3-9-18
Certainly, they're standing up to the Trump nazi and his henchmen in California. Doesn't your heart bleed? The Washington Times reports:
"The Trump administration’s simmering feud with California has turned into all-out warfare over immigration after Oakland’s mayor warned illegal immigrants this week of looming sweeps — leading Homeland Security’s deportation chief to accuse her of endangering her city and his officers."
ICE remains an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. It's SS jackbooted storm troopers remain a true threat to any city or municipality where they execute immigration raids highly reminiscent of Hitler's Nazi SS. -- As our formerly great country transitions from the de facto fascist police-state we now live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"Analysts said there was no comparison in recent memory for the sort of bad blood that’s developed between President Trump and California’s leaders, who have legislated, sued, tweeted and used just about every other tool at their disposal to try to stymie the administration."
Called states rights. Guarantied by the Tenth Amendment. Good to see resistance remains ferocious but peaceful.
"Things grew particularly tense this week with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s warning to her city’s illegal immigrants that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was conducting a major operation in the Bay Area."
Tough shit. The public has the right to be informed of police activity. Apparently, ICE conveniently ignores and/or has forgotten this is supposedly a democratic republic. That the ultimate masters of government in this system are the people. This ignorance, willful or otherwise, has become a growing problem throughout all law enforcement. Precisely, why an unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Hear the rumble?
"ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan compared her to a gang snitch on the lookout for police, and said more than 800 criminal migrants escaped the sweep — some of them almost certainly alerted by Ms. Schaaf’s warning. “This is beyond the pale,” Mr. Homan said on Fox News."
What's clearly off the charts is the fact this jackbooted son of a bitch remains so chillingly willing to ignore his falsely sworn oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. He and those who think like him remain an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Where are your swastika armbands, you nazi son of a bitch?
"But California’s resistance is broader and deeper, including a statewide sanctuary law that took effect Jan. 1, and lawsuits against Mr. Trump’s sanctuary-city crackdown, his border wall plans and his phase-out of the Obama-era DACA deportation amnesty."
Needs to spread throughout the country, -- and remain peaceful.
"In the early rounds of the legal battle, California has scored victories on DACA and sanctuary policy, while the president won the first skirmish over the border wall this week. That loss prompted state Attorney General Xavier Becerra to fire back, calling the wall “medieval” and promising to “do what is necessary” to stop construction."
Terrible waste of money not-so-cleverly designed by Trump and his henchmen to loot taxpayers, line the pockets of the corporate management suite.
"Mr. Becerra also backed up Ms. Schaaf in her battle with ICE, saying on Twitter that the law enforcement agency had crossed lines."
Certainly has:
“It’s becoming sadly clearer that #ICE is losing its focus on #immigration enforcement: rather than focus on people who are dangerous criminals, we hear ICE may be terrorizing communities, including family members who are citizens,” said Mr. Becerra, a Democrat and former member of Congress."
The above is not conjecture. It's fact. These criminal jackbooted bastards are out of control.
The matter seems to be ultimately coming to a head:
"Mark Krikorian, executive director at the Center for Immigration Studies, said the difference was Arizona was trying to push a reluctant Obama administration to fully enforce federal laws. California, he said, is attempting to thwart an administration that is finally determined to carry out those laws. “We haven’t seen this kind of animosity between a state [and] the federal government since 1865,” he said." He doubted either side will give in, and said an escalation is more likely. “I think what will turn the dial up to 11 on this is if and when a city or state official is criminally prosecuted either for obstruction of justice or harboring illegal aliens,” he said."
Should that happen, would likely quickly trigger a constitutional crisis. Would not be taken lying down by Californians and elsewhere in the country.
"Mr. Homan has already set the stage for that move. He suggested last year that officials from sanctuary cities could face federal charges. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Neilsen told Congress last month that she’s officially asked the Justice Department to look into that move."
Be very, very careful what you wish for.
"A senior administration official this week declined to comment on that possibility."
Imagine that. Such action could very well turn out catastrophic.
In another article, The Washington Times reports:
"Vice President Mike Pence delivered a fierce defense of federal immigration agents and officers Thursday, calling them “heroes,” amid a growing opposition from California officials."
What they are, Mr. Vice President, is out of control SS jackbooted storm troopers ala Adolf Hitler, circa 1933. Clearly, out of uniform, -- no swastika armbands.
“We are with you 100 percent,” Mr. Pence told Homeland Security employees gathered to commemorate the department’s 15-year anniversary."
The hell we are, Mr. Pence. Certainly, not those of us who despise nazism.
"The Trump administration is in an escalating battle with California, where the Oakland mayor tipped off illegal immigrants to looming sweeps by federal authorities, and where the state attorney general accused U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement of “terrorizing communities.”
Precisely, what these jackbooted sons of bitches truly are, -- terrorists.
"Homeland Security officials have pushed back, and on Thursday the White House got involved, with Mr. Pence and Chief of Staff John F. Kelly mounting a vigorous defense of the department and its employees."
These criminal jackbooted bastards and their supporters are traitors. Abrogated their falsely sworn oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.
“You take the face shots every single day from people who don’t have a clue what they’re talking about,” Mr. Kelly said, adding that he wished he’d been able to do more during his six months as secretary to defend the employees against the verbal attacks."
Called the unvarnished truth, you sad, sick, fascist son of a bitch. Defending these pieces of shit is traitorous, treasonous, runs counter to every principle our formerly great country used to stand for.
“You can bet in the job I’m in now I spend a great deal of my time making sure people understand who you are, what you do,” Mr. Kelly said as he joined current Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and former secretaries Tom Ridge and Michael Chertoff for the 15th anniversary commemoration."
We know exactly what they do, Mr. Kelly. Abuse power, break up families, continue to transform the de facto fascist police-state we've been living in since 9/11 to your fuhrer's, that is, the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. We are no longer a democratic republic. No more than a fascist police-state.
"The department was started in 2003, after a bruising battle in Washington in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and the Washington region."
That's right. Gutless national socialists, i.e. fascists, i.e. nazis in both major political parties refused to hold State Department officials legally accountable for failure to do full background checks on the 9/11 hijackers. Ignored warnings from the flight schools the terrorists wished to only learn how to fly straight and level, not take off and land. Not one head rolled. Not one.
Instead, the nazi bastards in both major political parties abrogated all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. USA 'Patriot' Act, Homeland 'Security' Act, 'Real' ID Act. List can go on and on. These gutless bastards traitorously, treasonously, treacherously ignored Franklin's admonition anyone willing to trade liberty for security deserves and winds up with neither.
Galling insult to injury? Get this. CBS News reports:
"White House chief of staff John Kelly's comment that God punished him when he left the Department of Homeland Security for the West Wing aggravated President Trump and was not well received, CBS News' chief White House correspondent Major Garrett reports."
Doesn't your heart bleed? For both jackasses. LOL.
"Kelly made the remark, in a joking fashion, Thursday morning at at an event marking the 15th anniversary of his old department, DHS."
"I miss every one of you every day," Kelly said, rolling his eyes as the audience laughed. "Truly, six months, the last thing I wanted to do was walk away from one of the great honors of my life — being the secretary of homeland security — but I did something wrong, and God punished me, I guess." More laughter ensued from the audience."
Why? Not funny. Achingly, pathetic. This agency shits on all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"But the president did not take the joke so well. Mr. Trump, Garrett reports, believes he gave Kelly a lot of power when he arrived, and thinks Kelly should remember and appreciate that — not suggest he was cursed."
Trump simply can't, won't repress his narcissism. No clue it makes him look like the incompetent boob and jackass he clearly is. LOL.
In follow up to the ongoing California ICE debacle, NPR reports:
"Oakland, Calif., Mayor Libby Schaaf says she has no regrets about warning residents of an impending raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, even as the agency blasted the move as politically motivated and reckless."
Takes great courage for a government official to stand up to federal jackbooted law enforcement.
"The dispute began on Saturday when Schaaf posted a message on Twitter saying she had learned from "multiple credible sources" that ICE "is preparing to conduct an operation in the Bay Area, including Oakland, starting as soon as within the next 24 hours." Schaaf said she wanted residents to "prepare, not panic," and urged people to know their rights, directing them to a legal services agency geared toward Latino immigrants. Schaff said the city's "law-abiding immigrants and families ... deserve to live free from the constant threat of arrest and deportation" and she considered it her "duty and moral obligation as Mayor to give those families fair warning when that threat appears imminent."
Uncommon valor.
"But ICE said the warning was anything but fair. By Tuesday the agency confirmed it did indeed conduct an operation and blamed Schaaf for likely allowing many "targets" to slip away."
No more than a pathway for these SS jackbooted bastards to charge her with obstruction.
"ICE Deputy Director Thomas D. Homan said in a statement that Schaaf's warning endangered officers "and alerted criminal aliens – making clear that this reckless decision was based on her political agenda."
Horse shit. Unadulterated. First, officers endanger themselves by engaging in jackbooted tactics worthy of the Third Reich, not a supposedly democratic republic. Second, what political agenda? The mayor is doing no more than upholding her oath of office, that is, protecting and defending the United States Constitution. Unlike you, Deputy Director, and your jackbooted goons. Where are your swastika armbands, you nazi son of a bitch?
"Despite the warning, Homan said officers "were able to remove many public safety threats from the streets of the Bay Area during the past few days."
Who are they, Mr. Homan? Undocumented family members who have committed no crimes other than being here undocumented? Work hard, love their families, care for their children? Conveniently forget, Deputy Director? Our UNDOCUMENTED forebears came to this continent centuries ago, STOLE their land, then BROKE every goddamned treaty ever signed. Your hypocrisy, like that of every other clueless asshole who 'thinks' like you, reeks.
"But he added that more than 800 people the agency had been targeting "remain at large in the community."
Tough shit.
"I have to believe that some of them were able to elude us thanks to the mayor's irresponsible decision," he said."
Unlike you, you clueless gutless nazi bastard, the mayor stood tall.
"Homan told Fox & Friends on Wednesday that what Schaff did "is no better than a gang lookout yelling 'Police.'" He also said the Department of Justice is reviewing whether Schaff broke any laws. Schaaf has not backed down. "I do not regret sharing this information," she said in a statement Tuesday. "It is Oakland's legal right to be a sanctuary city and we have not broken any laws. We believe our community is safer when families stay together." Around 200 people took to the streets Wednesday outside ICE's San Francisco office chanting "shut ICE down" and carrying signs reading "Stop racist deportations," according to The Associated Press."
Imagine had Germans courageously done the same, that is, stood up to the Hitler Nazi circa 1933? ... As the mayor and others are doing all over our formerly great country. Failure to stand up to great evil remains no more than profound cowardice. Precisely, what enables nazis like Trump and Homan.
When at first you don't succeed at winning over the public by deception, disingenuously move the goal posts. The following smacks of jackbooted desperation. LOL. The Washington Times reports:
"Federal immigration authorities said California’s new sanctuary law forced this week’s sweep that netted 232 illegal immigrants in the Bay Area — and set off a massive controversy after Oakland’s mayor gave a public warning that may have helped hundreds of other migrants elude arrest."
That's news, isn't it? Blaming the sanctuary law for the raids. Like blaming the victim for the crime. Pathetically, appalling. Worse? Get this:
"Of the 232 arrests, 115 had felony or serious misdemeanor records. Another 65 had either been deported before and snuck back in, or were ignoring final deportation orders from an immigration judge."
We don't know any of the above is true. Government lies like hell with impunity. Yet, lie to one of these federal jackbooted bastards, you go to jail. Even if one tells them the truth, if the bastards don't like the answer, convolute what they're told, then charge their victims anyway. Convenient, isn't it? Precisely, why there is no faith or trust in government. Why it's best not to tell them anything. Fifth Amendment right to silence. Sixth Amendment right to counsel. F--k the bastards. Can't be trusted.
"But the remaining 52 were likely snared when officers were out in their communities looking for the priority targets. In a statement announcing the final tallies, ICE said it was forced to go into the communities after California’s sanctuary policies cut off almost all cooperation and denied access to prisons and jails, leaving criminal migrants free. “ICE has no choice but to continue to conduct at-large arrests in local neighborhoods and at worksites, which will inevitably result in additional collateral arrests, instead of focusing on arrests at jails and prisons where transfers are safer for ICE officers and the community,” the agency said."
First, good news ICE is indeed growing increasingly desperate. That cooperation is nearly non-existent. Second, no more than disingenuous bullshit to excuse 'collateral arrests.' Falsely, blame them on sanctuary laws. Forget? Law enforcement enjoys discretion. Could certainly refuse to arrest the undocumented who have no criminal histories.
In update to the above, -- shit finally hitting the fan in California. AG Sessions nazi has sued. The Washington Post reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not hold back in Sacramento, California, Wednesday, as he formally announced a lawsuit against the Golden State over its failure to comport with federal laws on immigration."
Fail to goose step in lockstep with the Trump nazi, guess what? Get sued. California's reaction? F--k the nazi.
"Sessions particularly called out Oakland's mayor, Libby Schaff, after she tipped off an immigrant community to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid, as an example of what he sees as California's lawlessness."
What 'lawlessness,' you clueless, ignorant, racist, nazi son of a bitch? Called the First Amendment. Free speech. ... A principle you and your fuhrer will never ever understand.
"So here's my message to Mayor Schaff," Sessions added. "How dare you, how dare you needlessly endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers to promote a radical open borders agenda?"
Jesus Christ. This nazi's profound ignorance, Aryan arrogance, indeed boundless. Shameless piece of crap fails to understand the criminal jackbooted tactics employed by his SS jackbooted bastards in ICE endanger not only themselves, but the community they shamelessly terrorize.
"The DOJ lawsuit argues that federal laws trump state ones, and California is violating the U.S. Constitution with laws and policies that prohibit the federal government from enforcing immigration laws and punishing illegal immigrants who commit crimes."
Crock of crap. Distortion of reality. What California officials are doing is refusing to have their officers enforce federal statutes. Such enforcement is the province of federal agents, not local, county, and state officers.
"I'm afraid this is an embarrassment to the proud state of California," Sessions said."
You hopelessly ignorant, arrogant, insufferably haughty nazi. The embarrassment is you, your fuhrer, his henchmen, sick sycophants.
NPR reports:
"The new federal case represents an escalation of the long-running battle between the Trump administration and California, whose Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, and attorney general, Xavier Becerra, have positioned themselves as ideological opponents to the White House on matters from immigration and climate change to criminal justice. Echoing the tone and favored language of President Trump on Twitter, Gov. Brown issued a statement Tuesday night that called the federal lawsuit "SAD!!!" and a political stunt."
Good to see Brown and others aren't taking this shit lying down. LOL.
"Last year, California lawmakers passed three immigration-related laws that feature prominently in the new lawsuit. One bars private employers from voluntarily cooperating with federal immigration officials and requires businesses to notify workers in advance of a federal raid. A second law restricts state and local law enforcement from voluntarily sharing information with the feds about the release dates of undocumented people in their custody. That law also bars the transfer of undocumented people into federal custody. The third law under federal challenge covers state inspections of detention facilities that hold noncitizens in federal custody."
Be quite a battle in court that California will likely ultimately lose in the Republican-controlled nazi U.S. Supreme Court.
"The Justice Department is asking for a preliminary injunction to block those three laws. To advance their cause, federal lawyers cite a 2012 Supreme Court dispute, in which the Obama administration sued Arizona over its punitive law meant to crack down on immigrants there. A divided Supreme Court eventually ruled parts of the state law were "pre-empted" under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution. In essence, the court's five-justice majority said that federal law trumps state law in the immigration area, lest each state develop its own policy toward immigrants."
No matter how this fiasco is ultimately adjudicated, GOP national socialists are caustically reminded all government, whether beneficent, rogue, or somewhere in between depends on one overriding principle. Consent of the governed. When consent is lost, government ultimately falls. Matters not whether that government is Left, Right, Center. Consent is the bottom line. Ultimate determinant.
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a longtime proponent of immigration restrictions, will speak Wednesday at an annual Law Enforcement Legislative Day hosted by the California Peace Officers' Association in Sacramento. "The Department of Justice and the Trump administration are going to fight these unjust, unfair and unconstitutional policies that have been imposed on you," Sessions will tell that group, according to an advance excerpt of his remarks. "We are fighting to make your jobs safer and to help you reduce crime in America."
Sessions is and remains a proponent of SS jackbooted bastard in black tactics ala Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany circa 1933. What this bastard is calling for is transformation of the goddamned de facto fascist police-state we've been living in since 9/11 to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Sessions, like his fuhrer, is a congenital liar.
Officers place themselves at risk engaging in jackbooted tactics. The greatest threat to national security is no foreign power, no terrorist organization, certainly not the criminal element in our formerly great country. The most exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties remains the same. All levels and branches of government. Sadly, we are no longer a democratic republic. In name only.
"Becerra, a former Democratic representative, will speak to the same group later Wednesday. In his statement, the state's governor took on Sessions. "At a time of unprecedented political turmoil, Jeff Sessions has come to California to further divide and polarize America," Brown said. "Jeff, these political stunts may be the norm in Washington, but they don't work here. SAD!!!"
Not only do they not work there, they don't effectively work anywhere. Resistance is growing. Republicans are beginning to understand the threat posed by the narcissist nazi in the Oval Office and his henchmen. Democrats out to lunch, absent without leave since November 22, 1963 know there's a problem. What is happening in this country is not sustainable.
In another article, The Washington Post reports:
"Kevin de Leon, leader of the California Senate, wrote on Twitter that Sessions was suing his state “because we refuse to help the Trump administration tear apart honest, hardworking immigrant families.” “To that, I say BRING IT ON!” he wrote."
Resistance. ... Don't Republicans continue to falsely claim to be the party of the family?
"The Trump administration and the Justice Department have been waging an increasingly acrimonious battle with sanctuary jurisdictions, although the latest lawsuit is perhaps the most consequential step yet. It sets up a clash not just on what is the best immigration policy to promote public safety, but also on what power the federal government should exert over the states."
An unwanted dreaded second American revolution has catastrophically loomed for quite some time. Hear the rumble? Our formerly great country continues to come apart at the seams.
ABC News reports:
"California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, a Democrat who wrote the sanctuary state bill, tweeted, "Our nation’s Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is suing CA because we refuse to help the Trump administration tear apart honest, hardworking immigrant families. To that, I say BRING IT ON! CA will not be intimidated." De Leon continued, "If Sessions is serious about cracking down on crime, he should stop fretting about CA and look in his own backyard. 2016 FBI stats show crime is far higher in his home state of Alabama than in California."
Wouldn't want to confuse the racist nazi with the truth, would we?
"De Leon also described the lawsuit as a "racist and xenophobic attack," writing, "If Sessions is serious about cracking down on crime, he should stop fretting about CA and look in his own backyard. 2016 FBI stats show crime is far higher in his home state of Alabama than in California." And in a final tweet Tuesday night, de Leon wrote, "Bottom line: California will NOT help President Trump, Jeff Sessions or Thomas Homan rip children from the arms of their mothers and fathers. Here in CA, we embrace our historic diversity, and we will do everything in our legal power to protect it."
Excellent. Resistance. Uncommon valor. Had Germans courageously stood up to Hitler in 1933, imagine the carnage that could have been avoided.
Insult to injury? Coup de grace? Epitome of galling hypocrisy? The Washington Times reports:
"Mr. Sessions said those laws interfere with the federal government, which under the Constitution and laws passed by Congress has supreme power over immigration. “There is no nullification. There is no secession,” he said. “Federal law is ‘the supreme law of the land.’ I would invite any doubters to go to Gettysburg, to the tombstones of John C. Calhoun and Abraham Lincoln. This matter has been settled.”
The hell it has. Precisely, why it will be vigorously adjudicated. Not only in California, but throughout the country. Ferociously pointedly, comments such as the above from Sessions betray his not-so-hidden racist nazi agenda. Racist background and heritage. Blatant discomfort with racial equality. Sordid re-write of the history of the South. List can go on and on.
Lincoln? Spinning in his grave. Founders? Wouldn't recognize the nation they spawned.
This man has no honor. No principles, -- other than racist nazism. Precisely, why he presents an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Remains an exigent threat to a democratic republic. Falsely swore an oath to protect and defend the United States Constitution. Wake up. Don't be the proverbial frog lulled to sleep in an increasingly heated pot of water.
NBC News reports:
"Becerra said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday evening that his office would be reviewing the claims in the announced lawsuit, but said that local and federal law enforcement officials work together to fight gangs, sex trafficking and other issues, and "The reality is we have no intention of changing that in California." But Becerra said that states have the right under the 10th Amendment of the Constitution to determine for themselves how best to handle public safety. He said that based on his understanding of the claims made in the lawsuit, the arguments "demonstrates there's nothing really new there that we weren't already familiar with." "So we're prepared to deal with this," Becerra said. "We believe we are in full compliance with the federal constitution and federal law," he said.
"No
matter what happens in Washington, #California will stay the course and
enforce all our laws and protect all our people. That’s how we keep our
communities safe. #Immigration
—
Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) March 7, 2018"
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Gets worse. Trouble in nazi paradise. LOL. Get this. Achingly, insane. NBC News reports:
"Republicans pounced on President Donald Trump's plan Thursday to slap tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum, warning that it will lead to a trade war and leave American consumers paying the price. "New, huge tariffs on all kinds of imported steel is a big mistake that will increase costs on American consumers, cost our country jobs, and invite retaliation from other countries," said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Republicans in Congress broke ranks with the president in an unprecedented way, with one after another coming forward during the day to caution about the dangers of tariffs and plead with Trump to hold off on any action."
Trump can't, won't be confused with the truth.
"Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said Trump's tariffs would be a "huge job-killing tax hike" on consumers."
That's right. Would also damage any businesses targeted in retaliation by China, Canada, and many, many other countries. Aggressive stupidity at its very worst.
"While I am sympathetic to the issues facing domestic steel manufacturers, there must be a better way to address the steel industries concerns, and I hope Congress and the executive branch can identify an alternative solution before these tariffs are finalized next week," Lee said in a statement."
Good luck. 'Can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.' ... Right, Mr. 'President?'
"The administration's announcement came after reports of infighting between free trade and protectionist factions in the White House. Free trade supporters warned that imposing the tariffs could lead to trade wars that would negatively impact American industries ranging from agriculture to technology."
Will do great damage across the board.
One of our closest friends and trading partners is not a happy camper:
"Canada, a U.S. ally and large trading partner, said Thursday that it views "any trade restrictions on Canadian steel and aluminum as absolutely unacceptable." "Any restrictions would harm workers, the industry and manufacturers on both sides of the border," said the Canadian minister of foreign affairs, Chrystia Freeland. "The Canadian government will continue to make this point directly with the American administration at all levels. ... Should restrictions be imposed on Canadian steel and aluminum products, Canada will take responsive measures to defend its trade interests and workers."
So will other countries across the globe.
Trump grows increasingly detached from reality. LOL. The Washington Post reports:
"President Trump on Friday continued bucking his advisers and GOP leaders by acknowledging for the first time he could be triggering a global trade war by imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum."
Think this guy fit for office?
Gets worse:
"And a few hours later he said that this was just the beginning, promising “RECIPROCAL TAXES” against any country that has an import duty on U.S. goods or services. In a series of Twitter posts, the first of which was launched before 6 a.m., Trump argued that the United States was being ripped off by other countries because the U.S. imports more goods from other countries than it exports to them."
Trump can't, won't be confused with the truth:
"Many economists and trade experts have said this is how free trade works, particularly because the United States is the world’s wealthiest nation and wants access to foreign markets. But Trump believes that this is a reflection that importers take advantage of weak U.S. trade policies.
"When
a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually
every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win.
Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they
get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018"
This man is delusional. What planet does he live on? The historical record demonstrates otherwise.
"Trump is imposing the steel and aluminum tariffs by utilizing legal provision that allows the White House to take steps if it can argue that imports threaten the national security of the United States. Trump’s comments on Thursday and his Twitter posts on Friday made no mention of national security but, instead, referenced what he said was an unfair dynamic where the U.S. buys more from other countries than those nations buy from the U.S."
Think this won't get challenged in court?
"In a subsequent Twitter post, Trump threatened to hit any country in the globe with “RECIPROCAL TAXES” if it has an import duty on U.S. goods or services. It’s unclear what this means or how it would work."
Because he's delusional:
"When
a country Taxes our products coming in at, say, 50%, and we Tax the same
product coming into our country at ZERO, not fair or smart. We will soon
be starting RECIPROCAL TAXES so that we will charge the same thing as they
charge us. $800 Billion Trade Deficit-have no choice!
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2018"
Jesus Christ. He's nuts.
"Global stock markets fell sharply Friday on both worries over Trump’s planned tariffs and his cavalier comments on a possible trade war. Losses in Asia were led by Japan’s Nikkei, which closed down 2.2 percent. In Europe, Germany’s DAX was off by more than 2 percent in midday trading. France’s CAC 40 and the FTSE 100 in London also slumped."
Surprised?
Here's what's so chillingly dangerous. NBC News reports:
"With global markets shaken by President Donald Trump's surprise decision to impose strict tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, the president went into battle mode on Friday: "Trade wars are good, and easy to win," he wrote on Twitter. But the public show of confidence belies the fact that Trump's policy maneuver, which may ultimately harm U.S. companies and American consumers, was announced without any internal review by government lawyers or his own staff, according to a review of an internal White House document."
Amazing, isn't it? This, the mark of a rational, prudent president of the United States?
"According to two officials, Trump's decision to launch a potential trade war was born out of anger at other simmering issues and the result of a broken internal process that has failed to deliver him consensus views that represent the best advice of his team. On Wednesday evening, the president became "unglued," in the words of one official familiar with the president's state of mind."
Clearly, this man is growing increasingly unstable.
"A trifecta of events had set him off in a way that two officials said they had not seen before: Hope Hicks' testimony to lawmakers investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election, conduct by his embattled attorney general and the treatment of his son-in-law by his chief of staff. Trump, the two officials said, was angry and gunning for a fight, and he chose a trade war, spurred on by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Peter Navarro, the White House director for trade."
This, what you achingly sick Trump sycophants want in a president? Still don't get it? This country is coming apart at the seams. Don't care?
Aryan arrogance of the Trump nazi is limitless. The following is appalling. The Washington Post reports:
"President Trump on Monday further expanded his personal trade war, telling Canada and Mexico that he would consider lifting possible tariffs on steel and aluminum only if they concede to White House demands for renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement. Like almost every broadside over trade war so far, his latest message was sent in a Twitter post with little explanation. He also demanded that Mexico do more to prevent drugs from entering the United States as one of the conditions for lifting upcoming steel and aluminum tariffs announced last week. The measures are expected to hit Canada particularly hard. It is the top exporter to U.S. markets of both steel and aluminum. Canada is also the biggest importer of U.S. steel and aluminum."
Expect anything less of a nazi dictator? Think retaliation won't be quick, severe, ruthless?
Another one bites the dust. NPR reports:
"President Trump's looming trade war has already claimed its first victim: White House economic adviser Gary Cohn. Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs executive and free trade advocate, announced his plans to resign Tuesday, less than a week after Trump called for stiff tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. "It has been an honor to serve my country and enact pro-growth economic policies to benefit the American people," Cohn said in a statement. "I am grateful to the President for giving me this opportunity and wish him and the Administration great success in the future." "Gary has been my chief economic adviser and did a superb job in driving our agenda," Trump said in a statement. "He is a rare talent, and I thank him for his dedicated service to the American people."
Jesus Christ. Give me a break. Bullshit's certainly flying, isn't it? LOL.
"But Cohn appears to have lost an internal struggle over steel and aluminum tariffs to the administration's protectionist wing, led by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and trade adviser Peter Navarro."
Clearly, Cohn wasn't anywhere near national socialist enough for the Trump nazi. LOL.
Readers will recall:
"Previously, Cohn has come close to quitting. He nearly resigned last summer, when the president appeared to defend those who marched alongside neo-Nazis and Klansmen in Charlottesville, Va. Cohn, who is Jewish, later told the Financial Times the administration "can and must do better" in condemning racism and anti-Semitism. As a leader of the "globalist" wing in the White House, Cohn was also overruled when the president announced plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Figurative noose tightens. NBC News reports:
"Federal investigators are scrutinizing whether any of Jared Kushner's business discussions with foreigners during the presidential transition later shaped White House policies in ways designed to either benefit or retaliate against those he spoke with, according to witnesses and other people familiar with the investigation."
Think a chill isn't running up Trump's spine?
"Special counsel Robert Mueller's team has asked witnesses about Kushner's efforts to secure financing for his family's real estate properties, focusing specifically on his discussions during the transition with individuals from Qatar and Turkey, as well as Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates, according to witnesses who have been interviewed as part of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign to sway the 2016 election."
Mueller and staff certainly seem determined to get to the bottom of this.
"As part of the scrutiny of Kushner's discussions with Turks, federal investigators have reached out to Turkish nationals for information on Kushner through the FBI's legal attache office in Ankara, according to two people familiar with the matter. Separately, Qatari government officials visiting the U.S. in late January and early February considered turning over to Mueller what they believe is evidence of efforts by their country's Persian Gulf neighbors in coordination with Kushner to hurt their country, four people familiar with the matter said. The Qatari officials decided against cooperating with Mueller for now out of fear it would further strain the country's relations with the White House, these people said."
Mueller seems to have cast his net far and wide.
"Kushner's family real estate business, Kushner Companies, approached Qatar multiple times, including last spring, about investing in the company's troubled flagship property at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York, but the government-run sovereign wealth fund declined, according to two people familiar with the discussion. Another discussion of interest to Mueller's team is a meeting Kushner held at Trump Tower during the transition in December 2016 with a former prime minister of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, or HBJ, according to people familiar with the meeting."
Certainly, be interesting to see if anything comes of all this. Indictments and/or the final investigative report will tell.
In a related article, NBC News reports:
"Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, according to multiple people familiar with the probe. Mueller's investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia. The line of questioning suggests the special counsel, who is tasked with examining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, is looking into possible coordination between WikiLeaks and Trump associates in disseminating the emails, which U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russia."
None of this bodes well for Trump and the country.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Trump's personal life continues to smack of payoffs and extortion. Be interesting to see how much of it Mueller is investigating. ... If any. The Washington Post reports:
"The 2016 election was less than a month away, and Donald Trump’s attorney had blown the deadline for paying Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the future president. In an Oct. 17 email, an attorney for Daniels — a porn star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford — threatened to cancel the nondisclosure agreement by the end of the day."
Smacks of extortion, doesn't it? Worse? Trump's approach to dealing with the issue, that is, attempting to bury it rather than dealing with it straight up and straight out:
"That very morning, Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, had created a limited liability company, public records show, that ultimately would serve as a vehicle for Daniels’s payoff. But the money had not arrived. A second email to Cohen, a short time after the first, said Daniels was calling the deal off. “Please be advised that my client deems her settlement agreement canceled and void,” Daniels’s lawyer, Keith Davidson, wrote in the email, which The Washington Post obtained. Ten days later, the $130,000 payment arrived, according to another email reviewed by The Post. Daniels’s story about her sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier would remain under wraps long past Election Day."
Fascinating, isn't it?
"The account of how the deal came together — and how it briefly fell apart — adds a dimension of brinkmanship to the public understanding of the transaction. On the day that Daniels canceled the deal, protesters gathered in front of Trump Tower in New York City to express outrage over week-old revelations that the Republican presidential nominee had once bragged about grabbing women by the crotch, news that was prompting a number of women to come forward with stories of alleged sexual misconduct by the candidate."
What webs we weave.
“The media is trying to rig the election by giving credence — and this is so true — by giving credence to false stories that have no validity and make it the front page,” Trump told supporters that Oct. 17 night in Green Bay, Wis. “They take a story with absolutely nothing, that didn’t exist, and they put it in front-page news because they want to poison the minds of the voters.”
Too many women have stepped forward for these allegations to be simply dismissed as 'fake news.' -- Women who had nothing to gain, everything to lose by courageously stepping up.
Moreover, Trump and his henchmen continue to deal ineffectively with this ongoing fiasco:
"Reached by phone late Friday, Cohen asked that questions be sent to him by email and then did not respond to them."
No credibility. No more than a disingenuous liar.
"The White House and representatives of the Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment."
Not surprising, is it? How do you continue defending the indefensible?
Here is why Mueller is likely investigating this:
"The timing of the Oct. 27 payment, 13 days after the initial deadline and just 12 days before the election, could be significant. Two complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission argue that the payment was intended to influence the Nov. 8 election and violated campaign finance law because it was not reported as an in-kind donation."
Could come back to haunt Trump and his henchmen:
"In one complaint, the progressive research group American Bridge argues that had Trump been interested only in protecting his reputation, he could have secured Daniels’s silence in 2011, when she first spoke with reporters about the alleged affair. Instead, the complaint says, Cohen waited until October 2016 — when Trump faced the prospect of a news story about his marital infidelity landing shortly before the election. The second complaint was filed by Common Cause, a government watchdog group. “The fact that this payment was made immediately before the presidential general election strongly supports Common Cause’s claim that the payment was about the election and to influence the election,” said Paul S. Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause."
Trump failed to learn from the Bill Clinton fiasco earlier. Should have ignored all allegations, refused to comment. Would have been elected anyway. LOL. Forget? 'Stupid is as stupid does.' LOL. Joke aside, it's not the transgressions, indiscretions that matter any longer. It's lying about them to federal authorities.
In follow up to the above, NPR reports:
"President Trump's proclivity for putting his name on buildings, steaks, ties and certificates is well-known. But former adult film actress Stormy Daniels says he failed to put his name on their contract. Daniels, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, filed a civil suit against President Trump on Tuesday alleging the nondisclosure agreement she signed just days before the 2016 election is invalid because it's missing Trump's signature. The suit alleges Trump "purposely did not sign the agreement so he could later, if need be, publicly disavow any knowledge of the 'Hush Agreement' " or the affair. Michael Avenatti, Clifford's lawyer, posted a complete copy of the lawsuit to Twitter on Tuesday evening. It does not ask for damages, only that the court declare the contract "invalid, unenforceable, and/or void."
Fascinating, isn't it? To what end? LOL.
"Clifford also confirms details about the supposed affair with Trump. She says she began an "intimate relationship" with Trump years before his political aspirations took shape and more than a year into his marriage to now-first lady Melania Trump. She says that it began in the summer of 2006 in Lake Tahoe and that it lasted "well into 2007."
Think it matters to anyone, -- with the exception of the First Lady?
"The White House and Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who drafted the agreement, have repeatedly denied the alleged sexual encounter. And the complaint alleges Cohen used "intimidation and coercive tactics" to force Clifford into signing a false statement denying the extramarital affair with Trump."
Then, why pay hush money? LOL. What webs we weave. LOL. Think Trump doesn't now regret he didn't keep it in his pants? LOL.
"The existence of the nondisclosure contract became known after The Wall Street Journal reported Cohen arranged to pay Clifford $130,000 just days before the 2016 presidential election to stop her from going public with her story. Money for the payment was drawn from Essential Consultants LLC, a company that, Clifford says in the complaint, Cohen created" for the express purpose of hiding the true source of funds."
Certainly proves one can only burn the candle at both ends so long, -- before getting terribly burned.
Here's precisely why this is so important to Daniels aka Clifford. NBC News reports:
"This is not a lawsuit seeking money or other damages. Rather, it asks the court for "declaratory relief" — finding that the "Hush Agreement" was either never formed or that it is unenforceable. The purpose of such a declaratory judgment is to resolve doubts that might otherwise eventually result in litigation, and to guide the parties' future conduct to preserve their legal rights. Daniels' objective is to have the court clear up whether this contract really forces her to remain quiet. That could be important if Daniels seeks to profit by telling her story about her alleged relationship with Trump. Because the nondisclosure agreement between Daniels and Trump contains an arbitration agreement, the court's decision on the validity of the contract will likely also determine whether Daniels' case even belongs in court."
Bottom line? 'It's the money, stupid.'
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Delusionally believe Republicans to be 'conservatives?' CBS News reports:
"A spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development says Secretary Ben Carson has asked to cancel an order for an expensive dining set that prompted outrage earlier this week after revelations that it cost roughly $31,000. Raffi Williams said Thursday that at Carson's request "the agency is working to rescind the order for the dining room set."
Not only do Republicans loot taxpayers to fly first class, line the pockets of their corporate masters, enrich corporate war profiteers with outrageously wasteful military spending, but also satisfy personal predilections for the sumptuous unquenchable 'good life.' LOL.
"HUD officials say the purchase was made without Carson's knowledge."
Believe that? -- May be oceanfront in Arizona and a bridge in Brooklyn you might find interesting. LOL.
Gets worse. Get this:
"The agency says the dining set was considered a "building expense" and that Carson bought only blinds for his office, which cost less than $5,000."
That all?
"Reports of the dining set's purchase came on the heels of a complaint filed by HUD's former chief administrative officer alleging that she was demoted after she refused to bankroll a costly remodeling of Carson's office."
Needs to file a lawsuit. -- Aren't whistleblowers supposed to be protected against this shit? ... Or, have the Trump nazi and his henchmen become a law unto themselves?
"White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the pricey furniture purchase at Thursday's briefing, saying HUD is now looking for "another option that is much more responsible with tax payers' dollars."
That right?
Think this ends it? Gets more interesting. NPR reports:
"The chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Wednesday requesting "all documents and communications" related to the redecorating of his office and HUD's handling of a whistleblower. In a four-and-a-half page letter, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said he wants the documents in order for the committee to "determine whether HUD adhered to the applicable spending limitations" that apply to office makeovers. Gowdy is also requesting documentation involving the HUD employee who claims she was the subject of retaliation after refusing to exceed spending caps set for office redecorating."
Wouldn't want the former neurosurgeon to go without, would we?
"He set a deadline of March 14 for the documents to be handed over to the committee. Gowdy's letter to Carson comes a day after reports surfaced that the agency approved more than $31,000 on a new office suite dining room set. Additional allegations were brought by a former HUD official claiming she was told by her superiors that "$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair."
That right? Let 'em eat cake.
"According to the New York Times, a "custom hardwood table, chairs and hutch" were purchased a month after a whistleblower complaint was filed alleging Candy Carson, the wife and informal adviser to the HUD secretary, was pushing for elaborate modifications to the drab decor of the department's offices."
Jesus Christ. What's the problem? Wouldn't want the high and mighty to go without, would we? Taxpayers can foot the bill, can't they? With or without the Vaseline.
"The whistleblower, Helen Foster, was a career HUD employee. She filed a complaint in November alleging she was demoted and replaced after refusing to exceed the legal $5,000 limit on redecoration. The existence of the complaint was first reported Tuesday by The Guardian."
Veterans are homeless, people are hungry, go without adequate healthcare, country continues to come apart at the seams. Anything wrong with this picture? Anything at all?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Think the high and mighty don't receive special treatment? CBS News reports:
"How hard was it for the first lady to obtain a visa reserved for immigrants of "extraordinary ability"? On Thursday, The Washington Post explored the subject in some detail, and questioned whether Melania Trump, then Melania Knauss, was really qualified for a visa through the EB-1 program. The visas, according to the Post, were "designed for renowned academic researchers, multinational business executives or those in other fields, such as Olympic athletes and Oscar-winning actors, who demonstrated 'sustained national and international acclaim.'" "We called it the Einstein visa," former Rep. Bruce Morrisson, who helped write the bill that created the EB-1 program in 1990, told the Post."
All that's necessary? Money:
"However, according to a lawyer who specializes in obtaining EB-1 and EB-2 visas for her clients, the visas don't just go to the Albert Einsteins of the world. In fact, they're "not that difficult" to obtain, immigration lawyer Merrill R. Cohen told CBS News. Cohen has helped squash players, a colored-pencil artist, a "classical music whistler," and an "instructor of magicians" get EB-1 visas. Melania Trump never held any of those jobs, but she was a relatively well-known model, in part due to her relationship with President Trump, when she began petitioning the government for an EB-1 in 2000."
Forget? 'It's the money, stupid.'
"In January 2000, for example, she appeared nude and draped in a fur rug on the cover of British GQ. "Sex at 30,000 feet – Melania Knauss earns her air miles," said the headline. She was also a runway model who appeared on a billboard in Times Square and in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue."
Think Trump wasn't instrumental? Corporate jet appeared in some of the material.
"Applicants for an EB-1 visa need to meet three of ten listed criteria or have won a major award in their field. The criteria to prove extraordinary ability include "commercial successes in the performing arts," the ability to "command a high salary or significantly high remuneration compared to others in the field," and having your work "displayed at artistic exhibitions or showcases." However, Cohen said that you don't need to make money performing your "extraordinary ability," so long as you have other means of supporting yourself."
Melania certainly did. Then, brought her parents in. Chain migration her husband, the Trump nazi, wishes to end. Fascinating, isn't it?
The Washington Post reports:
"In 2000, Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model dating Donald Trump, began petitioning the government for the right to permanently reside in the United States under a program reserved for people with “extraordinary ability.” Knauss’s credentials included runway shows in Europe, a Camel cigarette billboard ad in Times Square and — in her biggest job at the time — a spot in the swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated, which featured her on the beach in a string bikini, hugging a six-foot inflatable whale. In March 2001, she was granted a green card in the elite EB-1 program, which was designed for renowned academic researchers, multinational business executives or those in other fields, such as Olympic athletes and Oscar-winning actors, who demonstrated “sustained national and international acclaim.” “We called it the Einstein visa,” said Bruce Morrison, a former Democratic congressman and chairman of the House subcommittee that wrote the Immigration Act of 1990 defining EB-1."
The rest is history.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Think Trump's judgment doesn't reside up his ass? NPR reports:
"One of President Trump's picks for a seat on the body that sets policy used to punish 70,000 federal criminals every year has publicly called to abolish the U.S. Sentencing Commission and has a history of making racially charged remarks about crime. William G. Otis is a former federal prosecutor in Virginia, special counsel to former President George H.W. Bush and an adviser at the Drug Enforcement Administration. He currently serves as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Resistance to Trump is ferocious and growing. NBC News reports:
"President Donald Trump's aggressive push to reverse Obama-era policies is facing trouble in court. In recent weeks, federal judges have blocked the administration's attempts to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), postpone a rule giving low-income families broader access to housing in wealthier neighborhoods, and delay an environmental regulation requiring oil and gas companies to reduce methane leaks. All of these Trump policy changes have hit the same stumbling block: Courts say the administration hasn't followed the proper steps in enacting them, citing a 1940s-era law that's become a key weapon in the legal battle over the president's agenda. Under that law, the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to provide a reasoned justification for their policy decisions and offer the public an opportunity to weigh in when they are creating new regulations, making notable changes to existing rules, or scrapping them altogether. Trump's critics have seized upon these requirements as a mainstay of their lawsuits against his agenda, arguing not only that the policies are harmful, but also that the administration flouted the formal rule-making process in enacting them. That's created some significant setbacks and delays for Trump's agenda — and occasionally prompted the administration to reverse course altogether."
Doesn't your heart bleed?
Here's why this is effective:
"California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, one of Trump's most prominent legal adversaries, said the White House's procedural missteps reflect its inability to follow the rules. "The Trump administration doesn't have the right to circumvent the law, and to try to arbitrarily change it," said Becerra, who helped secure the delays to the administration's moves on DACA and the Interior Department's methane rule. "It seems to be a pattern by the president and his administration to try to act outside the law."
Trump and his henchmen have indeed tried to become a law unto themselves.
"The legal setbacks don't mean Trump's agenda is dead. Many of the biggest cases are still working their way through the courts. And some of the rulings have made it clear that the administration could still enact the policies it wants if it follows the proper steps for rule-making. But Trump's opponents have slowed down the president, prompting sympathetic judges to rule in their favor — much as President Barack Obama’s legal opponents did during his administration."
Fascinating, isn't it?
Equally to the point, what's good for the goose is good for the gander:
"Gorod notes that conservatives used similar tactics to go after the Obama agenda with some degree of success: In 2015, a federal court in Texas initially halted the administration's Deferred Action for Parents of Americans (DAPA) for failing to go through notice and comment. Another Texas court blocked Obama's guidelines for transgender student' access to bathrooms for similar reasons."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Are those closest to the Trump nazi simply achingly Aryan arrogant, -- or hopelessly aggressively stupid? Both? You decide. ABC News reports:
"An independent government investigative agency said on Tuesday that senior counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway twice violated a federal law prohibiting government employees from engaging in political activities."
Aren't all staffers upon employment carefully trained as to what is and is not acceptable behavior? No orientation in the Executive Branch similar to what people in Congress receive, -- both legislators and staff?
"The Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which is in not affiliated with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, announced Tuesday that Conway violated the Hatch Act in two television interviews."
Conway is no young inexperienced apolitical slouch. Far from it.
"In the first interview, Conway advocated against one Senate candidate and gave an implied endorsement of another candidate," the OSC said in a statement following its investigation. "In the second interview, she advocated for the defeat of one Senate candidate and the election of another candidate."
Consider the following:
"The interviews occurred last November and December when President Donald Trump came out in support of Judge Roy Moore in Alabama's U.S. Senate special election. Conway appeared in her official capacity as counselor to the president on both "Fox and Friends" and CNN's "New Day" and "discussed why voters should support" Moore over his Democratic opponent Doug Jones, the OSC said. “Ms. Conway’s statements during the Fox & Friends and New Day interviews impermissibly mixed official government business with political views about candidates in the Alabama special election for U.S. Senate,” according to the OSC. "Doug Jones in Alabama, folks don’t be fooled," Conway said during her "Fox and Friends" interview. "He’ll be a vote against tax cuts. He’s weak on crime, weak on borders. He’s strong on raising your taxes. He’s terrible for property owners. And Doug Jones is a doctrinaire liberal, which is why he’s not saying anything and why the media are trying to boost him."
Shameless. Her sorry gluteus maximi need to be prosecuted. Knew precisely what she was doing.
"The OSC says it has referred its report to President Trump, but the White House quickly disputed the OSC finding, making it unlikely Conway will face any serious discipline."
Goddamned fox guarding the chicken coop.
The White House remains incapable of telling the truth. Great, however, at distorting reality. Worse? Believes its own bullshit:
“Kellyanne Conway did not advocate for or against the election of any particular candidate. She simply expressed the President’s obvious position that he have people in the House and Senate who support his agenda," deputy press Secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement. "In fact, Kellyanne’s statements actually show her intention and desire to comply with the Hatch Act – as she twice declined to respond to the host’s specific invitation to encourage Alabamans to vote for the Republican.”
Didn't sit well with at least one Democrat, however. LOL. Get this:
"Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wants the president to take disciplinary action against Conway."
Good luck. Not going to happen. Forget? Trump and his henchmen remain a law unto themselves.
“This is not the first time that an independent government agency has recommended that the White House discipline Kellyanne Conway for breaking the law. Ms. Conway has received multiple trainings and warnings, yet she still refuses to follow basic ethics rules. The President must take swift and serious disciplinary action against Ms. Conway. Anything else sets a terrible example.”
Not good enough. Prosecute her sorry ass.
"The report from the OSC claims the office gave her ample opportunity to respond to their report, which included a commitment from the White House counsel’s office that it said Conway never followed through on."
Expect less from the nazi element? Closer to what you get. LOL.
"The report also details how Conway was briefed in some manner at least five separate times on the Hatch Act and the consequences for violating it."
Conway is not stupid. Not clueless. Knew goddamned well what she was doing. Prosecute her sorry ass.
There's a reason for this:
"According to the OSC's website, the Hatch Act dates back to 1939, and is intended "to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation." There are a few exceptions to the rule, including the president, vice president and some other federal employees."
Conway has a history of such violations. Forget?
"In early 2017 Conway was similarly found to have violated federal ethics rules in an appearance on "Fox and Friends" when she urged viewers to purchase items from Ivanka Trump's clothing line. A report from the Office of Government Ethics was then referred to the president, but no significant disciplinary action was taken as a response."
Clearly, the Trump nazi and his henchmen remain a law unto themselves. Do as they please. Cheered on by their sick sycophants.
"Conway is also not the first Trump White House official to be found in violation of the Hatch Act. Social media director Dan Scavino was issued a warning by the OSC after writing a tweet from his personal verified account against Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., calling for his defeat in a primary."
Prosecute his achingly sorry ass as well.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Think the sorry f--kers in both major political parties are worth a shit? You're about to be royally screwed in the Senate. The bastards are clearly bought and paid for. ABC News reports:
"The Senate moved closer Tuesday to passing legislation to roll back some of the safeguards Congress put in place to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis. Enough Democrats supported a procedural vote on the bipartisan bill to show it has a good chance of passage in the Republican-majority Senate. The move to alter some key aspects of the Dodd-Frank law comes ten years after the financial crisis rocked the nation's economy. The bill has overwhelming Republican support and enough Democratic backing that it's expected to gain the 60 votes necessary to clear the Senate. That was reflected in the 67-32 vote Tuesday, with 16 Democrats and one independent voting to move ahead with consideration of the bill."
Think the banking cartel hasn't lined their pockets? ... Right, Amanda?
"Several Democratic lawmakers facing tough re-election races this year have broken ranks with Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. Nonpartisan congressional analysts say the legislation would slightly increase the probability of a big bank failure — prompting a possible taxpayer bailout — or another financial meltdown. The probability of those events is deemed to be small under current law. The new assessment by the Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would increase federal deficits by $671 million between 2018 and 2027 if it became law. "This bank giveaway bill will cost taxpayers," Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said in a statement. "Hardworking Americans shouldn't have to pay for favors to Wall Street, foreign megabanks and their lobbyists."
Why not? Forget? The American Way. F--k the taxpayers. Turn them upside down. Shake the change out of their pockets. Wouldn't want the top of the food chain, the banks, and the corporate management suite to go without, would we? Equally pointedly, other than lining their pockets off the taxpayer dime, why would Republicans back legislation that would increase the deficit?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
At least some in the LGBTQ community are fighting back against nazis in the Republican Party bound and determined to eviscerate hard-won rights. NPR reports:
"Change happens notoriously slow in Nashville, a town known to prize convention and tradition. But yesterday, it occurred at lightning speed: In less than 24 hours, presidential candidate, conservative radio host and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was announced as a new board member of the Country Music Association Foundation, the organization's philanthropic arm, before being swiftly forced to resign after a chorus of dissent over the appointment erupted in Music City and beyond."
Fascinating, isn't it? Amazing how quickly desperately needed change can occur when people courageously stand up en masse to blatant nazism.
"I genuinely regret that some in the industry were so outraged by my appointment that they bullied the CMA and the Foundation with economic threats and vowed to withhold support for the programs for students if I remained," Huckabee's letter of resignation read, which was accepted in a statement by the CMA. The organization, which produces a huge festival in Nashville each summer as well as the televised CMA Awards, has yet to offer further comment on its motivation for appointing him."
Wake up, Mikey. Whining remains achingly unbecoming, -- even a nazi determined to impose his phony religious and ideological views. In direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"The CMA Foundation, which invests in music education programs all across the country, made the announcement about Huckabee's appointment late afternoon on Wednesday. Soon after, artists, CMA members and fans began voicing their outrage, most notably Jason Owen, co-president of Monument Records and owner of Sandbox Entertainment, who represents well-known clients like Little Big Town and Kacey Musgraves. Owen, who is openly gay, sent a letter to CMA CEO Sarah Trahern and the director of community outreach, Tiffany Kerns, expressing how the decision to appoint Huckabee meant he would "no longer support the CMA Foundation in any way" and would advise his clients to follow suit."
"[Huckabee] has made it clear that my family is not welcome in his America," Owen wrote. "And the CMA has opened their arms to him, making him feel welcome and relevant. Huckabee speaks of the sort of things that would suggest my family is morally beneath his and uses language that has a profoundly negative impact upon young people all across this country. Not to mention how harmful and damaging his deep involvement with the NRA is. What a shameful choice."
Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Owen certainly expressed his.
"Whitney Pastorek, who manages Kristian Bush of the band Sugarland and is also a CMA member, was among those who addressed the organization directly. "What a terrible disappointment to see [the CMA Foundation's] mission clouded by the decision to align with someone who so frequently engages in the language of racism, sexism, and bigotry," Pastorek wrote, as reported by the Tennessean. Pastorek now takes some solace in the outcome, and hopes that the industry can move forward in the wake of such controversy. "What Jason Owen and his team did was brave and inspiring, and I am grateful for every colleague and fan who spoke out alongside them to help set this right," Pastorek tells NPR Music. The development was likewise met with nods of approval from progressive leaders, including Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin."
If the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of any segment of society are threatened, the rights of all of us remain in jeopardy.
"Mike Huckabee has staked his entire political career on undermining the rights of LGBTQ people and our families," Griffin tells NPR Music. "His cynical political attacks and discriminatory views do not represent the diversity of country music, and we thank all of the musicians, industry leaders, and fans who spoke out against his appointment to this important role."
This remains a problem throughout much, if not most of the GOP. With rare exception, -- such as in libertarian circles.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Wells Fargo fiasco widens. NBC News reports:
"Embattled Wells Fargo is accused of adding on to fraud victims' troubles by closing their accounts without investigating potential criminal activity, a new lawsuit by an ex-fraud investigator for the bank claims, echoing customer complaints. By law, a bank is supposed to investigate potential criminal activity when a customer complains of fraud. Instead, according to Matthew Valles, a former fraud investigator for Wells Fargo in Portland, Oregon, Wells Fargo closed the accounts and got rid of the customer. On Wednesday he sued the bank and his former manager for violating whistle-blower laws, alleging he had been fired in retaliation for his complaints about "hundreds" of mishandled cases."
Sounds remarkably similar to what happened to this writer, doesn't it? LOL.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-9-18
Equifax fiasco widens. NPR reports:
"Equifax has disclosed that an additional 2.4 million people were impacted by a massive cybersecurity breach last year, bringing the total to about 148 million people. The credit reporting agency says that the new consumers were identified during forensic examination of the breach. They were previously unidentified, the company says, because their social security numbers were not stolen. Their names and some of their driver's license information was taken, however. According to the company, "in the vast majority of cases, it did not include consumers' home addresses, or their respective driver's license states, dates of issuance, or expiration dates."
Bastards need to be sued.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
In follow up to the last edition, aggressive stupidity indeed has no bounds. NBC News reports:
"President Donald Trump on Friday criticized the armed school guard who failed to stop the shooting in Florida as the president pushed to permit some teachers to carry guns and end gun-free zones. "He didn't turn out to be too good, I'll tell you that," Trump said at the conservative gathering CPAC, calling the guard "not a credit to law enforcement." The armed sheriff's deputy, Scot Peterson, who was on site during the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., last week resigned after being suspended without pay. He took cover outside the school rather than attempting to enter the building and stop the shooter."
Readers? Get the irony? Profoundly understand it? This is a highly trained officer who apparently 'choked' in the crisis. Think the same couldn't happen to an armed teacher who would receive nowhere near the level of training a cop gets? Equally to the point, even the most aggressive vetting cannot predict how a person would react during such combat circumstances. Only when it happens do you truly know. Equally ironic? The officer apparently had been informed earlier Cruz "planned to shoot up the school." (CBS News)
The following is an aching non-sequitur by a president who has clearly not thought this issue through:
"Trump also repeated his call to arm teachers, explaining why he thinks that would prevent mass school killings. "This crazy man who walked in wouldn't even know who it is that has (a gun), that’s good. It's not bad, that's good," Trump told conservatives in National Harbor, Md. "And a teacher would've shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened."
First, he doesn't know that. The teacher could freeze in fear just like the deputy apparently did. Second, in the hail of gunfire between the teacher and the perpetrator, students could have been caught in the crossfire. Third, the perpetrator may have on body armor.
Consider the following also from NBC News:
"The experts added that even with proper firearms training, to expect a teacher to be able to shoot down an attacker — and not accidentally injure anyone else — is unrealistic. To be trained is not just about shooting. Your heart is beating like crazy, your adrenaline is all over your body, and you have to make a wise decision about what to do," Hemenway said. Brian Levin, a former officer with the New York Police Department, said in the heat of the moment, it's too easy to misfire. He recalled a time early in his career when he almost shot an unarmed man fleeing a shooting scene. "Often times when you’re having an adrenaline-filled situation, you’re not sure who the target is," said Levin, who is now a criminal justice professor at California State University, San Bernardino."
A far more plausible preventive would be to better secure the schools against intrusion.
More important? Law enforcement needs to follow up on reports it receives from the public. Failed to do so in this massacre. Both the sheriff's office and the FBI. -- Those around Cruz knew he presented an exigent threat. Reported it to authorities. Law enforcement failed to follow through. Inexcusable dereliction of duty. Returning to the original NBC News article:
"When we declare our schools to be 'gun free zones' it just puts our students in far more danger," he said."
That's insane. Forget? The deputy was armed. Failed to act. More delusional? Get this:
"I don’t want a person that's never handled a gun, that wouldn't know what a gun looks like," Trump said of his plan. Earlier this week, Trump also floated the idea of small bonuses for those teachers or school officials willing to carry guns."
A bounty?
"Speaking of the former student who took the lives of 17 students and teachers in Parkland, Florida last week, Trump said that "if he thought that other people would be shooting back at him, he wouldn't have gone to that school."
That's nuts. Ignores reality. To say nothing of the history of these massacres. Perpetrators usually shoot themselves when cornered, or are killed by police. That is, have no fear of death. Know they're not going to survive. Yet, perpetrate these mass killings.
"While Trump also has advocated raising the age of purchase from 18 to 21 years of age for semi-automatic weapons — which the NRA doesn't support — he did not mention that idea on Friday at CPAC."
Why would he? Band Aid on an arterial wound, -- so to speak. Non-sequitur as well. Forget? At 18, you're old enough to die for your country on the battlefield but not old enough to own a semi-automatic weapon?
"The changes he hopes to make to improve school safety are "just common sense," Trump told the crowd. "It's not, 'Do you love guns, do you hate guns?' It's common sense. It's all common sense."
Common sense to an out of touch lunatic.
"But Trump also knew his audience. He made clear that despite wanting to move forward and make changes to certain aspects of gun laws, "there’s nobody that loves the Second Amendment more than I do, and there's nobody that respects the NRA, they're friends of mine."
They are. Partially, responsible for getting him into office.
Here's the conundrum for this writer. The NRA does rightfully and steadfastly defend the Second Amendment. As intended by the Founders, the last best defense against outrageously corrupt, abusive, murderous government. At the same time, this organization is Nazi Right, presents an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties with the exception of the right to bear arms.
Consider the following. Trump's meandering CPAC speech closely modeled the talking points of the NRA speech given earlier by Wayne LaPierre. NPR reports:
"Just over a week after 17 people were killed at Parkland, Fla., high school, National Rifle Association executive vice president and CEO Wayne LaPierre gave a fiery, defiant speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, on Thursday in Washington, D.C. LaPierre defended Second Amendment rights and warned of a "socialist agenda" intended to strip firearms away from law-abiding citizens." "As usual, the opportunists wasted not one second to exploit tragedy for political gain," LaPierre said, adding that 20th-century community organizer "Saul Alinsky would have been proud of the breakneck speed for gun control laws and the breathless national media eager to smear the NRA."
First, no one defends the NRA better than LaPierre. Second, his warning of a "socialist agenda" is profoundly ironic. The national socialist Nazi Right indeed is doing all it can to eviscerate all civil and constitutional rights and liberties with the exception of the Second Amendment. Wouldn't know freedom, liberty, if it figuratively bit them hard on the ass. Clearly, following in the mold of their 1930s mentors, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. As chronicled week after week, month after month, year after year in this publication.
Most achingly ironic? Get this:
"LaPierre, who was not listed on CPAC's official schedule, accused Democrats of making gun control a political issue in order to achieve their ultimate goal to "eradicate all individual freedoms."
Precisely what the Nazi Right is itself doing with the exception of gun rights. To say nothing of lining the pockets of their corporate masters who in turn line theirs. Not to mention the fact these assholes indeed delusionally believe they own your uterus, ladies. More than willing to dictate what you can and cannot do with it. List can go on and on.
The problem with the Nazi Right, as it was with their forebears Hitler and Mussolini, is the fact they take a small measure of truth, distort it into something it's not, to further their national socialist agenda:
"What they want are more restrictions on the law-abiding — think about that," LaPierre said. "Their solution is to make you, all of you, less free. They want to sweep right under the carpet the failure of school security, the failure of the family, the failure of America's school systems and even the unbelievable failure of the FBI."
There is great truth to that fiery last quote. Does masterfully describe the problem, however, but neglects to offer an effective workable solution. While conveniently ignoring massive abrogation of all other civil and constitutional rights and liberties perpetrated by the Nazi Right. Certainly, mesmerizes his achingly sick sycophants who buy his bullshit. Cheer him on. Without reflection, due diligence.
"Right before LaPierre took the stage, NRA national spokeswoman Dana Loesch also spoke, striking a far angrier tone than she had in a CNN town hall Wednesday evening and even admitting the accusations she was about to make would be controversial."
What they are is insane. Crock of shit:
"Many in legacy media love mass shootings. You guys love it. I'm not saying that you love the tragedy, but I am saying that you love the ratings. Crying white mothers are ratings gold to you and many of the legacy media in the back," she charged, pointing to journalists at the back of the ballroom."
Female version of Adolf Hitler. Delusional lunatic. Seems to have forgotten it's the function of the media to expose this insanity to the public.
The problem with the nazi element is again the fact there is some truth to what they're trying to get across. But intentionally distort that truth to impose an agenda:
"And as LaPierre did, Loesch — who also wasn't officially on the pre-released CPAC agenda — blamed failures in law enforcement for the latest tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. "We will not be gaslighted into thinking that we are responsible for a tragedy that we had nothing to do with. It is not our job to follow up on red flags. It is not our job to make sure that states are reporting to the background system," Loesch said."
Indeed, great truth to the above, but egregious distortion of reality. The Left is not blaming NRA for any of its (NRA) failures. It's delusionally blaming guns themselves. Wants an unarmed citizenry. That's not going to happen.
"LaPierre said that in the past, he had worked with Democrats who wanted to work to reduce gun violence, but that leaders now only cared about exploiting tragedy for political gain, calling them a "tidal wave of new European socialists" in charge of the party and name-checking Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif.; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio; New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo; Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn.; and Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., to boos in the crowd."
Again, there's a modicum of truth to his assertions. Democrats do indeed focus on the gun, not on the psychotic individual pulling the trigger. Have certainly been absent without leave, out to lunch since November 22, 1963. LaPierre seems to have conveniently forgotten, however, when you fail to do your homework, all the due diligence and research necessary, then point the finger at someone else, the remaining four point back at you. LOL. Both extremes make this mistake.
Here's further proof:
"The elites care not one whit about America's school system and schoolchildren," LaPierre added."
They don't? Who are the elites? Corporate management suite and top 1% who run and own this country? Bought and paid for their lackeys in government? Dictate what we can and cannot do? Liberty being no more than the 'freedom' to do what you're told? What they tell you to do? Is that what this nazi is talking about? That is, the corporate management suite and the rest of the top of the food chain?
"I hear a lot of quiet in this room, and I sense your anxiety," LaPierre said, turning to the political consequences of the debate. "And you should be anxious, and you should be frightened. If they seize power, if these so-called 'European socialists' take over the House and the Senate, and God forbid they get the White House again, our American freedoms could be lost and our country will be changed forever."
You nazi bastards are already attempting to do precisely that. Transitioning the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
Insult to injury? Epitome of bullshit? Shameless grandiosity coming from a lunatic narcissist? Get this. The Washington Times reports:
"President Trump Monday criticized Florida deputy sheriffs who didn’t confront the gunman at a Florida high school, saying he would have gone in unarmed to stop the slaughter. “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon,” Mr. Trump told governors meeting with him at the White House on ways to improve school safety. The president called the actions of a deputy sheriff who waited outside during the shooting “disgusting.”
This, coming from a guy who reportedly did all he could to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War a half century ago. Reportedly, sought and received five draft deferments during the conflict. There are people in this country who would have run into that school unarmed to confront the shooter. Truly believe the blowhard Trump nazi one of them?
NBC News reports:
"President Donald Trump is telling the nation's governors that he would have run into the deadly Florida high school shooting "even if I didn't have a weapon." The president is again finding fault with officers who didn't stop the Florida gunman who carried out the massacre earlier this month. Trump said the deputies "weren't exactly Medal of Honor winners." He told 39 of the nation's governors, "I really believe I'd run in there even if I didn't have a weapon."
Talk is cheap. Bullshit? Worthless. Unbecoming the sham now residing in the Oval Office.
NBC News reports:
"The sheriff's deputy blamed for failing to enter a Florida high school while 17 people were killed said Monday that he's been unfairly labeled a coward and that he did nothing wrong."
Fascinating turn of events, isn't it?
"A lawyer representing Scot Peterson said in a statement that Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel "maligned" the deputy in public statements in which he said Peterson should have gone into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and killed alleged gunman Nikolas Cruz. Israel said last week that he'd suspended Peterson after seeing video footage that captured Peterson's response, hearing witness accounts and getting a statement from the officer. Peterson then resigned, Israel said."
Amazing how truth remains a moving target, isn't it?
"Peterson's lawyer, Joseph DiRuzzo III, said in a statement Monday that Israel had rushed to judge his client without taking into consideration all the facts. "Let there be no mistake, Mr. Peterson wishes that he could have prevented the untimely passing of the seventeen victims on that day, and his heart goes out to the families of the victims in their time of need," DiRuzzo said. "However, the allegations that Mr. Peterson was a coward and that his performance, under the circumstances, failed to meet the standards of police officers are patently untrue. Mr. Peterson is confident that his actions on that day were appropriate under the circumstances and that the video (together with the eye-witness testimony of those on the scene) will exonerate him of any sub-par performance," the statement said."
Think so? Consider the following:
"The statement quoted Peterson saying that when the gunfire first erupted, he "thought that the shots were coming from outside," which was why he "took up a tactical position." Peterson was the first member of the Broward County Sheriff's Office to report the gunfire, DiRuzzo said. He also gave the local SWAT team keys to the building where the shooting happened, drew diagrams of the campus for them, and helped school administrators access security videos, DiRuzzo said."
This catastrophe certainly continues to become increasingly convoluted by the day. Think all those involved aren't desperately trying to cover their ass? One thing for sure, this massacre remains a massive failure of the entire system. Bottom to top. Top to bottom.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
In stark contrast to our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider how other officials honorably, heroically conduct themselves elsewhere in the country.
In follow up to a case covered extensively in this publication and elsewhere, CBS News reports:
"President Trump promised in November to bring the killers of border patrol agent Rogelio Martinez to justice and used his death to renew calls for a wall on the Mexico border."
Trump shamelessly talked out the ass, had no basis to label the death a murder. None at all.
"The FBI poured its resources into the investigation, conducting more than 650 interviews and 26 searches. While the president and others used agent Martinez's death to make a political point, the FBI believes this was likely an accident, not a crime."
Carefully, consider the following:
"It all happened in the town of Van Horn – more than 100 miles from El Paso and about 30 miles from the border, reports CBS News' David Begnaud. Agent Martinez was found dead in November in a culvert located along a quiet interstate – an area that looks like the middle of nowhere. Martinez was responding to a tripped sensor along a known drug smuggling route. He radioed for backup. A law enforcement source tells CBS News Martinez then parked on the eastbound side of Interstate 10. He turned off his headlights and kept his emergency lights off so potential smugglers wouldn't see him coming. It was a moonless night. There are no street lights there, so really the only light you have would be a flashlight, or the headlights of a passing vehicle. The source says Martinez was not using night vision equipment. He then ran across the eastbound lane, the grass divider, then the westbound lanes and ran right off the edge of a culvert – about a nine or 10 foot drop – that had no guardrail or barrier to stop him."
Sound plausible?
"Agent Stephen Garland, who arrived after Martinez, may have made the same mistake, running across the interstate and right off the edge. The FBI suspects he fell off at a different point because his blood was found about 22 feet away from Martinez's body. A border patrol dispatcher was able to make contact with Garland after his fall. Despite his injuries, Garland was able to get back to his vehicle and turn on his emergency lights."
Interesting, isn't it? Far more interesting? Get this:
"At that time, Garland told the dispatcher something to the effect of "we ran into a culvert," or "I ran into a culvert," or "I think I ran into a culvert." The dispatcher wrote in his log, "(he) thinks they ran into a culvert." The FBI found no other foot prints at the scene, no defensive wounds on either men, or DNA belonging to anyone other than the two agents."
Yet to some, conspiracy theory is preferable to science:
"More than three months after Martinez's death, his fiancée Angie Ochoa isn't convinced by the FBI's theory. She says Martinez's injuries were too severe to have been caused by a fall. She is also suspicious because toxicology tests found a pain medication – butalbital – in his system. "Somebody convinced him to take that medication I think. Um, to make it seem like it was an accident," Ochoa said. "At this point, I think it was probably given to him intentionally."
Say what?
"Even in a normal dose, sometimes there could be some impairment of ability to function, but very little impairment," said forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden. We asked Dr. Baden to look at Martinez's autopsy report, which states he died of blunt injuries to the head, but classified the manner of his death as "undetermined." "This is all very typical for a fall, and not for a fight," Baden said. CBS News has learned that Garland suffered multiple broken vertebrae and a brain bleed. The FBI believes he has amnesia, and he has nothing to do with Martinez's death. They found no evidence of animosity or conflict between him and Martinez."
Clearly, there's a political agenda:
"Despite the FBI's findings, union officials at the National Border Patrol Council call Martinez's death a "heinous attack."
There's absolutely no evidence of that. None.
"No smugglers were ever found. CBS News asked the White House for comment on this story. It told us no. We called union officials 40 times, left at least 15 voicemails, and sent 10 emails and five text messages. When they finally got back to us, they said the people authorized to talk were unavailable."
Like the Trump nazi, congenital liars. With an agenda. Truth? What's that?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Once again, the Trump nazi talked out both sides his ass. LOL. The Washington Times reports:
"President Trump voiced frustration Thursday with California’s status as a statewide sanctuary for illegal immigrants, including gang members, and said he’s considering pulling federal immigration enforcement agents out of the state as a response."
Do it, Donny Boy, do it. BP and ICE goons are no more than SS jackbooted bastards. SS nazi storm troopers. Clearly, out of uniform. No swastika armbands. Do California a favor, Mr. 'President.' Remove your storm troopers. These criminal bastards present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
“If we ever said, ‘Hey, let California alone let them figure it out for themselves,’ in two months they’d be begging for us to come back,” the president said during a White House meeting on law enforcement issues. “They would be begging. And you know what? I’m thinking about doing it.”
You're an achingly clueless jackass, Mr. 'President.' An embarrassment to yourself, your office, and the nation you allegedly serve, fool.
Think his equally fascist henchmen aren't towing the mark? Get this. NPR reports:
"United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is changing its mission statement to eliminate a passage that describes the U.S. as "a nation of immigrants." The agency's new mission statement as it appears on the agency's website reads:
"U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services administers the nation's lawful immigration system, safeguarding its integrity and promise by efficiently and fairly adjudicating requests for immigration benefits while protecting Americans, securing the homeland, and honoring our values."
"Here is USCIS's previous mission statement:
"USCIS secures America's promise as a nation of immigrants by providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system."
Raw nazism ala Nazi Germany, circa 1933. Just the beginning, readers. Just the beginning. -- Frog lulled to sleep in an increasingly heated pot of water.
Here's the truth:
"Opponents of the Trump administration's immigration policies criticized the change. In a statement, Eleanor Acer, senior director for refugee protection at D.C.-based Human Rights First, said: "Our nation is one built by immigrants—removing this language does nothing to change that fact, it only reveals the insidious racism harbored by those in this administration. It is clear from the language and policies put forth by President Trump and his hard-line immigration extremists that they will stop at nothing to demonize and dehumanize immigrants and refugees, who have often fled violence and persecution in search for a better life for themselves and their children."
As did Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini eight decades ago. How soon the clueless, achingly ignorant forget. Think Trump Aryan arrogant enough to demand France dismantle and remove its gift greeting immigrants in New York Harbor, that is, the Statue of Liberty?
Kicker? Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"The director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, who eliminated the words “nation of immigrants” from his agency's mission statement Thursday, is the proud son of an immigrant. At least that was Lee Francis Cissna's position before he got the job leading the government agency tasked with processing legal immigration and citizenship applications to this country."
Galling hypocrisy:
“The immigrant experience has always been a fundamental part of my family life, and I would be proud to carry that heritage with me,” Cissna, whose mother immigrated to the United States from Peru and whose wife's mother came from the Middle East, told the Senate Judiciary Committee at his confirmation hearing in May. Cissna said he grew up speaking Spanish at home and speaks it exclusively with his children. “Our family is literally a product of our nation’s legal immigration system,” he told the panel. “Should I be confirmed, these experiences will undoubtedly illuminate everything I do as USCIS director.”
Jesus Christ. Got to be a place in Hell reserved for hypocritical pieces of shit like this.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Think our prisons won't remain gulags designed to line the pockets of the corporate management suite? CBS News reports:
"The U.S. prison population has been falling for several years, reaching its lowest imprisonment rate since 1997, amid a sharp decline in violent crime. But that isn't ending the good times for the private-prison industry."
Yet, the racist AG Sessions nazi delusionally claims violent crime is increasing. Here's precisely why the bastard's lying:
"That might seem counter-intuitive, but analysts point to President Donald Trump's initiatives as providing an unexpected boon for these businesses. Although Mr. Trump's 2019 budget would maintain the federal Bureau of Prison's annual spending at $7.1 billion, some analysts expect spending to shift to private prison companies. At the same time, the budget calls for $2.5 billion to hold as many as 47,000 illegal immigrants within detention centers, another major revenue source for prison operators."
Figuratively speaking? Kill two birds with one stone. Clever, isn't it? Line the pockets of the corporate management suite while furthering the president's xenophobic transition from the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"It's a remarkable turnaround for an industry that less than two years ago was on track to be phased out from use by the federal government, which at the time cited declining prison populations and reforms for its decision. A month after President Trump was inaugurated, the Justice Department backtracked and said it would continue to use private prisons."
Amazing, isn't it? Despite all the abuses. In addition, an added 'bonus':
"Since President Trump initiated a crackdown on illegal immigrants, the surge in arrests by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also proved to be a boon for private-prison giants CoreCivic (CXW) and The Geo Group (GEO), according to Stefanie Miller of Height Securities."
Surprised? Why? Quite determinedly intentional.
"Through the first nine months of 2017, ICE arrests shot up 42 percent from a year ago, Miller noted in a recent research report. "The Trump administration's tough-on-immigration policies are unlikely to fade anytime soon, meaning investors should expect continued strict enforcement, more arrests by ICE and the need to accommodate a growing number of arrested individuals," she predicted. The result will be a "tailwind" for private prison operators, the analyst added."
All this despite the fact border crossings have dramatically dropped.
"Private prisons do not currently offer a clear advantage over their public-sector counterparts in terms of cost or quality," the authors wrote. "The wide variation across prisons, differences between the public and private sector, and data limitations render a comprehensive, direct comparison of cost and quality across prison sectors infeasible." Other critics point to the ethical issues surrounding a for-profit business involved with incarceration. The American Civil Liberties Union sees the industry as creating "serious gaps in accountability and transparency." In 2016, a report from the Office of the Inspector General concluded private prisons have more safety and security issues than government-run prisons, including rates of assault."
Precisely, what the Nazi Right wants and expects. Gulags. Courtesy of national socialists in the Republican Party. To say nothing of Democrats out to lunch, absent without leave since November 22, 1963.
"Despite those concerns, it's unlikely that demand for private prisons will abate -- at least not during President Trump's presidency, according to Height's Miller."
'It's about the money, stupid.' ... Ferociously pointedly, think Trump and his henchmen won't someday reside in one of these gulags?
Think the death penalty gets equally applied in Nazi Texas? Think guilt or innocence truly matters here? Have been many examples in this publication and elsewhere of cops who murder unarmed innocent civilians yet escape justice. Think the following an example of equal justice? NBC News reports:
"Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has commuted the death sentence of a man who masterminded the murder of his mother and brother after the inmate's father, who barely survived the crime, pleaded for his killer son's life to be spared. Abbott's decision, announced just a half-hour before Thomas "Bart" Whitaker was set to receive a lethal injection, is only the third time in four decades that a Texas governor has granted clemency to a death-row inmate on humanitarian ground. Whitaker, 38, will now serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the 2003 double murder."
How many others who claimed innocence in highly questionable cases were summarily executed without further thought by the nazis who run and own our formerly great state?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Think the following strange? ... Or, par for the course. LOL. The Washington Post reports:
"A top Justice Department official alerted the White House two weeks ago that significant information requiring additional investigation would further delay the security clearance process of senior adviser Jared Kushner, according to three people familiar with the discussion."
What information?
"The Feb. 9 phone call from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein to White House Counsel Donald McGahn came amid growing public scrutiny of a number of administration officials without final security clearances. Most prominent among them is Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, who has had access to some of the nation’s most sensitive material for over a year while waiting for his background investigation to be completed."
Here's what's interesting:
"A week after the call from Rosenstein, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly announced that staffers whose clearances have not been finalized will no longer be able to view top-secret information — meaning that Kushner stood to lose his status as early as Friday."
Think that'll happen? LOL.
Gets better. LOL.
"As president, Trump can grant Kushner a high-level security clearance, even if his background investigation continues to drag on. But Trump said Friday that he would leave that decision to Kelly."
Think Kelly's free to do as he pleases? LOL.
"In his phone conversation with McGahn, Rosenstein intended to give an update on the status of Kushner’s background investigation. He did not specify the source of the information that officials were examining, the three people said."
Funny thing. LOL.
"Justice Department officials said Rosenstein did not provide any details to the White House about the matters that needed to be investigated relating to Kushner. “The Deputy Attorney General has not referenced to the White House any specific concerns relating to this individual’s security clearance process,” spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores said in a statement."
Believe it? Despite the fact there's supposed to be at least some degree of separation between DOJ and the Oval Office?
Here's the kicker:
"Security clearance experts said it is rare to have such a high level of interim clearance for such a long period of time. Typically, senior officials do not get interim access to top-secret and sensitive compartmented material for more than three months, experts said. The day before Rosenstein’s call to McGahn, The Post reported that Kushner was among dozens of White House personnel who were relying on interim clearances while their FBI background investigations were pending. White House officials have complained that they have had trouble getting information from the Justice Department and FBI about the status of delayed clearances, including Kushner’s. People familiar with the Feb. 9 call said Rosenstein was returning a White House phone call seeking guidance on the status of his background investigation, among those of others. Rosenstein intended to speak to Kelly, but the chief of staff was not immediately available, so he ended up talking to McGahn instead, according to three people familiar with the call."
More interesting?
"In the call, Rosenstein did not say whether the information that had come to the attention of the Justice Department was learned by the FBI in its standard background clearance investigation of White House staff. Rosenstein also oversees the investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who has scrutinized Kushner’s contacts with foreign officials and business dealings as he examines Russia’s interference in the 2016 election."
Got to be quite tricky for Rosenstein since he has to maintain some degree of separation between DOJ and the Oval Office due to Mueller's ongoing criminal investigation.
"During the last six months, McGahn privately discussed the slow pace of Kushner’s background investigation with other senior aides, including with Kelly in the fall, according to a top administration official. Kelly expressed frustration with Kushner’s access to classified material on an extended interim clearance, according to the official. But McGahn and Kelly decided to wait for the FBI to complete its background investigation and took no action at the time to change his access."
Precisely, the problem posed by nepotism. Had it been anyone other than the president's son-in-law think treatment would have been the same?
More riveting?
"Kelly has told associates that he is uncomfortable with Kushner’s uncertain security clearance status and his unique role as both a family member and staffer, according to people familiar with the conversations. He has said he would not be upset if the president’s son-in-law and his wife, Ivanka Trump, left their positions as full-time employees."
Think that'll happen? Consider the following:
"In addition, Kushner’s actions during the transition have been referenced in the guilty plea of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, who admitted he lied to the FBI about contacts with then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Prosecutors said Flynn was acting in consultation with a senior Trump transition official, whom people familiar with the matter have identified as Kushner."
Subsequent to the above, Kelly has finally lowered the boom. NPR reports:
"President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has lost the top-level security clearance he has been using on an interim basis to do his work inside the White House, according to reports on Tuesday. Instead, Kushner will begin using a lower level of access to classified information along with other White House staffers who had temporary clearances. Kushner had held a top-secret clearance with access to Special Compartmented Information, known by the shorthand TS/SCI. Now he and other officials will use a lower one, a secret clearance, which restricts the amount of material he can access."
Why is he even employed in the White House? Nepotism at its worst. Doesn't matter he's unsalaried. Totally irrelevant.
The Washington Post reports:
"Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter. Among those nations discussing ways to influence Kushner to their advantage were the United Arab Emirates, China, Israel and Mexico, the current and former officials said. It is unclear if any of those countries acted on the discussions, but Kushner’s contacts with certain foreign government officials have raised concerns inside the White House and are a reason he has been unable to obtain a permanent security clearance, the officials said."
Fascinating, isn't it? Ferociously pointedly, what the hell could the Trump nazi possibly been thinking when he appointed his son-in-law unpaid advisor? Further proof positive Trump's judgment resides up his ass.
"H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, learned that Kushner had contacts with foreign officials that he did not coordinate through the National Security Council or officially report. The issue of foreign officials talking about their meetings with Kushner and their perception of his vulnerabilities was a subject raised in McMaster’s daily intelligence briefings, according to the current and former officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. Within the White House, Kushner’s lack of government experience and his business debt were seen from the beginning of his tenure as potential points of leverage that foreign governments could use to influence him, the current and former officials said."
How has this gone on well over a year and only now being addressed?
More ominously:
"They could also have legal implications. Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has asked people about the protocols Kushner used when he set up conversations with foreign leaders, according to a former U.S. official. Officials in the White House were concerned that Kushner was “naive and being tricked” in conversations with foreign officials, some of whom said they wanted to deal only with Kushner directly and not more experienced personnel, said one former White House official."
'Stupid is as stupid does.'
In another article, The Washington Post reports:
"Earlier this month, a top Justice Department official alerted the White House that significant information requiring additional investigation would further delay Kushner’s security clearance process, The Washington Post reported last week. Kushner’s inability to obtain a final clearance has frustrated and vexed the White House for months. As someone who meets regularly with foreign officials and reads classified intelligence, he would typically have a fast-tracked background investigation, security clearance experts said. Friday’s downgrade represents a significant loss of access for Kushner, who routinely attended classified briefings, received access to the President’s Daily Brief intelligence report and issue requests for information to the intelligence community."
Under such conditions, how can he do his job? Why is he still in the White House?
"A secret document may be a diplomatic cable from a U.S. embassy to the State Department, discussing the internal politics of that country. The top secret/SCI category, by contrast, includes details of U.S. programs like drone targeting in Pakistan or covert operations conducted by Special Forces. It also may include high-level private discussions between senior government leaders. Mark Lowenthal, president of the Intelligence & Security Academy and a former U.S. intelligence official, said Kushner’s downgraded clearance level is “a very severe limitation” and should hurt his ability to manage the Middle East peace process. “This is a very severe limitation because some of the information passing through the White House is more highly classified than ‘secret,’” Lowenthal said. “He can no longer see the President’s Daily Brief and it also means there are certain meetings he can’t be in because most NSC meetings will involve materials above the ‘secret’ level. The briefings he will get will have to be severely watered down.”
Time for him to go.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Noose figuratively tightens around Trump and his henchmen. The Washington Post reports:
"Rick Gates, a former top official in President Trump’s campaign, plans to plead guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI, according to court papers filed Friday by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The guilty plea, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, caps a busy week for Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and related issues. It also ends a tumultuous period for Gates, who found himself re-indicted, changing lawyers and agreeing to plead guilty all within 24 hours."
Reportedly, Gates doesn't have the money to battle the charges.
"According to a criminal information — a document filed with the permission of the defendant which traditionally signals that person plans to plead guilty — Gates conspired to defraud the United States regarding the money he and his business partner Paul Manafort earned and lied to the FBI in a Feb. 1, 2018 interview about a 2013 meeting he’d had with Manafort and an unidentified lobbyist."
Certainly, places additional pressure on Manafort, -- who continues to maintain his innocence.
"Gates’s plea raises the pressure on Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman. Both men were hit with a 32-count indictment on Thursday, following an earlier 12-count indictment of the pair back in October. Gates could provide the special counsel with valuable information about the inner workings of Trump’s operation: He served as a senior figure in the campaign and had access to the White House as an outside adviser in the early months of the administration."
Mueller is apparently attempting to 'flip' Manafort.
"The latest indictment does not involve conduct at the Trump campaign. Instead, the special counsel accused the men of lying on their income-tax returns and conspiring to commit bank fraud to get loans as part an elaborate scheme to use their income from the Ukrainian political party to buy properties, evade taxes and support a lavish lifestyle."
Been speculation Manafort, if 'flipped', could enable Mueller to quickly get to the top of the food chain. Have to admire Mueller for running such a tight ship. Been no leaks to date.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Delusionally believe we don't live in a goddamned fascist police-state? NBC News reports:
"Americans' reliance on household debt - and poor people's struggles to pay it off - has fueled a collection industry that forces many of them into jail, a practice that critics call a misuse of the criminal justice system. The accusation is documented in a report by The American Civil Liberties Union, which spent more than a year investigating collection methods across the country, saying it found more than 1,000 cases in 26 states in which judges, acting on the request of a collection company, issued arrest warrants for people they claimed owed money for ordinary debts, such as student loans, medical expenses, unpaid rent and utility bills."
Think this bullshit? Could never happen in the United States?
"The results - just a glimpse of a phenomenon that spans at least 44 states - are further evidence of a justice system that criminalizes poverty, from cash bail to the jailing of people over unpaid court fines to the use of private probation companies, the ACLU said. This is how it works, according to the report:
"Someone
falls behind on a bill, and the outstanding payment gets sent to a collection
agency. The agency takes the debtor to small-claims court. Most debtors
don't defend themselves, either by choice or because they never learn of
the lawsuit.
"The
court, overwhelmed with such claims, rules for the collection agency, which
then asks a judge to hold a hearing in which the debtor must answer questions
about his or her ability to pay. If the debtor doesn't show up — and they
often don't even know about the hearing — the agency asks the judge to
issue a civil warrant for the debtor's arrest. This warrant doesn't technically
cover the money owed, but the failure to appear in court.
"These
warrants can appear on someone's record, making them subject to arrest
if they are targeted in a warrant sweep, are stopped for a traffic violation
or go to authorities to report a crime they witnessed, according to Jennifer
Turner, the ACLU's principal human rights researcher and author of the
report. Often they are issued bail in the same amount as the money they
owe.
"They are never charged criminally, and the warrants are still civil, but they still lose their liberty," Turner said in an interview. "They don't have a criminal record, but they suffer a lot of the same collateral consequences."
Nazi America. Wake up. De facto fascist police-state. Quickly transforming to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Nunes continues to lie out the ass. Distort reality. Obfuscate to protect his fuhrer, the Trump nazi. The Washington Times reports:
"Rep. Devin Nunes said Monday that the FISA court cannot exist if political parties are allowed to use it against one another. “We can’t have a secret court operate like this in America where they’re going to take and use it against political enemies. Where one political party can use it against another. It’s not going to work, if that’s going to be the case,” Mr. Nunes, California Republican, said on Fox Business."
This extremely partisan Republican nazi misses the point. FISA has already massively failed. How can a secret court in a supposedly democratic republic ever succeed? Ever be considered constitutional? Smacks of Nazi Germany, the former Soviet Union, present-day China, and many, many other exceptionally abusive dictatorships throughout the globe today.
"The FISA court — a secretive court system under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act used to obtain surveillance warrants — came under scrutiny when Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee said the FBI used evidence funded by the Democratic National Committee to obtain a warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page."
What Nunes conveniently neglects to mention is the fact this nazi court was well aware the original tip indeed came from a partisan group. The foreign source, however, was well-trusted by the intelligence community. Fascinating, isn't it?
"The Republican memo was released a few weeks ago, which Democrats said was mischaracterizing the evidence. Democrats released their memo over the weekend to refute the accusation. Their memo was delayed for further editing and redaction after the FBI said it contained sensitive information."
It was delayed for one reason and one reason only. Republican nazis wished to benefit the Trump nazi with the delay. Forget? Republicans on the committee voted against simultaneous release. Why is that? Wake up. The bastards were well aware they had nothing. That the Democratic response would and did clearly show this. A sham to protect the president who is under increasing legal jeopardy as the Mueller investigation moves up the food chain.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Trump and his henchmen lost another one in court. NPR reports:
"The U.S. Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a setback over the DACA program, which shields hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation. The court declined to take up a key case dealing with the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — for now. The high court said an appeals court should hear the case first. The result is DACA will stay in place until when or if the Supreme Court takes it up. The Trump administration tried to skip the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California and go directly to the Supreme Court. (The 9th Circuit is famously liberal-leaning.) Two lower courts blocked the government from ending the DACA program. Trump had wanted to start ending the DACA protections in March for people brought to the U.S. as children and living in the country illegally."
Don't Republican nazis disingenuously, falsely continue to claim to be the party of the family?
"The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits or even indicate which way it would lean on the DACA program. This was all about the legal process. The ruling means continued uncertainty for a program set to expire one week from now. When Trump rescinded Obama's DACA executive order, he gave it an expiration date of six months. He said he hoped that could buy time for a bipartisan solution to emerge between Congress and the White House, but at this point, they're at a stalemate."
Trump knew precisely what he was doing at the time he took this action. Was quite aware gridlock would prevent resolution. ... As achingly deceptive and duplicitous as his 1930s mentor, Adolf Hitler.
"The president has been tweeting that Democrats don't want to do anything on the immigration program, which indicates wanting to lay blame more than passing a solution."
Partisan politics by our nazi fuhrer. Who'd 'a 'thunk' it? LOL. Couldn't be, could it?
Here's the kicker. Get this:
"Trump had said he would support anything that had bipartisan support, but he's declined a couple different versions of that, because they didn't satisfy his four pillars — giving the almost 2 million DREAMers citizenship in exchange for limiting what he calls chain migration (and Democrats call family reunification), ending the visa lottery program and funding his wall."
If the nazi is indeed successful in ending "chain migration," would it apply retroactively to the parents of the First Lady?
Our nazi fuhrer is ferociously pointedly reminded our UNDOCUMENTED forebears came to this continent centuries ago. STOLE this land from its native inhabitants. Then, BROKE every goddamned treaty signed.
Think the Israeli aggressor isn't growing as national socialist as the United States under the Trump nazi? They've certainly one-upped our fuhrer. LOL. Get this. NPR reports:
"Take $3,500 and a one-way ticket to Africa by April, or face forced deportation or jail."
Trump's too goddamned greedy to offer them a financial bribe, isn't he? LOL.
"This is Israel's new plan for thousands of East African migrants, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, who crossed the Sinai Desert into Israel over the last decade. The policy, announced Jan. 1, has sparked panic among migrants, who say they took perilous journeys to Israel seeking refuge from hardship, and it has been criticized by the U.N. Refugee Agency. The issue has also renewed an emotional debate among Israelis about whether their country owes the migrants safe haven."
Each man, woman, and child for himself, right, Mr. 'President?'
"Not all of them are being deported. Women, children, families and those with pending asylum requests submitted before 2018 get to stay, Israeli authorities say. It's single men who Israel claims are economic migrants who are receiving deportation notices. Some of the men had their asylum bid rejected. Others never submitted one."
Discrimination against men? Couldn't be, could it? LOL.
Kicker? Get this. It's precious:
"Greetings," the letter begins. "We would like to inform you that Israel has signed arrangements allowing you to leave Israel to a safe, third-party country that will welcome you and give you a residence permit that will allow you to work in the country and ensure you are not expelled to your home country." Those who self-deport within the grace period will receive a $3,500 stipend upon their departure, the letter says. The letter does not name the country where they will be sent. Reportedly, Israel has made deals with Rwanda and Uganda to receive the migrants, though both countries deny signing any such deals. "It is a country that in the last decade has developed greatly and absorbs thousands of returning residents and immigrants from various African countries," the letter says of the destination."
Think so?
"The letter says those who do not leave voluntarily could be deported with a stipend significantly less than $3,500 and Israel will not permit them to take a portion of the money they made while working in Israel."
Why does the United States continue to fund the Israeli aggressor? Financially support its continued boot heel on the neck of the Palestinians? Sell the Israeli aggressor weapons used to drop 2,000 lb. bombs in densely-populated civilian neighborhoods in direct violation of U.S. export law that forbids such use of weapons for offensive purposes?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Think the Trump nazi the only truth-challenged Republican? LOL. Get this. CBS News reports:
"A Republican congresswoman from upstate New York said Wednesday that "many" people who commit mass murder turn out to be Democrats."
That right? Think so? Got proof? Show us.
"U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney made the remarks on Talk 1300 Radio during a discussion about calls for stricter gun control since last week's deadly Florida high school shooting. "Yeah, well, obviously there is a lot of politics in it, and it's interesting that so many of these people that commit the mass murders end up being Democrats, but the media doesn't talk about that either," Tenney told talk show host Fred Dicker. Tenney did not offer any evidence to support that statement."
She has none. While both parties need to be ferociously criticized on a whole variety of issues, this isn't one of them.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Why would the Trump nazi continue to protect the Russians? Aggressive stupidity? Unbridled narcissism? Both? NBC News reports:
"A top intelligence official said Tuesday that the U.S. is "probably not doing enough" to combat Russian attempts to interfere in American elections — prompting the fury of several Democratic lawmakers — and acknowledged that he'd not been directed by President Donald Trump to stop meddling by Moscow. At a U.S. Cyber Command hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Admiral Mike Rogers, the director of the National Security Agency, said he had not been given the authority by Trump, or Defense Secretary James Mattis, his direct boss, to strike at Russian cyber operations against the U.S."
Think the Trump nazi acting in the best interests of the Constitution he falsely swore to uphold?
"Rogers admitted Russian President Vladimir Putin had likely concluded there was "little price" to pay for attempting to disrupt U.S. elections."
Think the Trump nazi's failure to act not treasonous?
"Democrats slammed Rogers’ assessment, imploring him to do more and ripping into the White House for not having directed a stronger counter-effort against the cyber-meddling."
Although out to lunch since November 22, 1963, Democrats do, on occasion, get something right. The intelligence community knows Trump's continued intransigence is appalling. Why aren't these bastards figuratively screaming bloody murder? No more than further indication they're gutless. Won't stand up to the nazi fuhrer in the Oval Office. Yet, have no problems torturing and abusing 'enemy combatants' in gulags overseas.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Privacy remains under vicious attack in Nazi America. Think not? Wake up. NPR reports:
"When you open your email today, consider this: on Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on a question that didn't exist just a few decades ago — does an email provider, faced with a search warrant issued in the United States, have to turn over a customer's email content when that data is stored outside the U.S.?"
Our nazi government truly believes its jurisdiction extends across the universe.
"The case, United States v. Microsoft, involves a federal drug-trafficking investigation in which law enforcement obtained a warrant for all the data associated with a suspect's Microsoft account. In response, Microsoft turned over the user's account identification information that is stored in Redmond, Wash., but refused to disclose the content of the emails, which were stored in a data center in Ireland."
Did the right thing. This goddamned government has no jurisdiction in Ireland.
"Microsoft argues that an international treaty between the U.S. and Ireland is the only correct way to obtain the emails, and Ireland agrees. The treaty is known as the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty."
This government believes it can do as it pleases:
"But the U.S. government argues that process is slow and cumbersome. Furthermore, it would prove highly problematic with providers such as Google, for example, which breaks up data and moves it around the world constantly."
Tough shit.
"Siding with Microsoft in this case are a raft of major tech companies, including Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google. They point out that the public did not even have access to the Internet until 1989 and the "World Wide Web" didn't exist until 1991. Nor were emails stored after they were received. So Congress could not have intended to cover data that is stored forever in a cloud. The Supreme Court has established a strong presumption against the extraterritorial application of a statute unless Congress expresses a clear intent to reach outside the U.S."
Carefully, consider the above. Clearly, the Court has bastardized the Constitution in an effort to grant the Executive Branch power it does not enjoy. Founders? Spinning in their graves. How is it constitutional for the United States to extend jurisdiction across the universe?
"The company argues that allowing the U.S. to reach into foreign territory to retrieve a user's private emails, even with a warrant, would set a dangerous precedent for other countries to reciprocate. Disregard for another country's sovereignty could be seen as an open invitation to the rest of the world to look into American citizens' private emails, commencing a "global free-for-all."
Wouldn't want to confuse the nazi idiots on the Court with the truth, would we? LOL.
The Europeans are way ahead of us on personal privacy issues:
"The U.S. and European Union demonstrate different priorities when it comes to data protection. Privacy is enshrined as a fundamental right in Europe. Both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union recognize a "right to the protection of personal data."
Not so in Nazi America. The Fourth Amendment has been determinedly bastardized over the decades to suit the purposes of repressive government.
The following clearly sums up the debacle:
"In a rare convergence of opposing ideologies and bitter competitors, Fox News, CNN, the ACLU, Republican and Democratic senators and congressmen, Apple and Microsoft agree: The U.S. government should not unilaterally seize data stored in a foreign country. Doing so, many say, would mark a disregard for the sovereignty of other nations and infringe on privacy laws that explicitly forbid such action. The U.S. government, on the other hand, dismisses these concerns, noting that when served with a warrant, Microsoft could, by tapping a few keys, transfer the information back to the U.S. from the stored data center in Ireland, thus avoiding international complications."
Blatant, achingly disingenuous bullshit. Raw nazism in a goddamned de facto fascist police-state soon to be transformed to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
Quotes above courtesy of a most gifted insightful writer, Nina Totenberg.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
The United States Supreme Court has indeed gone nazi. This is an achingly fascist, national socialist Court that continues to legislate its achingly perverse ideological and religious views from the bench. Raw nazism. The Washington Post reports:
"The Supreme Court on Tuesday said immigrants held by the government and facing deportation are not entitled to a bond hearing even after months or years of detention. In a splintered 5 to 3 decision, the court’s conservatives said that the relevant statute does not even “hint,” as Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote, at the broad reading of the right to bail hearings adopted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit."
Alito has again ignored his oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. Apparently, this unabashed fascist has yet to read the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to say the least. Remains a traitorous, treasonous disgrace to himself and the country he certainly does not serve. Only his fellow national socialists.
"That court had ruled that an immigrant held in detention must be given a bond hearing every six months and that detention beyond the initial six-month period is permitted only if the government proved that further detention is justified. Alito rejected that standard, and said the more natural reading of the law at stake is that it authorizes detention “until the end of the applicable proceedings,” and that “there is no justification for any of the procedural requirements” that the appeals court added."
Spoken as the ignorant American nazi he has clearly demonstrated himself to be.
To his credit, Justice Breyer didn't take it lying down. Figuratively, came out firing:
"The ruling brought an impassioned dissent from Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who underscored his dissatisfaction by reading part of it from the bench. “The many thousands of individuals involved in this case are persons who believe they have a right to enter into or remain in the United States, and a sizable number turn out to be right,” Breyer said. But he said some of them remain in detention for years because the government reads the statute as “denying them the bail hearings that the law makes available even for those accused of serious crimes.” He was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor."
That's right. All three stood tall.
"Alito called the dissent an “utterly implausible” reading of the statute."
Proof positive, 'can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.' A truly sad day for our formerly great country. As our nation continues to deteriorate. Nazify. Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. As the de facto fascist police-state we already live in transforms to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
Here's more:
"Tuesday’s decision returns the case to the lower courts for further action, including an examination of whether the detainees have a constitutional right to a bail hearing. Alito said there was no need for the Supreme Court to decide that at this time. Breyer criticized that as well, saying the issue was fully briefed at the Supreme Court. “We need merely remember that the Constitution’s Due Process Clauses protects each person’s liberty from arbitrary deprivation,” he said."
That's right. Clearly, the Alito nazi and his fellow nazis on the court remain determinedly clueless. Poster children for term limits. Not to be. Take a constitutional amendment that certainly will not happen any time soon.
"Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Gorsuch, said he would have dismissed the case because he believes the courts do not have the power to hear the claims. But since the majority disagreed, he joined the resolution of the case."
Considerate of the nazi, isn't it? Lied like hell during confirmation hearings some 25 years ago vis a vis Anita Hill, yet got confirmed. Forget? The committee refused to allow other accusers to testify. Former Vice President Joe Biden, committee chairman at the time, gutlessly capitulated.
"Justice Elena Kagan took part in earlier hearings in the case but recused herself belatedly. She did not explain why, but it is likely she was involved in the case while serving as President Barack Obama’s solicitor general. Her participation would not have affected the outcome."
Sad, sad day for our formerly great country that continues to nazify unabatedly.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Think Trump's not a charlatan? NPR reports:
"The Trump Organization sent the U.S. Treasury an undisclosed sum last week, in the first of what it says are annual payments to compensate for hotel profits from foreign officials. "This voluntary contribution fulfills our pledge to donate profits from foreign government patronage at our hotels and similar businesses during President Trump's term in office," George Sorial, the company's chief compliance counsel, said in a written statement on Monday."
Think so? Not smoke and mirrors?
"A Treasury spokeswoman confirmed the payment was received. The size of the payment was not disclosed. The transactions the payment was based on and the foreign governments involved were also not disclosed."
Conveniently duplicitous, isn't it? LOL.
Here's the problem:
"The payment comes as the Justice Department is defending President Trump in three lawsuits that allege he is violating the foreign emoluments and domestic emoluments clauses of the Constitution — anti-corruption provisions that bar the president from taking rewards or gifts from foreign or state governments. Sorial's statement doesn't refer to emoluments."
Surprised? LOL.
"The payment "is woefully inadequate," said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits. The payments are calculated on profits from foreign governments at Trump hotels and similar properties, as explained in a pamphlet from the Trump Organization. The calculation does not include other profits — for example, on rent paid by the government of China for space at Trump Tower — or non-monetary benefits for Trump properties in other countries, or payments or benefits from state governments."
Wouldn't want the Trump nazi and his family to go broke, would we? LOL.
"Bookbinder said that even if those problems were solved, the president might be influenced simply by knowing that foreign officials stayed at his properties. Unlike other recent presidents, Trump did not divest himself of his business holdings or put them in a blind trust when he took office. He frequents the Trump International Hotel near the White House and often spends weekends at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Fla."
Think his foreign 'friends' aren't lining his pockets? Think the nazi bastard's not bought and paid for?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Fair warned is fair armed, -- so to speak. LOL. CBS News reports:
"A vast majority (82 percent) of beneficiaries entitled to receive survivor benefits and their own benefits weren't informed of an option to claim a larger benefit. That's according to a recent audit report issued by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General. The audit estimated that the Social Security Administration (SSA) underpaid about $131.8 million to 9,224 widows and widowers who were age 70 and older."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Trump is growing increasingly unhappy with the AG Sessions nazi. The Washington Post reports:
"President Trump on Wednesday lashed out again at his attorney general, questioning why the man he picked as the country’s top law enforcement official was relying on the Justice Department’s Inspector General to review alleged surveillance abuses."
Supposed to be some degree of separation between the 'Justice' Department and the Oval Office. Clearly, the Trump nazi wants none. Apparently, intends to politicize DOJ to cover his sorry ass now under investigation by Mueller. Fascinating, isn't it?
"In a message that takes some liberties with the facts, Trump wrote, “Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!”
No question, the president is indeed truth-challenged. LOL. Clearly, shitting in his pants as the noose figuratively tightens around him and his henchmen.
"Trump was referring to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s assertion the day before that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz would look into alleged surveillance abuses that legislators on the House Intelligence Committee have been debating in recent weeks. An inspector general spokesman confirmed the attorney general had asked the office to review such issues but declined further comment. Republicans on the committee, especially chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), have alleged that the FBI and Justice Department misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain a warrant to monitor former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, while Democrats have countered that their GOP colleagues are misstating the facts."
All this political wrangling ignores the fact FISA remains outrageously unconstitutional. A secret court worthy of Nazi Germany and the former Soviet Union, not a supposedly democratic republic.
Regarding the latest Inspector General flap, Trump and his henchwoman have clearly flip-flopped. Who'd 'a 'thunk' it, no? LOL. Get this:
"When Sessions revealed Tuesday he had asked the inspector general to look into the matter, the White House seemed pleased at first. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said at a briefing that while she had not spoken with the president about the matter, “it’s something that he’s clearly had frustration over, so I would imagine he certainly supports the decision to look into what we feel to be some wrongdoing. I think that’s the role of the Department of Justice, and we’re glad that they’re fulfilling that job.”
Clearly, the noose continues to figuratively tighten. Heat turned up as Mueller continues to churn out indictments.
In follow up, NPR reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to defend President Trump in the Russia imbroglio, but Trump has slapped Sessions down — again — for work he says isn't good enough."
'President's' certainly growing antsy, isn't he? LOL.
"The attorney general said on Tuesday Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz would look into the kernel of what Republicans call the real Russia story: the alleged abuse by the FBI and Justice Department of their surveillance powers. Horowitz operates independently within the department. His office has acknowledged receiving a request to look into the FISA matter. Trump said on Wednesday morning that won't cut it.
"Why
is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially
massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already
late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use
Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 28, 2018"
Certainly, placed the AG Sessions nazi in an even more difficult position, didn't it? LOL.
"Sessions responded later in the day on Wednesday defending himself and the Justice Department."
Certainly, laughably, did the 'old soft shoe.' LOL. Get this:
"We have initiated the appropriate process that will ensure complaints against this department will be fully and fairly acted upon if necessary," Sessions said. "As long as I am the attorney general, I will continue to discharge my duties with integrity and honor, and this department will continue to do its work in a fair and impartial manner according to the law and Constitution."
Too late for that, Jeff. Way too late. Moreover? Trump's increasingly determined to shift focus away from the criminal investigation of himself and his henchmen. Has to be driving the bastard and his henchmen figuratively up the wall.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Another one bites the dust. CBS News reports:
"White House Communications Director Hope Hicks will resign, CBS News' Jillian Hughes confirmed Wednesday. The New York Times first reported her impending departure — it is unclear when exactly she will leave, but it will be soon. "There are no words to adequately express my gratitude to President Trump," Hicks said in a statement. "I wish the president and his administration the very best as he continues to lead our country."
Certainly, been on the hot seat.
"Hicks, 29, has been a central part of the Trump operation since the beginning of the campaign. Hicks entered the Trump campaign with no real political experience. Her family was friends with the Trumps, and she was once a model for Ralph Lauren. But her ability to navigate the unpredictability that comes with being a part of the Trump orbit made her one of the president's closest confidantes."
Imagine that.
"Mr. Trump said he will "miss having her by my side."
Bet he will.
"Hope is outstanding and has done great work for the last three years. She is as smart and thoughtful as they come, a truly great person," the president said in a statement. "I will miss having her by my side but when she approached me about pursuing other opportunities, I totally understood. I am sure we will work together again in the future."
Here's the problem:
"Her proximity to Trump has made her of particular interest to special counsel Robert Mueller and the congressional intelligence committees as they investigate Russian election meddling and any ties to Trump associates. Hicks provided limited information to the House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, when she testified for nine hours. Ranking member Adam Schiff, D-California, said Hicks' refusal to answer the committee's questions made for "a breathtakingly broad claim of privilege that I don't think any court would sustain, and I think the White House knows that."
Noose figuratively tightens.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Believe there aren't severe problems within the insurance community? Think the solution reduced regulation as the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and fellow national socialists in the Republican Party and their masters in the corporate management suite crave? Better yet, no regulation, that is, laissez-faire capitalism? Delusionally believe there's such a thing as a 'free' market? That the market's not owned, manipulated by those with the wealth?
CBS News reports:
"It doesn't matter whether you're a salesperson who drives thousands of miles each year or the proverbial "little old lady" who only drives to church on Sunday: Your car insurance premiums are likely to be similar – and cost more each year. That's the counterintuitive, but probably accurate, picture drawn by two surveys of auto insurance rates -- one by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), the other by Internet auto insurance search engine The Zebra."
How is it counterintuitive? LOL. Forget? Prime directive of all business is make money any way you can. LOL. Including, the old fashioned way. Steal it. LOL. Just don't get caught. ... Right, Mr. 'President?' If you do, not to worry. With sufficient capital can buy yourself out of virtually any jam. At worst? Spend time in a minimum-security 'country club' designed for white collar criminals. ... Right, Amanda?
"The nation's largest auto insurers generally offered little or no premium reduction to low-mileage drivers even though insurance research indicates that how much you drive is among the most important factors in predicting accidents," said CFA Director of Insurance J. Robert Hunter. After all, he said, "You can't crash if you're not driving!"
Wouldn't want to confuse the hopelessly greedy with the truth, would we?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Think there aren't severe problems within the healthcare community? CBS News reports:
"A Georgia grand jury has indicted two nurses and an aide in the death of an elderly patient. Former licensed nurse practitioners Loyce Pickquet Agyeman, of Snellville, faces a charge of felony murder and neglect to an elder person and Wanda Nuckles, of Buford, is charged with depriving an elder person of essential services. Certified nurse assistant Mable Turman, of College Park, is charged with neglect to an elder person."
Particularly, egregious. Seatbelts on:
"All three also were indicted on one count of concealing the death of another in the indictment returned Tuesday by a DeKalb County grand jury. The charges stem from the Feb. 27, 2014 death of 89-year-old James Dempsey, a World War II veteran and patient at Northeast Atlanta Rehabilitation Center. The indictment alleges the defendants failed to provide timely medical assistance resulting in Dempsey's death."
Gets worse:
"The Brookhaven Police Department launched a criminal investigation after television station WXIA uncovered hidden camera video that showed nurses ignoring Dempsey as he repeatedly calls for help and gasps for air. It also shows the nurses failing to take life-saving measures and laughing as they try to start an oxygen machine. The station's report also uncovered video depositions in which the nurses changed their stories."
Where were police all this time? The family sued four years ago.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Growing dissent on the Far Right. Couldn't be, could it? LOL. The Statesman reports:
"Bishops direct Catholic churches and schools to refrain from working with Texas Right to Life. Group conducts misleading attacks on politicians, misrepresents Catholic positions, bishops’ directive says. Exposing a deep and widening rift in the state’s energetic anti-abortion movement, the Catholic bishops of Texas have directed churches across the state to refrain from working with Texas Right to Life, which bills itself as the “oldest and largest statewide pro-life organization.”
Stunning, isn't it? Clearly, trouble in paradise. LOL.
"According to a written directive, Texas Right to Life has engaged in misleading attacks against political candidates, lied about the Catholic Church’s position on legislation at the state Capitol and opposed church-supported bills by arguing that they don’t go far enough to limit abortions. “We’ve asked our pastors, parishes and Catholic schools to refrain from asking (Texas Right to Life representatives) to come onto our premises because their teachings don’t always align with what the Catholic Church teaches regarding certain life issues,” said Bishop Joe Vásquez, head of the 25-county Diocese of Austin. The one-page written advisory from the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, which sets policy for the parishes serving the state’s 8.3 million Catholics, was released Thursday and distributed across the Austin Diocese on Friday."
Apparently, the Nazi Right has taken national socialism a bit too far to the right, -- even for the Catholic Church. LOL.
For those who believe women have the right to do with THEIR uterus as they damn well please, the following is indeed encouraging:
"On one side are Texas Right to Life and its close associate, Empower Texans. Fueled by social and religious conservatives, the groups have adopted a take-no-prisoners approach at the Capitol, particularly when it comes to attacking organizations and politicians that oppose or decline to fully support their priorities. Both groups have targeted House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who is retiring, and other centrist Republicans, saying they have blocked abortion limits and other favored legislation for too long. On the other side are groups that Right to Life and Empower Texans have denigrated as “fake pro-life organizations” — including the Catholic Conference of Bishops, Texas Alliance for Life and the Texans for Life Coalition."
When nazis fight among themselves, makes it far, far more difficult for them to eviscerate the Constitution.
"Kyleen Wright, president of the Texans for Life Coalition, said the bishops’ decision to call out Right to Life for its bullying tactics was a watershed moment for the movement. “This is really big,” Wright said. “It’s very, very unfortunate that it came to this. But for our organization, and me personally, to be maligned and slandered for several years, and for our candidates and people who work in good faith to advance good policy down in Austin to be unfairly and maliciously attacked, that hasn’t been good for our movement, either. “It’s very difficult, this type of family war,” she said."
Hopefully, this will weaken the nazi movement in our formerly great country. Give the public more time to fully understand the exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties posed by the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. All this is much more than just a 'culture war.' Direct threat to freedom.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
3-2-18
Trump and his henchmen have again put perverse GOP religious and ideological views ahead of their oaths of office to uphold the United States Constitution. ABC News reports:
"The Trump administration has adopted a new strategy for how it issues tens of millions of dollars in federal family-planning grants, giving preference to groups that stress abstinence and making it harder for Planned Parenthood to do business."
Clearly, Republican nazis delusionally believe unwanted pregnancy preferable to safe family planning by medical providers.
"Major reproductive health organizations are voicing serious concerns about changes that the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on Monday described as turning "back the clock on women's health."
Dangerously quaint, isn't it?
"Dr. Haywood Brown depicted the shift as part of the administration's "continued move away from scientific, evidence-based policies and toward unscientific ideologies."
Voodoo 'science' courtesy of the Nazi Right firmly planted on the GOP tit.
"The catalyst for the criticism was an announcement Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services of its guidelines and priorities for the next round of Title X grant applications, projected to total about $260 million. The new HHS document makes repeated favorable mention of "natural family planning" — which encompasses the rhythm method and other strategies for avoiding pregnancy without using contraceptives like the birth-control pill. According to HHS, of 100 couples each year that use natural family planning methods, up to 25 women may become pregnant."
Back in the day, used to be called 'Catholic Roulette.' Yet, nazis on the Right won't be confused with the truth, right, Mr. 'President?'
"Planned Parenthood, which currently serves about 1.6 million of the 4 million beneficiaries of Title X, expressed concern that the guidelines were crafted to reduce or eliminate its role in the program."
Trump, his henchmen, and fellow nazis in the GOP present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"It reads as them trying to stack the deck against any specialized reproductive health provider," said Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Erica Sackin."
No question, that's the aim. Return to the cave. By national socialists in the Republican Party.
"Planned Parenthood has been the target of repeated attempts by the administration and congressional Republicans to cut off its federal funding and weaken its nationwide operations because it provides abortions."
Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
Women and girls deliberately placed at risk by a deliberately imposed religious agenda:
"Clare Coleman, CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, expressed concern that HHS might be shifting priorities in a way that would disrupt the steady progress in reducing the U.S. rate of teen pregnancies and unintended pregnancies. "We know different administrations have had different approaches," she said. "But if this announcement indicates a deliberate shift away from Title X being strongly focused on increasing access to contraceptive care to a model more focused on behavior change ... that would be a significant concern to public health." Haywood Brown said his obstetrician/gynecologists group had hoped the Trump administration would adhere to long-established, evidence-based Title X practices. Instead, he said, the changes "will effectively block Title X patients from the qualified providers of their choice, steering them toward organizations or providers singularly focused on abstinence and fertility awareness methods — political interference at its worst."
Raw nazism.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
The nazi round up continues. Certainly, transitioning from the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. NPR reports:
"Federal immigration agents have reportedly detained more than 100 people in ongoing sweeps in the Los Angeles area, targeting people in the country illegally. The immigration enforcement operations, which began Sunday, are pursuing roughly 400 people across seven Southern California counties, according to the Los Angeles Daily News."
A nazi round up of 'undesirables' remarkably reminiscent of Hitler's Third Reich. The jackbooted bastards remain out of uniform, however, -- no swastika armbands.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Danielle Bennett tells NPR in an email that the agency is going after "individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security."
Unadulterated horse shit. They're concertedly, determinedly, deliberately breaking up families. Readers are reminded nearly all immigrants, legal or illegal, are law-abiding, productive, pay taxes, contribute to society. Unlike the jackbooted bastards in ICE, who remain no more than leeches firmly planted on the taxpayer tit. ... Right, Sheriff?
"Bennett blamed "uncooperative jurisdictions," like Los Angeles, for making the agency use "additional resources to conduct at-large arrests in the community, putting officers, the general public and the aliens at risk and increasing the incidents of collateral arrests."
More horse shit. Blatant distortion of reality. Lying, gutless, jackbooted sons of bitches. ... Right, Bill?
"The whole state of California began limiting cooperation with federal immigration officials this year after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill in October to create a "sanctuary state." As Capital Public Radio's Ben Adler reported, "it bans state and local agencies, excluding the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, from enforcing 'holds' on people in custody. It blocks the deputization of police as immigration agents and bars state and local law enforcement agencies from inquiring into an individual's immigration status."
Nazism must be ferociously, but peacefully, resisted. Unlike Nazi Texas, California is doing its best to stick it to the nazi element. Think we'll ever wake up here? LOL.
The Washington Times reports:
"Federal deportation officers staged one of the biggest enforcement actions in years against businesses in Los Angeles this week, arresting 212 people and serving audit notices to 122 businesses who will have to prove they aren’t hiring illegal immigrants."
That right? Think so? Supposed to be the other way around. That is, up to prosecutors and law enforcement to prove someone is guilty. Not for the accused to prove their innocence. These criminal SS jackbooted bastards have it ass backwards. Remain an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"Nearly all of those arrested were convicted criminals, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."
That right? These bastards, like their nazi fuhrer in the Oval Office, are congenital liars. Remain out of uniform, -- no swastika armbands. Show us the proof, you sons of bitches.
Resistance to these pieces of crap is increasing. The following is an example of uncommon valor. The writer is Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts. The Washington Post reports:
"My job as a legal secretary for the Montana Department of Labor and Industry was not an easy one. I juggled a long list of constantly shifting priorities, and if I missed a deadline, we could lose a case. But it was also repetitive: updating case management software, drafting motions, revising motions, adding new court dates to the calendar, scanning in copies of documents, opening new cases and processing subpoenas. It was tedium compounded by volume. So when an attorney stopped by my desk one Tuesday afternoon and said, “Keep an eye out for some ICE subpoenas coming in tomorrow,” I barely processed it. My brain heard “subpoenas” and “tomorrow,” and I squeezed it into the ever-expanding mental list of tasks I would need to complete.
..."It wasn’t until I’d gotten home that evening that I fully comprehended what I had been told. Had the attorney really said “ICE subpoenas”? Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency rounding people up for deportation? I knew our department had plenty of data that could be used by ICE to track someone down, but I still doubted my ears.
..."I stepped away from my desk to talk to my wife on the phone. “I may be asked to help process some subpoenas for ICE, and I don’t think I can do that,” I told her. I braced myself for A Conversation. My wife was still in graduate school, with 15 more weeks of late nights and frantic scrambling to turn in huge projects while caring for our toddler. We were hoping her master’s would lead to a new job, which could upgrade us from drowning in debt to merely struggling financially. Me quitting my job was not in the plan. I prepared to explain that I didn’t want to participate in preparing information for ICE, nor did I want to sign my name to the cover letter I would have attached to whatever I had to put in the mail. But my wife just said, “Okay.” We didn’t discuss it further."
This guy heroically placed principle ahead of personal interest. Nearly non-existent in a fascist police-state soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Equally stunning? His wife stood tall. Despite the negative consequences and hardships that would ensue. Uncommon valor.
..."I also spoke briefly to my manager, and after explaining that I couldn’t be complicit in sharing information with ICE, he asked, “So are you quitting?” “If I have to turn over this information, then yes.” “Let me make some calls.” On the way back to my desk, I dashed off a quick tweet. Three simple words. “Seriously, f— ICE.” It was some needed catharsis. I attempted to get some work done, but my heart wasn’t in it."
Indeed. F--k ICE. Nazism in our formerly great country must be ferociously but peacefully resisted. Had the German public courageously done the same in 1933, the world could have been spared Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich.
..."I’ve always believed in the mission of the Department of Labor. Ensuring people are protected in the workplace and are paid for their work is something I can get behind, but it felt tainted now. All the data that was part of keeping the department running was going to be turned from a tool used to protect workers into a weapon used to hunt down some of the most vulnerable among us. I’d seen it in the news: a working father of three in New Jersey, whose wife is now terrified of also being deported; the people without criminal records who were supposedly “low priority” for deportation."
No more than a pernicious repeat of history. Trump's Fourth Reich. Silence is not golden. In the presence of great evil, gutless.
"I had recently seen the video of Border Patrol officers dumping bottles of water that had been left by humanitarians in the desert to stop people from dying of thirst. The apparent glee with which some of them were condemning people to die sickened me. It didn’t seem like an agency of people reluctantly doing a job or making a tough choice because they had to feed their family. They were enjoying it."
These criminal bastards are an evil reincarnation of Hitler's jackbooted SS. -- Sans swastika armbands. ... Right, Sheriff?
..."I give credit to the department for how they handled the situation. They gave me time to think about it. There were some on and off discussions about maybe moving me around in the department or me holding on until I had found another job, but I knew what I had to do."
No question. Great evil must be courageously stood up to. Here is the bottom line:
..."Anything I did in the department would forever make me a part of a machine that was going to be used to break up families. I thought about how I had struggled, as a child, to find anything resembling stability; how I found a family as a teen and held on tight. My best friend’s mom had a soft spot for stray cats and stray kids, and was more of a mom than the woman who birthed me was ever capable of being. I thought about my own child and how I couldn’t comprehend us being separated. There was no way I could have a part in this and live with myself.
..."I went home and picked up my wife. We drove to my in-laws, who had been watching our kid. From their driveway I emailed my manager, formally putting in my two weeks’ notice."
Uncommon valor. At tremendous personal cost.
..."Then I went inside and hugged my child before explaining to my mother-in-law that I had just blown a massive hole in my family’s future. Things were a little muted as we were invited to stay for dinner. While my mother-in-law started cooking, I went to Twitter to write out my frustration, then I put my phone away and went to set the table. I had no idea that while we ate waffles and talked about new plans for a new future, the magic of Twitter had already started.
..."When we got home that evening, my phone began seizing. My Twitter app kept crashing. I had no idea what was going on. My mentions and DMs, when I could manage to access them, were flooding with words of encouragement. People were telling me my action had restored some of their faith in humanity. In turn, their responses have restored mine. I had started to give up hope that the actions of everyday people could possibly mean anything or make a difference. I have never been so happy to be wrong."
Not good enough. Those who courageously stand up to great evil, need to be supported by the community. This guy needs help finding new employment. May need housing assistance, etc..
..."Even as I’m surrounded by the warm glow of love and support from strangers, I still have a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wonder how many other people, working in other government offices, have unwittingly or unwillingly been drafted into ICE’s service. How many felt trapped by circumstance, or found a way to justify it to themselves. I stumbled into public service, but I stayed because I felt like I was doing something good. With the specter of ICE looming over all of that now, it has a chilling effect on the good work public servants are trying to do. But they don’t have to comply. They can say no. They can refuse to work with an agency that taints everything it touches."
Here, here. Uncommon valor displayed by both this guy and his wife. Hat's off.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
In follow up to the last edition, ABC News reports:
"A lawyer for the former chief counsel of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle says her client is not offering any excuses for stealing the identities of immigrants. Raphael Sanchez pleaded guilty in federal court in Seattle on Thursday to charges that he stole immigrants' identities and used them to defraud credit card companies and banks of more than $190,000. His lawyer, Casey Stamm, said in a written statement after the hearing that Sanchez is a "good person who has made serious mistakes."
Steals a couple of hundred grand and considered a 'good person' who made a mistake? Think so? What he is is a goddamned thief.
"She added that he "does not offer excuses for his acts; rather, he simply provides his sincere and immense regret."
Bet he does, -- that he got caught.
Insult to injury? Get this:
"Sanchez was taken into custody following the hearing. Prosecutors and Stamm agreed to recommend a four-year term when he's sentenced May 11."
Steal a couple of hundred grand and get four years? Where? In a minimum security country club where white collar criminals do time?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Once again, the racist AG Sessions nazi has shown his true colors, achingly persistent ignorance, profound aggressive stupidity. The Washington Times reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions has slammed a bipartisan drug sentencing reform bill, calling the legislation “a grave error.”
Clearly, this nazi ignores the egregious failure the last half century of the War On Drugs instituted by President Nixon, himself a criminal. LOL. The irony, laughable. The failure? Inexcusable. Proposed repeat of history? Aggressive stupidity at its worst. Why is it we cannot seem to learn from our mistakes?
"In a Feb. 14 letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, Mr. Sessions wrote that he “strongly” urges the Senate to consider the legislation’s potential ramifications. “The legislation would reduce sentences for a highly dangerous cohorts of criminals, including repeat dangerous drug traffickers and those who use firearms and would apply retroactively to many dangerous felons, regardless of citizenship or immigration status,” Sessions wrote according to a copy of the letter obtained by The Washington Times."
Distortion of reality. Re-write of history. Ignorance of the fact most incarcerated on drug charges were users and/or small-time sellers who did so to finance their addiction.
"The Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2017 was introduced in October after similar legislation failed to advance in 2015. At the time five senators opposed the bill because it would provide early release for nearly 7,000 prisoners, including some who were deemed to be career criminals."
Again, more bullshit. The bill could certainly have been carefully crafted to precisely define and exclude such offenders. If not, why not?
"Mr. Grassley introduced the bill that has generated support from 11 co-sponsors. The bill would broaden judges’ ability to exercise discretion in sentencing non-violent offenses, narrow the scope mandatory minimum sentences to violent crimes and serious drug offenses, end juvenile life sentences without parole and create a National Criminal Justice Commission that would make additional reform recommendations. It would also allow compassionate release for elderly and terminally ill prisoners."
Can't have that, can we? Certainly, not in the view of the Trump nazi, his sidekick racist AG, the Sessions nazi, and other die hard nazis in the Republican Party. These achingly fascist bastards would rather loot taxpayers to finance the cost of draconian imprisonment policies, policies that conveniently line the pockets of their corporate masters, who in turn line theirs. Never ends.
"The American Bar Association and some civil libertarian organizations have come out in support of the bill."
Why wouldn't they? Last half century remains a massive failure. Our prisons are no more than goddamned overloaded gulags.
Yet, an ignorant racist nazi cannot, will not be confused with the truth:
"But Mr. Sessions charged the bill risks “putting the very worst criminals back into our communities.” He said that the legislation would result in members of violent drug gangs like MS-13 returning to the streets and clogging up court dockets throughout the country. “In recent years, convicted drug traffickers and other violent criminals have received significant sentencing breaks from the federal courts and the United States Sentencing Commission,” Mr. Sessions wrote. “Passing this legislation to further reduce sentences for drug traffickers in the midst of the worst drug crisis in our nation’s history would make it more difficult to achieve our goals and have potentially dire consequences.”
Sessions is the lunatic voice of a nazi who cannot, will not be confused with the truth. Has an ideological agenda, nazism, that blinds him to reality. His aching ignorance inures him to the fact draconian drug policies do nothing to ameliorate the scourge of addiction. In fact, worsen it. Drive up prices of addictive drugs leading to increased ancillary crime to pay for these illicit substances.
Focus has to be on treatment. Otherwise, the cycle never gets broken. Worse? As repeatedly stated here and elsewhere, prohibition of alcohol did nothing to prevent and/or curb consumption. Gave rise to the Mafia. Similarly, drug prohibition has corrupted, to at least some extent, every law enforcement agency in our formerly great country. Easy money for officers.
Enforcement needs to focus on trafficking to minors. Focus on ancillary effects of drug usage such as driving while intoxicated, family violence, theft to support addiction, etc.. Until the focus changes, the addiction problem will worsen. Both political parties are too aggressively stupid to understand this. ... Or, too afraid of not being returned to office to tell the public what it needs to hear.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Former Trump advisor, white nationalist Steve Bannon has gotten himself into a jam. Doesn't your heart bleed? ABC News reports:
"Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon again refused to answer questions from the House Intelligence Committee behind closed doors Thursday, spurring calls from the panel’s leading Democrat to hold him in contempt of Congress. “I think the next step for Congress to take is to initiate contempt proceedings,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told reporters after the interview."
Think that'll happen? More importantly, think the noose isn't figuratively tightening around the Trump nazi and his henchmen? Get this:
"Bannon apparently was not as tight-lipped when he also met with special counsel Robert Mueller's team this week. The former top White House aide met with Mueller’s team for 20 hours over several days, sources close to Bannon confirmed to ABC News. Former Trump legal team spokesman Mark Corallo met Thursday with Mueller's team, according to sources familiar with the meeting."
Think the lunatic in the Oval Office isn't shitting?
"While meeting with congressional investigators, Bannon, according to Schiff and Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, who is helping to lead the Russia investigation, would only answer questions from a list of 25 provided by the White House. “He did not answer all the questions we’d like answered,” Conaway said. Bannon, who spent roughly three hours behind closed doors, repeatedly “asserted that he had been instructed to invoke executive privilege on behalf of the president,” Schiff said."
Called obstruction.
"Schiff said the executive privilege claims in the congressional interview – which he said covered questions about the transition, administration, and Bannon’s post-White House activities - were “breathtaking,” “insupportable” and “at times it was laughable.”
Certainly, didn't work for the Nixon criminal four decades ago.
"At one point, Schiff fumed, Bannon refused to discuss conversations he had after leaving the White House with “people who played no role in the administration.” “There is no plausible claim of privilege that could apply to those circumstances,” he said. Schiff called the list of questions from the White House that Bannon limited himself to answering were “self-serving” and “misleading.” “There were questions along the lines of, ‘did you meet with x?’ And because the question was written by the White House the answer was invariably 'no,'” he recalled. “When we asked the question, ‘Did you talk with x,’ the answer was 'yes.' When we asked, ‘What did they discuss?’ there was the invocation of privilege,” Schiff said."
Called stonewalling. Saddest of all? Not even artful. LOL.
"Schiff said accepting the White House’s “stonewalling” of Congress would have “deep implications” for future congressional investigations. He said Bannon did not make a case against being held in contempt to the committee, an opportunity provided to him under House rules."
Aryan arrogance? Aggressive stupidity? Achingly profound ignorance? All the above?
"Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Conaway suggested he’d have to confer with House lawyers and House Speaker Paul Ryan about how to go about responding to Bannon, and potentially holding him in contempt of Congress."
It is the job of Congress to conduct oversight. Be interesting to see if House Republicans exercise that oversight or continue to protect the Trump nazi and his henchmen.
Apparently, Republicans are not happy with Bannon's glaring intransigence. The Washington Post reports:
"House Republican leaders are weighing “further steps” to force former top White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon to answer investigators’ questions in their probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 election — including potentially declaring him in contempt of Congress — after a Thursday interview they called “frustrating.”
Think Republicans can afford to stonewall? Do nothing? Obfuscate?
"Bannon came to speak with the House Intelligence Committee under a subpoena the panel issued on the spot last month, when he refused to answer questions related to the transition period and his tenure in the White House. On Thursday, Bannon presented panel members with a list of 25 questions that he would be willing to answer from that time period. But according to the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the questions had all been “literally scripted” by the White House, and his answer to all of them was “no.” When the committee tried to push Bannon to answer questions that were not on his list, he repeatedly told members that the White House had not authorized him to engage on those queries. At no point, people familiar with the interview said, did Bannon voluntarily elaborate on his answers."
Stonewalling. Obstruction.
"Intelligence Committee member K. Michael Conaway (R-Tex.) said Thursday that he, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and a few others would decide whether to accept Bannon’s legal arguments against answering the panel’s questions or take punitive measures such as contempt. But the decision-makers would not include panel chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who has, Conaway said. When asked if he was personally ready to issue a contempt citation for Bannon, Conaway said only: “I think he should answer our questions.”
Not encouraging, is it?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
In follow up to the last edition, NPR reports:
"Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin improperly accepted tickets to Wimbledon and his staff lied about the nature of a trip to Europe so that his wife could accompany him at taxpayer expense, according to a report released Wednesday by the department's inspector general. Those were just two instances among several "serious derelictions," the internal investigator detailed in an 87-page report issued by the VA's inspector general, Michael Missal. Shulkin is just one of several Cabinet members facing scrutiny over their official travel. In September, Health and Human Secretary Tom Price resigned over his use of private jets. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Energy Secretary Rick Perry and EPA chief Scott Pruitt have also acknowledged using government or private flights, which they say were preapproved."
Need to be prosecuted. No matter party affiliation.
"Shulkin, who was President Trump's pick to become secretary after serving as undersecretary of Veterans Affairs during the Obama administration, wrote a letter to the inspector general, insisting that conclusions in the report were based on "subjective and arbitrary criteria." "It is outrageous that you would portray my wife and me as attempting to take advantage of the government," he wrote. Later, speaking to USA Today, Shulkin said he mailed a check for the $4,312 to the government on Wednesday to reimburse his wife's airfare. He insisted that "We act with the highest ethical character." "I relied upon my staff to do this, and in retrospect, I wish that I had asked more questions," he told the newspaper."
Prosecute the thieving son of a bitch, -- and all the rest of them.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Think the noose doesn't figuratively grow tighter around Trump and his henchmen? ABC News reports:
"President Donald Trump’s long-time attorney, Michael D. Cohen, admitted on Wednesday that in a “private transaction” in 2016, he used his “own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000” to Stephanie Clifford, a porn star known as Stormy Daniels. Clifford has claimed that she had an affair with Trump at a 2006 Lake Tahoe golf tournament. Cohen insisted that the payment was legal, and that neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign reimbursed him or was a party to the transaction. He claimed that the presumed hush money was neither a campaign contribution nor a campaign expenditure."
Fascinating, isn't it? Here's the issue:
"Under the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA), a campaign contribution includes “any gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money or anything of value made by any person for the purpose of influencing any election for Federal office.” A payment is not a campaign contribution if it “would have been made irrespective of the candidacy.”
Here's why that's important:
"When former vice presidential nominee John Edwards was indicted under those FECA laws in 2011, he argued that the hundreds of thousands of dollars paid by two supporters to his pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter, were made to hide the affair from his wife and not to influence the campaign. It was a factual question and the jury deadlocked. Legal experts said that the legality of Cohen’s payment to a porn star could turn on similar factual questions.
“The main issue is motivation and who paid,” Rick Hasen, an election law expert at University of California at Irvine, told ABC News. “If Cohen paid the money himself and his motivation was to help the campaign, he could violate the prohibition on making excessive campaign contributions. If he assisted Trump in making an unreported expenditure, that could be a conspiracy to evade campaign finance reporting.”
What webs we weave. ... Wouldn't have been far, far easier for all had Trump kept it in his pants?
NPR reports:
"A woman who had an alleged nine-month sexual relationship with Donald Trump more than a decade ago, is speaking on the record for the first time about signing a document from an apparent Trump media ally that effectively silenced her story."
Fascinating, isn't it?
"Karen McDougal told reporter Ronan Farrow in a piece published Friday in The New Yorker that she regretted signing the contract with American Media Inc., National Enquirer's parent company. "At this point I feel I can't talk about anything without getting into trouble," McDougal told Farrow. "I'm afraid to even mention his name." Farrow reports, "On August 5, 2016, McDougal signed a limited life-story rights agreement granting A.M.I. exclusive ownership of her account of any romantic, personal, or physical relationship she has ever had with any 'then-married man.'" The Wall Street Journal first reported on the agreement in 2016, saying A.M.I., whose C.E.O and chairman, David Pecker, has called Trump "a personal friend," paid McDougal $150,000 for the rights to her story."
No question, this guy is a pecker. Pecker head. LOL. Joke aside, how do these people sleep nights? Why do their women put up with them?
Sleaze bags:
"Of the $150,000 A.M.I. reportedly paid, McDougal received about $80,000 after others involved in the deal took fees, Farrow reports. The company also reportedly agreed to publish regular columns authored by McDougal and feature her on two covers — arrangements it has yet to deliver on. McDougal said she didn't have a full grasp of the A.M.I. agreement before signing it. "I knew that I couldn't talk about any alleged affair with any married man, but I didn't really understand the whole content of what I gave up," she told Farrow."
Imagine that. Couldn't be, could it? Amazing what these assholes get away with, isn't it? Can buy their way out of practically anything. Until the shit finally hits the fan. Then again, hard to feel sorry for someone whose greed and aggressive stupidity seem to have gotten the best of her seriously-lacking better judgment.
"A.M.I. said McDougal's contract — amended after President Trump won the election — allowed her to "respond to legitimate press inquiries" about the affair, according to Farrow. "Really the important ramifications of this story are the way in which it illustrates a system used by some of the most powerful men in this country, that includes leveraging tabloid media institutions to what employees of A.M.I. called 'catch and kill' stories," Farrow told Morning Edition's Rachel Martin. Farrow adds, "that effort is ongoing, as of a few days ago to the benefit of a sitting president."
No question. ... As the noose figuratively tightens.
"Farrow told NPR that he spoke to six former A.M.I. employees for the story, who told him, "that this system affords the person who catches the story, in this case the executives at American Media, leverage over the celebrity. And in this case, that leverage is with respect to the sitting president of the United States."
What webs we weave. Think Trump's not feeling the pressure?
"Farrow's article also revealed new details of the alleged affair, stemming from an eight-page handwritten document by McDougal. The relationship was reportedly sparked after McDougal and Trump met at the Playboy Mansion in 2006, while he was married to Melania Trump and their son, Barron, was a baby. Trump also reportedly used incendiary racial language during his interactions with McDougal. In a statement to The New Yorker, a White House spokesperson said Trump denied the affair: "This is an old story that is just more fake news. The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal."
Clincher?
"McDougal told Farrow she is a Republican and had hesitated to tell her story, "because she feared that other Trump supporters might accuse her of fabricating it, or might even harm her or her family. " McDougal says she is also worried about A.M.I. retaliating against her for talking. But she said she was inspired to speak out now, in part, by the #MeToo movement. "I just think I feel braver," McDougal told Farrow. "Every girl who speaks," she added, "is paving the way for another."
Indeed. This woman, however, appears to not only have judgment issues, but is apparently achingly clueless.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Think pressure isn't increasing on Trump and those around him? CBS News reports:
"Special counsel Robert Mueller alleged in court filings released late Friday that "additional new crimes" by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had been uncovered. These included a series of bank frauds and bank fraud conspiracies, at least part of which related to a mortgage on his Fairfax, Va. property. The special counsel will reveal the new evidence to the court soon, which could potentially result in new charges. The filing came in response to Manafort's request to change his bail requirements. He has been under house arrest since he pleaded not guilty in Oct. Prosecutors from Mueller's office allege Manafort submitted false information on a bank mortgage for one of three properties he has pledged as security for bail."
Believe Trump isn't shitting?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Pressure increases. Exponentially. Mueller indicts Russians. NPR reports:
"Justice Department special counsel Robert Mueller prefers to let his work do the talking for him. On Friday, he delivered a stemwinder. Thirteen Russians and three Russian entities were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the attack on the 2016 election. The indictment lays out a number of detailed allegations against the Internet Research Agency located in St. Petersburg and against individuals who owned, controlled, funded or worked for the organization."
Mueller indeed delivered a bombshell. Stuck it to the delusional, lying Trump nazi. The Washington Post reports:
"The hackers, he suggested, may have been Chinese. Or some 400-pound guy sitting on his bed. Again and again, he insisted, Russian interference was a hoax — a fiction created by Democrats as an excuse for losing an election they should have won. When Donald Trump finally acknowledged publicly that Russians had hacked Democratic emails and interfered in the 2016 presidential election, the then-president-elect immediately regretted it. He confided to advisers that he did not believe the intelligence. The last thing Trump wanted to do was to endorse the notion that his victory may have been caused by any force other than his own strategy, message and charisma."
Unbridled narcissism.
“Russia talk is FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks!” Trump tweeted last Feb. 26. Another tweet, this one from May 2017: “The Russia-Trump collusion story is a total hoax, when will this taxpayer funded charade end?” But Trump’s own Justice Department has concluded otherwise. A 37-page federal indictment released Friday afternoon spells out in exhaustive detail a three-year Russian plot to disrupt America’s democracy and boost Trump’s campaign, dealing a fatal blow to one of the president’s favorite talking points. A Russia “hoax” this was not."
Indeed. Devastating blow to Trump's credibility.
"The indictment — signed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and announced by Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, both of whom Trump has at times mused about wanting to fire — reveals that the scope of Russia’s alleged efforts to help Trump defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was extraordinary."
Trump still doesn't get it, -- or, remains achingly delusional:
"Even Trump seemed to partly concede the point Friday, acknowledging Russia’s election interference while still minimizing its effects. “The results of the election were not impacted,” he tweeted. “The Trump campaign did nothing wrong — no collusion!”
All the above? Wishful thinking on the part of the Trump nazi. Not yet verified as true. Forget? Mueller has not completed the investigation. Even if true, there is the matter of obstruction. Also, not yet resolved.
"John Brennan, who was CIA director at the time of the election, said on Twitter that the indictments reveal the extent of the Russian campaign. “Claims of a ‘hoax’ in tatters,” he tweeted. “My take: Implausible that Russian actions did not influence the views and votes of at least some Americans.” According to the federal charges, Russian operatives spread pro-Trump and anti-Clinton propaganda. They posed as Americans to coordinate and infiltrate political activities. They organized grass-roots rallies. They paid for a cage large enough to hold an actress impersonating Clinton in a prison uniform. They stoked racial tensions and sowed social discord. “We have known that Russians meddled in the election, but these indictments detail the extent of the subterfuge,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said in a statement. “These Russians engaged in a sinister and systematic attack on our political system. It was a conspiracy to subvert the process, and take aim at democracy itself. Today’s announcement underscores why we need to follow the facts and work to protect the integrity of future elections.”
The above an indication Republicans are at least beginning to wake up.
"Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which has been investigating Russian meddling, said in a statement, “The indictment reaffirms what our intelligence community concluded, what our committee’s investigation has borne out, and what President Trump denies: that Russia interfered in our election in an effort to assist his presidential campaign and harm Hillary Clinton’s campaign.”
Yet, Trump has been in denial since the election:
"During the first 13 months of his presidency, Trump has rejected the evidence that Russia waged an assault on a pillar of American democracy — something many in his administration regard as objective reality — and has sought to discredit the case that Russia poses a threat to the United States. White House officials have said this is partly because Trump wants to forge a productive partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin to tackle problems in North Korea, Iran and other hot spots."
Believe it?
"Trump has never convened a Cabinet-level meeting on Russian interference and has resisted or attempted to undo efforts to hold Moscow to account, such as additional penalties imposed last August by Congress. On the National Security Council, there has been an unspoken understanding that the president would see raising the Russia matter as a personal affront."
Think Trump fit for office?
"Trump’s skepticism of the intelligence about Russian interference and his administration’s handling of the security threat were documented by The Washington Post in December, including efforts to explore the return of two Russian compounds in the United States that had been seized by President Barack Obama."
No problem with that?
NBC News reports:
"For more than a year, President Donald Trump has insisted that Russians did not interfere in the 2016 election, going so far as to call such allegations a "hoax" and a "made-up story." On Friday, special counsel Robert Mueller, the man charged with investigating the Trump team, filed indictments filled with cold, hard fact, charging 13 Russian nationals with executing an incredibly sophisticated cyber-based operation to aid Trump's bid for the presidency. In other words, Mueller called Trump's bluff. The defendants "engaged in operations primarily intended to communicate derogatory information about Hillary Clinton, to denigrate other candidates such as [Sen.] Ted Cruz [R-Texas] and [Sen.] Marco Rubio [R-Fla.], and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candidate Donald Trump," Mueller wrote. The indictment does not say that Trump's campaign worked with the Russians, and at one point says that the Russians communicated with "unwitting" officials in the campaign. Nonetheless, on a political level, Mueller's story is devastating to Trump's narrative of a false-flag conspiracy to discredit him. And it could serve as a warning to Republicans to tread carefully in defending the president in the coming months. "If anything, the indictment reinforces Trump’s lack of credibility on Russian interference in the election by giving a jaw-dropping account of the time, money and effort exerted by the Russian government on American soil to influence the election," said Elise Jordan, an MSNBC political analyst and former National Security Council aide. "There’s no question now that it was a Russian state operation," she added."
Once again, Trump's fitness for office has been called into question. Gets worse:
"In the hours after the announcement, the radio silence from the White House — and from Trump's Twitter account — was deafening. And then, shortly after 3 p.m. ET, Trump abandoned the "hoax" narrative in favor of a different defense. "Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President," he wrote on Twitter. "The results of the election were not impacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong — no collusion!"
Unbridled desperation. Noose, figuratively tightening.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
Still owned by your corporate masters? Literally, bare your ass for corporate inspection by the company doctor? Piss in a bottle under company supervision? To secure and/or maintain a job that doesn't provide a livable wage? CBS News reports:
"Most employers screen job applicants for marijuana use, even in states where it's legal for medical and recreational use. That has some experts arguing that the practice is a waste of time and removes otherwise qualified candidates from consideration for jobs."
Amazing how the nazi element suddenly concerns itself about civil and constitutional rights and liberties issues when the employee pool gets challenged, isn't it? Otherwise, couldn't care less.
"About 78 percent of the clients of First Advantage, the world's largest provider of employment screening services, do not "accept" medical or recreational marijuana in the states were it's legal, according to Josephine Kenney, the company's chief global compliance officer, who cited an internal analysis of clients."
Put up with this shit? Get what you deserve. You're stupid. Gutless. Owned.
"They are continuing to stay the course," she said. "Look, they need to balance the risk here … even with a marketplace where the unemployment rate is really low. They still want productive employees. They still want employees that are going to be safe."
Jesus Christ. Truly believe they own your sorry asses. LOL. Patronizing, condescending bullshit. When someone is intoxicated on the job in a corporate setting, behaving dangerously, erratically, it's obvious. Can immediately be dealt with.
"According to executive outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, which favors eliminating marijuana preemployment screening, companies are finding it increasingly difficult to find qualified applicants who don't smoke weed at a time when unemployment is at a 17-year low."
The corporate management suite certainly psychotically believes it owns its human chattel.
"According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), drug tests that are largely done through urinalysis are unfair because byproducts of cannabis such as the psychoactive chemical THC can be detected for weeks after consumption in some users."
Someone needs to sue the living shit out of these assholes. Certainly, if they've lost a job.
"With over 20 percent of the U.S. population now living in jurisdictions where marijuana is legal for adults and the right to consume it in the privacy of their homes, they still are at risk of being denied or losing their employment as a result of a positive drug test -- even in instances where the use took place on weekends or after-hours," NORML Political Director Justin Strekal wrote in an email."
None of your goddamned employer's business.
"While it is good policy to ban drugs and alcohol in the workplace, what workers do after hours -- as long as it does not impair the company's operations or productivity, or otherwise do harm -- should not have any bearing on how workers are viewed by their employers," Andrew Challenger, a vice president at the firm, said in a press release."
You think?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has indeed received continued pointed criticism in this publication vis a vis its egregious failure to hold Wells Fargo Kingsland legally accountable for deceptive trade practices, the CFPB remains the last best hope against an outrageously corrupt and abusive banking community. Especially, since the Abbott nazi, then Texas Attorney General, failed to even answer the snailmailed complaint.
Not surprisingly, the Trump nazi and his henchmen continue to do all they can to eviscerate this agency. To protect their cronies in the corporate management suite. Line the pockets of those who line theirs. As repeatedly reported in this publication and elsewhere, Trump appointee Mick Mulvaney is enabling loanshark payday lenders to continue egregiously f--king their victims. This son of a bitch needs to be criminally investigated.
NPR reports:
"The Trump administration is proposing to dramatically cut funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a move critics say is an ongoing assault on the 7-year-old agency. The bureau was championed by Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats and created in the wake of the financial crisis to protect Americans from getting ripped off by financial firms."
The Trump nazi and his henchmen continue to support these criminal f--kers who concertedly, determinedly continue to f--k the bottom and middle class. These corrupt abusive asshole leeches indeed make their money the old fashioned way. Steal it. Yet, with the racist Sessions nazi in charge of the 'Justice' Department expect no relief. Just a rubber stamp of this continued f--king.
"The White House proposal would chop funding for the CFPB by about $150 million — or a quarter of its budget. Such cuts would mean "massive layoffs and disruptions," says Mike Calhoun, the president of the Center for Responsible Lending. That would "make it hard for it to do its job — a job that it's been doing incredibly well," he says."
We've lost our country. Criminals now run and own our formerly great nation.
"Financial watchdog groups such as Calhoun's say the agency has been paying for itself many times over. Part of its mission is to go after companies that swindle consumers to get people their money back, "so far returning over $12 billion in relief to consumers who were treated illegally by financial companies," Calhoun says. So in that sense, the CFPB is returning far more money to taxpayers than it's costing them."
Doesn't matter to the criminals now running the Executive Branch. In fact, quite the opposite.
"Under Mulvaney, the bureau has put on hold new regulations for high-interest payday lenders. And it's dropped an investigation into a a payday lender that contributed to Mulvaney's campaign when he was in Congress. Mulvaney has said he doesn't think those contributions create a conflict of interest."
Called obstruction. Hopefully, Mueller is looking into all this.
"And now Mulvaney has proposed steep budget cuts. He says he's not "gutting" the agency, but Democrats vow they won't take the move sitting down. "We will fight any effort to defund the CFPB," says Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. Van Hollen pressed Mulvaney in a hearing this week about the agency head's decision to drop a lawsuit against an online lender called Golden Valley. The lawsuit said the lender is charging illegal and predatory interest rates."
First, Mulvaney is a liar. Second, Democrats have been absent without leave, out to lunch since November 22, 1963. Miserable failures. Concertedly, refused to stand up to the growing nazism embraced by national socialists in the Republican Party for decades. Certainly, since the days of the McCarthy nazi back in the 50s.
"Van Hollen: "950 percent interest rates. ... this is higher than Mafia loan sharks. Were you part of the decision to drop the case against Golden Valley?"
"Mulvaney: "Yes sir."
"Van Hollen: "I'll follow up with that. I think it's an outrageous decision."
Open, blatant, pernicious legalized theft.
"Van Hollen says an NPR report this week prompted him to start looking into the lender. That report said Mulvaney dropped the lawsuit even though the entire professional career staff at the bureau wanted to press ahead with the case. Van Hollen says he wants a full accounting from Mulvaney about why he did that. "It's pretty clear right now, if left to their own devices, Mulvaney and the Trump administration will essentially turn the keys to the agency over to the very people who are cheating consumers," Van Hollen says."
Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. As Congress and the courts remain deafeningly silent.
"The CFPB gets its funding from the Federal Reserve, not Congress. But if Mulvaney tries to slash its budget, Mike Calhoun of the Center for Responsible Lending says Congress could act to block the move. Polls show that the CFPB is popular with voters of both parties. So Calhoun says some Republicans might join Democrats to protect the agency."
Think so? Hopefully, not all the thieving bastards in both parties are bought and paid for.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
In follow up to an earlier edition, there has been a winner in a Kentucky special election held after the incumbent committed suicide. NPR reports:
"The wife of Kentucky state Rep. Dan Johnson, who killed himself last year amid allegations of sexual assault, has lost a bid to succeed her late husband. The special election returned the seat to Linda Belcher, whom Dan Johnson had unseated. Belcher — the Democrat who lost to Johnson in a Trump wave that swept Republicans into office statewide in 2016 — easily won the special election for Kentucky's 49th District. She garnered 68 percent of the vote to Rebecca Johnson's roughly 32 percent, member station WFPL reports."
This is a particularly sad case for a number of reasons not the least of which is the following:
"The day before Johnson took his own life, he spoke from the pulpit at his Heart of Fire Church in the Fern Creek neighborhood of Louisville to denounce the allegations, calling them "fake news." He blamed NPR by name, although the network neither investigated the initial story nor aired or published it. The Associated Press notes: "Rebecca Johnson denied the allegations against Dan Johnson, claiming he was a victim of "an assault from the left." But the allegations were backed up by an on-the-record interview from the victim, plus pages of police documents that were published by [KyCIR] after months of reporting."
Worse, far worse? His alleged victim was a 17-year-old girl:
"As we reported in December, Dan Johnson, 57, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on a bridge over the Salt River in Mount Washington. His suicide followed a report by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting outlining a number of accusations against him, the most serious of which was the alleged sexual assault of a 17-year-old girl in the basement of the church where he served as pastor. KyCIR is an initiative of Louisville Public Media, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation that operates three NPR member stations — WUOL, WFPK and WFPL."
We're going to have to do a whole lot better as a community to combat this scourge. Someone had to have known this guy had severe problems. His wife was apparently in denial.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-23-18
The American Civil Liberties Union has stepped up. In follow up to a story covered here and elsewhere, NPR reports:
"The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio filed a complaint Thursday on behalf of several abortion providers seeking to block a state law that bans abortions "because an unborn child has or may have Down Syndrome." Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 214 into law late last year, although it is not scheduled to take effect until March 23, 2018. The legislation makes it a felony for a provider to perform an abortion or try to when there is any "reason to believe that an unborn child has Down syndrome," including a prenatal test. The physician could also have his or her medical license revoked under the law."
None of the goddamned government's business. Nor is it the business of the Nazi Religious Right. Forget? Not their uterus. Not their call to dictate what a woman can and cannot do with HER uterus.
"The lawsuit, filed on behalf of abortion providers including Preterm Cleveland and Planned Parenthood, says the legislation is unconstitutional, violating "the very heart of the Fourteenth Amendment right to privacy and autonomy." It says the legislation also undermines the mission of physicians "to honor and support the decisions their patients make." The plaintiffs are asking the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio to issue a permanent injunction."
Nazism has to be stood up to. Ferociously, but peacefully, resisted.
"The anti-abortion rights group Ohio Right to Life, which campaigned for the bill, says, "While elective abortion is never the right choice, it's particularly egregious that unborn children can be denied life simply due to the presence of a disability."
Not your uterus. None of your goddamned business. Who the hell are you hypocritical nazi bastards to force your achingly perverse religious and ideological views on the rest of us? Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, this is, freedom from religion.
"But Freda Levenson, legal director for the ACLU of Ohio says the ban is "a thinly-veiled attempt to criminalize abortion in Ohio."
That's exactly what it is.
"If Ohio politicians wanted to proactively take a stance for people with disabilities, they should improve access to health care, education, or other services," she said in a statement."
Precisely, what the problem is with nazis in the Republican Party. They're extremely quick to force their goddamned outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on all. Line the pockets of their corporate masters who in turn line theirs. Fervently cut back and/or eviscerate social programs designed to help the bottom and middle class.
Yet, when it comes to mandating a livable wage by law that would ameliorate the need for such programs, the hypocritical, achingly gutless bastards run the other way. Depend on slave labor to line the pockets of their masters in the corporate management suite and the top of the food chain, who in turn, line theirs.
In a related matter, NPR reports:
"The mother-daughter pair spent an entire Saturday holed up at a local high school talking about relationships, love and, yes, sex. The five-hour seminar called Linking Families and Teens, or LiFT, included group discussions and role-playing to help parents and kids get comfortable talking about dating and sex. "It was almost instantly that I felt that I could talk to my daughter in a different way, without automatically jumping to assumptions or, you know, just cutting her off and being angry or being embarrassed," Liles says. LiFT is the only sex education program available in her rural community of Shelton, Wash., she says. But come July, LiFT will be gone. The Trump administration cut off the grant funding for it when the Department of Health and Human Services eliminated the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program."
Amazing, isn't it? What's the Trump nazi's agenda? More teen pregnancy?
"LiFT is sponsored by Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, one of 84 organizations losing federal funding that was supposed to last until 2020. Now the Planned Parenthood chapter, along with eight other groups, is suing HHS, saying it acted unlawfully when it canceled their five-year grants midstream and with no explanation. The organizations — which include city and county health departments, universities, hospitals and nonprofit organizations — operate across the U.S. providing sex education and health information to more than a million teens. The Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program has been lauded by watchdogs as an example of good government at work. The program grants 80 percent of its budget to groups that implement pregnancy prevention programs that have been shown to be effective. The remaining 20 percent is dedicated to trying new strategies. The efforts are focused on African-American and Hispanic teens, who have higher pregnancy rates, and those in low-income and rural areas. And the organizations are required to measure whether their programs are effective in reducing pregnancy, delaying teen sex or increasing contraception use. The plans was to scale up the projects that work and eliminate the ones that don't. "There's a list of proven effective programs that has been developed over time specifically through a lot of these grants," says Carrie Flaxman, counsel for Planned Parenthood."
Can't have that, can we? Trump and his fellow nazis in the Republican Party delusionally believe in abstinence-only:
"Trump's budget proposal instead has $75 million for abstinence education programs. Research has shown that "abstinence-only education rarely has a positive effect on teen sexual behavior," according to a 2014 analysis of sex education. Teen pregnancy rates have plummeted in the three decades from about 60 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19, to just 24 in 2014. Still, the U.S. has a far higher teen pregnancy and birthrate than most developed countries."
'Can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.' ... Right, Mr. 'President?'
This is no more than egregious abrogation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
In follow up to a case covered in this publication and elsewhere, CBS/AP reports:
"Prosecutors have charged three Milwaukee County jail staffers for their role in the dehydration death of an inmate who spent a week without water. All three face felony charges. The three employees were suspended as of Monday morning, Milwaukee County Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt told reporters Monday afternoon. A separate disciplinary process is expected to conclude on Friday. No cash bail was imposed, and it is not likely they will be taken into custody, according to Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisolm."
Special treatment? Think anyone else charged with a felony would not have bail imposed, not be booked into jail?
"The charges announced Monday come almost a year after jurors recommended jail staff should be liable after prosecutors presented them with evidence."
Nothing quite like foot dragging, is there?
"The investigation revealed 38-year-old Terrill Thomas had water to his cell shut off as punishment for flooding it in April 2016. Supervisor Kashka Meadors and jail deputy James Lee Ramsey-Guy are both charged with abuse and neglect of an inmate, a felony that punishable by up to 3 ½ years in prison. Prosecutors say Meadors ordered Ramsey-Guy to shut off the water. Jail Cmdr. Nancy Lee Evans is charged with misconduct and obstructing an officer. Prosecutors say she failed to preserve surveillance video showing the water turned off. If convicted of both charges, Evans could face more than four years in prison."
The inmate had severe mental issues, yet jailers couldn't care less. ... Think gulags only exist overseas?
"Police detectives asked Evans in a questionnaire during their investigation whether there was any documentation showing whether the water was turned off the whole time or intermittently. The document Evans signed off on answered that "there is no documentation indicating this." However, prosecutors say Evans was aware of the tape and that it showed the water to Thomas' cell being turned off and never turned back on again."
Yet, not considered murder?
"Thomas' family has said he was having a mental breakdown when police arrested him April 14, 2016, for shooting a man in front of his parents' house and later firing a gun inside a casino."
So jailers become judge, jury, and executioner? Think that appropriate in a supposed democratic republic?
"Thomas' case wasn't the only time an inmate was punished by being deprived of water. Prosecutors presented jurors with jail logs documenting two cases in which disobeying inmates had water to their cells turned off -- both within a month of Thomas dying. One of the cases happened a week after Thomas' death."
A gulag.
"At the time of Thomas' death, the jail was overseen by conservative firebrand Sheriff David Clarke, who resigned in August to join a political action committee in support of President Donald Trump. Clarke was not the target of the inquest because he wasn't directly involved in Thomas' death."
Think Clarke didn't receive special treatment? Forget? The sheriff is in charge of the jail. Ultimately responsible for the welfare of his prisoners. Was egregiously negligent in oversight. Should have been prosecuted for that negligence which resulted in the death of a prisoner. Forget? Clarke has quite a colorful history as reported in this publication and elsewhere.
"Thomas is one of seven prisoners to have died in the jail since mid-2016, prompting Milwaukee County Acting Sheriff Richard Schmidt to assign a command-level staffer to monitor inmate health, according to CBS affiliate WISC."
Amazing, isn't it?
"Expressing his regret for Thomas' death, Schmidt said, "This family has gone through a horrific ordeal. Saying I'm sorry -- is that good enough? I don't think that it is." "Law enforcement is sworn to serve and protect. To the family, I have nothing but deepest sympathies for their loss."
This jail has quite a colorful history:
"The jail's troubled history also includes a 2006 contempt of court charge for failing to fix unsanitary and "appalling" conditions in accordance with an agreement between the county, the ACLU of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Legal Aid Society. A district judge found the county to have violated the agreement at least 16,662 times between November 2001 and April 2004."
Still delusionally believe there are no gulags in Nazi America?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
In follow up to an earlier case covered extensively here and elsewhere, CBS News reports:
"FBI officials said the investigation into the November death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent has yielded no evidence that there was a "scuffle, altercation or attack" more than two months after President Donald Trump and others used the suggestion of an attack to promote the building of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Investigators have conducted more than 650 interviews and involved 37 field offices in their probe, but have not found definitive evidence of an attack, the FBI said in a statement Wednesday."
Fascinating, isn't it? Yet, the Trump nazi quickly concluded the men were attacked by illegal immigrants. So did our nazi Governor. So did our nazi GOP Senator, --"Screws Loose" Cruz.
"To date none of the more than 650 interviews completed, locations searched, or evidence collected and analyzed have produced evidence that would support the existence of a scuffle, altercation, or attack on November 18, 2017," said the release from the El Paso office of Emmerson Buie, a special agent in charge."
Wouldn't want to confuse the racist Nazi Right element with the truth, would we?
To remind readers:
"Rogelio Martinez died from injuries he sustained while he and his partner were responding to reports of unknown activity the night of Nov. 18 near Van Horn, a Texas town near the Mexico border about 110 miles southeast of El Paso. Martinez's partner radioed for help before both agents were airlifted to the hospital, where 36-year-old Martinez died a few hours later. The partner- who suffered from head injuries- was released from the hospital after several days, but told investigators he could not remember the incident."
Here's what's interesting:
"The FBI release Wednesday noted that a dispatcher, who was among the people interviewed by investigators, took the call from the surviving agent. According to the release, the dispatcher wrote in his log that, "(He) thinks they (both agents) ran into a culvert."
Readers are also reminded a local sheriff opined at the time both men may have been sideswiped by a tractor trailer.
"An autopsy report from the El Paso County medical examiner's office released Tuesday night shed little light on what caused the serious injuries that Martinez suffered. The report listed "blunt force trauma" as the cause of death, but said the manner of his death was undetermined.
"Dr. Janice Diaz-Cavalliery, assistant medical examiner, found that Martinez had a skull fracture, a fractured eye socket, multiple rib fractures and a broken collarbone, according to the 11-page report. She found brain hemorrhaging but no other internal injuries."
Yet, with nothing conclusive at the time, the Nazi Right went hog wild. Unsubstantiated bullshit claims. Nothing to back them:
"A Border Patrol union, the National Border Patrol Council, has previously said the pair was attacked and struck with a rock or rocks. Messages left with representatives of the group were not immediately returned Wednesday."
No truth to their bullshit. How can these criminal jackbooted bastards be trusted when they lie like hell?
Not to be outdone, "Screws Loose" Cruz and our nazi Governor also lied to advance the very same agenda.
"Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott also have said the two were attacked, with Mr. Trump using the incident to renew his call for a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico."
How can repeatedly lying government bastards, firmly clamped to the taxpayer tit, ever be trusted?
"Mr. Trump has repeatedly linked immigration to criminality in making his case for tighter border security. Earlier this week, Mr. Trump called on Democrats to "get tough" on immigration, citing the death of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson, who was killed in a suspected drunken-driving crash involving a Guatemalan citizen living illegally in the U.S. Manuel Orrego-Savala was charged Wednesday with two counts each of causing death while driving intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident."
Again, the Trump nazi self-servingly cherry picks to impose his nazi agenda. Statistics indicate the vast majority of immigrants both legal and illegal are law-abiding, pay taxes, contribute to the community. As Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, the Trump nazi distorts reality to suit and impose his agenda. Raw nazism.
"Investigators had looked into tips about several persons of interest including two in New Mexico. While other charges were filed against several individuals, none of those charges are related to Martinez's death, the FBI release said, adding that they are not "currently a subject in the investigation."
Fascinating, isn't it?
"The FBI widened its search for information on Martinez' death to several states, even putting up billboards asking for help in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, reported CBS El Paso affiliate KDBC-TV."
A goose chase. Sad, isn't it? To impose the Trump nazi's agenda. The Fourth Reich.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Think the undocumented will call police to seek help, report crimes, other emergencies? Wake up. CNN reports:
"Wilson Rodriguez Macarreno and his family heard an intruder so he called police for help. About an hour later, he was in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rodriguez's detention Thursday sent shockwaves through the Seattle suburb of Tukwila and is now garnering national attention from immigration advocates, warning that the way authorities handled the case could make immigrants scared to call police to report crimes. Early Thursday morning, Rodriguez saw someone trespassing on his property in Tukwila. In the last few weeks, someone had been repeatedly trying to break in to his home and car."
Here's what ensued:
"Police arriving on the scene apprehended a trespasser, according to Rodriguez's attorney, Luis Cortes. Officers then put Rodriguez in handcuffs after he gave them his ID for what he thought was "report purposes," the lawyer said. Officers saw he had an outstanding warrant when they ran his information through the National Crime Information Center database. Less than an hour after making the trespassing call, Rodriguez faced an uncertain future as he was driven to an ICE field office in Seattle for processing. His attorney said ICE never arrived to pick up his client, so Tukwila police volunteered to take him to the ICE field office."
Moral of the story? Got an outstanding warrant? Whether legally here or not? Need to report a crime? Need assistance? Think most carefully.
Coup de grace? Get this:
"Police told The Seattle Times they did not have probable cause to arrest the trespasser."
Jesus Christ. Think this entire fiasco in the best interest of law enforcement, and more importantly, public safety?
"As with every incident, we establish the identity of those involved," the department said in a Facebook post, explaining why it ran Rodriguez's information through the database. In a separate post, the department said that "officers believed that they were executing a valid order from a judge in the form of a criminal warrant." In reality, officers executed an administrative ICE warrant. Tukwila police said on Facebook that ICE told the department that it's been entering administrative warrants into the database the same as criminal warrants. And that "we may be encountering more of these types of warrants in the future."
These aggressively stupid bastards intend to repeat history? Figuratively, stupidly shoot themselves in the ass, destroy all public trust in police by aiding and abetting these criminal jackbooted bastards in ICE?
Here is the problem:
"Jorge Barón, executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, said the ICE warrants are a big problem. "When people think of a warrant, (they think) a judge has signed off on it. An independent fact finder has said whatever the police officer or law enforcement said appears to meet a threshold," Barón said. "That's the thing with these ICE 'warrants,' they're not approved by an immigration judge. They're not approved by a federal judge. Nobody independently reviews them."
Direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. The criminal jackbooted bastards don't have the constitutional authority.
"ICE warrants for civil immigration violations issued by US immigration officers are administrative and not reviewed by any independent authority that examines the case or the facts. "In the criminal justice system, it would never fly," Barón said. Barón said even though the Tukwila police officers were mistaken, ignorance of the law is not an excuse. "I think that there is an obligation on local law enforcement to be paying attention to these issues," he said. "Local law enforcement (needs) to educate themselves."
Unconscionable, this crap continues to go on.
"Tukwila police said on Facebook that they have instituted a new directive to prevent such an incident from happening again. But Barón's main concern isn't the blurred lines between the criminal and administrative warrants. He said he believes what happened will strike fear into immigrant communities so they won't call police when they need help or when they have information about possible crimes. "It's not just going to hurt immigrant communities," he said. "It's going to hurt all of us."
That's right. Crimes will go unreported. People who desperately need help won't get it. Aggressive stupidity at its very worst.
"Speaking at a City Council meeting Monday evening, Tukwila Assistant Police Chief Rick Mitchell said the department will work to reassure the community, "We are there for them."
No, you're not. Certainly, not in this case.
"It is vital that every member of the community feels safe and comfortable when calling our police department for help," Mitchell said. "Our mission as a department has always been to welcome and educate those that come from others countries that are oftentimes wary or scared of law enforcement due to their interactions with police in their home country."
Then, why weren't your jackbooted thugs properly instructed, trained, educated prior to this incident? The problem is not isolated to immigrants, moreover. Millions of citizens have been abused, shaken down, harassed, f--ked over by the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue over the years. Precisely, why they avoid them like the plague. Are tired of the endless bullshit. Yet, these clueless turds remain too aggressively stupid to understand their tactics are counterproductive. Destroy public trust. Lead to crimes not being reported.
"Records show Rodriguez is now being held in a detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, awaiting deportation processing. His attorney said authorities denied his bond and would not allow his release under ankle monitoring."
Republican nazis are pointedly, caustically, ferociously reminded our UNDOCUMENTED forebears came to this continent centuries ago. STOLE this land from its native inhabitants. BROKE every goddamned treaty they signed. Now, you hypocritical nazi bastards want to build a wall? Squander billions? To line the pockets of the corporate management suite? Who conveniently lines yours. For a wall that can be gone under, over, or through. You greedy bastards remain aggressively stupid, hopelessly ignorant morons.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Get a load of the following. ABC News reports:
"The chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle was charged with stealing the identities of multiple immigrants over a four-year span, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News on Wednesday. Raphael A. Sanchez is accused of devising a scheme to defraud major banks by using the identities of seven people who were “in various stages of immigration proceedings" with ICE between 2013 and 2017, according to the documents, which were filed in federal court on Monday."
No honor among thieves. LOL. Surprised?
"Prosecutors alleged that he "devised and intended to devise a scheme" to defraud the several financial institutions, including American Express, Bank of America and Capital One, in an effort to obtain money and property under "false and fraudulent pretenses," the documents said."
Couldn't be, could it? Never happen, right?
"Sanchez, who resigned from his post at the agency effective Monday, faces charges of aggravated identity theft and wire fraud."
Fits right in, doesn't he?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Trump remains insufferably dangerous in his profound ignorance. An exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
NPR reports:
"More than three months after President Trump declared the nation's opioid crisis a public health emergency, activists and health care providers say they're still waiting for some other action. The Trump administration quietly renewed the declaration recently. But it has given no signs it's developing a comprehensive strategy to address an epidemic that claims more than 115 lives every day."
Why would they expect anything further? Wake up:
"The president now says that to combat opioids, he's focused on enforcement, not treatment."
Surprised? Why? This nazi is hopelessly delusional. Ignores history to impose his national socialist agenda. Prohibition of alcohol did nothing to end the scourge of consumption. Led to the rise of the Mafia. Nixon's War On Drugs nearly fifty years ago did nothing to effectively combat drug usage and addiction. Quite the opposite.
Worse? Overloaded the jails and prisons. Corrupted to at least some extent every law enforcement agency in the United States. Now, the Trump nazi, and his stooge in the 'Justice' Department, the racist Sessions nazi, intend a repeat of history. All in a perverse, pernicious effort to transform the de facto fascist police-state we already live in the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"Trump spent just over a minute of his 80-minute State of the Union address talking about opioids. In a speech this week in Cincinnati, he had a few more comments. The opioid epidemic, he said, "has never been worse. People form blue ribbon committees. They do everything they can. And frankly, I have a different take on it. My take is you have to get really, really tough, really mean with the drug pushers and the drug dealers."
Adolf Hitler reincarnated. The lunatic Trump nazi. This clueless fascist son of a bitch seems to have forgotten what he now calls for has been a miserable failure the last fifty years. His ignorance now clearly extends to hopeless aggressive stupidity as his insanity progresses.
"The president's mention of "blue ribbon committees" sounds like a slam on one he convened last year, chaired by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — the President's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. The commission issued more than 50 recommendations. The administration has so far followed up on just a few of those recommendations."
Clearly, never had any serious intention. Forget? Prime directive of Trump and his henchmen is to extend the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to the Fourth Reich. Aim? Ultimate goal? Consolidate power. Transform a supposedly democratic republic to Trump's vision of a nazi dictatorship with the corporate management suite and top 1% having supreme control over everything and everyone.
"Some officials and care providers who work on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, however, are scathing about what they see as a lack of action from the White House. Former Congressman Patrick Kennedy, who served on the White House opioid commission, says he's "incredulous" that, after declaring a public health emergency in October, the president still hasn't requested any money from Congress to combat the epidemic."
Why would he? Republicans couldn't care less about the bottom and middle class. Only themselves, their corporate masters, and the rest of the top 1%. ... Not that Democrats are significantly different, -- only slightly less evil, less blatant about their unbridled greed.
"I mean this is just a mental health crisis of the first order," Kennedy says, "and this administration has done nothing."
Why expect otherwise? Your party has done nothing to effectively combat this rise of nazism. Has been absent without leave, out to lunch since November 22, 1963.
Saddest of all? Trump's intent to treat the addiction problem as a law enforcement issue will egregiously exacerbate the problem. Drug prices will skyrocket. Leading to an exponential increase in ancillary crime to support this increased cost of addiction. Corruption of law enforcement will increase and spread due to lure of exceptionally easy money to be made by officers. List can go on and on.
Trump's head? Figuratively where the sun never shines.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Saga goes on. Same old, same old. The Washington Post reports:
"Republican lawmakers in 2011 brought the U.S. government to the brink of default, refused to raise the debt ceiling, demanded huge spending cuts, and insisted on a constitutional amendment to balance the budget."
What ever happened to that? LOL. Consider this most dramatic reversal:
"On Wednesday, they formally broke free from those fiscal principles and announced a plan that would add $500 billion in new spending over two years and suspend the debt ceiling until 2019. This came several months after Republicans passed a tax law that would add more than $1 trillion to the debt over a decade."
Happened at a time of record corporate profits and cash reserves. Fascinating, isn't it?
"With all these changes, the annual gap between spending and revenue in 2019 is projected to eclipse $1.1 trillion, up from $439 billion in 2015. And they are expanding the deficit at an unusual time, when the economy is growing and unemployment is low, a dynamic that often leads to shrinking budget gaps."
Amazing, isn't it? Certainly, runs against standard long-term Republican dogma.
“I don’t think there’s any question but that there’s a bury-your-head-in-the-sand view of the deficit and the debt issues relative to this Congress and this administration,” said former senator Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who once led the Senate Budget Committee."
Striking coming from a Republican, isn't it? LOL.
"The debt binge caps off a major reversal for the Republican Party, which has been swept up by President Trump’s demands for more spending and tax cuts at a time when the public seems to care less about debt than it has in years."
Really? Think so? ... Or, is it simply Trump's sick sycophants trust him no matter what the lunatic does or doesn't do? LOL. Readers are reminded the national debt is over $20 trillion. ... That's, trillion with a 't.'
Insanity continues unabated. LOL. NPR reports:
"President Trump signed a bipartisan budget agreement Friday morning, following approval of the bill in Congress shortly before sunrise.
"Just
signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love
and need our Military and gave them everything — and more. First time this
has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2018"
The president remains delusional. This money will line the pockets of his war profiteering friends in the corporate management suite. Doing remarkably little to nothing to effectively combat evisceration of the endangered middle class. Worse, will finance continued multiple failed military debacles in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere.
"The two-year spending pact will let lawmakers spend $300 billion more than current law allows."
Don't Republicans claim to be 'conservatives?' LOL.
"The deal suspends a 2011 budget law championed by conservatives that set hard caps on discretionary spending and included an automatic trigger known as "sequester" cuts if Congress attempted to bust those spending caps."
Quite a reversal, no? LOL.
"The bill also included a one-time emergency influx of about $90 billion to help with ongoing recovery efforts for the hurricanes and wildfires that have hit the U.S. in recent months. All told, the bill hikes federal spending about $400 billion through September 2019."
Guess who pays?
"Fiscal conservatives squawked at new spending levels. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., delayed the vote on the bipartisan measure to rail against his fellow Republicans for acquiescing to more spending than they ever did under President Barack Obama. The delays forced a partial government shutdown after midnight, to minimal impact."
Republicans didn't try hard enough. LOL.
"I ran for office because I was critical of President Obama's trillion-dollar deficits," Paul said on the floor. "Now we have Republicans hand-in-hand with Democrats offering us trillion-dollar deficits."
Well, Senator, you can always do the right thing, sir. LOL. Leave the Republicans, become an Independent. LOL.
"The Senate passed the measure 71-28."
Jesus Christ. Clear bipartisan support. ... Can we stand it? LOL.
Get this:
"The bill was equally delayed in the House after Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., made an impassioned case to her colleagues this week to vote against a bipartisan measure negotiated by her Senate counterpart, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer."
This woman spoke for eight hours. LOL. While there are no filibusters in the House, this one sure as hell passed for one. LOL.
"Many Democrats support the budget deal, but were unhappy with the compromise because it doesn't tackle immigration — specifically addressing the plight of DREAMers, including the roughly 700,000 immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally after being brought to the country as children and who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which is set to expire on March 5. In the end, however, Democrats declined to hold the spending bill hostage over immigration. The House ultimately passed the measure on a bipartisan 240-186 vote just after 5:30 a.m. Only 73 Democrats voted for the bill; 67 Republicans voted against it."
Ongoing soap opera.
More on all the above later on in this edition as the story develops.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Once again, the White House has figuratively shot itself in the ass. NPR reports:
"Rob Porter, a White House staffer largely responsible for controlling the flow of information to President Trump, is resigning following allegations of domestic abuse. Two ex-wives have accused Porter of physical abuse, with one telling news outlets of incidents years ago when Porter punched her in the face and choked her, while another spoke of emotional abuse and being grabbed and pulled from the shower. Responding to the accusations in a statement read by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Porter called them "outrageous" and "simply false."
Think so?
"Porter said photos from 2005 of his first wife, Colbie Holderness, with an apparent black eye had a "reality behind them [that] is nowhere close to what is being described." "I've been transparent and truthful about these vile claims, but I will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign," he added."
Jesus Christ. What did she do, Mr. Porter? Punch herself in the eye to falsely accuse you?
"Outlets including CNN and The Washington Post published the images provided by Holderness on Wednesday. Holderness told the Post, "He threw me down and punched me in the face" during a trip to Italy in 2005. CNN reported that following their 2003 marriage, Holderness said Porter quickly began to be abusive: "She said that Porter's repeated physically abusive behavior also included throwing her on the bed and forcefully pushing one of his limbs into her body in anger and choking her."
'Manly' thing to do, Mr. Porter?
"Porter's second ex-wife, Jennifer Willoughby, told CNN that on the honeymoon after their 2009 wedding, " 'He started calling me names, calling me a "f***ing bitch," how I behaved was "f***ing ridiculous" and most of that was instigated around my not having sex with him often enough on our honeymoon.' "
Should have dumped his ass right then and there.
"Willoughby took out a temporary protective order in 2010, which according to the Post said that "reasonable grounds exist to believe that [Porter] has committed family abuse and there is probable danger of a further such offense."
How did he pass a background check to work in the White House? Who the hell looked the other way?
"Both ex-wives told news outlets that they spoke of the abuse with the FBI last year when the agency was going through a security background check for Porter."
Fascinating, isn't it?
Think the Chief of Staff doesn't have serious judgment issues?
"Kelly released a statement Wednesday night: "I was shocked by the new allegations released today against Rob Porter. There is no place for domestic violence in our society. I stand by my previous comments of the Rob Porter that I have come to know since becoming Chief of Staff, and believe every individual deserves the right to defend their reputation. I accepted his resignation earlier today, and will ensure a swift and orderly transition."
"Kelly had earlier told the British Daily Mail, "Rob Porter is a man of true integrity and honor," after the tabloid first published allegations of domestic abuse on Tuesday. A day later, Kelly encouraged Porter to "weather the storm" and stay in his job, according to the Post, which said it was Porter who "decided the controversy had become too much" on Wednesday."
Certainly, more than enough judgment issues to enrage the Trump nazi.
The Washington Post reports:
"White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly on Friday morning instructed senior staff to communicate a version of events about the departure of staff secretary Rob Porter that contradicts the Trump administration’s previous accounts, according to two senior officials."
Can't seem to get their act together. ... That is, keep the lies straight. LOL.
"During a staff meeting, Kelly told those in attendance to say he took action to remove Porter within 40 minutes of learning abuse allegations from two ex-wives were credible, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because discussions in such meetings are supposed to be confidential. “He told the staff he took immediate and direct action,” one of the officials said, adding that people after the meeting expressed disbelief with one another and felt his latest account was not true."
Amazing, isn't it?
"That version of events contradicts both the public record and accounts from numerous other White House officials in recent days as the Porter drama unfolded. Kelly — who first learned of the domestic violence allegations against Porter months ago — issued a glowing statement of support for Porter’s personal character after the allegations first surfaced publicly Tuesday and privately urged him to remain on the job until the next day when his resignation was announced."
Then again, Trump himself remains egregiously truth-challenged. Seemingly, not a day passes he doesn't get caught in a lie. LOL. Expect different from staff?
"At Friday’s meeting, Kelly also told subordinates to convey to other White House aides he cares about domestic violence, according to the officials."
Think so?
"The Porter crisis has damaged Kelly’s credibility not only publicly but also inside the White House, where officials said he was losing the support of some West Wing staffers because of his management of the situation and apparent lack of transparency."
Par for the course, isn't it? LOL.
CBS News reports:
"President Trump, who had gathered the press in the Oval Office Friday afternoon to share that he had donated money to a family with a father battling cancer, commented on now-former White House aide Rob Porter, who resigned over allegations of spousal abuse. The president said the White House wishes him well, noting that it is a "tough time" for the former staff secretary. He made no mention of the women in his comments, which were prompted by a reporter's question."
Think Trump fit for office? Get this:
"We wish him well," the president said. "He worked very hard. I found out about it recently and I was surprised by it. But we certainly wish him well. It's obviously a tough time for him. He did a very good job when he was in the White House. And we hope he has a wonderful career, and hopefully he will have a great career ahead of him. But it was very sad when we heard about it, and certainly he's also very sad. Now he also as you probably know, he says he's innocent. And I think you have to remember that. He said very strongly yesterday that he's innocent. So you'll have to talk to him about that. But we absolutely wish him well. Did a very good job while he was at the White House."
Non-sequitur. Beside the point. Would be laughable had the stakes not been so high.
"White House chief of staff John Kelly, who is under fire for his handling of the Porter situation, was in the room for Mr. Trump's remarks."
What webs we weave.
Gets far more convoluted. LOL. Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"In a White House full of noise, she is the quiet one. Not the TV gladiator, not press room warrior, not a general. Certainly not the Mooch. Hope Hicks, the discreet aide always at President Trump’s side whose desk is just outside the Oval Office, is his right-hand woman. Improbably, the former model, at only 29, has worked with Trump longer than anyone he is not related to at the White House."
Can't imagine why, can you? LOL.
"But now Hicks is suddenly frying under the spotlight of scandal, a central figure in two White House controversies — the Russian investigation and the departure of a senior White House aide accused of physically abusing two ex-wives. Hicks has been dating Rob Porter, 40, who left his job Wednesday, and was involved in crafting the widely condemned initial White House defense of him. Chief of Staff John F. Kelly called him “a man of true integrity.” After Porter began dating Hicks, an ex-girlfriend brought accusations to the White House about Porter’s abuse of his ex-wives."
Imagine that. LOL. Nothing quite like professionalism, is there?
Gets worse:
"In recent days, Trump has complained about Hicks — a rare occurrence for a president who rages about others but rarely about her. Her colleagues have quietly accused her of looking out for Porter and not the White House, and she has been visibly upset in recent days as her personal life becomes a national news story. West Wing aides say she has glanced at the TV screens, seen her face and quickly looked away."
Goddamned soap opera, isn't it? LOL. Heart bleed?
"Until now, it was Hicks’s quiet judgment that had been her most valuable currency in Trump’s world. She is attracting so much unwanted attention that paparazzi are even following her. But it is a sign of her influence with Trump, and her unusual role in the West Wing, that no one is seriously talking about removing Hicks even as the turmoil is threatening Kelly’s job. “Hope is absolutely fantastic. She was with the campaign from the beginning, and I could not ask for anything more,” Trump said Saturday. “Hope is smart, very talented and respected by all.”
Jesus Christ. Give me a break. LOL. ... Think that's all there is to it? LOL.
A second one bites the dust. Couldn't be, could it? LOL. CBS News reports:
"White House staffer David Sorensen has resigned amid allegations of spousal abuse, two White House officials confirmed to CBS News. Sorensen denied to the allegations to The Washington Post, which first reported the story. "Before we were contacted by the media, we learned last night that there were allegations," Deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah said. "We immediately confronted the staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today." Sorensen texted the Post he "didn't want the White House to have to deal with this distraction."
Thoughtful of him, no? LOL.
"Sorensen's ex-wife told the Post that he allegedly ran a car over her foot, put out a cigarette on her hand, threw her into a wall and she feared for her life when he grasped her menacingly by her hair while they were alone on their boat in remote waters off Maine's coast. At the time, Sorensen was working as a policy aide for Maine Gov. Paul LePage."
Consider the following. The Washington Post reports:
"FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Tuesday contradicted the White House’s account of when the bureau informed officials about the status of a senior aide’s security-clearance investigation."
Imagine that. Trump's appointee courageously standing up against the lies, deceit, ongoing deception. Can we stand it? LOL. More importantly, when will the Trump nazi's sick sycophants finally wake up?
"White House officials said that they were first contacted in the summer by the FBI about senior aide Rob Porter’s clearance. They also said that the investigation was never completed and that they did not know the extent of the allegations against Porter. He stepped down last week after accusations of spousal abuse by his two ex-wives."
Wray would have none of it, stood tall:
"But Wray, testifying before the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the FBI submitted a partial report on his clearance in March and that the investigation was completed in July. Soon after, he said, the FBI received a request for a follow-up, which the bureau completed and provided in November. The FBI closed the file in January and then earlier this month, Wray said, the bureau received additional information and “we passed that on as well.” “I am quite confident that in this instance, the FBI followed established” protocols, Wray said, speaking at the committee’s annual worldwide-threats hearing."
Think the Trump nazi can afford to fire him for not towing the company line? Believe it wouldn't have obstruction written all over it?
"His remarks come as the White House has sought to deflect criticism over its handling of Porter’s clearance, saying it relies on law enforcement and intelligence agencies to run the process."
LOL. ... Then, the Trump nazi should have no issue with Wray correcting the record, right? LOL.
"Wray’s comments stand in stark contrast to how the White House has in recent days portrayed the status of the background check and when senior officials knew about the allegations of abuse against Porter."
Indeed, they do. Why is it all politicians fail to understand deception, deceit, lies, disingenuous bullshit, etc., always wind up backfiring? Final outcome, never good. The truth may not always set one free, but it sure as hell beats the lying alternative. Certainly, simplifies life and life's battles. Moreover, main problem with lying remains eternally the same. Forget? The liar has the insufferable burden of having to remember what lie he or she told, -- and to whom. LOL.
NPR reports:
"FBI Director Christopher Wray said the bureau completed its investigation of White House staff secretary Rob Porter in July, nearly seven months before Porter was forced to resign over allegations of domestic violence from two ex-wives. That is at odds with the account from White House, which said the Porter investigation was "not complete" at the time of last week's ouster."
It is at odds. Remarkably, so. Guess who's lying.
"The FBI director testified about the timeline before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday morning. His account renews questions about why the Trump administration allowed Porter to remain in a sensitive job for so long, once information about the allegations against him was available, and how forthcoming the administration has been regarding what it knew about Porter."
Indeed, it does. Called stupidly trying to cover your ass.
"Wray declined to say what the FBI uncovered in its background check. But Porter's ex-wives have said they told investigators of the alleged abuse early in 2017. One of the women, Colbie Holderness, also produced a photograph showing her with a black eye. Porter has denied the allegations."
Again, someone's lying. Guess who. ... Amazing how truth remains a moving target across our formerly great country, -- including right here in Nazi Llano County, right, Sheriff?
"The FBI moved fairly quickly to share what it learned with the White House. "What I can tell you is that the FBI submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in March and then a completed background investigation in late July," Wray said in response to questions from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore."
Moreover:
"Wray said that soon after filing its completed background check on Porter, the FBI was asked for additional information. "We received a request for follow-up inquiry. And we did the follow-up and provided that information in November," Wray told the Senate committee. He said the FBI had closed its case file on Porter in January, although the bureau received additional information in early February, which it passed along to the White House. That conflicts with the account from deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah, who insisted Thursday that Porter's background check was incomplete at the time of his departure. "His background investigation was ongoing," Shah said. "We should not short-circuit an investigation just because allegations are made, unless they could compromise national security or interfere with operations at the White House. The truth must be determined. And that was what was going on with Rob Porter."
Guess who's lying.
"White House officials continued to defend Porter as late as last week, even after his ex-wives' accusations were made public by the Daily Mail and the Intercept. Kelly initially issued a statement calling Porter a man of "true integrity," although he later said he was "shocked" by the allegations, adding, "There is no place for domestic violence in our society."
Jesus Christ. This, a retired general?
"On Monday, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted the White House had acted swiftly once the allegations against Porter were known."
She lied:
"We learned the extent of the situation involving Rob Porter last Tuesday evening and within 24 hours, his resignation had been accepted and announced," Sanders said. Sanders also said that the background check "process" was ongoing, as opposed to specifically saying the "investigation."
Disingenuous deceptive bullshit. White House staff haughtily emulating the lying Trump nazi.
Think the following not icing on the cake? Get this:
"In his Senate testimony, Wray noted that while the FBI conducts background check investigations, it does not determine who gets a security clearance. That is a process that plays out at the White House. Wray did not say who at the White House was privy to the FBI's findings. Porter never received a permanent security clearance and was operating on an interim clearance until his departure."
Even his own are now closing in on the Trump nazi and his henchmen. NPR reports:
"The White House's story about who knew what when about accusations of domestic violence against former White House staff secretary Rob Porter has been anything but clear. Now, House Republicans have decided to open an investigation to get some clarity. "I'm troubled by almost every aspect of this," House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said on CNN on Wednesday morning. "How in the hell was he still employed?"
Good question.
"Gowdy received the support of House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said Wednesday morning that the White House "has work to do" to fix the vetting process and that the White House should "absolutely" condemn domestic violence. Instead of condemning domestic violence, President Trump has twice seemed to defend Porter and another staffer who resigned amid domestic abuse allegations. He tweeted on Saturday, for example, that "lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation."
Stunning, isn't it? Can't think of any president in recent history who would have reacted this way:
"Peoples
lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are
true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery
for someone falsely accused - life and career are gone. Is there no such
thing any longer as Due Process?
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018"
Jesus Christ.
"The House oversight committee penned a letter to the White House on Wednesday and released it on Twitter. It notes that FBI Director Christopher Wray appeared to contradict the White House on its timeline on the handling of the matter — and it wants to know "what information was available to the adjudicator of Porter's interim clearance at the time it was adjudicated; who adjudicated his clearance; and what derogatory information was subsequently made available to the White House on Porter, when, and to whom."
All good questions, deserving of straight up, straight out answers.
Hopefully, the following is a portend of desperately needed change in the Republican Party and its approach:
"How do you have any job if you have credible allegations of domestic abuse?" said Gowdy, who announced two weeks ago that he was not running for re-election. "Again, I am biased toward the victim."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Think Trump well-informed? Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"For much of the past year, President Trump has declined to participate in a practice followed by the past seven of his predecessors: He rarely if ever reads the President’s Daily Brief, a document that lays out the most pressing information collected by U.S. intelligence agencies from hot spots around the world. Trump has opted to rely on an oral briefing of select intelligence issues in the Oval Office rather than getting the full written document delivered to review separately each day, according to three people familiar with his briefings."
Think that sufficient?
"The arrangement underscores Trump’s impatience with exhaustive classified documents that go to the commander in chief — material that he has said he prefers condensed as much as possible. But by not reading the daily briefing, the president could hamper his ability to respond to crises in the most effective manner, intelligence experts warned. Soon after Trump took office, analysts sought to tailor their intelligence sessions for a president with a famously short attention span, who is known for taking in much of his information from conservative Fox News Channel hosts."
Comfortable with Trump's finger on the nuclear button?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Think Trump and his henchmen not responsible for the following? NPR reports:
"A federal appeals court in Colorado ruled that nine immigrant detainees who are challenging alleged conditions of forced labor at a detention facility in that state can represent a class of about 60,000 others who were detained at the same site."
Nazi America.
"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a lower court ruling saying that all of the immigrant detainees held by the GEO Group, Inc. at a government-contracted facility in Aurora, Colo., for the past 10 years should be represented by the suit. The detainees allege that the company enacts a mandatory "Housing Unit Sanitation Policy" under which detainees are forced to clean for no pay "under the threat of solitary confinement as punishment for any refusal to work."
Jesus Christ. A goddamned gulag.
"Under a separate "Voluntary Work Program," detainees are paid $1 a day for jobs such as painting, serving food, cutting hair, and cleaning clothes and bathrooms."
De facto slave labor.
"The detainees argue that the work requirements violate the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which prohibits forced labor and a Colorado state law barring "unjust enrichment." The GEO Group, a private company, operates the Aurora detention facility under a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement."
No criminal prosecution?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Think Trump and his henchmen will do anything about this continuing problem? Or, exacerbate it? CBS News reports:
"The Equifax data breach exposed more of consumers' personal information than the company first disclosed last year, according to documents given to lawmakers. The credit reporting company announced in September that the personal information of 145.5 million consumers had been compromised in a data breach. It originally said that the information accessed included names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and -- in some cases -- driver's license numbers and credit card numbers. It also said some consumers' credit card numbers were among the information exposed, as well as the personal information from thousands of dispute documents."
Until the public rises up, demands change, guess what? This shit will continue unabated.
"However, Atlanta-based Equifax Inc. recently disclosed in a document submitted to the Senate Banking Committee that a forensic investigation found criminals accessed other information from company records. According to the document, provided to The Associated Press by Sen. Elizabeth Warren's office, that included tax identification numbers, email addresses and phone numbers. Finer details, such as the expiration dates for credit cards or issuing states for driver's licenses, were also included in the list."
These assholes don't need this information. Why do you cooperate with this ongoing f--king? Cleverly designed to line the pockets of the top 1%.
"Equifax's disclosure, which it has not made directly to consumers, underscores the depth of detail the company keeps on individuals that it may have put at risk. And it adds to the string of missteps the company has made in recovering from the security debacle. Equifax spokeswoman Meredith Griffanti said that "in no way did we intend to mislead consumers." The company last year disclosed only the information that affected the greatest number of consumers and wanted to "act with the greatest clarity" in terms of the information provided the committee, she said."
They're lying, corrupt, abusive, inept sons of bitches. Line their pockets off this shit. Wake up. You're being royally f--ked.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Think Trump and his henchmen are not encouraging the Israeli aggressor? Believe the Middle East isn't a powder keg? The Washington Post reports:
"Israel’s says it launched a “large-scale” aerial attack inside Syria on Saturday after one of its jets was downed under Syrian antiaircraft fire, in a series of cross-border incidents that threatened to destabilize the volatile region between the two countries."
What webs we weave. Think the Israeli aggressor not playing with fire?
"Israel says the situation started with an Iranian drone crossing into its territory from Syria at around 4:30 a.m. It was shot down by an Israeli attack helicopter. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahran Qasemi, however, described the Israeli claim as “ridiculous.”
Someone's lying. Guess who.
"Israel later dispatched eight fighter jets to bomb the T4 military base near the Syrian city of Palmyra, from where it says the drone was dispatched and controlled. Syria responded with “substantial Syrian antiaircraft fire” under which two Israeli pilots ejected from their F-16, which crashed inside Israel, according to the Israeli military. One of the pilots was severely injured, it said."
What did the Israelis expect? Syrians not fight back?
“The Syrians are playing with fire that they are allowing the Iranians to attack Israel from their soil,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. “The IDF is ready and capable to inflict a heavy price on anyone that attacks us. This is a severe attack and a breach of Israeli sovereignty perpetrated by Iran.”
Think so? Or, is it just propaganda promulgated by the Israeli aggressor. Time will tell. Forget? The supposed provocation was an unarmed drone.
"After its fighter jet crashed, Israel responded by targeting 12 military sites in Syria — eight Syrian and four that it said were Iranian. The stated targets included three air defense batteries and a base belonging to the Syrian army’s 4th Division on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus. Qasemi said that the Syrian government had the right to defend itself “against any foreign aggression” in reference to the Israeli jet being targeted."
Truth? Indeed, a moving target. Guess who's lying.
"The Syrian state news agency said more than one plane was hit, describing the bombing of the base as a “new Israeli aggression.” A military alliance backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that any other incursion by Israel would be met with “serious and fierce” retaliation. Russia, which has troops based at T4 military base, reacted with anger. “The creation of any threat to the lives and safety of Russian military servicemen currently in Syria on the invitation of its lawful government to help fight terrorists is absolutely unacceptable,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement."
Think the entire region not a powder keg ready to go off? Think Trump and his henchmen are not fueling increasing instability in the region?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Think things peachy keen in the Department of 'Justice?' NPR reports:
"The No. 3 official at the Justice Department will be stepping down after less than a year, leaving a key vacancy in the succession of people who are tasked with overseeing the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The Justice Department announced Friday evening that Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand will be leaving her job in the coming weeks to take a position in the private sector. A source told NPR that Brand, who was sworn in last May, has been in talks about becoming the top lawyer at Walmart."
Couldn't be, could it? LOL.
"Other sources said Brand has chafed for months at the limits of her post at DOJ. President Trump has repeatedly attacked the law enforcement agency and sought to cast doubt on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign."
Has to be quite an ongoing problem for career 'Justice' Department lawyers.
"Her role at the Justice Department was doubly important because Attorney General Jeff Sessions has recused himself from the Russia investigation, given his role with the Trump campaign. That left Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein overseeing Mueller's investigation, and Trump and GOP allies have attacked Rosenstein at times."
Think others will abandon ship as this fiasco continues? Saddest of all? Brand is reportedly a top notch attorney.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Trump refused to release the Democratic response to the Nunes memo? Surprised? Why? The Washington Post reports:
"President Trump will not immediately agree to release a Democratic memo rebutting GOP claims that the FBI abused its surveillance authority as it probed Russian meddling in the 2016 election, but he has directed the Justice Department to work with lawmakers so some form of the document could be made public, the White House counsel said Friday night."
Called obstruction.
"In a letter to the House Intelligence Committee, White House counsel Donald McGahn wrote that the Justice Department had identified portions of the Democrats’ memo that it believed “would create especially significant concerns for the national security and law enforcement interests” if disclosed. McGahn included in his note a letter from Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray supporting that claim."
Surprised? Why? Called obstruction. Concertedly protecting the ass of the Trump nazi. Think not? Wake up.
"The decision stands in contrast to one Trump made last week on a Republican memo alleging the FBI misled the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to obtain a warrant to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page. After the House Intelligence Committee voted on a Monday to make that document public, Trump authorized its release swiftly on a Friday afternoon."
Obstruction. Shameless obstruction.
"Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement: “The President’s double standard when it comes to transparency is appalling. The rationale for releasing the Nunes memo, transparency, vanishes when it could show information that’s harmful to him. Millions of Americans are asking one simple question: what is he hiding?” He was referring to the GOP memo, which was produced by the staff of Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.)."
Raw nazism. A fascist dictator.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Former President George W. Bush does not believe Trump's continuing claims Russia did not attempt to interfere in the 2016 election. The Washington Post reports:
"Former president George W. Bush said he believes Russia meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, departing from President Trump, who has been skeptical of intelligence agencies’ findings that the Kremlin had interfered to help him win. “There’s pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled. Whether they affected the outcome is another question,” the 43rd president said at a summit in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. He added: “It’s problematic that a foreign nation is involved in our election system. Our democracy is only as good as people trust the results.” Bush has been critical of Russia, slamming it for working to “exploit our country’s divisions.” "The Russian government has made a project of turning Americans against each other,” Bush said during a forum in New York in October."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Trump and his henchmen have egregiously failed to upheld their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution and the rule of law. Instead, devote their time to aiding and abetting their corporate masters. The following is appalling. Tip of the iceberg, however. NPR reports:
"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created after the financial crisis to protect Americans from being ripped off by financial firms. Now, President Trump's interim appointee to run the bureau, Mick Mulvaney, is making radical changes to deter the agency from aggressively pursuing its mission. An internal memo obtained by NPR says the CFPB on Monday will unveil a new strategic plan to that end. A "revised mission and vision of the bureau" for the years 2018 through 2022 will call upon the agency to "fulfill its statutory responsibilities but go no further." It also says the bureau should be "acting with humility and moderation."
Translation? Let the thieving bastards do as they please, grant them carte blanche to fleece the public. Think this bullshit? Wake up. Take your head out of your ass. -- Ignorance is forgivable, aggressive stupidity certainly not. Read on:
"This new direction is consistent with Mulvaney's other memos and statements and formalizes his plans for defanging the watchdog bureau and reshaping its mission, according to insiders and experts that NPR has talked to. The CFPB is considered a powerful and independent watchdog. But many Republicans have wanted to shut it down since Day 1 because they think it's too powerful. Mulvaney is one of them. As a congressman, Mulvaney called the agency a "sick sad joke." He drafted legislation to abolish it. So people at the bureau were shocked when the president appointed him to run this consumer protection agency."
Shocked? Why? The fascist bastards at the top of the food chain make money the old fashioned way. Steal it. From the bottom and middle class. Think not? Take your head out of your ass. Why do you think money 'magically' defies the laws of physics, that is, flows up to the top? The piece of shit in the Oval Office deliberately nominated one of his own to make this happen.
Precisely how and why this shit occurs. Never ends. Trump's sick sycophants remain too blinded by their aggressive stupidity to understand this. Still cheer the thieving nazi on. While he's determinedly f--king them hard in the ass without the Vaseline. ... Only when the pain gets highly personal and ferocious do they finally comprehend what was heretofore achingly incomprehensible. Read on. Might learn something.
"Within weeks of coming on board, Mulvaney has worked to make the watchdog agency less aggressive. Under his leadership, the CFPB delayed a new payday lending regulation from going into effect and dropped an investigation into one payday lender who contributed to Mulvaney's campaign. In another move that particularly upset some staffers, the new boss also dropped a lawsuit against an alleged online loan shark called Golden Valley Lending. The suit says the lender illegally charges people up to 950 percent interest rates. It took CFPB staffers years to build the case."
Still don't get it? Wake up. Trump and his henchmen are royally f--king you hard in the ass to line the pockets of your corporate masters and the rest of the top 1% of the food chain. These thieving bastards do indeed run and own this country. Certainly, run and own their shills in government. In return, elected officials, both parties, handsomely line their pockets off what is no more than legalized bribery. You're being fleeced. Bamboozled. Why do you think none of the criminals at Wells Fargo have been prosecuted? ... Right, Amanda?
"People are devastated and angry — just imagine how you would feel if years of your life had been dedicated to pursuing justice and you lose everything," says Christopher Peterson, a former Office of Enforcement attorney at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who worked on this particular case early on."
To line the pockets of the top of the food chain, concertedly f--k the bottom and middle class. Yet despite being f--ked hard in the ass by Trump and his henchmen, his sick sycophants are too stupid to understand this. Haven't a clue. ... Until it strikes close to home.
"Peterson believes that had the lawsuit been pursued and the CFPB won, it could have clawed back money to help thousands of people who have allegedly been hurt by the lender."
Can't have that, can we? Forget? Precisely how these traitorous, treasonous, treacherous, sons of bitches make their money. The old fashioned way. Steal it. This carefully engineered f--king, however, is not limited just to payday lenders, the banking community, but throughout the entire business community. Precisely why this system is failing, remains unsustainable.
Wake up:
"People like Julie Bonenfant, 27, who does administrative work for the city of Detroit. Last year was a tough one for her — she broke up with her boyfriend, her car was stolen and she got behind on her rent. She found Golden Valley Lending online and and took out a loan, but she says she had no idea what she was getting herself into. "I was literally facing eviction because I was so behind on my rent and I had no idea where I was going to come up with the money and it was just really rough," Bonenfant says. "It was just misleading. ... The way it was presented was ... I was going to make four large payments and then be done."
Bastards lie like hell, cagily deceive to line their pockets. Unregulated, uncontrolled laissez-faire capitalism craftily designed to loot. Forget? For at least the last 150 years, the American Way.
"But after those four payments, the lender continued to take money directly out of her checking account. When she asked why, the lender told her she had agreed online to a lot more payments. Bonenfant sent NPR a screenshot from the Golden Valley website. It says on her $900 loan, her scheduled payments in less than 12 months will total $3,735, or more than four times what she borrowed."
Legalized loansharking. Nazi America. De facto fascist police-state soon to become the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
"Bonenfant has so far paid more than $3,000 to Golden Valley and rung up more than $1,000 in overdraft fees at her bank. When she showed it to her boss, he called the loan's terms "illegal." Lawyers at the CFPB came to a similar conclusion. That's why back in April, the bureau sued Golden Valley Lending for unfair, deceptive and abusive business practices. The lawsuit was moving forward until Mulvaney came on board, when it was suddenly dropped."
Blatant obstruction of justice. Wake up.
"Dismissal of this lawsuit shows an outrageous disregard for the rule of law," says the former CFPB attorney Peterson, who calls the lender "one of the worst of the worst" for swindling many people around the nation out of tens of millions of dollars."
Founders? Spinning in their graves. No longer a democratic republic. In name only.
"A key backer of Golden Valley was recently convicted of racketeering charges in a case involving another online lender, according to court documents. Given this history, Peterson wonders why Mulvaney dropped the lawsuit against Golden Valley."
Did so, because like the Trump nazi, he's a treasonous, traitorous, treacherous criminal with no regard for the United States Constitution and rule of law. None at all.
"The Trump administration is just going to turn them loose and let them off the hook despite the fact they were making 950 percent interest rate loans to struggling families in ways that were illegal and unauthorized under both state and federal law," Peterson says."
Exactly, right. Yet, Trump's sick sycophants insanely cheer the thieving, criminal, traitorous lunatic on.
"Mulvaney declined requests for an interview. In an email, his press representative first said the decision to drop the Golden Valley lawsuit was made by "professional career staff" and not Mulvaney."
Like Trump, this bought and paid for son of a bitch is a liar. Think not? Wake up. Get this:
"But several CFPB staffers that NPR spoke to say that's not true. The staffers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing their jobs, say Mulvaney decided to drop the lawsuit even though the entire career enforcement staff wanted to press ahead with it."
Truth? A moving target in Nazi America.
"After repeated questioning from NPR, Mulvaney's press person acknowledged that Mulvaney was indeed involved in the decision to drop the lawsuit. In his new strategic plan and in memos to staff, Mulvaney has made it clear that he wants to rein in the bureau."
To line the pockets of those who have lined his.
Remains achingly disingenuous, evilly duplicitous:
"He says the previous director "pushed the envelope" and has said he wants the agency to have more "humility." He has also suggested that going after payday lenders that charge extremely high interest rates won't be a priority."
Imagine that. Bought and paid for.
"Some see this as Mulvaney's way of paying back supporters of his campaign."
Think that bullshit?
"As a congressman he took $62,000 plus from the payday lenders. And now at the CFPB he's doing their bidding," says Karl Frisch, executive director of the consumer group Allied Progress."
Couldn't be could it? 'Say it ain't so, Mick, say it 'ain't' so.'
"Golden Valley declined an interview. The company is officially headquartered on an Indian reservation. In a court document, the company argues its loans are governed by tribal law."
How about that? LOL.
"The CFPB lawsuit disagreed, saying Golden Valley makes illegal loans across the country. For her part, Julie Bonenfant of Detroit still hasn't paid off her debt to Golden Valley. And she feels betrayed by the president, whose appointee dropped the lawsuit. "To be honest I'm really mad, really pissed, because I actually voted for Trump," Bonenfant says. "So knowing that his guy threw out this case that affects people like me, I feel kind of like stupid — just kind of like betrayed."
You were. By the charlatan in the Oval Office and his henchmen. One thing, however, to have ignorantly voted for the son of a bitch, -- despite all the handwriting on the wall during the campaign. Quite another to continue to support this lunatic nazi as many of Trump's sick sycophants cluelessly continue to do.
"Mulvaney hasn't officially offered details about why the case was dropped. Meanwhile, staffers at the bureau say they are worried Mulvaney will block more of their efforts to go after shady financial firms. He's reviewing numerous ongoing lawsuits and investigations."
Do the right thing. Tender your resignations en masse. Courageously send the bastard and his nazi fuhrer in the Oval Office the message you won't tolerate this ongoing f--king. Find a pair of cajones. Stand on principle no matter the personal cost.
The quotes are courtesy of a most gifted insightful writer, Chris Arnold.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Think the recent Republican tax cut won't come back to haunt the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and national socialists in the Republican Party? NPR reports:
"Oklahoma taxpayers are fed up. Riding high on the oil boom of the late 2000s, the state followed the Kansas model and slashed taxes. But the promised prosperity never came. In many cases, it was just the opposite. Around 20 percent of Oklahoma's schools now hold classes just four days a week. Last year, highway patrol officers were given a mileage limit because the state couldn't afford to put gas in their tanks. Medicaid provider rates have been cut to the point that rural nursing homes and hospitals are closing, and the prisons are so full that the director of corrections says they're on the brink of a crisis. In her State of the State address Monday, Gov. Mary Fallin expressed the state's frustration."
Failed Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged national socialism embraced by nazis in the Republican Party.
"Many of the tax cuts and subsequent revenue failures have happened on Fallin's watch. Now she wants to fix it and she's gotten behind a large coalition of business leaders who have come up with a plan to raise taxes and enact reforms."
Of course, the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and fellow national socialist Republicans in the GOP will simply borrow more, raise the national debt as they did recently with passage of the two-year spending bill. The national debt is already over $20 trillion and climbing. Think this sustainable?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
In follow up to the above, NPR reports:
"President Trump released his 2019 budget proposal Monday calling for increased spending on the military, border security and the opioid crisis. But the White House blueprint has already been overtaken by events. The two-year budget deal passed by Congress last week boosts spending for both the military and domestic programs by nearly $300 billion over the next two years, complicating White House efforts to reorder federal priorities.
"We really thought we could cut a deal with the Democrats that would increase defense spending in order to defend the nation," White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told Fox News Sunday. "But when the doors closed, what happened was they would not give us a single dollar worth of additional defense spending without giving us additional money for welfare spending and that's just the world we live in."
Jesus Christ. Mick "The Dick" Mulvaney continues to lie like hell, distort reality to line the pockets of his corporate masters. When will this bought and paid for achingly fascist son of a bitch and his fuhrer demand the Pentagon execute a defense establishment-wide full audit promised for decades? Why do we continue to have troops stationed all over the globe engaged in combat with at the very least no new authorized use of military force? To say nothing of what the Constitution demands, a declaration of war. These bastards are lining the pockets of corporate war profiteers, -- who in turn line theirs.
Meanwhile, we have rampant homelessness, including many of our veterans. -- An infrastructure that has been denied attention to finance all the ongoing military ventures starting in 1950 and continuing to this very day. Even Afghanistan could have been averted had the State Department conducted full background checks on the 9/11 hijackers, heeded warnings from the flight schools the bastards only wished to learn to fly straight and level, not take off and land.
Instead, traitorous, treasonous, treacherous, short-sighted nazis in the Oval Office and Congress forfeited, deliberately abrogated all civil and constitutional rights and liberties in response. USA 'Patriot' Act, 'Real' ID Act, Homeland 'Security' act, etc.. List can go on and on. Not one head ruled at State. Not one. Instead, we lost our freedom. Rubber stamped by the gutless nazis on the Supreme Court.
"The budget calls for $716 billion in defense spending in 2019, in line with the congressional deal. "Our military was totally depleted, and we will have a military like we've never had before," Trump said."
Trump remains a congenital liar. Has no credibility. Well over a half trillion in continued military spending over the years. More than any other country. Precisely, why the jackasses in the Oval Office continue to send them into combat to justify the continued lining of the pockets of corporate war profiteers who in turn line theirs.
NPR reports:
"President Trump will finally be unveiling his long-awaited $1.5 trillion plan to repair and rebuild the nation's crumbling highways, bridges, railroads, airports, seaports and water systems Monday. But, the proposal will not be one that offers large sums of federal funding to states for infrastructure needs, but it is instead a financing plan that shifts much of the funding burden onto the states and onto local governments. Critics say that will lead to higher state and local taxes, and an increased reliance on user fees, such as tolls, water and sewer fees, transit fares and airline ticket taxes."
Expect to be fleeced. -- Time to drop 'trou,' bend over, take the ungreased shaft hard up the ass. Then, effusively praise the f--ker for the f--king. ... Think the narcissist in the lunatic doesn't expect it?
Insult to injury? LOL. Think Republicans are conservatives? Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"The White House released a tax and spending plan Monday that would not eliminate the federal budget deficit after 10 years, its first public acknowledgment that large spending increases and the $1.5 trillion tax cut are putting severe pressure on the government’s debt."
Think not? Wake up. When Republicans get into power, control all levels and branches of government, guess what? They're big spenders. Just like Democrats. LOL.
"The proposal, titled “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget,” sets forth President Trump’s priorities as Congress prepares to consider spending bills for the next fiscal year."
Think so? With runaway spending on the military, the wall, lining the pockets of the corporate management suite and the top of the food chain? While the bottom and middle class get hard f--ked in the ass without the Vaseline. Imagine that.
"It would continue to markedly increase military spending and set aside money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. It seeks to authorize $4.4 trillion in spending for 2019, up 10 percent from the amount of money the government spent in 2017."
Think they're not already wasting enough? Lining their pockets? Apparently, not. Get this:
"The plan also calls for major cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and other social programs, reductions that conservatives have long sought."
Know what that means? The Trump nazi, his henchmen, and national socialists in the Republican Party are doing what they do best. Better than the Democrats. That is, lining the pockets of the corporate management suite and top of the food chain, -- who conveniently line theirs.
Better yet? Consider the following. Didn't George H.W. Bush call it voodoo economics?
"But even with these reductions, which add up to more than $3 trillion in cuts over 10 years, the proposal would not bring the budget into balance because of the lost tax revenue and higher spending on other programs. The White House projects a large gap between government spending and tax revenue over the next decade, adding at least $7 trillion to the debt over that time. In 2019 and 2020 alone, the government would add a combined $2 trillion in debt under Trump’s plan. Even with upbeat economic forecasts and numerous proposed cuts to social programs, most of which will be dead on arrival in Congress, the Trump administration projects that it would run a deficit of $450 billion in 2027."
Think the fascist in the Oval Office, his henchmen, and fellow national socialists in the Republican Party are conservatives?
"Last year, the White House projected its tax and spending proposals would lead to a budget surplus of $16 billion in 2027, which meant the government would have brought in more money through taxes than it spent on programs, something last accomplished in 2001.
"The budget plan was met cooly by many Republicans."
Fascinating, isn't it?
Democrats reacted as expected:
"Democrats, though, reacted with hostility, saying it confirmed their long-held belief that Trump would pivot from large tax cuts for corporations to a push to scale back government benefits for low-income Americans."
While out to lunch since November 22, 1963, they are right about that. The spending bill just signed into law remains proof positive. So does Trump's follow-up budget:
“The Trump budget proposal makes clear his desire to enact massive cuts to health care, anti-poverty programs, and investments in economic growth to blunt the deficit-exploding impact of his tax cuts for millionaires and corporations,” said Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee. “These cuts to critical federal investments are so extreme they can only reflect a disdain for working families and a total lack of vision for a stronger society.”
Also, quite true. Demonstrably, so. What is truly riveting about this is the fact the Trump nazi ran as a populist. Clearly, he's not. No more than a charlatan. Yet, his sick sycophants continue to buy the ruse, drink the Kool Aide.
"The biggest factor in the White House’s deficit problems appears to be issues caused by the tax law, which the Trump administration had previously refused to acknowledge would occur. The White House had promised that last year’s tax cut plan would pay for itself by generating so much revenue that it would not add to the deficit. This ran in sharp contrast to numerous forecasts that found that it would add $1 trillion to $2 trillion to the debt over 10 years. Monday’s budget proposal paints a much different picture of the tax plan’s eventual effect compared to what the Treasury Department and the White House had projected. It forecasts that tax revenue will plummet in the next few years and never recover to the levels forecast before the tax plan was enacted in December."
Remarkably, so. Direct turnaround of the Trump nazi and his henchmen:
"It projects that tax receipts will be $314 billion lower in 2018 than it forecast last year and almost $400 billion lower in 2019. The White House even projects that tax receipts will be $200 billion lower in 2027 than forecast last year, even though it had promised that the plan would fully pay for itself by then. But this projection is higher than the Congressional Budget Office offered last year, meaning the White House believes large amounts of economic growth will create $400 billion in extra revenue compared with what would happen if the tax law wasn’t passed."
Interesting, isn't it? An about face.
"Republicans have long called for eliminating the budget deficit, but Trump has ushered in a new economic strategy, jettisoning deficit fears in favor of a low-tax, high-spending model that he thinks will boost the economy. Such an approach has risks, particularly as government debt levels are projected to grow at least $7 trillion over the next decade. The budget and deficit problems actually may be much worse than the White House’s budget sets forth. That’s because some of the cuts would be difficult to pass through Congress. For example, the budget would cut $554 billion from Medicare spending over 10 years."
Think that'll fly? Believe the elderly wouldn't give Republicans the boot? LOL. Trump is delusional.
"Last year, Trump and his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, sought to use the budget as a way to promise that the deficit would be eliminated over 10 years, even though many of its proposals were not enacted."
A charade. Ruse. Politics at its worst. Inexplicable duplicity:
"But this year’s proposal comes just days after Congress agreed to increase spending by $500 billion over 10 years, boosting a combination of military and domestic programs to secure votes from both parties. That agreement, combined with the major revenue losses from the tax plan, made the deficit issues much more difficult for the White House to reconcile."
Not just difficult, impossible. A ruse.
More delusional? Get this:
"Trump’s budget assumes even hotter growth in the coming years than Wall Street economists predict, which is significant because this dynamic helps them increase projected tax receipts. It relies on growth hitting 3.1 percent this fiscal year and staying above 3 percent through 2024, a sustained stretch that hasn’t occurred since the 1980s."
Certainly, won't. Not under these conditions. Especially, with the country as polarized as it is. With dissent growing. Resistance increasing. Worse? As an unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Hear the rumble?
The quotes are courtesy of two exceptionally gifted insightful writers, Damian Paletta and Erica Werner.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
The following is an interesting explanation as to why the Religious Right fervently embraces the Trump nazi. NPR reports:
"Trump, on the other hand, has no such personal testimony. He has an ancestral association with the Presbyterians but has never been known as a churchman. Indeed, he has made his way in the worldliest of worldly occupations and appeared on the cover of Playboy. His three marriages and serial sexual episodes are scarcely the stuff of Sunday school lessons. He has said he does not feel a need to repent or ask forgiveness. And when he tried to show familiarity with a Bible verse last year by saying it was from "Two Corinthians," actual Bible readers everywhere either laughed out loud or cringed."
Aryan arrogance. 'Can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.' LOL.
"So it surprises some to see how readily many committed church people flock to his standard. But the explanation is both simple and neat. It is not that evangelicals think Trump is one of them, but rather that they believe he is being used by God. As the Bible says, "By their fruits ye shall know them," (Matthew 7:20) and so far Trump's crop has looked pretty good."
Say what? Non-sequitur. LOL.
"The reasoning then follows like this: Trump may not seem worthy as an instrument of the Lord's will, but that judgment is not ours to make and belongs to someone else. So as long as Trump seems to be doing the Lord's work, Trump will be just fine with the people of the Lord."
Give me a break. Would these same people follow the advice of Jim Jones and drink the Kool Aide?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Remarkably reminiscent of an achingly ironical man bites dog scenario, consider the following irony where the hunted unintentionally, unknowingly could have killed the hunter.
CBS News reports:
"A Maryland waterfowl hunter was flown to the hospital Thursday after he was struck unconscious by a duck he had just shot out of the sky, authorities say, CBS Baltimore reports. Robert Meilhammer, 51, was hunting with others in Easton near the Miles River shortly before 5 p.m. when the dead goose fell from the sky. The Maryland Natural Resources Police said the hunter was sent to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center where he was treated for head and facial injuries. Meilhammer has been listed in stable condition, officials said. Officials drove Meilhammer to Easton Airport via ambulance out of an abundance of caution. He was then airlifted to the trauma center."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-16-18
Corruption within the Trump Regime seemingly knows no bounds. The Washington Post reports:
"Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin’s chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary’s wife on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general has found."
'Say it 'ain't' so, Dave, say it 'ain't' so.'
"Vivieca Wright Simpson, VA’s third-most-senior official, altered language in an email from an aide coordinating the trip to make it appear that Shulkin was receiving an award from the Danish government, then used the award to justify paying for his wife’s travel, Inspector General Michael J. Missal said in a report released Wednesday. VA paid more than $4,300 for her airfare."
How about that? Par for the course in the Trump Regime. Make money the old fashioned way. Steal it.
"The account of how the government paid travel expenses for the secretary’s wife is one finding in an unsparing investigation that concluded that Shulkin and his staff misled agency ethics officials and the public about key details of the trip. Shulkin also improperly accepted a gift of sought-after tickets to a Wimbledon tennis match, the investigation found, and directed an aide coordinating the trip to act as what the report called a “personal travel concierge” to him and his wife."
Clearly, the greedy bastards at the top of the food chain expect and demand special treatment and perqs.
“Although the [inspector general’s office] cannot determine the value VA gained from the Secretary and his delegation’s three and a half days of meetings in Copenhagen and London at a cost of at least $122,334, the investigation revealed serious derelictions by VA personnel,” the watchdog concluded."
Any government official caught lining his or her pockets needs to spend the rest of his or her life in a maximum security prison. All assets seized, including those placed in the name of family members and friends to elude asset forfeiture. This is a long quite complicated case. Be interesting to see if anything comes of it.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
The jackbooted bullshit has no end. CBS News reports:
"Christian Gomez Garcia went to court this week for a traffic ticket, but was subsequently arrested by immigration officers. CBS Chicago spoke to the DACA recipient, who was released from jail Thursday morning. "I step out of the courthouse. They say my name. I never expect they would be ICE agents," the 29-year-old said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "I thought they were regular people. As soon I said, 'Yes, my name is Christian,' I just basically got turned around and handcuffed." Garcia was transferred by deportation officers from the courthouse to a holding facility in Wisconsin. He was jailed for nearly three days."
Imagine that. Despite a court order protecting DACA recipients from such bullshit.
"ICE officials announced Garcia's release, but did not explain why he was detained."
No explanation necessary. Certainly, not in Trump's Fourth Reich. These bastards remain an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
"Garcia says he was told it was a computer glitch."
Jesus Christ. The lying bastards couldn't come up with a better, more credible lie? The bastards did this to him because they could. Ultimately, we the people are ultimately responsible for this because we tolerate it. Remain gutlessly silent. Seem to have cowardly forgotten the Founders intended the people to be the ultimate masters of this democratic republic. Not the other way around.
"For us to be treated as criminals, that tells you that they don't care about us," he said."
Worse than that, Trump and his henchmen retain the mentality of their mentors, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. Consider all immigrants vermin. Precisely, why the nazi in the Oval Office and his henchmen are doing all they can to drastically reduce all immigration, both legal and illegal.
-- Why they lie like hell falsely claiming immigrants are a violent threat to the public. Direct opposite is the case. Most immigrants are law-abiding, hard working, pay taxes, etc.. Yet, the Trump nazi and his henchmen falsely claim otherwise. The goddamned Fourth Reich.
"An attorney representing Garcia says he should not have been arrested, citing a federal court order that protects him while his application is being processed. They plan to file a complaint in federal court."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Another example of SS jackbooted bastard in black behavior. CBS News reports:
"A Kansas teacher who lived in the United States for 30 years was recently taken into custody by immigration officials, CBS News affiliate KCTV reports. Syed Jamal, a father of three, was arrested in his yard in January as he was getting ready to take his children to school.
"Jamal's attorney, Jeffrey Bennett, said his client is now being held in Missouri. Jamal had overstayed a voluntary departure notice in 2011, but the government allowed him to stay in the country under supervision. "He was granted prosecutorial discretion on an indefinite basis, but that can be taken away at any time, and that has happened just recently," Bennett said."
Productive member of society:
"Jamal taught chemistry at several community colleges. He also coached youth sports, did science demonstrations and ran for the school board last year. Dozens of Jamal's friends are now writing letters to the immigration judge who is handling his case, emphasizing his work in the community. His loved ones are pleading for his release. A GoFundMe account has been set up to assist Jamal's family with legal fees."
Clearly, Trump, his henchmen, and other fascists in the Republican Party are proof positive the GOP is not the party of the family.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Trump grows increasingly desperate. Cornered. So much so, concertedly, determinedly disgraced himself and his office by ordering release of the Nunes memo. No more than Republican talking points not-so-cleverly designed to obstruct the Mueller investigation. Immediately discredited by the FBI Director Trump appointed to replace James Comey, Christopher Wray. Worse, classified material supposedly backing these GOP talking points has not been declassified.
No more than a sham, a ruse to protect a president Mueller is apparently quickly closing in on. The Washington Post Editorial Board succinctly summed up what many of us are thinking:
"EVEN TAKEN at face value, the infamous Nunes memo does nothing to discredit the Russia investigation, which was President Trump’s transparent aim in authorizing its release on Friday. It also does little to show abuse of surveillance law, which was the pretext on which House leaders justified its disclosure."
Bottom line remains achingly simple: 'can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.' Anything to obfuscate. Draw attention and credibility away from Mueller and his investigation. Desperation.
Trump wasted no time tweeting immediately after its release. In another article, The Washington Post reports:
"This memo totally vindicates “Trump” in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2018"
Absolute bullshit. Simply untrue. Wishful thinking on the part of a man hopelessly delusional, increasingly desperate. Until Mueller completes the investigation, discloses his findings, jury remains out. One thing for sure, Mueller has run an extremely tight ship, -- no leaks to date.
CBS News reports:
"The president's reaction on the social media platform seems to substantiate Democrats' protests that the release of the memo would be used to undermine the credibility of the Russia probe. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee said in a statement Friday they feared the memo's release would serve as a "shameful effort to discredit" the FBI, Justice Department and investigation of Russian election meddling and any ties to the Trump campaign."
Yet, get this:
"Republicans have publicly insisted the memo doesn't undermine the credibility of the probe."
Trump nazi says one thing, Republicans another. LOL. Increasing unbridled desperation.
"The memo, crafted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Rep Trey Gowdy, R-South Carolina, and two staff investigators, details the application and use of surveillance warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. The memo looks to connect unverified information used in the Trump dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele in the securing of FISA warrants. The memo does not explain how much Steele's information was key in obtaining the warrants, although the memo does — without quoting him — claim outgoing FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe testified behind closed doors that the warrant would not have been obtained without information from the dossier."
Here's what's incredibly interesting:
"Gowdy, the only GOP investigator who has actually seen the FISA warrant applications — Nunes admitted on Fox News Friday night he had not seen the actual applications — tweeted on Friday night that the memo in no way discredits Mueller's probe.
"As
I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in Special
Counsel Robert Mueller. The contents of this memo do not - in any way -
discredit his investigation.
—
Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) February 2, 2018"
The fact Nunes did not examine the warrant applications speaks volumes. Shoots his credibility to shit. Exposes his desperate attempt to protect the Trump nazi at any cost. Including up to and including his own credibility. No honor. Nazi shill of a nazi fuhrer. No more than a dictator. An exigent threat to our supposedly democratic republic.
"Speaker of the House Paul Ryan also said Friday the memo would not "impugn" the Russia probe."
Any such assertions by desperate Republican nazis speaks volumes. Gives the gutless bastards wiggle room should Mueller's findings indicate obstruction or other crimes committed by Trump and/or his henchmen. Forget? Prime directive, prime mover of all politicians is to be returned to office. Any finding of criminal activity perpetrated by Trump would exponentially increase pressure on Republicans to impeach.
Here's the kicker regarding this latest fiasco:
"It's unclear if a memo authored by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, which serves as a rebuttal to the GOP memo, will be released. Republicans blocked the release of the Democrats' memo in a vote last week. Nunes on Fox News Friday confirmed there would be another vote on that memo."
Should have been released precisely at the same time as the Nunes memo. Let the public decide for itself. Instead, Republican national socialists chose to gutlessly stack the deck. More interesting? Trump continues to slam the Justice Department and FBI, -- both led by two men Trump himself nominated. Anything wrong with this picture? Anything at all?
Before release of the Nunes memo, James Comey figuratively came out firing. CBS News reports:
"Fired FBI Director James Comey has defended the agency on Twitter, writing, "All should appreciate the FBI speaking up. I wish more of our leaders would." President Trump and congressional Republicans have been attacking the FBI for its investigation of potential ties between Russia and Mr. Trump's 2016 campaign.
"On Twitter, Comey urged his former colleagues to "take heart: American history shows that, in the long run, weasels and liars never hold the field, so long as good people stand up."
That's right. No question.
"He concluded, "Not a lot of schools or streets named for Joe McCarthy" - a reference to the senator who, in the 1950s, conducted hearings aimed at rooting out Communists in the U.S. government."
Let it rip, Mr. Comey. The McCarthy nazi and his henchmen were an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
ABC News reports:
"Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, wrote in a statement Friday, "Chairman Nunes' decision, supported by House Speaker Ryan and Republican Members of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, to publicly release misleading allegations against the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation is a shameful effort to discredit these institutions, undermine the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation, and undercut congressional probes."
Blatant obstruction. More fodder for Mueller.
"Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, called the decision "reckless and demonstrates an astonishing disregard for the truth."
Both parties, now, no more than congenital liars. Tribalism at its worst.
"This unprecedented public disclosure of classified material during an ongoing criminal investigation is dangerous to our national security. This will make it far more difficult for the Intelligence Committees to conduct meaningful, bipartisan oversight of intelligence activities in the future. This action was also taken without regard to the damage it could do to our ability to protect Americans from threats around the globe," Warner said."
Exactly the intention of GOP nazis, -- despite strident claims to the contrary. Forget? If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, guess what? It's a f--king duck. LOL.
"In a letter to President Trump, top Democrats from the House and Senate warned against using the contents of the memo as a rational to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. "We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation. Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ Leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre," the letter, sent Friday by both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other members of the House and Senate leadership, said."
No question, Republicans and their fuhrer, the Trump nazi, have again shamelessly disgraced themselves. Doing all they can to obstruct justice. To protect Trump's sorry ass.
Once again, McCain stood tall:
"Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., also harshly criticized the release of the memo. "In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy," McCain wrote in a statement Friday. "The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests – no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s. The American people deserve to know all of the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation must proceed unimpeded. Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and manufacturing partisan sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him."
Hat's off, Senator.
In another article, The Washington Post reports:
"A GOP memo declassified on Friday accused senior law enforcement officials of misleading a court in order to conduct surveillance on a former Trump campaign adviser, fueling a growing distrust between the White House and Republicans on one side and the Justice Department and FBI on the other. The four-page document, which the FBI said is inaccurate, had been the focus of weeks of partisan fights leading up to its release by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, and that acrimony intensified after its publication."
Did it ever.
"Publicly, the FBI said nothing, but Director Christopher A. Wray sent out a video and written statement to employees, urging them not to get distracted by the debate raging about them. “The American people read the papers, and they hear lots of talk on cable TV and social media. But they see and experience the actual work you do — keeping communities safe and our nation secure, often dealing with sensitive matters and making decisions under difficult circumstances,” Wray said. “And that work will always matter more. Talk is cheap; the work you do is what will endure.”
Think that's all he'll have to say?
"It is unclear whether Trump will use the memo to fire people involved in the Russia probe, including Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees it. Asked Friday by a reporter whether he was more likely to fire Rosenstein after the release of the memo and whether he had confidence in him, Trump replied, “You figure that one out.”
Cagey, lunatic nazi.
"Democrats warned against any dismissals at the Justice Department, saying such moves would trigger a constitutional crisis."
Once in awhile, Democrats, out to lunch since November 22, 1963, get it right. LOL.
"Matthew Olsen, a former Justice Department official who used to oversee the FISA process, called the memo “a transparently political, amateurish effort” that does not raise meaningful legal questions about the application to surveil Page. “Not only does it not undermine the basis for the surveillance, but it reinforced that there was real merit and foundation for the application, because this application was approved and renewed multiple times,” he said. Olsen said he worried the memo would harm the working relationships among different parts of the government involved in gathering intelligence."
Likely backfire on an increasingly desperate Trump and his fellow Republicans.
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions said that the issues raised by the memo are “of great importance for the country” and that the Justice Department “will fully and fairly ascertain the truth.”
Not possible with the racist Sessions nazi running the DOJ, -- who's already repeatedly disgraced himself, abrogated his oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.
"Nunes denied having coordinated his actions with Trump’s lawyers or outside groups — some of which have started to call for Rosenstein’s ouster."
Hard to believe his denial. Had his nose up Trump's sorry ass for months.
"Nunes said that Rosenstein, Sessions and Wray “have work to do.” To start, he said, “admit first that you have a problem — and they’ve been unwilling to do that.”
Goddamned horse shit by one of Trump's achingly sick sycophants.
"One of the memo’s targets reacted with disgust. “That’s it?” Comey tweeted. “Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.” The memo is not an intelligence community document and reflects classified information the Republican members of the committee gathered and summarized — information Democrats, the FBI and the Justice Department have criticized as incomplete and misleading."
Republican way. -- Not that Democrats are any better. Both parties have failed the public. Egregiously abrogated their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.
"Current and former law enforcement officials said before the release that a major concern inside the FBI is that the rules governing classified information would impede their ability to respond to the memo’s accusations once it became public."
Nunes, Trump, and their henchmen knew this. Precisely, why this memo was released to obstruct justice. Consider the following from CBS/AP:
"President Donald Trump and his supporters are using a congressional memo alleging FBI surveillance abuse to raise questions about the origins of a federal investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia. But the four-page document includes revelations that might complicate the effort to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller's ongoing probe."
What webs we weave. Clearly, Trump and his henchmen have failed to carefully think this through.
"The document contends that the FBI relied excessively on an ex-British spy whose opposition research was funded by Democrats when it applied for a surveillance warrant on a Trump campaign associate. Yet it also says the investigation into potential Trump ties to Russia actually began several months earlier -- "triggered," it says, by information involving a separate campaign aide."
This will likely come back to figuratively bite them hard on the ass.
"The spy who compiled the allegations admitted to having strong anti-Trump sentiments, but he was not a random find for the bureau. Rather, he was a "longtime FBI source" with a credible track record, says the memo from the House intelligence committee's Republican chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, and his staff."
Fascinating, isn't it?
"The warrant authorizing the FBI to monitor the communications of campaign adviser Carter Page? Approved by a judge on four occasions, according to the memo, and signed off on by Mr. Trump's hand-picked deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein."
Here's the problem:
"Without the underlying materials being made public, the memo only further intensified a partisan battle over how to interpret the actions of the FBI and Justice Department during the early stages of the counterintelligence investigation Mueller later inherited. "Having decided to cherry-pick, the Nunes team picked a bunch of the wrong cherries for its own narrative," Matthew Waxman, a Columbia University professor and former Bush administration official, wrote in an email."
"The central allegation is that agents and prosecutors, in applying in October 2016 to monitor the communications of campaign adviser Carter Page, concealed from a judge that a former spy whose findings had provided grounds for suspicion had been funded by Hillary Clinton's campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
"That omission is important, Republicans say, because a judge should have known that "political actors" were involved in allegations that led the Justice Department to believe Page might be an agent of a foreign power -- something he has consistently and strenuously denied."
Here's where it gets interesting. Don't forget both the FBI and DOJ are now led by Trump nominees:
"The FBI this week expressed "grave concerns" about the memo. In a rare public statement on Wednesday, the FBI blasted "omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." Democrats called it a set of cherry-picked claims aimed at smearing law enforcement and said its release will do long-term damage to the law enforcement and intelligence communities. For one thing, Democrats say, it's misleading to say a judge was not told of the potential political motivations of the people paying for Steele's research."
More importantly?
"Beyond that, though, the memo confirms the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign began in July 2016 -- months before the surveillance warrant was even sought -- and was "triggered" by information concerning a different campaign aide, George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with Mueller's investigation."
Precisely, why Trump and his henchmen have their shorts in a wad. Shitting in their pants. Figurative noose grows tighter as the Mueller investigation continues.
"The timing makes clear that other Trump associates beyond Page, who was part of the election effort for only a short period and was not in the president's inner orbit, had generated law enforcement scrutiny. The memo also omits that Page had been on the FBI's radar just a few years earlier as part of a separate counterintelligence investigation into Russian influence."
Called cherry picking.
"Though the memo focuses on Page, intelligence committee Democrats wrote in a response, "this ignores the inconvenient fact that the investigation did not begin with, or arise from Christopher Steele or the dossier, and that the investigation would persist on the basis of wholly independent evidence had Christopher Steele never entered the picture."
No kidding. Called desperation as the noose figuratively tightens.
There's more:
"Other details in the memo could also challenge Republican claims of bias. The warrant requested in October 2016 was subsequently renewed on three additional occasions, meaning that judges approved it four times. And one of the Justice Department officials who approved it was Rosenstein, a Trump appointee."
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2-9-18
Consider the following. Smacks of Adolf Hitler circa 1933. NBC News reports:
"President Donald Trump called Democrats' stone-faced reaction to his State of the Union address "treasonous" and "un-American" during a visit to a manufacturing plant in Cincinnati, Ohio Monday. Trump described Republicans "going totally crazy wild" during his State of the Union remarks one week ago, while Democrats remained seated and stone-faced for the majority of the speech. "They were like death," Trump lamented. "And un-American. Un-American."
No nazi tolerates dissent. Hitler certainly did not. Neither did Mussolini. Republicans indeed behaved like psychotic sick sycophants during Trump's speech. Cheering wildly at anything the nazi had to say. Democrats indeed sat on their hands. With damn good reason. Refused to be part of the charade.
Clearly, Trump, his henchmen, and the GOP are running scared. Know full well Mueller is zeroing in. Doing his job professionally, -- so much so there have been no leaks from his office. While highly unlikely a sitting president would be indicted, Mueller will certainly release the results of the investigation. If Trump obstructed justice or committed any other crimes, Congress would be under extreme pressure to impeach. Otherwise, would not be returned to office. Both parties.
"But the reaction, he said, was also something much worse. Vaguely noting that "someone" called the Democratic reactions "'treasonous,'" Trump said he agreed. "I mean, yeah, I guess. Why not?...Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much."
Think Trump fit for office? Not delusional? Seems to insanely believe ferocious disapproval of him equates somehow, some way, with no love of country. Non-sequitur. Unadulterated horse shit. Quite the contrary. It's love of country and our Constitution that drives exponentially growing dissent, rejection of his delusionally embraced brand of nazism.
What's next, Donny Boy? Round up of all who peacefully stand in resistance to a nazi dictator? Traitorous, treasonous abolition of Congress and the courts who stand up to an insane dictator? This delusional piece of crap doesn't understand the right of peaceful dissent is guarantied by the First Amendment. -- No matter where it occurs in our formerly great country.
The Trump nazi delusionally believes kneeling during the Anthem is treason. Another mark of a nazi dictator. Called the First Amendment. Has nothing to do with lack of respect or love for the Flag or country. Again, quite the opposite. Even the Supreme Court ruled desecration of the Flag is protected by the First Amendment. It is. Yet, a stupid thing to do since it represents the blood shed by so many in all the wars to protect that very same Constitution.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Trump is certainly being aggressively sued throughout the country. Doesn't your heart bleed? Fox News whines:
"Nancy Pelosi. Chuck Schumer. The Russia probe. The "deep state." Of all the obstacles that could potentially thwart the Trump agenda, add to that tempest the flood of lawsuits now being plotted by blue-state attorneys general who have made no secret of their disdain for the administration’s policies. The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA), a political fundraising group, touts the AGs as “the first line of defense” against Trump’s agenda. “The Trump administration has trouble understanding the rule of law and that’s the reason Democratic attorneys general are filing lawsuits and winning them,” Sean Rankin, DAGA’s executive director, told Fox News. To be sure, outspoken state prosecutors stalled many of the administration’s 2017 goals in court with a record number of lawsuits. And they’re doubling down in 2018."
With damned good reason. Yet, Democrats offer nothing substantive in response to all the damage done by the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and national socialists in a GOP that is exponentially nazifying. Saddest of all? Democrats remain out to lunch. Absent without leave since November 22, 1963.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
How soon they forget. NPR reports:
"In 2016, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told a radio host in Tulsa, Okla., "I believe that Donald Trump in the White House would be more abusive to the Constitution than Barack Obama, and that's saying a lot."
Indeed. LOL.
"His comments surfaced at a routine Senate committee hearing on Tuesday, when Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., read from a transcript of the interview and asked administrator Pruitt whether he remembered it. "I don't, Senator," Pruitt replied, "and I don't echo that today at all."
Indeed, he doesn't. -- As Right Wing, fascist, national socialist, nazi as his fuhrer in the Oval Office.
"The interview with conservative host Pat Campbell aired on KFAQ in February 2016, when Pruitt was Oklahoma's attorney general and supported Jeb Bush's candidacy for president. "If Donald Trump is the nominee and eventually the president, he would take, I think, unapologetic steps to use executive power to confront Congress in a way that is truly unconstitutional," Pruitt told Campbell."
Truer words never spoken. LOL.
"Campbell: "I had a conversation with my dad not long ago and my dad is an immigrant. He came here as a young child after World War II. And he's not real long-winded like me. He summed up Donald Trump in one word. He said, 'He's dangerous.' "
"Pruitt: "You know, your dad is very astute, because I'll say to you I think [Trump] has tendencies that we see in emerging countries around the world. He goes to the disaffected, those individuals, and says, 'Look, you give me power, and I will give voice to your concerns.' And that's a dangerous place to be."
Apt description of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.
"During the interview, Pruitt repeatedly expressed concern about how Trump might use executive orders to make policy, rather than deferring to Congress."
Portend of precisely what we've seen the last year.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Think Trump isn't a racist? Wake up. The Washington Post reports:
"The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that specializes in pursuing cases against financial firms accused of breaking discrimination laws, according to two people familiar with the matter and emails reviewed by The Washington Post."
Fascinating, isn't it?
"The move comes about two months after President Trump installed his budget chief, Mick Mulvaney, at the head of an agency that has long been in the crosshairs of Republicans. The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity had penalized lenders that it said had systematically imposed interest rates on minorities that were higher than those for whites."
Think Trump and his henchmen are not white nationalists, that is, nazis?
"Now that office, which had been part a powerful CFPB division, will move inside the office of the director, where staffers will be focused on “advocacy, coordination and education,” according to an email Mulvaney sent them this week. They will no longer have responsibility for enforcement and day-to-day oversight of companies, he said."
Convenient, isn't it?
"Civil rights and consumer groups said that separating the Office of Fair Lending from its enforcement power weakens its ability to pursue cases. “These changes . . . threaten effective enforcement of civil rights laws, and increase the likelihood that people will continue to face discriminatory access and pricing as they navigate their economic lives,” Lisa Donner, executive director of Americans for Financial Reform, said in a statement."
Precisely, the intent of Trump and his henchmen.
"Mulvaney’s spokesman dismissed the criticism."
Surprised? 'Can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.'
"Critics say these moves collectively could hobble an agency created after the global financial crisis to protect consumers against the financial industry. “If you remove enforcement power from an office, you are essentially gutting its power,” said Vanita Gupta, head of the civil rights division at the Justice Department during the Obama administration. “What we’re seeing in this move is a push to erode the federal civil rights machinery.”
Precisely, what the racist Trump nazi and his henchmen intend. Far more to this story than covered above. Tip of the iceberg.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
In follow up to the State of the Union speech by the Trump nazi, NPR reports:
"On Tuesday, President Trump painted a rosy picture of the economy during his first State of the Union speech: rising wages, a boom in manufacturing jobs, jobless claims were at their lowest in nearly half a century. But one of the biggest applause breaks during his survey of the landscape greeted this claim: "Something I'm very proud of — African-American unemployment stands at the lowest rate ever recorded." Cue hoots and hollers and a standing ovation from the members of Congress on the chamber floor. It was an oddly showy response from the folks in attendance, given how little serious attention is usually paid to black unemployment by members of Congress. Really, who knew they cared so much?"
Called hypocrisy. Sick nazi sycophants demonstrating egregious ignorance.
"The qualifiers for the president's claims around black joblessness are pretty significant; indeed, they're actually the whole story. Most of the improvement in the jobs figures are part of an ongoing trend that can be attributed to the Fed's management of the economy under Janet Yellen, whom President Trump declined to renominate to run the nation's central bank. And while the black employment numbers were historically low, at the time of Trump's speech, the most recent jobs data put black unemployment at 6.8 percent."
Stunning, isn't it?
"If those numbers were the overall national figures, the country would be in or near a recession. Consider that for as far back as the data goes, black unemployment has consistently been around twice the rate of joblessness for white people, in strong economies or sluggish ones. If the broader economy is on solid footing, black unemployment numbers is high. When the nation is a downturn, black employment figures teeter on the catastrophic."
Wouldn't want to confuse Trump's sick sycophants with the truth, would we?
Quotes courtesy of a most gifted insightful writer, Gene Demby.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Once again, Trump showed his true colors. CBS News reports:
"President Trump on Monday bashed the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, after the California lawmaker said that the Republican memo alleging abuses of a key surveillance law doesn't "vindicate" Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump called him "Little Adam Schiff" on Twitter and said he's "one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington."
... Hey, Donny Boy? Precisely describing yourself, sir?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
'Let 'em eat cake,' right, Mr. 'President?' NPR reports:
"It's last call for public comment on a Trump administration proposal that would give bar and restaurant owners more control over workers' tips. The Labor Department has been asking for feedback, and already hundreds of thousands of people have weighed in. Many say they say they're opposed to a rule that would allow restaurant owners to pocket tips for themselves."
For decades, owners of restaurants have literally financed their businesses with what amounts to little more than slave labor. Most by law are allowed to pay an hourly rate well below the minimum wage. Workers are expected to make up the difference through tipping.
-- That is, diners are nowhere near looted enough by prices on the menu. Need to be turned upside down, additional pocket money looted to pay the difference. So owners can laugh their asses off all the way to the bank. ... Must not be forgotten no one left to loot other than the help. Forget?
Diners have been bled dry, tapped out. Owners, however, do have exponentially growing business expenses. -- Food cost, liquor, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting, refrigeration, taxes, mortgages, leases, business loans, insurance, etc.. List can go on and on. No one left to loot, -- other than the help.
"I think it's another example of corporate greed gone wrong," says Julie Holmes, a former waitress from Virginia. "It basically makes people feel as though they can't earn a living. Women especially. Single mothers and people who are really out here working as hard as they can to try to provide are affected by this."
Owners have so many problems trying to survive, keep their heads above water, couldn't care less their survival depends on what amounts to slave labor. Exception? Fine dining. Where clientele is well-to-do. Can afford to pay outrageous prices, tip extremely well.
"The inspector general is also investigating reports that the Labor Department tried to hush up an internal analysis that found the proposed rule could cost tipped workers billions of dollars a year."
Republican way. Loot the bottom of the food chain. Make sure the wealth defies the law of gravity, that is, flows up to those who clearly don't need it.
"People have a lot of feelings about this," says Heidi Shierholz, who served as chief economist for the Labor Department under former President Obama. "When the administration is trying to make it so employers can take tips, there's a lot of tipped workers out there. And people are really not happy about this."
Called legalized THEFT.
"Shierholz suggests the proposal is driven by the restaurant industry, which has long wanted more control over workers' tips."
Unbridled greed.
"There's 20 percent of what a business generates, we have no ability to impact at all, traditionally," says Kurt Huffman, who runs more than two dozen restaurants in Oregon."
Horse shit. This hopelessly greedy, achingly clueless asshole has it ass backwards. The business doesn't generate income, the labor of poorly paid workers does. If owners remain too clueless to understand this, the ignorant bastards need to try doing all the work themselves.
Jesus Christ. How about sharing the wealth? Dig deep into your bottomless pockets instead of looting staff that generates the income you greedy bastards won't share. Ignorantly, believe somehow, someway you're entitled? What you're entitled to do is fail. Can't pay a livable wage? Deserve to fail. Forget? Being in business is not a right, but a privilege.
"Many restaurants already require wait-staff to share tips with busboys and hostesses, but they're not allowed to require such sharing with people who work in the kitchen. "I think all of us see this as a way to reallocate the tips a little bit more fairly to level out the wage inequity," Huffman says."
Aryan arrogant horse shit. What you need to do is share the goddamned wealth, instead of requiring employees to supplement each other's non-livable wage. -- While you hopelessly greedy assholes laugh your avaricious corpulent asses off all the way to the bank. Can't afford to pay a livable wage? Get the hell out of the business.
"But Shierholtz, who now works for a left-leaning think tank, the Economic Policy Institute, says there's nothing in the proposed rule that would require tips to be shared with other workers. So long as an employer pays minimum wage, he or she could use tips to reward managers, make capital improvements, or simply keep the money."
Legalized theft. Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.
"We estimate that nearly $6 billion will be taken from workers and pocketed by employers," Shierholz says. She was surprised when the Labor Department issued its proposal without that kind of cost-benefit analysis, which is typically included. The department said at the time it would be too speculative."
Anything to loot the bottom and middle class, line the pockets of the top of the food chain. Then, Aryan arrogantly justify the f--king.
"Now a report from Bloomberg says the Labor Department did crunch the numbers, but decided not to publish the results because they showed tipped workers could lose billions of dollars a year."
Shameless sham. A ruse.
"The Department's Inspector General is investigating the reported omission. And Democratic lawmakers say it raises "serious questions about the integrity" of the rule-making process. "If DOL [the Department of Labor] decides to push through this rule and ignores its costs to workers or the public's concerns, there will be a real erosion of trust in the DOL's commitment to protecting workers," said Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking Democrat on the Education and Workforce Committee."
That's all you goddamned clueless Democrats have to offer? Then wonder why you continue to lose elections?
"For decades before this proposal, the Labor Department had maintained that tips are the property of the workers who receive them. The restaurant industry has challenged that position and the issue could be decided by the Supreme Court."
With five GOP nazis now on the court with the confirmation of the Gorsuch nazi, think they won't back legalized theft of tips earned by the help? Delusionally believe this continued legislation of their outrageously perverse religious and ideological views from the bench is sustainable? Hear the rumble?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
Supposedly, there's been some new found cooperation in the Senate between both warring parties. Too close to posting time of this edition to know for sure. We'll see. The Washington Post reports:
"Congressional leaders on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping budget deal that would add about $400 billion in federal spending over the next two years, delivering the military funding boost demanded by President Trump alongside the increase in domestic programs sought by Democrats. With a midnight-Thursday government shutdown looming, the accord holds the promise to break a months-long partisan standoff centered around federal spending, though some roadblocks remain."
Quite a few roadblocks, but again, we'll see. More to come.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-9-18
The Federal Reserve is sticking it to Wells Fargo. CBS News reports:
"The Federal Reserve is imposing more penalties on Wells Fargo, freezing the bank's growth until it can prove it has improved its internal controls. "Until the firm makes sufficient improvements, it will be restricted from growing any larger than its total asset size as of the end of 2017," the Fed announced in a statement. "The Board's consent cease and desist order with Wells Fargo requires the firm to improve its governance and risk management processes, including strengthening the effectiveness of oversight by its board of directors." In addition, the San Francisco-based bank agreed to replace three board members by April and a fourth by the end of this year."
The bastards need to be criminally prosecuted. ... Right, Amanda?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
The Republican Party is not the party of the family. Claims to the contrary by these fascist bastards continue to be boldfaced lies.
NBC News reports:
"The wife of an undocumented immigrant who was deported to Mexico this week after living in the U.S. for three decades will be attending this year's State of the Union speech, according to a Michigan congresswoman. Cindy Garcia’s husband, Jorge, was deported on Monday. [Middle of January] The 39-year-old father of two was undocumented when he was brought to the U.S. at age 10, according to Cindy Garcia and their family lawyer. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., announced Thursday that she had invited Cindy Garcia to be her guest to President Donald Trump’s first State of the Union address in Washington on Jan. 30."
Readers will recall this case was recently covered in this publication.
“Jorge’s wife, Cindy, has shown incredible resilience and courage in the face of these impossible circumstances,” Dingell said in a statement. “I am honored that she will join me at the State of the Union to be a voice for the hundreds of thousands of aspiring Americans who are part of the fabric of our communities, and who deserve a pathway to legal status in the country they call home.”
Think the nazi in the Oval Office will call attention to her during the State of the Union?
"Jorge Garcia was deported despite having no criminal record in three decades of living in Michigan, his supporters have said."
GOP, party of the family?
"The Garcias and their daughter and son can be seen on an emotional video embracing and sobbing as they said goodbye near the security gates at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport."
Nazi America. A de facto fascist police-state soon to be the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
“This week, America watched in horror as Jorge Garcia, a father of two and husband to an American citizen, who was brought to this country at 10 years old and has never received so much as a traffic ticket, was torn from his family and the only home he knows,” Dingell said in the statement. “The Garcia family’s story is heartbreaking and infuriating,” she added. “It is both a symptom of a long-broken immigration system and a new rash immigration policy that does not recognize the difference between a hardworking family man and a criminal. This must change.”
Not in the Fourth Reich. Trump is following in the footsteps of his nazi mentors, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. A raucous, goose stepping, boot clicking, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. 'President?' Nazi America.
Truly believe the Republican Party is the party of the family? Wake up. You're out to lunch. Consider the following. Seatbelts on. NPR reports:
"The day was going to be perfect. Alex figured he would wake up at 6:30 a.m., help get his little brothers up and off to school and catch the bus by 7. After school, the 14-year-old would do something he had been looking forward to for weeks — play in his first football game. He would get to put on the team jersey — purple, with a camouflage print collar. And most importantly, his dad, Manuel, would be there, cheering from the sidelines. Instead, Alex woke up to his mom screaming and crying outside his bedroom door."
This, the kind of country you GOP nazis want to live in?
"By the time he got out of bed, it was too late. His dad was already gone — on his way to the county jail and then to immigration detention, where he would spend the next six months waiting to learn his future in the United States."
Nazi America.
"Manuel came to the United States from Mexico illegally two decades ago. He is one of the 143,470 immigrants arrested in the interior of the country last year by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities. These kinds of arrests are up 25 percent compared with in 2016 — part of an effort by the Trump administration to fulfill a campaign promise to deport more immigrants who have come to the U.S. illegally."
You Republican nazis here in Llano County are ferociously reminded our UNDOCUMENTED forebears arrived on this continent centuries ago, stole this land from Native Americans, then proceeded to BREAK every goddamned treaty they ever signed. Your hypocrisy? Incomprehensible.
"Manuel's story points to a broader policy directive of President Trump's first year in office. At a time when arrests at the border are at a 46-year low, the federal government has begun to go after people who were not targets under the previous administration: those in the U.S. interior who have lived in the country for years and who often have committed no crimes. In 2017, arrests of undocumented immigrants with no criminal record increased by 42 percent compared with in 2016."
Called nazism. Repeat of history. Ala Hitler's Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Fascist Italy.
"Manuel's case illustrates not only the giant, complicated bureaucracy involved in immigration enforcement but also the ripple effects one arrest can have on a family and a community."
You think? Then, Republican phonies continue to claim the GOP is the party of the family. Ruse. Charade. Unmitigated horse shit.
Believe the jackbooted bastards in this government are beyond lying like hell? Engaging in a phony ruse to achieve their ends? Aren't deceptive jackbooted nazi bastards that would have made Hitler, Mussolini proud? Wake up. Been granted near carte blanche by fellow nazis legislating their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views from the bench.
"Now in his late 30s, Manuel was living quietly under the radar in the Pacific Northwest when immigration officials showed up that Monday morning in April. It was 5:30 a.m. He was preparing to leave for the first of the three jobs he worked to support his family. The agents said they came to investigate a report that Manuel was driving a stolen car. He had owned the car for years. When asked later, police couldn't produce any reports about the stolen car."
How could they? Lied like hell. Precisely, why law enforcement cannot be trusted. Does not tell the truth. ... Right, Sheriff? Deception? Modus operandi, right, Bill? ... Your criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black wouldn't know truth if it figuratively bit them hard on the ass, right, Sheriff? Certainly, par for the course here in Nazi Llano County.
"Then the agents asked Manuel for documents to prove his citizenship. He didn't say anything. They told him he had a deportation order from 1998. The agents put Manuel in handcuffs. He asked the officers to let him say goodbye to his wife. He didn't get to say goodbye to his kids. Apart from his illegal entry into the United States, Manuel had not been charged with any crimes."
Nazi America. Goddamned de facto fascist police-state transforming to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Land of the free? Home of the brave? Hell, no. Land of the enslaved. Home of the gutless. We've lost ourselves.
"His son Alex didn't make it to school that day. He did go to his football game, but he couldn't stop thinking about his dad. Alex's head wasn't in the game. Eventually, the coach pulled him off the field. Within a few weeks, Alex's grades had dropped so much that he wasn't allowed to play at all. Over the next few months, Manuel tries to talk to his sons — age 8 to 19 — on the phone every night from the detention center where he is being held. "I tell them that they have to put a lot of effort into their schoolwork because they don't have to pay for my error," he says. Manuel remains hopeful he'll get to go home. But he has also watched many of the friends he has made in detention get deported."
Don't stand up to tyranny? Get what you richly deserve. The Fourth Reich.
"The Trump administration is looking to expand the government's capacity to detain immigrants in the country illegally. In May, the Department of Homeland Security asked Congress to fund 17,000 new beds in detention facilities — one-third more than the system's capacity at the end of the Obama administration."
Our formerly great country is now precisely where Hitler's Germany was in 1933. Worst, yet to come.
"That request comes at a time when the number of people crossing the border is lower than it was at the beginning of the Obama administration or during the George W. Bush and Clinton administrations. By the end of the Obama administration, the number of border crossers was actually dropping — and that trend has largely continued during the first year of the Trump presidency."
We've lost our country. No longer a democratic republic. In name, only. Been perverted by Trump and his henchmen. To raging, achingly perverse cheers of his sick sycophants.
"Last January, ICE agents got a memo stating that "officers will take enforcement action against all removable aliens encountered in the course of their duties." That memo was written by Matt Albence, director of enforcement and removal operations at ICE. He has been at the agency for six years, and as he sees it, officers' hands were tied under the Obama administration."
This man is a goddamned nazi. Egregiously, abrogated his oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. A fascist. Aryan arrogant national socialist.
"The laws that Congress has passed and that our offices are sworn to uphold, we are now executing them faithfully across the board," Albence told NPR in December."
This guy is a liar. ... Or, hopelessly delusional. Has no clue. The same horse shit citizens of Hitler's Nazi Germany bought decades ago. Gutlessly went along to get along. Paid dearly for this horrendous mistake. So did the rest of the world. Now, we witness the same insidious systemic cancer arising in our formerly great country.
Above quotes, courtesy of two exceptionally gifted writers, Sam Gringlas and Christina Cala. To say nothing of others involved in the story.
More of the same. This time from Texas Standard:
"His work permit was still valid the day he got deported. He showed up to his yearly check in appointment.
“I didn’t know I wasn’t coming back,” he says. “I remember that morning. I went to the bank. I had my baby with me. The immigration appointment in San Antonio was early, so after the bank I dropped him off and he didn’t want to let go of me. It’s as though he knew. He cried and cried. He was two years old and he wouldn’t stop crying and I was like, ‘I’ll be right back!’ But I think he felt I wouldn’t return.”
GOP, party of the family? Wake up. You've been bamboozled. Lied to. Fed a crock of shit.
"Once he was deported, his wife was forced to keep the family afloat by herself. “I felt like I was underwater,” she says, “only coming out for air to move on to the next task and then the next. It was an endless cycle of anxiety and stress.” She hired an attorney and became an activist."
Nazism must be fought. Stood up to. Resisted.
“At some point,” she says, “I started believing that the goal of deporting people like my husband is to weaken us by breaking up our family ties. That way, our children are never part of the future of this country. That strengthens the argument that Hispanics don’t amount to much, that they don’t go to school. These are arguments that keep us oppressed. This is only my view, but it is a valid view.”
Called nazism. Repeat of history. Ala Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy. Wake up.
"She began collecting letters of support from her congressman, her mayor, and the dean of her daughter’s college. “I do not accept the words ‘it can’t be done.’ They are not a part of my lexicon,” she says. Five years later, her husband finally was able to return on December 23." “I don’t feel his return as a Christmas present,” she says, “because I fought for it. I demanded it. Had it been for immigration authorities, my husband would have never come back. I earned it and my activist community earned his return.”
Indeed. Nazism must be fought tooth and nail. Resisted. Alternative? Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. F--k the bastards.
Quotes above are courtesy of an exceptionally gifted writer, Jen Rice.
Another example. ABC News reports:
"Flora Rranxburgaj knows what will happen if her husband, Ded, who is a fugitive from immigration authorities, gets deported. “My life is done,” said Flora Rranxburgaj, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 11 years ago. That's why the family has taken sanctuary in a Detroit church. Ded Rranxburgaj, who emigrated from Albania 17 years ago to provide a "better life" for his family, has to bathe and feed his wife because of her disability. “My wife is very sick and I want my family all together,” said Ded Rranxburgaj. “I have to stay in the church, I have no choice.”
Think the jackbooted bastards incapable of raiding a church? Unwilling to disgrace themselves?
"Flora, Ded, and their two sons moved into the Central United Methodist Church Detroit a week ago to avoid authorities. Historically, some churches have offered sanctuary to undocumented immigrants facing deportation. Places of worship fall under Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) sensitive locations policy, which directs officials to avoid conducting enforcement without prior approval or only in extreme circumstances."
Think they won't ultimately start raiding churches to enforce the Trump nazi's fiats?
"Ded immigrated to the U.S. in 2001 with his son, Lorenc. Flora soon followed. Two years later they had another son, who is now a sophomore in high school. They settled in Southgate, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. Ded and Flora Rranxburgaj both tried to get political asylum, but were denied. They appealed and were denied again. According to ICE, Ded Rranxburgaj was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2006. In 2009, the Board of Immigration Appeals dismissed his appeal of the immigration judge’s decision, affirming his removal order. At his October check-in with ICE, Ded was informed that he would have to leave the U.S. and return to Albania. He was given until Jan. 27 to deport. “As ICE Deputy Director Thomas Homan has made clear, ICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States,” said ICE spokesman Khaalid Walls in a statement."
'Justified' by outrageously unjust statutes, determined bastardization of the United States Constitution. A raucous, boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil! Your jackbooted bastards are out of uniform. No swastika armbands.
"The Rranxburgaj's are the first family whose case was “desperate enough” for the church to offer sanctuary since a network of area churches was established in March, said Caitlin Homrich-Knieling, an immigrant family defense organizer with Michigan United."
Uncommon valor on the part of the church.
"Flora Rranxburgaj, meanwhile, has been granted a humanitarian waiver to stay and work in the U.S. because of her illness, Homrich-Knieling said. ICE has declined to discuss Flora’s case."
What can they say? How can they justify the unjustifiable?
"She can talk and is “full of life,” but must be physically moved from place to place, said Homrich-Knieling. But Flora has not been able to work for many years. “I can’t take care my young son and I can’t take care of myself,” Flora said."
Republican nazis, however, remain more than willing to break up this family. Hypocrisy? Stunning. Incomprehensible. Nazi.
CBS News reports:
"An Ohio businessman who came to the United States 39 years ago has been deported. CBS News affiliate WKBN-TV reports immigration officials sent Amer "Al" Adi Othman back to his native country of Jordan on Monday night. His flight departed from Chicago."
Another family broken up by the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and his fellow national socialists in the Republican Party. Certainly, not the party of the family. A ruse. Goddamned sham.
"Congressman Tim Ryan, who fought for Othman to stay in the U.S., released a written statement that reads in part: "It is a sad day for Amer, his family and our entire community. Amer Othman was ripped from his four daughters, his wife, and the country that he has called home for over 30 years. Amer was a pillar of the community and brought commerce to a downtown that craved investment. He hired members of our community. He paid taxes. He did everything right."
Not in Trump's Fourth Reich.
"There are violent criminals walking the streets, yet our government wasted our precious resources incarcerating him," Ryan continued. "I am deeply saddened and extremely disappointed with this outcome. I'm sad that America, and the American Presidency has become a place where politics outweighs doing what is right."
History repeating itself. Nazi Germany circa 1933.
"Family members say they had little notice that their loved one was being deported. They were notified of Othman's departure at 8 p.m., and had to say goodbye on the phone."
Trump's Fourth Reich.
"I'm a little relieved to know that he's not in prison, but I'm sad that this was such a cruel, inhumane way they did it," Othman's wife, Fidda Musleh, said. "We're going to take it one day at a time. I have a business to run, I have children to take care of. I gotta figure this out."
The above, courtesy of nazis in the Republican Party. Certainly, not the party of the family. Where are the Democrats? Why aren't they fighting this shit tooth and nail?
"I know we're supposed to be happy. I know we're supposed to feel some kind of relief, but I'm ashamed to be part of this country," Othman's daughter, Lina Adi, added. "This is just wrong. From day one, until now, this is wrong."
Hitler's Third Reich reincarnated.
"U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials arrested Othman on Jan. 16 during a hearing on his immigration status. He was held at the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, where family members say the government treated him like a criminal even though he was never convicted of a crime."
Goddamned de facto fascist police-state quickly transforming to Trump's Fourth Reich.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Amazing how Trump and his sidekick, the racist AG Sessions nazi, perniciously ignore reality. Rewrite history. The Washington Times reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday he’s determined to eliminate “political bias” from the Justice Department, and said the department must be more open to the kind of criticism it’s facing from Congress right now."
What's that, Jeff? Phony propaganda coming from your fellow nazis in the GOP doing all they can to discredit the Mueller investigation of your fuhrer by falsely drawing attention to Hillary?
"Mr. Sessions said “the vast majority” of employees at Justice, which includes the FBI, are dedicated and patriotic Americans who do quality work. But he signaled the department has strayed from its core mission of fairly enforcing the laws as written by Congress, and said his “purpose every day” is to get it back on track."
How, Jeff? By gutting civil rights action directed against the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue all across our formerly great country?
“It means absolutely eliminating political bias or favoritism — in either direction — from our investigations and prosecutions. That sort of thinking is the antithesis of what the department stands for, and I won’t tolerate it,” he said in a speech in Norfolk."
You're a liar, Mr. Sessions. You've deliberately skewed the 'Justice' Department to the Trump nazi's perverse ideological embrace of national socialism ala Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. Trump and his henchmen present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
ABC News reports:
"The unusual comments as some congressional Republicans point to what they see as signs of political favoritism in the FBI, including anti- Donald Trump text messages between a counterintelligence agent who was kicked off special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and an FBI lawyer. They've also alleged misconduct and bias in the handling of the FBI's investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, which ended without criminal charges. Democrats say that outrage is an effort to discredit Mueller's investigation into possible obstruction of justice and Trump campaign ties to Russian meddling in the 2016 election."
That's all it is. Sessions is desperate to politicize the Department vis a vis implementation of Republican national socialism. The achingly racist fascist bastard is doing all he can to get back in the good graces of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.
Laughably, Trump will have none of it. Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions is trying to find his way back into President Trump’s good graces."
Pathetic, isn't it? Sad, lost soul. Doesn't your heart bleed?
"For months, Sessions has asked senior White House aides to make sure the president knows what he is doing at the Justice Department, two White House advisers said, and has told allies he hopes policy decisions that garner news coverage will please Trump. Sessions’s team at Justice has crafted a public campaign to highlight the work it is doing to advance the president’s agenda. The department has also begun looking into matters that Trump has publicly complained are not being pursued."
Lap dog. Sick, racist nazi.
"Top Trump advisers, including White House counsel Donald McGahn and counselor Kellyanne Conway and former chief of staff Reince Priebus and former strategist Stephen K. Bannon, have at times joined the effort and pressed Trump to give his attorney general a second chance."
Jesus Christ. Appalling.
"But Sessions, who was one of Trump’s earliest backers and gave up a safe Senate seat to join the administration, has, by all accounts, been unable to repair his relationship with the president. Trump has dismissed praise of Sessions, according to four White House officials and advisers, as he continues to rage about the Russia investigation and Sessions’s decision to recuse himself from the probe into Moscow’s meddling in the 2016 election and whether there was any coordination with the Trump’s campaign."
Poor baby.
“He’s one of the most active Cabinet secretaries there is,” one White House official said. “He’s done a fine job. Does it wash away the sin of recusal? I don’t think so.”
Tough shit. Doesn't your heart bleed? This racist nazi presents an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Think Trump hasn't engaged in obstruction of justice? No chance he would do so? The Washington Post reports:
"President Trump sought the firing of Robert S. Mueller III last June, shortly after the special counsel took over the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, and he backed off only after White House Counsel Donald F. McGahn threatened to resign over the move. The extraordinary showdown was confirmed by two people familiar with the episode, which was first reported by the New York Times. McGahn did not deliver his resignation threat directly to Trump but was serious about his threat to leave, according to a person familiar with the episode. Trump denied the report Friday when asked about it during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “Fake news, folks. Fake news,” Trump told reporters."
Think so?
"Peter Carr, a spokesman for the special counsel’s office, declined to comment. McGahn did not respond to requests for comment. A White House spokesman referred questions to Ty Cobb, the attorney coordinating the administration’s response to the Russia investigations, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment. John Dowd, an attorney for the president, declined to comment."
What does that tell you? Anything at all?
"Sen. Mark R. Warner (Va.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is conducting its own investigation of Russian interference, said in a statement that “firing the Special Counsel is a red line that the President cannot cross. Any attempt to remove the Special Counsel, pardon key witnesses, or otherwise interfere in the investigation, would be a gross abuse of power, and all members of Congress, from both parties, have a responsibility to our Constitution and to our country to make that clear immediately.”
Indeed. Should Trump fire Mueller, would set off a constitutional crisis. Egregious obstruction of justice.
The Washington Post reports:
"It would be natural for Mueller to investigate an effort to oust him as special counsel, said Paul Rosenzweig, a senior fellow at the criminal justice think tank the R Street Institute, who was a member of the team led by independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr that investigated President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
"Obstruction-of-justice cases turn on motive, he said. To prove a criminal case, a prosecutor must demonstrate that a defendant took action to disrupt a criminal probe with a corrupt motive, generally to hide criminal activity. Rosenzweig said that Mueller could use Trump’s attempt to remove the special counsel as part of an obstruction case, particularly if it appeared that the reasons Trump tried to cite were a pretext for disrupting the investigation."
Quite nuanced:
“A way of analyzing it is to assess the strength or weakness of the professed reasons to fire him. If they, on reflection, seem moderately legitimate, well, the president should fire someone who has a conflict of interest.” On the other hand, Rosenzweig said, if the reasons were “pretextual,” an obstruction case would have more merit. “It would appear more in the nature of a conscious ... effort to frustrate an investigation of [the president’s] own misconduct,” he said."
Moreover:
"Rosenzweig said the whole issue could be moot, however, given that Mueller is likely to feel bound by Justice Department legal findings that the president cannot be criminally indicted. Instead, Mueller could file a full accounting of Trump’s actions in a report to Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who would have to decide whether to make the report public or transmit it to Congress. It would be for Congress to decide whether to initiate impeachment proceedings and what legal standards would govern whether the president had committed impeachable offenses."
Should that happen, pressure on Republican nazis would be enormous.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Trump, his henchmen, and the Republican Party have done tremendous damage to the LGBTQ community. Homophobic bigotry is certainly alive and well in our formerly great country. NBC News reports:
"Support for LGBTQ people across the country has fallen, according to a national survey indexing attitudes toward the community. It is the first time in the survey's four-year history to register a decline. The Harris Poll, which has been tracking public opinion and social sentiment since 1963, was commissioned by LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD four years ago to annually survey attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. This year's online survey included 2,160 adult participants, 1,897 of which identified as "non-LGBTQ."
We're moving backwards:
"The survey's results indicated a significant decrease in comfort among heterosexual people in personal situations relating to LGBTQ identity. These situations included "learning a family member is LGBTQ," "learning my child's teacher is LGBTQ" and "learning my doctor is LGBTQ." Thirty percent of non-LGBTQ respondents reported they would be either "very uncomfortable" or "somewhat uncomfortable" if they learned a family member was LGBTQ. This is up from both 2015 and 2016's findings, when 27 percent of non-LGBTQ respondents reported they would be uncomfortable on some level."
Comes as no surprise, as our country transforms from a de facto fascist police-state to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich. Think the same didn't happen after Hitler assumed power in 1933? Today, it's the LGBTQ community. Tomorrow, who's next?
"Thirty-one percent of non-LGBTQ respondents said they would be uncomfortable with their child having an LGBTQ teacher. This is the highest level of discomfort reported in the Harris Poll's history, with 30 percent expressing discomfort in 2014, 29 percent in 2015 and 28 percent in 2016."
Pathetic. Worse? Get this:
"Anti-LGBTQ homicides nearly doubled in 2017, report finds."
Appalling. All over sexual preference, identity, etc.. Sick, intolerant religion to blame.
"Perhaps most disturbing is the noted uptick in the number of LGBTQ respondents reporting having experienced discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In this latest survey, the number jumped to 55 percent — an 11-point jump from last year."
Rights concertedly determinedly abrogated the rest of us take for granted.
“In the past year, there has been a swift and alarming erosion of acceptance which can only be fought by being visible and vocal,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement sent to NBC News. “This report puts numbers to the bias that too many LGBTQ Americans have recently experienced."
If you cowardly remain silent, expect discrimination to worsen:
"In a statement included within the report, Ellis said the decline in LGBTQ support "can be seen as a dangerous repercussion in the tenor of discourse and experience over the last year." "2017 brought heightened rhetoric toward marginalized communities to the forefront of American culture. Policies and headlines ran that were anti-LGBTQ including the President’s proposed ban on transgender people entering the U.S. military, confirmation of a Supreme Court justice opposed to marriage equality, and the passage of a state law in Mississippi which allows businesses to legally deny service to LGBTQ families,” Ellis wrote."
The president and his henchmen present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. No foreign power, no terrorist organization, not even the criminal element present a greater threat to our democratic republic.
Another egregious example of injustice. NPR reports:
"Aiden and Ethan Dvash-Banks share pretty much everything. The 16-month-old twins were born four minutes apart, from the same womb, to the same fathers and now they share the same toys in the living room of their Southern California home. But there is one thing they don't share — Aiden was granted U.S. citizenship and Ethan is living in California on an expired tourist visa. Why? The State Department says only one is the child of an American. One of the kids has the genetic material of his U.S. citizen father; the other, the genetic material from his other father, an Israeli citizen with a green card. Both boys were born in Canada."
Egregious example of homophobic bigotry. Republican nazis falsely claim to be the party of the family. They're not.
"The couple is now suing the State Department with the help of Immigration Equality, an LGBTQ-immigrant-rights organization. It's one of two lawsuits filed this week by married, same-sex couples who had children abroad. In each case one of the children was refused citizenship because he was genetically related to only the foreign parent."
Outrageous. Any excuse by Trump and his henchmen to deny equal rights to married same sex couples.
"Immigration Equality says it goes against the Immigration and Nationality Act that says children born abroad to at least one U.S. parent get citizenship. But the State Department's interpretation says the child must be biologically related to the U.S. citizen to get the passport."
Any excuse to force their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on others in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.
"Andrew Dvash-Banks had made his life with his Israeli husband, Elad, in Canada because before 2013 same-sex marriages weren't legal in the United States and Andrew couldn't sponsor his husband. Andrew describes applying for his newborns' passports at the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. The Dvash-Bankses had their marriage license and the kids' birth certificates. Everything was in order. They heard their number called; they walked up to the window and greeted the consular officer, who looked a little surprised, they said. "She started off with, 'Obviously the two of you had to use assisted reproduction in order to have your family,' " Andrew said. " 'Tell me more about that. Tell me about who is genetically related to who.' " The questions were invasive, probing, embarrassing, he said. He cried; Elad got quiet."
Nazi America.
"They didn't expect this. As the children of an American citizen, the twins should both inherit citizenship. But the couple used a surrogate abroad. Each child has genes from one of his fathers. And while Andrew and Elad never planned to tell anyone which child had Andrew's DNA and which child had Elad's, the State Department asked for DNA tests. Two months later, Andrew says, letters came. "One addressed to Aiden, with a U.S. passport saying congratulations, here is your U.S. passport," he said. "And one addressed to my son Ethan saying we regret to inform you that your application for citizenship has been rejected." Despite both men being listed on the boys' birth certificates, Elad says, the government made a distinction."
In the mold of Hitler's Third Reich.
"It was literally black and white, on paper, your kids are different," he said. "That was something that any parent would have a hard time seeing, that the government is discriminating against their kids and treating them differently. It's terrible."
Jackbooted nazi.
"The discrimination happens in the application, said Aaron Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality. Under the manual's guidance, every single same-sex couple with children would be flagged at a U.S. Embassy. "Treating same-sex couples differently in this way is illegal and unconstitutional," Morris said. "It is possible that an opposite-sex couple, if they disclose that they had used surrogacy, might have the same problem. But the difference is, in every same-sex couple's case the government is asking deeply invasive questions about the makeup and the creation of the children of same-sex couples. To create a blanket rule in this way that targets only one small population of people and every single member of that class of people is discrimination."
No question. Nazi.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Think Trump isn't lining his pockets in direct violation of the Emoluments Clause? The Washington Post reports:
"A super PAC supporting President Trump spent tens of thousands of dollars on events at the Trump International Hotel in Washington and for consulting work by a handful of former Trump campaign aides, according to a new federal filing.
"Trump’s luxury hotel in downtown Washington has become a hub for political activity and celebrations for the president’s allies. The Washington Post reported last month that America First Action held three events at the Trump International Hotel at the end of 2017. The group spent about $30,000 on facility rental and catering for events it hosted at the hotel in 2017, the report shows. Group officials spent nearly $900 on meetings at the Benjamin Bar and Lounge and BLT Prime steakhouse, both of which are in the hotel. “The fact is the Trump International Hotel in D.C. is a hot venue,” Brian O. Walsh, president of America First Action, told The Post last month, adding that his group paid the president’s company fair market value for its events."
The president is clearly unconstitutionally lining his pockets off the Oval Office. Direct violation of the Emoluments Clause.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Need a little comic relief? Following fits the bill. -- Never ever never, however, make an achingly clueless assumption the golden fleece cannot be flushed down a solid gold throne fit for a king and his court. Sorry readers, couldn't resist. LOL. The Washington Post reports:
"The emailed response from the Guggenheim’s chief curator to the White House was polite but firm: The museum could not accommodate a request to borrow a painting by Vincent Van Gogh for President and Melania Trump’s private living quarters. Instead, wrote the curator, Nancy Spector, another piece was available, one that was nothing like “Landscape With Snow,” the 1888 Van Gogh rendering of a man in a black hat walking along a path in Arles, France, with his dog."
No. No. No. Sure wasn't available. LOL.
"The curator’s alternative: an 18-karat, fully functioning, solid gold toilet — an interactive work titled “America” that critics have described as pointed satire aimed at the excess of wealth in this country."
Gets better:
"For a year, the Guggenheim had exhibited “America” — the creation of contemporary artist Maurizio Cattelan — in a public restroom on the museum’s fifth floor for visitors to use."
Most accommodating, no?
"But the exhibit was over and the toilet was available “should the President and First Lady have any interest in installing it in the White House,” Spector wrote in an email obtained by The Washington Post."
LOL.
"The artist “would like to offer it to the White House for a long-term loan,” wrote Spector, who has been critical of Trump. “It is, of course, extremely valuable and somewhat fragile, but we would provide all the instructions for its installation and care.”
You don't say. LOL. Opportunity of a lifetime, Mr. 'President.' -- You and the 'missus' can shit in style.
"Sarah Eaton, a Guggenheim spokeswoman, confirmed that Spector wrote the email Sept. 15 to Donna Hayashi Smith of the White House’s Office of the Curator. Spector, who has worked in various capacities at the museum for 29 years, was unavailable to talk about her offer, Eaton said."
Got to love the spunk, true grit of this most exceptional lady.
"The White House did not respond to inquiries about the matter."
'Let 'em eat cake?' LOL. Who'd 'a 'thunk' it?
"On the face of it, President Trump might appreciate an artist’s rendering of a gilded toilet, given his well-documented history of installing gold-plated fixtures in his residences, his properties and even his airplane. But the president is also a self-described germaphobe, and it’s an open question whether he would accept a previously used toilet, 18-karat or otherwise."
Despite the fact there's reportedly over a million in gold in the commode?
Better yet, consider its golden history. LOL. Get this:
"Cattelan’s “America” caused something of a sensation after the Guggenheim unveiled it in 2016, drawing more than a few headlines. “WE’RE NO. 1! (And No. 2)” was the New York Post’s front-page offering, the huge lettering over a photograph of the toilet. The tabloid’s coverage included a reporter’s first-person account (“I rode the Guggenheim’s golden throne”) and a photograph of that reporter seated on the toilet (reading the New York Post, naturally)."
Even better?
“More than one hundred thousand people” who “waited patiently in line for the opportunity to commune with art and with nature,” Spector wrote in a Guggenheim blog post last year. The museum posted a uniformed security guard outside the bathroom. Every 15 minutes or so, a crew would arrive with specially chosen wipes to clean the gold."
Throne fit for a king, -- or the Trump nazi. LOL.
"A month later, the curator crafted her response to the White House’s request for Van Gogh’s “Landscape With Snow.” She explained that the painting — “prohibited from travel except for the rarest of occasions” — was on its way to be exhibited at the Guggenheim’s museum in Bilbao, Spain, and then would return to New York “for the foreseeable future.”
Heartbreaking, no?
“Fortuitously,” Spector wrote, Cattelan’s “America” was available after having been “installed in one of our public restrooms for all to use in a wonderful act of generosity.” She included with the email a photograph of the toilet “for your reference.”
Considerate, no?
“We are sorry not to be able to accommodate your original request,” the curator concluded, “but remain hopeful that this special offer may be of interest.”
Uncharacteristically, been no tweet from the president in response.
In another article, The Washington Post opines:
"The golden toilet is a paradoxical object. It is cast from gold, but takes the form of an entirely standard piece of plumbing. People who care about luxury toilets — meaning, comfort and function — generally invest in Japanese toilets, which come with a complex array of heating elements, spraying functions, air plumes, drying functionality, lighting and musical options. Cattelan’s golden throne is not that kind of toilet. It is a golden version of the kind of toilet you might find in a public school or airport. The use of gold satirizes not just American values, but references a long discourse about the vanity of wealth, the belief of rich people that everything they do is transmogrified by money. Saddam Hussein, it was reported after the fall of his regime, had golden toilets, or at least gold-plated toilets."
So does the Trump nazi. Couldn't live without them. LOL.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Here is at least one of the reasons why Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, as Texas Attorney General, failed to investigate a complaint filed against Wells Fargo by this writer. Texas Standard reports:
"From KUT: When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was the state’s attorney general, he had a memorable description for his old job. “My job description has been simplified over the past four years,” he said during a speech in 2013. “Because what I do is I go into the office, I sue the federal government and then I go home.”
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
2-2-18
Consider the following partial fact check of Trump's first State of the Union speech. CBS News reports:
"Tax cuts
"Just as I promised the American people from this podium 11 months ago, we enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history."
FACT CHECK: FALSE
In fact, the Trump tax cuts are the eighth largest in history. This claim has been fact-checked in the past. The Washington Post deemed it a 4-Pinocchio whopper."
Readers are reminded tax cuts came at a time of record corporate profits and cash reserves. Are permanent for corporations, will expire for individuals eight years down the road.
"Immigration
"The first pillar of our framework generously offers a path to citizenship for 1.8 million illegal immigrants who were brought here by their parents at a young age. That covers almost three times more people than the previous administration covered. Under our plan, those who meet education and work requirements, and show good moral character, will be able to become full citizens of the United States over a 12-year period."
FACT CHECK: TRUE, AS FAR AS CAN BE DETERMINED
It's unclear exactly how many immigrants Mr. Trump's proposed immigration framework would affect, so his claim is impossible to rate with certainty."
The problem is whether or not the president will follow through, -- or, again, change his mind. More importantly, will more extreme Republicans go along?
"Drugs and the border
"For decades, open borders have allowed drugs and gangs to pour into our most vulnerable communities. They've allowed millions of low-wage workers to compete for jobs and wages against the poorest Americans. Most tragically, they have caused the loss of many innocent lives."
FACT CHECK: PARTLY TRUE, INCONCLUSIVE
The president has been making versions of this statement since his campaign. On the claim about illegal immigrants causing the loss of "many" innocent lives, PolitiFact has pointed out that the statement is so vague that sure, it's bound to be true, but it doesn't really say much. University of California, Irvine criminology professor Charis Kubrin points out that it's about as accurate as saying "thousands of Americans have been killed by men."
Worse, the borders are not open, have not been for decades as the Trump nazi falsely claims. His hyperbole is bullshit. While control of the borders can certainly be improved, the borders are far from open. Tell that to all who died trying to cross.
"Family immigration
"Under the current broken system, a single immigrant can bring in virtually unlimited numbers of distant relatives."
FACT CHECK: FALSE
According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a U.S citizen can petition for a spouse; unmarried children under 21; sons and daughters, married and/or over 21; parents, if you are 21 and over; and siblings, if you are 21 and over. A green card holder can petition for spouses, unmarried children under 21, and an unmarried son or daughter of any age. -- Ellee Watson"
Trump continually engages in hyperbole, deception, and outright lies. Yet, his sick sycophants swallow it hook, line, and sinker.
"Regulations
"In our drive to make Washington accountable, we have eliminated more regulations in our first year than any administration in the history of our country."
FACT CHECK: PARTIALLY TRUE, BUT INCOMPLETE METRIC
The Washington Post has taken a look at this claim, which the president has made before.
"Trump may have grounds to brag," the Post found, "but his claim cannot be easily verified. There is no reliable metric on which to judge his claim -- or to compare him to previous presidents."
More importantly, the question to be asked is how much damage will elimination of at least some of these regulations do to the environment, the health and welfare of the population. All to line the pockets at the top of the food chain.
"Health care
"We repealed the core of the disastrous Obamacare. The individual mandate is now gone. Thank heaven."
FACT CHECK: FALSE
The individual penalty of $695 is still in effect for the uninsured in 2018. The mandate dies in 2019. -- Maggie Dore"
One would think Trump and his henchmen would have staff fact check his remarks to ensure the lunatic does not get caught in a lie. Then again, the president continues to talk and tweet off the cuff, continually lies, shifts course, contradicts himself, etc.. Has to be quite a nightmare for staff who do their best to control the lunatic.
"Employee bonuses
"Since we passed tax cuts, roughly 3 million workers have already gotten tax cut bonuses -- many of them thousands and thousands of dollars per worker. And it's getting more every month, every week."
FACT CHECK: TRUE, BUT...
Americans for Tax Reform, a pro-GOP group, has been keeping track of this by aggregating a bunch of companies' press releases. The group claims 285 companies and at least 3 million Americans are receiving special tax reform bonuses. But Obama economic adviser Larry Summers has thrown cold water on this methodology, arguing that firms are raising wages because the labor market is tight. He called it "a gimmick" in an interview a few days ago on CNBC's "Squawk Alley." "That's a very common device. If you want to give somebody some money but you don't want to promise it to them on a continuing basis, you frame it as a bonus," Summers said. "Look, the corporate tax cuts are going to be forever. If the firms really believe this had to do with corporate tax cuts, why aren't they committing to bonuses forever?" -- Maggie Dore and Katiana Krawchenko"
Remains disingenuous bullshit cleverly designed to spin the truth, distort reality, cleverly bamboozle. Precisely, why public faith and trust in our institutions remain as low as they do.
"Pharmaceutical drugs
"To speed access to breakthrough cures and affordable generic drugs, last year the FDA approved more new and generic drugs and medical devices than ever before in our country's history."
FACT CHECK: TRUE, BUT THIS HAS BEEN A TREND FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS
For the full year of 2017, according to the FDA commissioner, the FDA approved a record number of generic drugs. Fortune magazine has tracked drug approvals, and reported earlier this month that U.S. drug approvals hit a 21-year high last year. Forty-six novel medicines were greenlighted, Fortune noted, which was twice the number of the previous year."
Once again, Trump takes credit for something that's been in the pipeline. Some have accused the FDA of being too quick to approve drugs and devices that may turn out to be dangerous, ineffective, or have unexpected side effects.
"Guantanamo Bay and terrorism
"In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield -- including the ISIS leader, al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released."
FACT CHECK: TRUE
The director of National Intelligence (DNI) reported that as of Jan. 15, 2017, 208 people released from Guantanamo Bay are confirmed or suspected of re-engaging in terrorist activity. The vast majority were released under the Bush administration."
Fascinating, isn't it? Trump conveniently ignores continued abuses in this facility. Appalling human rights violations. The fact prisoners have been denied protections of the Geneva Conventions. The fact those remaining have been held for years without proper adjudication is an egregious humanitarian issue unbecoming a supposedly democratic republic. Emulate your enemy? Become no better.
"ISIS
"One year later, I'm proud to report that the coalition to defeat ISIS has liberated very close to 100 percent of the territory just recently held by these killers in Iraq and Syria and in other locations, as well. But there is much more work to be done. We will continue our fight until ISIS is defeated."
FACT CHECK: TRUE,
This claim is accurate as of Jan. 1, 2018, according to the Defense Department.
Army Lt. Gen. Paul E. Funk II, who is the commanding general on the Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve for the campaign against ISIS, said "more than 98 percent of the land once claimed by the terrorist group has been returned to the people." -- Jack Turman"
Once in awhile, the Trump nazi gets it right. Then again, had George "The Tush" Bush and "Slick Dick" Cheney not invaded Iraq under false pretenses, ISIS would not have been an issue.
"America's standing abroad
"As we rebuild America's strength and confidence at home, we are also restoring our strength and standing abroad."
FACT CHECK: DEBATABLE
In terms of strength, America certainly projected military might abroad, dropping the largest bomb in its arsenal for the first time in 2017 on a target in Afghanistan, and launching missile attacks on military targets in Syria. However, the State Department also issued a worldwide safety warning to American citizens in December after Mr. Trump's announcement that the U.S. would recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. It was the first time such a warning had been issued since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003. In terms of standing abroad, the 2018 edition of Edelman's annual trust barometer showed trust in the U.S. declining by 9 percentage points since their 2017 report, the steepest decline ever measured. By way of contrast, trust in China increased by the biggest proportion globally. -- Markham Nolan"
This ignores the fact our allies ferociously question the Trump nazi's efficacy as president. Don't trust his judgment. Question his reliability since he turns on a dime, constantly contradicts himself. Dangerously made a fool of himself engaging in a nuclear pissing contest with the North Korean dictator. List can go on and on.
"Opioid addiction
"These reforms will also support our response to the terrible crisis of opioid and drug addiction. Never before has it been like it is now. It is terrible. We have to do something about it. In 2016, we lost 64,000 Americans to drug overdoses -- 174 deaths per day; 7 per hour. We must get much tougher on drug dealers and pushers if we are going to succeed in stopping this scourge."
FACT CHECK: PARTLY TRUE
Yes, 64,000 Americans died in 2016 from opioid overdoses according to the CDC. But what the president doesn't mention is that since he took office, the number of deaths has continued to rise. From June 2016 to June 2017 the number of overdose deaths increased by 16 percent, to 66,817. While the president refers to drug pushers and drug dealers, 80 percent of heroin users developed their addiction because of a previous addiction to prescription opioids, according to the federal government. There has been no movement so far by the federal government on any major funding for drug treatment. -- Laura Strickler"
What we have here is a renewed failed War On Drugs by the Trump nazi and his AG sidekick, the racist Sessions nazi.
"Judges
"Working with the Senate, we are appointing judges who will interpret the Constitution as written, including a great new Supreme Court Justice, and more circuit court judges than any new administration in the history of our country."
FACT CHECK: TRUE
Mr. Trump has nominated 12 circuit court judges who have been successfully confirmed by the Senate, more than any other president since circuit courts were created in 1891. Barack Obama got three through the Senate in his first year. -- Gaby Ake"
The problem with this is the fact every one of these 'jurists' legislate their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views from the bench. Precisely, what the Trump nazi and his henchmen desperately want. Exactly, why they were appointed and confirmed.
The worst part of the speech was the fact Trump continued to falsely suggest that immigration, illegal and otherwise, poses an exigent threat to public safety. Simply not true. Nearly, all immigrants undocumented and/or otherwise obey the law. Are no threat to anyone. Lead productive lives. Are not planted on the taxpayer tit as all politicians, both parties.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
The criminal jackbooted bastards in the Border Patrol present an exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. Nazi storm troopers. CBS News reports:
"U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are defending their right to detain and arrest a woman found on a Greyhound bus in Fort Lauderdale without legal documents proving her citizenship. According to CBS Miami, agents boarded the bus on Friday as part of a routine inspection and asked passengers for proof of citizenship."
In the United States, no one is required to carry identification to ride a bus. F--k the bastards.
"A video taken by a passenger, which was later posted on Twitter by the immigrant advocacy group Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC), appears to show a border agent asking a woman the location of her belongings before taking her off the bus.
".@CustomsBorder
got on a Greyhound bus yesterday at 4:30pm in Fort Lauderdale and asked
every passenger for their papers and to prove citizenship. Proof of citizenship
is NOT required to ride a bus! For more information about your rights,
call our hotline 1-888-600-5762 pic.twitter.com/rWJn61o8VP
—
FLImmigrantCoalition (@FLImmigrant) January 20, 2018"
Sue the living shit out of the traitorous bastards.
"The video went viral over the weekend amid the government shutdown and breakdown in immigration reform talks. It's been viewed over 3 million times. According to FLIC, the bus driver told passengers security was coming onto the bus for a routine inspection. Instead, agents entered and began asking passengers to demonstrate proof of citizenship."
... Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming. Papieren Bitte! Papers Please! Ala Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. F--k the bastards.
ICE is no better. Jackbooted bastards. CBS News reports:
"Family and friends of a Michigan doctor who is facing possible deportation are fighting to keep him in the U.S. Lukasz Niec was arrested last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. The 43-year-old emigrated to the U.S. from Poland when he was five. His family believes his arrest is tied to misdemeanor charges from more than 25 years ago. Although he's not an American citizen, Niec became a permanent U.S. resident with a green card shortly after he moved here with his family in 1979. He's now being held in a Michigan County jail. His family fears that even if he is allowed to stay in the U.S., the battle could take months."
Republicans, party of the family? Horse shit. Liars.
"Him being away this long really does, you know, take love to a whole new level," said Niec's wife, Rachelle Burkhart-Niec. Burkhart-Niec says she thought it was a prank when her husband Lukasz called to say he had been detained by ICE. She says three ICE agents came to their Michigan home and put the father of two in handcuffs. "We need him here. And we're lonely without him and he knows that," Burkhart-Niec said. "He is fighting to be in his home which is the United States. He doesn't even speak Polish," said Niec's sister, Iwona Niec-Villaire. She believes the detention stems in part from a 1992 misdemeanor arrest for property damage that Niec pleaded guilty to when he was 17."
Nazi storm troopers. In the mold of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. The bastards are out of uniform. No swastika armbands. Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.
Think you've heard it all? Believe these bastards to be anything other than nazi storm troopers? Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"Last Wednesday, a nonprofit group that provides humanitarian aid to migrants in the Arizona desert released a lengthy report alleging Border Patrol agents were intentionally destroying supplies left for migrants in the desert, the group said, to “condemn border crossers to suffering, death and disappearance.” What received wider attention, however, was a video that the Tucson-based aid group, No More Deaths, also distributed with its report. The footage, taken between 2010 and 2017, showed Border Patrol agents kicking over water jugs that had been left in the desert. In one clip, a male agent sneers at the person filming him, demanding to know whom the water is for, as he empties a gallon bottle of water onto the ground."
Think they're not beyond doing such?
"Now the aid group is calling the arrest of one its volunteers suspicious. On Wednesday, Border Patrol agents arrested Scott Warren, 35, in the desert near Ajo, Ariz., about eight hours after the No More Deaths report and video were released. Warren, a longtime volunteer with the group and a faculty associate at Arizona State University, was detained on preliminary felony charges of alien smuggling; he appeared in court Thursday and was released on his own recognizance, the group said in a statement. Border Patrol agents also arrested two people who were with Warren on Wednesday and “receiving humanitarian aid” at the time, according to No More Deaths. Those two people remain in custody, the group said. Alicia Dinsmore, a volunteer with No More Deaths, told The Washington Post that the group felt it was “suspicious” that Border Patrol agents would arrest a known, longtime volunteer the same day the group released video that was critical of the agency. “I think the timing is suspect,” Dinsmore said. “I can’t speak to Border Patrol’s knowledge.”
Transformation of the de facto fascist police-state we already live in to Trump's Fourth Reich.
"A Border Patrol spokesman denied that the agency had targeted the aid group because of the video. “It’s not retaliation,” Carlos Diaz, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told The Post. “We’re protecting immigration laws in the area, and there was a situation in which we needed to do the arrest because there were some illegal individuals in that area.”
Say what? Non-sequitur.
"Border Patrol agents were conducting surveillance at a building in Ajo known as “the Barn” last Wednesday when they tracked two undocumented immigrants entering, according to a complaint filed against Warren in U.S. District Court in Arizona. The two Mexico natives, identified as Kristian Pérez-Villanueva and José Arnaldo Sacaria-Goday, told Border Patrol agents they had looked up online “the best ways and methods to cross the border illegally before crossing” and discovered the Barn was a place they could get food and water, the complaint stated. “After finding their way to the Barn, Warren met them outside and gave them food and water for approximately three days,” the complaint stated. “Sacaria said that Warren took care of them in the Barn by giving them food, water, beds and clean clothes.” Warren’s attorney, William Walker, was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. He told the Arizona Republic that Warren had been trying to save lives at “the Barn,” not act criminally. “We don’t smuggle them. We don’t do anything to help them enter the United States. We do nothing illegal,” Walker told the newspaper. “This place that they raided is not in the middle of the desert. It’s not hidden anywhere. It’s in the city of Ajo, and it’s been used for a long time, not to help smuggle migrants but to give medical care and food and water.”
Can't have that in Nazi America, can we?
"Dinsmore said it was not the first time Border Patrol agents have arrested its volunteers while they were giving aid to migrants. In 2005, two volunteers with No More Deaths were arrested and charged with felonies while they were actively providing aid, she said. A federal judge later dismissed those indictments."
... Trump nazi and his henchmen in the Border Patrol by fuhrer fiat now require Good Samaritans to let them die?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Never, ever, never run from the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue. Grants these murderers carte blanche to murder on the job. The Washington Post reports:
"Two U.S. Park Police officers stood within close range of Bijan Ghaisar as he sat behind the wheel of his stopped Jeep Grand Cherokee, then fired nine shots into his vehicle as it slowly veered into a ditch away from the officers, a video recording of the Nov. 17 incident released Wednesday shows."
Intent? Apparently, to murder their victim.
"The video reveals for the first time what happened after the 25-year-old accountant fled the scene of a fender-bender in Alexandria about 15 minutes earlier, and was pursued by Park Police and Fairfax County officers down the George Washington Memorial Parkway into the Fort Hunt area of Fairfax. The video also captures two brief encounters in which Ghaisar stopped for police, and shows that the two Park Police officers ran to his car and both times an officer pointed a gun at Ghaisar. Both times, Ghaisar then drove away without any apparent interaction with the officers."
Apparently, the bastards were toying with the victim. Getting their cookies off.
"In the moments before he was repeatedly shot, there also does not appear to be any interaction with or provocation by Ghaisar, whose window remained closed. But his Jeep began to move slowly forward again after stopping, the video shows, sparking the first set of five shots. When the Jeep drifted forward four seconds later, the officers fired two more times at close range. When it drifted again 11 seconds later, the officers fired a final two shots, the video shows."
Gutless thugs. An execution.
"Ghaisar’s lawyers said medical records now show he was shot four times in the head, not three as previously reported, and once in the wrist. The lawyers said he was unarmed, and the video does not indicate that he wielded a weapon. The video shows the officers were not in any apparent danger of being struck when the Jeep moved forward. Ghaisar died ten days later."
Criminal jackbooted murderers in blue. ... Right, Sheriff?
"The incident was recorded by the in-car camera of a Fairfax County police officer who followed the Park Police officers from the George Washington parkway to the final stop. The Park Police have not identified the officers or explained why they shot Ghaisar, and their faces have been blurred in the video. They remain on administrative leave, Park Police Sgt. James Dingeldein said."
Jesus Christ. The public has a right to this information. Why are these murderous bastards being protected and coddled?
"The FBI is investigating the shooting but has refused to release any information about the case. So Fairfax police Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. took the step of releasing the video publicly Wednesday, after pushing federal authorities to let the Ghaisar family watch it, which they did on Sunday. Roessler said in December that he had provided the video to the FBI, but that they should release it as soon as possible, in the interests of transparency and aiding the victim’s family, who live in McLean, Va."
Pressure on the Chief must be enormous, ferocious:
“This disturbing video shows the senseless killing of a young man at the hands of those charged with protecting public safety,” Ghaisar family attorneys Roy L. Austin Jr. and Thomas Connolly said in a statement Wednesday. “Bijan Ghaisar was repeatedly threatened by over-aggressive and out-of-control law enforcement officers, after he drove away from a minor traffic incident in which he was the victim and in which there was little property damage and no known injuries.”
Never flee. Grants then carte blanche to murder.
"The Park Police investigated the shooting for three days, then shifted the case to the FBI. The U.S. attorney’s office in Washington is overseeing the investigation, after the U.S. attorney’s office in Alexandria was recused from the case, along with the civil rights division of the Justice Department."
Not clear why. This appears to be an extremely complicated case. Inexplicable.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Highly reminiscent of our outrageously bought and paid for judiciary, Llano County prosecutors, Sheriff Bill Blackburn and his criminal SS jackbooted bastards in black who continue to egregiously disgrace themselves and the badge, do as they please regardless of the law and Constitution, carefully consider the following. It's appalling. Runs against the grain of everything our formerly great country once stood for. No longer.
Traitors in the United States Senate egregiously disgraced themselves, abrogated their oaths of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. CBS News reports:
"The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted 65-34 to reauthorize controversial foreign surveillance powers, sending the bill to President Trump's desk."
Gutless goddamned traitors.
"Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which was passed under former President George W. Bush in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was set to expire Friday night. Some Republicans — such as Rep. Justin Amash, R-Michigan — along with many Democrats opposed reauthorizing section 702, arguing the executive branch's surveillance powers are too expansive, and should include additional privacy protections."
Direct violation of the Fourth Amendment right to probable cause and a search warrant signed by a judge.
"However, the bill that ultimately passed leaves the program roughly as-is. Section 702 allows the government to intercept the electronic communications of non-U.S. persons, and has long been criticized by civil liberty advocates."
Nazi America. No longer a country ruled by the United States Constitution, but by nazi storm troopers.
A determinedly traitorous Republican nazi disingenuously treasonously gutlessly disgraced himself:
"Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, praised the bill's passage."
Gutless galling traitor:
"Today, the Senate took this important step in reauthorizing what I believe is our single most important national security tool," Burr said. "This bill will help us to fulfill our most important duty as senators: keeping Americans safe. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has been reviewed time and again by both the courts and Congress, and has been found to be not just constitutional, but vital to our country's defense. I look forward to the president signing this legislation without delay."
As Franklin wisely opined well over two hundred years ago, anyone willing to trade liberty for security deserves and winds up with neither. The Senator is a gutless traitor. The bastard is so achingly stupid and ill informed that he does not understand the prime directive of Congress is to protect and defend the United States Constitution.
Outrageously unqualified to warm his seat in the Senate. This piece of crap has shamelessly betrayed not only his oath of office, but the people who elected this gutless turd. The courts are lined with clueless GOP nazis on the bench who traitorously legislate their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views from the bench.
Sadly, as achingly clueless as the Senator. What this statute does is not protect this country, but allow its equally gutless jackbooted bastards to go on warrantless fishing expeditions in direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. The founding document of our formerly great country no longer rules supreme.
Traitorous jackbooted storm troopers do. Clearly, out of uniform. No swastika armbands. Founders? Spinning in their graves. Our formerly great country is no longer a democratic republic. Now, a goddamned de facto fascist police-state, soon to be transformed to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.
Nazi Republicans like Burr treasonously facilitate this. So do Democrats who gutlessly go along. We've lost our country. The people have only themselves to blame. Remain gutlessly silent. Consequently, get what they truly deserve.
Nazis in Congress serve themselves and their corporate masters. Certainly, not the Constitution and public they've falsely sworn to protect and defend. Precisely, why an unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Hear the rumble?
Think the public's not seething? Roiling? NPR reports:
"Trust in the institutions that have been the pillars of U.S. politics and capitalism is crumbling. That is one finding from the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, which shows that Americans have limited confidence in its public schools, courts, organized labor and banks — and even less confidence in big business, the presidency, the political parties and the media."
Think this isn't a problem? Portend of pending unmitigated disaster?
"The American public has the least confidence in Congress, the body tasked with making laws that can affect every person in the country. Just 8 percent of people have a great deal of confidence in the institution. Almost two-thirds of Republicans expressed little confidence in Congress — and their party runs it."
What does that tell you? Nothing?
"Not far behind Congress is the Republican Party, not a good sign for the GOP in an election year with an unpopular president. Just 29 percent of Americans said they have quite a lot or a great deal of confidence in the party, compared with 68 percent who said they don't have very much or none at all in the party."
Yet, the fascist bastards running the party remain achingly clueless. Determinedly, out of touch.
"Democrats, though, should temper their glee. They fare better, but not by much. Just 36 percent expressed confidence in the Democratic Party versus 62 percent who did not."
Democrats have been out to lunch since November 22, 1963. Absent without leave.
"And the media looks just about as bad as the GOP, with 68 percent not having much confidence or none at all in the press. Particularly worrisome for the media is that a majority of Republicans, a 53 percent, have no confidence in them at all. Combined with those who said not very much confidence, 90 percent of Republicans expressed a lack of confidence in the media. Forty-two percent of Democrats felt the same, as did three-quarters of independents. Fairness and objectivity are tenets and pillars of a free press, but those have been eroded in the eyes of many Americans."
Been a problem for decades. When a politician or spokesperson stonewalls a question, each follow up reporter needs to ask the same question until it gets answered. If not, time to walk out. Questioning needs to be ferociously pointed. If the politician lies, obfuscates, hold his or her feet proverbially to the fire.
Don't tolerate bullshit. Don't go along to get along. Do your job. Don't give a shit who gets offended. Let it rip. If the piece of crap lies, stonewalls, obfuscates, hold him or her accountable. Never back off. Always be well prepared, confrontational as necessary.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
The Trump nazi is certainly getting his. LOL. No happy camper. Doesn't your heart bleed? LOL. Government is at least temporarily shut down due primarily to his insanity, but also failure of GOP national socialists to effectively handle their fuhrer's egregious unfitness for office. The Washington Times reports:
"President Trump lashed out at Senate Democrats Saturday for shutting down the federal government, saying they are “far more concerned with Illegal Immigrants than they are with our great Military or Safety at our dangerous Southern Border.”
Jesus Christ. Crock of shit. Distortion of reality by our psychotic fuhrer.
“They could have easily made a deal but decided to play Shutdown politics instead,” Mr. Trump tweeted early Saturday morning, about six hours after the Senate failed to pass another short-term spending bill that would have kept the government open."
The Democrats wisely played their trump card. -- No pun intended. LOL. The nazi son of a bitch and his fellow Republicans refused to include DACA. Precisely, why Democrats refused to play ball. Why should they? Why not stick it to Republicans and the Trump nazi who previously falsely claimed to support new legislation legalizing Dreamers?
"Mr. Trump noted that the shutdown coincides with the first anniversary of his inauguration. “The Democrats wanted to give me a nice present,” he said."
Tough shit, Donny Boy. Got precisely what you deserved. Uncharacteristically, Democrats finally found their cajones, stood up to these fascist bastards. Can we stand it? LOL.
"In voting before midnight, Democrats made good on their threat to withhold votes to fund the government until Republicans agree to grant citizenship rights to illegal immigrant “Dreamers.” Four Republicans voted with 44 Democrats in mounting the filibuster."
How about that? Good to see not all Republicans are bona fide nazis. LOL.
"The president said the shutdown illustrates the need for more Republican victories in the mid-term elections this year."
Insanity. Wishful thinking. Republicans are likely to get their asses figuratively kicked like never before.
“For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60,” Mr.Trump said. “That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!” He said Congress needs more Republicans “in order to power through mess!”
What we need is impeachment, conviction, and removal of office of the Trump nazi. Then, criminal prosecution.
"White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said “Senate Democrats own the ‘Schumer Shutdown,” referring to Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York."
More egregious distortion of reality by this insane shill of the Trump nazi. Seems to conveniently forget Republicans own both houses of Congress and the Oval Office. To say nothing of the judiciary. Remain egregious failures. An exigent threat to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.
“They put politics above our national security, military families, vulnerable children, and our country’s ability to serve all Americans,” she said. “This is the behavior of obstructionist losers, not legislators.”
Jesus Christ. Although no Democrat, these fascist pieces of shit seem to have conveniently forgotten they did precisely the same to Obama for eight goddamned years. Their hypocrisy? World class. Unadulterated horse shit. Unbecoming.
"The White House is saying now that it won’t resume negotiations on the status of “Dreamers” until Democrats agree to fund the government."
F--k the White House.
“When Democrats start paying our armed forces and first responders we will reopen negotiations on immigration reform. During this politically manufactured Schumer shutdown, the president and his administration will fight for and protect the American people,” Mrs. Sanders said."
More insanity. More egregious distortion of reality. More phony propaganda from a shill who wouldn't know truth if it bit her hard on the gluteus maximi.
Coup de grace? Epitome of a 'Let 'em eat cake mentality?'
"The president canceled plans to fly to his private club in Florida, Mar-a-Lago, on Saturday for a celebration of his first anniversary in office. Couples were paying $100,000 each to attend the gala."
The Washington Post reports:
"Republican and Democratic leaders both said they would continue to talk, raising the possibility of a solution over the weekend. But House Republican leaders vowed that there will be no negotiating on immigration policy, a priority among Democrats, during the shutdown. “Senate Democrats shut down this government, and now Senate Democrats need to open this government back up,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said in a midday speech, adding that Democrats should “Come to your senses, do the right thing.”
Got it ass backwards, Mr. Speaker. Should have long since settled the immigration issue. Instead of pulling an Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini. While the Democrats have not been worth a crap since November 22, 1963, at least they've finally stood up to you nazi bastards in the Republican Party. Better late than never.
Surprisingly, Democrats seem willing to stand their ground:
"House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters that the GOP conference was very unified behind a proposed three-week extension of funding being worked on by Senate Republicans that he thought could pass the House with votes from both parties. But House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said her caucus would not agree to such a plan “unless we have the terms of engagement” on a longer-term spending plan for the rest of the fiscal year. On the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s inauguration, she stood at a news conference pointing at a poster of the president’s tweet from last May calling for a “good shutdown.” “Happy Anniversary, Mr. President,” Pelosi said. “Your wish came true. You want to shut down? The shutdown is all yours.”
Indeed.
NPR reports:
"The federal government may be in a partial shutdown, but the gears of a political blame game kept rolling Saturday morning. President Trump was tweeting at dawn, blaming Democrats for the lapse in government funding as the Senate failed to advance a four-week extension overnight. Trump accused Democrats of choosing "unchecked illegal immigration" over the military, and Democrats say he has not kept his word to find a deal to protect immigrants who came to the country illegally as children.
"Democrats
are holding our Military hostage over their desire to have unchecked illegal
immigration. Can’t let that happen!
—
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018"
Distortion of reality by a president who's apparently lost his mind.
"It's an unprecedented situation, given that broad shutdowns usually happen in times of divided government. This is the first time it has happened with the same party controlling both Congress and the White House."
Precisely, why Republicans will likely own this shutdown should it extend.
Apparently, some progress has been made. ... Or, someone's about to blink. NBC News reports:
"The three-day government shutdown is on the verge of ending after enough Senate Democrats joined Republicans to advance a three-week extension of funding in exchange for GOP assurances that Congress would take up a larger immigration bill in that time."
Think gutless Democrats may be caving in to Republican nazis? If so, they'll take quite a beating in coming midterms.
"The stopgap funding measure, which needed 60 votes to clear a key procedural hurdle, was approved 81 to 18. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the agreement shortly ahead of the vote: “After several discussions, offers, counter-offers, the Republican leader and I have come to an arrangement. We will vote today to reopen the government to continue negotiating a global agreement, with the commitment that, if an agreement isn’t reached by February 8, the Senate will immediately proceed to consideration of legislation dealing with DACA.”
Think so?
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had scheduled a vote for noon on the short-term funding proposal with a pledge to continue working on immigration issues, but Democrats had questioned his commitment. A bipartisan group of senators worked behind the scenes throughout the morning to find a solution, and Democrats emerged from a caucus meeting announcing they would support the measure."
Here is precisely why Democrats may have gutlessly capitulated:
"McConnell also spoke prior to the vote, saying, "I think if we learned anything during this process, it’s that a strategy to shut down the government over an issue of illegal immigration is something the American people didn’t understand. And would not have understood in the future. So I’m glad we’ve gotten past that and we have a chance now to get back to work."
Jesus Christ. Is this only GOP spin, -- or Democrats gutlessly capitulating to Republicans nazis owning all branches and levels of government?
"Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Democrats got enough to satisfy them moving forward. “We got a path clear on how we’re going to get a full year budget and we got a path clear on who we’re going to start the immigration debate. I think that’s significant. That’s not what we had before.”
Sounds like you gutless bastards may have caved. If so, will cost you dearly in midterms. Worse? Hear the rumble? An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming as both major political parties continue to concertedly f--k over the best interests of the long-suffering public.
Short stop gap was passed. Will extend the fiasco until it expires shortly, Feb. 8. Democrats caved to the Trump nazi and his fellow national socialists in the Republican Party. Failed to stand tall.
Coup de grace? Get this. NPR reports:
"In a late night tweet Tuesday, President Trump ratcheted up taunts aimed at Democrats over the short-lived government shutdown, reiterating his insistence that there can be no fix on DACA without funding for his border wall.
"Cryin' Chuck Schumer fully understands, especially after his humiliating defeat, that if there is no Wall, there is no DACA," the president tweeted, referring to what he earlier described as how the Democrats "caved" on the shutdown."
Indeed. The gutless bastards did.
"Tuesday's tweet came after Schumer, the Senate minority leader, informed the White House that he was withdrawing an offer made during the heat of funding negotiations. In it, he agreed to support more than $1.6 billion for construction of the wall along the southern border with Mexico. But, as Schumer told reporters on Tuesday, that offer, made Friday, was contingent on striking a more comprehensive deal that included DACA — a deal that has not materialized. "The thought was that we could come to an agreement that afternoon, the president would announce his support, and the Senate and the House would get it done and it would be on the president's desk," Schumer said Tuesday, according to Politico. "He didn't do that. So we're going to have to start on a new basis, and so the wall offer is off the table," he said."
Tough shit, Mr. 'President.' Schumer, clearly as insane as you, sir. Psychotic of him to offer any funding for a boondoggle wall that will only line the pockets of the corporate management suite.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Amazing how the Catholic Church continues to stupidly shoot itself in the ass vis a vis pedophile priests. AP reports:
"Pope Francis’ top adviser on clerical sex abuse implicitly rebuked the pontiff over his accusations of slander against Chilean abuse victims, saying Saturday that his words were “a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse.”
Especially surprising coming from a Jesuit pope. Readers are reminded Jesuits are the intellectuals of the Church.
"Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, said he couldn’t explain why Francis “chose the particular words he used” and that such expressions had the effect of abandoning victims and relegating them to “discredited exile.”
An exceptionally stupid move by the Pope guarantied to backfire on a Church suffering from an egregious lack of credibility.
"In an extraordinary effort at damage control, O’Malley insisted in a statement that Francis “fully recognizes the egregious failures of the church and its clergy who abused children and the devastating impact those crimes have had on survivors and their loved ones.”
Sadly, the Pope's comments scream otherwise. His deafening silence well after speaks volumes.
Here's the problem:
"Francis set off a national uproar upon leaving Chile on Thursday when he accused victims of the country’s most notorious pedophile priest of having slandered another bishop, Juan Barros. The victims say Barros knew of the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima but did nothing to stop it — a charge Barros denies. “The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I’ll speak,” Francis told Chilean journalists in the northern city of Iquique. “There is not one shred of proof against him. It’s all calumny. Is that clear?”
Clearly, sadly, it's not.
"The remarks shocked Chileans, drew immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates and once again raised the question of whether the 81-year-old Argentine Jesuit “gets it” about sex abuse."
Apparently, not.
"The Karadima scandal has devastated the credibility of the Roman Catholic Church in Chile, and Francis’ comments will likely haunt it for the foreseeable future."
Sadly, not only in Chile.
"O’Malley’s carefully worded critique was remarkable since it is rare for a cardinal to publicly rebuke the pope in such terms. But Francis’ remarks were so potentially toxic to the Vatican’s years-long effort to turn the tide on decades of clerical sex abuse and coverup that he clearly felt he had to respond."
Encouraging to see a high church official willing to stand up and challenge the pontiff. May certainly pay a price for his boldness.
The Church doesn't seem to learn from its mistakes:
"It is understandable that Pope Francis’ statements ... were a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator,” O’Malley said in the statement. “Words that convey the message ‘if you cannot prove your claims then you will not be believed’ abandon those who have suffered reprehensible criminal violations of their human dignity and relegate survivors to discredited exile.”
Gone on for decades.
"Francis’ comments were all the more problematic because Karadima’s victims were deemed so credible by the Vatican that it sentenced him to a lifetime of “penance and prayer” in 2011. A Chilean judge also found the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, proof of his crimes wasn’t lacking."
Stupid for the Church not to have moved Barros on as well.
"Those same victims accused Barros of witnessing the abuse. Yet Francis said he considered their accusations “all calumny” and that he wouldn’t believe them without proof."
What could the Pope possibly been thinking? Could age be a factor? ... As it may be in the case of the Trump nazi?
Carefully consider the following:
"Catholic officials for years sought to discredit victims of abuse by accusing them of slandering and attacking the church with their claims. But many in the church and the Vatican have come to reluctantly acknowledge that victims usually told the truth and that the church had wrongly sought to protect its own by demonizing and discrediting the most vulnerable of its flock."
Why would anyone not sexually abused by a priest step forward only to face these bastards concertedly doing all they can to personally discredit them?
Coup de grace?
"Karadima’s victims reported to church authorities as early as 2002 that he would kiss and fondle them in the swank Santiago parish he ran. But only when they went public with their accusations in 2010 did the Vatican launch an investigation that led to Karadima being removed from ministry."
Get this:
"The emeritus archbishop of Santiago subsequently apologized for having refused to believe the victims from the start."
Yet, the Pope failed to rise to the occasion:
"Francis reopened the wounds of the scandal in 2015 when he named Barros, a protege of Karadima, as bishop of the southern diocese of Osorno."
Egregious aggressive stupidity.
"His appointment outraged Chileans, badly divided the Osorno diocese and further undermined the church’s credibility in the country."
Not only there, but across the globe. Inexplicable.
Insanity continues. Rages on. Unabated. In follow up, The Washington Post reports:
"Pope Francis apologized for remarks he made last week defending a bishop in Chile accused of covering up sexual abuse, but he did not back down from his support of the bishop who has caused a firestorm. The pope’s remarks had caused widespread backlash among abuse survivors and even prompted criticism from Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and the pope’s top adviser on clerical sex abuse. Francis said that he realized his words hurt many, but he repeated his view that Chilean Bishop Juan Barros — the bishop at the center of the controversy — is innocent, according to reporters on the papal plane flying back to Rome. “The drama of those abused is terrible,” the pope said. Last week, the pope said victims who had accused Barros were committing slander, which drew criticism from O’Malley in Boston."
'Can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.' Once again, the Pope has stupidly, figuratively shot himself in the ass.
1-26-18
Not so quick follow up on the Middle East. The Washington Post reports:
"The United States will open its embassy in Jerusalem next year, Vice President Pence said Monday, accelerating plans that have sparked fury from Palestinians and widespread condemnation in the region."
What this does is ensure there will be no peace in the region for the foreseeable future. Aggressive stupidity at its very worst.
"Speaking in Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, Pence looked notably more at ease than during earlier meetings in Egypt and Jordan, where he has been forced to defend the controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. He voiced his wholehearted support for Israel."
Pence, earlier, rightfully got his ass figuratively kicked hard by the King of Jordan. More on that to come.
"Jerusalem is Israel’s capital — and, as such, President Trump has directed the State Department to immediately begin preparations to move the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem," Pence said to applause."
The hell it is, Mr. Vice President. As the center of the world's three greatest religions Jerusalem belongs to all, to no one in particular. Until you nazi bastards in Washington and Israel understand this, there will be no end to the conflict.
"In the weeks ahead, our administration will advance its plan to open the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem — and that United States embassy will open before the end of next year."
You've lost yourself in your self-righteous nazism, Mr. Pence. Remain unfit for office. ... As your fuhrer, the Trump nazi.
"When President Trump announced the decision in December, U.S. officials indicated that it may take three or four years to move the embassy. That decision was made in the best interests of peace, Pence said."
You're insane, Mr. Vice President. Psychotically, clueless. Hopelessly, delusional.
"But it was difficult Monday to see how it could spur progress between the two sides. Israeli Arab lawmakers staged a walkout at the beginning of Pence’s speech, resulting in a small scuffle. One held up a sign reading “Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine” in Arabic and English, before being pushed out of the chamber by security."
No free speech in a country that's increasingly emulating its oppressors in Nazi Germany, ala 1933.
"Palestinian officials also snubbed his visit."
Rightfully, so. Our formerly great country is not, has not been, an honest broker of peace in the region. Sadly, quite the opposite. For decades.
"Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday was instead visiting Brussels, where he urged members of the European Union to recognize a Palestinian state along 1967 borders. Abbas described the E.U. as the “main partner” for building a Palestinian state."
The United States and Israel stand virtually alone in the world community. With damned good reason.
"The decision to speed up the embassy move is likely to further rankle Palestinians, who consider East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state and say that Trump’s presidency has been defined by threats on their side, but incentives and rewards for Israel."
No question. Certainly, true. Interestingly, the rest of the world seems to so easily see this, while Israel and the U.S. remain determinedly blind. Hopelessly, so.
"Pence, an evangelical Christian, was a driving force behind the administration’s decision on Jerusalem and flanked Trump as he made the announcement. In his own past statements, he has gone further than Trump, describing Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital."
As Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, the Nazi Right now centered in the Republican Party has determinedly, concertedly bastardized Christianity to perversely justify its brand of nazism.
“The messianic discourse of Pence is a gift to extremists and has proven that the U.S. administration is part of the problem rather than the solution,” said the Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat. “His message to the rest of the world is clear: Violate international law and resolutions, and the U.S. will reward you,” he said."
Sadly, he's right. Quite correct. Precisely, why an unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms. Why few abroad trust us and the leadership of our formerly great country.
The Washington Post reports:
"In pointed public remarks, Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Vice President Pence on Sunday that he had repeatedly warned Washington about the risks of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and that he hoped the United States would now “reach out” and find the right way to move forward. At a meeting at his palace in the Jordanian capital, Amman, Abdullah said that he had been encouraged by President Trump’s commitment to bring a solution to decades of conflict by Israelis and Palestinians — but that Jerusalem is key to achieving peace."
The Trump nazi and his henchmen cannot, will not, be confused with the truth.
“I had continuously voiced over the past year, in my meetings with Washington, my concerns regarding the U.S. decision on Jerusalem that does not come as a result of a comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” he said, addressing Pence and his delegation from across a dining table laid out for lunch. “Today we have a major challenge to overcome, especially with some of the rising frustrations.”
Pence and his cohorts are blinded by their perverse brand of 'Christian' nazism.
"He added that it was “very important” to find a way to move forward with a two-state solution, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state formed on pre-1967 borders, living side by side with a “secure and recognized” Israel. “Your visit here, I am sure, is to rebuild the trust and confidence,” he said."
Wishful thinking. Pence was there to impose the will of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.
"Pence responded by thanking Abdullah for his “warm hospitality” and repeatedly referred to him as a friend. “We are here to reaffirm our friendship and our partnership and our great respect for you,” he said."
Crock of shit. This nazi was well aware of the views of the King and fellow Moslems in the region. Trump and his fellow nazis have no respect, no regard for the Palestinians. Enable the Israeli aggressor to keep its boot heel on their throats. Sell the aggressor F-16s, two thousand pound bombs dropped on highly-populated Palestinian neighborhoods in direct violation of U.S. export law that requires such weapons only be used defensively, not offensively.
"Pence’s regional tour is partly aimed at smoothing over relations with U.S. allies in wake of Trump’s controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital."
Delusional. The Trump nazi and his henchmen have done damage that will take years to remedy.
Trump and his henchmen remain truly detached from reality:
"The vice president said before he left for Egypt this weekend that he hoped that the U.S. decision on Jerusalem would help rather than hinder a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. But the Palestinian leadership has reacted with anger to the decision and has refused to meet with Pence, while other regional allies have spoken out against the move."
Why should they talk? The fascist bastards in Washington are doing all they can to force their will on the Palestinians. To benefit the Israeli aggressor.
"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said Trump’s decision spells the end to the United States being a sole broker for the peace process. Israeli Arab members of parliament also said they would boycott Pence’s visit to Israel."
Certainly, sends the message they won't capitulate to the bastards.
"Speaking to Abdullah on Sunday, Pence said the Jerusalem decision was “historic” but that the United States is committed to continuing to respect Jordan’s role as the custodian of the city’s holy sites and that the United States has made no decision on boundaries and the final status of the city, which is subject to negotiations."
The nazi is speaking out both sides his ass. Precisely, why he has zero credibility.
"Trump, however, appeared to contradict that in a tweet earlier this month by saying that Jerusalem was “off the table” for negotiations, drawing further ire from Palestinians."
Trump cannot be trusted. Remains a diabolical liar. No credibility. No stability. An out of control narcissist intent on imposing his brand of nazism on an increasingly resistant public.
“The United States of America remains committed, if the parties agree, to a two-state solution,” Pence said. “We are committed to restarting the peace process, and Jordan does now and has always played a central role in facilitating peace in the region.”
Absolute bullshit. Israel and our formerly great country do not want a two-state solution. Want it all. That is, the Israeli aggressor with its continued boot heel on the throat of the Palestinians. Precisely, why there will be no peace. Why the killing will continue unabated. The King and his father have repeatedly made the mistake of trying to reason and negotiate with Israel and the United States for decades to no avail.
The following is the crux of the matter:
"Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List representing Israel’s Arab parliamentarians, said Sunday that his faction of 13 lawmakers would probably stage a walkout as Pence speaks to Israeli parliament, known as the Knesset, on Monday."
(Already happened.)
“Trump is whimsical, even racist,” said Odeh. “But Pence, with his evangelical ideology, is very dangerous. I do not want him to come here, give a speech and we all sit quietly and applaud him.” Odeh added: “There are some people in this country that want to say to him that he is not welcome here. We want peace, with a Palestinian country next to Israel. Sitting quietly and listening to him is giving him legitimization. We want the Americans to know that there are some Israelis who do not see him as legitimate.”
The same is true right here in the United States.
"The comments were criticized by other Israeli politicians. At the start of his weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a “disgrace” that certain Knesset members were planning to boycott or disrupt Pence’s “important visit in the Knesset.” “We will all be there and share the great honor that he deserves,” he said."
As national socialist, Pence has no honor. Deserves no respect. Has egregiously abrogated his oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution. A traitor.
"Netanyahu said the two would discuss “Trump’s efforts to curb Iranian aggression and the Iranian nuclear program,” as well as peace and security. “Those who truly aspire to these goals know that there is no substitute for the leadership of the United States,” said Netanyahu."
The Israeli aggressor gutlessly kisses U.S. ass when it behooves it.
"Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, meanwhile, said he condemned the “outrageous” statements by Odeh in the “strongest terms.”
For telling the truth? A truth you fascist bastards in Israel remain determinedly blind to?
"The U.S. decision on Jerusalem was seen in part as a political move to satisfy Trump’s base of white evangelical voters. Pence has gone further than Trump in his own declarations on Jerusalem, describing it as “the eternal undivided capital of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.”
Achingly, obscene.
"Before it was delayed last month, Pence’s trip was also billed as a chance for the vice president to check on the status of the region’s Christian minority. However, in the wake of the Jerusalem decision, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church said he would not meet with the vice president, and a trip to the West Bank city of Bethlehem was also scrapped."
Still, the Pence nazi and his fuhrer remain blind.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Think the Trump nazi and his henchmen aren't bigots? The Washington Post reports:
"President Trump’s voting commission asked every state and the District for detailed voter registration data, but in Texas’s case it took an additional step: It asked to see Texas records that identify all voters with Hispanic surnames, newly released documents show. In buying nearly 50 million records from the state with the nation’s second-largest Hispanic population, a researcher for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity checked a box on two Texas public voter data request forms explicitly asking for the “Hispanic surname flag notation,” to be included in information sent to the voting commission, according to copies of the signed and notarized state forms. White House and Texas officials said the state’s voter data was never delivered because a lawsuit brought by Texas voting rights advocates after the request last year temporarily stopped any data handoff."
Hope that's true. Truth being a moving target in Nazi America, we'll never know for sure.
"The voting commission was disbanded Jan. 3 after Trump cited a host of ongoing state and federal lawsuits and resistance from state officials over the sweeping pursuit, in the name of investigating alleged voter fraud, of information about more than 150 million voters across the country. The voting panel said it would destroy all voter data it had gathered, without detailing any data purchases."
Why not? The public is entitled to know the precise extent of data purchases.
"Civil and voting rights groups in particular have said the nationwide initiative could establish a pretext to target African American and Latino voters. State officials criticized the project for its potential effect on Americans’ privacy, state oversight on elections and voter participation."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Never ends. Where have we heard this before? Decade after decade. Crying wolf to line the pockets of war profiteers. NPR reports:
"The Pentagon unveiled its National Defense Strategy, a document that focuses on the "eroding" U.S. military advantage with regard to Russia and China, and will likely influence future spending on weapons systems and other military hardware. "The department needs to focus on Russia and China," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Elbridge Colby, during a question and answer session with reporters at the Pentagon. "The erosion of our military advantage is the problem."
The problem is endless war profiteering. Why is a full audit of defense spending yet to occur? Decades after a commitment was made to do precisely that.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Consider the following. What does it tell you? NPR reports:
"The global approval rating for U.S. leadership now stands at 30 percent — lower in President Trump's first year in office than it was under former President George W. Bush, according to the Gallup World Poll. The image of America's leadership now trails both Germany and China, Gallup says. International regard for U.S. leadership fell sharply from the 48 percent approval rating for 2016, former President Barack Obama's last year in office. The previous low of 34 percent was reached at the end of the Bush administration."
Surprised? Why?
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Figurative noose seems to be tightening around the Trump nazi and his henchmen. CBS News reports:
"FBI Director Christopher Wray reportedly threatened to resign from his post after being pressured by the Trump administration to fire Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. Axios, citing three sources with direct knowledge of the situation, reports that Wray had threatened to leave his position if McCabe was to be removed amid growing pressure by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions was reportedly urged to put pressure on Wray by President Trump."
Fascinating, isn't it?
Get this. The Washington Post reports:
"Shortly after President Trump fired his FBI director in May, he summoned to the Oval Office the bureau’s acting director for a get-to-know-you meeting. The two men exchanged pleasantries, but before long, Trump, according to several current and former U.S. officials, asked Andrew McCabe a pointed question: Whom did he vote for in the 2016 election? McCabe said he didn’t vote, according to the officials, who, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly about a sensitive matter. Trump, the officials said, also vented his anger at McCabe over the several hundred thousand dollars in donations that his wife, a Democrat, received for her failed 2015 Virginia state Senate bid from a political action committee controlled by a close friend of Hillary Clinton."
Gets worse:
"McCabe, 49, who had been FBI deputy director for a little more than a year when James B. Comey was fired, is at the center of much of the political jockeying surrounding the investigation into potential coordination between Trump associates and the Kremlin. He has for months been the subject of Trump’s ire, prompting angry tweets suggesting that the Russia probe is politically motivated by Democrats sore about losing the election."
Can you say obstruction?
"McCabe, who has spent more than two decades at the bureau, found the conversation with Trump “disturbing,” said one former U.S. official. Inside the FBI, officials familiar with the exchange expressed frustration that a civil servant — even a very senior agent in the No.2 position — would be asked how he voted and criticized for his wife’s political leanings by the president. One person said the Trump-McCabe conversation is of interest to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The encounter is also the latest example of Trump erupting at a senior official, whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for recusing himself from the Russia probe, or White House counsel Donald McGahn, for not doing more to quash the investigation early on."
Think Trump doesn't have a problem? Think Mueller isn't zeroing in? NPR reports:
"Attorney General Jeff Sessions was interviewed last week by special counsel Robert Mueller as part of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Sessions is the first member of President Trump's Cabinet known to have been questioned by the special counsel's office in its investigation into possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow."
Republicans are clearly shitting in their pants. Desperate to discredit the investigation.
"In the attorney general's meeting, which was first reported by The New York Times, Sessions answered questions about the Trump campaign's contacts with Russians and their proxies during the 2016 presidential campaign. He's also understood to have discussed possible obstruction of justice in the firing of FBI director James Comey—a dismissal that Sessions supported."
Doesn't your heart bleed?
Another one gets the boot. NPR reports:
"Carl Higbie, who was appointed by President Trump to serve in the federal agency that runs AmericCorps and other volunteer service programs, has resigned his high-level post and apologized after a report emerged quoting racist and anti-Muslim remarks he made in 2013. Ranging from callous to provocative and often tipping into bigotry, Higbie's comments were unearthed by CNN's KFile unit, which published audio clips taken from the Internet talk radio program Sound of Freedom, which Higbie hosted, and other sources. In addition to their bigotry, many of the remarks promulgated outright falsehoods."
Must have broken the Trump nazi's heart to see him resign. ... Two peas in a pod. LOL.
Here's another pending problem for Rick "The Prick" Perry and the Trump nazi. CBS News reports:
"A former photographer at the Department of Energy says he lost his job in retaliation for making public photos of a meeting between Secretary Rick Perry and a coal baron peddling a wish list of policy initiatives that would directly benefit his company. Simon Edelman has filed a federal whistleblower complaint alleging he was terminated from the agency after he provided the photos to two media outlets that published them in December."
Another pending problem for Trump and his henchmen. The Washington Post reports:
"Prospective buyers of luxury apartments in the new Trump Towers project outside India’s capital are being lured with an unusual promise: If you buy a flat, we will fly you to the United States to meet Donald Trump Jr. The developers of the 600-foot high-rises unveiled a sleek sales office in the New Delhi suburb of Gurgaon last week, claiming they racked up $23 million in sales — more than 20 units — in the first day. The sweetener? One of the developers, Pankaj Bansal, told the Press Trust of India that “Donald Trump Jr. will host” the first 100 buyers in the United States."
Here's the problem:
"The launch of the new towers comes amid rising concerns that President Trump’s children — including Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are running their father’s business while he serves as president — are using their names to profit from their father’s presidency, and that foreign officials and others may stay in Trump hotels or buy Trump properties in attempts to curry favor or gain special access to the first family."
"A study released last week by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) found that the price of the popular “Ivanka Suite” in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, for example, increased from $914 a night last year to $2,134 a night in 2018."
The fascist bastard in the Oval Office is clearly selling the presidency:
"Norman L. Eisen, the co-chairman of CREW and a former Obama ethics adviser, called the Indian developers’ offer “outrageous.” “They are auctioning off access to the first family in a foreign land. What is to stop a foreign national with interests before the U.S. government from purchasing a flat, or tagging along with someone who did, simply to ask Don Junior to raise some issue or concern with his father?” Eisen said."
Indeed.
Of equal concern? Get this. NPR reports:
"Payday lenders appear to have a powerful friend in Washington. Former Republican congressman Mick Mulvaney is the interim head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He was appointed by President Trump amid an ongoing a power struggle for control of the bureau. Watchdog groups are up in arms because, under Mulvaney, the CFPB has put on hold a rule that would restrict payday lenders and their high-interest-rate loans. The agency has also dropped a lawsuit against online lenders charging 900-percent interest rates. Critics say these moves are payback for campaign contributions to Mulvaney when he was a lawmaker."
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
1-26-18
Trump has once again disgraced himself and our formerly great country. ABC News reports:
"President Donald Trump's dramatic expansion of a ban on U.S. funding to foreign organizations that promote or provide abortions has left impoverished women around the world without treatment for HIV, malaria and other diseases, health groups say, calling it "devastating" because Trump went where no administration had gone before."
What nazi hasn't?
"Trump in his first working day in office revived the so-called global gag rule. He expanded on previous versions so that for the first time foreign NGOs that even discuss abortion as an option are barred not only from about $575 million in U.S. family planning funds but also an estimated $8.8 billion in U.S. global health aid. And they must certify that none of their non-U.S. funding goes for abortion-related activities."
Trump and his sick sycophants don't believe you own your own uterus, ladies. They do. Both here and abroad.
Not only that, the nazi in the Oval Office intends to protect health providers who deny you services because of their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views. NPR reports:
"Health care workers who want to refuse to treat patients because of religious or moral beliefs will have a new defender in the Trump administration. The top civil rights official at the Department of Health and Human Services is creating the Division of Conscience and Religious Freedom to protect doctors, nurses and other health care workers who refuse to take part in procedures like abortion or treat certain people because of moral or religious objections."
This achingly ignorant asshole seems to have conveniently forgotten providing health care is not a right, but a privilege.
"Never forget that religious freedom is a primary freedom, that it is a civil right that deserves enforcement and respect," said Roger Severino, the director of HHS's Office for Civil Rights, at a ceremony to announce the new division."
Horse shit. Got it ass backwards, fool. You have absolutely no clue or regard for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties. None.
Contrast the above with the following. Took uncommon valor. Certainly, back in the day. NPR reports:
"The sign said, 'Pregnant? Don't Want to Be? Call Jane.' And a phone number," Willis remembers. "So, I called." "If you really care about something, you have to act on it." "Jane" was an underground network in Chicago that counseled and helped women who wanted to have abortions. The service was launched in 1965 by Heather Booth, then a 19-year-old student at the University of Chicago. Her friend's sister was pregnant and desperately wanted an abortion. Booth found a doctor who was willing to perform the procedure secretly."
Sad, isn't it? -- That it was indeed illegal back in the day to be master of your own uterus. Precisely, what Republican nazis are so desperate to return to.
"More calls started coming in. "By the third call, I realized I couldn't manage it on my own," Booth says. "So I set up a system. We called it 'Jane.' "At first, Jane connected women with doctors. But eventually, the group's members started performing abortions themselves. With time, Jane grew into an all-women network with dozens of members, ranging from students to housewives."
Jesus Christ. Sounds remarkably similar to what nazi Republican legislators do in the Texas Legislature, doesn't it? That is, practice medicine without a license. Certainly, legislatively instruct doctors what they can and cannot do vis a vis abortion procedures. These outrageous fascist bastards in the Legislature certainly believe they know what's best for the 'lil lady,' don't they?
"Martha Scott was 28 at the time and a stay-at-home mom with four children under the age of 5. She was motivated to join Jane because she felt women who wanted an abortion deserved to have a safe and inexpensive option. The fact that it was illegal did not deter her. "I just thought, if you really care about something, you have to act on it," Scott says."
Must really irk Republican nazis in the Legislature who truly wish to keep the 'lil lady' barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. -- Remarkably, to this very day. LOL.
"The dangers faced by women seeking abortions in the pre-Roe v. Wade era are well-documented. In 1930, abortion was listed as the official cause of death for almost 2,700 women in the United States, though there were likely many more unrecorded mortalities. After antibiotics were introduced in the 1940s, the number of women dying from illegal abortions dropped dramatically. However, every year, thousands of women continued to be admitted to hospitals nationwide for complications of illegal abortions."
The Trump nazi, his henchmen, and others in the Republican Party desperately want a return to yesteryear, the days of the back alley abortion.
"The women of Jane ran a finely tuned operation. "It was very clandestine and secretive," according to Leslie J. Reagan, a professor of history at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the author of When Abortion Was a Crime. When women called Jane, they would hear an answering machine message asking for their phone number, name and the date of their last period. A member of Jane would then call them back and set up a meeting to discuss the procedure. "There were lots of points along the way where they could have said, 'No, I change my mind,' " says Scott. "I don't think anyone chooses to have an abortion lightly."
No woman wanting an abortion should ever be denied the services of licensed healthcare providers in a safe setting. Republicans desperately want the opposite.
"In the seven years Jane was active, the group performed approximately 11,000 first- and second-trimester abortions. No deaths were ever reported of women who had abortions through Jane."
Stunning, isn't it? Why would Republicans ever want to return to those days?
"For years, Jane operated under the radar of the Chicago police. But in 1972, two Catholic women walked into a police station, reporting that their sister-in-law was planning to have an abortion. "To them, 1) it was a sin, and 2) they didn't want a child killed. That's how they felt," says Ted O'Connor, the then-31-year-old homicide detective who was put on the case."
It was none of their goddamned business.
"O'Connor and his partner tracked Jane to an apartment in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood. Scott vividly remembers when the police arrived. "They came in and looked around and said, 'Where's the doctor?' Looking for the guy, but there wasn't any guy, there was just us," she says. The policemen took all the women into custody, and they were charged with 11 counts of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion."
Clearly, the women knew the risk. Took a chance helping their sisters abort. Willingly, paid the price. The true crime was not an unlicensed provider and illegal abortion, it was the fact abortions were against the law.
"Looking back, O'Connor has no qualms about arresting the women, who were breaking the law. But he says he can see both sides of the issue. "My side is I don't want to see a life destroyed. That life is helpless, it has no choice in this. And that angers me," he says. "On the other hand, I've never been pregnant. And never will be. It's a tough issue."
First, this officer demonstratively epitomizes an exigent 'police mentality' sadly in existence to this very day. -- Despite the fact he is most unusual in the fact he acknowledges he has no clue what it's like to be pregnant. LOL. Second, the woman's right to do as she pleases with HER uterus trumps the non-existent rights of the fetus, that is, unborn child. If not, there is no liberty. No more than a facade. The freedom to do what you're told, -- which is no liberty at all.
"The arrests occurred while abortion laws were being debated on the national stage. Beginning in 1970, Alaska, Hawaii, New York and Washington repealed their anti-abortion laws. Six months after Jane was busted, on Jan. 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in the United States with their decision in Roe v. Wade. The charges against Jane were dropped. Ultimately, Roe vs. Wade brought an end to Jane because women then had access to legal abortion providers."
At least, these women at Jane apparently knew what they were doing. Unlike during the days of the coat hanger 'abortion' era. A return to those days of the back alley abortion will never be tolerated in this country. No question, the Nazi Right will lose this fight.
Cowardly fail to financially and/or materially support those fighting for all civil and constitutional rights and liberties at great personal cost and risk? Get what you truly deserve.
Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Tim Chorney, Publisher
Liberty In Peril
Formerly,
The Llano Ledger
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