Friday, November 09, 2018

Democracy is More Like a River than a Rock

There is currently a Republican body of discourse, and it is nonsense. Desperate refugees are described as dangerous terrorists; video is altered to weaken journalists' ability to monitor authorities; election fraud is charged where voter suppression policies failed to protect unpopular candidates; abortion is described as, simply, bad and immoral, though more than a quarter of American women have found a need for it; as a matter of faith there need to be more guns out there; Christians need more religious freedom and other religions need to be eradicated; transgender people cost too much; they say Democrats are pro-crime, pro-terrorism, and want "open borders," whatever that is; fair access to healthcare as practiced in other civilized countries is called "socialism" and blocked; these people will tell you that climate change is a hoax by the Chinese intended to make us less competitive; "tax reform" means lower taxes for the rich; black people deserve to be killed by the cops-- well I could go on. You've heard it. All of this is nonsense. It is not intended to make sense but only to push emotional buttons.

On the Democratic side there is not universal agreement on much of anything. There are discussions about how we should deal with refugees and other immigrants who want to enter the United States to live or work -- what plans can we establish and manage, how do we select who will qualify, how will we deal with those who violate regulations, and how can we define citizenship in a way that is fair and good for the country? There is discussion about the best ways to ensure that all citizens get to vote and that their vote is counted -- should we use paper ballots and count by hand or can we make automation secure, can we make sure voting locations are accessible and available to poor people as well as rich ones, and are there better alternatives to our current voting methods? Is journalism in a free country a competitive business where reporters should censor their questions in order to maintain access to publicly elected authorities or is it an institution that should be protected, and that forces authorities to answer questions and explain themselves? To what extent does the right to free speech mean that an organization is obligated to provide a platform for hate, and what is the best way for private citizens to respond to fascism, sexism, racism, and other forms of bigotry? How can we best provide women with the specific healthcare needs they have, including cancer screening, contraception, and abortion? Should the government regulate gender, romance, and family practices, and if so, why and to what extent? These are real questions where it is difficult to find answers that suit the society as a whole while meeting the needs of individuals in particular circumstances. But through open discussion and a full accounting of the facts, it is presumed that equitable outcomes can be reached.

In other words, we have one party that is talking nonsense and propaganda, doing what it can to instill fear and control voters, and we have another party that is divided between what are called "moderates" and "progressives," and is debating -- at times heatedly -- the best ways to provide security and prosperity to the nation.

To be fair, the Republican party does have a mission and a goal, and that is to further enrich and empower those who are already advantaged. The political goal is the installation of the super-rich in positions where they can influence the domestic economy and world markets in ways that will increase their profits even more. In a democracy this means cultivating a population of voters who are innumerate, functionally illiterate, and do not trust or follow the news except as it is served through particular plutocratic propaganda media outlets.

I am in an optimistic mood at the moment, and am willing to hope and to speculate that the oligarchs will be voted out after the current experiment, and that public debate will come to focus on the real issues that presently occupy moderate and progressive liberal thought. If there are two parties, then let one take the moderate, more conservative position (just as the Republicans are suddenly big defenders of pre-existing conditions), and let the other take the more progressive position on issues, and let's haggle out solutions from there.

When you talk to real people in the modern world, you find their opinions almost always fall somewhere between moderately and progressively liberal. Nobody at all wants to give up their house and possessions to pay their medical bills when they get sick, or wants other people to; there is almost nobody who really thinks mass murder is a fine and normal part of daily life and that the problem is that there are not enough guns on the street, or actually thinks that schoolteachers should be armed in the classroom (or rabbis in the synagogue); there is almost nobody who really thinks that only white people should be able to vote; all our hearts go out to starving children in our country and in foreign lands and we would like to help them; nobody actually believes that elected authorities should be able to do any self-serving thing with our tax dollars in secret, and without being accountable. Everybody realizes that war is hell and would do all they can to prevent it. And so on. American people are pretty sensible. They are inherently kind and caring, and do not mean to do anyone harm without justification. There are some nuts out there, but mostly those have, let's say, mixed motives.

It is possible that the US will go over the brink and follow the way of our currently governing party, and that critical thinking will simply vanish, especially if we let journalism and education die. It has happened in the past -- remember the Dark Ages? -- and there is no law of nature that says it can't happen again. Democracy is a difficult path to take, it includes a fundamental requirement that every person needs to respect every other person and make concessions to maximize everyone's freedom. This is hard, and there are people who are unwilling to do it. Democracy is a kind of steady-state dynamic system that requires constant adjustment, constant vigilance, maintenance; it is not a static thing that you put in place and it persists. It is more like a river than a rock. Our democracy will always need to make adjustments to 1.allow innovation and the introduction of new processes, personalities, and ideas and 2.prevent selfish actors from taking advantage of the need for consensus. We gotta keep our eyes open.

This week's election resulted in a strong push by the people to return to a sensible system of government. The President and his party have done lasting damage, they have plundered the treasury and undermined the budget, they have undercut civil rights, destabilized relationships around the world, and energized the darkest forces of our own society. And they are not going to release control voluntarily, that much is clear; for one thing, criminal prosecutions are a real probability once they lose power. The most powerful authoritarians in the US are not going to bend to the will of the people without a fight. So it is up to us, the people, to stand up and fight for ourselves and our democracy.

297 Comments:

Anonymous FBI not shirking its duties like GOP does said...

The FBI has been toiling on this investigation for almost 18 months. It has the power to pore over the president’s tax returns and his business records. It has proved, through the guilty plea of Trump’s fixer, Michael Cohen, that his hush-money payoffs broke campaign finance laws. Cohen knows the inner workings of the Trump Organization. Paul Manafort knows a great deal about the 2016 Trump campaign, which he ran during and after the Republican National Convention. The government may reveal the extent of their cooperation at their imminent sentencings. Trump cannot derail investigations and prosecutions that may arise from their revelations.

FBI agents have gathered a mountain of evidence for Mueller and for U.S. attorneys in Washington, New York and Virginia. They know a lot about Trump that we do not know. And that evidence can be preserved on flash drives that cannot be deleted by presidential edict — or shredded by criminal enablers.

Trump could fire the federal prosecutors — but others would replace them. And under the law, Mueller can be fired only for “good cause,” such as legal misconduct or a conflict of interest. There is no such cause, despite the president’s baseless assertions that the investigators are politically biased.

Even if Whitaker tries to deep-six the special counsel’s report, the underlying facts cannot be erased. The report will not be easily sealed and suppressed. Democrats in Congress will use subpoena power to try to lay hands on it. They can certainly call Mueller as a witness.

The FBI and Mueller already have established through indictments and convictions that members of Trump’s team (and Vladi­mir Putin’s) participated in a wide-ranging conspiracy to “obstruct the lawful functions of the United States government through fraud and deceit.” The statute at the root of the investigation — 18 USC 371 — covers violations of tax laws and election laws, witness tampering, money laundering, and obstruction of justice. Trump potentially has criminal exposure on at least some of these fronts. And if that catches up to him while he is in office, he has only one clear way out: He can pardon himself. That would abrogate the ancient rule of law holding that no one can be his own judge and jury. Even his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, has called that idea “unthinkable.”

A Justice Department guideline holds that a sitting president cannot be indicted. And so Trump may serve out his time in office untouched by the long arm of the law, unruffled by the prospect of a Senate trial on impeachment, untroubled by the threat of indictment. Citizen Trump, by contrast, may face considerable peril.

His “enemies,” as Nixon once described any who got in his lawless way, may hold a sliver of hope that someday public servants with the FBI emblem on their backs will visit him in one of his gilded palaces and bring him to justice.

November 09, 2018 4:10 PM  
Anonymous resistance is futile said...

"The most powerful authoritarians in the US are not going to bend to the will of the people without a fight. So it is up to us, the people, to stand up and fight for ourselves and our democracy."

great idea

I think I know how you can do it

give the government, which is currently building up its arsenal, all your guns and all your money

then, you'll be able to fight back!

November 09, 2018 10:39 PM  
Anonymous Is this America or tRumplandia?? Americans count every vote because every vote counts said...

Democrats appear poised to pick up between 35 and 40 seats in the House, once the last races are tallied, according to strategists in both parties. That would represent the biggest Democratic gain in the House since the post-Watergate election of 1974, when the party picked up 49 seats three months after Richard M. Nixon resigned the presidency.

Republicans will gain seats in the Senate, but with races in Florida and Arizona still to be called, their pre-election majority of 51 seats will end up as low as 52 or as high as 54. Meanwhile, Democrats gained seven governorships, recouping in part losses sustained in 2010 and 2014, and picked up hundreds of state legislative seats, where they had suffered a virtual wipeout in the previous two midterm elections.

The Democrats’ gains this week are still far short of what Republicans accomplished in their historic victories of 1994 and 2010. But they would eclipse the number of seats Democrats gained in 2006, the last time the party recaptured control of the House, as well as the 26-seat gain in 1982, when the national unemployment rate was at 10 percent. This year, the election took place with the unemployment rate at just 3.7 percent.

Day by day, the outlook for Democrats in the House has improved. At the offices of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, already high spirits have been rising all week as more races fell into the party’s column. One joke that has been making the rounds there goes like this: “This is actually turning out to be more of a Hanukkah than a Christmas election,” meaning day after day of gifts, rather than just one.

This was always an election that would test the strength of the economy, which favored the president’s party, vs. the president’s low approval ratings, which, along with the record of past midterm elections, pointed to Democratic gains. In the end, history and presidential approval combined to give Democrats control of the House by what appears to be a comfortable margin.

The Democratic wave hit hardest in suburban districts, many of them traditional Republican territory, where college-educated voters — particularly women — dissatisfied with the president backed Democratic challengers. Ronald Brownstein of the Atlantic and CNN, who has closely tracked these changes over many elections, noted in a post-election article that, before the election, two-thirds of Republicans represented congressional districts where the percentage of the population with college degrees was below the national average. After the election, he estimated, more than three-quarters of GOP House members now will represent such districts.

In AZ:

Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema has expanded her lead over Republican opponent Martha McSally in the Arizona Senate race as officials continue to tally mail-in ballots — a change in fortunes that could narrow the size of the GOP majority next year.

Sinema now leads McSally, 49.3 percent to 48.3 percent, according to results provided by election officials at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Friday. The two congresswomen were separated by 20,203 ballots cast statewide, with a Green Party candidate lagging far behind.

McSally had consistently led in the count since Tuesday’s midterm elections, but hundreds of thousands of ballots remained outstanding as of Friday night, leaving the race in flux in a state where about three-quarters of voters cast ballots by mail...

In Arizona, four county Republican parties filed suit Wednesday to prevent county recorders from trying to verify signatures after polls closed for mail-in ballots.

That drew a rebuke from the wife of late Republican senator John McCain (R-Ariz.).

“I am one of those mail in ballots,” Cindy McCain tweeted Thursday at the Arizona GOP’s account. “I was under the impression my vote was always counted.”

November 10, 2018 7:50 AM  
Anonymous Is this America or tRumplandia?? Americans count every vote because every vote counts said...

In FL:

Republican candidate Scott filed lawsuits accusing the election supervisors of Broward and Palm Beach counties of possibly committing “rampant fraud.”'

President Trump tweeted Thursday night in support of Scott.

“In a democracy, no one — not even the President — can prevent the lawful counting of votes. We will not allow him or anyone else to steal this election,”...[and]...“Brian Kemp eventually realized that it’s completely inappropriate to use one’s official powers to influence one’s own election. Governor Scott should realize that as well,” Schumer wrote.

November 10, 2018 7:50 AM  
Anonymous JFK and Mayor Daley reincarnated said...

"In a democracy, no one — not even the President — can prevent the lawful counting of votes"

Trump has not interfered in any way

just to reiterate the obvious, Schumer is a lying jackass

thus Snipes woman in Florida should have been thrown out of her position

she has repeatedly violated election laws for years

judges have ruled against her many times for counting votes in private and they ruled against her yesterday

the Feds need to intervene and run the elections in these Florida counties going forward

November 10, 2018 10:26 AM  
Anonymous JFK and Mayor Daley reincarnated said...

Broward County’s elections supervisor mixed invalid ballots with valid ballots. The mistake was discovered after Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes agreed to turn over provisional ballots to the county’s canvassing board for inspection, according to the Miami Herald.

November 10, 2018 12:36 PM  
Anonymous Florida is a GOP led banana republic said...

The Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections provides administrative support to the Secretary of State, Florida’s Chief Election Officer, to ensure that Florida has fair and accurate elections. The Division consists of three bureaus - the Bureau of Election Records, the Bureau of Voter Registration Services, and the Bureau of Voting Systems Certification. Through these bureaus and the director's office, the Division ensures compliance with the election laws, provides statewide coordination of election administration and promotes public participation in the electoral process. The Division also assists county Supervisors of Elections in their duties, including providing technical support.

Ken Detzner is the current FL Secretary of State. Detzner was a registered Democrat until 1984 when he changed his registration to Republican. GOP Florida Governor Rick Scott, appointed Detzner to the position on January 18, 2012 and he was confirmed by the Florida State Senate a month later.

As Secretary of State, Detzner continued a voter purge begun by Browning. The United States Department of Justice intervened to stop the purge.

November 10, 2018 2:09 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is how life is perpetuated and it has a privileged status said...

we should revoke their statehood until they get things in shape

After all the votes are counted, Democrats will emerge from the first midterm election of Donald Trump's presidency with their narrowest majority in the House of Representative since 1945.

If current results hold, Democrats will control 229 seats, giving them a majority of 11 seats. Democratic candidates won, or are currently leading in, 18 seats by a margin lower than 5 percentage points.

While the party did succeed in retaking the House, their efforts fell well short of historical trend lines recorded in previous wave elections.

The Democrats' majority this January will be smaller than that which the party held from 2007 to 2009, the last time they took power and elected Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) as House speaker. Democrats now have their narrowest majority in the House since the 1943 to 1945 Congress.

On election night, the Democrats' majority ran through a number of districts that Trump carried on his way to the White House in 2016. As noted by the Cook Political Report, however, Democrats struggled to win seats in districts where the president captured more than 55 percent of the vote.

Democrats also underperformed in districts that were considered fertile territory for the party.

If current vote totals hold, Democrats and Republicans will split California's 10th, 25th, 39th, 45th, 48th, and 49th districts, all of which were competitive districts won by Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Democrats also made inroads in deeply conservative districts that will be difficult to hold in 2020 when the party is playing defense and Trump is on top of the ballot to spur GOP turnout.

On election night, Pelosi attempted to appease both her party's progressive base and the crossover voters necessary to maintain her hold on power.

While there is no debate that a Democratic House majority will serve as a check on Trump's agenda for the next two years, it is also clear that Republicans are well within striking distance of retaking control in 2020

November 10, 2018 3:53 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't ever a marriage said...

Bruce Jenner's Malibu home has been destroyed by wildfires.

The reality star's home burned down on Friday after being engulfed by the devastating Southern California wildfires that have forced Malibu into a mandatory evacuation.

The home, which was heavily featured on Jenner's two-season E! reality show, "I Am Cait," was a luxurious structure situated on a ridge overlooking the beach in Malibu, just north of Los Angeles. He moved there in 2015, the same year he told everyone he is transgender

November 10, 2018 4:02 PM  
Anonymous Democrats win more votes, but still lose seats because of where lines are drawn on maps said...

The 2018 midterm elections brought significant gains for Democrats, who retook the House of Representatives and snatched several governorships from the grip of Republicans.

But some were left questioning why Democrats suffered a series of setbacks that prevented the party from picking up even more seats and, perhaps most consequentially, left the US Senate in Republican hands.

Among the most eye-catching was a statistic showing Democrats led Republicans by more than 12 million votes in Senate races, and yet still suffered losses on the night and failed to win a majority of seats in the chamber.

Constitutional experts said the discrepancy between votes cast and seats won was the result of misplaced ire that ignored the Senate electoral process.

Because each state gets two senators, irrespective of population, states such as Wyoming have as many seats as California, despite the latter having more than 60 times the population. The smaller states also tend to be the more rural, and rural areas traditionally favor Republicans.

This year, because Democrats were defending more seats, including California, they received more overall votes for the Senate than Republicans, but that does not translate to more seats.

However, some expressed frustration with a system they suggest gives an advantage to conservative-leaning states.

The real concerns for Democrats, they said, could be found in a combination of gerrymandering and voter suppression tactics that might have prevented them from winning an even larger majority in the House and some key statewide elections.

“The rise of minority rule in America is now unmistakable,” said Laurence Tribe, a constitutional law professor at Harvard University.

“Especially with a sitting president who won a majority in the electoral college [in 2016] while receiving roughly 3m fewer votes than his opponent, and a supreme court five of whose nine justices were nominated by Republican presidents who collectively received fewer popular votes than their Democratic opponents and were confirmed by Senates similarly skewed.”

But the 2018 Senate map was unfavorable for Democrats going into the midterms – the party was defending 26 seats compared with Republicans’ nine – and the outcome had more to do with which states were up for grabs.

Each of America’s 50 states elects two senators, regardless of population, and only a third of the country’s Senate seats are voted on each election cycle.

What that means is that California, which has a population of just under 40 million, holds the same representation in the Senate as Wyoming, which at roughly 579,000 is the least populous state in the country.

“That’s a radically undemocratic principle, and it gives rise to what we see,” said David Golove, a professor at the New York University School of Law, “which is that the minority populations are going to have a disproportionate impact in the United States. That tends to mean conservatives have a disproportionate influence over the Senate.”

November 11, 2018 12:31 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't marriage said...

we are not the United People, we are the United States

it was designed that way and some new revelation just because kooky liberals are losing

if you want to change that, stop massing on the coasts and spread out

November 12, 2018 5:30 AM  
Anonymous Gay people getting married every day said...

Sounds like a simple solution. But the fact of the matter is that intelligent Democrats don't want to live around a bunch of beer-swilling, MAGA hat-wearing, loud, obnoxious, climate science denying misanthropes.

We want to live in places where taxes are high enough to pay for good schools and universities to educate the next generation of job creators. Places where all people are treated with dignity and respect, rather than places like Mississippi - historically the state with the highest rate of lynchings - says s*%! like this:

“If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row,” Hyde-Smith said on Sunday morning in Tupelo, Miss. during an event with a cattle rancher.

Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, a white Republican, joked about going to a “public hanging” during a campaign event this weekend, a comment her Democratic challenger, who is black, called “reprehensible” and divisive ahead of a runoff election later this month.

Sometimes you have to wonder if we'd better off sending all the conservatives to the southern states and letting them secede again to become the "United States of Jesusland," and let the rest of the country move into the 21st century unimpeded.

November 12, 2018 11:11 AM  
Anonymous life should be preferenced with marital benefits, homosexuality doesn't bring life said...

that succession would include more than the South

remember, your problem is that all liberals are bunched together in a handful of states

that's why common sense rules the Senate

btw, the South is chockful of great universties: UVA, William & Mary, Chapel Hill, Duke, Vanderbilt, Tulane, Emory, Univ of Texas...the list goes on

November 12, 2018 11:45 AM  
Anonymous life on the planet depends on preferencing heterosexuality said...

what did the GOP do to deserve such good fortune?

Mark Penn, a former adviser to the Clintons, says Hillary Clinton will make another run for president in 2020.

Penn co-wrote a Sunday op-ed for The Wall Street Journal with Andrew Stein, a former Democratic Manhattan borough president and president of the New York City Council.

“True to her name, Mrs. Clinton will fight this out until the last dog dies,” the pair wrote. “She won’t let a little thing like two stunning defeats stand in the way of her claim to the White House.”

They said Clinton will not allow her “humiliating loss” to President Trump during the 2016 presidential race end her political career.

“You can expect her to run for president once again,” they predicted.

She has two years to review what went wrong during her last campaign bid and make a strategy, they wrote.

Penn and Stein, however, said that voters should not pay attention to “‘I won’t run’ declarations.”

“Mrs. Clinton knows both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Obama declared they weren’t running, until they ran,” the pair argued. “She may even skip Iowa and enter the race later, but rest assured that, one way or another, Hillary 4.0 is on the way.”

November 12, 2018 12:25 PM  
Anonymous Time to hold GOPers accountable said...

The biggest challenge will be finding room on the calendar to conduct all the probes Democrats have lined up. There’s the strong documentary evidence that the president and his family undertook a years-long conspiracy to commit tax fraud on a massive scale, and the administration’s attempt to rig the census and its repeated lies about it, and the possibility that the president intervened in the decision on where to locate the new FBI headquarters to avoid competition for his hotel, to name just a few of the dozens of matters that cry out for investigation. There are things we can’t yet anticipate, like whatever will be revealed once we’re finally able to see President Trump’s tax returns. (If you think they won’t contain evidence of a pile of misdeeds, I’ve got a degree from Trump University to sell you.) And, oh yeah, that Russia thing.

And, of course, there are a raft of policy decisions ranging from the questionable to the horrific that administration officials need to answer questions about, whether it’s the sabotaging of the Affordable Care Act or the separation of children from their parents at the border.

When Republicans inevitably begin whining that Democrats are being too aggressive in all this oversight, remember how they be-clowned themselves through the Obama years, trying to gin up one phony scandal after another, including mounting seven, yes, seven separate investigations of Benghazi. We can and should have vigorous debates about what is being uncovered, how to understand it and what should be done about it. But the last thing we should do is waste our time arguing about whether there are too many investigations.

So, yes, it’s all political — just like everything else Congress does. But that doesn’t make it any less legitimate, especially given how Republicans have utterly abandoned their oversight responsibilities for the past two years.

If the Trump administration is a bastion of integrity and public-spiritedness, that’s what the investigations will reveal. And if the president himself has displayed nothing but the highest ethical standards and respect for law throughout his career, that’s what we’ll learn. The sense of dread spreading over the White House and the Republican Party right now isn’t because they think House Democrats will waste everyone’s time with these investigations; it’s because they know there’s so much misbehavior to be uncovered. The public deserves to see and understand all of it, and if that winds up hurting Republicans, they have only themselves to blame.

November 12, 2018 4:17 PM  
Anonymous when you have one of the slimmest majorities of all time in the House, there's not a lot you can do said...

"The biggest challenge will be finding room on the calendar to conduct all the probes Democrats have lined up"

oh dear

well, you better find time for the bipartisan bills Pelosi promised to pursue

"There’s the strong documentary evidence that the president and his family undertook a years-long conspiracy to commit tax fraud on a massive scale,"

no, there isn't

he's been through years of audits by Obama's IRS

nothing

"and the administration’s attempt to rig the census and its repeated lies about it,"

well, that sounds fascinating

who gets the movie rights?

"and the possibility that the president intervened in the decision on where to locate the new FBI headquarters to avoid competition for his hotel,"

he obviously did that, but you'll never prove it

no real crime against humanity

I'd like to see the thing demolished but maybe the next President will do it

"to name just a few of the dozens of matters that cry out for investigation."

if those are your best examples, Trump doesn't have much to worry about

"There are things we can’t yet anticipate, like whatever will be revealed once we’re finally able to see President Trump’s tax returns"

they'll never get them

tax returns are confidential in America and so they'd have to have some reasonable cause to subpoena them

and Brett Kavanaugh is not in the mood to put up with any crap either

"And, oh yeah, that Russia thing."

don't make us laugh

Mueller has bullied virtually everyone who knows all of Trump's dealing

and still....

nothing

"And, of course, there are a raft of policy decisions ranging from the questionable to the horrific that administration officials need to answer questions about, whether it’s the sabotaging of the Affordable Care Act or the separation of children from their parents at the border."

that will be just horrid, but the press already harasses Trumo about this on a daily basis

"When Republicans inevitably begin whining that Democrats are being too aggressive in all this oversight,"

they don't need to complain

the American voter will be sickened and offended by a party whose only idea for America is impeaching Trump

seven separate investigations of Benghazi"

people actually died in Benghazi

"But the last thing we should do is waste our time arguing about whether there are too many investigations."

tell that to the voters you're trying to convince to vote Dem in 2020

they're the ones who will be whining, and they won't appreciate your derogatory characterization of their dissent

when you write half the country as "deplorable", it's no surprise you're always running uphilll

"The sense of dread spreading over the White House and the Republican Party right now"

I haven't noticed this

could you give us an example?

or is it just imaginary?

November 12, 2018 5:03 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

No evidence has surfaced indicating that President Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election. Still, two years later, the president’s opponents insist the truth is out there and they know where – in the memory banks and computer files of Trump’s former associates who have struck deals to cooperate with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

But people with direct knowledge of the situation say the premise of that speculation is false: It's highly unlikely that these associates possess proof of collusion and are singing about it to Mueller.

“It’s wishful thinking by Trump haters,” said a former Trump campaign official.

Mueller has obtained guilty pleas from four ex-Trump advisers — Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates — for crimes unrelated to election espionage. Facing the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence, each had strong incentives to turn on the president.

So, too, do other Trump associates reportedly caught in Mueller’s crosshairs – Carter Page, Roger Stone and the president’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who has pleaded guilty to crimes referred by Mueller’s office to federal attorneys in Manhattan for prosecution.

Substantial information gleaned from various news outlets suggests that Trump’s former associates have not provided the smoking gun of collusion. As emboldened Democrats promise to step up their own Russia investigations when they take over the House in January, here is what we know so far about each case.

November 12, 2018 7:03 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces life. two homosexuals never produce a marriage said...

Michael Flynn

Former national security adviser Flynn, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying about a post-election conversation he had with the Russian ambassador, is not providing evidence against Trump, insisted a family insider close to the matter: “That’s all bullshit, media created and driven."

“I find it funny how the left thinks he’s been ‘cooperating’ with Mueller this whole time, yet he’s spent the majority of time in Rhode Island since the plea deal in 2017,” said the source, adding that Flynn has traveled infrequently to Washington, where the Special Counsel’s office is based, since negotiating the legal agreement last December.

Flynn and his family are from Middletown, R.I.

The relative, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, also reported that Flynn has met with his own representatives infrequently.

“He has met his lawyers every other month this year,” the source said, "and only for a few hours at a time."

Flynn’s sentencing is now set for Dec. 18 — Mueller had previously delayed it several times, signaling that he was not getting the information he had hoped for.

The sentencing will effectively mark an end to Flynn’s cooperation.

A retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, Flynn publicly stated last December his decision to cop a plea to the single-count process crime was “made in the best interests of my family.”

He did not elaborate, but the family insider explained that fighting the charge “would have bankrupted us.”

“The justice system, especially in Washington, is all about who has more money and resources,” the family member said. “Clearly, our military family had no chance against the weight of the federal government.”

"It makes me sick every day thinking about it,” Flynn’s relative added, while suggesting Flynn was railroaded.

In fact, former FBI Director James Comey has said Flynn provided truthful answers and wasn’t intentionally misleading investigators on Jan. 24, 2017, when he was questioned about his contacts with the Russian ambassador during the presidential transition.

In a March 15, 2017, closed-door briefing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the then-bureau director swore the two FBI agents who originally interviewed Flynn “saw nothing that led them to believe [he was] lying,” according to committee documents. This assessment suddenly changed after Comey was fired by Trump and Mueller took over the Russia probe two months later.

November 12, 2018 7:06 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

George Papadopoulos

Another witness who struck a plea deal with Mueller — George Papadopoulos — has not flipped on Trump, either.

The former Trump adviser was arrested in July 2017 and pleaded guilty that October to making false statements to the FBI. The case revolved around whether Papadopoulos suspected a Russian connection to Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese academic who allegedly knew as early as March 2016 that Russians possessed “dirt” on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.” Initially he told the FBI he did not; in his guilty plea he said he did. He also told agents he met Mifsud before joining the Trump camp, when in fact he met him after working on the campaign.

Washington pundits said that Papadopoulos, a campaign volunteer with no title or portfolio, would most certainly turn on Trump to avoid a stiff sentence. Famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein even suggested his revelations could outline a scandal worse than Watergate.

Papadopoulos said he handed over all his emails, text messages and other communications with the Trump campaign to Mueller’s investigators.

In the end, he didn’t provide any information of value, according to documents Mueller filed in court, and Mueller cut him loose in September. He received a 14-day sentence.

At the sentencing hearing, Mueller prosecutor Andrew Goldstein said information Papadopoulos provided didn’t amount to much. "It was at best begrudging efforts to cooperate and we don't think they were substantial or significant in any regard," he said.

Papadopoulos now says he was set up by FBI informants and that his interactions with Russian-tied individuals were innocent, and certainly not the sinister dealings portrayed by the media.

He explained he lied about a meeting with one of the contacts because he wanted to get a job in the administration, and that he was not to trying to hide any illicit collusion with Russia.

November 12, 2018 7:09 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

Paul Manafort

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been called Mueller’s "most significant cooperating witness" to date. But this too may be overstated.

Manafort struck his own cooperation deal with Mueller in September, after being convicted on charges of bank and tax fraud unrelated to the campaign. The plea agreement let him avoid a second trial in Washington on related charges.

It’s still unclear if Manafort, who reportedly has been meeting regularly with Mueller’s prosecutors while incarcerated, is providing information about the Trump campaign and Russia or about other matters. ABC News reported Friday that discussions have broken down as Manafort has offered prosecutors few leads on the Russia front and is not providing the level of cooperation promised under his plea agreement.

Still, pundits surmise he may be providing damaging information on the president and Donald Trump Jr., who hosted a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower after being solicited by a group of Russians who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton.

Congressional committees have found no evidence of collusion in the meeting, which they concluded was perfectly legal and resulted in no information provided on Clinton. They also noted that the solicitation itself suggests that there had been no previous contact between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, and that the absence of a communications channel, if anything, shows a lack of collusion.

Nevertheless, Fordham Law School professor Jed Shugerman is among those speculating that Manafort has been providing “big leads” to Mueller about Russia “collusion.” So is Seth Waxman, a former Clinton appointed-Justice Department official, who has claimed Mueller must “believe he has very valuable information."

Duke University Law School professor Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor, has argued that Mueller wouldn’t offer Manafort such leniency unless he provided “substantial assistance" in the prosecution of others higher up.

“He’s not going to get that deal unless he can help Mueller make a case against one or more people,” he said recently.

The White House has said it’s not concerned with Manafort’s plea deal, arguing that he, like all the others, cannot offer evidence of collusion because it doesn’t exist. Some former federal prosecutors question Manafort’s usefulness to Mueller for a different reason: His former right-hand man, who had made his own deal with Mueller seven months before Manafort, would have already given any damning information to the special counsel.

November 12, 2018 7:12 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

Rick Gates

Manafort’s longtime business partner Rick Gates pleaded guilty last February to conspiracy and false statements unrelated to the Trump campaign.

Gates served as Trump’s deputy campaign chairman under Manafort. And though Manafort left the campaign in August 2016, Gates stayed on through the election and subsequently had a key role in the presidential transition and inauguration.

Gates has actively cooperated with Mueller; his recent testimony helped prosecutors secure the guilty verdicts against Manafort.

Despite his thorough cooperation, Gates did not provide information that would have allowed Mueller to bring conspiracy charges against Manafort in the Russia case. Gates reportedly told Mueller the only serious overtures he heard from foreign nationals to help the campaign came from Israeli, not Russian, sources.

“I find it hard to believe Mueller sees Manafort as the key to making a case on Trump when Mueller has had Gates — Manafort’s partner — as a cooperator for months,” said former federal prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy. “You have to figure Gates knows whatever Manafort knows about collusion.”

Yet since Gates began cooperating with Mueller’s office, the special counsel has filed no charges implicating Trump or even Manafort in any Russian conspiracy. He has even filed charges against Russian nationals without implicating Trump or his campaign.

November 12, 2018 7:15 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

Michael Cohen

Mueller’s prosecutors also have met with Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, but Mueller handed over the case to others in the Justice Department, suggesting Cohen offered little of value in the Russia investigation.

Cohen pleaded guilty in New York in August to tax evasion, bank fraud and violations of campaign finance laws. That separate investigation, unrelated to the Trump campaign or Trump’s real estate empire, is headed by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.

Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, said his client has “no cooperation agreement” with Mueller, which indicates the special counsel doubts Cohen has anything productive to say about Russian collusion.

Roger Stone

Then there is longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, who is currently under active investigation by Mueller’s office. Investigators want to know if he had any insider information about the release of stolen Democratic emails to WikiLeaks during the 2016 campaign.

Stone insists Mueller is trying to “frame me for some extraneous crime.”

“The FBI tried to question my cleaning lady and FBI agents have been seen sifting through my garbage,” Stone said at a recent appearance in West Palm Beach, Fla. “Here’s what I can tell you: They will find no evidence of Russian collusion. … They will find no evidence of WikiLeaks collaboration.”

Stone vowed he would not cooperate with Mueller’s team against Trump.

Though Trump aides have, one by one, cut plea deals with Mueller, none of their guilty pleas has had anything to do with Russian hacking or interference in the 2016 election, which is what Mueller is supposed to be investigating. Flynn, Papadopoulos, Manafort and Gates all pleaded guilty to other crimes.

November 12, 2018 7:18 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

Carter Page

But Mueller is still investigating the Russia "collusion” theory, while spending about $1 million a month to make sure no stone is left unturned. And with all these Trump associates talking, it would appear the noose is growing tighter around Trump -- or so goes the conventional wisdom inside the Beltway.

It’s an assumption unsupported by facts, however. The evidence so far indicates that their cooperation has not been anywhere near as devastating to Trump as his detractors have portrayed it.

One irony is that the one person who was put under FBI surveillance the longest for alleged illicit Russian ties – former Trump adviser Carter Page -- has not been indicted.

Page, who also has been subjected to multiple interviews with FBI agents and appearances before Mueller’s grand jury, has denied any role in Russian interference in the campaign. He called the investigation a “witch hunt” in a recent interview, while adding that Mueller has not told him to expect an indictment.

November 12, 2018 7:21 PM  
Anonymous Sinema wins in Arizona as Democrats capture a longtime GOP Senate seat said...

Sinema wins in Arizona as Democrats capture a longtime GOP Senate seat

In this Oct. 15, 2018 file photo, U.S. Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., goes over the rules in a television studio prior to a televised debate with U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., in Phoenix. (Matt York/AP)
By Elise Viebeck
November 12 at 8:04 PM
Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema scored a win in Arizona over Republican Martha McSally, flipping a longtime Republican seat and narrowing the GOP’s majority in the upper chamber.

Sinema, a three-term congresswoman, overcame attacks on her more liberal record as an Arizona state legislator and committed to a bipartisan approach in a race that hinged on issues such as health care and illegal immigration. Her defeat of McSally will make her the first woman senator in Arizona’s history.

Two other Senate races remained unresolved on Monday: the close contest in Florida between Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and a runoff scheduled for Nov. 27 in Mississippi pitting appointed Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith, a Republican, against Mike Espy, a Democrat.

McSally, a freshman member of the House, lost the race after abandoning the moderate profile she had nurtured in her 2014 congressional race and allying herself with President Trump. The former Air Force combat pilot adopted an aggressive tone, accusing Sinema of supporting treason over her 2003 remark that it was “fine” if a radio host who was asking her a question joined the Taliban.

Sinema won by 38,197 votes, and the Associated Press projected her as the winner Monday. She will replace Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.).

It was unclear what will happen to the state’s other Senate seat, which is currently held by Republican Jon Kyl. Kyl was appointed to replace the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and has not commited to serving past this year.

It is possible Republican Gov. Doug Ducey appoints McSally to the seat.

November 12, 2018 8:11 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The Rainbow Wave:

Sen. Tammy Baldwin
Sen. Krysten Sinema

Rep. David Cicilline
Rep. Mark Takano
Rep. Katie Hill
Rep. Angie Craig
Rep. Chris Pappas
Rep. Mark Pocan
Rep. Sena Patrick Maloney
Rep. Sharice Davids

Record 10 LGBT members of Congress.

Tяump and the christian Sharia law people he's appointed may be eager to assault LGBT people but the American public is not with them. :)

The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

November 13, 2018 1:57 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Not to mention the first openly gay Governor Jared Polis.


The American public is overwhelmingly liberal. Republicans have only managed to cling to power with their shrinking voter base by lying profusely to the public, suppressing the vote of minorities, and cheating wherever possible - 57% of the voters picked Democrats for Congress, if it weren't for Republican corruption Democrats would control the Senate and have a much bigger lead in the House.

November 13, 2018 2:01 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Redistricting Reform Wins Big

As the courts have made clear that they aren’t going to do anything about outrageous gerrymandering or voter suppression laws, citizens have begun to take back the power through ballot proposals and referendums. On Tuesday, many states successfully voted for important reforms to the way districts are drawn and cleared some roadblocks that suppress the vote.

Four states — Michigan, Colorado. Missouri and Utah — passed reforms that create new systems for drawing new congressional districts, taking the ability to gerrymander away from politicians. They wont have an effect until after the 2020 census and resulting redistricting, but from 2022 on this should have a major effect. In Michigan alone, it will likely swing 3-4 votes in our federal congressional delegation from Republican to Democrat. Democratic candidates routinely get about a half a million more votes than Republicans for the House seats, but Republicans have a 9-5 advantage in those seats because of some of the most blatant gerrymandering in the country. The same is true of the state legislature, which should swing Democratic in 2022 and thereafter. And Ohio passed a proposal that requires them to make such reforms in the next two years.

Michigan also passed a referendum that included a number of changes that will make it easier to vote. First, everyone will be automatically registered to vote if they’re eligible when they apply for a drivers license or state ID. Second, it allows no-reason absentee ballots and allows people to get their ballots two weeks before election day. Third, it allows people to vote for all candidates associated with a specific political party. These are important reforms, but more are needed.

But there were other important reforms as well. Florida passed a referendum to automatically restore voting rights to ex-felons who have served their sentences. That could affect as many as 1.5 million people, making them eligible to vote again. In a state where virtually all elections are a tossup, the effect could be huge and could shift the state from red to blue starting in 2020. This is a crucial reform to get rid of a blatantly racist system that has been in place for decades.

Maryland approved same-day voter registration. Nevada made voter registration automatic when you get a drivers license. On the downside, a couple states passed new laws requiring photo ID to vote, which will make it more difficult for minority voters to cast a ballot. But overall, it was a very good day for anti-gerrymandering measures and voting rights. The people have the power to do what the legislatures and courts refuse to do, which is to restore our democracy by expanding voting rights. I strongly urge you to follow the example of Voters Not Politicians and organize to get these measures on the ballot.

November 13, 2018 2:02 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The media is not involved in a left wing conspiracy to make Republicans look stupid.

When they point the cameras at them, it just happens automatically.

November 13, 2018 2:13 PM  
Anonymous Blue Wave Swept Many of the GOP's Anti-Gay Bigots out To Sea said...

Dana Rohrabacher, the 15-term Republican incumbent was washed away by Democratic challenger Harley Rouda when the blue wave came ashore in Southern California’s 48th Congressional District last week.

In Minnesota, Rep. Jason Lewis, a Republican who equated gay couples with rapists, lost his House seat to Democrat Angie Craig ― the first lesbian mom elected to Congress.

Openly bisexual California Democrat Katie Hill defeated Republican House member Steve Knight, who supported Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in California, and voted against banning “ex-gay” therapy during his time in the California Senate.

In Georgia’s now-famous 6th Congressional District, short-lived GOP incumbent Karen Handel, who said last year while running in a special election against Democrat Jon Ossoff that she didn’t support allowing adoption by gay and lesbian couples, was beaten by African-American Democrat and gun reform advocate Lucy McBath.

Texas GOP Rep. Pete Sessions, who claimed the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida ― the site of a 2016 gun massacre ― wasn’t actually a gay club (and who voted anti-gay every chance he got in his more than 20 years in Congress, garnering a score of zero every year from the Human Rights Campaign) was defeated by African-American civil rights lawyer Colin Allred.

In Oklahoma, Republican Steve Russell, who in 2016 introduced a bill that would have provided religious exemptions to President Barack Obama’s executive order banning anti-LGBTQ discrimination among federal contractors, lost to Kendra Horn, the first Democrat to win the state’s 5th Congressional District in 44 years

Former CIA analyst Elissa Slotkin took down Republican Rep. Mike Bishop in Michigan. He voted last year to deny transgender service members medically necessary transition-related health care and was an ardent opponent of marriage equality, seeking religious exemptions.

In fact, the list of GOP House members opposed to marriage equality who came crashing down last week goes on and on: Dave Brat and Barbara Comstock in Virginia, Iowa’s Rod Blum, Illinois’ Randy Hultgren, Mike Coffman in Colorado and Keith Rothfus in Pennsylvania...

November 13, 2018 2:16 PM  
Anonymous ... said...

In races that have yet to be called but where Democrats seem likely to prevail, GOP marriage equality opponents include New York’s Claudia Tenney, New Jersey’s Tom MacArthur and Utah’s Mia Love, who even sent out anti-gay emails during the campaign attacking her opponent’s support of marriage equality.

In the Senate, GOP marriage equality opponent Dean Heller went down in Nevada against Jacky Rosen. And in Arizona, where votes are still being counted in the close Senate race, it looks as though Martha McSally, another equality opponent, could lose in the fight for the open seat to replace marriage equality opponent Jeff Flake ― to openly bisexual Democratic candidate Kyrsten Sinema.

Far-right Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who once compared homosexuality to polygamy, was stopped from taking the governor’s seat and continuing the Kansas GOP’s anti-LGBTQ agenda. Democrat Laura Kelly flipped the state and has already vowed to reinstate protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender government employees, which were rescinded in 2015 by then-Gov. Sam Brownback.

In Wisconsin, anti-LGBTQ Republican Scott Walker lost his governorship to Tony Evers, after nearly eight years, in a major win for equality.

Democrat Gretchen Whitmer flipped Michigan in its governor’s race, preventing Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette ― who rejected the Michigan Civil Rights Commission’s expansion of state law to protect LGBTQ people ― from continuing GOP Gov. Rick Snyder’s hostile agenda. (In another boost, openly lesbian civil rights attorney Dana Nessel, who fought Snyder to overturn the state’s same-sex marriage ban in a case among those that eventually prevailed at the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2015 Obergefell ruling ― was elected Michigan’s new attorney general.)

And in the open governor’s race in Maine, Democrat Janet Mills flipped the state, ensuring right-wing extremist Gov. Paul LePage’s horrifically anti-LGBTQ agenda won’t continue under Shawn Moody, who similarly opposed marriage equality.

In many state legislatures, the blue wave washed away the hate last week. In Texas, where anti-LGBTQ Republicans in recent years introduced more than a dozen bills harmful to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people each session, Democrats flipped 12 House seats, in the biggest shift since 2010. In an upset, Ron Simmons, who authored an infamous anti-transgender “bathroom” bill ― which died in the Texas House last session but which conservatives vowed to bring back next year ― was defeated by Michelle Beckley.

November 13, 2018 2:18 PM  
Anonymous tHanks, tRump said...

Hate crimes increased in the U.S. for the third year in a row in 2017, rising 17 percent from the previous year, according to an FBI report released Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials reported 7,175 hate crime incidents last year, up from 6,121 in 2016, with more incidents motivated by racial, ethnic or religious bias than in previous years.

Last year saw the largest single-year increase in hate crimes since 2001, according to the FBI, when a terrorist attack on U.S. soil resulted in a significant spike in anti-Muslim crimes.

Racial and ethnic bias continued to be the largest motivators for hate crimes in the U.S., driving 59.5 percent of the total hate crimes reported. More than 2,000 anti-black hate crimes were reported in 2017, nearly half of all crimes motivated by racial or ethnic hatred.

There was also a nearly 23 percent increase in religion-based hate crimes in 2017, with a 37 percent increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes, according to the FBI.

Attacks against Jewish people accounted for 58.1 percent of crimes motivated by anti-religious bias last year, a 4-percent increase from 2016, while anti-Muslim crimes were down.

Anti-Muslim offenses accounted for 24.8 percent of anti-religious hate crimes in 2016 compared to 18.7 percent in 2017. Anti-Islamic crimes continue to remain at historic levels, and anti-Arab hate crimes doubled to 102 incidents, Voice of America noted.

"This report is a call to action—and we will heed that call," acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said in a statement on Tuesday.

"I am particularly troubled by the increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes—which were already the most common religious hate crimes in the United States—that is well documented in this report," Whitaker added. "The American people can be assured that this Department has already taken significant and aggressive actions against these crimes and that we will vigorously and effectively defend their rights."

The report emerges a few weeks after a mass shooter in Pittsburgh committed the deadliest attack against Jews in U.S. history, killing 11 congregants at a synagogue in the city's Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

November 13, 2018 2:25 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality deserves a lot of priviliges as society's life producer said...

"Tяump and the christian Sharia law people he's appointed may be eager to assault LGBT people but the American public is not with them. :)"

no one, including Trump, wants to assault LGBT people

they just won't get any special protections or rights

homosexuality is a meaningless existence of hedonism that never produces new life

anyone who wants to indulge in it is perfectly free to do so

just don't expect any awards for it

Judeo-Christian principles, which are the very foundation of western civilization, are quite different from sharia law

don't believe me?

go try to open a gay-straight alliance in a high school in Tehran

or a gay pride parade in Mecca

if you survive, come back and explain to us what sharia law is

The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards life

"The American public is overwhelmingly liberal"

do you mean that army of plastic green men you hide under your bed in the nuthouse?

well, if we're so liberal, hopefully the Dems will nominate Bernie for Prez in 2020

a perfect opportunity to see how liberal The American public overwhelmingly is !!

November 13, 2018 3:13 PM  
Anonymous concerning our most loathsome President said...

More than 20 years after she began facing public humiliation and demonization because of her affair with then-President Bill Clinton, Monica Lewinsky has become a prominent voice in reflecting on the ways powerful men abuse their positions over less powerful women.

“I’m beginning (just beginning) to consider the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a White House intern,” she wrote in March for Vanity Fair. “I’m beginning to entertain the notion that in such a circumstance the idea of consent might well be rendered moot.”

In a new Vanity Fair essay published Tuesday, Lewinsky again examines this disparity in power.

Central to her decision to participate was being able to redefine the narrative about herself, she wrote, noting how Clinton’s position of power has allowed him to escape the same levels of public scrutiny.

A recent example: Clinton’s continued refusal to personally apologize to her and accept responsibility for contributing to her public humiliation.

This summer, Clinton participated in a number of interviews to promote a book. The former president appeared to be caught off guard by questions about the Me Too movement and gave tone-deaf answers, despite Me Too bringing an increased focus on and a re-examination of his affair with Lewinsky, as well as the multiple sexual misconduct allegations against him.

“If you want to know what power looks like, watch a man safely, even smugly, do interviews for decades, without ever worrying whether he will be asked the questions he doesn’t want to answer,” Lewinsky wrote of Clinton.

"As it so often does, power throws a protective cape around the shoulders of the man, and he dictates the spin by denigrating the less powerful woman."

An indignant Clinton asserted that he did not owe Lewinsky an apology. But Lewinsky wrote that the problem with his response was less about the apology directly and more about his insistence that he need not apologize.

“What feels more important to me than whether I am owed or deserving of a personal apology is my belief that Bill Clinton should want to apologize. I’m less disappointed by him, and more disappointed for him,” she wrote. “He would be a better man for it ... and we, in turn, a better society.”

Another example of the disparate power dynamic, according to Lewinsky, is how at the time of the affair, Clinton’s position of power protected him from experiencing as much public humiliation as she did.

Recalling his infamous Oval Office declaration that he “did not have sexual relations with that woman,” which turned out to be a lie, she said that at the time, she thought it was good that he was not planning to resign.

“Forty-five-year-old me sees that footage very differently,” she wrote Tuesday. “I see a sports coach signposting the playbook for the big game. Instead of backing down amid the swirling scandal and telling the truth, Bill instead threw down the gauntlet that day in the Oval Office: ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.’ With that, the demonization of Monica Lewinsky began. As it so often does, power throws a protective cape around the shoulders of the man, and he dictates the spin by denigrating the less powerful woman.”

In the essay, Lewinsky also explores how our public narratives are often shaped by men, as was the case with the coverage of her and Clinton’s affair — “history literally being written by men,” she wrote.

“Throughout history, women have been traduced and silenced. Now, it’s our time to tell our own stories in our own words.”

November 13, 2018 3:55 PM  
Anonymous Oooof! Thanks Digby said...

Nov 11, 2018 38% approve, 56% disapprove

Four weeks ago IQ45 was at 44% approval. He's lost 6 points.

Why? Well, I'd guess that a few of his voters have been appalled by his behavior starting with the odious way he acted after the MAGAbomber and the Tree of Life shooter. Then there's sending troops to the border and his bizarre post-election press conference and evryhing else since then.

But if I had to guess I'd say that it's because his "winner" bubble has burst and some of his voters finally realize that he isn't teflon and they've had to accept that his absurdity is a liability.

November 13, 2018 4:38 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Ultimately it is not the press that Republicans fear, rather they fear accountability itself.

Note how Republicans are unethically suing to stop all votes from being counted in districts where the vote tally is very close. There are few things more anti-democratic than that. Republicans are trying to excuse that by making unsupported assertions about voter fraud when every investigation into voter fraud has shown it to be virtually non-existent.

November 13, 2018 4:47 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

So, where's that middle class tax cut Tяump promised was coming before the mid-term elections????

Its nothing but a flood of lies and deception coming out of Tяump Republicans. That's why they are trying so hard to discredit honest press outlets.

November 13, 2018 4:51 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Research shows only 2% to 6% of sexual misconduct allegations are false. Dr. Ford passed a lie detector test, illegitimate Supreme Court justice Kavanaugh refused to take one.

All three accusers have been getting death threats, Christine Ford and her family have been forced out of their house and into hiding. Her life has been turned upside down as she knew it would if she came forward. She obviously didn't make up her story knowing she'd go through this.

Julie Swetnek signed an affadavit attesting to the accusations she's made against Kavanaugh. If is shown to have lied she loses her security clearances, her job, and goes to jail. She is obviously not going to risk all that to lie about Kavanaugh.

Illegitimate Supreme Court justice Kavanaugh has every incentive to lie, these women have tremendous disincentive to lie.

All these women all telling the truth.

November 13, 2018 4:52 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"I have had to have security because of threats against me and family members and staffers, and this has been unlike anything I have ever been through," says Republican Senator Susan Collins about the Kavanaugh confirmation.

I don't think Susan Collins has actually been threatened. I believe she went through something but is really confused about the facts.

How does that feel Susan???
She can tell it to the families of the women who will die when legal and safe abortion and even some birthcontrol is made illegal. As one Republican politician giddily said about Kavanaugh's confirmation "Women, get out your coat-hangers!".

November 13, 2018 4:53 PM  
Anonymous life should be perked and preferenced, homosexuality doesn't bring life said...

"Ultimately it is not the press that Republicans fear, rather they fear accountability itself"

you ever watch a press conference?

they never have any questions

they want to debate

and if anyone disputes their points, they accuse them of attacking the press

Trump is right to enforce some simple rules of decorum

btw, why did Obama attack the press and prosecute reporters for espionage violations and ban FOX from his presence?

was he afraid of reporters or accountability or that someone would notice he was overwhelmed by the job he lucked into?

"Note how Republicans are unethically suing to stop all votes from being counted in districts where the vote tally is very close."

actually, those places weren't that close before people started pulling votes out of dusty boxes in the closet

"There are few things more anti-democratic than that"

well, one of those few things is voter fraud

"Republicans are trying to excuse that by making unsupported assertions about voter fraud when every investigation into voter fraud has shown it to be virtually non-existent."

how could it ever be proven when there are no control procedures in place?

the idea that it is non-existent is preposterous

Dems have been screaming for two years that Russia wants to interfere in our elections

if there aren't any controls, why wouldn't they commit voter fraud?

doesn't make any sense

"So, where's that middle class tax cut Tяump promised was coming before the mid-term elections????"

will never happen while the Dems have the House

they hate the bourgeoisie

"Its nothing but a flood of lies and deception coming out of Tяump Republicans. That's why they are trying so hard to discredit honest press outlets."

this is a very low IQ statement

November 13, 2018 7:26 PM  
Anonymous let's have a round of 'skis said...

"Research shows only 2% to 6% of sexual misconduct allegations are false"

how could the researcher know who is telling the truth?

let's see:

the Rolling Stone UVA story turned out to be false

the Duke lacrosse team case turned out to be false

at least two of the accusers of Kavanaugh have proven to be false

indeed, one is under investigation by the DOJ for making false statements to Congress

Hillary says all the women who accused Bill CLinton are making it up

are you calling Hillary a liar?

"Dr. Ford passed a lie detector test, illegitimate Supreme Court justice Kavanaugh refused to take one."

Ford is a psychiatrist who has trained others how to beat lie detectors

Kavanaugh offered to take one

"All three accusers have been getting death threats,"

oh, I find that difficult to believe at this point

who would care that much?

"Christine Ford and her family have been forced out of their house and into hiding. Her life has been turned upside down as she knew it would if she came forward. She obviously didn't make up her story knowing she'd go through this."

she didn't know

Diane Frankenstein agreed to keep it all confidential

Ford was able to move out because she has a gofundme account of over a million, basically allowing her to retire

"Julie Swetnek signed an affadavit attesting to the accusations she's made against Kavanaugh. If is shown to have lied she loses her security clearances, her job, and goes to jail. She is obviously not going to risk all that to lie about Kavanaugh."

would you apply that standard to Michael Flynn?

Priya, you ignorant fool

you're on the other side of the border, where you belong

"I don't think Susan Collins has actually been threatened. I believe she went through something but is really confused about the facts.

How does that feel Susan???"

what? that some creepy foreign troll is accusing Collins of lying?

it feels like someone who has proof of the threats

"She can tell it to the families of the women who will die when legal and safe abortion is made illegal."

well, she can also tell all the babies not killed by mothers who thought were an inconvenient nuisance

Priya, you are a vile amoral pig

November 13, 2018 7:43 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Report: Trump’s Retreated Into “Cocoon Of Bitterness”

For weeks this fall, an ebullient President Trump traveled relentlessly to hold raise-the-rafters campaign rallies — sometimes three a day — in states where his presence was likely to help Republicans on the ballot.

But his mood apparently has changed as he has taken measure of the electoral backlash that voters delivered Nov. 6. With the certainty that the incoming Democratic House majority will go after his tax returns and investigate his actions, and the likelihood of additional indictments by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Trump has retreated into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment, according to multiple administration sources.

Behind the scenes, they say, the president has lashed out at several aides, from junior press assistants to senior officials. “He’s furious,” said one administration official. “Most staffers are trying to avoid him.”

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, painted a picture of a brooding president “trying to decide who to blame” for Republicans’ election losses, even as he publicly and implausibly continues to claim victory.

According to a source outside the White House who has spoken recently with the president, last week’s Wall Street Journal report confirming Trump’s central role during the 2016 campaign in quietly arranging payoffs for two women alleging affairs with him seemed to put him in an even worse mood.

Publicly, Trump has been increasingly absent in recent days — except on Twitter. He has canceled travel plans and dispatched Cabinet officials and aides to events in his place — including sending Vice President Mike Pence to Asia for the annual summits there in November that past presidents nearly always attended.

Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin were the only world leaders to skip a procession of world leaders to another commemoration, on Sunday, at the Arc de Triomphe. About 80 heads of state walked in unison — under umbrellas in the pouring rain — down Paris’ grand Champs-Elysees boulevard. Trump arrived later by motorcade, a decision aides claimed was made for "security reasons" lol.

Nicholas Burns, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO under George W. Bush, said the weekend events, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of a war in which 120,000 Americans were killed, were ripe for soaring words and symbolic gestures, which Trump failed to provide.

“Not only did he barely show up, he didn't say anything that would help Americans understand the scale of the loss, or the importance of avoiding another great war,” Burns said. “He seemed physically and emotionally apart. It’s such a striking difference between the enthusiasm he showed during the campaign and then going to Paris and sulking in his hotel room.”

Much more at the link, its well worth reading it all.

November 13, 2018 11:59 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Nicholas Soames, a member of Britain’s Parliament and grandson of Winston Churchill, tweeted, "They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen.”

November 14, 2018 12:01 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality violates the first commandment: be fruitful and multiply said...

"For weeks this fall, an ebullient President Trump traveled relentlessly to hold raise-the-rafters campaign rallies — sometimes three a day — in states where his presence was likely to help Republicans on the ballot."

gee, wonder why he's not still doing that?

hey, I know:

the election's over!

"But his mood apparently has changed as he has taken measure of the electoral backlash that voters delivered Nov. 6."

oh, he's done much better than the most recent Dem presidents in the first mid-term

if he's upset about that, which he probably isn't, he's misinformed

Trump controls the entire executive branch, the Senate, and the Supreme Court

Dems have the House with a mix of socialists and centrists

"With the certainty that the incoming Democratic House majority will go after his tax returns"

they'll have to have some specific reason to subpoena his tax returns, which are private by law

they have none, and Brett Kavanaugh won't allow it

"and investigate his actions,"

that happens to all Presidents

big deal

"and the likelihood of additional indictments by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III,"

so far, all the indictments by Mueller have just reinforced Trump's innocence

"Trump has retreated into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment, according to multiple administration sources."

you can get multiple anonymous administration sources to say just about anything

"Behind the scenes, they say, the president has lashed out at several aides, from junior press assistants to senior officials."

how uncharacteristic..LOL

"“He’s furious,” said one administration official. “Most staffers are trying to avoid him.”"

any idea what he's mad about?

"The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, painted a picture of a brooding president “trying to decide who to blame” for Republicans’ election losses, even as he publicly and implausibly continues to claim victory."

sounds like he's in pretty good shape

the Arizona thing is a little disappointing

but another Dem Senator with a history of consulting witches could be good for a laugh

maybe this anonymous official is mad because she's about to be fired

November 14, 2018 6:10 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is how life is perpetuated and it has a privileged status said...

"According to a source outside the White House who has spoken recently with the president, last week’s Wall Street Journal report confirming Trump’s central role during the 2016 campaign in quietly arranging payoffs for two women alleging affairs with him seemed to put him in an even worse mood."

why would it?

it's old news and the public didn't seem to give a crap about it before

ever since Bill Clinton blazed thus trail, this is a non-story

certainly nothing illegal about it

"Publicly, Trump has been increasingly absent in recent days — except on Twitter. He has canceled travel plans and dispatched Cabinet officials and aides to events in his place — including sending Vice President Mike Pence to Asia for the annual summits there in November that past presidents nearly always attended."

what a bunch of BS spin

he just went to Paris

"Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin were the only world leaders to skip a procession of world leaders to another commemoration, on Sunday, at the Arc de Triomphe. About 80 heads of state walked in unison — under umbrellas in the pouring rain — down Paris’ grand Champs-Elysees boulevard."

maybe they were at a cafe on the left bank laughing about what a loser Hillary is

"Trump arrived later by motorcade, a decision aides claimed was made for "security reasons" lol."

yes, what security concerns could there be?

lol

"Nicholas Burns, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO under George W. Bush, said the weekend events, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of a war in which 120,000 Americans were killed, were ripe for soaring words and symbolic gestures, which Trump failed to provide."

thanks for the advice, Nick

Trump is President because he ignored advice from morons like you

"“Not only did he barely show up, he didn't say anything that would help Americans understand the scale of the loss, or the importance of avoiding another great war,” Burns said."

I kind of think everyone understands the importance of avoiding another war to end all wars

Trump is actually quite a peacemonger, maintaining talking realtionships with all our adversaries, much to the chagrin of liberals

"Much more at the link, its well worth reading it all."

even what Pigya Lynn posted wasn't worth reading

there's no reason to believe the rest is

"Nicholas Soames, a member of Britain’s Parliament and grandson of Winston Churchill, tweeted, "They died with their face to the foe and that pathetic inadequate @realDonaldTrump couldn’t even defy the weather to pay his respects to The Fallen.”"

there's nothing more pathetic than a two-bit British politician

November 14, 2018 6:24 AM  
Anonymous He's deplorable said...

One week after Election Day, President Donald Trump's daily drumbeat of warnings about a caravan of "bad thugs" and potential terrorists intent on invading the U.S. from Mexico has largely fallen silent.

The migrant caravans are still trudging along, the largest still about 1,000 miles from the southern border, but Trump — and many in the conservative media — have dramatically reduced the frequency and intensity of their dire warnings now that they no longer feel the same urgency to stir up GOP voters.

For weeks before the election, the caravan was a dominant news story. The largest caravan was believed to have formed in Honduras on Oct. 12 and first was featured in a "Fox & Friends" segment four days later, which prompted a tweet from the show's most famous fan.

As the midterms approached, Trump and his conservative allies flooded the zone with harsh rhetoric and hardline policy proposals, including sending troops to the border, revoking birthright citizenship and an ad featuring a Latino man convicted of killing two police officers that was widely condemned as racist.

But the caravan was Trump's favorite talking point. During his final blitz of campaign rallies, he hammered at the threat night after night and, without evidence, suggested that Democrats were supporting — and perhaps funding — the march of migrants.

Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric on Twitter too. One tweet read: "We will NOT let these Caravans, which are also made up of some very bad thugs and gang members, into the U.S. Our Border is sacred, must come in legally. TURN AROUND!"

That tweet, on Oct. 31, was his last on the subject. Since the election, he's invoked the caravan only once. Asked about it during a news conference last Wednesday, Trump said "I'm not just talking about the caravans" when talking about militarizing the southern border and his proposed wall.

"Clearly, this was an election-eve stunt designed to whip up the base that really didn't have much foundation in fact and, clearly, when the election was over there was no need to keep beating those drums," said Mark Feldstein, journalism professor at the University of Maryland. He added that what the conservative media did with the story was "really toxic" and divided an already polarized country.

"The very fact that they dropped it so suddenly is just further confirmation of how bogus the story was in the first place," Feldstein said.

Fox News spent more than 33 hours discussing the caravan through Election Day, according to a study by Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog organization. On Nov. 7, the day after the election, Fox had no discussions centered on the caravan. On Nov. 8, the network spent four minutes and 57 seconds on discussions centered on the caravan, according to the study.

November 14, 2018 7:10 AM  
Anonymous let's have a round of 'skis said...

DONALD JOHN TRUMP announced Tuesday he is nominating Neomi Rao to fill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s vacant seat on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Rao is a vocal advocate of Trump’s efforts to slash government regulations, crediting the reductions with stimulating job growth.

“I think the reform efforts are part of what has stimulated economic growth and job creation and promoted technological innovation. And from my perspective, our reform efforts have really focused on promoting the rule of law and emphasized the productivity and potential of the American people that’s possible when you get rid of unnecessary economic burdens,” Rao said at an American Bar Association conference earlier this month.

Kavanaugh, who at the time was a judge on the D.C. circuit court, was confirmed to the Supreme Court after being slandered by Democrats in the Senate.

The D.C. circuit court is often considered the nation’s second most important court, behind the Supreme Court. It has served as a launching pad for other Supreme Court justices in addition to Kavanaugh, including low-IQ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but also brilliant John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia.

November 14, 2018 8:55 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals ain't a marriage said...

Last week Justice Brett Kavanaugh attended his investiture ceremony, further solidifying his rightful seat on the Supreme Court. President Trump and Kavanaugh’s fellow justices, with the exception of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who was absent due to a fall, attended in his honor.

“This special sitting of the court is held today to receive the commission of the newly appointed associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Brett M. Kavanaugh,” Chief Justice John Roberts said at the beginning of the ceremony. “We are pleased to have with us today the president of the United States. On behalf of the court, Mr. President, I extend to you and the first lady a warm welcome. We are also pleased to have with us our retired colleague, Justice Anthony Kennedy.”

Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, who worked with Kavanaugh on the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., was also in attendance.

Just days before the ceremony took place, the Senate Judiciary Committee released a 414-page report that said not a single claim made against Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing had any evidence.

“After an extensive investigation that included the thorough review of all potentially credible evidence submitted and interviews of more than 40 individuals with information relating to the allegations, including classmates and friends of all those involved, Committee investigators found no witness who could provide any verifiable evidence to support any of the allegations brought against Justice Kavanaugh,” the report states. “In other words, following the separate and extensive investigations by both the Committee and the FBI, there was no evidence to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault made against Justice Kavanaugh.”

In fact, one woman admitted to congressional investigators she falsely accused Kavanaugh of rape to “get attention” and never actually met him.

“Under questioning by Committee investigators, Ms. Munro-Leighton admitted, contrary to her prior claims, that she had not been sexually assaulted by Judge Kavanaugh,” the report reveals. “She further confessed to Committee investigators that (1) she ‘just wanted to get attention’; (2) ‘it was a tactic’; and (3) ‘that was just a ploy.’ She told Committee investigators that she had called Congress multiple times during the Kavanaugh hearing process — including prior to the time Dr. Ford’s allegations surfaced — to oppose his nomination.”

Since Kavanaugh’s confirmation was finally approved in early October, a number of individuals who made bogus claims have been referred to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution. They are being accused of crimes ranging from conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of Congress.

November 14, 2018 10:22 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

“When a well-meaning citizen comes forward with information relevant to the committee’s work, I take it seriously. It takes courage to come forward, especially with allegations of sexual misconduct or personal trauma. I’m grateful for those who find that courage,” Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement about the referrals. “But in the heat of partisan moments, some do try to knowingly mislead the committee. That’s unfair to my colleagues, the nominees and others providing information who are seeking the truth. It stifles our ability to work on legitimate lines of inquiry. It also wastes time and resources for destructive reasons. Thankfully, the law prohibits such false statements to Congress and obstruction of congressional committee investigations. For the law to work, we can’t just brush aside potential violations. I don’t take lightly making a referral of this nature, but ignoring this behavior will just invite more of it in the future.”

Despite these facts, Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) and others entered the false claims into the Congressional Record. They berated Kavanaugh in front of the country as a liar and a sexual predator. Upon his confirmation, they vowed to impeach him should Democrats ever regain control of the Senate. Based on the false allegations perpetuated by Democratic senators and their allies in the media, the left questioned his ability to be a safe father or proper coach of his daughter’s basketball team. All of it was and continues to be a total disgrace.

Based on what we know now, it’s clearer than ever Democrats owe Kavanaugh, his family and the country an apology for the smears they proliferated. It’s just too bad one will never come.

November 14, 2018 10:23 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL said...

After years of dismissing concerns about election integrity, the mainstream media now has to grapple with a recount meltdown in Florida’s races for governor and U.S. Senate. Both races could go to an arduous recount of ballots by hand if the machine recount that will conclude this Thursday has either or both races ending with a margin of victory below 0.25 percent.

The epicenter of the mess is Broward and Palm Beach counties – the same counties that were at the heart of the Bush v. Gore recount mess in 2000.

The liberal media’s reporting on this situation has not been good. CNN election forecaster Harry Enten recently tweeted “‘Voter fraud’ is quickly becoming a synonym for ‘result I don’t like.’” But the problems in both counties are very real and could indeed be facilitating fraud.

In Republican governor and Senate candidate Rick Scott’s lawsuit against Democratic Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher, the county court found that Bucher was illegally withholding over-votes and under-votes from the county canvassing board and barring public viewing of the counting.

Gov. Scott also filed a lawsuit against Broward County Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes last Thursday, alleging that her office was hiding information about the number of ballots left to be counted. Again, a county court ruled in his favor as Snipes kept “discovering” new ballots.

Despite these clear rulings, the Sunday morning programs on ABC News and NBC News ignored the court orders. While it’s certainly true that claims of election irregularities and fraud shouldn’t be blindly reported, the media has an obligation to pay attention to the context.

When election officials brazenly operate in a high-handed, non-transparent manner, it only increases the suspicions of voters that their ballots haven’t been handled properly or could even have been cancelled out by people who shouldn’t be voting.

Both Broward and Palm Beach counties have a long history of election problems that make suspicion understandable. What we really have to worry about is an election where the bureaucratic bungling is so pervasive you can’t tell where the incompetence ends and the fraud begins.

November 14, 2018 10:29 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL said...

Let’s take Broward County first. Under Snipes, elections in that county of 1.9 million people have been plagued with irregularities for years, as a report compiled by the Republican National Committee makes clear.

Politico reported that, in just the last few years, the county’s election management has become “a parade of horribles.” It concluded that Broward’s election office is “the most controversial in the entire state, if not the whole country. And there are numerous reasons, not just one.”

This year alone, Snipes has been reprimanded by courts twice: first, in May, for illegally destroying ballots during a 2016 Democratic primary; and again in August, for illegally opening mail-in ballots in secret.

Her previous exploits include leaving a medical marijuana question off of some absentee ballots, reporting some vote totals a half hour before polls closed in 2016, sending some voters too many ballot pages, leaving behind at a polling location a "provisional ballot box" that was discovered by a teacher, and designing a horribly confusing ballot that may have led to thousands of undervotes in the 2018 Senate race.

That kind of monumental incompetence creates precisely the breeding ground where fraudsters can operate both on Election Day and during recounts.

Indeed, an example of potential fraud has already been brought to light. The Miami Herald reported that Snipes included 22 ballots in the vote totals cast by voters whose signature did not match the signature on file. Ballots with mismatched signatures are prohibited by state law.

But Snipes included them anyway in a batch of 205 provisional ballots. Since the votes were mixed together, there is no way of separating out fraudulent votes from the batch. Who knows what other irregularities that shade into fraud will be uncovered?

November 14, 2018 10:35 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL said...

Then there are the problems in neighboring Palm Beach County. Bucher, the election supervisor there, is now blaming outdated technology for the fact that her county’s machine recounts of the races for governor and U.S. Senate won’t be finished by the Thursday deadline. “It’s impossible,” she says.

What apparently is also impossible is for Bucher to comply with court orders. Last week the Scott campaign sued her for having her staff duplicate at least 650 damaged ballots. The law specifies that the ballots must first go to the county’s canvassing board. Instead, Bucher doubled-down and tried to block media cameras from covering the deliberations of the canvassing board.

When election officials brazenly operate in a high-handed, non-transparent manner, it only increases the suspicions of voters that their ballots haven’t been handled properly or could even have been cancelled out by people who shouldn’t be voting.

The Florida media, which knows the history of Broward and Palm Beach counties well, is doing a good job. But national media outlets are under pressure to justify their previous dismissals that ballot integrity is at risk in America’s elections.

As the watchdog site Newsbusters reports, some national media outlets appear to be engaged in an effort “to obfuscate what’s actually going on in Florida and to actively suggest any questions otherwise was a part of some conservative conspiracy theory.”

But the facts in Florida are actually disturbing enough that they should engage the media’s investigative teams, which have been spending so much time on Russian involvement in the 2016 election.

Russian media bots did try to influence the 2016 election in a pathetically incompetent way. But the incompetence in Florida could actually lead to a real perversion of democracy that really undermines faith in our electoral process.

November 14, 2018 10:37 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be societally preferenced because it alone brings life said...

Legendary journalist and author Bob Woodward is not joining his colleagues in their support of CNN’s Jim Acosta.

After Acosta had his hard pass to the White House suspended, CNN filed a lawsuit against the White House.

The suit alleges that Acosta’s first and fifth amendment rights were violated.

Woodward attacked CNN arguing too many media figures quote, “have become emotionally unhinged.”

He was speaking at the Global Financial Leadership Conference in Florida…he went on to say, “the remedy isn’t suing the administration.”

This all comes after a tumultuous press conference where Acosta, according to the White House, refused to give up his microphone after asking the President a barrage of questions.

Trump said: “CNN should be ashamed of itself having you work for them. You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn’t be working for CNN.”

The White House saying the lawsuit is just more grandstanding from CNN.

November 14, 2018 10:42 AM  
Anonymous Dowd believed Trump was incapable of telling the truth. said...

Everybody knows IQ45 is a "rude, terrible person."

He lies for sport, so much that Bob Woodward reported via CNN:

"One veteran lawyer who recently represented President Donald Trump believes he is a "liar" and told Trump he could end up in "an orange jump suit" if he testifies before special counsel Robert Mueller, according to a new book. FEAR, from legendary journalist Bob Woodward.

The 448-page opus from the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, "Fear: Trump in the White House," goes behind the scenes of the Russia investigation. The book, based on confidential background interviews, portrays a President even more deeply obsessed with the Mueller investigation than has been previously reported or understood.

Woodward reveals confidential conversations between Trump and his attorney John Dowd, who led the President's legal team until March. Readers get a glimpse into the world of the notoriously tight-lipped Mueller and, for the first time, get a window into his negotiations with Trump's lawyers.

Woodward describes how Dowd made Trump sit for a mock interview to try to prove to the President that testifying would be a terrible idea. Trump failed the test miserably, Woodward writes, and Dowd left convinced that the President could not survive Mueller's questioning without committing perjury. Dowd believed Trump was incapable of telling the truth.

In a shocking twist, Trump's lawyers later took a dramatic step and re-enacted the scene in front of Mueller. Dowd played the role of special counsel and posed questions to Jay Sekulow, who impersonated a combative Trump. Sekulow is still one of Trump's personal lawyers.

Dowd eventually advised Trump, "Don't testify. It's either that or an orange jump suit." Woodward reports that Dowd couldn't bring himself to tell Trump directly what he believed was true: "You're a fucking liar."..."

Read all about it:

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/04/politics/woodward-trump-lawyer-orange-jumpsuite/index.html

November 14, 2018 12:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

“FOX News supports CNN in its legal effort to regain its White House reporter’s press credential. We intend to file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court. Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized. While we don’t condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people.”

The statement is signed by Fox News’ President Jay Wallace.

November 14, 2018 12:24 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality deserves a lot of priviliges as society's life producer said...

politicians generally don't succeed unless they lie

my guess is Mueller could get anyone he wants into some lie, that he can then use to blackmail them

it's his skill, his special contribution to society

my guess is Bob Woodward, John Dowd, Robert Mueller, and Jay Sekulow have also told a few in their time as well

don't even get me started on Bill, Hillary, and Barack

the big difference is that while Trump lies a lot, they are insubstantial lies

important things, like promises to voters, are all true

in that sense, Trump has been much more honest than the average politician


November 14, 2018 12:31 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I wonder which thing is going to destroy Trump's world...Mueller's final report? Or the Democrats controlling the House in January? He has never had to answer or be held accountable, he gets away with everything by suing and lying and having fixers and filing bankruptcy. All that is about to be been upended. He doesn't control the narrative anymore and that is truly a house of cards that is about to fall...

November 14, 2018 1:03 PM  
Anonymous The Oval Office panic room said...

President Donald Trump is not himself. And by "not himself" I mean he seems to have lost his swagger. Ever since the midterm elections, he's been churlish and petulant. His brazen braggadocio is suddenly dull and off-key. The question is what exactly has him brooding and upset.

Sure, he held a press conference the morning after the election at which he ludicrously asserted, "I’ll be honest: I think it was a great victory. And actually, some of the news this morning was that it was, in fact, a great victory." The news that morning was nothing of the kind, of course. And even he couldn't pull it off. He rapidly devolved into his patented media-bashing to change the subject and ended up looking like the worst sore loser in presidential history.

That same day he fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions and replaced him with someone he believed would protect him from the Mueller investigation -- a man described by George Conway -- Kellyanne Conway's husband -- as a "constitutional nobody." And that wasn't his worst day last week.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal published a big scoop revealing that the feds have unearthed plenty of evidence that Trump had personally broken campaign finance laws. More troubling for him is that the three people given immunity -- lawyer Michael Cohen, National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg -- know where a lot of other metaphorical bodies are buried. (We hope there are no real bodies involved.)

Luckily Trump had a chance to de-stress over the weekend on a nice trip to France for some military pageants, which he loves more than anything. Sadly, this got off to a bad start when he watched a Fox News show that misinterpreted a comment from French President Emmanuel Macron, who has suggested that Europe needs to create its own army to defend itself against Russia, China and the U.S., and took to Twitter to lash out. The Washington Post reports that British Prime Minister Theresa May called Air Force One during the trip to congratulate Trump on his electoral "victory" and he inexplicably exploded at her over Iran.

So the trip didn't start off well and only got worse as Trump acted like a sullen child at the ceremonies he deigned to attend. He didn't even bother to go to the one to commemorate the American dead of World War I -- which ended 100 years ago this week -- instead staying inside and tweeting threats at California as it suffered from catastrophic wildfires. He finally roused himself to attend the big final ceremony, although he couldn't bring himself to walk with the other leaders. He greeted his only real friend, Vladimir Putin, as enthusiastically as one of those dogs who throw themselves at their masters returning from a deployment to Iraq. He didn't care for his former buddy Macron chiding him by suggesting that nationalism wasn't really all that great considering the wars it precipitated, including the horrifying meat-grinder they were all there to memorialize.

November 14, 2018 1:05 PM  
Anonymous The Oval Office panic room said...

He's been pouting ever since his return. He's holed up in the White House furiously posting hysterical tweets about stopping the vote count in Florida and making irresponsible declarations about Democratic fraud and cheating. The Los Angeles Times reports that Trump has "retreated into a cocoon of bitterness and resentment, according to multiple administration sources." The chaos in the White House on Monday and Tuesday was so intense that one former staffer called it, "like an episode of ‘Maury' ... the only thing that’s missing is a paternity test,” according to Politico. Rumors of firings and resignations are flying around so fast that they are bumping into each other.

In one of the weirdest Trump administration episodes yet, it was reported on Tuesday that Mira Ricardel, John Bolton's second in command at the National Security Council, had abruptly been fired. Then that was taken back, and nobody really knew what was going on until First Lady Melania Trump's office announced that Ricardel "no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House." Melania had apparently demanded Ricardel's ouster because of some issues over airplane seats during her Africa trip and the president reportedly gave the OK to fire her, saying "I don't need this s**t." (Perhaps that Wall Street Journal exposé about the hush money added a little stress in the private residence as well?)

This is all a far cry from those giddy early days of the administration when Trump went on a Victory Tour to celebrate with his adoring fans, isn't it? He had barely eked out a tiny win, not all that different from last week's GOP victory in the Senate (where Democratic candidates got 14 million more votes, at last count), but he was able to sell it as a result of his brilliance because it was so unexpected. It's likely he thought that was going to happen again -- but the "Red Wave" didn't materialize and reality is starting to bite, and bite hard.

Trump feels betrayed by all those Republicans who failed to win and made him look like a loser. He's been stabbed in the back by Emmanuel Macron, his little buddy, who hasn't found that flattering Trump got him anywhere and has stopped trying. Kim Jong-un, the man who sends him "beautiful letters" after the two of them "fell in in love," is making a fool of him by continuing to build missile sites after Trump announced to the world that North Korea's nuclear threat was over. Then there's the latest in a long line of former intimates who've turned state's evidence, possibly including his old pal Roger Stone, who appears to be on the verge of indictment. Firing Sessions, the man who committed the original sin of following the rules instead of being his "Roy Cohn," hasn't made him feel any better.

I suspect the biggest reason for all this is the ultimate betrayal: His followers failed him by not voting in great enough numbers to defy all the predictions and prove that he is the biggest winner in American political history. He may not be stable and he may not be a genius, but right now he knows that he looks like a loser. Perhaps he also instinctively realizes that may just break the spell some of his voters have been under since he was unexpectedly elected two years ago -- the belief that even though he is personally a mess and his administration is nonstop chaos, he's an unbeatable giant-slayer, an omnipotent superhero who transcends the normal definition of leadership. He lost, and his followers will never see him the same way again.

Once a con man is exposed, he blows town and moves on to the next mark. But Donald Trump is the president of the United States. He's trapped and he has nowhere else to go.

November 14, 2018 1:05 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be societally preferenced because it alone brings life said...

this kind of BS psychoanalysis of Trump appears periodically in the media

always looks ridiculous with a couple of months hindsight

btw, paying off women you've had an affair with is not a crime

media helping candidates is not an illegal campaign contribution

if it were, MSNBC and Hillary would be in jail

November 14, 2018 1:15 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

History will remember Tяump as the man who made Nixon look not so bad.

November 14, 2018 1:32 PM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL said...

History will remember Harvey Weinstein as the man who made Bill Clinton look not so bad.

November 14, 2018 1:44 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness."

- Exodus 23:1


He's talking to YOU, Wyatt/Regina/bad anonymous.

November 14, 2018 2:19 PM  
Anonymous Your Trump U education is showing again said...

"btw, paying off women you've had an affair with is not a crime"

It is when you pay them off a month before the election with an illegal $130,000.00 campaign contribution from your personal attorney which you then refund with money from the Trump Organization via CFO Allen Weisselberg.

See

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics/read-michael-cohen-plea-deal/index.html

and

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_donor

"a straw donor may contribute to a political campaign before being reimbursed by another, who is using that person as a conduit to exceed the limits on campaign contributions under the laws of a jurisdiction."

November 14, 2018 2:38 PM  
Anonymous Dems try so hard said...

"It is when you pay them off a month before the election with an illegal $130,000.00 campaign contribution from your personal attorney which you then refund with money from the Trump Organization via CFO Allen Weisselberg."

every campaign has attorneys

they routinely pay expenses and get reimbursed

virtually every legal bill contains reimbursables

that has never been considered a campaign donation

if it is, that would seriously impede the entire legal profession

and judges are known to be fond of the legal profession

even if you subscribed to this far-fetched notion, Cohen was Trump's long-standing attorney from before he got into politics

that Dems now put their hope into this inane charge just proves that they have nothing on Trump

November 14, 2018 3:25 PM  
Anonymous Jennifer Rubin: A frightful portrait of a president out of control said...

...As bad a Trump’s public outbursts may be, he is even less composed, rational and stable behind closed doors. Once more — as we saw with Bob Woodward’s book, the anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, Michael Wolff’s book, Omarosa Manigault Newman’s tell-all, and countless news reports — the people who work most closely with Trump know best how emotionally, intellectually and temperamentally unfit he is for the job. And yet, they continue to mislead the public, and remain silent after leaving, as to the president’s ability to carry out his duties.

Trump apologists, as they habitually do, will deny and disbelieve reporting. But foreign leaders, outside friends, members of Congress and others who observe him on a daily basis now spill their guts to the media, perhaps to distance themselves from the White House’s downward spiral.

There are several takeaways from all of this.

First, Trump will get worse under pressure. If he is this bad now, imagine what he’ll be like if more associates are indicted, the economy goes to seed or the subpoenas start flying. At some point, unless Trump has him fired, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III will issue his report. Unless it miraculously exonerates him, the president may have a meltdown that will make his trip to France look like a picnic.

Second, self-described saviors of the country, such as the anonymous op-ed writer, are deluding themselves if they believe they are preventing the president from harming the country. Daily, he threatens democratic norms, blemishes the United States’ reputation around the world and makes worse and worse personnel decisions in an effort to surround himself with more compliant aides. If Trump fires Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, it is not clear how many more erratic decisions will be made or how serious the ramifications may be.

Third, all of this points to the gross irresponsibility of Republicans who, for two years, refused to exercise any oversight and continue to spin on his behalf. They would rather excuse the conduct of an unbalanced and hysterical commander in chief then move to limit his powers (e.g., reassert that a first strike is an act of war requiring congressional authorization, claw back power to enact tariffs). They likely will continue to rubber-stamp his executive branch picks, no matter how unprepared and temperamentally unfit they may be. Even more reprehensible, they will heartily endorse him for reelection while maligning his challengers. Maybe if they see control of the Senate slipping away, they will finally cut him loose.

All of this reminds us that Democratic control of the House is only a halfway measure. Unless and until Trump is out of office, the country, our democracy and our security remain at risk.

November 14, 2018 3:28 PM  
Anonymous It sucks to be you said...

Now you're flaunting your Trump U education.

Nobody is hanging anything on to Cohen's illegal campaign contribution.

You wish that was the extent of the stink coming from the White House, but as usual, you're wrong.

House Democrats now have subpoena power including access to IQ45's tax returns and Mueller is still doggedly working to uncover the truth about Russia's collusion with the tRump campaign in 2016.

McConnell is suddenly begging for bipartisanship and I hope he gets exactly what he wanted to give Democrats -- a one finger salute salute to a one term president.

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades!

November 14, 2018 3:45 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals just ain't a marriage said...

"Nobody is hanging anything on to Cohen's illegal campaign contribution"

really? that's the only specific I've heard from you guys

the rest is just, "we don't like him so he must be guilty of something"

problem is, that's true of most people

how 'bout this guy:

Michael Avenatti, the attorney who rose to infamy representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in her attacks against President Trump, is in police custody in Los Angeles following an incidence of domestic violence, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

Avenatti was taken into custody Wednesday after police responded to a domestic violence incident a day earlier and took a report, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

A call and text message seeking comment weren’t immediately returned.

Avenatti has been mulling a 2020 presidential run against Trump (LOL). Avenatti had been scheduled for appearances in Vermont this weekend that were immediately cancelled following reports of his arrest, the Burlington Free Press reported.

"House Democrats now have subpoena power including access to IQ45's tax returns"

more fantasy

they need reasonable cause to violate a citizen's privacy like that

there isn't any

"and Mueller is still doggedly working to uncover the truth about Russia's collusion with the tRump campaign in 2016"

does anyone even believe Mueller will come up with anything?

"McConnell is suddenly begging for bipartisanship and I hope he gets exactly what he wanted to give Democrats -- a one finger salute salute to a one term president."

that's the kind of attitude that will give the House back to the GOP in two years

how can Dems be so stupid?



November 14, 2018 6:57 PM  
Anonymous Crow, a dish best served cold said...

The homophobe troll said:

"I’ll go out on a limb again to predict another upset for the GOP on Tuesday.

Republicans will expand their Senate majority by three to six seats.

It will be very close, but the GOP will hold the House.

And America stays bright red.

NOVEMBER 04, 2018 10:50 PM "

Oooof!

Pop goes the bubble!

By all means, keep making your humorous predictions.

"that's the kind of attitude that will give the House back to the GOP in two years

how can Dems be so stupid?"

How did you GOPers get yourselves so trumped?

November 14, 2018 8:05 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is how life is perpetuated and it has a privileged status said...

sad

at best, the Dems scored a moral victory by proving people don't like Donald Trump

it's clear now that the judiciary will be completely transformed

and there's not a damn thing you can do

ditto for the corporate tax cuts

and the health care mandate

but, sure, keep on crowing

btw, which Dem do you think will beat Trump in 2020?

the bartender from Queens?

the porn lawyer?

Pocohantas from Massachusetts?

the Bern?

the sleazy good wife of Bill?

November 14, 2018 9:20 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

---------------------
97% of families in Ohio what are exempt from food stamps work requirements are white.

95% of Ohio's black families live outside of these counties that don't have work requirements - they have to work to get food stamps.

Republicans - What do you mean they're racist????

November 14, 2018 11:30 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Donald Tяump "I love the poorly educated!"

This is why Republicans don't want to pay teachers:

Better pay equals better teachers.
Better teachers equals a better education.
Better education equals smarter voters....
And smart voters don't vote Republican!

November 14, 2018 11:31 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

So, Michael Avenatti was arrested for domestic violence. There goes his 2020 presidential bid...unless he runs as a Republican - they don't much care about that sort of thing.

November 15, 2018 12:53 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality needs to be encouraged, homosexuality discouraged: you know why? said...

"97% of families in Ohio what are exempt from food stamps work requirements are white.

95% of Ohio's black families live outside of these counties that don't have work requirements - they have to work to get food stamps.

Republicans - What do you mean they're racist????"

what we mean is that Republican policies provide minorities with the dignity of a job rather than the indignity of living on government handouts

lowest minority unemployment ever, courtesy of the GOP

Dems want minorities to be perpetually dependent so they remain loyal Dem voters

there are rumblings that some have caught on

when they do, Dems will never win another election

"This is why Republicans don't want to pay teachers:"

you think teachers are underpaid?

even the Washington Post thinks the teacher union is bankrupting Montgomery County

"Better pay equals better teachers.
Better teachers equals a better education.
Better education equals smarter voters....
And smart voters don't vote Republican!"

so sad, Dems used to support the working man

now, they are the party of elitists

"So, Michael Avenatti was arrested for domestic violence. There goes his 2020 presidential bid...unless he runs as a Republican - they don't much care about that sort of thing."

so sad how Pigya Lynn just sets themself up

remember how after Anthony Weiner had been convicted of sending his penis pictures to random women, Dems ran him for mayor of NYC?

Dems' elder statesman is a serial rapist, Bill Clinton

it's a long Dem tradition

from Ted Kennedy leaving Mary Jo Kapaekni drowning to Barney Frank's boyfriend running a gay prostitution ring out of Frank's apartment

Kennedy and Frank, the height of Dem esteem

November 15, 2018 6:35 AM  
Anonymous Facebook reportedly paid for smear campaign against George Soros said...

In an effort to muffle criticism of how it handled Russian interference and disinformation, Facebook reportedly carried out a campaign to discredit dissenters which included targeted attacks on Jewish billionaire philanthropist George Soros.

A New York Times investigation, published Wednesday, delves into the social media giant’s handling of the controversy and chaos following the discovery of targeted disinformation campaigns. It reported that, facing increasing backlash in Washington, Facebook hired Definers Public Affairs, a Republican opposition research firm, to discredit anti-Facebook protesters by linking them to figures like Soros, a longtime critic of the social network.

The Times reported that Facebook initially was working with Definers to monitor press coverage of the company, but then expanded its involvement with them in October 2017. The public relations firm then reportedly began promoting negative coverage of Facebook’s rivals, including Apple and Google.

Definers also reportedly targeted Soros after anti-Facebook activists promoted what appeared to be anti-Semitic imagery during a congressional hearing. They sent a research document to reporters over the summer alleging that Soros was behind an anti-Facebook movement; his Open Society Foundations, for example, supported a group that his son founded as well as Color of Change, a group that belongs to an anti-Facebook advocacy group called Freedom From Facebook.

Facebook confirmed that Definers did urge some members of the media to examine the group’s funding, though fiercely rebutted any connection to anti-Semitism.

“The intention was to demonstrate that it was not simply a spontaneous grassroots campaign, as it claimed, but supported by a well-known critic of our company,” according to a statement. “To suggest that this was an anti-Semitic attack is reprehensible and untrue.”

Tim Miller, a Definers official, expressed his disgust over his company’s actions being viewed as anti-Semitic, stating that the information sent to journalists was all based on public records.

“Im disgusted by the rise of anti-semitism including people who have falsely targeted Soros,” he tweeted Wednesday night. “It’s deeply deeply personal. I’ve continuously fought the alt-right & others who spread racist lies & hate & will keep doing so.”

A Facebook spokesperson also denied the accusations that the company played a direct role in Definers’ work, saying in a statement that “it is wrong to suggest that we have ever asked Definers to pay for or write articles on Facebook’s behalf, or communicate anything untrue.”

The company said it cut ties with Definers following the publication of the Times exposé and told HuffPost that top executives like Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg weren’t aware of Definers’ work for Facebook.

Excoriated for not taking the fake news crisis seriously enough, Facebook continues to grapple with “coordinated inauthentic behavior.” Dozens of pages and accounts were taken down ahead of the midterm elections, though whether these efforts were sufficient remains unclear.

November 15, 2018 9:23 AM  
Anonymous Unlike the party of the Grabbers Of Pussies said...

TMZ and BuzzFeed News had first reported that Avenatti was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. Early reports indicated the incident involved Avenatti's estranged wife, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, but her lawyer released a statement to NBC News denying those accounts.

"Ms. Storie-Avenatti was not subject to any such incident on Tuesday night," the statement said. "Further, she was not at Mr. Avenatti’s apartment on the date that this alleged incident occurred. My client states that there has never been domestic violence in her relationship with Michael and that she has never known Michael to be physically violent toward anyone. My client requests that the media respect her privacy and that of the parties young son."

The LAPD did not disclose the identity of the reporting party or the exact nature of the injuries.

Avenatti became a well-known fixture on cable news for representing Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. She claims she had a sexual relationship with Trump in 2006, which he has denied, and was paid hush money to keep silent.

The Vermont Democratic Party released a statement late Wednesday announcing it would be cancelling events it planned to host over the weekend with Avenatti as speaker.

"It has been widely reported by the Washington Post and other outlets that Michael Avenatti has been arrested in Los Angeles, California on charges of suspected felony domestic violence," the statement said. "The Vermont Democratic Party has cancelled Mr. Avenatti’s forthcoming scheduled appearances in Vermont, and will be refunding all ticket sales."

November 15, 2018 9:31 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality deserves a priviliged place in society said...

"Unlike the party of the Grabbers Of Pussies"

isn't it interesting that in the couple of years that liberal Dems have been degrading our public conversations with this crass term, not one woman has emerged accusing Donald trump of sexual assault?

yet, that seems to happen to prominent Dems on a regular basis

November 15, 2018 10:38 AM  
Anonymous New York attorney general says Trump caused his Trump Foundation charity to break the law as she seeks to ban president from non-profits for a decade said...

Not everyone has a "charity" they can dip into to illegally cover their expenses.

November 15, 2018 11:14 AM  
Anonymous The 22 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct said...

Jessica Leeds

Ivana Trump

Kristin Anderson

Jill Harth

Lisa Boyne

Mariah Billado and Victoria Hughes

Temple Taggart

Cathy Heller

Karena Virginia

Tasha Dixon and Bridget Sullivan

Melinda McGillivray

Natasha Stoynoff

Jennifer Murphy and Juliet Huddy

Rachel Crooks

Samantha Holvey

Ninni Laaksonen

Jessica Drake

Summer Zervos

Cassandra Searles


November 15, 2018 11:47 AM  
Anonymous What's interesting said...

is how willfully, stupidly, and deplorably uninformed all you members of the party of the Grabbers Of Pussies are.

November 15, 2018 11:55 AM  
Anonymous I'm walkin' on sunshine said...

"22 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct"

let's hear the worst allegation in there

your choice, and we'll discuss

did you know that the US is THE ONLY country currently on-track o meet the goals of the Paris climate accord?

A new report calls the lie on the grand Paris climate change treaty. None of the promised cuts in CO2 emissions will come close to preventing a climate "catastrophe." And the industrialized nations aren't even living up to the promises they did make.

This farce was made abundantly clear in an annual report by Climate Transparency, an international group focused on the G-20 nations.

"None of the G-20 (emissions targets) is in line with the Paris Agreement." The report shows an enormous gap between what the countries have pledged to do, and the far lower CO2 emissions levels that the U.N. says are needed to keep the planet from warming by 2 degrees Celsius.

Most G-20 countries aren't on track to meet the modest greenhouse gas reductions they pledged to achieve by 2030.

As the Climate Transparency report notes, the EU "is not on track to meet its 2030 target." Nor is Mexico, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan or Turkey.

A number of G-20 countries actually saw their emissions increase in 2017, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Turkey.

that's right: the hypocrites in Canada actually increased their carbon output in 2017

remember that next time the puerile Justin Trudeau starts up about climate change

Saudi Arabia's emissions will likely double by 2030, compared with 2014. Turkey continues to increase coal-power capacity even though it "runs strongly counter" to its pledges. Japan also has several coal plants in the pipeline. Brazil's deforestation rate has increased, despite its Paris promises to the contrary. Russia's "target is so weak that it would not require a decrease in (greenhouse gas) emissions from current levels."

And, to top it off, CO2 emission in China, already the world's largest emitter, will likely continue to increase until 2030, the report finds. It notes that coal consumption in China "increased again in 2017."

There's reason to be highly skeptical of all the climate change doomsday scenarios. They're all based on 100-year forecasts made by computer models that have trouble predicting what's already happened. And then there's the fact that climate scientists keep getting caught fudging numbers and making basic math errors. The latest involves a highly publicized study on ocean warming. These errors, by the way, always seem to go in one direction: toward making global warming look more ominous.

But even if the dire prediction environmentalist make is true, trying to cut CO2 emissions to prevent it is pointless. The U.N. says global CO2 emissions must be cut in half within 12 years, and reduced to zero in 32 years.

It's clear now that not a single G-20 nation is taking the climate change issue seriously — no matter how much they preach about it, and no matter how many empty promises they make.

President Trump was right to pull the U.S. out of this farce rather than lend it any more undue credibility.

There is a better and far more sensible and frugal approach to deal with "climate change." Forget about wasting money in a futile attempt to quickly decarbonize every economy on the planet. Instead, deal with localized changes if they ever occur. Adaptation to hostile climates is something humanity has shown an amazing ability to achieve, even without modern technology.

The only drawback to this approach is that politicians won't be able to pat themselves on the back for "saving the planet."

November 15, 2018 12:45 PM  
Anonymous TRE45ON said...

All 22 of the woman refute your Grabber Of Pussies LIE that "not one woman has emerged accusing Donald trump" of sexually mistreating them.

It's common knowledge IQ45 takes whatever woman he wants and pays them off when they complain.

You want to discuss this? Go talk to Ivana and Marla.

Meanwhile, Monmouth University Polling Institute reports:

Public Wants Congress to be a Check on Trump

"..The end of the 2018 midterm kicks off the 2020 presidential contest, and the president doesn’t start off with a strong base of support. Just 36% of Americans feel Trump should be re-elected while nearly 6-in-10 (59%) say it is time to have someone else in office. Among registered voters, the result stands at 37% who support re-election and 58% who prefer a new president. Those who want to see someone new in the Oval Office in 2020 include 92% of Democrats, 59% of independents, and a small but not trivial 16% of Republicans.

“It’s interesting that the number of Americans who feel Trump deserves re-election is actually smaller than the number who give him a positive job rating. It seems that some Americans are okay with Trump as president now but feel that four years might be enough,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.

A majority (52%) of the public say that keeping Trump in check should be a major priority for the new Congress and another 20% say it should be a minor priority. Only 25% say that Congress should not prioritize being a check on the president in the coming term. Even most Republicans (54%) join the vast majority of Democrats (92%) and independents (68%) in saying that keeping Trump in check should be at least a minor priority of the new Congress...

The Russia investigation is one area the public will be paying attention to in terms of checking the Trump administration. A majority (54%) say the special counsel’s investigation should continue while 43% say it should come to an end. These results are in line with previous polls since April. Furthermore, 60% support requiring the approval of a panel of federal judges before a special counsel could be fired. Just 31% oppose this constraint on presidential power. This result is nearly identical to a Monmouth poll taken in January when 62% supported and 29% opposed requiring judicial review of any such firing..."

November 15, 2018 1:06 PM  
Anonymous Digby said...

There has always been a contentious relationship between some members of the press and the White House. It's supposed to be that way. There's always an aggressive Jim Acosta from one of the news networks. But until now no president has banned them from the White House or insulted them crudely and personally.

Take Dan Rather and Nixon:

April 08, 1974

"Dan Rather stands waiting to be recognized, calm amid the cries of “Mr. President,” and cool in the press conference glare. President Nixon half smiles and seems to tense as he points to Rather. It is the beginning of another confrontation in what has become a running, real-life drama in prime time television.

The most recent encounter came during the President’s press conference in Houston. When CBS White House correspondent Rather introduced himself, the nonworking press in attendance applauded and Mr. Nixon asked, not good-naturedly, “Are you running for something?” Rather, usually unflappable, was a mite rattled this time and shot back rudely, “No sir, Mr. President, are you?” Then he asked a tough Watergate question.

The brief dialogue dripped bitterness, like an exchange of kidney punches between two boxers who, having fought often and inconclusively, have come to dislike each other personally. And there were practically audible gasps at the breach of press conference decorum. To Rather, a 42-year-old tall, dark, handsome and persistent Texan, his role is to be neither “an attack dog or a lap dog. I want to be a watchdog. If I see something wrong, I start barking and barking and barking. Sometimes I’m wrong; sometimes I’m not.”

He has been barking at presidents since 1964, when he won the White House beat by his reporting of the Kennedy assassination from Dallas when he was CBS Southern correspondent. Lyndon Johnson called him “Dan,” but treated him as something of an apostate. How could Rather, a fellow Texan, be pressing all those prickly questions?

As for the present incumbent, Rather insists, “I feel no hostility toward Mr. Nixon. He was pleasant when I dealt with him in ’66 and ’67. But I knew from the day he became President that we weren’t going to get along. He’s a distant person. It’s his nature that he needs to be by himself, and in his job that can’t be.”

President Nixon and his staff have made no secret of their dislike of Rather for what they consider to be his unnecessarily critical treatment of the President. In 1971 presidential aide John Ehrlichman made a special visit to CBS News president Richard Salant to complain about Rather and suggest that CBS might transfer Dan to, say, El Paso...

But Rather, for public consumption at least, says he is happy making presidents sweat. Mustering all of his drawling charm, Rather smiles pleasantly and explains, “I’m not trying to win a popularity contest.”"

Trump just can't take the heat because he's a thin-skinned bully who doesn't know how to deal with anything but a tabloid media who treats him like a celebrity.

Seriously, he consistently makes that creep Nixon look good by comparison.

November 15, 2018 1:58 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Welcome to the United States, where counting all the votes is election fraud.

November 15, 2018 2:08 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Meet Mathew Whitaker, Trump's pick to replace Jeff Sessions as head of the Justice Department.

In the past 24 hours its been revealed that Whitaker is under FBI investiagation, illegally dodged a subpoena, prosecuted a gay man for his politics, stole money from disabled vererans, and cheated on his taxes.

It's like he's the perfect Trump appointee.

November 15, 2018 2:08 PM  
Anonymous Fox News, CBS News and other outlets back CNN in legal fight against White House said...

Fox News has filed a "friend of the court" brief in federal court in support of CNN's lawsuit against the Trump administration for revoking correspondent Jim Acosta's "hard pass," which gives holders expanded access to the White House complex. Acosta's pass was suspended last week, hours after he sparred with the president in a press conference. CBS News also announced it will be filing an amicus brief in support of CNN, saying in a statement it supports the White House Correspondents Association and CNN's legal fight to restore Acosta's access.

"We do not believe that revoking White House press credentials is an appropriate remedy for a disagreement the White House may have with a particular reporter," CBS News' statement said. "We intend to file a friend of the court brief in support of CNN's lawsuit to defend its constitutional rights."

Fox News anchors and shows are generally supportive of President Trump and his policies — host Sean Hannity appeared at a rally with Mr. Trump earlier this month. Fox News President Jay Wallace said Wednesday the network will file an amicus brief with the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

"Secret Service passes for working White House journalists should never be weaponized," Wallace said in a statement. "While we don't condone the growing antagonistic tone by both the President and the press at recent media avails, we do support a free press, access and open exchanges for the American people."

CNN says it has asked the court for an immediate restraining order requiring the pass be returned to Acosta and will seek permanent relief as part of this process. The White House Correspondents Association has said it "strongly supports" the suit.

Acosta's access to the White House was purportedly suspended because he refused to give up a microphone to a White House intern who reached over and tried to take it away from him during the press conference last week. The White House accused Acosta of placing his hands on the young woman and distributed a video of the incident several analysts concluded was doctored and had the effect of exaggerating the moment of contact.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders called the lawsuit "just more grandstanding from CNN." Although the White House initially said it was revoking Acosta's hard pass because he laid hands on an intern, Sanders' new statement said he "physically refused to surrender a White House microphone to an intern." Sanders also said the new justification for the removal of his pass was that he did not yield to other reporters for questions.

A group of other news organizations, including Fox News, NBC News, the New York Times, the Washington Post and two wire services — AP and Bloomberg — also said they would file a joint amicus brief in support of CNN on Wednesday.

The firm Ballard Spahr issued a statement on behalf of The Associated Press; Bloomberg L.P.; First Look Media Works, Inc.; FOX News; Gannett; National Press Club Journalism Institute; NBC News; The New York Times Co.; POLITICO; Press Freedom Defense Fund; E.W. Scripps Company; USA TODAY NETWORK; and The Washington Post.

"Whether the news of the day concerns national security, the economy, or the environment, reporters covering the White House must remain free to ask questions. It is imperative that independent journalists have access to the President and his activities, and that journalists are not barred for arbitrary reasons," the statement read...

November 15, 2018 3:28 PM  
Anonymous life should be preferenced with marital benefits, homosexuality doesn't bring life said...

"You want to discuss this? Go talk to Ivana and Marla."

yeah, I knew you wouldn't want

TTFers always fear details

details reveal how inane you are

just spout off a few bullets and go hide in your hole

"A majority (52%) of the public say that keeping Trump in check should be a major priority for the new Congress and another 20% say it should be a minor priority. Only 25% say that Congress should not prioritize being a check on the president in the coming term. Even most Republicans (54%) join the vast majority of Democrats (92%) and independents (68%) in saying that keeping Trump in check should be at least a minor priority of the new Congress..."

interesting they didn't vote that way

they returned a Republican majority and added to it

the Dems have no power to do anything but investigate

but, really, the worldwide and national press, the special counsel, the FBI, foreign intelligence agencies and rogue Dem Congressmen have all been doing that already

Dems think they have some new power to demand documents but Trump has already surrendered everything but his tax returns

face it, the Russia collusion hoax is ahoax

"The Russia investigation is one area the public will be paying attention to in terms of checking the Trump administration. A majority (54%) say the special counsel’s investigation should continue while 43% say it should come to an end. These results are in line with previous polls since April. Furthermore, 60% support requiring the approval of a panel of federal judges before a special counsel could be fired. Just 31% oppose this constraint on presidential power. This result is nearly identical to a Monmouth poll taken in January when 62% supported and 29% opposed requiring judicial review of any such firing..."

all of which is unconstitutional

the Constitution has checks on mob rule

November 15, 2018 3:54 PM  
Anonymous Hoaxes don't get people indicted said...

There you go, lying again.

I am not hiding.

I will continue to call out the lies of you deplorable tяump supporters.

You lied when you claimed no women have complained about IQ45 taking what he feels entitled to take.

We know he feels entitled to grab pussies because we have all heard the audiotape.

The transcript:

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And when you're a star they let do you it. You can do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever you want.

TRUMP: Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."


I provided a list of 22 names of the pussy grabber's accusers and a link to an article summarizing their claims.

Read up about these ladies' claims and then bestow some more of your lies for all the world to see here on Vigilance so once again your lies may be called out and corrected.

Or you can always pirouette and bring up < Benghazi > again.

You remember Behngazi, with headlines like these don't you?

The bitter end
The House Benghazi report uncovers some new facts, but finds nothing to nail Hillary Clinton

Two years, $7 million, 800 pages later, GOP Benghazi report lands with a thud

Republicans' Benghazi Witch Hunt Burns GOP Instead

November 15, 2018 5:22 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is life-affirming and deserves preferential treatment said...

still refusing to discuss specifics

sad

A “forceful plurality” of voters believe that the media is unfair, biased and disrespectful to President Trump, according to a new poll that parallels others that show wide support for the White House’s suspension of CNN reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass.

In the latest McLaughlin & Associates media survey, five times as many voters saw anti-Trump bias to those who saw a pro-Trump tilt.

Pollster John McLaughlin said, “Our recent post election poll found that among all voters the plurality 48 percent thought that the media was unfair and biased against President Trump. Only 9 percent say they were biased in his favor. So it’s pretty clear that in general the media is seen as partisan and inherently divisive.”

He added, “Earlier in the year we found 77 percent can’t believe everything in the media. Only 14 percent did. So the partisan division has really hurt the media’s credibility and they may will not recover from it without a major change in tone and substance.”

Jim McLaughlin added, “The average American is much smarter than the media elites. By a 5-to-1 margin, all voters as well as independents say the media are unfair and biased against President Trump. The American people have figured out that all too often what is supposed to be news, is just simply liberal opinion masquerading as so called journalism. President Trump continues to expose the bias in the media on a daily basis.”

November 15, 2018 11:11 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The Blue Wave Just Keeps Rolling On :)

Democrat Katie Porter has seized an anti-LGBT Republican's House seat in the heart of Southern California’s Reagan country.

Democrats now have won five GOP seats in California, and Republicans are being threatened in another race that still is too close to call. Porter’s victory is a sign of changing times in Orange County, once known nationally as a GOP stronghold but now increasingly Democratic.

Hee Hee Hee!

November 15, 2018 11:14 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Democrats have 84 Subpoenas ready for Tяump. Soooooo much stuff is going to come out!

November 15, 2018 11:14 PM  
Anonymous Surefire Intelligence misfires again and again said...

"Avenatti was taken into custody"

Don't tell us you fell for another Wohl smear?

How soon they forget:

“A HOAX DESIGNED TO DISTRACT THE NATION”: HOW THE JACOB WOHL SAGA EXPLAINS WHAT’S DERANGED ABOUT MAGA

And now, Wohl is at it again.

How deplorable can one get?

Avenatti blames pro-Trump conspiracy theorist for arrest

A day after he was arrested on domestic violence allegations, Stormy Daniels attorney and 2020 aspirant Michael Avenatti suggested on social media that pro-Trump activist Jacob Wohl was behind his legal ordeal.

“First Mueller and now me. When we are fully exonerated I am coming for you Jacob Wohl aka Surefire,” Avenatti tweeted.

Wohl, a former hedge fund manager and right-wing blogger, is a central figure in a widely dismissed plot accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of sexual misconduct. At a recent Northern Virginia news conference where he made the claims against Mueller, Wohl acknowledged his connection to a firm called Surefire Intelligence. That private intelligence firm’s Twitter account on Thursday tweeted a link to Avenatti’s arrest then declared: “Surefire Intelligence strikes again.”

After his arrest, Avenatti’s ex-wife and his second wife, Lisa Storie-Avenatti, with whom he is in the midst of a divorce, released statements defending Avenatti, saying he had never demonstrated evidence of violence. Upon his release from jail, Avenatti told reporters he had never struck a woman and welcomed a full investigation, which he predicted would clear him.

Also Thursday, Avenatti’s most prominent client, Stephanie Clifford — better known by her porn name Stormy Daniels — released a statement saying that if the allegations against Avenatti were true she would seek other representation. But she urged that “we should all reserve judgment” until an investigation is completed.

November 16, 2018 9:10 AM  
Anonymous Lies, lies and more lies said...

"still refusing to discuss specifics"

No, I provided you with 22 specific women who have accused IQ45 of sexual attacks, which you have refused to discuss.

And you are still refusing to admit you lied yet again when you said NO WOMEN HAVE ACCUSED IQ45 OF SEXUAL ATTACKS.

Clearly 22 women have done so.

November 16, 2018 9:15 AM  
Anonymous McLaughlin & Associates said...

Leans GOP

fivethirtyeight.com rates it with a C-

A Lot Of Top Republicans Are Relying On The Pollster Who Got Cantor's Race Wrong

"Jun. 11, 2014, 5:04 PM

GOP House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's campaign was supposedly just as shocked as the rest of the political world after his utterly unexpected loss to underdog Tea Party-backed primary challenger Dave Brat Tuesday. Prior to his loss, Team Cantor released internal polling showing he had an ironclad 34 point lead over Brat. Those numbers were clearly wrong.

In a potential sign of trouble for the GOP, Cantor's questionable poll came from a pollster all the main national Republican Party campaign organizations rely on for data.

Cantor's poll was conducted by John McLaughlin and his firm, McLaughlin & Associates — and this race isn't the first one they've gotten wrong. McLaughlin made incorrect predictions on at least four U.S. Senate races since 2012, multiple House races, and several state results in the 2012 presidential election.

"I don't know that he's a bad pollster, but recently that firm has had some substantial, well-noted accuracy issues," a Republican pollster told Business Insider. "I don't want to say that McLaughlin's bad but he has had some very prominent, prominent, prominent misses over the last couple of cycles. Very prominent."...

According to the firm's website McLaughlin & Associates also conducts polling for the four major Republican national campaign organizations; the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, and the Republican Governors Association. McLaughlin & Associates also claims to represent 12 state Republican parties, six sitting GOP senators, and 20 sitting Republican members of the House of Representatives. Even foreign conservative politicians are relying on the firm. McLaughlin & Associates claims to represent the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom and Canada as well as Israel's Likud.

The Republican pollster said they "would have to believe" the incorrect prediction on Cantor would have an effect on McLaughlin's standing in the political world..."

< eye roll >

No wonder the lying TTF troll is citing a McLaughlin & Associates poll.

November 16, 2018 9:39 AM  
Anonymous life should be preferenced with marital benefits, homosexuality doesn't bring life said...

"Leans GOP

fivethirtyeight.com rates it with a C-

A Lot Of Top Republicans Are Relying On The Pollster Who Got Cantor's Race Wrong"

you guys are a riot

we can't believe this pollster because six years ago, he got oe Republican House primary wrong

we know they're no good because fivethirtyeight.com

you know, fivethirtyeight.com, the ones that got the 2016 election wrong

November 16, 2018 9:59 AM  
Anonymous Dems again said...

As people scramble to explain the sudden resurgence of socialism not only on America’s college campuses but also in the corridors of political power, it is worth noting the concomitant resurgence of anti-Semitism in those redoubts. The coincidence is not, as the Marxists like to say, an accident. The truth is that unfettered socialism, though based primarily on a demand for the abolition of private property, always comes riding on a current of anti-Semitism. Picking apart the conceptual reasons for this link is a complex business that I will leave aside here. But it is worth noting how impeccable a provenance the union enjoys. Consider this observation:

What is the worldly religion of the Jew? Huckstering. What is his worldly God? Money. . . . Emancipation from huckstering and money, consequently from practical, real Judaism, would be the self-emancipation of our time [and would] make the Jew impossible. . . . In the final analysis, the emancipation of the Jews is the emancipation of mankind from Judaism.

Louis Farrakhan in his ‘Jews are termites’ mode? Nope. That’s old Karl Marx himself in his classic anti-Semitic effusion of 1843, ‘On the Jewish Question.’

It’s worth keeping Marx’s views in mind as you ponder the rise of figures like Ilhan Omar, the young and comely Somali refugee who just took Keith Ellison’s House seat in Minnesota. Like many new Democrats, Omar was nurtured by the far-left Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. ‘Israel has hypnotized the world,’ Omar said on Twitter, ‘may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.’

Then there is the man she replaced, Keith Ellison, now the Attorney General-elect of Minnesota. ‘We can’t allow another country to treat us like we’re their ATM,’ Ellison said of Israel. ‘That country has mobilized its Diaspora in America to do its bidding in America.’

And let’s not forget the Democrat ‘It Girl’ herself, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has gone back and forth on the question of whether Israel has a right to exist at all but has been as never-varying as Dewar’s Scotch in referring to Israel’s ‘occupation’ of Palestine.

The efflorescence of anti-Semitism is always a bad sign in a culture, not least because it harbingers a spirit of thuggish intolerance and breakdown of faith in society’s mediating civil institutions. The old saw of being ‘anti-Israel, not anti-Jew’ does not quite ring true here, as the lefties’ language echoes the anti-Semitic tropes of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

I am of two minds about where our country’s new flirtation with socialism is heading. Perhaps it is a predictable by-product of affluence, a toxic gas emitted by the mighty engine of the free market. Much of the rhetoric and histrionics might be put down to the enforced childishness wrought the breakdown of our educational institutions. It is clear, for example, that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez generally has no idea of what she is talking about. It’s not, probably, a lack of native intelligence. It’s just that, when it comes to political and historical realities, her mind is an impressionable tabula rasa.

But even if educational deficit helps to explain the resurgence of socialism, I am not sure that would be consoling. I have increasing sympathy for those who, casting their eye over the vicious and intractable opposition to the inherited processes of our political dispensation, see the potential for a great unravelling, what the political commentator James Piereson called a ‘shattered consensus.’

Donald Trump’s gospel of ‘principled realism,’ his gentle and patriotic version of broad-church, America-first nationalism, offers a healing alternative. The angry Left, which has yet to accept the results of the 2016 election, refuse to take their seats at the table he has set for them. The increasingly violent confrontations with journalists, politicians, and talk show hosts is one troubling sign of that recalcitrance. The normalization of anti-Semitism is another.

November 16, 2018 10:09 AM  
Anonymous life should be perked and preferenced, homogaeity doesn't bring life said...

Ask journalists, and they'll likely tell you they play things right down the middle. They strive to be "fair." They're "centrists." Sorry, not true. The profound leftward ideological bias of the Big Media is the main reason why America now seems saturated with "fake news." Journalists, besotted with their own ideology, are no longer able to recognize their own bias.

Despite journalists' denials, it's now pretty much a fact that journalism is one of the most left-wing of all professions. But until recently, that wasn't thought to be true of financial journalists — who have a reputation for being the most right-leaning and free-market-oriented among mainstream journalists.

If that was ever true, it sure isn't today, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Arizona State University and Texas A&M University questioned 462 financial journalists around the country. They followed up with 18 additional interviews. The journalists worked for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press and a number of other newspapers.

What they found surprised them. Even the supposedly hard-nosed financial reporters were overwhelmingly liberal. Of the 462 people surveyed, 17.63% called themselves "very liberal," while 40.84% described themselves as "somewhat liberal."

When you add it up, 58.47% admit to being left of center. Along with that, another 37.12% claim to be "moderate."

What about the mythic "conservative" financial journalist? In fact, a mere 0.46% of financial journalists called themselves "very conservative," while just 3.94% said they were "somewhat conservative." That's a whopping 4.4% of the total that lean right-of-center.

That's a ratio of 11 "liberals" for every one "conservative." Whatever happened to ideological diversity? Please remember this as you watch the business news or read a financial story in the paper. You might want to take its message with a grain of salt. That's especially true if the piece seems unduly harsh on the free-market system and its many proven benefits. Or if it lauds socialism as an "answer" to society's ills.

This is an enormous problem for the media — perhaps bigger than they realize. A Rasmussen Reports survey in late October found that 45% of all likely voters in the midterm elections believed "that when most reporters write about a congressional race, they are trying to help the Democratic candidate."

Just 11% said the media would try to help the Republican. And only 35% said they thought reporters simply try to report the news in an unbiased way.

Rasumussen notes that this "helps explain why Democratic voters are much bigger fans of election news coverage" than others. They see it as favorable to their own beliefs.

Even so, that doesn't keep people from seeing the harsh reality of bias.

A post-election survey of 1,000 voters by the esteemed McLaughlin & Associates found that "a forceful plurality (48%) of respondents believe the media coverage is unfair and biased" against President Trump. Even 16% of Democrats agreed.

It used to be thought that, sure, the cultural beat writers, book reviewers and Op-Ed writers all shared a common intellectual bent and thus were more likely to be left-leaning than other reporters. But these recent studies show that's not true. The taint of bias now infects all of journalism, not just the cultural and opinion spinners.

November 16, 2018 10:42 AM  
Anonymous life on the planet depends on preferencing heterosexuality said...

It wasn't always this way. Along-term study of reporters' leanings and attitudes, "The American Journalist in the Digital Age," shows that the drift toward liberalism has been going on for years within journalism. In 1971, Republicans made up 25.7% of all journalists. Democrats were 35.5%, and independents were 32.5%. Some 6.3% of responses were "other."

By 2014, the year of the last survey, the share of journalists identifying as Republican had shrunk to 7.1%, an 18.6 percentage point drop. From having near-parity with the journalist Republicans in the 1970s, Democrats today outnumber Republicans today by four to one.

Meanwhile, the share of journalists calling themselves "independent" has surged to 50.2%. In case you think the growing body of Independents qualifies as "the center," think again.

Repeated surveys show that independents are usually left-of-center on social issues, but centrist on fiscal issues and many issue of governance. So you should really characterize them as "moderate left."

Bad news for journalists, and bad news for journalism. Because as Americans continue down their path of growing mistrust of the mainstream media, they will start looking for alternatives.

Will they find new, more trustworthy sources of news? Or will they just turn it off entirely? Either one isn't good for journalists, or good for America.

It's time the journalistic mainstream addresses this problem. Smug denial is no longer an option. It starts with owners, publishers and editors demanding fairness in their reporting and weeding out obvious bias. While they're at it, they should elevate the idea of unbiased news coverage to a goal, even if it's not attainable.

November 16, 2018 10:43 AM  
Anonymous What a lovely triplicate pirouette said...

away from addressing your deplorable lie that no women have accused your feckless idiot of sexual attacks, like the true bubble-headed believer you are.

November 16, 2018 11:29 AM  
Anonymous hetero is more to be preferred than any other o said...

I'm still waiting to hear from you which if these "attacks" were the worst so we can discuss it

any reason you can't do that?

I think there is

November 16, 2018 11:43 AM  
Anonymous Oversight said...

Yeah, there's a reason.

I do not enjoy having discussions with liars like you.

I prefer honest man like true blue Congressman and new Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings.

Elijah Cummings discusses Oversight with Rachel Maddow

He ends with "We have to fight for the soul of our democracy every day."

Yes, we sure do.

And everyone can believe every word Chairman Cummings says.

November 16, 2018 1:55 PM  
Anonymous Another Democrat wins! said...

Election officials in Maine tabulated the results of the country's first-ever instant runoff for Congress on Thursday, determining that Democrat Jared Golden defeated Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin by a narrow 50.5-49.5 margin after the second-choice preferences of voters who cast ballots for two third-party candidates were taken into account. Poliquin had led 46.4 to 45.5 on the initial balloting, but 65 percent of those who voted for independents Tiffany Bond and Will Hoar elected to mark a second choice. That group overwhelmingly transferred their votes to Golden, who won second-choice ballots by a 69-31 margin, allowing him to edge ahead of Poliquin.

Golden, a Marine veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, gives House Democrats their 37th flip this cycle, with five races still uncalled at press time.



"It will be very close, but the GOP will hold the House. "

Still wrong and still counting!

November 16, 2018 2:05 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality deserves a priviliged place in society said...

"Yeah, there's a reason.

I do not enjoy having discussions with liars like you."

I'm sure you don't

but that's not the reason

try again

and consider how good you'll feel if you're honest

"I prefer honest man like true blue Congressman and new Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Elijah Cummings."

well, he has a chance to show it

if he goes along with the prevailing Democrat tactics, he's not

but, we'll see

"We have to fight for the soul of our democracy every day."

yes, we do

and the Democrats are the enemy trying to undermine it

Yes, we sure do.

"Election officials in Maine tabulated the results of the country's first-ever instant runoff for Congress on Thursday, determining that Democrat Jared Golden defeated Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin by a narrow 50.5-49.5 margin"

only the Dems would be high-fivin' about a one point victory in traditionally blue state

sad

"Still wrong and still counting!"

actually, if you read all my comments the week before the election, you'll see I considered it too close to call

but, so what?

you people really are pathetic

November 16, 2018 2:43 PM  
Anonymous Checks and balances said...

A federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of CNN and reporter Jim Acosta in a dispute with President Trump, ordering the White House to temporarily restore the press credentials that the Trump administration had taken away from Acosta last week.

In a victory for the cable network and for press access generally, Judge Timothy J. Kelly granted CNN’s motion for a temporary restraining order that will prevent the administration from keeping Acosta off White House grounds.

The White House revoked the reporter’s press pass last week after a heated exchange between him and President Trump and a brief altercation with a press aide at a news conference. Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, is the first reporter with a so-called hard pass to be banned.

CNN sued President Trump and other White House officials on Tuesday over the revocation. Kelly’s ruling was the first legal skirmish in that lawsuit. It has the immediate effect of sending Acosta back to the White House, pending further arguments and a possible trial. The litigation is in its early stages, and a trial could be months in the future.

CNN said Acosta would resume his post at the White House Friday afternoon.

Kelly, whom Trump appointed to the federal bench last year, handed down his ruling two days after the network and government lawyers argued over whether the president had the power to exclude a reporter from the White House.

In explaining his decision, Kelly said he agreed with the government’s argument that there was no First Amendment right to come onto the White House grounds. But, he said, once the White House opened up the grounds to reporters, the First Amendment applied.

His ruling, however, primarily emphasized the White House’s lack of due process in revoking Acosta’s access, a key argument made by CNN in its suit. He said the White House’s decision-making was “so shrouded in mystery that the government could not tell me . . . who made the decision.” The White House’s later written arguments for banning Acosta were belated and weren’t sufficient to satisfy due process, Kelly said...

November 16, 2018 3:38 PM  
Anonymous Pretty colors: Orange turns blue said...

Panic is almost palpable, and not just in tweets from the White House residence. Red Texas is trending purple. Orange County, California is turning blue.

The Associated Press Thursday night reported Democrat Katie Porter flipped another Republican-held seat in what was once Reagan country. The latest count in the vote tally for the 45th District race places Porter at 51 percent, more than 6,000 votes ahead of Republican Rep. Mimi Walters:

"Porter, 44, campaigned on an unabashed liberal agenda and in direct opposition to President Donald Trump’s priorities: She advocates overturning his tax reform package, supports universal health care, and endorses mandatory background checks on all gun sales and a ban on so-called assault-style weapons."

In Orange County, California.

Walters had been hoping to lead the House Republicans' campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Elsewhere in Orange County, Democrat Gil Cisneros leads Republican Young Kim by nearly 1,000 votes in the 39th District race. California allows mail-in ballots to arrive until the Friday after election day. Ballots postmarked by November 6th will still count, wildfires permitting.

Slate's Elliot Hannon observes the 39th District race that stood at 57-43 for Kim on election night has trended in the Democrat's direction since then. Election night calls by the media are not what matter. Votes do. That's why we count them.

The shift in the county of over three million southeast of Los Angeles is a sea change, Politico reports:

"Walters' loss means the GOP is danger of not having a single representative in Congress from Orange County, a former Republican stronghold once home to Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. Democrat Harley Rouda on Saturday claimed victory in the race for the county's 48th congressional district, unseating 15-term incumbent Rep. Dana Rohrabacher."

November 16, 2018 3:49 PM  
Anonymous Pretty colors: Texas turns pink said...

Texas may not have elected Beto O'Rourke to replace Sen. Ted Cruz or picked up the governorship, but Democrats had other gains, and they matter. Republicans' margins across the state fell from an average of 23 points to seven:

"In races for the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats also did much better. They held the 11 seats that they won in 2016, including two open seats. Of the 25 seats that the Republicans won in 2016, Democrats were able to defeat two incumbents, Pete Sessions and John Culberson, and one race remains too close to call. In 2016, the Democrats did not even bother to field a candidate in eight of these districts, including the one held by Sessions.

Among all 25 races, the Democrats did, on average, 27 points better. Setting aside the two seats that flipped and the one race that is too close to call, nine Democratic candidates kept the Republican victory margin to fewer than 10 points. Of those, four races were within five points. Some of these closest races were on everyone’s radar screen, such as M.J. Hegar’s challenge to John Carter, but few thought that Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, was in any real danger."

As Texas cities have grown, Texas has diversified. "What suburbia giveth it also taketh away," Michael Hendrix writes at National Review, remembering a time before the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts when Republicans were rare in Fort Bend County, west of Houston. Hillary Clinton was the first Democrat since Lyndon Johnson to carry Fort Bend:

"And it was from counties such as Fort Bend that a blue tide washed over Texas in 2018. It swept outward from the Democratic urban cores into neighboring suburban counties of Austin, Dallas, and Houston, flipping Republican bastions or turning them several shades pinker. Once-safe Republicans, such as Dallas’s Pete Sessions and Houston’s John Culberson, were taken out in its wake. The Republican carnage was felt down-ballot too, in the all-important state judicial and legislative races that stock each party’s farm team. And while the entire slate of statewide Repub­licans was returned to office, many candidates, such as Senator Ted Cruz, won with anemic margins."

Mark Jones, a professor in the the Department of Political Science at Rice University, tells the New York Times' Thomas Edsall:

"It is premature to say that Texas is turning blue, but whereas four years ago its hue was dark red, today it is light pink. As long as President Trump is in the White House, Republicans in Texas can look forward to much tougher battles from higher quality and better funded Democratic challengers than they faced prior to 2018, as well as being required to do something that most Republican candidates have not had to do for years in Texas; actually work up a sweat in the fall."

Edsall has a long review (recommended) of trends in Texas showing Republican dominance there in decline. Some of that is a product of demographic trends. What Beto O'Rourke did in 2018 (with an assist from Donald Trump) was defibrillate moribund Democratic committees and infuse them with new energy. By showing them how to campaign in places Democrats feared to tread, he laid the groundwork for making Texas once again a two-party state.

November 16, 2018 3:49 PM  
Anonymous jolly old saint said...

"Panic is almost palpable"

routine liberal word game

the GOP is always "scrambling", in a "panic", "enraged", "out-of-control", filled with "fear"...et al

if it's so "palpable", let's see an example

actually, the GOP is in good shape for the next two years and they know it

the Dems are in a precarious position where they don't have any actual power but are likely to be blamed for government gridlock

well, it's shopping season:

A new MAGA "Build The Wall" blocks set that enables children to pretend to build President Donald Trump's proposed U.S. border wall is the season's hot toy.

The Trump-themed Lego knockoff toy, sold by the gift retailer Keep and Bear, comes with 101 building blocks, as well as a small figurine of the president wearing a Make America Great Again hard hat.

A description for the "Build The Wall" toy states:

A mob of 10,000 Central American migrants is marching through Mexico and heading toward El Paso, Texas. Mexican border agents attempted to stop them at the Mexican border, but to no avail.

We understand why they want to flee Honduras and live and work in America. After all, we are the greatest nation on earth.

In the interest of national security, however, we cannot allow just anyone and everyone to cross our borders. While there are good people attempting to enter our nation, there are also gangs, criminals, and terrorists. Everyone who wants to enter our country must enter legally for the safety of all.

The wall must be built. The wall will keep America safe and strong. Only then will we be able to help those in need.

The building set, which will make a great Christmas gift for your kids and grandkids, is currently available on presale for $29.95 and will be ready to ship on Nov. 23.

November 16, 2018 4:03 PM  
Anonymous Second Saturday Night Massacre said...

With the stakes growing ever higher in President Donald Trump's efforts to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow argued Thursday night that we may have already reached a tipping point in this saga.

She pointed out that, in a tweet Thursday morning, Trump referred to the "inner workings' of the Mueller investigation, a phrase he has never used before. Maddow argued that this indicates Trump has used his new dubiously appointed Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to gain an unprecedented look inside the Russia investigation.

But it's not just this development bringing tensions to a head. She laid out an intricate case suggesting that we are very close to a dramatic new chapter in the investigation and in Trump's presidency.

"There is now reason to seriously question whether, in his new role as acting attorney general, Matt Whitaker is already feeding inside information about the investigation to the White House and to the president. In federal court right now, some unknown defendant, who is being treated with incredible deference by the federal court system, appears to have entered into a hard-fought endgame secret negotiation with Mueller's team as to whether or not he or she must, I guess, testify or hand over whatever Mueller is demanding," Maddow explained.

"We know that the president this week since he returned from his disastrous overseas trip, he has been having long meetings, hours-long daily meetings with his personal lawyers related to the Mueller investigation," she continued. "They say they have been specifically meeting on the question of collusion between his campaign and Russia. And in the middle of all of this, we have the president bragging that he now has access to inside information about what's going inside the investigation."

She concluded: "In other words: This is probably the moment we've been waiting for. This is what presidential historians like Michael Beschloss was probably barreling down the tracks at us. A second Saturday Night Massacre. Which of course, became the beginning of the end for President Nixon in Watergate. When a president tries to control the Justice Department in order to make an investigation that dooms him go away by corruptly influencing the course of the investigation, that's usually the end."

(President Trump on Friday said he has answered a set of questions from special counsel Robert S. Mueller III “very easily,” and his lawyers are signaling that the president expects to turn over his written answers in the coming days.) -- The answers apparently require editing.

November 16, 2018 4:28 PM  
Anonymous NRA budget woes said...

National Rifle Association (NRA) employees are reportedly “freaking out” over budget cuts after the gun rights group ended free coffee for workers.

Sources at the NRA confirmed to The Trace that the end of free coffee is just one of the budget cuts the organization is making after revenue from membership declined by $35 million in the last year.

“The whole building was freaking out,” one former employee told The Trace.

The report notes:

"Perhaps the most vivid evidence of belt-tightening at the NRA was its drastically reduced spending on the 2018 midterm elections. The group shelled out just under $10 million on House and Senate candidates this cycle — less than half of what it spent on congressional races in 2014 and 2016."

According to one former staffer, the NRA is “draining money from general operations to push over to [lobbying operations]” because “[t]hey want the money to be able to push the agenda.”

The NRA is also said to be losing money due to litigation over its Carry Guard insurance program in New York, where stiff regulations have caused the advocacy group to lose millions.

Read the report at https://www.thetrace.org/rounds/nra-kills-coffee/


November 16, 2018 4:42 PM  
Anonymous Drip, drip, drip said...

"the GOP is always "scrambling", in a "panic", "enraged", "out-of-control", filled with "fear"...et al

if it's so "palpable", let's see an example"

Here you go, a two parter from President to Senate:

The GOP is now tRump's party and he fired AG Jeff Sessions on November 7, 2018, the day after the midterms after bitching about him for more than a year. https://fox13now.com/2018/11/07/jeff-sessions-out-as-attorney-general/

Fake-bipartisan-seeking-McConnell shut down yet another bill to protect Mueller. https://www.businessinsider.com/mcconnell-says-mueller-not-under-threat-rejects-vote-to-protect-him-2018-11

Why? Well maybe because " all indications are that after a long period of silence during the close of the midterm campaign, Mueller is about to do something big, or a series of somethings. Trump’s former factotum Michael Cohen was spotted Monday coming to Washington with one of his criminal defense lawyers. Paul Manafort has held multiple meetings in recent weeks with Mueller’s team. On Wednesday, Mueller asked the court to delay sentencing for former Trump aide Rick Gates, saying Gates “continues to cooperate with respect to several ongoing investigations.” Trump’s orbit is reportedly gripped by anxiety about what’s coming.

When Trump lashes out on Twitter in increasingly hysterical terms as he did Thursday, it might (as many have speculated) suggest that he knows something bad is coming his way. But his anger comes from impotence. If he knew he was about to get his way with Mueller, he wouldn’t be shouting about it on Twitter. It’s the fact that he can’t do anything about it that fills him with rage.

We don’t know how many more Trump aides will wind up serving time behind bars, what Mueller’s final conclusions will be or how much the president himself will be implicated in the scandal. What we do know is that Trump wanted to stop the investigation, and not only has he failed, he has made everything worse for himself." and his enablers in the Grabber Of Pussies party.

Innocents do not behave like IQ45 and his GOP enablers have.

November 17, 2018 9:06 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Putin just posted this photo.

Call the burn unit!

November 17, 2018 10:42 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Cost of Mueller's investigation: $3,200,000

Benghazi "investigation": $7,000,000

Tяump's golfing trips: $83,000,000

New debt from Republican tax bill: $1,500,000,000


Dear Republicans, please spare us your selective outrage about the cost of the Tяump-Russia investigation.

November 17, 2018 10:46 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

A new post-mid-term poll by Monmouth shows that only a third of Americans want Tяump to win another term. 16% of Republicans don't want him re-elected.

November 17, 2018 10:55 AM  
Anonymous Cindy McCain Hopes Trump Learns From The Midterms said...

Cindy McCain, in her first interview since the death of her husband Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), called President Donald Trump “a negative Nancy” and said she hopes he’s humbled by Republican losses in this month’s midterm elections.

“I think he’s questioning himself right now as to where he goes, what he’s doing,“ she said in an interview with “CBS This Morning” that aired Friday. “I think maybe the things that have occurred, especially with this election, may maybe take him back to basics. I’m hoping it does. It’s very humbling to lose, and I hope he learns from it and realizes that our country needs a strong leader, not a negative Nancy, if I can put it in such a basic term.”

Trump regularly and bitterly attacked the late senator, including his military service. McCain, a war hero and two-time presidential contender, died Aug. 25 at age 81 from brain cancer.

Cindy McCain demurred when asked about her “personal feeling about the president,” but admitted that it has been difficult to process Trump’s insults.

“He is now the president of the United States. I respect the office and respect the, you know, what this means to the country,” she said. “You know, our families have had their differences, and I’ll leave it at that.”

She added: “It has been, at times, hard for me to listen to him about my husband, I’ll be honest.”

November 17, 2018 1:05 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Hee Hee Hee!

Canada is the moral leader of the U.S. once again:

House conservatives protest LGBT protection in Mexico-Canada trade deal

Protections in the new North American trade pact for LGBTQ people are roiling conservative lawmakers in the House, who are urging President Donald Trump to rescind them.

They are displeased that the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement contains requirements that workers be protected from discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

The LGBT provisions were a Canadian priority — part of the so-called progressive trade agenda championed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and described as a “big win” by his government.

The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.

November 17, 2018 2:53 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't marriage said...

such a thing can't be made law without Congressional approval

if special preferences anti-life hedonism is moral leadership, Canada can lead it

November 17, 2018 11:06 PM  
Anonymous IQ45 says raking prevents forest fires said...

Reversing course on his threat to cut the state’s federal funding if Californians don’t solve their forest fire problem, President Trump now says he’ll solve it with them.

“We go through this every year; we can’t go through this,” Trump said Saturday as he toured the state’s massive wildfire zones. “We’re going to have safe forests.”

How to make California’s vast drought-stricken forests “safe” after the Camp Fire grew to the size of Chicago this month, killing dozens if not hundreds of people and burning an entire town to the ground? Trump promised federal funds and says he has some ideas.

One of those ideas is raking.

It’s not a popular idea.

“You’ve got to take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forests, it’s very important,” Trump told reporters as he posed with California officials in the charred ruins of Paradise — his first stop on the tour.

Trump went on to explain that the president of Finland, whom he met on an overseas trip a week earlier, told him about raking the forest floors. “He called it a forest nation,” Trump said, “and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things, and they don’t have any problem."

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto later disputed this. He told a local newspaper that he had briefed Trump on Finland’s efforts to surveil and care for its forests, the Associated Press wrote, “but said he can’t recall anything being mentioned on raking.”

Maybe it wasn’t Niinisto who gave Trump the raking idea. Maybe it was something he saw on TV.

“I was watching the firemen the other day, and they were raking areas. They were raking areas!” Trump told Fox News from the Oval Office on Friday — before he left for California. “They’re raking trees, little trees like this — nut trees, little bushes, that you could see are totally dry. Weeds! And they’re raking them. They’re on fire.”

“That should have been all raked out,” he concluded. “You wouldn’t have the fires.”

The Fox host, Chris Wallace, asked whether climate change might not be a larger wildfire factor than unraked debris, but Trump didn’t think so.

Wherever Trump got the notion that raking parts of California — be it entire forest floors or the areas around little nut trees — could have prevented the Camp Fire, not many people seem to agree.

The online reaction in Finland alternated between those pointing out that the country has a vastly different climate and population density and those making jokes...

November 19, 2018 7:59 AM  
Anonymous Our compulsive liar president said...

Trump has been inflating the size of his crowds since his early days as a candidate. His presidency began with a surreal national debate over how many people attended his inauguration.

And this year, at midterm campaign rallies across the country, the president’s crowd-size boasts became a big bugaboo for fact-checkers. There’s no question Trump can draw supporters by the thousands, but his pumped-up numbers are so extravagant most of the time that they have little or no basis in fact.

For example, Trump claimed 50,000 people were outside a rally in Houston because they couldn’t get in, but the city’s police chief said the number was much lower: 3,000. In Cleveland, Trump claimed “thousands” of people were outside because the venue was packed. But Twitter users at the event posted evidence that Trump didn’t fill the venue and that only a handful of people were milling around in the parking lot.

In Tampa, Trump claimed thousands of people who couldn’t get in were watching outside on a “tremendous movie screen” — that didn’t exist.

It’s a mystery how Trump comes up with these estimates and details about his rallies. His campaign didn’t get back to us. But in almost every instance, the president’s numbers don’t add up or are contradicted by reporters or local officials.

We reconstructed as much as we could and compared Trump’s estimates of his crowd sizes this year with information from local media, law enforcement or attendees posting photos and videos on Twitter. Trump has held 44 rallies this year, but we focused only on 19 for which he gave some kind of estimate of the crowd size.

“Thank you for that incredible support and, by the way, you want to see a lot of people — go outside. We could have filled this place up, probably five or six times.” (Rally in Washington Township, Mich., April 28)

Trump held this event at Total Sports Park, which was packed with an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 people. So the president’s claim here is that 25,000 to 36,000 people may have been rallying outside.

According to a local news report, approximately 30,000 people were expected to attend this Trump rally. But we couldn’t find evidence that this prediction turned out to be accurate. Local news reports estimated only that “thousands” attended. Photos taken by local media and video from CNN suggest that the crowd outside the event was much smaller than 25,000. A Twitter user inside the venue for the rally estimated that there were “at least twice as many” people watching outside on a big screen. It’s unclear how he landed on that number, but if it’s accurate, it would represent fewer than half the people Trump estimated...

November 19, 2018 10:19 AM  
Anonymous Our compulsive liar president said...

Without any hard evidence to support Trump’s claim, it’s a bit absurd to imagine 30,000 people or so squinting at a Jumbotron while the president addressed a much smaller crowd of 5,000 to 6,000 inside the venue.

“You know we have an event. I hear we have 12,000 people there. They have 12,000 seats. We have 12,000 people.” (Rally in Nashville, May 29)

Local officials estimated attendance at 5,500.

“In my last speech, it’s in Minnesota, great place, unbelievable crowd. It seated 9,000, and they had 15,000 or 20,000 people outside couldn’t get in. It was incredible.” (Rally in Duluth, Minn., June 20)

This rally was held at Amsoil Arena, which can seat more than 9,000. According to a local news report, an arena official said 8,372 people attended Trump’s rally and many others were turned away at the door. There’s nothing to indicate they hung around outside.

“This place is packed. The only thing more packed is outside, trying to get in. They’re having a hard time. They can’t get in. It’s full. You know, we had the chance for a 24,000-seat arena. … Twenty-four thousand seats. No, we would have filled it up very easily.” (Rally in Fargo, N.D., June 27)

This venue, Scheels Arena, seats up to 6,000. Trump suggested with no evidence that three times as many people were outside.

It appears that 20,000 people signed up for tickets to this Trump rally, but that doesn’t mean 20,000 people were outside. About 300 to 400 people outside were protesters, according to a local news report. That report also said Trump supporters who couldn’t get into the rally were told by the Secret Service and local officials to “disperse” and go watch it on TV. “Many sat outside the arena watching Trump speak on their phones,” the West Fargo Pioneer reported.

“And outside, you probably know what’s going on. There are thousands and thousands of people. And we’ve decided from now on, we’re going to put up screens and loudspeakers so people can stay around. Because this happens all the time. I said to my people, why didn’t you get a larger arena?” (Rally in Great Falls, Mont., July 5)

“Thousands and thousands” appears to be a huge stretch. The county sheriff estimated that 8,000 people had lined up for this rally, according to a local news report. The Four Seasons Arena holds 6,600, and Cascade County, which owns the venue, estimated attendance of more than 6,500.

Assuming everyone who was turned away lingered outside the rally, that rounds out to 1,500 at most, not “thousands and thousands.” (Another possibility: Trump couldn’t fill this arena, because the county estimated the crowd size as slightly below the venue’s capacity.)

“And by the way, outside, if you want to go, we set up, for the first time, a tremendous movie screen, because we have thousands and thousands of people outside that couldn’t get in.” (Rally in Tampa, July 31)

Kudos to the Tampa Bay Times for running down this false claim in real time. The newspaper reported that “hundreds” of people were outside this Trump rally, not “thousands and thousands.” And some of them were protesters. And there was no “tremendous movie screen” anywhere in sight.

“But are they going to talk about the thousands and thousands of people inside of this arena and outside of the arena, where we put screens? No.” (Rally in Evansville, Ind., Aug. 30)

A capacity crowd of nearly 11,000 filled the Ford Center for Trump’s rally. There were an estimated 1,000 protesters outside, plus “a small group of Trump supporters,” according to the Courier and Press. No sign of screens....

November 19, 2018 10:19 AM  
Anonymous Make America Rake Again; Make America Hate Again said...

Donald J. Trump✔
@realDonaldTrump

Who is paying for that tedious Smokey Bear commercial that is on all the time - enough already!

1:50 AM [potty time] - Jan 8, 2015

Abraxsys
@Abraxsys

Who paid for the political commercial you just made of the wildfires in California?

11:39 AM - Nov 18, 2018

Salem, Oregon (CWV) Weather
@WeatherSalem

Lol your tweet was from Jan 7 2015 But nonetheless Smokey Bear will out do Trumpy Bear any day. At Least Smokey Bear puts out messages of Safety, you put out messages of hate

5:02 PM - Nov 18, 2018

November 19, 2018 10:52 AM  
Anonymous U-turn said...

The decision to grant Acosta full access comes after the White House had earlier in the day indicated it would revoke his credentials once a court-ordered temporary restraining order expired in two weeks.

“We look forward to continuing to cover the White House,” CNN said in a tweet announcing the restoration of Acosta’s press pass and the dropping of its lawsuit.

November 19, 2018 4:27 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...


Nate Silver on the Magnitude of the Blue Wave


"Nate Silver has an interesting set of tweets that put’s the blue wave midterm elections in historical context. He notes several things. First, turnout was incredibly high for a midterm election. Second, that the Democrats got almost as many votes for the House and Senate as Trump got in 2016, which has never come close to happening before."

November 19, 2018 5:05 PM  
Anonymous A young fascist declares, "To be quite honest? I like to be offensive. It's fun." said...

This article about "California Conservatives" or rather, the "intellectual" basis for Trumpism that's being fleshed out by certain academics and media stars centered in California, is very interesting. It boils down to the fact that the conservative movement no longer has any interest in ideas or ideology and basically is just about racism and owning the libs. And they are vastly enjoying the freedom of just being themselves.

I'm not sure how groundbreaking it really is, however. This is just the right being boiled down to its essence, a project that started a long time ago and which was evident in California when the OG Trumpist, the obnoxious Andrew Breitbart from LA, became their biggest star well over a decade ago.

They are simply right wing assholes and are well-represented by people like this young fascist who demonstrated in Charlottesville:

Scared white supremacist takes off his uniform

"To be quite honest? I like to be offensive. It's fun."

These California Conservatives are exactly like him. No difference at all. Its what the Republican Party has become all over the country.

November 19, 2018 5:39 PM  
Anonymous LONG LIVE THE FIRST AMENDMENT - White House drops bid to revoke Acosta's press pass said...

The White House is dropping its effort to strip CNN reporter Jim Acosta of his press credentials, a defeat for President Trump in his campaign against the news media.

The reversal comes after the White House notified Acosta last Friday it may renew its attempts to revoke his press pass after a judge's order restoring it expired. The White House set a Sunday deadline for Acosta to object and said it would make a final decision by 3 p.m. on Monday.

"Having received a formal reply from your counsel to our letter of November 16, we have made a final determination in this process: your hard pass is restored," the White House said in a new letter to Acosta.

The letter also outlined new rules for reporters at presidential news conferences, including limiting each journalist to one question with follow-ups coming "at the discretion of the president or other White House officials taking questions."

"Should you refuse to follow these rules in the future, we will take action in accordance with the rules set forth above," the White House wrote to Acosta. "The president is aware of this decision and concurs."

The White House said any reporter could have their credentials pulled if they do not follow the new rules for news conferences.

"We have created these rules with a degree of regret," the White House wrote. "But, given the position taken by CNN, we now feel obligated to replace previously shared practices with explicit rules."

CNN applauded the decision to restore Acosta's pass and indicated it would end its lawsuit against the Trump administration over the suspension.

"Today the @WhiteHouse fully restored @Acosta's press pass. As a result, our lawsuit is no longer necessary. We look forward to continuing to cover the White House," the network said in a statement.

The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) said the administration "did the right thing" in restoring Acosta's pass, but criticized its new press-conference rules.

"For as long as there have been White House press conferences, White House reporters have asked follow-up questions. We fully expect this tradition will continue," said WHCA President Olivier Knox, adding the group had "no role in crafting" the rules.

"We will continue to make the case that a free and independent news media plays a vital role in the health of our republic."...

November 20, 2018 9:12 AM  
Anonymous go hetero said...

"Nate Silver has an interesting set of tweets that put’s the blue wave midterm elections in historical context."

to call this a "wave" is to stretch the meaning of the word

the GOP lost seats but that usually happens to a first term President's party is the first mid-term

it was nowhere near the losses that the Dems suffered in their last two presidencies

further, the GOP gained in the Senate, which means they won't have to cater to their two RINOs to get judicial and executive nominations rubber-stamped

meanwhile, the only substantive gain that the Dems have achieved is the ability to investigate Trump

but a special prosecutor was already doing that

Trump has complied with all subpoenas from that prosecutor, with little effect

oh, and the presidential election, with its electoral college, resembles the Senate more than the House

Trump doesn't seem to have lost ground

"He notes several things. First, turnout was incredibly high for a midterm election. Second, that the Democrats got almost as many votes for the House and Senate as Trump got in 2016, which has never come close to happening before."

as was demonstrated in 2016, Trump has inspired much greater interest in the political process among ordinary citizens

it's a contribution

"This article about "California Conservatives" or rather, the "intellectual" basis for Trumpism that's being fleshed out by certain academics and media stars centered in California, is very interesting. It boils down to the fact that the conservative movement no longer has any interest in ideas or ideology and basically is just about racism and owning the libs. And they are vastly enjoying the freedom of just being themselves.

I'm not sure how groundbreaking it really is, however. This is just the right being boiled down to its essence, a project that started a long time ago and which was evident in California when the OG Trumpist, the obnoxious Andrew Breitbart from LA, became their biggest star well over a decade ago.

They are simply right wing assholes and are well-represented by people like this young fascist who demonstrated in Charlottesville:

Scared white supremacist takes off his uniform

"To be quite honest? I like to be offensive. It's fun."

These California Conservatives are exactly like him. No difference at all. Its what the Republican Party has become all over the country."

note that this whole fake news post has not one quote or example of the group in California that the TTFer is defaming

"LONG LIVE THE FIRST AMENDMENT - White House drops bid to revoke Acosta's press pass said..."

revoking Acosta's credentials did not represent a threat to the first amendment in any way

reporters are guaranteed the right too print whatever they want

there is no right to enter the White House, no right to be rude, and the President is not obligated to speak to any particular reporter

"The White House is dropping its effort to strip CNN reporter Jim Acosta of his press credentials, a defeat for President Trump in his campaign against the news media."

that's no defeat

Acosta was spanked for his misbehavior and has agreed to abide by the rules

"The letter also outlined new rules for reporters at presidential news conferences, including limiting each journalist to one question with follow-ups coming "at the discretion of the president or other White House officials taking questions.""

you forgot one

when asked to relinquish the microphone, the reporter will do so and not bully interns attempting to retrieve the microphone

"The White House said any reporter could have their credentials pulled if they do not follow the new rules for news conferences.

"We have created these rules with a degree of regret," the White House wrote. "But, given the position taken by CNN, we now feel obligated to replace previously shared practices with explicit rules.""

there you go

score team civility

November 20, 2018 11:24 AM  
Anonymous A leader in vaccine exemption, Asheville Waldorf has NC's worst chickenpox outbreak since '95 said...

ASHEVILLE — A chickenpox outbreak at a private school now ranks as the state's largest since a vaccine for the virus became available more than 20 years ago, health officials say.

As of Friday, 36 students at Asheville Waldorf School had contracted the varicella virus, known to most as chickenpox. The school has one of the highest vaccination religious exemption rates in North Carolina.

The viral infection manifests in an itchy rash in most cases and is not typically life-threatening. But the outbreak at Asheville Waldorf should cause concern, said Dr. Jennifer Mullendore of Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services.

"People don't think it's a serious disease, and for the majority of people it's not. But it's not that way for everybody," Mullendore said. Two to three out of every 1,000 children infected with chickenpox required care in a hospital, she said.

"To me, that's not a mild disease, and if you're the parent of one of those children, you probably don't think so either," Mullendore said.

That's why health care providers for years have recommended all children medically able, namely those who have healthy immune systems, be vaccinated, she said.

Those recommendations have by and large have gone unheeded by the parents of Asheville Waldorf's 152 students — 110 of whom have not received the chickenpox vaccine, which was made available in the United States in 1995.

Leading the state in vaccination exemption

North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services tracks the rate of kindergartners whose parents have claimed a religious exemption, allowing them to forego vaccination.

During the 2017-2018 school year, the last for which data were available, Asheville Waldorf had a higher rate of religious exemptions for vaccination than all but two other schools in the state.

Of the 28 kindergartners who enrolled that year, 19 had an exemption to at least one vaccination required by the state for school entry.

School officials did not respond to questions from the Citizen Times Friday. The school enrolls students from nursery age through sixth grade, Mullendore said.

The only two North Carolina schools to top Asheville Waldorf's religious exemption rate were private schools in other counties. Both had 100 percent exemption rate — one had only one kindergarten student, the other had two.

"The thing people need to understand is that when you have pockets of unvaccinated people, they serve as reservoirs for disease," said Susan Sullivan, a nurse with the state DHHS who consults with local health departments about vaccines and preventable diseases.

November 20, 2018 1:25 PM  
Anonymous Donald Trump Is Losing, And He Knows It said...

President Donald Trump is feeling the heat.

That’s true legally, with regard to what we keep learning about special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe and the fact that Democrats in the House ― with outgoing Republican Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes no longer able to protect Trump ― will also now truly investigate the issue, even if Trump fires Mueller.

But it’s also true for both Trump and the Republican Party, electorally.

Trump and certainly his political aides must see that his greatest campaign weapon ― viciously assaulting immigrants and people of color with racist rhetoric and actions ― misfired spectacularly in the midterms and is likely to do the same in 2020.

Without that, Trump’s pretty much got nothing.

Other weapons in his arsenal have been defused. Attacking Obamacare won’t work any longer. The midterms proved that it’s now the Democrats’ issue to use against him and the GOP. Promising to cut taxes is empty, as the massive tax bill was a dud. It was a payout to the rich and corporations, with little for average Americans.

Trump broke his promise to his supporters that he would “drain the swamp” by actually filling it up further: Now House Democrats will use investigations to exploit the corruption of Trump and his Cabinet, which will garner enormous media attention.

And Trump’s promise to protect Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid was exposed as phony when he allowed Republicans to say several times in the past year that they would soon make cuts to these programs. Once again, it will be Democrats who will save them, something voters entrusted them to do by electing them to lead the House.

It’s clear Trump knows all of this, consciously or not, and the last two weeks have seen him behave more erratically than any period since he entered the White House.

From not leaving his hotel room in Paris to honor America’s war dead to refusing to visit Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day, Trump showed how small ― and gloomy ― he’s feeling after the repudiation of the midterms. Visiting cemeteries is always a sad task, after all, and surely it’s more grim if you’re already feeling very down.

Meanwhile, Trump has reportedly been lashing out at White House aides, who try to avoid him, and questioning the loyalty of Vice President Mike Pence ― something the president vehemently denied.

He later admitted he probably “should have” gone to Arlington, but made it worse by offering the excuse that he was “extremely busy making calls.” He sent out tweets of support to Californians battling devastating wildfires, but only after his first callous remarks blamed poor “forest management” without even expressing his sorrow for those who died. But, again, he only made it worse when he visited the state and implied Californians were to blame because they should have been “raking” the forest floors to prevent fires.

Firing Jeff Sessions and replacing him with Matt Whitaker as acting attorney general immediately after the election further revealed his grave fears of the Mueller probe, and showed how far he’ll go to try to stop it.

Contrary to his election night claims, it’s sinking in for everyone both in and out of the White House that the midterms were a disaster for Trump and the GOP.

It’s true that Trump’s assaults on so many groups ― from African-American NFL players to transgender Americans ― may have helped galvanize his base. But Trump’s two years in office energized Democrats equally or more so...

And oops: Stock-market ends sharply lower, erases 2018 gains for Dow and S&P

November 20, 2018 4:22 PM  
Anonymous He's happy to side with killers said...

Trump hedges epically on whether the crown prince ordered Khashoggi’s death.On Tuesday, the president of the United States issued a statement, rife with exclamation marks, explaining why he was standing with Saudi Arabia despite the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American permanent resident. In the key passage of the statement, Trump expressed uncertainty on the key question: the culpability of Saudi leaders in the assassination.

"King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vigorously deny any knowledge of the planning or execution of the murder of Mr. Khashoggi. Our intelligence agencies continue to assess all information, but it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event – maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!"

In fact, the CIA has leaked their conclusion that they are certain with a high degree of confidence that bin Salman ordered Khashoggi’s murder.

Aside from the comment indicating uncertainty, Trump also repeated smears against the late journalist (“Representatives of Saudi Arabia say that Jamal Khashoggi was an ‘enemy of the state’ and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood”), while appending provisos. (“My decision is in no way based on that—this is an unacceptable and horrible crime.”) Trump also repeated the falsehood that Saudi Arabia has “agreed to spend and invest $450 billion in the United States,” creating “hundreds of thousands of jobs.”

As former CIA director John Brennan noted, Trump’s remarks mean that any accountability in the Khashoggi case will have to come from Congress.

"John O. Brennan✔
@JohnBrennan

Since Mr. Trump excels in dishonesty, it is now up to members of Congress to obtain & declassify the CIA findings on Jamal Khashoggi’s death. No one in Saudi Arabia—most especially the Crown Prince—should escape accountability for such a heinous act. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-defends-saudia-arabias-denial-about-the-planning-of-khashoggis-death/2018/11/20/b64d2cc6-eceb-11e8-9236-bb94154151d2_story.html …

1:31 PM - Nov 20, 2018"

November 20, 2018 4:42 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be societally preferenced because it alone brings life said...

I'm thankful for an originalist Supreme Court and election results that will protect it

November 21, 2018 9:55 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality never ever produces any life. two homosexuals ain't a marriage said...

"When you talk to real people in the modern world, you find their opinions almost always fall somewhere between moderately and progressively liberal."

Montgomery County is a great place to live if you're progressively liberal

inside the bubble, you can ignore the real world

and pretend those other people you talk to inside the bubble are "the modern world"

November 21, 2018 10:22 AM  
Anonymous Governance by tantrum said...

"So much winning" does not apply to the sitting president's efforts in court. That in itself seems an ill portent of what lies ahead for him.

Meantime, the Trump administration suffered two losses in court this week so far. A federal court has slapped down administration attempts to curtail asylum requests:

"U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar agreed Monday with legal groups that immediately sued after President Donald Trump issued a Nov. 9 proclamation saying anyone who crossed the southern border between official ports of entry would be ineligible for asylum. The administration argued that caravans of migrants approaching the southern border made the new restrictions immediately necessary.

“Whatever the scope of the President’s authority, he may not rewrite the immigration laws to impose a condition that Congress has expressly forbidden,” said Tigar, a nominee of former President Barack Obama."


Federal law stipulates people claiming asylum may do so from anywhere on U.S. soil.

Knowing any appeal from the Northern District of California would go to the 9th Circuit in San Francisco, a mewling Trump called the court a “disgrace” and its judges "very unfair." From The Hill:

""You go to the Ninth Circuit and it's a disgrace, and I'm going to put in a major complaint," Trump told reporters outside the White House when asked about the judge's asylum ruling. He did not elaborate on what specific action he might take.

The president railed against the Ninth Circuit for nearly two minutes, claiming that "everybody who wants to sue the United States" does so in the California-based court because "it means an automatic loss" for his administration."


But not only there. U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman of Manhattan’s Southern District issued a ruling Tuesday against the Trump administration's attempts to preempt a ruling in a case challenging the Commerce Department placing a controversial citizenship question on the 2020 census:

"“Enough is enough,” Judge Jesse M. Furman in New York said as he rejected what he said has become a weekly effort by Justice Department lawyers to stop him from ruling on the merits of lawsuits accusing the Commerce Department of improperly adding the question.

He denied what he called the “latest and strangest effort,” a request that he wait to rule after a trial he presided over earlier this month until the Supreme Court hears arguments.

“What makes the motion most puzzling, if not sanctionable, is that they sought and were denied virtually the same relief only weeks ago,” Furman said, noting that he had rejected that request, as did the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court."


Those rulings follow a Trump-appointed judge on Friday overturning Trump's revocation of CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press credentials. The court found the White House had done so without due process...

November 21, 2018 11:27 AM  
Anonymous Governance by tantrum said...

Rulings against the Trump administration occur so regularly, Dahlia Lithwick explains, that they almost go unnoticed. There are quite a few, and Lithwick recounts a couple clusters of them. Many of the judges ruling against Trump, she adds, are Republican-appointed, and in some case Trump-appointed. The reason is so many of the cases stem from the administration having to defend on the fly ill-conceived decisions "enacted by random tweet ... or by vengeful tantrum." Defending them in court before a federal judge is often a cringe-worthy exercise:

"Regardless of inclination or ideology, most judges still prefer facts to alternative facts, and reasoned discourse to free-flowing policy by hissy fit. And regardless of inclination or ideology, most judges still don’t like lies or liars. And regardless of inclination or ideology, most judges favor sobriety, stability, and the integrity of the judicial branch to nihilist attacks on everyone and everything that is fact-based. Indeed, it’s entirely possible that judges are as totally exhausted by the lurches and feints of the first Honey Boo Boo presidency as the rest of us."

Even as Sen. Mitch McConnell and his aiding-and-abetting Senate majority attempt with all haste to remake the judiciary in Trump's image, America's judicial keel has yet to fall off. The courts continue to be "a quiet, meticulous check" on a presidency with no regard for laws that do not line up with Trump's illiberal impulses.

Trump's legal strategy throughout his career has been to intimidate opponents into submission or to outlast them in drawn-out legal proceedings. Lest "the losing-est loser" be allowed to recover, those who worked so diligently in October to defend democracy in November, Lithwick cautions, need to defend the judicial branch "every time the president threatens, dismisses, or insults a judge or ruling." Especially, because federal agencies themselves have marginal ability to punch back when their boss punches them.

The liberal penchant for novelty seeking means lefties often tire from continuing a fight that drags out. Conservatives know this. Trump uses this to his advantage, as Bush did before him. So do children who learn their tantrums can wear down weak-willed parents. There are fewer and fewer adults in the room with Trump. The “Resistance” has to be the adults on the outside, and in the face of tantrums nevertheless persist.




Lock Her Up! Lock Her Up!: ‘Crooked’ Ivanka Trump Used Personal Email for White House Business

Either God has a sense of humor or God hates us all but the fact remains that President Trump’s favorite daughter not named Tiffany was out here being reckless with her private email, using it for White House business, which, if we all remember, is exactly what has been the thorn in Trump’s side about his arch-nemesis Hillary Clinton...

Let’s be clear about what happened:

-Hillary Clinton created a private email account on a server. So did Ivanka.

-Hillary’s use of private an email account violates the federal rules on government communications. So did Ivanka’s.

-Hillary used private emails for official business and for personal and outside interests. So did Ivanka.

-Hillary’s lawyers claimed they handed over all the emails the that were related to official government business. Ivanka’s lawyers did the same.

-Hillary’s most ardent detractors suspect that she used her government role to personally enrich herself. Ivanka’s detractors do, too.

...it’s highly unlikely that Crooked Ivanka didn’t know she couldn’t use a personal email, given her father’s campaign just ran on an inflated email scandal.

...But Crooked Ivanka is a Trump, meaning never underestimate the level of both stupidity and “how about I absolutely know I shouldn’t be using a private email for White House business and I still don’t give a fuck-ness” inside the Trump clan.

November 21, 2018 11:27 AM  
Anonymous Ooooof! Chief Justice John Roberts Criticizes Trump For ‘Obama Judge’ Asylum Comment Roberts said Wednesday the U.S. doesn’t have “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” said...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump for his description of a judge who ruled against Trump’s migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”

It’s the first time the Republican-appointed leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has previously blasted federal judges who ruled against him.

Roberts said Wednesday the U.S. doesn’t have “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” He commented in a statement released by the Supreme Court after a query by The Associated Press.

Roberts said on the day before Thanksgiving that an “independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Last year, the president used the term a “so-called judge” after the first federal ruling against his travel ban. During the presidential campaign, Trump criticized Roberts himself for the chief justice’s decisive vote in 2012 to preserve the Obama health care overhaul.

Trump also referred to a judge who was presiding over a fraud lawsuit against Trump University as a Mexican who would be unable to rule fairly because of Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.

The president’s latest remarks come as the Supreme Court is enmeshed in controversy over his appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Several justices have spoken out about judicial independence and the danger of having the court viewed as a political institution that is divided between five conservative Republicans and four liberal Democrats.

Trump had spoken Tuesday when a reporter asked for his reaction to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco that put the administration’s asylum policy on hold.

The president complained that his opponents file their lawsuits in courts that are part of the liberal-leaning 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Every case that gets filed in the 9th Circuit, we get beaten. And then we end up having to go to the Supreme Court, like the travel ban, and we won,” Trump said.

The president went on to say about the asylum ruling: “This was an Obama judge.”

But the initial travel ban ruling in 2017 was issued by U.S. District Judge James Robart, an appointee of President George W. Bush. Roberts also was appointed by Bush.

The White House had no immediate response to a request for comment on Roberts’ criticism on Wednesday.

November 21, 2018 2:41 PM  
Anonymous life on the planet depends on preferencing heterosexuality said...

"Rulings against the Trump administration occur so regularly, Dahlia Lithwick explains, that they almost go unnoticed. There are quite a few, and Lithwick recounts a couple clusters of them. Many of the judges ruling against Trump, she adds, are Republican-appointed, and in some case Trump-appointed"

actually, it was more regular with Obama

the difference is, Trump will win at the Supreme Court

these local judges aren't supposed to making policy for the entire country

"Even as Sen. Mitch McConnell and his aiding-and-abetting Senate majority attempt with all haste to remake the judiciary in Trump's image"

are you a life-long ignoramus, or is it a learned behavior?

Trump made promises to those believe in the Constitution to appoint judges who will support it as well

to say the court is being remade in "Trump's image" is a classic confusion betwixt chicken and egg

"Let’s be clear about what happened"

yes, let us do that

"-Hillary Clinton created a private email account on a server. So did Ivanka."

Hillary was Secretary of State, regularly involved in classified, top-secret matters which she discussed on her private server (hard drive in her home basement)

Ivanka wasn't

"Ooooof! Chief Justice John Roberts Criticizes Trump For ‘Obama Judge’ Asylum Comment"

oh dear, someone criticized the President

oh, like, Ooooof!

"Chief Justice John Roberts is pushing back against President Donald Trump for his description of a judge who ruled against Trump’s migrant asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”"

are you the same person who earlier posted "Many of the judges ruling against Trump are Trump-appointed"?

just curious what level of hypocrisy we're dealing with here

"It’s the first time the Republican-appointed leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who has previously blasted federal judges who ruled against him."

well, because of the antics of Dems during the Kavanaugh hearings, Roberts has been concerned about maintaining the perception in the public that the SCOTUS is non-partisan

this was a good opportunity

don't get yourself too excited

"The president complained that his opponents file their lawsuits in courts that are part of the liberal-leaning 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Every case that gets filed in the 9th Circuit, we get beaten. And then we end up having to go to the Supreme Court, like the travel ban, and we won,” Trump said."

well, regardless of Roberts' comments, Trump is right

November 21, 2018 3:55 PM  
Anonymous Deplorable said...

IQ45 is a deplorable idiot who plans to campaign next week for a GOP Senate candidate, Cindy Hyde-Smith. In a video posted to Twitter, a tall cattle rancher named Colin Hutchinson puts his arm around Hyde-Smith at an event in Tupelo, Miss. Then she praises him like this. "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UatRz7reKuc

IQ45 plans to show he supports that racist.

November 22, 2018 9:30 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

A new survey suggests that the overall opinion Canadians have of the US is at its lowest level since 1980. Approval of Donald Trump is also low.

It’s rare for pollsters to be able to use the word “unprecedented” to describe survey results unless they’re releasing their first poll – or giving in to the temptation to use hyperbole to get attention. But a recent Environics Institute survey has indeed revealed some unprecedented results. We’ve been fielding our Focus Canada tracking survey since November 1976, and one of the trends we’ve kept an eye on for much of that time has been Canadian attitudes toward America and its president. We first measured these attitudes after the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

When our measurements began, a substantial majority of Canadians – more than 7 in 10 – admired our southern neighbour. This feeling reached its apex in 1983, when 83 percent of Canadians expressed admiration for America. Nearly 6 in 10 (58 percent) admired President Reagan.

Notably, admiration for the country at large cut across party lines. In the 1983 Focus Canada survey, Conservatives felt the most positive (87 percent), but solid majorities of Liberals (82 percent) and New Democrats (71 percent) also admired the US.

Today, just 37 percent of Canadians admire the United States (figure 1). Not coincidentally, only 13 percent of us approve of President Donald Trump (figure 2). These are lows we’ve never seen before. (Unfortunately, we don’t have polling going back to the War of 1812; the proportions admiring the US and its leaders might have been lower then.)

But even with our admiration for things American and our dependence on America’s power and its huge market for our exports, Canadians’ attitudes toward the country indicate that they are troubled by the face their neighbours are now showing to the world.

The US president with his bullyish style and America-first policies is one factor. The nightmarish mixing of guns and bigotry (Charleston, Orlando, Pittsburgh) is another. (Canada has had its own recent hate-fuelled mass murders with the Quebec City mosque shooting and the Toronto van attack.) Some Canadians would still like to see their country be more, not less, like the United States. Some might even argue that gun violence, inequality vastly greater than our own and other obvious negatives are simply the price of a society that is on the whole richer, freer and more dynamic. But a majority of Canadians seem to feel that America’s advertisements for itself are not what they used to be.

November 22, 2018 3:01 PM  
Anonymous life is preferable and should be preferenced, homosexuality has an anti- life bias said...

"IQ45 is a deplorable idiot who plans to campaign next week for a GOP Senate candidate, Cindy Hyde-Smith. In a video posted to Twitter, a tall cattle rancher named Colin Hutchinson puts his arm around Hyde-Smith at an event in Tupelo, Miss. Then she praises him like this. "If he invited me to a public hanging, I'd be on the front row."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UatRz7reKuc

IQ45 plans to show he supports that racist."

I don't know who IQ45 is, but hopefully Trump will get down to support the GOP candidate

we're building an originalist judiciary that will last for a generation and we need all hands on deck

"A new survey suggests that the overall opinion Canadians have of the US is at its lowest level since 1980."

oh no

I'm so hurt

"It’s rare for pollsters to be able to use the word “unprecedented” to describe survey results unless they’re releasing their first poll – or giving in to the temptation to use hyperbole to get attention. But a recent Environics Institute survey has indeed revealed some unprecedented results."

OK, I get it

you're trying to get attention

"We’ve been fielding our Focus Canada tracking survey since November 1976, and one of the trends we’ve kept an eye on for much of that time has been Canadian attitudes toward America and its president."

really?

why?

who cares?

as long as the Canadian does what the US tells them to, we're fine

they don't have to like it

"Today, just 37 percent of Canadians admire the United States"

funny, I don't think even that many Americans admire Canada

not that we'd bother to take a poll about it

they've elected a puerile leader and their major foreign goal is to prevent American cheese from being sold in Toronto

Canadians have always resented America

I remember going to a museum in Montreal a couple of decades ago

they were showing a film about their losing war against Britain

they flashed a nasty picture of George Washington and said "a new menace was rising to the South"

"a majority of Canadians seem to feel that America’s advertisements for itself are not what they used to be"

well, what is?

certainly not the intelligence of Canadians

November 23, 2018 7:22 AM  
Anonymous South Korean megachurch pastor sentenced to 15 years for raping women ‘on God’s orders’ said...

TOKYO — The leader of a South Korean megachurch, Jaerock Lee, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday for raping eight female followers after telling them he was carrying out “an order from God.”

Lee is the head of the Manmin Central Church, which claims to have 133,000 followers and 10,000 branches and associate churches worldwide.

He was ejected from the Christian Council of Korea in 1999 for his “heretical” beliefs and branded a “cult leader” by the Korean Ministry Association after claiming he was without sin and exempt from dying.

“The victims, who attended the church since childhood, believed that obeying Lee as a godlike figure is the path to heaven,” the court said in its verdict. “Apparently the victims were psychologically positioned to be powerless to disobey Lee, and Lee took advantage of their status to commit the crime.”

The court said Lee denied “objective facts” during the investigation and showed no remorse in the courtroom. Lee, 75, was about 50 years older than his victims, it said.

“The victims believed him to be a divine being who wields divine power,” the court said. “They would have accepted Lee’s behavior as a divine act, rather than a sexual one, and gave up questioning him, thinking that it would constitute a sin.”

Accusations that Lee abused his power to have sex with female followers have circulated for two decades. In 1999, approximately 300 of his supporters stormed a Korean television station after it broadcast a documentary critical of Lee and his claims that he could cure illness. His sect had obtained a court order preventing Munhwa Broadcasting from screening a story about Lee’s sex life.

Lee was also invited to preach all over the world, with his church claiming he performed miraculous acts of healing.

“At each overseas crusade, countless have received God’s healing of such incurable and terminal diseases as AIDS, cancer, and the like on the spot when Rev. Dr. Lee prayed not by placing his hand on each of the sick but merely for all from the pulpit,” Manmin Central Church said on its website.

Christian cults have gained a significant foothold in South Korea, where 29 percent of the population identifies as Christian.

In August, the leader of a small Christian sect known as Jesus Morning Star was jailed for six years for raping female followers as part of a purification ritual.

The same month, South Korean cult leader Shin Ok-ju was arrested over allegations that she had persuaded her followers to flee to Fiji to escape a looming famine on the Korean Peninsula and then subjected them to ritual beatings. She was taken into custody upon her arrival in Seoul.

A video later emerged of her beating her followers and ordering them to strike one another.

November 23, 2018 8:02 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland....LOL said...

"He was ejected from the Christian Council of Korea in 1999 for his “heretical” beliefs and branded a “cult leader” by the Korean Ministry Association after claiming he was without sin and exempt from dying."

OK, so he wasn't a Christian

“Apparently the victims were psychologically positioned to be powerless to disobey Lee, and Lee took advantage of their status to commit the crime.”

this sounds like Bill CLinton and Monica Lewinsky

"The court said Lee denied “objective facts” during the investigation and showed no remorse"

this sounds like Bill CLinton

"“The victims believed him to be a divine being who wields divine power,” the court said. “They would have accepted Lee’s behavior as a divine act, rather than a sexual one, and gave up questioning him, thinking that it would constitute a sin.”"

this is just how liberal Democrats have acted toward Bill Clinton

"Accusations that Lee abused his power to have sex with female followers have circulated for two decades."

this sounds like Bill CLinton

"In 1999, approximately 300 of his supporters stormed a Korean television station after it broadcast a documentary critical of Lee"

this sounds like when Dinesh D'Souza made a documentary critical of Hillary

"Lee was also invited to preach all over the world,"

this sounds like Bill CLinton

"Christian cults"

this is an oxymoron, written by a real moron

November 23, 2018 9:45 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

It would be nice if Tяump was mad at the guys who killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi instead of the guys who killed Osama bin Laden.

November 23, 2018 12:38 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The worst part about Tяump isn't that he's a racist, sexist, ignorant bigot. It's that his supporters know that and don't care.

November 23, 2018 12:40 PM  
Anonymous Major Trump administration climate report says damage is ‘intensifying across the country’ said...

The federal government on Friday released a long-awaited report with an unmistakable message: The effects of climate change, including deadly wildfires, increasingly debilitating hurricanes and heat waves, are already battering the United States, and the danger of more such catastrophes is worsening.

The report’s authors, who represent numerous federal agencies, say they are more certain than ever that climate change poses a severe threat to Americans' health and pocketbooks, as well as to the country’s infrastructure and natural resources. And while it avoids policy recommendations, the report’s sense of urgency and alarm stands in stark contrast to the lack of any apparent plan from President Trump to tackle the problems, which, according to the government he runs, are increasingly dire.

The congressionally mandated document — the first of its kind issued during the Trump administration — details how climate-fueled disasters and other types of worrisome changes are becoming more commonplace throughout the country and how much worse they could become in the absence of efforts to combat global warming.

Already, western mountain ranges are retaining much less snow throughout the year, threatening water supplies below them. Coral reefs in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Florida and the United States' Pacific territories are experiencing severe bleaching events. Wildfires are devouring ever-larger areas during longer fire seasons. And the country’s sole Arctic state, Alaska, is seeing a staggering rate of warming that has upended its ecosystems, from once ice-clogged coastlines to increasingly thawing permafrost tundras...

The authors argue that global warming “is transforming where and how we live and presents growing challenges to human health and quality of life, the economy, and the natural systems that support us.” And they conclude that humans must act aggressively to adapt to current impacts and mitigate future catastrophes “to avoid substantial damages to the U.S. economy, environment, and human health and well-being over the coming decades.”...

November 24, 2018 1:03 PM  
Anonymous Japan Meteorological Agency said...

"The monthly anomaly of the global average surface temperature in October 2018 (i.e. the average of the near-surface air temperature over land and the SST) was +0.37°C above the 1981-2010 average (+0.69°C above the 20th century average), and was the 2nd warmest since 1891. On a longer time scale, global average surface temperatures have risen at a rate of about 0.66°C per century.

Five Warmest Years (Anomalies)

1st. 2015(+0.53°C), 2nd. 2018(+0.37°C), 3rd. 2014(+0.34°C), 4th. 2017,2016(+0.30°C)"

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 five warmest Octobers.

November 24, 2018 1:10 PM  
Anonymous more about TTF's favorite sexual predator and his crimes said...

Monica Lewinsky has opened up for the first time about how Bill Clinton convinced her "to break the law" and lie under oath.

In the final part of the A&E docuseries "The Clinton Affair," Lewinsky revealed that Clinton convinced her to deny the affair if she was called to testify in the Paula Jones case. The 45-year-old recalled the former president telling her that she could avoid being deposed if she denied the affair in an affidavit.

Lewinsky said that Clinton had called her at 2:30 in the morning to let her know that she was on the witness list for the Paula Jones case.

"I was petrified. I was frantic about my family and this becoming public," Lewinsky tearfully recalled. "Thankfully, Bill helped me lock myself back from that and he said I could probably sign an affidavit to get out of it, and he didn't even know if a 100 percent I would be subpoenaed."

She was subpoenaed a few days later.

After being subpoenaed, the former White House staffer decided to talk to attorney Vernon Jordan, a close friend of Clinton. In the documentary, Lewinsky claims that she managed to secure a meeting with Jordan on her own and from that meeting, she was introduced to lawyer Frank Carter.

"Frank Carter explained to me if I'd signed an affidavit denying having had an intimate relationship with the president it might mean I wouldn't have to be deposed in the Paula Jones case," she recounted. "I did feel uncomfortable about it but I felt it was the right thing to do, ironically, right? So, the right thing to do, to break the law."

Following her decision to sign the affidavit, Clinton called Lewinsky to the White House for a somewhat private Christmas celebration.

"This is the first time I met Buddy, the dog, and we kind of all played around with Buddy in the office and then we went into the back study and we had a Christmas kiss," Lewinsky revealed.

She continued: "Over the summer he had gone to Martha's Vineyard and he brought back a bunch of different things. He had this big canvas bag from the Black Dog. This marble bear, sunglasses. It was the most presents he'd given me at one time. He knew the subpoena was gonna ask to produce certain items and yet he was giving me more gifts. He clearly still trusted me."

While things seemed to be getting back to normal, it wasn't long before everything went downhill for the former White House intern.

Once it was discovered that Lewinsky was having an affair with Clinton, the FBI forced the young staffer to be part of the bureau investigation into the president.

Scared and unsure what to do, the activist recalled how the FBI threatened to prosecute her mother and said that both women could face up to 27 years in prison for lying about the affair.

A then-24-year-old Lewinsky demanded to call her mother while she was being held inside a Ritz Carlton hotel room for what was a 12-hour interrogation.

"You're 24, you don't need to call your mommy, you need to make a decision about what to do," Lewinsky recalled one agent told her.

November 24, 2018 7:09 PM  
Anonymous Deplorable leadership said...

Ah yes, the GOP glory days of impeaching Clinton over the Lewinsky affair.

Dems picked up 5 seats in the House in 1998 midterms during the impeachment of Clinton.

Newt Gingrich resigned his Speakership after becoming the first speaker of the house to be sanctioned to pay $300,000 and admit he had "engaged in conduct that did not reflect creditably on the House of Representatives."

His replacement as GOPer Speaker of the House, Bob Livingston, then stepped down and admitted to illicit sexual affairs.

Livingston was replaced as Speaker of the House by GOPer and pedophile Dennis Hastert. See Dennis Hastert released from prison but still faces sex-offender treatment

Woo hoo, go GOPers!

November 25, 2018 9:37 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is how life is perpetuated and it has a privileged status said...

"Ah yes, the GOP glory days of impeaching Clinton over the Lewinsky affair"

ah yes, it was when the GOP let Clinton off the hook, after listen to his groveling

if they had known he told Monica to lie, it might have ended differently

Hillary and her campaign cronies and the Obama DOJ and FBI and CIA might not be so lucky

they've perjured and obstructed justice

the train of their consequences is coming

November 25, 2018 10:46 PM  
Anonymous ‘These children are barefoot. In diapers. Choking on tear gas.’ said...

Welcome to Trumplandia

November 26, 2018 7:52 AM  
Anonymous Taking a good economy from a Democratic president and making it bad again said...

General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers in North America and put five plants up for possible closure as it restructures to cut costs and focus more on autonomous and electric vehicles.

The reduction includes 8,100 white-collar workers, some of whom will take buyouts and others who will be laid off. Most of the affected factories build cars that won’t be sold in the U.S. after next year. They could close or they could get different vehicles to build. They will be part of contract talks with the United Auto Workers union next year.

Plants without products include assembly plants in Detroit; Lordstown, Ohio; and Oshawa, Ontario. Also affected are transmission factories in Warren, Michigan, as well as Baltimore.

About 6,000 factory workers could lose jobs in the U.S. and Canada, although some could transfer to truck plants.

General Motors is closing a Canadian plant at the cost of about 2,500 jobs, but that is apparently just a piece of a much broader, company-wide restructuring that will be announced as early as Monday.

A person briefed on the matter told The Associated Press that the plant being shuttered in Canada is just the beginning as GM prepares for the next economic downturn, shifting trade agreements under the Trump administration, and potential tariffs on imported automobiles.

In the fall, the Detroit automaker offered buyouts to 18,000 white collar workers, but it has yet to say how many accepted, or if its’s close to meeting the staff reduction goals it set to better withstand leaner times.

November 26, 2018 1:27 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality never produces life, two of 'em ain't ever a marriage said...

"It would be nice if Tяump was mad at the guys who killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi"

thousands of Saudi citizens have been killed and persecuted for expressing their civil rights

so have citizens of Russia, Iran, North Korea, Canada, et al

why is this guy so much more important than them?

because he worked for the Washington Post?

no, it's because Trump's Mid-east strategy of countering Iran's rise with the help of the Saudi was a great success and the liberal media wants to undermine it any way they can

it would be nice if the peace and stability of the planet was as important to liberal assholes as their hatred of Donald Trump

"The worst part about Tяump isn't that he's a racist, sexist, ignorant bigot. It's that his supporters know that and don't care."

The worst part about foreign trolls isn't that they know that Trump isn't racist or sexist or an ignorant bigot. It's that they lie about it and don't care how much this sets back national unity.

"And while it avoids policy recommendations, the report’s sense of urgency and alarm stands in stark contrast to the lack of any apparent plan from President Trump to tackle the problems, which, according to the government he runs, are increasingly dire."

hey, idiot

tell us your ideas for "tackling" the problem

"‘These children are barefoot. In diapers. Choking on tear gas.’ said...
Welcome to Trumplandia"

their parents should be prosecuted for child abuse for using their kids as props to march before a military blockade

if people want to come to America, they need to follow legal procedures not rush the border, using their children as shields, or sneak in and then take advantage of our legal system

btw, the liberals financing the caravan's illegal activity should be prosecuted

"Taking a good economy from a Democratic president and making it bad again said...
General Motors will lay off 14,700 factory and white-collar workers"

look, it's voodoo TTF economics

never mind that unemployment is at near-record lows

the "good" economy of Barack Obama has been ruined because GM laid off some workers

please...

polls show that Americans overwhelmingly approve of Trump's economic policies

for good reason



November 26, 2018 9:44 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is life-affirming and deserves preferential treatment said...

"And while it avoids policy recommendations, the report’s sense of urgency and alarm stands in stark contrast to the lack of any apparent plan from President Trump to tackle the problems,"

America is the only nation on Earth that has met the goals of the Paris climate accord

what else, exactly, should we do?

bomb Chinese and Indian power plants and auto factories?

stop selling cars to these nations?

November 26, 2018 9:55 PM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland LOL said...

how George Washington used lying to win our independence:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/george-washington-was-master-deception/576565/

November 26, 2018 10:03 PM  
Anonymous only gender diverse unions create life and we need a wall said...

The chief of U.S. Border Patrol for the San Diego, Calif., region said Monday that 42 people who charged at and attempted to illegally enter the U.S. from Mexico on Sunday were arrested, but many others were able to evade federal law enforcement.

"We ended up making about 42 arrests. The vast majority of those were adult males," Border Patrol San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodney S. Scott said on Monday morning.

"To be completely frank, there were numerous people that actually made it across the border," Scott said. "We’re in the process of building a new border wall here but we don't have it completed. There were some sections that had dilapidated border wall that was made out of scrap metal the military gave us. The group breached a couple sections of that, actually tore down one small section, and started to rush across. And that’s the time they started assaulting our agents, and we were able to hold them back using riot techniques."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is in charge of all port activity, closed down the San Ysidro port of entry late Sunday morning local time as hundreds of migrants who traveled from Central America as part of a caravan attempted to storm the border and pass through less-secured parts of the fence, which is in the process of being swapped out for a taller wall.

Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said Monday that 1,000 people of the 6,000 caravan migrants staying in Tijuana, Mexico, tried to rush the border.

November 27, 2018 7:19 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

I’ve Worked in Republican Politics. The Party’s Voter Suppression in the Midterms Has Been a Disgrace

To tolerate this disenfranchisement is to be complicit in the worst of this nation’s past, writes Elise Jordan

A Republican operative of otherwise dubious election-year morality once told me his red line: strategies that attempt voter suppression must be rejected, always. Your candidate should not win by embracing tactics that represent the antithesis of democracy. Not in 2018. Not in America. And especially not in the Deep South. The region’s blighted history of oppression against African Americans reveals what such a strategy truly is and why we must reject it.

During my time in Republican politics, I overlooked plenty of unseemly partisan warfare. But the voter suppression of our citizens that we’ve seen this year is something that no American can ignore.

A representative for Republican candidate for governor Brian Kemp called his opponent Stacey Abrams’ unwillingness to concede before all votes were counted “a disgrace to democracy.” But leaders like Kemp are the real disgrace. Abrams engaged new voters; in turn, Kemp openly said he’d like to suppress their participation. Kemp was also running while serving as secretary of state, the office that oversees elections, and resigned two days after balloting, only when challenged by a lawsuit.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t easy to vote in Georgia, because of broken voting machines, or functional machines with missing power cords, or too few machines—and, at the very least, hours-long lines. (A U.S. District judge characterized of Kemp’s leadership in a ruling on Georgia’s readiness: “The Defendants and State election officials had buried their heads in the sand.”) If all this had occurred in Iraq or Afghanistan or Zimbabwe, American election monitors would protest the result.

November 27, 2018 7:57 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

But it happened here, in districts across the United States. Consider the rule that any Mississippians wishing to vote absentee in the Nov. 27 runoff would need to notarize their ballot during the week of the Thanksgiving holiday. Complicated voting procedures like these—designed to stunt turnout—are the modern-day equivalent of a poll tax.

Worse still, the responses of Republican officials, including the President, have made it clear that they missed the civics lesson explaining that elections need to be perceived as free and fair to establish the legitimacy of elected leadership. So far, the rare member of the party involved in a close contest who has acted in a manner worthy of that mandate is one who will not be serving: with her gracious concession, Arizona Senate candidate Martha McSally has been the lone outlier in a sea of Republicans crying fraud.

That an estimated 113 million people—an increase of 30 million voters from the 2014 midterms—still turned out, despite this mess, demonstrated that Americans want to do their part. In Florida, citizens even expanded the number of people who can participate by reinstating the right to vote to 1.4 million former felons. This devotion deserves a fair process.

The needed reform isn’t that complex. People like Kemp—and his counterparts in Kansas and Ohio who did the same, plus Florida Governor Rick Scott—have no business refereeing an election in which they’re competing. Resign-to-run, or even recuse-to-run, laws should be universal. Additionally, former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson has rightly suggested election infrastructure be categorized as critical, like the electric grid. And though I lean libertarian, I would also like to see a new national commission on voting; too many local and state authorities have a proven track record of incompetency.

This is not about abstract ideals. It is about how people live. These communities have paid with their lives and livelihoods throughout history to gain the right to vote. We cannot repay them with broken systems. In her seminal work, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander writes that racism “functions naturally, almost invisibly (and sometimes with genuinely benign intent), when it is embedded in the structure of a social system.” To tolerate this disenfranchisement is to be complicit in the worst of this nation’s past.

I keep thinking about what Barbara Williams, a 58-year-old African-American retiree in Georgia, told the Associated Press. “It was important for me to vote … I’m a human being, and I have a life, and I try for it to be better.” Those words are clarifying: anything short of counting every vote is an abnegation of America’s founding promise as a nation built on the consent of the governed.

November 27, 2018 7:57 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Democrats won the House with the largest margin of victory in history for either party ever.

Nationally Democrats have 53.1 percent of all votes counted while Republicans took 45.2 percent.

This is a massive rebuke of Tяump and his Republican lackies in Congress. And yet somehow despite the massive loss of the popular vote Republicans still have the majority of Senate seats - clearly they've perverted American democracy.

The American public is not where the Republicans and Tяump are. The Tяump regime is destroying American democracy.

November 27, 2018 8:52 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality is not to be preferenced said...

The same tear-gas agent that the Trump administration is taking heat for deploying against a border mob this weekend is actually used fairly frequently — including more than once a month during the later years of President Barack Obama’s administration, according to Homeland Security data.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has used 2-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, or CS, since 2010, and deployed it 26 times in fiscal 2012 and 27 times in 2013. The use dropped after that, but was still deployed three times in 2016, Mr. Obama’s final full year in office.

Use of CS rose again in fiscal 2017, which was split between Mr. Obama and Mr. Trump, and reached 29 deployments in fiscal 2018, which ended two months ago, according to CBP data.

Border authorities also use another agent, pepper spray, frequently — including a decade-high record of 151 instances in 2013, also under Mr. Obama.

The data poses a challenge to the current anger over the Border Patrol’s use of tear gas Sunday to prevent a mob from busting through sections of old border fence in California.

Critics, including Latin American leaders, immigrant-rights advocates and congressional Democrats, have said use of tear gas is “un-American.”

“It’s horrifying to see tear gas used on mothers and young children as they seek refuge in the United States. That’s not what America should be,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat.

Other Democrats complained about threats of “deadly force” against the border incursions, which saw migrants punch through fencing, and launch rocks and bottles at agents who responded to stem the intrusion.

Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, took umbrage at the outrage, questioning where the critics were when tear gas was deployed under Mr. Obama.

“This policy that we use was an Obama-written policy and it was used in 2013 at the same port of entry,” he said, wondering in particular about the intense media interest now versus then.

“The facts are, the policy written under President Obama allows us to use tear gas to disperse a crowd that was very dangerous,” he said.

Host Erin Burnett scoffed at Mr. Judd’s facts, saying the agents were using tear gas against women and children this weekend.

“The tear gas was not deployed at the children,” Mr. Judd countered, saying migrants were attempting to use them as human shields.

Some 9,000 members of the migrant caravans are camped in Baja California along the U.S.-Mexico border, plotting their attempts to enter the U.S., according to Mexican press accounts.

Mexican authorities said it has deported 98 caravan members it has identified as part of the violence and chaos.

November 27, 2018 10:47 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"why is this guy so much more important than them?

because he worked for the Washington Post?"

No moron. It was because he was a legal resident of the United States when he was chopped up.

Saudi Arabia is one of our "allies."

Let those thoughts sink in for a few minutes.

November 27, 2018 11:24 AM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland ... LOL said...

actually, imbecile, he was a citizen of Saudi Arabia who we allowed to live in the US while he worked here and he was in a foreign country when killed

if you buy the whole idea that countries are sovereign in their embassies, he was really in his homeland and the authorities of his homeland had him killed

he was under the jurisdiction of his own country and hadn't become a citizen of the US nor renounced his citizenship in Saudi

if we are going to start not having relations with any country that suppresses its own people, the result will be a more dangerous world

November 27, 2018 12:24 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality is not to be preferenced said...

"anything short of counting every vote is an abnegation of America’s founding promise as a nation built on the consent of the governed"

there are rules for voting and always have been

they apply to everyone equally and are very simple ways to secure our elections are valid

it's amazing that Dems take this stand now after spending the last two years saying Russia fixed the election fraudulently

"Democrats won the House with the largest margin of victory in history for either party ever.

Nationally Democrats have 53.1 percent of all votes counted while Republicans took 45.2 percent.

This is a massive rebuke of Tяump and his Republican lackies in Congress. And yet somehow despite the massive loss of the popular vote Republicans still have the majority of Senate seats - clearly they've perverted American democracy."

no, we are a union of states, every one of which has equal representation

we don't allow hugely populated areas to dominate more sparsely populated areas

those sparsely populated areas make an outsize contributions to our resources so we'd like them to stay in the union

"The American public is not where the Republicans and Tяump are."

eliminate California and New York and this statement is false

48 states matter

November 27, 2018 12:36 PM  
Anonymous Nooses Hung At Mississippi State Capitol Just Before Runoff Election said...

Nooses hanging from trees and hateful signs were found at the Mississippi State Capitol early Monday morning, just a day before a runoff election to decide whether a black man will represent the state in the U.S. Senate for the first time since the 1880s.

Two nooses and six hateful signs that referenced murdered black teen Emmett Till and lynching were hung around the Capitol campus at about 7 a.m. on Monday, according to Chuck McIntosh, spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.

The imagery was first obtained by a WLBT reporter, who received a call in the morning about the nooses and then notified Capitol Police.

McIntosh told HuffPost that it’s unclear, based on the signs alone, whether the incident was related to Tuesday’s runoff election between Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Democratic candidate Mike Espy, who is African-American. He described the signs ― which police haven’t yet made public ― as focusing on lynching and Till, a 14-year-old who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of interacting with a white woman.

“While I can’t speak to their mindset, it is notable that it was done the day before the special election,” McIntosh said.

Hyde-Smith made headlines and lost campaign funding after she joked about wanting to attend a “public hanging” earlier this month. She apologized, but the hits kept coming: a Rhodes scholar at the University of Mississippi called her a white supremacist; the NAACP and Espy himself called the comments “hurtful and harmful”; and her uncritical views of the Confederacy and Mississippi’s legacy of racism were made public....

And our racist President Trump stumps for Cindy Hyde-Smith at two Mississippi rallies

"President Trump threw his full support behind Republican Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith, ahead of her runoff election against Democrat Mike Espy on Tuesday...."



He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
-- Proverbs 13:20

November 27, 2018 12:53 PM  
Anonymous Merrick Garland ... LOL said...

“While I can’t speak to their mindset, it is notable that it was done the day before the special election,” McIntosh said."

also notable is that the incident tends to help the Democrat more than the Republican

November 27, 2018 1:26 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Donald Tяump ‘Driven By Pathology,’ Yale Psychiatrist Says: ‘He’s Choosing A Self-Destructive Course’

Many have questioned President Donald Tяump’s mental health and overall stability over the years, citing reckless and erratic behavior, implying that the president is mentally unstable and therefore harming the country. At least once, criticism got to the president, prompting him to proclaim via Twitter that “mental stability” and being “like, very smart” are two of his greatest assets.

But some psychiatrists beg to differ. One of them, Yale psychiatry professor Bandy X. Lee, claims to not diagnose lightly, but she has nonetheless repeatedly, and publicly, suggested that Donald Tяump should be evaluated by psychiatrists, as she did in a September interview with Salon. Apart from suggesting that Tяump should willingly undergo psychiatric evaluation, Professor Lee has developed a theory of her own about the mental state of President Tяump, which she concisely laid out in a recent interview.

In a conversation with Raw Story‘s Tana Ganeva, Lee explained that psychiatrists look for patterns in an effort to develop theories about one’s mental health. When it comes to Donald Tяump, Lee claims, his behavior fits the pattern “of someone acting that is driven by emotional compulsions.”

The president has found a way to capitalize on this, managing to re-frame losses — like the recent midterm election, for instance — as victories, therefore convincing his supporters that he is indeed winning.

Lee noted that her theories do not reflect the professional opinion of Yale University.

November 27, 2018 1:53 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Yale psychiatrist explains how Tяump’s mental issues will cause him to self-destruct

Emotionally-driven, relatively uninformed, and dependent on Tяump, his supporters don’t question him and tend to take his claims at face value, according to the psychiatrist. She adds, however, that emotionally manipulating his supporters is not a matter of strategy for President Tяump. Rather, “this can be explained through their emotional wounds.”

President Tяump himself, in Lee’s assessment, is “driven by pathology rather than healthy choices.”

According to her, Tяump sometimes makes seemingly effective choices, without realizing that they are actually self-destructive. He is manipulative, demeaning, deceptive, and destructive, she asserts.

“He is driven by pathology rather than healthy choices. He’ll make choices that are self-destructive even if they seem effective at the time and produce results that appear to benefit him.”

According to the psychiatrist, President Donald Tяump’s behavior is not only threatening to destroy him, but it also poses a grave danger to the United States. Prof. Lee has previously written extensively about Tяump, notably for Vice, when she called for a psychiatric evaluation with his consent.

“He’s choosing a self destructive course, not just for him but for the nation," she opined.

November 27, 2018 1:54 PM  
Anonymous Bandy X. Lee....LOL said...

"When it comes to Donald Tяump, Lee claims, his behavior fits the pattern “of someone acting that is driven by emotional compulsions.”

is that a mental illness?

seems like most people are driven by emotional compulsions

certainly, most TTfers are

"Lee noted that her theories do not reflect the professional opinion of Yale University."

just in time for year-end lists, we have the understatement of the year

November 27, 2018 2:19 PM  
Anonymous Welcome to Tяumplandia said...

"also notable is that the incident tends to help the Democrat more than the Republican"

This happened in Mississippi where a smiling and laughing Cindy Hyde-Smith proudly said she would attend a public hanging if one of her supporters invited her.

People in Mississippi understand what a < wink wink > public hanging means.

Cindy Hyde-Smith seemed surprised anyone could possibly be offended by her having said such a thing while Tяump claimed "It was just sort of said in jest."

American presidents usually don't find humor in comments about Mississippi's sordid past of public hangings but apparently Tяump thinks it's OK to joke about.

He probably thinks, "there are good people under those hoods conducting those public hangings."

November 27, 2018 2:31 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

At this point anyone who denies man-made global warming is the enemy of humanity.

November 27, 2018 4:09 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The FDA Killed a Rule That Could Have Prevented the Latest E. Coli Outbreak

Tяump and most Republicans stupidly believe that its automatically a good thing to cut regulations. This attitude lead to five people dying.

Regulations are not automatically a bad thing.

Regulations make our lives better and safer.

November 27, 2018 4:15 PM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

Are you ready kids?
Aye-aye captain.
I can't hear you...
Aye-aye captain!

Ohhhhhh! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!
SpongeBob SquarePants!

If nautical nonsense be something you wish...
SpongeBob SquarePants!
Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!
SpongeBob Squarepants!
Ready?

SpongeBob SquarePants! SpongeBob SquarePants!
SpongeBob... SquarePants! Hahaha! Ahahahah ahh

November 27, 2018 4:22 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality is how life is perpetuated and it has a privileged status said...

"This happened in Mississippi where a smiling and laughing Cindy Hyde-Smith proudly said she would attend a public hanging if one of her supporters invited her.

People in Mississippi understand what a < wink wink > public hanging means."

people in our liberal nutocracy have endless of secret meanings of words

the woman was simply making an impromptu joke

but, as we see repeatedly, racism is really the Dems' only issue so they desperately want to keep racial tensions high

where would they be without racism

you people are pathetic

"At this point anyone who denies man-made global warming is the enemy of humanity."

actually, fee and open discussion doesn't make you an enemy of humanity

opposing all rational solutions may though

the easiest solution to the problem is fracking, nuclear power, and massive forestation

liberal nuticons oppose two of these three obvious fixes

2 outta 3 is bad

"Tяump and most Republicans stupidly believe that its automatically a good thing to cut regulations. This attitude lead to five people dying.

Regulations are not automatically a bad thing."

all things being equal they are

they always represent an infringement of freedom and must be used judiciously

liberal wackicons think a new regulation is the answer to every problem

chronic unemployment and sluggish economic growth kill more than 5 people

"Regulations make our lives better and safer."

rarely

I know there needs to be a lot of rules in the nut house

but, in the outside world we don't need people ordering our every move

"Are you ready kids?
Aye-aye captain.
I can't hear you...
Aye-aye captain!

Ohhhhhh! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

don't tell us depraved priya

tell your psych

maybe he'll increase your meds

November 27, 2018 8:40 PM  
Anonymous Mexico and the US, North America's leading economies said...

The Mexican government says it will award President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner the highest honor the country gives to foreigners, the Order of the Aztec Eagle.

The Foreign Relations Department said Kushner earned the award "for his significant contributions in achieving the renegotiation of the new trade agreement between Mexico and the United States."

The department said in a statement Tuesday that Kushner "played a fundamental role during the whole process, displaying decisive support for the trade talks ... thus achieving satisfactory results."

November 27, 2018 8:57 PM  
Anonymous brrrrr, it's freezing in Washington and it ain't even winter yet said...

It’s hard to find a better illustration of the failure of discourse in the age of Twitter than the punditocracy’s response to the second volume of the fourth National Climate Assessment produced by Donald Trump’s administration. Few news cycles have so clearly demonstrated that narrowness, narcissism, and hysterics are currency, even if that tender is all but worthless in the arena of public affairs.

Volume II of the report was released on the Friday after Thanksgiving. This was taken as a sign that the Trump administration hoped to bury the report and its findings, though few seemed to take much notice of Volume I’s October release date. The assessment’s second volume focused on the effects of climate change on the United States, which warned that unchecked warming could cost thousands of lives and 10 percent of GDP by the end of this century.

If the Trump administration’s objective was to bury this report, it did a spectacularly poor job as many mainstream news outlets went out of their way to publicize its findings.

Exhuming this report from its early grave, NBC’s “Meet the Press” focused on it extensively—probing lawmakers about the issue and devoting a panel segment to the political implications of its findings. American Enterprise Institute scholar Danielle Pletka attracted an unusual amount of attention for her remarks on the subject. In a brief soliloquy, she said that she doesn’t believe “we can have any doubt” about the existence of climate change, though we can join the scientific community in speculating about the precise degree to which human activity contributes to that change.

Pletka went on to note mitigating phenomena that, in her view, don’t receive due attention. The last two years were typified by the “biggest drop in global temperatures that we have had since the 1980s,” she said. Pletka added that carbon dioxide emissions in the U.S. are declining even after America pulled out of the Paris accords, and American industry has shifted away from burning so-called “dirty coal,” unlike its European counterparts.

The AEI scholar’s critics noted that extreme temperature fluctuation doesn’t tell us much about the climate, which is fair. But “dirty coal” burning in America is declining at a terminal rate despite the loosening regulatory climate, and the United States has led the world in CO2 emissions reductions even without a non-binding international treaty compelling it to do so. Pletka observed in closing that this was the work of industry, consumer preference, and capitalist innovation, and not oppressive central planning (which is entirely correct).

November 27, 2018 9:13 PM  
Anonymous brrrrr, it's freezing in Washington and it ain't even winter yet said...

“We shouldn’t be hysterical” about the problem of climate change, Pletka concluded. You’d think she shot someone’s dog on live television.

On Twitter, investigative reporter Alex Kotch insisted that this “non-scientist” perspective was advanced in service to “the biggest fossil fuel polluters in the world, Koch Industries.” Attorney Max Kennerly contended that it was “inexcusable” to allow Pletka to opine at all on this subject. “This is PR for polluters, not journalism,” he barked. “This is crazy,” ABC News analyst Matt Dowd said. “Balance shouldn’t be the goal, truth should.” “People tune in to be informed not be subjected to propaganda,” former Think Progress founder Judd Legum tweeted. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, and controversial climatologist Michael Mann all attacked the network for giving Pletka a platform to discuss climate as it relates to public policy.

There was no such outrage over the response from Pletka’s counterpart, New York Times columnist and fellow “non-scientist” Helene Cooper, which tells you all you need to know about this ginned-up controversy. “I actually think we should be hysterical,” she said. “I think anybody who has children or anybody who can imagine having children and grandchildren, how can you look at them and think this is the kind of world that through our own inaction and our inability to do something, that we’re going to leave them?”

It’s a struggle to think of a long-term public policy crisis that was mitigated by mass hysteria, which is perhaps why Pletka’s many detractors can’t explain why Cooper’s brand of lay advocacy is more acceptable than her counterpart’s. Cooper also said that it was time for the political class to “force corporate leadership” to do something about climate change, demonstrating that she either hadn’t heard a word Pletka said or couldn’t refute her claims. But none of the usual suspects have expressed so much as a hint of disapproval over the gauzy sentimentalism and histrionics expressed by Cooper. That sort of dilettantism serves their purposes.

For Pletka’s detractors, the likely source of consternation wasn’t her professional expertise but her refusal to accept a straight-line projection at face value. That is, however, the only prudent course considering how many climate-related prognostications have not panned out. In 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s First Assessment Report’s predictions related to rates of warming and temperature changes were erroneous. The IPCC’s 2001 assessment that climate change would reduce the severity of snow storms did not materialize. The Arctic should be ice-free by now if climate scientists’ predictions were always accurate. As Abe Greenwald noted just last week, the scientific consensus around the rate of oceanic warming was successfully challenged not by the deliberate process of peer review but by a freelancing skeptic with time enough to critically parse the data. Given the failure of these near-term predictions to manifest, it’s only reasonable not to lend too much credence to a projection that takes us nearly 100 years into the future.

You might see now why some advocates prefer hysteria to caution and skepticism, and why those who shatter the serenity of the echo chamber are so valuable.

November 27, 2018 9:17 PM  
Anonymous Spongebob said...

RIP Stephen Hillenburg

Help create a world without ALS

http://www.alsa.org/donate/

November 27, 2018 9:31 PM  
Anonymous Trump campaigning wins it again!! said...

"President Trump threw his full support behind Republican Senate candidate Cindy Hyde-Smith, ahead of her runoff election against Democrat Mike Espy on Tuesday...."

Republicans on Tuesday expanded their incoming Senate majority to 53 seats, as incumbent Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith handily beat back an insurgent challenge by Democrat Mike Espy in Mississippi's special election runoff to become the first woman ever elected to Congress from the state.

With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Hyde-Smith had 414,678 votes to Espy's 342,693 -- a commanding margin of 54.8 percent to 45.2 percent, according to state election officials.

Espy called Hyde-Smith to concede the race, which marks the final midterm contest of 2018.

Hyde-Smith, 59, is an ardent supporter of President Trump.

Hyde-Smith's win gives Republicans more leeway to ensure the confirmation of Trump's federal judicial and Cabinet nominees that require Senate approval, and strengthens the party's chances of holding the majority in 2020.

“Cindy Hyde-Smith has been a strong conservative voice since joining the Senate, so it should come as no surprise that she was elected by Mississippians to represent them in Washington,” National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Cory Gardner said in a statement. “Senator Hyde-Smith won tonight because she has a trusted record of fighting for Mississippi, and we are happy she will be returning to the United States Senate.”

November 27, 2018 11:10 PM  
Anonymous you'll be hiss, you'll be hiss, you'll be history!! said...

the first woman ever elected to Congress from the state of Mississippi

November 27, 2018 11:12 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality, so superior to homosexuality, deserves priviliged status said...

The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) has released its latest doomsday climate report. This organization, part of the federal government, has been in business for a long time, releasing nonsense reports concerning the supposed global warming threat. I attended meetings of the federal advisory committee associated with the program in 2011 and wrote an article about that particular circus. Federal advisory committees are supposed to be committees of experts with a diversity of viewpoints. The committee in 2011 consisted of supposed experts with only one point of view, that we are threatened by doomsday global warming.

The USGCRP suffers from a lack of imagination. Its reports imitate the style and approach of the United Nations International Panel On Climate Change (IPCC). The USGCRP uses the IPCC as a trusted source. The problem is that the IPCC is not to be trusted. One idea broached at the 2011 meeting is present in the 2018 report. In 2011 the activists wrestled with the problem that nobody was paying much attention to their reports. They decided that there should be customized reports for different parts of the U.S. The idea was that people would be more concerned if there were specific doomsday predictions for their neighborhood. The country was divided into regions as shown in the map below. Doomsday forecasts for the regions are taken from climate models, sometimes supplemented by a procedure known as downscaling.

The trouble with climate models is that their output is not a plausible representation of the climate of the Earth. The in words of the distinguished climate scientist Kevin Trenberth, no climate skeptic: “…none of the climate states in the models corresponds even remotely to the current observed climate.”

The climate models are very large black boxes. They are far too complicated to make sense of what is going on. The way the models are used to create predictions or projections of future climate is determined by political, not scientific considerations. The results of the many models are simply averaged together to create an ensemble of climate models that is used to make the doomsday predictions. Instead of using the best model to make predictions, all the models are used as if every model is as good as every other model.

The reason for this is political. If a “best” model were selected, the scientifically correct approach, that would be breaking the rice bowl of all the losing modeling groups. That would lead to a loss of unity among the many modeling groups supping at the various government troughs. People mutually looting the government treasury stick together. If they fight with each other, they all lose.

The 468 page report released by the USGCRP is filled with speculative claims presented as if they are established science. The authors use “expert Judgement” to support their conclusions. The experts have an obvious financial and emotional stake in global warming doomsday scenarios. If the global warming doomsday is shown to be imaginary, the experts will lose their financial support and in many cases their jobs.

November 27, 2018 11:17 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality, so superior to homosexuality in so many ways, deserves a lofty status said...

The climate of the last 118 years is a clear demonstration of the fallacy of using climate models to predict the future climate. Carbon dioxide, according the theories supported by the IPCC and the USGCRP, had insignificant influence on climate prior to 1975. Yet, from 1910 to 1940 the Earth warmed strongly, not as a response to CO2. What caused that early century warming? No one knows. It is a mystery to this day. The only thing we know for sure is that it was not caused by CO2.

From 1975 to 2000, a very similar strong warming took place. According to the apostilles of global warming, that late century warming was caused exclusively by CO2. How do they know that the late century warming was not caused by the same mysterious force that caused the early century warming? They don’t, but they claim it because it is politically convenient. From 2000 to the present there has been little global warming, probably none if the influence of tropical El Nino events is discounted.

There are many ways to explain anything that happens in the climate. The lack of warming in the 21st century is often explained by claiming that heat is hiding in the ocean. Conveniently, there are no good measurements of heat hiding in the ocean.

The early versus late century warming is only one example of many contradictions in global warming theory. The contradictions and holes in the theory are ignored and swept under the rug. Global warming theory is politically motivated science, not real science. Scientists are behaving like other special interests dependent on government funding. They make up doomsday theories supported by a cloud of incomprehensible scientific jargon.

The many scientists that dispute this junk science are ruthlessly attacked and marginalized. There is an extensive literature written by global warming skeptics, many of whom are credentialed scientists. This body of literature is ignored rather than refuted. Rather than engage the skeptics in honest debate, the doomsday promoters accuse them of being paid off by oil companies.

November 27, 2018 11:19 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality needs to be encouraged, homosexuality discouraged: you know why? said...

Some of the things other than CO2 and greenhouse gases that can affect climate are the overturning circulation of the oceans, the magnetic field of the sun, the periodic cycles of ocean temperature, and chaotic variation. These other forces affecting climate are invoked only when they are convenient for explaining failures of the CO2 theory. In addition, there may be unknown forces, yet to be discovered.

The brazenness of the fake science is often shocking. Supposedly many Pacific islands are going to be flooded by sea level rise to be caused by global warming. These islands survived 400 feet of sea level rise at the end of the ice age 10,000 years ago, a much faster sea level rise than is currently taking place. They survived because they are coral islands that grow upward as the sea level rises. This is not a secret, but the advocates of global warming terror use these islands as an example of horrible things that will be caused by global warming. One wonders why the New York Times does not expose this brazen fraud.

Junk science and fake science are not limited to global warming. They are invading many important areas of science. For example, the danger of low level radiation has been exaggerated by persistent use of a model not supported by data. The supposed danger of PM2.5 or small particles, smaller than 2.5 microns, that are suspended in the air, has been exaggerated without good evidence. The danger of DDT was exaggerated with the result that millions of children were killed by malaria. In each case there are special interests that profit from spreading junk science. Stories predicting disaster sell and the science establishment is selling.

The global warming scare is used to provide ideological support for wind and solar energy. Billions of dollars have been wasted on useless wind and solar energy. My book, Dumb Energy, explains in detail why this so-called renewable energy is economically useless. Wind and solar are not even effective for reducing CO2 emissions.

The corruption of science has its roots in the political funding of science by the federal government. Somehow we have to make it less profitable for scientists to make up science. Peer review is a joke and doesn’t work. Certainly it would help if the public and the media were skeptical about any scientific theory that predicts a disaster unless we do what the scientists and their allies want us to do

November 27, 2018 11:19 PM  
Anonymous homosexuality is not to be preferenced said...

What is it with the modern left and the mainstream media that makes them so enamored with predictions of the coming apocalypse? Perhaps it is thanks to the old rule of journalism that bad news sells newspapers.

The media has broadcast far and wide the latest primal scream by the federal government and hundreds of scientists that all life on earth by the end of the century could be severely threatened due to climate change. Chicago could turn into Phoenix and its desert conditions. Economic losses will eventually total trillions of dollars. Early death, food shortages, and pestilence will become the norm without “radical” changes in the way we live and use energy. The alarmist report warns that climate change is already destroying the planet, as evidenced by the strange occurrence of natural disasters that have almost never happened in history, like forest fires in California, hurricanes in Florida, and floods in other nations.

How could a government report prepared by hundreds of scientists and with the official imprimatur of the federal government be wrong? The obvious answer is that they have been consistently wrong for decades in predictions of environmental devastation. Anyone over the age of 50 knows that we have heard these sensational, false malthusian forecasts from the federal government, and that reality has contradicted them in almost every instance.

November 28, 2018 8:58 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality is not to be preferenced said...

Look at history and consider the track record.

In the 1960s, the world became captivated by the likes of media darling and Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich, who warned of a population bomb as humans propagated like field mice. He said people will live elbow to elbow, leading to mass starvation, and there was a 50/50 bet that Britain would survive as a nation. India, we were told, was beyond saving. These false worries became the basis for some terrible population control strategies, like the gruesome one child policy of China.

In the 1970s, the infamous Club of Rome report on “limits to growth” in the world, which was sponsored and funded by the federal government, saw the planet not surviving much past the year 2000 due to poverty, pollution, starvation, overcrowding, climate change, and natural resource depletion. It was all so horrifying that people across the country started wearing lapel pins that said, “Stop the planet, I want to get off.”

In the 1980s, the Carter administration spent millions of dollars on the most comprehensive environmental report ever undertaken by the federal government, employing hundreds of top scientists from more than two dozen agencies. (Sound familiar?) The end product dismally concluded, “If present trends continue, the world in 2000 will be more crowded, more polluted, less stable ecologically, and more vulnerable to disruption than the world we live in now. Serious stresses involving population, resources, and environment are clearly visible ahead. Despite greater output, people will be poorer in many ways than they are today.”

When skeptics raised the red flag on these forecasts, they were accused of questioning the “settled” science of the day. Only a few courageous “deniers” such the great economist Julian Simon, had the courage to call out the report as fallacious from the start. Simon was right, and the federal government and the hundreds of scientists were dead wrong. The next two decades delivered the best period of global prosperity, pollution reduction, lower poverty rates, rising living standards, more food production, and falling energy prices in history.

In every one of these cases, the media uncritically splashed these spooky government forecasts on front pages of nearly every newspaper and on nightly broadcasts of every network across the globe. Environmental groups raised billions of dollars to amplify and combat these crises. How many times do the “apocalyptics” have to be discredited before the media calls them out as “propagandists”? Would you invest money with a finance manager who was wrong year after year in his stock market forecasts?

November 28, 2018 8:59 AM  
Anonymous homosexuality is not to be preferenced said...

After every false prediction of doom, the left jumps seamlessly onto the next scare tactic. Think about the progression of false fears over the last several decades. It started with overpopulation, then DDT killing all the birds, then nuclear winter, then mass famine, then toxic air pollution levels that would require humans to wear gas masks, then low sperm counts, then peak oil, then a modern ice age, then earth running out of clean water, then species extinction, then loss of farmland, and on and on.

It does not seem to matter that it is mostly the same people and the same organizations peddling all this nonsense. The scientific community, environmental groups, and journalists have become so invested in such death star scenarios that one gets the sense they are rooting for these things to be true. Even the most laughable predictions in this latest federal government report are regurgitated by the press as if irrefutable truths handed down from God on stone tablets. For example, the same federal government that has issued this climate report on what the world will look like in 80 years could not even come close, back in 1980, to predicting what the world would look like 20 years into the future.

The same analysts who tell us how much climate change will cost the economy in terms of lost gross domestic product cannot tell us with much accuracy what output will be two years from now. Can someone please show me in this “scientific report” where it is shows how much ending the use of cheap abundant fossil fuel energy would cost mankind in terms of the trillions of dollars of lost output and gigantic increases in poverty over the next decade? Affordable reliable energy is a linchpin of human progress. By my own calculations, moving toward 100 percent renewable energy would cost the planet tens of trillions of dollars in output by 2100 by raising the cost of everything and totally eclipsing the losses that the government predicts from rising temperatures.

Today, hopefully we look back at the bogus predictions of the last several decades and roll our eyes that people could be so distracted by mass hysteria. Sure, some of the worries were legitimate, such as rising energy prices in the 1970s and one billion people living at subsistence levels in India, but what scientists always leave out of their conclusions is the power of human ingenuity, intelligent discovery, and technological improvement to advance our progress. It turns out that humans do not reproduce like field mice. It turns out that food and energy production always outpace depletion. Solutions to the problems of nature, like the hundreds of thousands of years of climate change, almost always come from the private sector and free enterprise, not from politicians or organizations seeking to expand authority through “collective” action.

Scientists should have the wisdom and the modesty to admit that we have no idea what will happen to our planet as climate change continues over the next century. There are too many variables to hazard a decent guess. But the one indomitable lesson of history is that giving the government more power is the most dangerous threat to the future of our planet.

November 28, 2018 9:00 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be encouraged by special preferences to preserve life said...

Global Warming:

A new White House report, issued just last Friday, makes alarming projections about future global warming. Not only will it cost billions and billions in lost economic output, that report says, but thousands of lives as well. Time for mass panic? Nope. Just more fake science.

The new National Climate Assessment (NCA) report, the fourth since 2000, seems to suggest a coming climate disaster, to paraphrase the film comedy "Ghost Busters," of "epic, even biblical proportions." But its forecasts and models border on the absurd. At some point, the scientific malpractice in these global warming scare reports has to end.

Some of the projections sound like something kicked around in a Hollywood brainstorming session for a science fiction thriller, and not like the results of sober scientific reasoning and balanced statistical modeling techniques. We shouldn't be surprised, however. The three reports that preceded this one were equally bad.

By the way, that's not us speaking, but actual climate scientists. They say the latest government climate change report does a disservice to Americans by once again politicizing science and ignoring both real data and history.

The report's conclusions are so extreme as to be laughable. For one, it predicts that use of coal and other fossil fuels will destroy 10% of U.S. GDP by the end of the century. Those are nice projections, since none of those who made them will be alive to see them proven totally false.

November 28, 2018 9:04 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be encouraged by special preferences to preserve life said...

The Virtue Of Fossil Fuels

The fact is, access to fossil fuels has been the key driver of global economic success since the industrial age began. Cheap, plentiful fossil fuels during the last 175 years led to the greatest economic surge in human history. Carbon-based fuels moved literally billions of people around the world out of lives of grinding poverty and hard physical labor and into unparalleled wealth and comfort.

Equally bad, the report suggests, is that due to the greenhouse gas effect, U.S. temperatures will be 3 to 12 degrees hotter, leading to more wildfires and hurricanes, among other climate-related disasters. Such extreme numbers have never been found before in a major peer-reviewed study.

Nor do they factor in the effects of the fracking revolution, which the reports authors pretend hasn't happened. Yet, by getting utilities and others to switch to natural gas and away from dirtier fossil fuels, the natural gas boom has led to a record decline in U.S. CO2 emissions.

"By presenting cherrypicked science ... the authors ... have given a big fat gift to anyone who wants to dismiss climate science and policy," tweeted University of Colorado Prof. Roger Pielke Jr., right after the White House released the report. "Embarrassing."

For the record, Pielke believes global warming is a problem. But he also believes that lying about the science behind it and exaggerating future impacts are even bigger problems.

November 28, 2018 9:06 AM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be encouraged by special preferences to preserve life said...

'Climate Busters'

The entire global warming "reporting" process is so heavily politicized, it doesn't qualify as science. The group responsible for the report, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, is largely a creation of the Obama administration. Global warming true believers are its backbone. Indeed, parts of the report just released were written during the Obama years.

The point is, there are no real skeptics on board for this report and the three dating back to 2000 that preceded it. Just true believers. And the worst, least believable part of the White House report is based on research by organizations funded in part by global warming extremists and billionaires Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg.

In the case of the just released report, it was "written largely by the same team that wrote the 2014 Assessment, which NOAA advertised, at its release, was 'a key deliverable of President Obama's Climate Action Plan.' "

That pretty much reveals the fact that this is a political document, not a scientific one. It is riddled with ridiculous assumptions, bad models and extreme errors that could only be intentional. But, hey, if you're intent is propaganda and not science, who really cares?

'No Hard Evidence'

"The Fourth National Climate Assessment offers no hard evidence, just vague assertions and claims that past climate change is no evidence about future climate change," wrote Dr. Ken Haapala, president of the Science and Environmental Policy Project. "It earns the distinction that it does not meet the standards of the Information Quality Act, and each page should be stamped: 'Based on speculation, not hard evidence.' "

As we said, at some point the scientific malpractice of these government exercises in global warming propaganda has to end. This isn't fake news. It's fake science, which is just as dangerous.

The last report, in 2014, served as the pretext for President Obama to create both the Clean Power Plan and to sign on to the Paris Accords on global warming. President Trump dumped the Clean Power Plan and removed the U.S. from the Paris deal.

But this report is one area where President Trump didn't move fast enough to get his own people in place. The media touted that the "White House " produced the report. Sure, the Obama White House. And now, instead of having reliable, honest science about global warming, we get a bogus propaganda document. The authors mean to frighten Americans, not inform them.

Global Warming: Democrats' Agenda

Don't worry. The incoming House Democrats have a whole new agenda built around global warming. It's nothing new. Back in 2016, the Democrats built into their platform a call to investigate — and presumably prosecute — businesses that didn't buy into their extremist global warming beliefs. This is scary, Stalinist stuff.

In the name of global warming, Americans may soon find their liberties to make a living and provide for their families curbed. It will come in the form of burdensome carbon taxes, tough restrictions on home building, and strict limits on car size and fuels.

In short, it's not the climate that the warmists wish to control. It's you.

So don't let these phony predictions of imminent climate doom made by government bureaucrats frighten you. Be angry instead.

November 28, 2018 9:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bill and Hillary Clinton launched their 13-city paid speaking tour in a Canadian hockey arena Tuesday evening, where half the seats were empty.

The Clintons riffed on issues ranging form the U.S. elections to the Iran deal, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and the murder of Saudi dissident Khashoggi, and like true traitors, attacked their country from north of the border.

In twist of utter chutzpah, the Clintons, who suffered throughout 2016 for making millions on paid speeches, were interviewed by Canadian politician and diplomat Frank McKenna, the Deputy Chair TD Bank Group.

McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S., was also a major Clinton Foundation donor, and was negatively portrayed in the book, 'Clinton Cash.' McKenna never challenged his subjects.

In one classic bit of butt-smooching, McKenna asked Hillary why Vladimir Putin hated her so much when she was such a nice lady.

November 28, 2018 12:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Clinton's are soooooOOOOOooooo crooked!

November 28, 2018 1:17 PM  
Anonymous heterosexuality should be encouraged by special preferences to preserve life said...

Tuesday, having witnessed the Democrats and the “news” media bombard Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith with baseless charges of racism, the voters of Mississippi ignored the smear tactics and elected her to the U.S. Senate. Hyde-Smith is the first woman from the Magnolia State to be elected to either house of Congress. Yesterday she beat Clinton crony Mike Espy by 8 percent.

Hyde-Smith has long been a vocal Trump supporter and he enthusiastically campaigned for her in the Mississippi Senate race. His image and voice was prominent in her campaign ads against Espy and he held two rallies on her behalf on Monday, in Gulfport and Tupelo, where he encouraged his own base to show up at the polls and pull the lever for her: “Get your family, get your neighbors, get out and vote for Cindy Hyde-Smith.” The Democrats had been desperately seeking something on her that gave Espy at least a prayer of winning.

They thought they had hit pay dirt when an out-of-state activist posing as a journalist found a video of Hyde-Smith saying something that could, with enough media topspin, be portrayed as an endorsement of Jim Crow. It featured a supporter heaping praise on her at a rally in response to which she said, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” This was obviously an offhand remark without racial or any other serious intent, and it was clear that everyone present at the event knew it. But the Democrats and their media allies did their best to imply otherwise. That was just the beginning.

Next, the same social justice warrior noted above tweeted a video that allegedly reveals Hyde-Smith plotting with other “deplorables” to suppress Democrat votes. But the audio is so garbled and mixed with ambient noise that he was forced to add subtitles purporting to be an accurate translation of the sinister words that viewers cannot quite hear. Then, the voters of Mississippi got a look at a photo from a 1975 high school year book (Sound familiar?) in which about a dozen cheerleaders are pictured with pom-poms and what looks like a Confederate flag. The readers are told that Hyde-Smith is among those present.

Meanwhile, the voters of the Magnolia State learned little about Mike Espy’s past as a certified swamp creature whose corruption was so clumsy that even the Clintons cut him loose. Espy was fired from his position as Agriculture Secretary pursuant to a 39-count corruption indictment (he was later acquitted by a Beltway version of the O.J. jury). Espy also racked up IRS liens totaling $267K pursuant to a lucrative lobbying gig on behalf of third-world war criminal Laurent Gbagbo. These little foibles got far less coverage than did Hyde-Smith’s 2014 visit to a state historical site where she briefly donned a Confederate kepi.

It turns out, however, that Mississippi voters are not quite the fools the Democrats and the media and TTF took them for.

November 28, 2018 2:14 PM  
Anonymous Jiminy Slick said...

nothin' sweeter than the sound of crickets chirpin' in the winter and the silence of the morons !!!

November 28, 2018 4:10 PM  
Anonymous lock her up ! said...

When the Mueller report is finally released—if it ever is released—the Fake News will crawl over it like ants at a picnic. But the one angle they won’t write about is how the deep state played them like a fiddle.

The trick is called “circular sourcing,” and the FBI, under the leadership of people like James Comey, Andy McCabe, and Peter Strzok, brought it to an artform.

The scheme works like this: the deep state leaks stories to the media, then takes action—applies for warrants, initiates investigations, and perhaps partisan impeachment efforts--based on the planted stories as if they’d come out of thin air. Most times, the “evidence” and sourcing in the stories are so thin you can see right through them. And yet, the scheme worked time and again.

For example, the largest investigation against a sitting president in our nation’s history would begin because of a dishonest media leak—one committed by James Comey himself. As we write in our new book, “Trump’s Enemies,” Comey had an agenda from the start. He came into Trump Tower on January 7, 2017 for what was supposed to be a short briefing on Russian hacking. Under his arm, the former FBI chief carried a copy of the infamous phony Steele dossier, a collection of salacious and unverified documents that purported to link Donald Trump to Russia. That document had been sitting on the desks of media organizations for months, who then viewed Steele’s information as too outrageous to publish (maybe the last time they showed an ethical spine). But when James Comey dropped the dossier on the desk in front of President-elect Trump, it went from an obvious pack of lies to “a document that was presented to the president-elect during an official briefing.” The media had no choice but to report it. Buzzfeed published the dossier in full the next day, and CNN soon followed suit, as Comey knew they would, thus bringing the collusion hoax to the public.

“We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review,” stated the DOJ’s Inspector General report back in June.

November 28, 2018 4:30 PM  
Anonymous lock her up ! said...

As is often the case with the FBI, the deeper you dig, the worse it gets. In 2016, months before James Comey dropped the dossier in Trump Tower, Peter Strzok was going after Donald Trump with a vengeance—and using circular sourcing to do it. Strzok had long wanted to go after Carter Page, a low-level volunteer on the Donald Trump for President campaign; he figured he was the FBI’s best shot at framing Trump for a Russia connection. But to spy on him, they would need a warrant, and a warrant required evidence, which they didn’t have.

So, Strzok dug up a Yahoo! News article that suggested Carter Page might have ties to Russia, then used it to apply for a FISA warrant against him. When it was granted, the FBI had free reign to “tap the wires” at Trump Tower. Strzok didn’t mention that the sole source of the article was none other than Christopher Steele, the disgraced former spy who wrote the phony dossier.

Shortly afterward, he had Lisa Page, his lover, leak stories to The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, this time to say that the FBI was looking into Carter Page’s ties to Russia—the very thing they were trying (unsuccessfully) to prove in the first place! Once again the ruse worked, and Carter Page was forced to testify about a few banal meetings he had in Russia, which, to no one’s surprise, weren’t illegal in the slightest.

Dig deeper and the examples pile up like a stack of indictments. “We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review,” stated the DOJ’s Inspector General report back in June. To make matters worse, the practice was not only systemic but transactional. The Inspector General’s office also “identified instances where FBI employees improperly received benefits from reporters, including tickets to sporting events, golf outings, drinks and meals, and admittance to nonpublic social events.”

But it was in politics where the greatest sins were committed: Andrew McCabe planting a story to disguise the fact that the Clintons were giving money to his wife’s political campaign, and James Comey leaking fabricated memos so that a special counsel would be appointed.

If that rogue element of the FBI believes they’ll get away with the scheme forever, however, they have another thing coming, No one knows this better than President Donald Trump. This September the president gave us an exclusive interview for our book. In the Oval Office, we asked him who he thought were his greatest enemies. He wasted no time in naming both the Fake News and the rogue agents at the FBI mentioned above, discussing their crimes and possible repercussions for them in detail.

“The American people haven’t been fooled,” he told us. “They’ve been the opposite of fooled. The American people are wide awake.”

November 28, 2018 4:31 PM  
Anonymous Whistlin' Dixie said...

"the first woman ever elected to Congress from the state of Mississippi"

Racism won again in a Trumplandia state.

Y'all must be so dang proud!

November 28, 2018 4:33 PM  
Anonymous Changing colors said...

Sadly, racism won yesterday in the deep South – again.

In Mississippi’s runoff election for US Senator, a strong, eminently qualified Democrat -- who in 1986 was the first African American elected to Congress in that state since Reconstruction and had served as a cabinet secretary -- went down 54-46 to an unfit Republican who centered her entire campaign on her 100% support of Trump.

The election became racially charged after numerous revelations of statements and actions that exposed the Republican, Cindy Hyde-Smith, as an extremist who indulged in and played to nostalgia for the Confederacy and Jim Crow.

Hyde-Smith had the advantage of incumbency – she had been appointed to fill the Senate seat when it was left vacant by the retirement of Sen. Thad Cochran. Trump carried the state of Mississippi by a whopping 18 points. And in the multi-candidate general election on November 6, the combined vote for all the Republican candidates topped the combined vote for all Democrats by 16 points.

But Hyde-Smith’s shocking racism, as well as Democrat Mike Espy’s bold willingness to fight for health care through expanding Medicaid and children's health insurance, stand up for reproductive freedom, and forcefully speak out against family separation at the border, gave us reason to fight even to hope -- especially after Hyde-Smith’s “jokes” about lynchings and voter suppression drew national attention and caused some of her corporate donors to flee.

Even with IQ45's help, Hyde-Smith won by 8 points, that's 10 points less than IQ45 won by in Mississippi in 2016.

Lookout!

Top GOP Senator, John Cornyn, Says Texas Is ‘No Longer A Reliably Red State’

November 28, 2018 5:01 PM  
Anonymous on the cerebral scale, TTF clocks at near-zero said...

"Sadly, racism won yesterday in the deep South – again"

Senator Hyde-Smith said nothing at all that was racist

in the same way that Joseph McCarthy saw Communists behind every bush back in the 50S, desperate Dems see racism in every offhanded r3emark

the false accusations of racism, that are the currency of Dems' only hope, are as reprehensible as racism itself

they should be ashamed of themselves but they are absolutely shameless

"In Mississippi’s runoff election for US Senator, a strong, eminently qualified Democrat -- who in 1986 was the first African American elected to Congress in that state since Reconstruction and had served as a cabinet secretary -- went down 54-46 to an unfit Republican who centered her entire campaign on her 100% support of Trump"

that "unfit Republican" had the same views as the average Mississippi voter

the other fellow didn't

that makes Senator Hyde-Smith most fit for the role of representing Mississippi

it's not rocket science

"The election became racially charged after numerous revelations of statements and actions that exposed the Republican, Cindy Hyde-Smith, as an extremist who indulged in and played to nostalgia for the Confederacy and Jim Crow."

this is a lie

"Even with IQ45's help, Hyde-Smith won by 8 points, that's 10 points less than IQ45 won by in Mississippi in 2016."

that's because residents of Mississippi aren't racist and a portion of them fell for the Dems' lies

but not enough

we now have two more votes than we need to spend the next two years loading the judiciary with originalist judges

it will be glorious!

btw, things are back to normal in the Kavanaugh household

Brett coached the girls in b-ball tourney this weekend

later on, all the parents kicked back at the Kavanaugh place with 'skis and chuckled about Merrick Garland

November 28, 2018 5:42 PM  
Anonymous More evidence heterosexuals should never be privileged said...

A Florida woman and her boyfriend are accused of disemboweling her estranged husband with a sword on Thanksgiving morning.

Police arrested Amanda Ramsey, 30, and her boyfriend, Louis Rosas Nunez, 22, in Volusia County on Tuesday and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery and false imprisonment, authorities said.

According to WFTV in Orlando, a Rockledge resident called police on Nov. 22 and reported seeing a naked 33-year-old Jackie Ramsey III stumble out of a Carolina Avenue residence while hugging his exposed intestines.

“He’s like, ‘Man, I’m fixin’ to die. I’m fixin’ to die,’” eyewitness Jonathan Cannon told WFTV. “I’m like, ‘No, you’re not going to die. You’re OK. Everything’s OK.’”

WFTV reported Jackie Ramsey was attacked with a sword and then later airlifted to an area hospital.

“He’s holding on,” Rockledge Police Deputy Chief Donna Seyferth told Florida Today on Tuesday. “He’s somebody with a will to live.”

Authorities have not commented on the exact circumstances of the incident.

Amanda Ramsey’s mother, Penny Petro, told WFTV her daughter took her grandchildren to visit Jackie Ramsey on Thanksgiving and an argument ensued when he asked for more time with his kids.

“He left and got a butcher knife, some kind of knife, and was attacking her,” Petro said.

But Seyferth told Florida Today investigators do not believe the attack was a case of self-defense and they suspect Amanda Ramsey and Nunez planned to kill her husband.

“We were able to finally speak with the victim, and his story and their story didn’t match,” the deputy chief said. “Between interviews and evidence, we know it’s premeditated.”

The couple is being held at the Volusia County Jail without bond.

November 29, 2018 10:24 AM  
Anonymous You reap what you sow said...

"the false accusations of racism"

tRump's truly racist false conspiracy theory, honed by co-conspirator, Jerome Corsi, about Obama supposedly not being born in the US got him elected by deplorables like you.

The truth will win out.

Oh look, Mueller got another tRumpthug to plead guilty.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/michael-cohen-trumps-former-lawyer-pleads-guilty-to-lying-to-congress/2018/11/29/5fac986a-f3e0-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html

It won't be long now.

November 29, 2018 10:26 AM  
Anonymous The biggest GDP generators are getting short-changed in the electoral college said...

"we don't allow hugely populated areas to dominate more sparsely populated areas

those sparsely populated areas make an outsize contributions to our resources so we'd like them to stay in the union"

Once again, you are just plain wrong, moron.

The 3D map at the link below shows where the largest chunks of our nation's wealth are created each year.

It's not really a surprise to anyone in the fact-based world that most of our wealth isn't contributed by "sparsely populated areas."

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/this-stunning-3d-map-shows-u-s-economic-contribution-by-city/

Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska... LOL.

November 29, 2018 10:41 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

"It's not really a surprise to anyone in the fact-based world that most of our wealth isn't contributed by "sparsely populated areas."

Way to go Good Anonymous ;)

There is no justification for giving rural voters an outsize say in who is elected. The United States is not much of a democracy at this point and the problems begin with the undemocratic electoral college.

November 29, 2018 11:01 AM  
Blogger Priya Lynn said...

The government giving churches tax exemptions violates the First Amendment and is an unconstitutional endorsement of religion over non-religion.

November 29, 2018 11:02 AM  
Anonymous Obstruction of Justice said...

We already know about a whole series of events pointing to Trump’s desire to derail the Russia investigation (e.g., asking then-FBI Director James B. Comey to take it easy on fired national security adviser Michael Flynn; later firing Comey and coming up with a false cover story to explain the firing; badgering then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself; ordering that Mueller be fired; drafting a false account of the Trump Tower meeting; spreading false conspiracy theories attempting to implicate President Barack Obama; working with the House Intelligence Committee to allow release of a misleading document that falsely claimed the warrant authorizing the surveillance of Carter Page was improperly obtained; and threatening to release classified information about the investigation). Previous reports suggested that Trump’s counsel also dangled possible pardons for Manafort and Flynn.

This week, Manafort’s plea deal with prosecutors blew up over alleged lies about a variety of topics. It came to light that, despite entering into a plea deal pledging to cooperate fully with the special counsel, Manafort, through his attorney, was feeding information to Trump’s attorneys about the Mueller inquiry. That is likely not a privileged conversation and is quite possibly another instance of attempted obstruction or even bribery (offering a pardon in exchange for information on Mueller and Manafort’s silence).

November 29, 2018 1:56 PM  
Anonymous Collusion said...

We already knew that the Trump Tower meeting in June 2016 was intended to provide top Trump aides with “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. The Moscow Project also has enumerated dozens of contacts between Kremlin figures and the Trump campaign:

By the end of June, at least eight individuals involved with the Trump campaign — George Papadopoulos, then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, Michael Cohen, Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort, Donald Trump Jr., Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, and Rick Dearborn — reportedly had contacts or meetings with at least 13 Kremlin-linked individuals: Joseph Mifsud, the “Female Russian National,” Ivan Timofeev, Sergey Kislyak, Felix Sater, Rob Goldstone, Natalia Veselnitskaya, Rinat Akhmetshin, Irakly Kaveladze, Konstantin Kilimnik, Aleksander Torshin, Vladimir Putin, the individual who emailed Rick Dearborn, and, potentially, Oleg Deripaska. Though it is unknown how directly each individual was engaged in the Kremlin’s effort to support [President] Trump, both the number of meetings and contact and the high level of many of the participants on both sides offer key evidence of the two campaigns’ willingness to collude.

The case for cooperation between Russian figures and the Trump team got much stronger on Wednesday. A draft plea deal suggests that Roger Stone, a Trump confidant who regularly communicated with the campaign, had conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi reach out to WikiLeaks, the Russia cutout that released the hacked emails. Then comes the bombshell allegations, as the Moscow Project explains:

Through his intermediary Ted Malloch, Corsi contacted WikiLeaks about the stolen emails and then passed Stone advance information about the emails, information Stone could then pass to the Trump campaign. The emails between Corsi and Stone show they knew WikiLeaks “possessed information that would be damaging to then-candidate Hillary Clinton and that Organization 1[WikiLeaks] planned to release damaging information in October 2016.”

In short, the case for collusion, at least in part, posits that Russia hacked the emails and gave them to WikiLeaks to release at an advantageous time, and that “Corsi got information on how WikiLeaks planned to use the emails and passed it to Stone, who he knew was in regular contact with the Trump campaign.”

Corsi and Stone are denying the allegations, but if proved by documentary evidence, we have at least the basic outline for how a conspiracy would have operated.

November 29, 2018 1:56 PM  
Anonymous Whoosh said...

It is noteworthy that all this came to light after Trump submitted written answers to Mueller’s questions. Part of the proof here might come from Trump’s answers, and whether they sync with Manafort’s story.

And then to top all this off, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump declared that a pardon for Manafort was still on the table. Whether made in private or public, an offer of clemency to a convicted felon cooperating in an investigation of the president smacks of obstruction and certainly flies in the face of the president’s constitutional obligations to take care that the laws are faithfully executed.

Norman Eisen, former White House ethics counsel, tells me that “this week’s revelations are the latest part of a substantial pattern of evidence pointing in that direction that began with Trump’s first loyalty demand to Comey and continues to accumulate to this day.” Collectively, these “individual pieces of a mosaic . . . form a giant red arrow pointing to Trump’s corrupt intent.”

The arrangement between Manafort, his lawyers and Trump’s lawyers is unprecedented. “I have no doubt that serving as a mole or double agent inside the office charged with investigating the president, and feeding to the president and to witnesses like Corsi or Stone key information about the investigator’s plans — and about what others are telling the grand jury — after gaining the special counsel’s confidence by ‘flipping’ in order to get a better plea deal meets even the narrowest statutory definition of criminal obstruction of justice and could also constitute still more witness tampering on the part of practiced witness tamperer Paul Manafort,” says constitutional scholar Laurence H. Tribe. Other legal experts agree with his take.

“Equally significant, if not more so, Trump’s agreement to engage in such an arrangement is strong evidence that he conspired corruptly with Manafort and others to obstruct justice,” Tribe added. “The Corsi and Stone emails provide powerful evidence of that conspiracy, and it would be amazing if Mueller didn’t have plenty of other evidence as well.”

No wonder Trump has been especially unhinged this week. The Mueller tide is rolling in, and the president is barely holding his head above water. A few more waves of pleas or indictments might sweep Trump under.

November 29, 2018 1:56 PM  

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