his aides have gone so far as to remove documents from his office to keep him from screwing something up.
White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly frequently lost his temper and told colleagues that he thought the president was “unhinged,” Woodward writes. In one small group meeting, Kelly said of Trump: “He’s an idiot. It’s pointless to try to convince him of anything. He’s gone off the rails. We’re in Crazytown. I don’t even know why any of us are here. This is the worst job I’ve ever had.”…
With Trump’s rage and defiance impossible to contain, Cabinet members and other senior officials learned to act discreetly. Woodward describes an alliance among Trump’s traditionalists — including Mattis and Gary Cohn, the president’s former top economic adviser — to stymie what they considered dangerous acts…
Cohn, a Wall Street veteran, tried to tamp down Trump’s strident nationalism regarding trade. According to Woodward, Cohn “stole a letter off Trump’s desk” that the president was intending to sign to formally withdraw the United States from a trade agreement with South Korea. Cohn later told an associate that he removed the letter to protect national security and that Trump did not notice that it was missing.
Cohn made a similar play to prevent Trump from pulling the United States out of the North American Free Trade Agreement, something the president has long threatened to do. In spring 2017, Trump was eager to withdraw from NAFTA and told Porter: “Why aren’t we getting this done? Do your job. It’s tap, tap, tap. You’re just tapping me along. I want to do this.”
Under orders from the president, Porter drafted a notification letter withdrawing from NAFTA. But he and other advisers worried that it could trigger an economic and foreign relations crisis. So Porter consulted Cohn, who told him, according to Woodward: “I can stop this. I’ll just take the paper off his desk.”
This is our president. If that doesn’t embarrass you, you must be incapable of feeling shame entirely. We elected this ignorant, bigoted buffoon in clown shoes and he has set about destroying not just good public policy, but every norm that has protected the country up to this point. It’s like we searched to find literally the single worst person in the country to give power to and put him in charge. Every single key personality trait he displays — ignorance, dishonesty, fragility, bullying, a disdain for knowledge and expertise — makes him the last kind of person you would want running a 3rd shift at Taco Bell, much less the most powerful country in the world.
Woodward is probably lying
he's desperate to feel important again
This week, on Capitol Hill, the nails are going in the coffin of the gay agenda.
We won't see it again or a generation.
Historians will debate for decades who's most responsible for the demise of the gay agenda.
Hillary Clinton, who never met a national election she didn't lose
Harry Reid, who killed the filibuster
The sad Dems who thought nominating the first woman President would be as magic.
How about the coastal elitists who called most americans deplorable?
That's a coffin nail right there.
Feinstein: "Can a sitting president be subpoenaed?"
Kavanaugh, dodging: "That's a hypothetical question."
Feinstein: "You can't tell me if you think the president is subject to the courts?"
Kavanaugh: "No."
Senator Feinstein asked a critical constitutional question: Can a sitting president be required to respond to a subpoena? Unindicted Co-conspirator Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Kavanaugh refused to give a straight answer.
That is incredibly troubling.
At this point Kavanaugh is looking just as corrupt as Trump.
When Clinton was president Kavanaugh's position was that a president is subject to the courts. Now his position is that president Trump is above the law.
Man Who Threatened to Kill Journalists a Really Big Trump Fan
Surprise, surprise, surprise. Now who would have expected that.
Kavanaugh has got one law for Democrats and a different law for Republicans.
Just what Trump has been illegally demanding.
Go figure.
"Senator Feinstein asked a critical constitutional question: Can a sitting president be required to respond to a subpoena?"
there may be arguments for or against that of which Brett is unaware
he's right to leave it open until there's a case argued before the SUPREME COURT, of which HE WILL SOON BE A MEMBER
"Unindicted Co-conspirator"
this is a lie
no prosecutor or grand jury has named Trump a co-conspirator
is this part of that liberal fairness and no harm?
Trump's Supreme Court nominee Judge Kavanaugh refused to give an answer without hearing the arguments.
"That is incredibly troubling."
if all your hope in life revolves around overturning the 2016 election, I can see why that might seem troubling to you
fortunately, you live in another country
so trouble yourself no more
"At this point Kavanaugh is looking just as corrupt as Trump."
look, another lie
"When Clinton was president Kavanaugh's position was that a president is subject to the courts. Now his position is that president Trump is above the law."
you probably don't know this because you live in the land of the humiliated Justin, but America law has changed since Clinton was presidente'
boy, did Mexico pull a fast one on Canada!!
Rachel Maddow:
"A Trump Republican political appointee working in the White House is pulling the fire alarm about the danger Trump presents to the nation by publishing an anonymous op-ed in the New York Times. This is somebody who was initially loyal to Trump and seeing the president up close is saying the president erratic to the point of being so dangerous that people are defying the constitution and defying their loyalty to Trump to undermine what he's doing in order to save the country from his impulsive recklessness and what's described in very blunt terms as his mental instability.
Look what's in the Woodward book about people defying the president and stealing stuff of his desk and the military not following his orders. Maybe that's comforting for a president you think is off the rails but that's no way to run a country. But this anonymous op-ed in the New York Times brings it to a whole new level, this feels like the end of something and I don't know what happens next."
Rachel Maddow is a lesbian lunatic
This week, Democrats are continuing a charade by throwing a planned and coordinated disruption of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Within minutes of the hearing’s commencement, Democrats including Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Kamala Harris (Calif.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) were speaking out of order, personally attacking Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and demanding the hearing be adjourned. Within an hour, Democrats interrupted and spoke out of turn nearly four dozen times. The nominee didn’t get to his opening statement until well into the afternoon.
What would justify this kind of behavior? What were the demands behind this madness? Democrats claimed they hadn’t seen enough documents related to Kavanaugh’s past legal career, ignoring the 480,000 pages already provided to staffers and more than 300 publicly available court rulings.
The facts speak louder than the partisan screaming. Democrats firmly planted in “the resistance” have said they would vote against Kavanaugh since the beginning, even before he was named, and not a single document more will change their minds.
Not to mention, a number of Democrats refused to take a meeting with Kavanaugh during his visits to Capitol Hill in recent weeks. If Kavanaugh’s record is “immensely troubling,” why not meet to confront him on it?
The Democrats demanding more of Kavanaugh’s records in front of the cameras are the same who claimed on the day he was nominated that they’d already seen enough and made up their minds. It’s been 57 days since Kavanuagh was nominated. Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor clocked in at 49 and 48 days when they started their confirmation hearings. Democrats don’t need more time.
The chaos during the first day of Kavanaugh’s hearing didn’t happen organically. It was well thought out and planned at the highest level of Democratic leadership.
“Democrats plotted coordinated protest strategy over the holiday weekend and all agreed to disrupt and protest the hearing,” NBC News reporter Kasie Hunt tweeted. “Chuck Schumer led a phone call and committee members are executing now.”
In addition, the disruptive behavior was precisely coordinated with far left groups, whose members were repeatedly removed from the hearing room by Capitol Police after multiple disruptions.
“We’re disrupting the Kavanaugh hearings every few minutes, with hundreds of women prepared to get arrested to prevent these hearings from moving forward,” the radical Women’s March tweeted. “Make a donation today to support the brave women organizing to #SaveSCOTUS and #CancelKavanaugh!”
If the goal was for Democrats to show they are the more reasonable, mature side of the political aisle that deserves to be in power, they failed. Temper tantrums are no substitute for real debate or questions on issues of serious concern.
“One of the Senate’s most solemn constitutional duties is to provide advice and consent to the president on his nominations of Supreme Court justices,” Grassley said as the adult in the room. “Democratic leaders tried their best to stop today’s hearing from happening. For all their talk about transparency, what they most feared was a chance for the American people to hear directly from Judge Kavanaugh.”
It couldn’t be clearer. Senators like Booker and Harris aren’t interested in vetting Supreme Court nominees, they’re interested in running in 2020 against Trump. They proved it by sending out fundraising emails during their Kavanuagh hearing outbursts.
America deserves better.
In this thread September 21, 2016 7:10 AM Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous expressed the fear that Trump would be elected and destroy the Republic but they voted for him anyway because their animus towards LGBT people was of paramount importance to them and they hoped Trump would attack LGBTs (and he has been unrelenting in that).
Now its increasingly becoming clear that Trump is destroying the Republic as they initially feared but they continue to defend him and his repeated dangerous actions because their seething hatred of harmless innocent LGBT people is all consuming.
Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous are the faces of evil
the Republic is doing fine, despite the best efforts of the resistance to overthrow the results of the 2016 election, destroying democracy
the winner of that elections is succeeding and has kept his promises
within a couple of weeks, the Supreme Court will be repaired and, in accordance with the Constitution, LGBT practitioners and unborn children, will receive equal protection under the law
not more, not less
More than abortion or gun control or health care, what is at stake in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh is the security of our constitutional system and the rule of law. We’ve not had such a Supreme Court battle in my lifetime because we have not had a president, even Richard Nixon, so dismissive of basic constitutional principles, coupled with a docile majority party in the Senate and a nominee who is another in the line of “sure thing” nominees who’ll support the views of the president nominating him or her (this goes for both sides). We have a president who may be allowed to pick a Supreme Court justice that will facilitate his evisceration of constitutional boundaries. That is why the Kavanaugh situation is unique and why we cannot treat it like just another court fight.
Kavanaugh made the problem much worse by his refusal to answer two critical questions — whether a president can self-pardon and whether a president must respond to a subpoena.
There was this exchange:
Sen. Dianne Feinstein: “So you can’t give me an answer on whether a president has to respond to a subpoena from a court of law?”
Kavanaugh: “My understanding is that you’re asking me to give my view on a potential hypothetical, and that is something that each of the eight justices currently sitting on the Supreme Court, when they were sitting in my seat, declined to decide potential hypothetical cases.”
And then Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) asked if a president could self-pardon. Again Kavanaugh demurred: “The question of self-pardons is something I’ve never analyzed. It is a question that I’ve not written about. It is a question therefore that is a hypothetical question that I can’t begin to answer, in this context as a sitting judge and as a nominee to the Supreme Court.” Why not? He’s not being asked about a specific case. He would not even say whether the president in effect could give a bribe — promising immunity if a witness wouldn’t testify against him.
It is mind-boggling, in one sense, that a federal judge doesn’t have a concrete answer as to whether the president can shred the Constitution in this way. “Can a president bribe someone?” is not a hard question. “Does our constitutional system permit the president to go on a crime spree and pardon himself?” shouldn’t be up for debate. And yet Kavanaugh ducks answering.
There are two possibilities here — he doesn’t want to answer and alienate one side or the other, or he really could facilitate a constitutional crisis. No senator, Democrat or Republican, should gamble that he really in his heart doesn’t believe these things are permissible. You can gamble with many things, but the future integrity of the Supreme Court should not be one of them.
Republicans and Democrats here need to consider the real possibility that Kavanaugh was picked precisely because he’d be the most likely judge to let President Trump get away with unconstitutional antics. If so, the problem is even worse: Trump is nominating the one otherwise plausible judge who might let him pardon himself, avoid a subpoena and bribe associates into maintaining their silence.
I am not saying this is the case. I am saying there is a not unsubstantial risk that this is going on. It is up to senators to make the case that they cannot confirm someone who leaves the door open to a constitutional fiasco. He can give more definitive answers. He can recuse himself. But confirming him as things currently stand would be constitutional malpractice.
homosexuality never produces life. two homosexuals never produce a marriage
infertility never produces life. infertile people never produce a marriage.
"What would justify this kind of behavior?"
That's an easy one - paybacks to Mitch for sitting on the last president's supreme court nominee for the better part of a year. If he can do it for nearly a year, why not a year, or two years? Hell, why bother approving Supreme Court justices at all?
Breeders create more new life than they want or can take care of, leading to a number of orphaned children, abortions, and kids growing up in foster care at the expense of the state.
We need more responsible parents - not just breeders who can pop out a kid every time they get lusty.
Today is the day that 20 hateful GOP Attorneys General are presenting their case to a Texas judge to kill people by invalidating the regulations that force insurers to cover pre-existing conditions:
Attorneys representing 20 Republican state officials on Wednesday will walk into court and ask a federal district judge to invalidate the Affordable Care Act ― a move that could unleash chaos on insurance markets and, eventually, leave an estimated 17 million Americans without coverage.
It’s an outlandish request that relies on what even the law’s longtime critics are calling an outlandish argument. Jonathan Adler, the Case Western law professor who was an architect of the last big lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act’s constitutionality, says the case’s theory is “unmoored” and “absurd.” Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican and chairman of the Senate’s health committee, has called it “far-fetched.”
But while the case seems unlikely to prevail, defenders of the law and advocates for the people who depend on it aren’t ready to dismiss the threat out of hand. And it’s easy to see why, given not just the stakes but also the circumstances of Wednesday’s hearing.
The plaintiffs filed their suit in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, Texas, where they knew they would get a conservative jurist ― and where they drew Reed O’Connor, a George W. Bush nominee.
The last time an issue related to the Affordable Care Act landed in O’Connor’s courtroom was in 2016, when he blocked Obama administration regulations that would have prohibited health care providers from refusing to treat transgender patients for religious reasons. That ruling probably had more to do with his feelings about religious freedom and LGBTQ rights than the Affordable Care Act, but nobody walked away thinking he was a fan of the law, the people who wrote it or the ideas behind it.
Meanwhile, the Texas case has already taken one unexpected, but critical, turn. In June, the Trump administration’s lawyers at the Justice Department filed a brief supporting the lawsuit. Customarily, Justice Department lawyers defend federal statutes, even ones that the administration in power doesn’t like, in order to meet the president’s constitutional obligation that “the laws be faithfully executed.
Meanwhile...
The latest Kaiser Health Tracking Poll finds recent political events weighing heavy on the minds of voters when it comes to the 2018 midterm elections. Three in ten voters (33 percent of independent voters, 32 percent of Democratic voters, and 25 percent of Republican voters) say corruption in Washington is the “most important” topic for 2018 candidates to discuss. This is the first time corruption in D.C. was included in KFF’s list of possible campaign topics and, along with health care (27 percent) and the economy and jobs (25 percent), it is among the top topics for voters three months before the 2018 midterm election.
Poll: 4 in 10 Americans are “very worried” that they or a family member will lose coverage if #SCOTUS overturns the ACA’s pre-existing conditions protections
KFF polling continues to find pre-existing conditions as a widespread concern and with the impending lawsuit Texas v. United States, a majority of the public say it is “very important” that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) protections for people with pre-existing conditions ensuring guaranteed coverage (75 percent) and community rating (72 percent) remain law. About half (52 percent) of the public are “very worried” that they or someone in their family will have to pay more for health insurance and four in ten (41 percent) are “very worried” they will lose their coverage if the Supreme Court overturns these protections.
"More than abortion or gun control or health care, what is at stake in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh is the security of our constitutional system and the rule of law. We’ve not had such a Supreme Court battle in my lifetime because we have not had a president, even Richard Nixon, so dismissive of basic constitutional principles, coupled with a docile majority party in the Senate and a nominee who is another in the line of “sure thing” nominees who’ll support the views of the president nominating him or her (this goes for both sides). We have a president who may be allowed to pick a Supreme Court justice that will facilitate his evisceration of constitutional boundaries. That is why the Kavanaugh situation is unique and why we cannot treat it like just another court fight."
It is mind-boggling, in one sense, that a federal judge doesn’t have a concrete answer as to whether the president can shred the Constitution in this way. “Can a president bribe someone?” is not a hard question. “Does our constitutional system permit the president to go on a crime spre
thanks for the entertainment
very bombastic
you lunatics were always tickled pink with Anthony Kennedy
Kennedy has heartily endorsed Brett
the only "basic constitutional principle" that he is dismissive of is the liberal idea that the Constitution is a blank canvas on which the liberal agenda can be slopped
he's an originalist who will protect us from agenda slop
"Kavanaugh made the problem much worse by his refusal to answer two critical questions — whether a president can self-pardon and whether a president must respond to a subpoena."
can you provide an example of any other SC nominee who answered such a specific question?
no, you can't
"Republicans and Democrats here need to consider the real possibility that Kavanaugh was picked precisely because he’d be the most likely judge to let President Trump get away with unconstitutional antics. If so, the problem is even worse: Trump is nominating the one otherwise plausible judge who might let him pardon himself, avoid a subpoena and bribe associates into maintaining their silence."
he's entitled to do that
Trump has, as he should, nominated a judge with his views
Dems lost the election
why should Trump have picked someone with their point of view?
"I am not saying this is the case. I am saying there is a not unsubstantial risk that this is going on. It is up to senators to make the case that they cannot confirm someone who leaves the door open to a constitutional fiasco. He can give more definitive answers. He can recuse himself. But confirming him as things currently stand would be constitutional malpractice."
I've got news for you:
there are no grounds or impeachment
Mueller floated his best balloon in the Cohen plea and it was shot down by legal scholars
"infertility never produces life. infertile people never produce a marriage."
if they are two heterosexuals, they do
they are supporting a norm that produces life
that's valuable support
"That's an easy one - paybacks to Mitch for sitting on the last president's supreme court nominee for the better part of a year. If he can do it for nearly a year, why not a year, or two years? Hell, why bother approving Supreme Court justices at all?"
Barack Obama's party had badly lost the previous election so he lost his power to put judges on the SC
if he had been a better President that wouldn't have happened
incompetence has consequences
here's some chutzpah
the person most responsible or the demise of the gay agenda is whining about it:
As the second day of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings got underway, former election loser Hillary Clinton took to social media to allege he would “help gut or overturn Roe v. Wade” if confirmed to the nation’s highest court.
Kavanaugh, who was appointed by President Trump earlier this year, has never expressed outright opposition to abortion.
Clinton, the losing 2016 Democratic nominee for president, feigned concern in a series of tweets Wednesday morning as the Senate Judiciary Committee began its questioning of Kavanaugh.
“If Brett Kavanaugh becomes a Supreme Court justice, will he help gut or overturn Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in America? Yes, of course he will,” Clinton said.
Clinton pointed to Kavanaugh’s involvement in a case of an undocumented teenager who sought to be released from custody to have an abortion. While the court eventually allowed her to have the procedure, Kavanaugh disapproved. He argued if the government helped the 17-year-old get the procedure, then it ignores its “permissible interest in favoring fetal life, protecting the best interests of a minor and refraining from facilitating abortion.”
“Anti-abortion groups have endorsed Kavanaugh, considering him a reliable vote to overturn Roe. His confirmation would be a victory for activists who want to end a woman’s right to make her own health decisions,” the former election loser said. “It’s remarkable that we have to keep repeating this, even in 2018: Women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are women’s rights.”
Hillary Clinton
✔
@HillaryClinton
· 8h
Replying to @HillaryClinton
Anti-abortion groups have endorsed Kavanaugh, considering him a reliable vote to overturn Roe. His confirmation would be a victory for activists who want to end a woman's right to make her own health decisions.
Hillary Clinton
✔
@HillaryClinton
It's remarkable that we have to keep repeating this, even in 2018: Women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights.
9:42 AM - Sep 5, 2018
11.2K
4,475 people are talking about this
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“One of the most fundamental human rights is the right to make the most personal decisions about one’s own body,” she continued. “To deny women that is to rob them of the ability to decide their own futures.”
Hillary Clinton
✔
@HillaryClinton
· 8h
Replying to @HillaryClinton
It's remarkable that we have to keep repeating this, even in 2018: Women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights.
Kavanaugh’s hearing got off to a contentious start on Sept. 4, with dozens of protesters and lawmakers interrupting the opening statements. U.S. Capitol Police arrested 70 people and charged them with disorderly conduct or with crowding, obstructing, or incommoding, police said.
Among those arrested was UltraViolet executive director Shaunna Thomas, the women's organization. Thomas, who co-founded the group focused on reproductive rights and combating sexism, said, “Senators, on behalf of the millions of women across the country whose rights will be stripped by a Kavanaugh court, I demand you reject this nomination,” according to an UltraViolet spokesperson.
Republicans will command a 51-49 Senate majority, once Jon Kyl, the selected replacement for late Arizona Sen. John McCain, is officially sworn in Wednesday.
Kavanaugh will be sitting on the bench when the Supreme Court begins its new term on Oct. 1.
John Davenport
Almost 5000 dead in Puerto Rico, hundreds of children STILL held captive in conditions of appalling squalor, renewed threats to strip millions of their healthcare if the traitors who refuse to protect our elections maintain their grip on power. Insurance companies will, once again, as in the days before the ACA, be allowed to exclude people with pre-existing conditions, the definition of which never stops expanding. Trump and the GOP are the hand of torture and DEATH on the nation.
GayOldLady
Of the 33 Developed countries, 32 have Socialized Medicine also described as Single Payer/Two-tier/Mandate. The only exception is the U.S. which began Mandated healthcare with the Affordable Care Act, but has since been slowly dissembled by Presidunce Nincompoop via EO and the EVIL CORPORATE RELIGIOUS NUTBAGS OF THE GOP.
And these counries have free higher education
Norway. ...
Finland. ...
Sweden. ...
Germany. ...
Slovenia. ...
France.
There's no way to look at Europe & Canada and called their systems "failed". Our systems are failed because they are profit driven and the bottom line focused entities have created an environment where many people cannot afford healthcare or higher education. The GOP wants nothing for regular Americans. It's sole focus is on those at the top and unless it recognizes where all true power lies, it is doomed to become obsolete.
--------------------------------------
Conservative David Frum:
"If conservatives become convinced they cannot win democratically they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy."
We see it happening before our very eyes.
“Holy s—. There’s a secret group of people within the White House actively working to curb President Trump, which is wild, because this means the whole time we’ve been dealing with the watered-down version of Trump.”
“Before this, I knew there was turbulence. But now someone came on the PA system and said, ‘Uh, ladies and gentleman, the pilot is actively trying to crash the plane. But don’t be alarmed, we’re doing everything we can to stop him. Mikey’s got a pretty good choke hold and I’ve had some harsh words with him, so please keep your seat belts fastened and enjoy your peanuts and tax cuts.’”
NEW DELHI — India’s top court overturned a 157-year old law criminalizing gay sex in a landmark victory for gay rights in the world’s largest democracy.
A panel of five judges issued a unanimous judgment striking down the provision and affirming the right to equality and dignity.
“Respect for individual choice is the essence of liberty,” Dipak Misra, India’s chief justice, told a packed courtroom. “This freedom can only be fulfilled when each of us realizes that the LGBT community possesses equal rights.”
...The ruling sparked jubilation among members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community. News channels showed people in cities across India weeping and embracing as they celebrated the historic decision.
“It is a great day for India,” said Balachandran Ramaiah, an investment banker in Mumbai and one of the many plaintiffs who challenged the law. “People are going to dance through the night.”
Thursday’s ruling is also a boost for gay rights around the globe. India was the most populous country in the world that still had a law on the books criminalizing gay sex. As of last year, more than 70 countries had such laws, according to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association.
In court on Thursday, one of the judges acknowledged the long injustice of the provision. “It is difficult to right the wrong of history, but we can certainly set the course for the future,” said Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud.
Section 377 served as a pretext for extortion and continued prejudice, said Harish Iyer, a gay rights activist in Mumbai. Thursday’s ruling “is a landmark judgment for democracy as a whole,” he said. “People cannot be diminished, and their identities cannot be disregarded because they are few in number.”
""If conservatives become convinced they cannot win democratically they will not abandon conservatism. They will reject democracy."
We see it happening before our very eyes."
conservatives have already won democratically, which is why, at the SC nominee hearings this week, the final is going in the coffin of the gay agenda
and the Dems have no power to stop it
which is because they lost democratically
and this is why Dems have rejected democracy and continually try to use extra-democratic tactics to overturn the democratically attained results of the 2016 election
Obama didn't accept democracy which is why he weaponized the IRS against his enemies in 2012 and DOJ against his enemies in 2016
it's why Dems reject free speech affirmations like Citizens United and oppose voter registration protections and use campaign finance laws to restrict free speech
“Holy s—. There’s a secret group of people within the White House actively working to curb President Trump, which is wild, because this means the whole time we’ve been dealing with the watered-down version of Trump.
Before this, I knew there was turbulence. But now someone came on the PA system and said, ‘Uh, ladies and gentleman, the pilot is actively trying to crash the plane. But don’t be alarmed, we’re doing everything we can to stop him. Mikey’s got a pretty good choke hold and I’ve had some harsh words with him, so please keep your seat belts fastened and enjoy your peanuts and tax cuts.’”
and yet most voters think the country is headed in the right direction, that their personal future is bright, and that Trump has managed the economy well
do Dems think the voters are wrong?
because Dems have lost many elections showing contempt for large swaths of the electorate
It’s tempting to hope the confirmation hearings for Judge Brett Kavanaugh will finish the way they began.
With a mental breakdown by the Democratic minority.
The country deserves to get a good long look at the Democrats’ mental state as exhibited by their inchoate fury and desperation. It erupted within seconds of Chairman Charles Grassley opening the hearing. He was interrupted by Sen. Kamala Harris, who wanted to delay the hearing.
Then Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, another Democrat, chimed in. When she paused, Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut asked that the hearing be canceled.
All this was punctuated by noisy protesters shouting and screaming and being dragged from the hearing room one by one.
The bizarre thing is that Democrats had already decided to vote against Kavanaugh. They’d been inveighed to do so by Chuck Schumer.
On one level, their desperation was understandable: A conservative majority could curtail Democrats’ ability to use an activist court to put through policies they can never win democratically.
That’s how the Democrats won the right to abortion and same-sex marriage at a time when the justices’ opinions were crosswise with lawmakers.
The party’s breakdown is the logical end point of that misguided strategy — or obsession. Democrats know that the only thing that can stop them is a constitutionally conservative court.
Yet the Democratic rage may serve only to throw into a clearer light Kavanaugh’s calm, reasoned approach to the law — one focused on the plain language of the Constitution and on precedent.
This started to come into focus on the second day of the hearings.
The gravel-voiced Grassley set the tone by asking Kavanaugh about Justice Ruth Ginsburg’s rule that a judge “can offer no forecasts, no hints” of how he or she will decide. A nice, bipartisan touch.
Kavanaugh spoke of the importance of predictability, of litigants having confidence that justices will adhere to precedent. He stressed precedent when Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked about Roe v. Wade. He noted that Roe had been upheld several times.
He also focused Feinstein on the language of the Supreme Court’s precedent in the Heller case. What a refreshing lesson in judging — and what a contrast to the tantrums of the hearing’s first day.
Democrats aren't done with demagoguery. Sen. Pat Leahy sought to impugn Kavanaugh’s integrity by questioning his testimony for his confirmation as an appeals judge. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse implied that the Federalist Society and rich conservatives had a finger on the scale of the nomination process.
Yet my own favorite moment was Kavanaugh’s answer to a question from Sen. Mike Lee of Utah. That’s when the nominee explained one of the most important limits on the power of judges.
It’s that they can’t give advisory opinions, even to the president (or Senate). George Washington himself, Kavanaugh noted, once asked the Supreme Court for advice about a British brig we’d seized.
The court wrote Washington, an author of the Constitution, a letter telling him it couldn’t oblige. That’s because what the Constitution empowers the court to decide is actual cases or controversies.
Which is why — here’s hope for even the Democrats — not even presidents can be sure of what the judges they nominate will do once they’re seated for life.
"I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
There they are all standing in a row
Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head
Give them a twist a flick of the wrist
That’s what the showman said
I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts
Every ball you throw will make me rich
There stands my wife, the idol of me life
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch
Roll a bowl a ball, roll a bowl a ball
Singing roll a bowl a ball a penny a pitch"
Danny Kaye
Republican Darling Kobach Now Under Grand Jury Investigation
Kris Kobach, the Kansas Secretary of State now running for governor in that state, will have to run for office while facing a grand jury investigation after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled last week that one must be empaneled to investigate Kobach’s refusal to restore voting rights to those who had been stripped from the voter rolls by his actions.
The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a grand jury must be convened for the purposes of investigating whether Kobach deliberately neglected to register voters ahead of the 2016 election.
The decision stems from a formal complaint brought by Lawrence, Kansas resident Steven Davis, who alleges that Kobach willfully and maliciously chose not to process online voter registrations in 2016, effectively blocking legal residents from voting in that year’s elections. Lower courts initially rejected Davis’s request for a grand jury, but the state’s court of appeals overturned those rulings, paving the way for a grand jury investigation…
When one judge struck down a draconian state voter ID law shepherded through the legislature by Kobach, he instructed the county clerks under his purview to ignore the court order.
When another judge ruled Kobach must inform voters of their registration status, he refused to comply, leading to the courts to hold him in contempt. He then used taxpayer dollars to pay the fines associated with that contempt order. His malpractice and misunderstanding of even the most basic legal principles is so severe, a federal judge ordered him to take six hours of continuing education classes.
If Kobach does lose the election, though, I would not at all be surprised to see Trump nominate him to replace Sessions when he inevitably fires him after the midterms. Kobach has unequivocally shown himself to be utterly unscrupulous and willing to do anything if it serves his political purposes. He’s a Trump man to the core.
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This shows how incredibly corrupt Republicans are - they can't win a fair and honest election where everyone eligible is allowed to vote.
Mango Mussolini's supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lied 3 times under oath in his last confirmation hearing.
He's a Republican through and through.
"I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle
As I go ridin' merrily along
And they sing, "Oh, ain't you glad you're single"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong
Oh, Lillie Belle
Oh, Lillie Belle
Though I may have done some foolin'
This is why I never fell
I got spurs that jingle, jangle, jingle
As I go ridin' merrily along
And they sing, "Oh, ain't you glad you're single"
And that song ain't so very far from wrong"
-Kay Kyser
Things Are Not Going to Plan in Trump's U.S. Trade Deficit Wars
The numbers are not looking good for a president who has made reducing the U.S. trade deficit one of his main economic goals.
Worse still, signs are emerging that President Donald Trump’s trade wars are starting to hit economic growth, not just at home but around the world.
New data out Wednesday showed the U.S. trade deficit in July widening at its fastest rate since 2015 as monthly deficits with China and the European Union both hit new records . In the year so far, the U.S.’s overall goods and services deficit is up by $22 billion, or 7 percent, versus the same period last year.
The data coincides with Trump’s moves to escalate his battles with China and efforts to badger Canada into signing on to a new Nafta, highlighting what economists have argued is the incongruity of his trade policies. Even as he launches his battles in the name of reducing the U.S.’s imbalances, he has been causing the overall deficit to grow by increasing public spending and encouraging domestic investment.
“The policies of this administration are policies that may not have been designed to increase the trade deficit, but that is their effect,” said Philip Levy, who served on President George W. Bush’s council of economic advisers.
Policy Distortions
Also apparent in the trade data are some of the distortions that Trump’s policies have been fueling and how they may be helping mask the long-term impact of his trade wars.
While soybean farmers are widely seen as one of the likely victims of a trade war with China, for example, a surge in exports of soybeans to get ahead of new tariffs helped boost U.S. GDP growth in the second quarter. In the first seven months of this year, the value of U.S. soybean exports actually increased by more than 40 percent, or $5.7 billion, versus the same period last year, according to the data released on Wednesday.
Those distortions are likely to be temporary. And that is why many economists believe U.S. GDP growth may have peaked at 4.2 percent in second quarter, with trade likely to be a drag on growth in the months to come.
Andrew Hunter of Capital Economics said the trade data released on Wednesday indicated that after boosting GDP figures in the second quarter, net exports would subtract from it in the second half. In the third quarter, he predicted, net trade would subtract more than a percentage point from GDP growth while the recent surge in the dollar suggested that trade could be a “modest drag” in the fourth quarter too, even before the impact of tariffs starts to take hold.
Most economists argue against Trump’s characterization of the U.S. trade deficit as a reflection of the country’s profits and losses from trade. They also tend to cringe when people invoke reducing the deficit as a policy goal. The last time the U.S. trade deficit shrank significantly was in the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, which saw a collapse in global trade.
“Trade policy has very little direct impact on the overall trade deficit in the longer run," said Mary Lovely, a Syracuse University economist. A new Nafta, for example, is unlikely to do much to change the trade deficit, despite the administration’s claims, she said.
On the other hand, if Trump’s trade wars eventually hit business confidence it would certainly affect the trade deficit. “Then we would see a reduction in the U.S. trade deficit, but of course with harmful effects on economic activity and employment,” she said.
Read More: American Shoppers to Be Hit Harder Than Chinese by Tariff War
The impacts of Trump’s growing trade wars aren’t limited to the U.S. They also have only just started to bite.
At the World Trade Organization, Robert Koopman, the chief economist, fears that we are beginning to see signs of a slowdown in global trade growth linked to the trade wars. That matters because just a few months ago trade growth was being cited as one of the main causes for a robust streak in the global economy.
Around the world, manufacturing surveys are beginning to show a dip in export orders. Air and ocean freight data are pointing to a slowdown. So too is a dip in auto production around the world, Koopman said in an interview.
More worryingly, he said, the world is already seeing a slowdown in foreign direct investment that’s likely to lead to a longer term impact on trade. It also is significant because, if anything, the Trump trade wars are only just getting started.
More significant damage looms ahead, Koopman said, with the Trump administration expected to proceed with a new wave of tariffs on $200 billion of China goods as early as this week and amid its threats to put national-security tariffs on imported cars and parts.
The real damage from those measures -- and any retaliation from China and other U.S. trading partners -- may not hit the global economy until the first quarter of next year, Koopman said.
“There’s been a lot more talk than action so far," Koopman said. "The worry is when the action starts happening.”
By arguing that AR-15s can't be refulated, Brett Kavanaugh made crystal clear that he's to the right of far right Justice Scalia on guns. Even pro-gun Anton Scalia knew the 2nd amendment did not protect all weapons in his opinion in Heller.
By Kavanaugh's far, far, far right standard, even gun buy-back programs would be deemed unconstitutional.
Kavanaugh has also refused to say whether he would vote to overturn the ACA's pre-existing condition requirement.
Like everyone else in the Party of Trump, he is a fascist who wants poor sick people to die.
Todd20036
Including poor white people. Most of the fuckers on the right are totally ok with hurting themselves just to "get the liberals/gays/blacks/...
today's hearings on the tangerine tornado's supreme court nominee
to paraphrase brett kavanaugh:
"You keep quoting my opinions but it's obvious you don't know how to read because what I wrote is not what I said."
Or as Trump would say "what you're seeing is not what's happening."
It may be that the anonymous op-ed in the NYT that Trump is exploding over is likely to make things worse rather than better. Could it be that it was designed to make things MUCH worse, to provoke a crisis? In other words, the aim is not to convince, but to provoke Trump until he becomes actionably unhinged?
Trump Freaks Out Over Anonymous NY Times Op-Ed
That anonymous op-ed piece by a “senior official” in the Trump administration has apparently shaken Trump up in a major way. That was predictable, of course. The Washington Post reports that he flew into a rage and is now frantically trying to find out who wrote it. And then there was this revealing and ridiculous tweet:
"Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
And then later he simply tweeted this:
"TREASON?"
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
Very revealing in several ways. First, the contradiction between his claim that every story based on an anonymous source in the press is a lie and the source doesn’t actually exist (unless the story is favorable to him, then it’s undeniably true, of course) and this frantic search to find out who it is. Those can’t both be true. He clearly doesn’t believe that the source was invented by the Times or he wouldn’t be trying to find the identity of a non-existent person. And he knows it’s a real person because he knows the stories told him about him are true.
Equally revealing is his demand that the Times turn the person over to the government for “national security purposes.” As always, he conflates his own interests with those of the country. There is nothing in that op-ed that threatens national security, not even remotely. The threat is to him and his political viability, not to the country. And given how dangerous he is with power, I would argue that any damage that can be inflicted on Trump politically is undeniably in the best interests of the country. Again, he is acting like a Mafia don, not a president — everyone around me has to protect me or heads will roll! He feels as if he’s been betrayed, and he has. But the person who wrote the op-ed is serving their country, not its foolhardy and destructive president.
The column, which published midafternoon Wednesday, sent tremors through the West Wing and launched a frantic guessing game. Startled aides canceled meetings and huddled behind closed doors to strategize a response. Aides were analyzing language patterns to try to discern author’s identity, or at a minimum the part of the administration where the author works.
“The problem for the president is it could be so many people,” said one administration official, who like many others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid. “You can’t rule it down to one person. Everyone is trying, but it’s impossible.”…
The president was already feeling especially vulnerable — and a deep “sense of paranoia,” in the words of one confidant — in the wake of his devastating portrayal in Woodward’s book. He was upset that so many in his orbit seemed to have spoken with the veteran Washington Post investigative journalist, and had begun peppering staffers with questions about who Woodward’s sources were.
Trump already felt that he had a dwindling circle of people who he could trust, a senior administration official said. According to one Trump friend, he fretted after Wednesday’s op-ed that he could only trust his children.
What does it say about Trump that so many of the people who work for him have “ratted him out” to so many reporters, so consistently and all telling essentially the same story? From those who spoke to Michael Wolff to those who spoke to Bob Woodward to the author of this column, it seems that virtually everyone in the White House knows exactly who and what Trump is. They fully recognize how dangerous he is and are working to thwart his worst impulses (to be fair, there are no non-worst impulses to indulge). So does virtually everyone in Congress.
They’re terrified to put their name on it, and I can’t blame them for that. A whole lot of Trump’s followers are seriously unhinged and well-armed and respond to those who attack the leader of their political cult — it’s gone way beyond merely being a tribe at this point, it’s a cult of personality wherein the members can no longer distinguish between Trump, the country or themselves — with threats of violence. Look no further than the man who threatened the lives of those at the Boston Globe while quoting Trump verbatim to justify it. Trump is not the only dangerous one here, his followers may be even worse. That’s an entirely legitimate fear. But sometimes you have to do what is best for the country in spite of the risk.
Trump Again Threatens to Yank FCC License from a Network
Donald Trump continued his war on the media — sorry, I mean his war on the Constitution — with another thinly veiled threat to try to yank the license of NBC News (something he actually can’t do, but he’s too ignorant to know that). I don’t think he’ll be happy until his followers burst into every news organization headquarters in the country and start murdering people en masse.
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