Liberty In Peril

                                                                                              formerly,

                                                                                       The Llano Ledger

5-3-19

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 following is appalling.  Be interesting to see how it is adjudicated.  NPR reports:

"On Thursday, Andrew Lelling, U.S. attorney for District of Massachusetts, revealed federal charges against a Massachusetts judge and a former court officer for preventing an immigration official from taking custody of an undocumented immigrant defendant. A Massachusetts judge and a former court officer are facing federal charges for allegedly helping a defendant in a Newton, Mass., courtroom avoid arrest by an immigration officer last year. Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph and the now-retired court officer, Wesley MacGregor, are accused of helping the defendant, an undocumented immigrant, slip out the back door of Newton District Court while an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent waited to arrest him on a federal detainer in April 2018. Joseph and MacGregor are facing three obstruction charges: conspiracy, aiding and abetting, and obstruction of a federal proceeding. MacGregor, a trial court officer from 1993 until his retirement last month, was additionally charged with perjury for allegedly lying to the grand jury when he said he wasn't aware of an ICE officer in the courthouse that day."

Think that's how it went down?  ... Or, is this yet another example of an out of control federal government under the Trump nazi.  We'll certainly see.

"The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered Joseph be suspended without pay. "This Order is based solely on the fact that a sitting judge has been indicted for alleged misconduct in the performance of her judicial duties. It in no way reflects any opinion on the merits of the pending criminal case," the court wrote."

Big of them to provide the disclaimer, isn't it?

"Speaking to reporters, U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said this case neither is an indictment of the state's trial court system nor is about immigration policy. "It is about the rule of law," he said."

Think so?  Or, is it indeed a federal government egregiously out of control under the Trump nazi?  We'll certainly see.

"Lelling said he has heard gasps throughout the investigation from certain quarters from people surprised his office would pursue charges against a sitting judge. "We did not bring this case in response to the public debate over immigration enforcement."

Extremely difficult to believe with your office and the 'Justice' Department both under the fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  But we'll certainly see.

"There are reasonable arguments on both sides of that debate," Lelling said. "But this isn't a policy seminar — it's a law enforcement action."

Extremely difficult to believe.  Could it be the Trump nazi and/or someone in the regime forced the issue?  Again, we'll see.

Get this:

"Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat, issued a strong rebuke in response to Lelling's indictment, writing:

"Today's indictment is a radical and politically-motivated attack on our state and the independence of our courts. It is a bedrock principle of our constitutional system that federal prosecutors should not recklessly interfere with the operation of state courts and their administration of justice. This matter could have been appropriately handled by the Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Trial Court. I am deeply disappointed by U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling's misuse of prosecutorial resources and the chilling effect his actions will have."

Forget?  We now live in a de facto fascist police-state since 9/11, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.  ... Hear the rumble?

ABC News reports:

"A state judge in Massachusetts was indicted Thursday for refusing to allow ICE to take custody of an undocumented immigrant, according to court papers. Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph, 51, of Natick, was charged in the case along with a court officer, Wesley MacGregor, 56, of Watertown. “The allegations in today’s indictment involve obstruction by a sitting judge, that is intentional interference with the enforcement of federal law, and that is a crime," said U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling. "We cannot pick and choose the federal laws we follow, or use our personal views to justify violating the law."

Forget?  The Trump nazi and his henchmen do so on a daily basis.  Where is your outrage, Mr. U.S. Attorney?  Doing no more than the bidding of your fuhrer, the Trump nazi, Counselor?  We'll see.  Be interesting to see where this goes.  Stay tuned.

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.

5-3-19

The following is appalling.  Where did we lose ourselves?  The Washington Post reports:

"North Korea issued a $2 million bill for the hospital care of comatose American Otto Warmbier, insisting that a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay it before being allowed to fly the University of Virginia student from Pyongyang in 2017. The presentation of the invoice — not previously disclosed by U.S. or North Korean officials — was extraordinarily brazen even for a regime known for its aggressive tactics. But the main U.S. envoy sent to retrieve Warmbier signed an agreement to pay the medical bill on instructions passed down from President Trump, according to two people familiar with the situation. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly."

Where did we lose ourselves?  Where?

"The bill went to the Treasury Department, where it remained — unpaid — throughout 2017, the people said. However, it is unclear whether the Trump administration later paid the bill, or whether it came up during preparations for Trump’s two summits with Kim Jong Un. The White House declined to comment. “We do not comment on hostage negotiations, which is why they have been so successful during this administration,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in an email."

This woman is clearly an idiot.  Sadly, losing ground.

"Trump, as recently as Sept. 30, asserted that his administration paid “nothing” to get American “hostages” out of North Korea."

Trump has repeatedly proven himself to be a congenital liar since taking office.  Done so on a daily basis.  Not possible to know what to believe, -- or not.  Certainly, anything coming from Trump is now clearly suspect.

Readers will recall:

"Warmbier, who was 21, fell into a coma for unknown reasons the night he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor in March 2016. He was convicted on charges stemming from pulling down a propaganda sign in a Pyongyang hotel in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2016. Such an infraction would be minor in almost any other country, but in North Korea it was considered a “hostile act against the state.” Fred Warmbier, Otto’s father, said he was never told about the hospital bill. He said it sounded like a “ransom” for his late son."

Certainly, sounds like it.  -- If, in fact, that's how things went down.

"After his sentencing, the North Koreans held onto the comatose student for another 15 months, not even telling American officials until June 2017 that he had been unconscious all that time."

Clearly, these vicious bastards are savages.

"News of his condition sparked a frantic effort led by Joseph Yun, the State Department’s point man on North Korea at the time, to get Warmbier home. Yun and an emergency medicine doctor, Michael Flueckiger, traveled to Pyongyang on a medical evacuation plane. They were taken to Friendship Hospital in the diplomatic district, a clinic where only foreigners are treated, and found Warmbier lying in a room marked “intensive care unit,” unresponsive and with a feeding tube in his nose. Flueckiger examined Warmbier and asked the two North Korean doctors, who had a thick pile of charts, questions about the lab work, scans and X-rays they had done. Afterward, they went to a meeting room where the talks to free Warmbier began. “I didn’t realize what a negotiation it was going to be to secure his release,” said Flueckiger, who is medical director of Phoenix Air Group, an aviation company based in Cartersville, Ga., that specializes in medical evacuations. North Korean officials asked the doctor to write a report about his findings. “It was my impression that if I did not give them a document that I could sign off on, that would cause problems,” Flueckiger said in an interview. But the American said he did not have to lie in his report. Whatever had happened to put Warmbier into that state, it was “evident” that he had received “really good care” in the hospital, he said. The doctors had done “state-of-the-art resuscitation” to revive Warmbier after he suffered a catastrophic cardiovascular collapse, and it was “remarkable” that he had no bedsores, Flueckiger said. “Would I have lied to get him out of there? Maybe I would have,” he said. “But I didn’t have to answer that question.”

Jesus Christ.  No principles.  No honor.  Two reasons why our formerly great country is no longer respected.

"Yun, however, was faced with a more difficult predicament. The North Korean officials handed him a bill for $2 million, insisting he sign an agreement to pay it before they would allow him to take Warmbier home, according to the two people familiar with the situation. Yun called then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and told him about the bill. Tillerson called Trump. They instructed their envoy to sign the piece of paper agreeing that the $2 million would be paid, the two people said."

Jesus Christ.  If the above is indeed precisely how it went down, no principles, no honor, gutlessly caved into a vicious dictator.  -- There was a far, far greater principle at stake here than a young comatose American who had been viciously abused by these goddamned savages.

"A State Department spokesman and Yun, who retired in early 2018, both declined to comment. Tillerson, the Treasury Department and North Korea’s envoy responsible for U.S. affairs, based at its U.N. mission in New York, did not respond to requests for comment."

Why not?  Why are you sitting on the truth of what happened?  The victim is dead.  His family is entitled to the truth.

"Warmbier’s brain damage at North Korea’s hands and subsequent death caused widespread shock in the United States, but the news that North Korea expected the U.S. government to pay for his care has caused further backlash. “This is outrageous. They killed a perfectly healthy and happy college student and then had the audacity to expect the U.S. government to pay for his care,” said Greg Scarlatoiu, executive director of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea."

Imagine that.

"Having signed the documentation and secured Warmbier’s release, Yun and Flueckiger flew to Cincinnati to return the young man to his parents. Otto Warmbier died six days later, but the cause of his severe brain damage has never been ascertained."

Gutless sons of bitches.  Right up to and including the top of the Trump regime.

The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump said Friday that the United States did not pay any money to North Korea, which had issued a $2 million bill for the hospice care of American Otto Warmbier, the comatose University of Virginia student sent home from Pyongyang in 2017. “No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else,” Trump said in a morning tweet in which he suggested he has taken a different approach to hostage negotiations than his predecessor.

    "No money was paid to North Korea for Otto Warmbier, not two Million Dollars, not anything else. This is not the Obama Administration that paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages, or gave five terrorist hostages plus, who soon went back to battle, for traitor Sgt. Bergdahl!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2019"

Trump is a liar.  Distorts reality for political purposes.  The above is yet another example.

"Trump reiterated the point two hours later as he spoke to reporters outside the White House. “We did not pay money for our great Otto,” Trump said. “I haven’t paid money for any hostage. … We don’t pay money for hostages.”

"Trump claimed that the previous administration “paid 1.8 Billion Dollars for four hostages.” That referred to a 2016 settlement of a long-standing claim by Iran regarding undelivered aircraft on the same day four American detainees were released. State Department officials have insisted that the negotiations over the claims and detainees were not connected but came together at the same time, with the cash payment used as “leverage” to ensure the release of detainees."

Clearly, Trump lied. Wake up.  A congenital liar cannot be trusted to tell the truth.  Not distort reality for personal advantage, gain.

"Trump also cited the case of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who in 2009 walked off a U.S. military outpost in eastern Afghanistan and spent the next five years in enemy captivity. He was released in 2014 as part of a prisoner exchange for five Taliban members who were being held at the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Bergdahl pleaded guilty in October 2017 to charges of desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Trump has accused Bergdahl of being a traitor and called for his execution. Bergdahl was later sentenced to a dishonorable discharge from the Army but avoided prison time."

A narcissist, a congenital liar has no appreciation of reality.  No conception.

... Think our fuhrer is not a narcissist?  Wake up:

"In a second tweet Friday, Trump quoted an unnamed U.S. negotiator saying: “President Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.”

    “President Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.” Cheif Hostage Negotiator, USA!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2019"

LOL.  Pitiful.  Pathetic.  Raw insanity.  Unvarnished.  Disgrace to himself, our formerly great country.  -- Above quote posted with no spelling correction.

"A White House spokesman said Trump was referring to previous remarks by Robert O’Brien, the administration’s special presidential envoy for hostage affairs."

More bullshit.  Lame distortion of reality.

"O’Brien made similar remarks to those quoted by Trump at a March event in the Oval Office marking the return to the United States of Danny Burch, an American hostage who was freed in Yemen in February after nearly 18 months in captivity."

More of the same.  Both men have disgraced themselves.

Gets worse.  Get this:

"Speaking to reporters Friday, Trump claimed he was making “a lot of progress” in his efforts to denuclearize North Korea."

What progress?  Forget?  Kim gave him until the end of the year to wake up, come around, do his bidding.  LOL.  The bullshit never ends.

“I have a great relationship with Kim Jung Un,” said Trump, who also praised Russia and China for working with the United States toward its goal of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula."

More bullshit.  Pitiful.  Pathetic.  Our fuhrer has no substance.  Remains out to lunch.  Detached from reality.

ABC News reports:

"The Warmbier family has sued the Kim regime for their son's wrongful death, winning a $500 million judgment in December. It's unlikely North Korea will ever pay that money, but the family said it was "thankful that the United States has a fair and open judicial system so that the world can see that the Kim regime is legally and morally responsible for Otto’s death." Two months later, however, after his second meeting with Kim Jong Un, Trump seemed to absolve the North Korean dictator of Warmbier's death. "I don't believe that he would have allowed that to happen," Trump said of Kim during a post-summit news conference. "He felt badly about it ... he knew the case very well, but he knew it later." Trump later tweeted that he was "misinterpreted ... Of course I hold North Korea responsible... for Otto's mistreatment and death." But he didn't mention Kim by name -- something Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has declined to do as well."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Imagine that.

Think our fuhrer isn't a narcissist?  Wake up:

    “President Donald J. Trump is the greatest hostage negotiator that I know of in the history of the United States. 20 hostages, many in impossible circumstances, have been released in last two years. No money was paid.” Cheif Hostage Negotiator, USA!
    — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2019"

Above tweet posted exactly as written without correction.

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.

5-3-19

Think Trump's tax break for the top of the food chain hasn't caused severe deficit issues? Wake up.  The Washington Post reports:

"Top White House officials are imploring key Republicans to move quickly and raise the debt ceiling, four people briefed on the discussions said, concerned that a prolonged impasse could raise the chances of a misstep that damages the economy later this year. The requests have taken on new urgency because other budget discussions with Capitol Hill have broken down, leaving policymakers at a loss for ways to avoid a pileup of dangerous deadlines in September that could impact the stock market, labor market and economic growth. Acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney has played a major role in communicating the desire, and it’s shared broadly by many Republicans on Capitol Hill, according to the people briefed on the discussion, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private deliberations. But the effort appears to be getting little traction so far, in part because some Democrats are insisting that any debt ceiling deal come as part of a package of changes that raises spending levels after October. The White House has sent mixed signals as to whether it would support raising spending caps, and Democrats have asked for firm commitments before they will proceed."

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.

5-3-19

Congress is constitutionally-mandated to oversee the Executive Branch, that is, the president and his henchmen.  The Trump nazi, our not-so-fearless fuhrer, is stiffly resisting.  NBC News reports:

"The White House is denying a request by the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee for testimony from senior adviser Stephen Miller about the administration's controversial immigration actions. "The precedent for members of the White House staff to decline invitations to testify before congressional committees has been consistently adhered to by administrations of both political parties and is based on clearly established constitutional doctrines,” White House counsel Pat Cipollone wrote in a letter to the committee's chairman, Elijah Cummings, on Wednesday."

If there's nothing to hide, everything's on the up and up, why not proceed?  What are you so afraid of?  The truth?

"After getting Cipollone’s response, Cummings, along with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., wrote the acting director of the Department of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, on Thursday seeking documents related to Trump’s recent removal of several senior leaders at the Homeland Security Department. Earlier this month, Trump announced that Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and other department leaders were leaving their posts, with a report in The Washington Post saying Trump wanted to move in a "tougher direction" on immigration enforcement and was giving Miller more influence over immigration and border issues."

Here's the point:

“We are deeply concerned that the firing and forced resignation of these officials puts the security of the American people at risk,” the Democratic chairmen wrote. “We are also concerned that the President may have removed DHS officials because they refused his demands to violate federal immigration law and judicial orders. Moreover, we are concerned by reports that, even as he has removed the Department’s leadership, the President has sought to empower a White House aide, Stephen Miller, to ‘be in charge of handling all immigration and border affairs.’” Trump said in an interview with the Post on Tuesday that he is opposed to current and former White House officials testifying before congressional committees in the wake of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, heightening a confrontation between his administration and House Democrats as they probe the findings of the report. “There is no reason to go any further, and especially in Congress where it’s very partisan — obviously very partisan,” Trump told the newspaper."

There is indeed good reason to do precisely that.  Forget?  Mueller posited ten possible instances of presidential obstruction of justice Congress would be wise to look into.  What are you so afraid of mein fuhrer?  The truth?

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump on Wednesday excoriated Democrats for probing his finances and his administration and declared, "We're fighting all the subpoenas."

If you're innocent, why stonewall?

"The subpoenas are ridiculous. I have been the most transparent president and administration in the history of our country by far," Trump said, referring to recent moves by House Democrats. Trump spoke to reporters [on] the South Lawn of the White House before departing for an event on the opioid crisis."

That's simply untrue.  You're a congenital liar.  Have no credibility.

"The Democratic chairs of powerful congressional oversight committees have ramped up their investigations into Trump's businesses and his administration in the wake of the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report. They've issued subpoenas for the president's finances, information about White House security clearances and the 2020 census and for the full, unredacted Mueller report. Earlier in April, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal formally requested Trump's tax returns from the Internal Revenue Service, setting up what's likely to be a prolonged battle with Trump's administration over documents the president has refused to release."

Again, if there is nothing to hide, why stonewall?

"I say it's enough," Trump told reporters. "Get back to infrastructure, get back to cutting taxes, get back to lowering prescription drug prices."

... And ignore a corrupt, abusive, lying criminal of a president?

"Trump on Wednesday also continued to claim vindication, reiterating that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia. He slammed Mueller's nearly two-year investigation as one conducted by "18 angry Democrats," but still called it the "most thorough investigation in the history of our country."

Crock of shit.  The investigation was limited in scope, unlike ongoing investigations conducted by state and federal prosecutors in New York.

"He also said he assumed that Mueller got his taxes in the course of his investigation, suggesting there was no need for Democrats to obtain those documents."

Yet, another crock of shit highly ignorant of the constitutional mandate of congressional oversight of the Executive Branch.  Conversely, Trump has no conception of the constitutionally-limited mandates of presidential power.  Unfit to be president.  A colossal failure.

"Nadler also issued a subpoena [to] Trump's former White House counsel Don McGahn for testimony and documents as part the panel's investigation into possible obstruction of justice by the president and others. The report said, for example, that Trump ordered McGahn to tell Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that "Mueller has to go." The administration is also fighting subpoenas and formal requests for administration officials to testify into several ongoing probes related to oversight of the administration's policies. Lawyers for Trump and the Trump Organization are suing Rep. Elijah Cummings, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, to block a subpoena for years of financial records from several Trump entities. Additionally, the Justice Department told Cummings Wednesday that it would not comply with a committee subpoena ordering John Gore, an official in its civil rights division, to testify about the 2020 census without a DOJ attorney present. Gore is a key figure in an effort by Democrats to determine Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross' rationale for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census. Cummings called the move "a massive, unprecedented, and growing pattern of obstruction" by Trump's administration, and said in a statement that the deposition of Gore slated for Thursday before his committee would go on as scheduled."

There is a constitutional remedy for all this stonewalling.  Impeach the son of a bitch.  Tie him up in impeachment proceedings the rest of his term of office.  Slow him down and the damage he's reeking.  Matters not that a Republican nazi-owned Senate would never convict.

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign has not publicly stated that it will not use hacked materials to its advantage — in glaring contrast with the Democratic National Committee and a long list of the party's 2020 candidates who have pledged not to do so. The investigation into Russian election meddling by special counsel Robert Mueller found that the Russian government not only interfered in the 2016 race in "sweeping and systematic fashion," but it also made helping Trump win a priority. Mueller's report, made public last week, said that while investigators had found no criminal conspiracy between the campaign and the Russians, the Trump team expected to "benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts."

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump insisted on Thursday that he never told former White House Counsel Donald McGahn to fire special counsel Robert Mueller weeks after he was appointed in 2017 — an event reported in the media and described in Mueller's report. "As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so," Trump wrote.

"Trump's current and former attorneys have made the same claim in recent media appearances since the publication of Mueller's redacted report last week. "I think the president simply wanted McGahn to call Rosenstein and have [Mueller] vetted," Trump's former attorney John Dowd told Fox News on Monday. Dowd added, "The president was entitled to do that." Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, told "Fox News Sunday" that McGahn was "confused" about what took place. Those statements run counter to Mueller's nearly 450-page report, which detailed how McGahn received at least two phone calls with Trump in which the president "directed him to call" Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to have Mueller "removed."

"On the broader issue of whether Trump obstructed justice, Mueller wrote in his report that if his investigators "had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state." "Accordingly, while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," Mueller wrote, later adding that Trump's "efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests."

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump is trying to show Congress that he's boss. The release last week of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible obstruction of justice by Trump has unleashed the president's fury — as evidenced by a steady stream of angry tweets and threats of retribution against adversaries real and perceived — and his willingness to thumb his front tooth at Congress. The result is an escalating assertion of the presidency as the dominant branch of government in a war over the balance of power. The battle has implications for the rest of Trump's first term, his re-election bid and the institutional authorities at the heart of American democracy. There's even some thought that Trump is now baiting the House to impeach him. "I think it's entirely possible he’s pursuing a briar-patch strategy, like bring your impeachment because you will be punished for it — not by me, but by the voters," said Michael Caputo, a GOP strategist and former Trump adviser. Increasingly, constitutional experts say Trump is providing evidence to conclude that there are grounds outside Mueller's findings that he has crossed the Constitution's loosely defined "high crimes and misdemeanors" threshold for impeachment."

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.

5-3-19

More push back.  NPR reports:

"A federal judge in Washington state has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's overhaul of the federal reproductive health care program known as Title X. The nationwide preliminary injunction puts a stop — at least for now — to new regulations that were set to take effect on May 3. Among other changes, the rules would prohibit any organization that offers or refers patients for abortion from receiving Title X funds to cover services like contraception and STD screenings for low-income patients. Reproductive rights activists cheered the ruling, issued Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge Stanley Bastian in the Eastern District of Washington state.

"A federal judge in Oregon also said earlier this week that he plans to issue an injunction blocking the rules, though he has not yet specified the scope of his ruling. The judge, Michael McShane, described the rule as a "ham-fisted approach to public health policy," The Oregonian reported. That suit was brought by a coalition of more than 20 state attorneys general, Planned Parenthood and the American Medical Association. Planned Parenthood officials have said if the changes to Title X are allowed to take effect, the organization, which serves about 40% of the program's 4 million patients, would no longer be able to participate. Supporters of the Trump administration's regulations argue that no federal funds should go to any group involved in abortion."

You fascist bastards on the Nazi Right have no right to force your perverse ideological and religious views on the rest of us in direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  You're goddamned nazis.

CBS News reports:

"A federal judge on Thursday blocked a Trump administration "gag order" rule that would have restricted some health clinics — including Planned Parenthood — from referring patients to abortion providers. The proposed changes were set to go into effect next week. Judge Stanley Bastian in the Eastern District of Washington orally issued an injunction to temporarily halt controversial changes proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services to Title X, the federal program that provides birth control, cancer screenings, and other reproductive health related services to low-income women. "The potential harm of the domestic gag rule is enormous," said Kinsey Hasstedt, a senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive research organization, in a statement. "We are relieved the court has recognized the potentially devastating harms of the domestic gag rule and halted its implementation." In a tweet, the Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson called the decision a "major victory" and said the injunction would be applied nationally."

Who the hell are these goddamned Republican fascists to force their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on the rest of us?  Why aren't Democrats standing up to these out of control nazis?  Democrats are all talk.  No action.  Neither major political party is worth a crap.  For totally different reasons.

"When it was proposed, Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Dr. Leana Wen called the changes "unconscionable and unethical." "This rule compromises the oath that I took to serve patients and help them with making the best decision for their own health," Wen wrote in a statement in February. "Patients expect their doctors to speak honestly with them, to answer their questions, to help them in their time of need."

Called honesty.  Candor.  The truth.  Concepts the Nazi Right, now embedded in the Republican Party, cannot comprehend.  Clearly, lacks the intellectual capacity.

"Since Title X was enacted in 1970, its funds have always been prohibited from paying for abortion services."

Clear violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, that is, freedom from religion.  Yet, this shit continues.  Promulgated by Republican fascists.

"While health clinics that provide abortions are eligible for the funds, the specific Title X money isn't allowed to go toward anything related to providing the procedure."

Outrageously unconstitutional.  Ladies?  These fascist assholes delusionally believe they own YOUR uterus.

"The full written injunction is expected to come out early next week, said a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood."

Excellent.  About time.

"Washington's case is one of 21 that have challenged the changes proposed to Title X funding. On Tuesday evening, a judge in Oregon said he planned to block the order as well, calling the proposal a "ham-fisted approach to public policy." He said he would issue a written opinion to clarify the scope of his decision, according to a Planned Parenthood spokesperson."

No woman should be forced to carry her fetus to term.  Your uterus belongs to you, ladies.  Not the assholes on the Nazi Right.  Time to stand up to nazism.  Remains a direct threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  The constitutional rights of the pregnant woman take precedence over any rights the nazi element is desperately attempting to grant her fetus.  If the state, in effect, owns a woman's uterus through proscription of abortion, she is no longer free.  She's owned by the state.

Trump, his henchmen, and the Republican Party present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Democrats remain all talk.  No action.  These are exceptionally perilous times for our formerly great country.  Liberty, under direct assault.  A madman occupies the Oval Office.  Republicans blindly march in goose step.  This nation is precisely where Nazi Germany was when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor in 1933.  Worst, yet to come.  ... Hear the rumble?  An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.

NPR reports:

"The Kansas Constitution protects a woman's right to an abortion, the state's Supreme Court ruled Friday. The landmark ruling now stands as the law of the land in Kansas with no path for an appeal. Because it turns on the state's constitution, abortion would remain legal in Kansas even if the Roe v. Wade case that established a national right to abortion is ever reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court."

Called freedom.  A concept the Nazi Right has no grasp of, regard for.

"The decision turbo-charged efforts among conservatives in the Kansas legislature to ask voters to add an abortion ban to the state constitution. Lawmakers return to Topeka next week."

These are not conservatives.  They're fascists.  A conservative wants as little interference from government as possible.  A fascist thrives on it.

"The decision, in which one of the seven justices dissented, cites in its first sentence the first section of the Kansas Constitution's Bill of Rights: "All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The decision continues: "We are now asked: 'Is this declaration of rights more than an idealized aspiration? And, if so, do the substantive rights include a woman's right to make decisions about her body, including the decision whether to continue her pregnancy? We answer these questions, 'Yes.'" The court continued that "this right allows a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body, health, family formation, and family life — decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy." "The State may only infringe upon the right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy," the ruling continued, "if the State has a compelling interest and has narrowly tailored its actions to that interest."

None of the government's goddamned business.  None of the business of the Nazi Right.

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.

5-3-19

The following?  Appalling.  Un-American.  Right Wing Nazi.  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump on Friday defended his comments after the 2017 “Unite the Right” protests in which an avowed neo-Nazi killed a woman and injured dozens of others in Charlottesville, arguing that his focus was on the protesters defending the monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee."

Defended the indefensible.  His neo-Nazi friends.  Not the Lee monument.  Not that that would have been much better.  At best, disingenuous.  At worst, another lie.  Must not be forgotten our fuhrer remains a congenital liar incapable of telling the truth.

"Trump, pressed on whether he stood by his comments that there were “very fine people on both sides,” told reporters, “If you look at what I said, you will see that that question was answered perfectly. And I was talking about people that went because they felt very strongly about the monument to Robert E. Lee, a great general.”

Disingenuous bullshit.  A congenital liar.  Incapable of telling the truth.  Out to lunch.  Delusional.

"Former vice president Joe Biden resurrected Trump’s response to the deadly rally by self-professed white supremacists in a video to launch his presidential campaign on Thursday. In it, Biden said Trump’s remarks “shocked the conscience of this nation.” “With those words, the president of the United States assigned a moral equivalence between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it,” Biden says in the video. “And in that moment, I knew the threat to this nation was unlike any I had ever seen in my lifetime.”

Jesus Christ.  You should talk, Joe.  Forget?  You and your fellow Democrats eviscerated Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing.  You and your cronies were a united, collective piece of shit at the time.  Both parties.  What has truly changed, sir?  What?  It's the same old shit.  Now, more in the closet.  More difficult to confront, challenge.  Wake up.  You're a 'has been.'

"Trump, who spoke to reporters en route to a speech to the National Rifle Association in Indiana, said, “People were there protesting the taking down of the monument of Robert E. Lee. Everybody knows that.”

Not so.  Another lie.  Was far more than that.  Far more.  Think not? Wake up:

"Trump and others have tried to distinguish between the self-proclaimed white supremacists and neo-Nazis, and the other supporters of Confederate monuments, who were all marching in Charlottesville that weekend. But the events that weekend were organized by a self-proclaimed white nationalist, Richard Spencer, and those in attendance wore swastikas and chanted anti-Semitic slogans."

That's right.  Our fascist fuhrer, the Trump nazi and his supporters conveniently ignore that fact.

Also, concertedly, determinedly ignore the following:

"James Alex Fields Jr., who killed one woman and injured 35 other people when he plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters at the rally by self-proclaimed white supremacists, pleaded guilty to hate crimes in federal court earlier this month. Fields, 21, of Ohio admitted guilt to 29 of 30 counts in a federal indictment as part of a deal with prosecutors, who agreed they would not seek the death penalty in the case. Fields is set to be sentenced July 3."

Will escape the death penalty.  His victim did not.

More disingenuous bullshit, outrageous re-write of history:

"Some Trump supporters have become Charlottesville truthers, arguing that Trump’s comments were taken out of context. They maintain, as Trump does, that he was not calling self-proclaimed neo-Nazis and white supremacists “very fine people,” and in fact, he said they should be condemned."

Jesus Christ.  No more than re-write of reality.  These sons of bitches wouldn't know truth if it figuratively bit them hard on the ass.  Congenital liars.  -- Just like their fuhrer.

"Post writer Aaron Blake more thoroughly examined the fallacies of this argument, noting that it’s hard to make the case that there were “very fine people” marching alongside people chanting, “Jews will not replace us.”

Wake up.  You've been bamboozled.  Status quo, unsustainable.  Worst?  Yet to come.

The Washington Post reports:

"First came Joe Biden’s campaign announcement video highlighting President Trump’s “very fine people on both sides” comment about the 2017 white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville that left a counterprotester dead. Then Trump dug in, arguing that he was referring not to the self-professed neo-Nazi marchers, but to those who had opposed the removal of a statue of the “great” Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Less than 24 hours later came another act of violence described by authorities as a hate crime: Saturday’s shooting at a synagogue in Poway, Calif., in which a gunman killed one person and injured three others. Those events have pushed the rising tide of white nationalism to the forefront of the 2020 presidential campaign, putting Trump on the defensive and prompting even some Republicans to acknowledge that the president is taking a political risk by continuing to stand by his Charlottesville comments. “The president’s handling of Charlottesville was not one of the finer moments of his time in office,” Republican strategist Ryan Williams said. “He shouldn’t take Joe Biden’s bait and re-litigate this controversy.”

Trump continues to show his true colors.  Expect less of a 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.

5-3-19

More failure, push back against the Trump nazi.  NPR reports:

"The Trump administration is postponing controversial plans to greatly expand oil and gas drilling off of the nation's coasts, following a recent setback in court and months of pushback from coastal communities. Last month, a federal judge in Alaska ruled that President Trump exceeded his authority when he signed an executive order to lift an Obama-era ban on oil and gas drilling in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. The decision immediately reinstated those protections, and was a major blow to the administration's efforts to boost oil and gas development across the country. While the Trump administration is expected to appeal the decision, a resolution could be a long ways off. That makes it uncertain where new oil leases may eventually be allowed. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, published Thursday, newly confirmed Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said that his agency may wait for the court process to play out before moving forward with plans to open up more than 90 percent of all federal waters to offshore oil and gas leasing. "By the time the court rules, that may be discombobulating to our plan," Bernhardt told the newspaper."

Tough shit.  Consider the damage a spill could cause.

"Last year, the Trump administration said it would move to allow offshore oil and gas leasing in nearly all of the nation's coastal waters. The proposal was met with instant criticism from environmental groups and governors' offices along the East and West coasts. Even some Republican lawmakers joined in the backlash."

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.

5-3-19

Self-inflicted harm.  CBS News reports:

"President Trump has disputed the full Mueller report, calling portions "untrue." But his comments made after the report's release could be used by Congress, as some Democrats look at whether they can start impeachment proceedings."

Aggressive stupidity.  Trump remains his own worst enemy.

"CBS News legal analyst Jonathan Turley called the Mueller report a 400-page tale of "self-inflicted wounds." He told "CBS This Morning" the president is "writing a sequel" by claiming he never told former White House counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller. "He's creating a very important factual dispute that Congress has no choice but to investigate. And if he's lying, that was part of the first article of impeachment against Richard Nixon," Turley said."

What webs we weave.

"The Mueller report found that in June of 2017, Mr. Trump directed McGahn to get rid of Mueller. McGahn told the special counsel the president called him twice, saying "Mueller has to go." But the report found McGahn was prepared to resign instead of following through with the request. On Thursday, Mr. Trump tweeted, "As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so. If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn't need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself." McGahn has been subpoenaed to testify before the House Judiciary Committee."

For damned good reason.  Precisely, why Trump is resisting.

"As for whether the Mueller report provides enough evidence for impeachment on its own, Turley said that comes down to a matter of interpretation. "If you actually look at Article I of the impeachment of Richard Nixon, it has many of the items that Mueller combed out of his investigation," Turley said. "Things like suggesting to witnesses that they might be pardoned or given commutations, giving false statements or deceiving the public. All these things that are in the Mueller report actually were part of the Nixon impeachment."

The worst is yet 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.

5-3-19

Gets worse.  Get this.  CBS News reports:

"President Trump is speaking to the supportive National Rifle Association Friday in Indianapolis Friday, in a rally-like speech. Mr. Trump re-upped comments he made the night before to Sean Hannity, when he said the Mueller investigation and actions at the FBI constituted an attempted "coup" and overthrow of government. "They tried for a coup, didn't work out so well. I didn't need a gun for that one, did I?" Mr. Trump said."

He's insane.  Unfit for office.  Wake up.

"Mr. Trump, in somewhat cryptic and confusing comments, referred to the alleged attempted overthrow of the government. The president on Thursday night referred to the Mueller investigation as the attempted overthrow of the government. On Friday morning before the NRA, Mr. Trump said he "didn't need a gun" for that incident, and a lot of "bad apples" resigned. "Didn't need a gun for that one, did I?" he told the supportive crowd."

This man is out to lunch.  Delusional.

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.

5-3-19

More of the same.  NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump on Friday accused Democrats and the U.S. intelligence community of attempting a "coup" in the form of special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation and said he didn't "need a gun" to fend it off. "They tried for a coup, it didn't work out so well. And I didn't need a gun for that one, did I?" Trump told the crowd of gun-rights advocates at the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting in Indianapolis on Friday. "All was taking place at the highest levels in Washington, D.C. You've been watching, you've been seeing.” "Spying, surveillance. Trying for an overthrow," Trump continued. "And we caught them, we caught them. Who would have thought in our 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.

5-3-19

Trouble in paradise.  NPR reports:

"Special counsel Robert Mueller wrote a letter in late March objecting to Attorney General William Barr's four-page summary of the conclusions of the investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, a Justice Department official confirmed Tuesday night. The letter written to Barr expressed the special counsel's frustration that the attorney general's memo to Congress "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance" of the investigation, according to The Washington Post."

Why wasn't that letter released to the public at the time?  Stonewalling will not make this issue conveniently disappear.  Only reinforce determination to expose it.

"Days earlier, Barr had written that Mueller's 448-page report did not establish a conspiracy between Russia and the Trump campaign. He also said the probe reached no conclusion about possible obstruction of justice by President Trump. Mary McCord, who was a senior official in the Justice Department's national security unit and who worked with Mueller until 2017, tells NPR that the gap between Barr's summary letter on March 24 and the release of the redacted Mueller report on April 18 was problematic. "It completely created the narrative," she says of Barr's summary. McCord adds that phrases Barr used, such as "no collusion," became "what the buzz is for four weeks before the full report comes out."

Mueller should have resigned in protest at the time.  Immediately talked to the press.  Exposed this bought and paid for nazi bastard for precisely whom and what he is.  Going along to get along is profoundly gutless, Mr. Mueller.

"The revelation of differences between Mueller and Barr over the handling of the investigation's conclusions have added to calls for Mueller to present his own findings to Congress. News of the letter came a day before Barr testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He's also slated to appear before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday. When asked whether Mueller should appear in Congress, McCord said, "I think Mueller should testify."

No question.  The bought and paid for Barr nazi deliberately distorted the Mueller Report in his four page summary.  At behest of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

"House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said Mueller's concerns reflected his own. "The Attorney General should not have taken it upon himself to describe the Special Counsel's findings in a light more favorable to the President. It was only a matter of time before the facts caught up to him," Nadler said in a statement Wednesday night."

That's right.  Exactly, what happened.

"Nadler added that Barr should not have withheld Mueller's letter from Congress; he demanded that a copy of the letter be delivered no later than 10 a.m. on Wednesday."

Further proof positive Barr is bought and paid for.  There's no justice.  Trump is protected.

"In his statement, Nadler also stressed the importance that Barr — and Mueller — appear before the House Judiciary Committee. "These reports make it that much more important for [Barr] to appear and answer our questions. The Department of Justice has also been reluctant to confirm a date for Special Counsel Mueller to testify. Given this evening's reports, I will press the Department to schedule that hearing without delay."

Get off your ass.  Force the issue.  What are you waiting for?  Principle needs to trump politics.  ... Hear the rumble?  An unwanted, dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.  Too blind to see?  Too deaf to hear?  Wake up.

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.

5-3-19

More evidence Trump does not understand the federal government and how it's constitutionally structured. The Washington Post reports:

"When Donald Trump perceives an attack, he hits back, and his weapon of choice has long been the courts. He threatens legal action himself and through his lawyers, in private missives and in public blasts. Sometimes, he actually files suit. Now, with an energized Democratic House majority mounting an array of investigations and talking impeachment in the wake of the special counsel’s report on Russian interference in the 2016 election, the president is vowing to “head to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Trump is hopelessly ignorant.  Uninformed.

"Never mind that the high court plays no role in impeachment, which the Founders designed as a faceoff between the executive and legislative branches. In politics, as in business, marriage and nearly every aspect of a career spanning five decades, Trump uses the courts and threats of legal action for self-defense and to punish those who seek to alter the image he has crafted for himself. This week, Trump’s private attorneys filed suit against the House Oversight Committee and Trump’s own accounting firm after the panel subpoenaed his financial records. The Justice Department announced that Attorney General William P. Barr instructed one of its top officials to ignore a subpoenaed deposition. And the president tweeted that “If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

A constitutional crisis seems increasingly inevitable.

"In most cases, his goal has not necessarily been to win, but rather to use the notion of a court battle to diminish or destroy an opponent. From early on in his lifelong pursuit of fame, fortune and power, Trump has joined “I’ll sue” with brash rhetoric, a constant media presence and an infinite capacity for starting over. As president, however, Trump seems taken with the idea that the judges he has appointed will not only guarantee legal victory but will be the ultimate safeguard of his actions and policies."

Should that happen, would likely spark an unwanted, dreaded second American revolution.

"From the start of his 2016 campaign, Trump made clear that he saw the courts not as an independent branch of government, but as one more weapon in a president’s arsenal. “We’re going to have great judges, conservative, all picked by the Federalist Society,” he told Breitbart News in June 2016. “If it’s my judges, you know how they’re gonna decide,” Trump told an evangelical Christian audience a week later, answering a question about Second Amendment gun rights."

Trump and his henchmen present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Sadly, the worst is yet to come.

“The Supreme Court plays no role in impeachment, and there’s virtually no way the court would take up any challenge to an impeachment,” said Peter Irons, a constitutional lawyer and political scientist at the University of California at San Diego, who has written a history of the high court. “More important, they are the institution that stands apart from partisan politics. If we come to think of the court as simply five Republicans and four Democrats, then that bulwark is really broken.”

Already happened.  We remain a democratic republic in name only.  In reality, a de facto fascist police-state since 9/11, quickly now transitioning 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.

5-3-19

More abuse of authority.  ABC News reports:

"President Donald Trump threatened this past week to broadly assert executive privilege to block a number of current and former aides from testifying, including some who have cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. It's a strategy that could lead to a messy, protracted legal fight, but even if the White House is eventually defeated in court, the president and his allies could have the chance to run out the clock to the 2020 election."

Precisely, why impeachment is growing increasingly inevitable.  While our nazi fuhrer would never be convicted in the Republican-owned Senate, impeachment in the House would tie the fascist son of a bitch up in proceedings the remainder of his term.

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.

5-3-19

Trump must be growing increasingly desperate.  Think not?  Get this.  NBC News reports:

"Democratic congressional leaders said Tuesday that they’d reached an agreement with President Donald Trump to move forward with a "big and bold” $2 trillion infrastructure deal and will meet with him again next month to discuss how to pay for it."

Imagine that.  Couldn't be, could it?  LOL.

"Speaking outside the White House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calf., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., expressed optimism about their ability to work with the commander in chief, with whom they've had a shaky relationship in recent months."

No kidding.  To say the least.  LOL.  You think?

"Schumer and Pelosi said Tuesday that they and Trump had agreed that the package’s price would be $2 trillion and would focus on roads, bridges, highways, water, the power grid and broadband internet expansion. They said they had agreed with Trump to meet again in three weeks to discuss how to fund the package. “We told the president we needed his ideas on funding,” Schumer said. Both Schumer and Pelosi spoke positively of the meeting, praising the president’s approach."

Jesus Christ.  Give me a break.  LOL.  -- One big, happy family, no?

"Pelosi called the session a “very productive meeting” and said she was “very pleased” with Trump’s “positive attitude.” “This was a very good start, and we hope it will go to a constructive conclusion,” Schumer said. He added that “there was good will in this meeting … which is different than some of the other meetings we have had, which is a good thing.”

Proof positive Trump is likely, figuratively speaking, shitting in his pants.  Here's why:

"Weeks earlier, at a news conference after the midterm elections, Trump had said he “would like to see bipartisanship” and work with Democrats on infrastructure and other issues, but he wouldn’t be willing to do so if they began investigating him. “If that happens, then we’re going to do the same thing, and government comes to a halt. And I would blame them,” he said, adding that he’d take on a “warlike posture” if he was investigated. On Tuesday, both Pelosi and Schumer indicated that doing both would be possible."

Imagine that.  Couldn't be, could it?  LOL.

"Asked whether their top priority would be working with Trump to get things done or investigating the president, Pelosi responded that “our priority is to honor our responsibilities under the Constitution of the United States.” Schumer was more direct. “I believe we can do both at once,” he said, telling reporters that Trump did not bring the topic up this time. "We can come up with some good ideas on infrastructure and ... the House and the Senate can proceed in its oversight responsibilities. The two are not mutually exclusive, and we were glad he didn’t make it that way.”

Clearly, Trump knows the shit is going to hit the fan.

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.

5-3-19

The Nazi Right is aggressively pushing the limit in Alabama.  CBS News reports:

"Alabama's House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a near-total abortion ban, a piece of legislation that the bill's sponsor called a "direct attack" on Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that protects a woman's right to an abortion. Politicians in the statehouse voted against adding an amendment that would have added an exception for victims of rape and incest. After several hours of contentious debate Tuesday evening, Alabama politicians overwhelmingly passed House Bill 314, the "Human Life Protection Act," 74 to 3, pushing the bill forward to the state Senate. Of the state's 105 representatives, 28 refused to vote after Republicans blocked the rape and incest amendment. If passed into law, the legislation would criminalize abortion, classifying it as a Class A felony in Alabama. That means that a doctor caught performing abortions in the state would face up to 99 years in prison under the proposed law."

The idea of the Republican nazi element in Alabama is to get the matter before the U.S. Supreme Court where five Republican fascist 'justices' own the majority.  In order to eviscerate Roe v. Wade.

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.

4-26-19

A redacted version of the Mueller report was released 4-18-19 by U.S. Attorney General William Barr.  While its veracity has been rightfully called into question due to a U.S. Attorney General clearly in the pocket of the Trump nazi, the Report exposes our fascist fuhrer in the Oval Office for precisely whom and what he is.  CBS News reports:

"Although the special counsel's report on Russian interference does not come to a conclusion as to whether President Trump obstructed justice, Robert Mueller's team did examine 10 "discrete acts" in which he may have done so. The report says these 10 instances can be divided into "two phases, reflecting a possible shift in the president's motives." The first phase took place before Mr. Trump fired his first FBI director, James Comey, after he had been reassured he was not personally under investigation. After Comey's dismissal and Mueller's appointment as special counsel, the report indicates, the president knew he was now under investigation for possibly obstructing justice, and switched gears. "At that point, the president engaged in a second phase of conduct, involving public attacks on the investigation, non-public efforts to control it, and efforts both in public and private to encourage witnesses not to cooperate with the investigation," the report states."

NBC Universal reports:

"Had President Donald Trump been left to his own devices, the findings in special counsel Robert Mueller's report released Thursday would have likely been far more damning for him. Instead, the Mueller report makes clear, Trump's "efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful" — but only "largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests." Among the figures referred to by Mueller who refused Trump's wishes were then-White House counsel Don McGahn, former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "Our investigation found multiple acts by the President that were capable of exerting undue influence over law enforcement investigations, including the Russian-interference and obstruction investigations," Mueller's report said."

Clearly, Mueller did not exonerate Trump on obstruction.

"The incidents were often carried out through one-on-one meetings in which the President sought to use his official power outside of usual channels," the report continued. "These actions ranged from efforts to remove the Special Counsel and to reverse the effect of the Attorney General 's recusal; to the attempted use of official power to limit the scope of the investigation; to direct and indirect contacts with witnesses with the potential to influence their testimony."

No problem with that?  Think it becoming of a U.S. president?

"Trump, the report outlined, directed McGahn to have Mueller removed as special counsel. McGahn refused, and even prepared to quit over the matter. The report explained that "McGahn ultimately did not quit and the President did not follow up with McGahn on his request to have the Special Counsel removed" — putting on hold an outcome that would likely have opened Trump up to a harsher assessment from Mueller. Furthermore, in January 2018, after The New York Times reported that Trump had ordered McGahn to fire Mueller, Trump "sought to have McGahn deny that he had been directed to remove the Special Counsel," the Mueller report stated. But, the report said, "each time he was approached, McGahn responded that he would not refuse [refute?] the press accounts because they were accurate."

That's not all:

"In his report, Mueller also writes that Trump, after being rebuffed by McGahn, quickly directed Lewandowski "to tell the Attorney General to limit the scope of the Russia investigation to prospective election-interference only." According to the report, Trump dictated a message to Lewandowski in June 2017 that he wanted passed on to Sessions. The note said that Sessions should give a speech announcing he would limit the jurisdiction of the special counsel."

Becoming of a U.S. president?

"But Lewandowski, Mueller wrote, "did not deliver the President's message to Sessions." Lewandowski scheduled a time to meet with Sessions to deliver the message, but Sessions canceled, and then Lewandowski had to leave Washington. One mother [month?] later, Trump met with Lewandowski again and asked him if he had delivered the message to Sessions. Lewandowski said he would deliver the message "soon," and after he left the meeting, he handed the note to Sessions' chief of staff Rick Dearborn, and asked him to give it to Sessions. Dearborn told Mueller's team that the note "definitely raised an eyebrow" and never followed through — again stifling another move that may have led to bigger legal trouble for Trump."

Becoming of a U.S. president?

"In addition, Comey didn't end the investigation into Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, even though Trump had asked Comey in a one-on-one meeting to "see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go." Comey's refusal to do so, Mueller noted, "ultimately resulted in Flynn's prosecution and conviction for lying to the FBI."

Becoming of a U.S. president?

"At other times in the report, Mueller noted similar scenarios, including Trump's attempt to get Sessions to "unrecuse himself," Trump's attempt to get Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats to say publicly that no link existed between Trump and Russia, and Trump's attempt to get then-Staff Secretary Rob Porter to reach out to Rachel Brand to discuss the possibility of installing her as a replacement for Sessions. But in all of those instances, Trump's directives were refused, helping Mueller reach a conclusion that, when it came to obstruction, Trump was largely untouchable."

Becoming of a U.S. president?

"Consistent with that pattern, the evidence we obtained would not support potential obstruction charges against the President's aides and associates beyond those already filed," Mueller wrote in the report."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Clearly, a U.S. president has to be successful at obstruction in order to be charged with it.  Not only that, the 'Justice' Department believes a sitting president cannot be criminally charged.  Imagine that.  Think anyone in a supposed democratic republic is above the law?  DOJ clearly believes the president is.  ... Hear the rumble?

CBS News reports:

"The opening of special counsel Robert Mueller's report on whether the president committed any obstruction-of-justice offenses says that the report would not make a "traditional prosecutorial judgment," given that the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel has issued an opinion that indicting or prosecuting a sitting president would undermine the president's capacity to carry out the duties of his or her office, in violation of the Constitution's separation of powers."

Proof positive a nazi 'Justice' Department believes one of us in this country, the president, is effectively above the law.  Immune from prosecution while in office.  Not acceptable in a democratic republic.  The remedy, impeachment and conviction, is clearly not possible with recalcitrant Republican nazis owning the Senate, gutless Democrats in the House unwilling to bring articles of impeachment.

"However, the special counsel explicitly did not clear the president of obstruction of justice. "If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state," Mueller wrote."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Chilling, as well.

"So, while he rules out prosecuting the president, the special counsel suggests it is within the power of Congress to look into whether the president obstructed justice."

To what end?  Neither major political party, currently, is willing to hold our nazi fuhrer accountable.  For political reasons.

"Mueller concluded that Congress could make "obstruction-of-justice statutes applicable to corruptly motivated official acts of the president" without infringing on President Trump's constitutional rights, according to the redacted report released by Attorney General William Barr Thursday. The report says that "Congress can validly regulate the President's exercise of official duties to prohibit actions motivated by a corrupt intent to obstruct justice." In its introduction, the report says the Constitution doesn't "immunize a president" against committing obstruction of justice through Article II powers, and it falls to Congress to evaluate and protect against acts of corruption and obstruction, "regardless of their source."

"The proper supervision of criminal law," Mueller writes, "does not demand freedom for the President to act with the intention of shielding himself from criminal punishment, avoiding financial liability or preventing personal embarrassment." "Applying obstruction-of-justice statutes to presidential conduct that does not involve the President's conduct of office-such as influencing the testimony of witnesses-is constitutionally unproblematic," the report said, adding that Mr. Trump "has no more right than other citizens to impede official proceedings by corruptly influencing witness testimony." The report also discusses Congress' power to investigate the president in a section justifying why the special counsel's investigation was legally permissible."

Again, to what end?  If neither major political party is willing to impeach and convict our fuhrer, where is the justice?  Where?  The 'Justice' Department is clearly protecting a criminal.  Had they indicted Trump for obstruction, think Republicans would have continued to march in goose step with their corrupt and abusive fuhrer?

NPR reports:

"The House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena on Friday to the Justice Department demanding access to the full work product of special counsel Robert Mueller, including grand jury testimony and other material not made public. Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said he wants everything by May 1."

About time Democrats took action.

ABC News reports:

"In a tense exchange on "Good Morning America," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to defend statements she made to the press that she later told Robert Mueller's office were a "slip of the tongue."  "That's not a 'slip of the tongue,' Sarah, that's a deliberate false statement," ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos said."

Like her fuhrer, the Trump nazi, Sanders is a liar.

"They were referring to Sanders' May 2017 claims that FBI members had "lost confidence in" former FBI Director James Comey. A redacted version of the Mueller report released Thursday said, "Sanders told this Office that her reference to hearing from 'countless members of the FBI' was a 'slip of the tongue.' She also recalled that her statement in a separate press interview that rank-and-file FBI agents had lost confidence in Comey was a comment she made 'in the heat of the moment' that was not founded on anything."

Lies.

Sanders wasn't finished lying:

"Actually, if you look at what I said, I said the 'slip of the tongue' was in using the word 'countless,'" Sanders replied to Stephanopoulos, "but there were a number of FBI, both former and current, that agreed with the president's decision, and they've continued to speak out and say that and send notice to the White House of that agreement with the president's decision." "James Comey was a disgraced leaker and used authorization to spy on the Trump campaign despite no evidence of collusion," she continued. "I stand by the fact, George--"  "Sarah, hold on a second," Stephanopoulos said, pushing back on Sanders' claims, which contradict what's in Mueller's report. "The special counsel writes that those comments were 'not founded on anything.' That's what you talked to the special counsel about when you were facing criminal penalties if you didn't tell the truth, but now you're trying to walk away from it. Why can't you acknowledge that what you said then was not true?" he asked."

A congenital liar has no capability of telling the truth.  Gets worse.  Get this:

"Pressed repeatedly on her comments on FBI agents, Sarah Sanders tells @GStephanopoulos, "It was the heat of the moment, meaning that it wasn't a scripted talking point. I'm sorry that I wasn't a robot like the Democratic Party" was about Mueller probe. https://t.co/mOQZNKl1wy pic.twitter.com/y3xcNwVYHg

— ABC News (@ABC) April 19, 2019
"I said that the word I used, 'countless,' and I also said, if you look at what's in quotations from me, it's that and it's that it was 'in the heat of moment,' meaning that it wasn't a scripted talking point. I'm sorry that I wasn't a robot like the Democrat Party," Sanders said."

Jesus Christ.  Madam, you're as f--ked up in your thinking as the Trump nazi.

"Sanders, however, didn't only reference the comments once in a "heat of the moment" environment. She made the same comments again the day before in a Fox News interview and in the next day's White House press briefing. "In fact, Sarah, what you did -- Sarah, hold on a second. I let you speak," Stephanopoulos said, as Sanders talked over him. I'm not denying that he had involvement in what the statement said. That was the information I was given at the time and I stated it to the public. "What you did repeat, time and time again, is that statement. You said that 'countless' FBI officials came to you. You repeated it on separate days, on separate occasions, and this was not the only instance the special counsel reported," Stephanopoulos continued."

Unlike most interviewers, with the exception of Chris Wallace, Stephanopoulos relentlessly holds his guest's feet figuratively to the fire.

"According to the report, while Sanders told the press the president didn't dictate a statement about a June 2016 meeting with Trump campaign members and a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in New York after it was revealed by the press, the president's lawyers later said otherwise in interviews with the special counsel. "So why did you tell the press that the president did not dictate that statement, when he did?" Stephanopoulos asked Sanders. "I'm not denying that he had involvement in what the statement said. That was the information I was given at the time and I stated it to the public," Sanders said. Stephanopoulos pushed Sanders on the question again. She responded that the president "weighed in as anybody would do, and that seems consistent with what took place that day." "Sarah, that's just not what happened," Stephanopoulos said. "You said the president didn't dictate the statement. The president's lawyer said that he did dictate the statement. That's what they wrote." "My understanding at the time was that he hadn't dictated but that he weighed in, George," Sanders responded. "Well then you're saying the president's lawyers weren't telling the truth when they wrote that the president dictated the statement?" Stephanopoulos asked. "I'm telling you the information I had was that the president weighed in on the statement, which he clearly did," Sanders responded."

She's a liar.  So is Trump.

CBS News reports:

"President Trump and his attorney general aren't giving the whole picture when it comes to special counsel Robert Mueller's report in the Russia investigation. The president and his team continue to insist that he was exonerated by the two-year investigation. Bu[t] the report specifically declines to clear the president on possible charges of obstruction of justice. And in remarks Thursday at the Justice Department, Attorney General William Barr made a series of misleading claims, suggesting that Mueller did not want Congress to decide whether Trump obstructed justice. Barr also indicated that he was not really supposed to be publicly releasing the two-volume report, but, on the other hand, it was "long-standing" practice to share such types of confidential information with the White House."

Barr is bought and paid for.

NBC Universal reports:

"Special Counsel Robert Mueller's redacted final report explicitly chose not to decide if President Donald Trump had committed criminal obstruction of justice. But Mueller's detailed factual findings paints a damning portrait of a president repeatedly trying — sometimes successfully, and sometimes not — to hinder, if not derail, the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election. In the 182-page detailed analysis of the facts and legal standard to prove obstruction of justice, Mueller examines 10 separate incidents in which the president's actions could be viewed as obstruction of justice. Tellingly, an obstruction effort need not be successful to be a federal crime: A person is guilty if he or she "obstructs, influences or impedes any official proceeding, or attempts to do so." The president's actions at that time included: firing FBI Director James Comey, after seeking to have him drop the investigation of national security adviser Michael Flynn; telling White House counsel Donald McGahn to fire Mueller and then, following accurate press reports about Trump's order, directing McGahn to falsely deny the story; and demanding that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescind his recusal, among others."

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Michael Conway, Former counsel, U.S. House Judiciary Committee.

NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump has evaded criminal charges — but special counsel Robert Mueller’s report is a brutal indictment of his campaign and his presidency. The first volume of the two-part, 448-page report details how Trump and his allies solicited, encouraged, accepted and benefited from the assistance provided by America's most storied foreign adversary as part of a multi-front assault on American democracy. The other lays out comprehensive evidence that the president may have obstructed justice through what Mueller described as a "pattern of conduct" that included firing FBI Director Jim Comey, trying to remove Mueller, publicly praising and condemning witnesses, and seeking to limit the scope of the probe. Taken in sum, Mueller's findings reveal three years of actions by Trump and his subordinates that critics say rattle the very foundations of the American system of governance, from the sacrosanct nature of democratic elections to the idea that no man, not even the president, is above the law."

Ferociously pointedly:

"The story, in even its most sympathetic telling, is one of a president who used nearly every power vested in his office and his persona — including hiring and firing, the bully pulpit, party loyalty, private intimidation, and disinformation — to cover up ties between his campaign and Russia so that he could spare himself the public humiliation of having won an election that wasn't entirely on the level. Of the marquee reports written for Congress over the decades about presidential scandals, the Mueller report will stand out for the brazenness of the chief executive — and for the degree to which insubordination among his underlings reined him in, if only at the margins."

The Washington Post reports:

"The vivid portrait that emerges from Mueller’s 448-page report is of a presidency plagued by paranoia, insecurity and scheming — and of an inner circle gripped by fear of Trump’s spasms. Again and again, Trump frantically pressured his aides to lie to the public, deny true news stories and fabricate a false record. “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the president clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state,” the report says. “Based on the facts and the applicable legal standards, we are unable to reach that judgment.”

CBS News reports:

"President Trump is bristling over the contents of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report -- even as he claims the report exonerates him completely. Taking to Twitter from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Good Friday morning, the president blasted some of the "so-called 'notes'" cited in Mueller's report as "total bullsh**," although it's not immediately clear which notes the president is referencing. Mueller's report mentions that former White House counsel Don McGahn, former FBI Director James Comey, former Justice Department chief of staff Jody Hunt, former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus all took notes on their interactions with the president. "Statements are made about me by certain people in the Crazy Mueller Report, in itself written by 18 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, which are fabricated & totally untrue," the president tweeted. "Watch out for people that take so-called 'notes,' when the notes never existed until needed. Because I never ... agreed to testify, it was not necessary for me to respond to statements made in the 'Report' about me, some of which are total bullshit & only given to make the other person look good (or me to look bad). This was an Illegally Started Hoax that never should have happened..."

Poor baby.  Sick lying nazi.

NBC News reports:

"Special counsel Robert Mueller's 448-page report contains plenty of new details about President Donald Trump's actions before and after the 2016 election — but it also puts a spotlight on the family members he's leaned on during the campaign and his presidency. Notably, the report contains revelations about a 2016 meeting between the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn and a Russian envoy. It also provides details about how the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, and other members of the president's inner circle reacted after learning about eldest son Donald Trump Jr.'s emails setting up the infamous June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians; and it confirms correspondence between Donald Jr. and WikiLeaks about hacked Clinton campaign emails. Among Kushner's many appearances in the report is his and Flynn's meeting with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak at Trump Tower in New York after the 2016 election. The New York Times and others reported that the meeting that November was about improving relations between the two countries, and they discussed establishing a secure line of communication with Russia.

"Kushner "asked Kislyak to identify the best person (whether Kislyak or someone else) with whom to direct future discussions — someone who had contact with Putin and the ability to speak for him," the report said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Mueller's report also outlines the "most senior levels” of the Russian government’s efforts to encourage Kremlin-connected persons to make inroads into the Trump transition team — including through a friend of Kushner, Richard Gerson, a New York hedge-fund manager with no official involvement in the transition.

"The president's eldest daughter and senior White House aide is mentioned a handful of times in the redacted report, including in the response of senior administration officials to learning about Donald Jr.'s emails setting up a June 9, 2016, Trump Tower meeting with then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort, Kushner and Russians offering negative information on Hillary Clinton. On multiple occasions over the next several weeks, Trump told his aides not to publicly disclose the emails, and then he dictated a statement about the meeting, to be issued by Donald Jr., that described the meeting as having been about foreign adoptions, the report said. Then-communications adviser Hope Hicks recalled discussing with Kushner and Ivanka Trump that the emails were damaging and would inevitably be leaked, suggesting the best strategy would be to proactively release the emails to the press, the report said. But when they approached the president about the emails, Trump shut the conversation down and told them not to go to the media. At a meeting between them and the president in late June, "Hicks warned the President that the emails were 'really bad' and the story would be 'massive' when it broke, but the President was insistent that he did not want to talk about it and said he did not want details," the report said. Ivanka Trump was also present at a "regular morning meeting of senior campaign staff and Trump family members" in the days before the Trump Tower meeting in which Donald Jr. announced he had a lead on "negative information about the Clinton Foundation," the report said, citing interviews with former deputy campaign manager Rick Gates. Manafort, Eric Trump and Hicks were also at the meeting, with Ivanka Trump and Kushner joining late, the report said.

"In addition to his well-publicized interactions over the meeting with Russians at Trump Tower in the summer of 2016, Donald Jr. is also mentioned in the report regarding his correspondence with WikiLeaks prior to its dumping of hacked emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta. In September 2016, the report says, Trump Jr. received a direct message on Twitter from WikiLeaks about a soon-to-be-launched anti-Trump website, PutinTrump.org, and asking for any comments."

No collusion?

Trump increasingly despondent. The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump seethed Friday over the special counsel’s portrayal of his protracted campaign to thwart the Russia investigation and directed much of his ire at former White House counsel Donald McGahn, whose ubiquity in the report’s footnotes laid bare his extensive cooperation in chronicling the president’s actions. Some of the report’s most derogatory scenes were attributed not only to the recollections of McGahn and other witnesses but also to the contemporaneous notes kept by several senior administration officials — the kind of paper trail that Trump has long sought to avoid leaving. Many White House aides use pen and paper both as a defensive mechanism — such as when then-Chief of Staff John F. Kelly documented Trump’s move to grant security clearances to his daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner — and as a means of creating the first draft of a page-turning presidency. But the fact that some of those notes became primary source material for Mueller to paint a vivid portrait of Trump’s efforts to derail the investigation angered the president, who was stewing over the media coverage as he decamped to Florida for the holiday weekend, according to people familiar with his thinking. “Statements are made about me by certain people in the Crazy Mueller Report, in itself written by 18 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, which are fabricated & totally untrue,” the president tweeted Friday morning from his Mar-a-Lago Club. “Watch out for people that take so-called ‘notes,’ when the notes never existed until needed.” Trump went on to claim that some of the statements made about him in the Mueller report were “total bullshit & only given to make the other person look good (or me to look bad).”

Wake up, Mr. 'President.'  You're behaving like an irrational idiot.  Unbecoming a president of the United States.

The Washington Post reports:

"For nearly two years, the public, Congress and the White House waited to learn if special counsel Robert S. Mueller III would find that President Trump had committed crimes. When the answer was finally revealed, it turned out Mueller didn’t think that was his job at all. The special counsel ended his investigation last month, pointedly choosing not to reach a conclusion about whether the president had obstructed justice. In a report of its findings, Mueller’s team said that choice was driven in large part by a long-standing legal opinion at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that a sitting president should not be indicted, even if the charges remained sealed. Mueller's team concluded that also meant they could not accuse the president of a crime, even in secret internal documents, the report said. That move surprised everyone, including Attorney General William P. Barr and his senior advisers, according to current and former Justice Department officials. When Mueller presented his findings without reaching a decision about the president, Barr reviewed the evidence and decided that Trump had not obstructed justice. The unusual ending to the investigation stems from a key legal disagreement between Mueller’s team and Barr — opening the door to further political fights over presidential power, Justice Department policies and decision-making inside the Trump administration."

No justice.  Our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, was protected and coddled by the 'Justice' Department.

"Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, said Mueller’s failure to make a decision on obstruction was “one of the biggest surprises of the report,” and he was still struggling to understand the special counsel’s thought process. “It doesn’t make any sense, because on collusion, he seemed to be perfectly empowered to reach a conclusion on whether the president committed a crime,” Turley said. “The other problem is that his mandate clearly allowed him to make a decision, and [Justice Department headquarters] had clearly indicated he could make a decision.” Spokespersons for the Justice Department and special counsel’s office declined to comment."

Gutless.

"The redacted Mueller report released Thursday makes clear that he and his prosecutors viewed the OLC opinion to mean they also could not come to a conclusion about whether the president had committed a crime because it would violate Justice Department standards of fairness to make such an accusation — even secretly — without giving the person a chance to fight the accusation. Barr disagreed. In releasing the report Thursday, the attorney general told reporters that Justice Department officials asked Mueller “about the OLC opinion and whether or not he was taking the position that he would have found a crime but for the existence of the OLC opinion.” “He made it very clear, several times, that he was not taking a position — he was not saying but for the OLC opinion he would have found a crime,” Barr said."

Somebody's lying.  Guess who.

"Mueller’s approach to the question of whether the president tried to obstruct justice has created tension inside the Justice Department, according to current and former officials. Privately, some senior officials at the Justice Department have been unhappy that Mueller did not reach a conclusion about whether Trump’s conduct rose to the level of a crime, said the officials, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity because of ongoing sensitivity surrounding the probe. Barr, according to officials, first learned at a meeting with Mueller on March 5 that the special counsel would not make a decision about whether the president had committed a crime. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, who tapped Mueller to take the job nearly two years ago and has overseen it since, has told others that he, too, was surprised by Mueller’s comments in early March, according to people familiar with the discussions."

Again, somebody's lying.  Guess who.

"The Mueller report suggests that the OLC opinion weighed heavily on his team’s thinking, and said the special counsel’s office “conducted a thorough investigation in order to preserve the evidence when memories were fresh and documentary materials were available,” suggesting that perhaps another prosecutor could file a charge against Trump after he leaves office."

Fascinating, isn't it.  Not good enough.  Nowhere near.  No justice.

ABC News reports:

"President Donald Trump is lashing out at current and former aides who cooperated with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation, insisting the deeply unflattering picture they painted of him and the White House was total bullshit. In a series of angry tweets from Palm Beach, Florida, Trump laced into those who, under oath, had shared with Mueller their accounts of how Trump tried numerous times to squash or influence the investigation and portrayed the White House as infected by a culture of lies, deceit and deception.

"Statements are made about me by certain people in the Crazy Mueller Report, in itself written by 18 Angry Democrat Trump Haters, which are fabricated & totally untrue, Trump wrote Friday, adding that some were total bullshit & only given to make the other person look good (or me to look bad)."

"The attacks were a dramatic departure from the upbeat public face the White House had put on it just 24 hours earlier, when Trump celebrated the reports findings as full exoneration and his counselor Kellyanne Conway called it the best day for Trump's team since his election. While the president, according to people close to him, did feel vindicated by the report, he also felt betrayed by those who had painted him in an unflattering light — even though they were speaking under oath and had been directed by the White House to cooperate fully with Muellers team. The reaction was not entirely surprising and had been something staffers feared in the days ahead of the reports release as they wondered how Mueller might portray their testimony and whether the report might damage their relationships with Trump."

Trouble in paradise?

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.

4-26-19

Shit is about to hit the fan in Washington, DC.  NBC News reports:

"The White House has told Carl Kline, the former security specialist who approved Jared Kushner’s security clearance over the objections of career staffers, not to comply with a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee, according to a letter obtained by NBC News. Kline was supposed to appear before committee staff Tuesday to face questions related to his handling of White House security clearances. But in a letter to Kline's attorney Robert Driscoll dated Monday, White House Deputy Counsel Michael Purpura said Kline should not appear for an interview if the committee does not allow a member of the White House counsel staff to attend."

Jesus Christ.  Something to hide?

Gets worse.  Get this:

"Driscoll sent his own letter to the committee, saying that Kline risked jeopardizing his job at the Pentagon if he defied the White House. "This decision is not made lightly and does not come from any ill will or deliberate defiance on my part or that of my client," Driscoll wrote to congressional staffers. "With two masters from two equal branches of government, we will follow the instructions of the one that employs him," Driscoll added."

Will certainly have consequences soon to be seen:

"Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said he plans to speak with his members about scheduling a vote to hold Kline in contempt for defying the subpoena. “The White House and Mr. Kline now stand in open defiance of a duly authorized congressional subpoena with no assertion of any privilege of any kind by President Trump," Cummings said in a statement. "Based on these actions, it appears that the president believes that the Constitution does not apply to his White House, that he may order officials at will to violate their legal obligations, and that he may obstruct attempts by Congress to conduct oversight."

The shit is certainly going to hit the fan.

"Cummings noted that the White House wrote to his committee last Thursday threatening to order Kline to skip the scheduled deposition unless the White House counsel was allowed to participate. Four days later, Cummings said, the committee responded by explaining that it has for many years prohibited agency lawyers from participating in depositions. NBC News reported in January that two White House security specialists recommended that Kushner not receive a top secret security clearance after they reviewed his clearance application and deemed it to be "unfavorable." But according to sources familiar with the matter, Kline took the unusual step of overruling career staff to approve Kushner's top secret clearance. After Kushner was approved by Kline, his application went to the CIA for an even higher level of clearance known as “sensitive compartmented information," or SCI, according to two sources familiar with the matter. But officers reviewing the decision at the CIA balked. One called over to the WH security division wondering how Kushner had even obtained a top secret clearance, the two sources said.

"Kline also approved security clearance applications of 25 others working for the Executive Office of the President over the objections of career personnel, according to an interview the House Committee staff conducted with White House security specialist Tricia Newbold and other sources familiar with the matter. Kline has also been accused by Newbold of discrimination against her because of her height. Newbold, who has a rare form of dwarfism, charges that Kline repeatedly moved files out of her reach. In an interview with NBC News this month, Newbold said, "It was definitely humiliating ... but it didn't stop me from doing what was right."

Readers will recall the above was covered in an earlier edition.

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.

4-26-19

The following is appalling.  Portend of far worse to come.  NPR reports:

"The United States has become a less safe place for journalists, and the threats they face are becoming the standard, according to a new report by an international press freedom organization. Reporters Sans Frontières, or Reporters Without Borders, dropped the U.S. to No. 48 out of 180 on its annual World Press Freedom Index, three notches lower than its place last year. The move downgrades the country from a "satisfactory" place to work freely to a "problematic" one for journalists. "Never before have US journalists been subjected to so many death threats or turned so often to private security firms for protection," the report stated. Ten journalists have been physically attacked this year, and 46 since 2017. In January, one reporter was punched in the face and her phone stolen, while interviewing voters in California. Last June, five people were killed while working at the Capital Gazette newsroom in Annapolis, Md. The man accused of shooting them had threatened the publication for years leading up to the attack."

Nazi America.

"The report also pointed a finger at President Trump who, it said, "exacerbates" press freedom problems with his repeated declarations that journalists are an "enemy of the American people," his accusations of "fake news," his calls to revoke broadcasting licenses and his efforts to block specific outlets from access to the White House."

Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini reincarnated.  Nazi America.

"The president's relentless attacks against the press has created an environment where verbal, physical and online threats and assault against journalists are becoming normalized," RSF Interim Executive Director Sabine Dolan tells NPR. She calls the situation in the United States "unprecedented" but says Trump enhanced an environment that had grown even worse under President Barack Obama. "Even before President Trump, the Obama administration was aggressively using the 1917 Espionage Act to prosecute more whistleblowers than any previous administration combined," she says."

A war against transparency courtesy of the nazi element in our formerly great country.  Both parties.

"Courtney Radsch, advocacy director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, tells NPR that RSF's findings are not surprising. Reporters in the United States have been attacked by both police and protesters while covering demonstrations, and others have been targeted at the border by authorities, she says. "The anti-press rhetoric, coming from the highest office, can kind of set this tinder on fire," says Radsch."

A de facto fascist police-state quickly transitioning 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.

4-26-19

Savagery is alive and well.  CBS News reports:

"Dozens of protesters gathered in Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka on Friday to demand justice for an 18-year-old woman who died after being set on fire for refusing to drop sexual harassment charges against her Islamic school's principal. Nusrat Jahan Rafi told her family she was lured to the roof of her rural school in the town of Feni on April 6 and asked to withdraw the charges by five people clad in burqas. When she refused, she said her hands were tied and she was doused in kerosene and set alight. Rafi told the story to her brother in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and he recorded her testimony on his mobile phone. "The teacher touched me, I will fight this crime till my last breath," Rafi said in the video, according to BBC News. She also identified some of her attackers as students at the school. Rafi died four days later in a Dhaka hospital with burns covering 80 percent of her body. The violence has shaken Bangladesh, triggering protests and raising concerns over the plight of women and girls in the conservative Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people where sexual harassment and violence are often unreported, victims are intimidated and the legal process is often lengthy."

Savages.

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.

4-19-19

In follow up to an earlier edition, NBC Universal reports:

"A federal appeals court in California took action Friday [4-12-19] that would temporarily allow the Trump administration to return asylum seekers to Mexico. The decision is in response to the Trump administration's emergency motion filing from Thursday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco to stop a nationwide injunction that would bar the government from continuing its policy of forcing migrants to wait in Mexico as their asylum cases play out. The court asked that opposition to the emergency motion be filed by Tuesday, 9 a.m. local time. The government's motion said the injunction issued Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Seeborg rested on "serious errors of law" and blocked an initiative "designed to address the dramatically escalating burdens of unauthorized migration." The administration had asked for an administrative stay that would take place immediately and remain in place while the court considers the issue of a longer stay while the appeals process plays out in a possibly months-long process. The American Civil Liberties Union had asked the court earlier Friday to deny the emergency request that would keep in place the administration's policy of returning asylum-seekers to Mexico while they wait for court dates. In response to the judge's decision Friday evening, Judy Rabinovitz, who argued the case for the ACLU, said, "this is just an interim step while the court considers the government's stay request." "We're very disappointed in the 9th Circuit's decision and we hope that the stay will be short-lived," Melissa Crow, senior supervising attorney for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Friday night. The group is part of the lawsuit seeking to stop the policy. "The plaintiffs and others like them are very vulnerable to harm in Mexico and should be able to pursue their asylum claims in the United States," she added."

The Court seems to be in the pocket of the Trump nazi and his henchmen, -- at least on this issue.

"The organizations seeking to stop the policy of returning migrants to Mexico said in a brief earlier Friday that the government's request should be denied and that there was not "sufficient urgency" to warrant an administrative stay. "The government should not be allowed to manufacture the need for an emergency administrative stay by failing to timely file a stay request," the brief said."

Amazing how convoluted all this has become.

The following is the perspective of an immigration judge.  The Washington Post reports:

"Dana Leigh Marks has been a sitting immigration judge in San Francisco since 1987 and is writing this in her capacity as president emerita of the National Association of Immigration Judges.

"Every day, in 60 courts throughout the country, roughly 400 immigration judges sit to decide the fates of thousands of people. Our courtrooms can be almost anywhere: in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities, in federal courthouses or in leased commercial office spaces — like mine in the heart of the financial district in San Francisco. Walking by, you wouldn’t know what is going on inside. What occurs in immigration courts is probably the most mysterious of all legal processes in our country. The reason: These are administrative courts, part of the Justice Department rather than the judicial branch. The rules we operate under are written by political appointees, not by judges, and often favor the government."

Refreshing honesty.  Breath of fresh air.

"Our courts’ decisions are life-changing. We rule on whether a person is a U.S. citizen, whether a noncitizen can qualify for a status that allows him or her to remain in this country, or whether a person has violated our laws and must be forced to leave. Our decisions may cause the separation of parents and children or husbands and wives, because the law gives judges no discretion to allow someone to remain in our country based solely on hardship or humanitarian reasons. And, at times, the decisions can amount to a death sentence, such as when we deny an application for asylum because the law does not protect all those who find themselves in harm’s way back home."

Fascinating, isn't it?  More so?  Get this:

"Many Americans may be surprised to learn there is no such thing as “anchor babies,” because U.S. citizens must be over 21 years old to sponsor a parent; that marrying a U.S. citizen does not guarantee the spouse U.S. citizenship; or that there is no statute of limitations under our immigration laws, meaning long-term lawful residents can be deported for relatively minor convictions. And that’s true even if the crime occurred decades ago. People in immigration court proceedings do not have the right to appointed counsel, even if they are minors. Forty percent of people in our courts cannot find lawyers to represent them, and almost all — about 85 percent — speak a language other than English , making self-representation an insurmountable task. The legal provisions that we apply have been compared to tax law in their complexity and can test even the most experienced attorneys."

This, the kind of country you want to live in?  Where justice is kangaroo in nature?  Where there is no due process as required by the United States Constitution?  Clearly, also, the system has grown far too complex.  Unwieldy.  Right Wing nazi.

"Many of the flaws in our operations stem from the fact that we are administrative courts located within a law enforcement agency, so crucial decisions are made by officials with little or no experience as judges. It is time to change that."

Time to separate not only administrative courts, but all courts from law enforcement.  Without true separation, as currently the status quo unfortunately, the courts remain hopelessly jaded, designedly  in the pocket of law enforcement.  No more than ersatz, kangaroo justice in reality.  Raw nazism.

"The volume of work can be overwhelming. Some of our judges carry caseloads of 5,000 cases or more, usually with limited support staff. Because we work for the Justice Department, we are directed how to arrange our dockets and micromanaged about how much time we spend on cases. Beginning in October of last year, judges were ordered to complete 700 cases each year or risk a less-than-satisfactory performance evaluation, which can cost a judge his or her job. This is not how a court should be run. Attorney General William P. Barr told Congress this week that he is hoping to boost the number of judges in our courtrooms from around 425 to 535 over the next few years and for a commensurate boost in lawyers and clerks. We desperately need the help."

Clearly, you're not going to get it under the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Also, these courts must not be beholden to the 'Justice' Department.  Need to be truly independent.  Otherwise, there is no justice.  No more than a rubber stamp for jackbooted nazi government.

"But more than that, we need to be free to be independent judges, not be monitored and rated like assembly-line workers. We must be allowed to use our expertise to decide our cases without interference. The current structure detracts from due process and makes people doubt the fairness of the courts we preside over. We need skilled, experienced, neutral managers who understand how to run a court and make transparency, independence and public access paramount — not administrators who want to keep the trains running on time above all else."

That's right.  No question.  Since what you state makes sense, Judge, truly believe it has any chance with Trump in office?

"A number of lawyers’ organizations and scholars agree, and endorse the creation of an Article I Immigration Court. It would free our courts from the political influences of both the Justice and Homeland Security departments and the political whims of each new administration. It would allow a reliable funding stream from Congress to assure we have the resources needed to address our burgeoning caseload in a timely manner. It would mean that neutral judges would use their skills to make the rules and assure a level playing field for all. An independent immigration court will be an efficient and effective court that provides an example to the world of the superiority of the American justice system. We can and must fix this fatal flaw now."

Think there's any chance of that happening in a de facto fascist police-state quickly transitioning 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.

4-19-19

U.S. Attorney General William Barr is bought and paid for.  Faithfully executing the will of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  NBC News reports:

"Attorney General William Barr, defending his decision to order a review of the Trump-Russia probe's origins, told a Senate panel Wednesday that he thinks “spying did occur” by the U.S. government on President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign."

This fascist son of a bitch won't release an unredacted Mueller Report yet now makes allegations that are not substantiated regarding the campaign?  Why?  To repay the Trump nazi for nominating him to the post?

"Barr said that he grew up during the Vietnam War when there was spying on anti-war advocates by the U.S. government and that there were rules put in place to ensure there’s an adequate basis for such action. “I’m not suggesting that those rules were violated, but I think it’s important to look at that. I’m not talking about the FBI necessarily, but intelligence agencies more broadly,” he said."

You're talking out both sides your ass, Mr. Attorney General.  Called bullshit.  To further ingratiate yourself with the Trump nazi?

"Shaheen then asked, “You’re not suggesting that spying occurred?” Barr paused for several seconds and replied, “I think spying did occur,” though he didn’t elaborate."

Jesus Christ.  You make unfounded, unsubstantiated claims, then refuse to disclose precisely what you're talking about?  You remain egregiously unfit for office.

"He said that he’s not launching an investigation of the FBI and is not suggesting there is a problem that’s “endemic” to the agency, but “I think there was a failure among a group of leaders at the upper echelons.”

Again, you're talking out both sides your disingenuous ass, sir.  You've failed to substantiate your bullshit.  Where's the transparency?  Are you lying to protect your fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

“I feel I have an obligation to make sure that government power isn’t abused," he added."

Jesus Christ.  There isn't a day that passes the Trump nazi doesn't abuse power.  You have as little credibility as the congenital liar you work for.  It's certainly not the American people as required in a democratic republic.  Both you and Trump consistently betray your oaths of office to uphold the United States Constitution.  ... As our formerly great country continues to progress from a de facto fascist police-state to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"Barr declined to elaborate when Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., chairman of the panel, asked what the basis was for his remarks. "There is a basis for my concern, but I'm not going to discuss the basis," Barr said. “I’m not saying if improper surveillance occurred,” he added later when asked to clarify — saying only that he was “concerned about it” and looking into the situation."

This man is a liar. Wake up.  He's bamboozling you, Senator, executing the will of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi:

"Trump on Wednesday praised Barr's revelation of the probe into the investigation of his campaign. "What I'm most interested in is getting started, hopefully the attorney general, he mentioned it yesterday, he is doing a great job. Getting started on going back to the origins of exactly where this all started," he told reporters at the White House. "Because this was an illegal witch hunt and everybody knew it."

Horse shit.  Unadulterated.  Coming from a congenital liar who has absolutely no conception of precisely what it means to tell the truth.  Makes no distinction between facts and lies.  Achingly incapable of doing so.  ... Or, egregiously unwilling.

Gets worse:

"He would not respond to questions from Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., about whether he had shared any additional information from the report with the White House, or whether administration officials had seen the full document. Barr later clarified during the hearing that before his summary was sent out, “we did advise the White House counsel’s office that the letters were being sent” and while they weren’t given the document in advance, “it may have been read to them.”

Jesus Christ.  The waffling is incredible.  Diabolical.  Right Wing nazi.  ... Is this fascist son of a bitch even capable of telling the truth?  Anything more than a bought and paid for shill of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

Democrats continue to drag their feet:

"House Democrats had given Barr until April 2 to submit the full report to Congress, a deadline that was not met. In response, the House Judiciary Committee last week passed a resolution that authorizes Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., to issue a subpoena for the full, unredacted report. It has not yet been issued."

Why not?  What are you waiting for?  Hell to freeze over?

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.

4-19-19

Trump can't catch a break.  LOL.  NPR reports:

"On Tuesday, President Trump tweeted out a video. He gave no explanation of what it was or where it came from — just an exhortation to "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" The video was odd — it opened with footage of various Washington landmarks interspersed with clips of Barack Obama and Hillary and Bill Clinton. Then came clips of Trump visiting a factory, Trump meeting with Kim Jong Un, the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing, and clips of actors Rosie O'Donnell, Bryan Cranston and Amy Schumer, mixed in with shots of Trump at campaign rallies. As a dramatic score played, words appeared on the screen: "First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they call you racist. Donald J. Trump. Your vote. Proved them all wrong. Trump: The Great Victory 2020." Just a few hours later, the video was taken down from YouTube. The video was removed from YouTube after Warner Bros. complained that the use of music from The Dark Knight Rises was a violation of its copyright."

... Life's so unfair, right, Mr. 'President?'  LOL.

"The video was removed from YouTube after Warner Bros. complained that the use of music from The Dark Knight Rises was a violation of its copyright. At issue was that dramatic score: It is music composed by Hans Zimmer for the soundtrack to the Warner Bros. 2012 Batman film The Dark Knight Rises. In a statement, Warner Bros. said that the video's use of its music was unauthorized: "We are working through the appropriate legal channels to have it removed." Trump later deleted the tweet. As of Wednesday afternoon, near-copies of the video were still on YouTube. The video was apparently not created by the Trump campaign but rather by a fan. "The video was made by a supporter," a campaign aide told CNN. "We like to share content from diehard supporters, and this is just another example of how hard Trump supporters fight for the President."

... And how the Trump nazi fails to do his homework before tweeting.  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.

4-19-19

Democrats continue to flex muscle.  CBS News reports:

"Making their first appearance before Congress since the financial crisis a decade ago, the CEOs of America's biggest banks told lawmakers their financial institutions are now smaller and are taking on less risk. With Democrats in control of the U.S. House, banks and the men that lead them are facing renewed scrutiny over their practices and record profits. Since the massive taxpayer-funded bank bailout in 2009, large U.S. banks have raked in $780 billion in profits -- nearly five times the amount they paid in fines. "[N]o one has made out better than the CEOs," Maxine Waters, D.-California, chair of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said in starting the hearing."

Truer words never spoken.  A raging, growing problem throughout the entire corporate world, however.

"The financial giants represented at the gathering include seven of eight global "systemically important" banks, which paid a total of nearly $164 billion in fines during the last 10 years, according to a committee memorandum. Because their profits greatly exceed the penalties, Waters questioned whether banks view regulatory fines as simply the cost of doing business."

-- Again, a raging, exponentially growing problem throughout the entire corporate world.  These corrupt, abusive, hopelessly greedy bastards nearly always buy their way out of a jam.  Ferociously pointedly, how many members of the corporate management suite are ever imprisoned for their crimes?

"New York Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pointed to a litany of what she described as bank misdeeds, from JPMorgan's failure to oversee its trading practices in 2013 to last month's $25 million fine against Citibank for violating the Fair Housing Act. "I have concerns about how much things have changed," she told the bankers. Ocasio-Cortez also questioned the fairness of a legal system that fines banks for legal violations but imprisons low-income people for relatively minor offenses. Mentioning that Riker's Island is part of her congressional district, the lawmaker said: "I represent kids who go to jail for jumping a turnstile because they couldn't afford a metro card."

As American as mom and apple pie.  Laissez faire capitalism.  Where these criminal corporate bastards are either extremely poorly regulated, or in effect, -- not regulated at all.  -- 'Regulators,' bought and paid for.

NPR reports:

"The heads of some of the nation's biggest banks faced tough questions from Democrats on Wednesday about overdraft fees, the stability of the banking system and their own multimillion-dollar compensation.

"Ten years ago, the CEOs appeared before this very committee to discuss the financial crisis and the massive bailout taxpayers provided," said committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif. "A decade later, what have they learned? Are they helping their customers and working to benefit the communities they serve? Or are the practices of these banks still causing harm?"

"Democrat Nydia Velazquez of New York noted that Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat received $24 million in compensation last year, while the median bank salary is less than $50,000. "Does this ratio seem fair to you?" she asked Corbat. "My compensation is decided by our board and voted on by our shareholders," he replied. "If you were an employee, and you saw your boss making $486 for every dollar you make, how would you feel about that situation?" Velazquez asked. "I would be hopeful there's opportunity to continue to advance within the firm," he said. "Unbelievable," Velazquez said. "And this is why people that live in a bubble or ivory towers cannot understand why there's so much anger out there."

No kidding.  ... Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.  As legislators figuratively 'fiddle while Rome burns.'

"Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., told JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon his bank has been the subject of numerous complaints about overdraft fees, citing data from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "You're essentially gouging your most vulnerable clients, the ones that are living paycheck to paycheck," she said. Dimon replied that bank customers can choose accounts that have different overdraft fee structures. "The overdraft policy as it stands today, which was changed, by the way, in 2009, is that the client has to opt in," he said. "They are given a choice on opening the account on whether they want to have overdraft features or not."

Delusionally, disingenuously believe that resolves the issue, Mr. Dimon?  ... Not only with your bank, sir, but throughout the entire banking community.

"Also testifying at the hearing were Bank of America's Brian Moynihan, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley's James Gorman, State Street's Ronald O'Hanley and Charles Scharf of Bank of New York Mellon."

The problem remains the same.  Nothing ever truly changes.  Precisely, as the corporate management suite wants.  It's how they line their bottomless pockets.

"Perhaps in anticipation of Wednesday's hearing, Bank of America announced it would raise its minimum wage to $20 an hour by 2021."

Nowhere near a livable wage in the big city.

"Ranking member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., accused Democrats of staging a political stunt and said the committee would be better focused on relevant issues like the impact of Brexit on the U.S. financial system. "Why are we here?" he asked. "I fear our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are here to attack our economic system, attack the nature of our market. I fear my friends want to dictate social and environmental policy through government mandates on banks. That's not the right approach."

Wake up, Congressman.  The banking system is concertedly, determinedly, mercilessly looting the middle class to line the pockets of those at the top of the food chain.  What part of that fact don't you understand?  ... Almost forgot, as long as you and your corporate masters get yours, no problem.  Too deaf to 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.

4-19-19

While Democrats are beginning to flex muscle, remains nowhere near enough.  The Washington Post reports:

"House Democrats are giving the Trump administration a hard-deadline of April 23 to turn over President Trump’s tax returns, pushing back against Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s skepticism over their request for the presidents’ private records."

Why are you bastards dragging your feet?  Why haven't they long-since been subpoened?  Trump and his henchmen are stonewalling.

"House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) on Saturday sent a two-page letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig rebuffing Mnuchin’s statement earlier this week that Treasury would miss House Democrats’ initial April 10 deadline for the returns. Mnuchin’s concerns “lack merit,” Neal wrote."

Wake up.  You're being bamboozled.  The long-suffering public expects better.  Far better.  Do your job.  -- What you were sent by voters to Washington to do.

"Neal’s latest letter sets the stage for a further escalation in the conflict between Congress and the White House, as legal experts have suggested that an outright denial of their request by Mnuchin could be followed by subpoenas or a lawsuit in federal court. Mnuchin so far has only postponed responding to Democrats’ request and said he would confer with the Justice Department, but not yet rejected it."

Called orchestrated foot-dragging.  Determined, disingenuous stonewalling.

“Please know that, if you fail to comply, your failure will be interpreted as a denial of my request,” Neal’s letter states."

Jesus Christ.  Pitiful.  Pathetic.  Precisely, why nothing ever truly changes.  Always, an excuse.  -- This time, Democrats insist the foot-dragging is to ensure a subpoena or lawsuit is not thrown out on a technicality.  Sad, it's come down to that, isn't it?  The system remains hopelessly unwieldy.  Perniciously designed to enable all ongoing abuse.  As American as mom and apple pie.  ... 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.

4-19-19

Additional pressure brought to bear.  NPR reports:

"Two House committees have issued subpoenas for information from Deutsche Bank and other financial institutions as part of ongoing investigations into President Trump's finances."

About time.  What took so long?

"The move is the latest sign that Democrats will continue to seek information on potential criminal activity by Trump and his business associates well after the expected release Thursday of the redacted report by special counsel Robert Mueller about Russian interference in the 2016 election. The subpoenas were issued as part of a joint investigation led by the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees into foreign influence on the U.S. political process. Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, D-Calif., says the use of the financial system for potentially illicit purposes is a serious matter and the investigation is necessary under the committee's oversight authority. Waters said the committee plans to investigate "as thoroughly as possible pursuant to its oversight authority and will follow the facts wherever they may lead us," Waters said."

All talk to date.  Finally, some action.

"Several institutions were issued subpoenas but intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., specifically noted Deutsche Bank's "continued cooperation and compliance," calling theirs a "friendly subpoena." Democrats have been particularly interested in Deutsche Bank and their relationship with the Trump campaign for several years. Waters asked Republicans to open an investigation into Trump's financial ties and potential money laundering at Deutsche Bank back in 2017 but Republicans, who had a majority in the House at the time, refused. The subpoenas are part of a broader effort by Democrats to establish new information about Trump's financial dealings. A separate probe is underway in the House Ways and Means Committee where Democrats are demanding that the Treasury Department turn over 10 years of Trump's tax returns."

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.

4-19-19

The nazi element in our formerly great country continues to talk out both sides the ass.  Think not?  Wake up.  To the point, bigotry against the LGBTQ community remains alive and well in the Trump regime.  NBC News reports:

"Vice President Mike Pence said Thursday that Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and upstart presidential hopeful, had criticized his positions on gay marriage and LGBTQ equality to stand out among a crowded Democratic primary field. “Well, look, I worked very closely with Mayor Pete when I was governor of the state of Indiana," Pence said in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” "We had a great working relationship, and he said some things that are critical of my Christian faith and about me personally, and he knows better, he knows me.” “I get it, you know, it's like, you have 19 people running for president on that side, and part of it is sliding off to the left,“ he added. “They're all competing with one another for how much more liberal they can be. I get that.”

The fact is you don't, Mr. Pence.  Remain achingly out to lunch, incomprehensibly disingenuous.

"Pence was asked in the CNBC interview about the landmark Supreme Court decision in 2015 that legalized gay marriage nationwide and whether he had “accepted it’s law.” The vice president replied that he “fully implemented that decision in the law” as governor, “but … I have my Christian values.” “My family and I have a view of marriage that's informed by our faith, and we stand by that," he said. "But that doesn't mean that we're critical of anyone else who has a different point of view. One of the great things about this country is our freedom of religion and the freedom of conscience, and we'll continue to cherish our values, cherish our views.”

While concertedly forcing those views on others who don't share them.  Doing so by law, and/or administrative fiat:

"Pence has opposed gay rights policies such as legalizing same-sex marriage, and in 2015, as Indiana governor, he signed the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which critics have said gives businesses the right to refuse service to gay people."

Blatant bigotry, Mr. Pence.  Unbecoming any official who has sworn an oath to uphold the United States Constitution.  Cluelessly, forget?  You don't get to force your perverse ideological and religious views on others in what is supposed to be a democratic republic.  Yet, you have and continue to do so.  So does your fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

"As governor, Pence praised Buttigieg after he came out publicly in 2015."

Empty, hollow, meaningless, politically correct bullshit.  'Symbolism over substance,' to quote the Limbaugh nazi.

"But Buttigeig, who is in a same-sex marriage, has criticized the vice president in recent weeks as attention on his long-shot presidential bid has escalated. In a speech before an audience of LGBTQ rights supporters on Sunday, Buttigieg said, “If being gay was a choice, it was a choice that was made far, far above my pay grade.” “And that’s the thing I wish the Mike Pences of the world would understand. That if you have a problem with who I am, your quarrel is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator,” Buttigieg said. He added that his marriage to his husband “has made me a better man, and yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God.”

Here's the bottom line no matter your spiritual or ideological view:

“Just because you are LGBTQ doesn't mean it's OK to discriminate against you,” he told reporters in Las Vegas. “I think most people get that, I think most Christians get that, and it's time for us to move on toward a more inclusive and more humane vision of faith than what this vice president represents."

The Nazi Right has no capability of understanding this.  Zero.  Will continue to force their bigoted views on others no matter what.  By law.  By administrative fiat.  That's a problem.  Called nazism.  Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.

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.

4-19-19

Republicans break ranks. The Washington Post reports:

"A swift defection of at least four Senate Republicans has all-but-doomed the chance of Herman Cain to win a seat on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, serving as one of the most striking rebukes to President Trump’s personnel choices since he took office in 2017. Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) all said they would oppose Cain’s appointment to the Fed. Republicans control 53 seats of the 100-chamber Senate, and losing the support of four members means Cain would need help from Democrats, which appears unlikely.

"White House National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow said on Thursday morning that Trump was sticking by his decision to nominate Cain “at the moment.” He said Cain was still undergoing a background check by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and that the paperwork for his nomination had not yet been sent to the Senate. Cain was not immediately available for comment. In remarks Wednesday night in Kansas, Cain called his Senate critics “a bunch of yahoos” and said he would not be deterred by criticism, according to the Kansas City Star."

Aryan arrogance.

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.

4-19-19

Julian Assange.  Beginning of a long, hard, protracted legal fight.  The Washington Post reports:

"U.S. prosecutors seek his extradition to face a federal charge of conspiring to hack into a Defense Department computer network in 2010. His attorney, Jennifer Robinson, warned that his arrest sets a “dangerous precedent” for press freedoms. There are many questions. How long will the extradition process take? Likely years. Will Assange remain in prison as his case proceeds? Almost certainly. He will first be sentenced — probably six months to one year — for jumping bail.

"The issue of Assange’s extradition instantly exposed divisions within British politics, already riven by the country’s exit from the European Union, known as Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May said his arrest showed that “no one is above the law,” while Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the government should oppose Assange’s extradition. The left-wing leader said Assange was being targeted “for exposing evidence of atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Great truth to that.  Certainly, embarrassed the United States by exposing that truth for the world to see.

"Labour’s spokeswoman for domestic affairs, Diane Abbott, said the request should be blocked on human rights grounds. She told the BBC that the U.S. government’s true motivation for prosecuting Assange was its “embarrassment of the things he's revealed about the American military and security services.”

Again, certainly true.

"Assange’s fight against extradition could keep him jailed in Britain for years, as the case winds its way through legal challenges in multiple courts, experts said.

"Assange’s lawyers vow they will fight the extradition order, from the Magistrates’ Court to the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court — and possibly to the European Court of Human Rights."

Why wouldn't they?

"Even if Britain manages to leave the European Union, the exit will almost certainly include a lengthy transition period, which could put Assange in front of E.U. judges. “It will be some years before a final decision is reached — at least a year and probably longer,” said Amy Jeffress, a former Justice Department legal attache in London. “My over and under would be three years.” She said, “These cases can become very political in the U.K.” One high-profile terrorism case dragged on for 13 years before the defendant was finally extradited to the United States. Assange’s previous battle against extradition to Sweden took 18 months."

Many Britons and other Europeans despise American Aryan arrogance, complicating matters.

"Daniel Sternberg, a barrister specializing in extradition law at Temple Gardens Chambers in London, said he expects Assange to mount a vigorous challenge, pressing “every conceivable point.”

"Even if defense lawyers ultimately fail to thwart U.S. efforts to prosecute Assange, Sternberg said, they could significantly slow the proceedings. Before the extradition order can move forward, Assange must first serve the sentence he was handed for failing to surrender to British authorities, according to legal experts.

"Moreover, the solicitor who represented McKinnon, Karen Todner, said May moved to limit the discretion of the home secretary to refuse to carry out extradition orders at the very same time that she refused to hand over her client, meaning that Assange’s fate is likely to rest entirely in the courts. Todner also represented Lauri Love, a British hacker whose extradition was blocked last year by the High Court of Justice, which found that conditions in a U.S. jail would be “oppressive” and that Britain was the rightful forum for his prosecution. Todner said she thinks Assange’s lawyers have a strong case to make that the request from U.S. prosecutors rests on “political offenses,” which are barred as grounds for surrendering an alleged criminal under many extradition treaties, including the one between Britain and the United States."

Fascinating, isn't it?

Consider the following.  In an opinion piece, The Washington Post reports:

"As you probably know, Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London since 2012, where he sought asylum to avoid sexual assault charges in Sweden. The Obama administration, while critical of Assange, decided that the First Amendment implications of charging him with a crime were too troubling, so they declined to do so."

Certainly, true.  No question.

"That’s because, whatever you think of WikiLeaks, if we criminalize receiving classified information, some of the most important works of journalism in American history would be transformed into crimes, and every reporter who works on national security would be a potential criminal."

Also, quite true.  Precisely, what the Trump nazi and his henchmen apparently want.

"There's a clear rule journalists follow: If my source stole important documents and gives them to me, I can write about what they contain. What I can't do is break down the door to the government building so he can get inside. That is essentially what Assange is being charged with: conspiring with Chelsea Manning to break into government files. According to the indictment, “Assange agreed to assist Manning in cracking a password stored on United States Department of Defense computers” in order to find more documents. (Her attempt was apparently unsuccessful.) But given the magnitude of what WikiLeaks has published over the years and the criticism the organization has received, that one charge seems an awful lot like a pretense, a way of charging Assange with something so they can extradite him. And Assange may be wondering why his service to President Trump didn’t protect him from this."

Excellent question.  Especially, since Assange was of such great service to our nazi fuhrer when he ran for office in 2016.  Gets far more interesting.  Read on:

"Which gets to one reason there are plenty of liberals feeling satisfied at seeing Assange led off in handcuffs. While WikiLeaks’ modus operandi was highly controversial before 2016, it was at least operating according to a defensible set of principles, promoting the idea that people everywhere should know the things governments seek to conceal. But then in 2016, Assange and the group seem to have essentially decided that, for whatever reason (loathing of Hillary Clinton, probably), they would cooperate with the Russian government in a joint effort to help get Trump elected president of the United States. That effort was successful, and it was not exactly a victory for the cause of transparency and press freedom."

No, it wasn't.  Quite the contrary.  In fact, exacerbated the problem.

"Up until 2016, conservatives were generally more critical than liberals of WikiLeaks, given the conservatives’ greater suspicion of whistle-blowers and the idea of exposing government secrets. I’m sure many of them felt a twinge of ambivalence when the organization to which they had been so hostile joined the Trump cause and their candidate himself began praising them lavishly on the campaign trail. “I love WikiLeaks!” Trump proclaimed, and mentioned them 164 times in the final month of the campaign. But they got over it; to take just one example, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who became intensely critical of WikiLeaks after the election, was a big fan during the campaign."

Nothing quite like self-serving inconsistency, is there?  LOL.

"The hypocrisy of Trump and his supporters doesn’t tell us much one way or the other about whether it’s a good thing that Assange was arrested. If prosecutors can prove the charge that he attempted to assist in the hacking of government systems, then he can be held accountable for that. But if what’s really at issue is WikiLeaks publishing classified information, we should be concerned about who the Trump administration will go after next."

Precisely, the problem. Wake up.

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Paul Waldman.

NBC Universal reports:

"Ecuadorian authorities explained that they had evicted Assange because of his “repeated violations to international conventions and daily-life protocols,” a bloodless phrase which alludes to what sounds like pretty disgusting behavior by the Australian-born Wikileaks chief. Later, less diplomatically, the Ecuadorian president Lenin Moreno called Assange a “spoiled brat.” The Ecuadorian ambassador to the U.K. complained in 2014 that Assange’s habit of riding a skateboard indoors which “damaged floors, walls, and doors” and that he behaved aggressively towards the staff. Complaints about his hygiene compounded. More disturbingly, according to Ecuador's Interior Minister said after ending his asylum, he even smeared his own feces over the embassy walls."

If the above is indeed true, surprising they didn't boot his ass long ago.

“This sets a dangerous precedent for all journalist and media organizations in Europe and around the world,” Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, said after his removal and arrest. “This precedent means that any journalist can be extradited for prosecution in the United States for having published truthful information about the United States.”

Indeed the problem, main issue with all this is precisely the above.  The precedent set.  A round-about way to skirt the First Amendment Freedom of the Press.  Especially dangerous presently when we have an insane, goddamned, national socialist, fascist, nazi ensconced in the Oval Office.  Founders?  Spinning in their graves.  Wouldn't recognize the country they created.  Democratic republic in name only.  In reality, a de facto fascist police-state since 9/11, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.

"Assange, however, is an unpleasant character, which makes it difficult for many to defend. His role in the 2016 election as an — unwitting or witting — partner of Russia in its attempts to manipulate the results was malignant. And that his asylum at the Ecuadorian embassy was an attempt to avoid answering official questions about his alleged sexual assaults (he has publicly denied the allegations), he is, at best, a complex figurehead for any movement in favor of transparency from leaders and freedom of speech."

No one on the Left, Right, or Center likes this guy.  Trump certainly did, however, when he egged the bastard on during the 2016 campaign to release Hillary's emails.  Now, conveniently disavows Assange.  Surprised?  Why?

"But as unlikely and distasteful a figurehead for transparency, he nonetheless has become one. And simply because Assange is an unpleasant person — let’s not mince words — doesn’t mean that we should accept that the U.S. government is seeking to imprison a publisher on charges that he said something that might have encouraged someone to think about hacking, because they don’t like what he published. (American authorities are charging him with an offense centered around conspiracy to commit computer intrusion — i.e., hacking — rather than under the Espionage Act.)"

What's likely truly behind this indictment is not national security, but the fact Assange embarrassed the United States government.  Our government has much to hide as demonstrated by the nature of what was disclosed.  Precisely, why so much information is highly classified.  To protect the assholes in government responsible for such ongoing malfeasance.

"What the Justice Department is alleging is that Assange broke the law by encouraging Manning to look for more material to send him, and saying that he could help her to crack a password. The problem is, if convicted on that charge, it could set a wide-ranging precedent for any journalist who deals with sources who bring leaked information — and that could have a chilling effect on American investigative reporting."

That's the most salient, serious, clearly most pernicious, long-term issue raised vis a vis this entire fiasco.  Forget?  A free press is one of the most important checks on abuse of power by out of control government.

"It is an awkward position to argue that someone should face trial in one place, but not another. And yet, justice would be served if Assange were to face his accusers in court in Sweden, where he was accused of several counts of sexual assault by two women. The investigation could technically be re-opened until 2020, though the initial investigatory term expired in 2015 and prosecutors said in 2017, short of Assange returning to Sweden, they saw no way to re-open the investigation at that time."

Sweden had already dropped the charges.  Not yet clear if the above is indeed the reason why.

"Justice would not, however, be served by his facing trial in the U.S. on hacking charges founded on the premise that public service reporting adds up to a crime."

Nonetheless, likely why the Trump regime is indeed following through with the prosecution of Assange when the Obama regime had decided not to.  Again, the mark of a fascist dictator who has no regard for the United States Constitution.

"That would be a travesty, with far-ranging effects on all investigative reporting in and about the U.S. As Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked a trove of National Security Agency documents that revealed the American government’s secret bulk data collection program, tweeted on Thursday: “Assange’s critics may cheer, but this is a dark moment for press freedom.”

Indeed, it is.  We remain a democratic republic in name only.  At least, since 9/11 when both major political parties created a de facto fascist police state via the USA 'Patriot' Act, Homeland 'Security' Act, 'Real' ID Act, etc..  What has indeed turned out to be raw nazism placing our formerly great country where Nazi Germany was in 1933 when Adolf Hitler became Chancellor.  The worst?  Yet to come.  Wake up.

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Nicky Woolf, Editor of New Statesman America, a new sister publication to the U.K.'s New Statesman magazine, former reporter for the Guardian US.

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.

4-19-19

The United States is not an honest broker of peace in the Middle East.  Never has been.  NPR reports:

"The U.S. government has denied entry to Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement, which urges boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel on security and settlement policies in the West Bank. Barghouti was at Ben Gurion International Airport in Israel on Wednesday when airline staff informed him that he wouldn't be flying despite holding valid travel documents, according to the Arab American Institute, a Washington-based advocacy group that arranged the trip. He was told that U.S. immigration officials had ordered the U.S. consul in Tel Aviv to deny him permission to enter the United States. "Barghouti was not provided an explanation for his denial of entry beyond 'immigration matter,' " the Arab American Institute said in a statement. The group said Barghouti typically faces travel hurdles from Israel — not the United States. He has a master's degree from Columbia University and spent a decade in the U.S. in the 1980s. A State Department official told NPR, "Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases."

Convenient, isn't it?  No transparency.  Certainly, not in a de facto fascist police-state.  ... Right, Mr. 'President?'

"Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which handles Israel's fight against the BDS movement, said it had no connection to the matter. And Israel's Interior Ministry said it had no knowledge of the U.S. action."

Hard to believe the Trump nazi and his henchmen did not give the Israeli aggressor a heads up.

"Barghouti had scheduled a speaking tour that included stops at Harvard and New York University, meetings with Washington policymakers and an appearance at a bookstore in Philadelphia owned by professor Marc Lamont Hill, whose CNN pundit contract was terminated last November over controversial remarks he made in support of Palestinian rights. At the end of the trip, Barghouti planned to attend the wedding of his daughter, who lives in the United States."

Can't have that, can we?  After all, the Palestinians have valiantly refused to march in goose step with the Trump nazi and/or the Israeli aggressor.

"BDS supporters see Barghouti's movement, which draws inspiration from a similar campaign against apartheid-era South Africa, as a nonviolent way to protest Israel's military occupation of the West Bank, construction of settlements which most of the world views as illegal, and other human rights concerns. The approach has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years, with dozens of student, academic and labor groups announcing support for BDS, and artists such as Lorde and Lauryn Hill canceling shows in Israel."

They've done the right thing.  Had no choice.  Forget?  The Israeli aggressor is now chillingly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler, 1933, when he became Chancellor of Nazi Germany.  The worst was yet to come.  Sadly, so too in Israel.

"Those moves worry Israel, which considers BDS a cover for a more nefarious campaign to delegitimize or even destroy the country."

Readers are reminded the United States, Europe, and the United Nations in 1948 bequeathed Palestine to survivors of Hitler's Holocaust.  -- Without consulting the Palestinians.  -- Territory, the Israelites had lost generations ago due to their excesses.  Since 1948, the Israeli aggressor has killed Palestinians, taken additional territory.  All this has repeatedly been covered in this publication and elsewhere.

"BDS critics on Twitter had blasted Barghouti's speaking tour as giving a platform to anti-Semitism."

The Nazi Right in our formerly great country does not acknowledge it's following in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.  Also, perversely, equates criticism of the Israeli aggressor with anti-Semitism.  Not one and the same.

"In the United States, more than two dozen states have adopted laws to punish companies that boycott Israel. This week, according to a report in The Hill, House Republicans are launching a discharge petition to force a vote on Senate legislation "that would allow state and city governments to penalize entities that seek to boycott, divest from or sanction Israel."

No more than raw nazism.  Who the hell are these national socialist, fascist, nazi bastards to dictate who we associate with, do business with, or criticize?

"Arab American Institute President James Zogby said in the statement that denying Barghouti entry deprives Americans of an important voice in the debate over BDS. "It is disturbing that policymakers and the American people will not have the opportunity to hear from Omar directly about his views," Zogby said."

That's right.  No question.  The brazen, national socialist intention of these fascists is to stifle free speech.  F--k the nazi element in our formerly great country.  They're un-American.  Present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

Most remarkable?  Get this:

"Barghouti, who lives in Israel with permanent residency status, previously has faced obstacles to traveling. In 2016, Israeli authorities refused to renew his travel documents, citing evidence that Barghouti spent most of his time in the West Bank, Israeli outlets reported. Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri was quoted as saying Barghouti is "using his resident status to travel all over the world in order to operate against Israel in the most serious manner."

Like most national socialists, fascists, the Trump nazi and the Israeli aggressor cannot withstand criticism.  To say nothing of close scrutiny.

"In that instance, Barghouti told the newspaper Haaretz that the impediments to his travel were "clearly political" and potentially "a first step toward revoking my permanent residency." He has also reportedly faced travel denial because of an Israeli investigation in connection with alleged tax evasion. The ban was temporarily lifted in 2017 and Barghouti traveled to Yale University to receive the Gandhi Peace Award from a Connecticut activist group. Yale issued a statement stressing that it was unaffiliated with the award but honors requests from the community to "invite speakers and groups to campus in accordance with our mission of fostering the free exchange of ideas."

Free exchange of ideas is reprehensible to a fascist dictator.  Both here in our formerly great country as well as in Israel.

"In February, the watchdog group Amnesty International demanded that Israel "end the arbitrary travel ban on human rights defender Omar Barghouti." Israel later issued Barghouti a travel document. He holds a U.S. visa that is valid through January 2021."

Clearly, no longer matters in a de facto fascist police-state, quickly transitioning to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich:

"Barghouti is among a growing list of international figures barred entry to the U.S. by the Trump administration. Earlier this month, U.S. authorities revoked the visa of the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, reportedly over her attempts to investigate alleged war crimes in Afghanistan."

No accountability.  Certainly, none here.  Forget?  We do no wrong.  LOL.

"Last month, dozens of women — primarily from African and Middle Eastern nations that fall under the administration's travel ban — were denied visas to attend a United Nations women's conference. In accordance with a 70-year-old treaty, the United States, as host nation, is obliged to admit visitors to the U.N. headquarters in New York."

We are no longer living up to our obligations.  Fascinating, isn't it?

"In some cases, there is a clear political or security backstory to the denial of entry. In others, the reasons are opaque. In 2017, an Afghan all-girls team of students that was invited to a robot-building contest was denied entry. U.S. authorities eventually issued visas for the girls after a backlash from human rights groups."

Sad, isn't it?

Insult to injury?  Get this.  NBC News reports:

"Elan Carr, the Trump administration's new special envoy for combating anti-Semitism, said Thursday that organized boycotts of products made in Israeli settlements is anti-Semitic, even if the settlements are not recognized by international law."

Clearly, this nazi is insane.  Criticism and boycott of the Israeli aggressor is not one and the same with anti-Semitism.  Only a national socialist, fascist, nazi would be so ignorant to equate both.

"Carr's comments came on his first day in the congressionally mandated post left vacant by the administration for the last two years."

Imagine that.  What took so long?  Couldn't get the bullshit propaganda line exactly right?

“An individual has a right to buy or not buy what they please. However, if there is an organized movement to economically strangle the state of Israel, that is anti-Semitic,” Carr said. “We are going to focus relentlessly on eradicating this false distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.”

This achingly ignorant fascist son of a bitch talks out both sides his ass.  Clearly, we no longer have the right to buy or not buy as we see fit.  His statements are contradictory, nonsensical.  Based no more than on the will of his national socialist, fascist fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

"Past U.S. policy considered Israeli settlements built on land captured in the 1967 war as illegal, in following with international law, but the view of the current administration is unclear."

The view of the Trump nazi is quite clear.  Backs Israel no matter what it does or doesn't do.  Whether or not consistent with international law.

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined several opportunities this past week to say how the U.S. would respond if newly re-elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed through on his campaign promise to annex Israeli settlements in the West Bank."

Nazi aggression.  ... If or when it happens, Pompeo will certainly excuse it.  Will march in goose step with his fuhrer, the Trump nazi, no matter what.

Why is the United States providing financial aid to the Israeli aggressor when an Israeli firm can afford to spend $100 million on a failed mission to the moon?  Ferociously pointedly, the Trump nazi and his henchmen clearly have their heads figuratively securely lodged up their collective ass.  The embrace of the Israeli aggressor by the Trump nazi is disingenuously political, not ideological in nature.  Forget?  Our nazi fuhrer has repeatedly demonstrated profound bigotry against numerous minority groups.  His embrace of the Israeli aggressor is too keep his base securely in line, marching in goose step.

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.

4-19-19

Nazi justice.  The Washington Post reports:

"Conservative justices on the Supreme Court overruled lower courts in a middle-of-the-night order and said an Alabama execution could proceed, over the objections of their liberal colleagues who wanted to discuss the case Friday morning. The order came too late for the state to carry out the execution of Christopher Lee Price, and Alabama will have to ask a state court to set another execution date."

Tough, isn't it?  Doesn't your heart bleed?  Here's the problem:

"But the 5-to-4 ruling at the Supreme Court indicated that the court’s new conservative majority is far less likely to agree to last-minute stay requests from those facing execution. It also emphasized the stark divide between conservative and liberal justices on capital punishment and the most humane way to carry it out."

The nazi element on the Court couldn't care less.

“What is at stake in this case is the right of a condemned inmate not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment,” wrote Justice Stephen G. Breyer, objecting to the majority’s decision."

What's next?  Stoning?

"He added: “To proceed in this matter in the middle of the night without giving all members of the court the opportunity for discussion tomorrow morning is, I believe, unfortunate.”

It's Right Wing Nazi, courtesy of the five Republican fascists now securely ensconced on the 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.

4-19-19

The bullshit never ends.  Get this.  NPR reports:

"President Trump told reporters that he is considering sending immigrants in the country illegally to "sanctuary cities" as retribution against Democrats, an idea his administration said had been rejected after reports emerged Thursday night. President Trump confirmed reports that he is strongly considering sending detained immigrants in the country illegally to "sanctuary cities" to try to punish Democrats who have opposed his stringent immigration proposals. The comments came hours after White House and Homeland Security officials said the idea had been scrapped.  "We'll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it, whether it's a state or whatever it might be," Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday. Then he went on to mention California. "We'll give them more people. We can give them a lot. We can give them an unlimited supply, and let's see if they're so happy. They say, 'We have open arms,' " Trump said.

"The comments from Trump follow a Washington Post report on Thursday that White House officials had been considering such a move "to retaliate against President Trump's political adversaries." Trump aides had reportedly proposed such a transfer twice — last November, as a migrant caravan seeking asylum in the U.S. approached the country's border with Mexico, and again in February during a fight with Congress over funding for his border wall following a 35-day government shutdown that eventually resulted in his declaring a national emergency to obtain the funds. Also according to the Post, the White House argued to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency that its plan was designed to find a solution to a lack of detention space along with "political retribution" against Democrats. But ICE lawyers "rejected the idea as inappropriate and rebuffed the administration."

NPR reports:

"A plan under consideration by President Trump to transfer detained immigrants to "sanctuary cities" should be viewed as an overture to Democrats, not political retribution, a White House spokesman said on Sunday."

Day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet to the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  All ass backwards from reality.

"It's not political retribution," Hogan Gidley, the White House Deputy Press Secretary, told NPR. "If anything, you should consider it on the Democrat side to be an olive branch."

Jesus Christ.  This guy has his head figuratively lodged so far up his clueless ass his eyeballs are turning inside out.

Here's the truth:

"But according to a report published by The Washington Post on Thursday, the plan to send detained immigrants who are in the country illegally to so-called sanctuary cities was seen by some White House officials as a way "to retaliate against President Trump's political adversaries."

Expect anything less from a fascist despot following in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini?

The following is highly indicative of the increasing instability of the Trump nazi as pressure grows on our insane tyrant in the Oval Office:

"Initially, White House and Homeland Security officials said the plan had been scrapped, but on Friday, President Trump confirmed the report, telling reporters, "We'll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it."

Further proof positive our nazi fuhrer is achingly ineffective at running the Executive Branch of our formerly great country.  Since he and his henchmen are failures at managing the nation's affairs, they now are dumping responsibility on the Democrats, -- who are all talk, no action.  LOL.  Jesus Christ.  Neither major political party is worth a shit.

"On Sunday, White House officials sought to turn the focus on Democrats. Speaking on ABC News' "This Week," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said the preferred solution would be for Democratic leaders in Congress to work with the White House to "stop this awful crisis that is taking place at our border."

More goddamned horse shit.  ... Can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit, Ms. Sanders? Wake up.  You're an idiot.  Why would you and the Trump nazi expect the Democrats to gutlessly march in goose step with the nazi element in our formerly great country?  Why?  You're delusional.

"Cracking down on illegal immigration has been a central theme of the Trump presidency, and in his interview with NPR, Gidley said Trump is trying to make good on that promise through the sanctuary cities plan."

More horse shit.  Forget?  Since 9/11 we've lived in a de facto fascist police-state the Trump nazi and his henchmen are determined to extend to the Fourth Reich.

"Gidley said the White House has put forward multiple proposals to stem the flow of illegal immigration, but Democrats have not "come to the table."

For damned good reason.  None of those approaches will work.  Worse, taxpayer money would be wasted.  Trump and his henchmen are too stupid, close-minded to understand that.  Forget?  Their blatant bigotry trumps reason.  ... Right, Ms. Sanders?  Mr. Gidley?

"So the logical answer is to give them something they want," said Gidley. "Democrats say that if you even think about rejecting people into this country illegally, that you are somehow racist. So the question then becomes, do Democrats want to allow these people to be shipped into their communities?"

That's not logic, Mr. Gidley.  It's bullshit.  Born of desperation.  Clearly, you and your fellow nazis have run out of ideas.  Need to dump your failures on someone else other than yourselves.  The collective determined, concerted ignorance of you fools remains achingly transparent.  -- Quite unlike how this failed government operates, that is, by classifying all its failures top secret.  ... Not that Democrats are any better.  They're all talk.  No action.  Neither party is truly worth a shit.

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.

4-19-19

The Trump nazi and his henchmen present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  ABC News reports:

ABC News reports:

"Just hours after Rep. Ilhan Omar released a statement reporting a surge of threats against her life following a tweeted attack from President Donald Trump, Trump again took aim at the freshman Muslim-American congresswoman on Monday by describing her as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “leader."

Trump is insane, growing increasingly desperate as the failure of his regime becomes quite apparent.

"Before Nancy, who has lost all control of Congress and is getting nothing done, decides to defend her leader, Rep. Omar, she should look at the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and ungrateful U.S. HATE statements Omar has made," Trump tweeted. "She is out of control, except for her control of Nancy!"

Jesus Christ.  Day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet to the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  All ass backwards from reality.  Our formerly great country continues to tear apart at the seams as we progress from the fascist police-state we've lived in since 9/11 to the Trump nazi's Fourth Reich.  Think Adolf and Benito are not 'high-fiving' each other on their fiery perches?

"Before Nancy, who has lost all control of Congress and is getting nothing done, decides to defend her leader, Rep. Omar, she should look at the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and ungrateful U.S. HATE statements Omar has made. She is out of control, except for her control of Nancy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 15, 2019"

Simply, untrue.  Nazi distortion of reality.  Coming from our increasingly insane, desperate fuhrer in the Oval Office.  The achingly deluded nazi element in our formerly great country does not understand criticism of the Israeli aggressor is not the same as anti-Semitism.  This point has been repeatedly addressed in this publication and elsewhere.  It is the Trump nazi who is dangerously out of control, not Omar.  This 'president' and his henchmen continue to be an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

While certainly not politically correct in her rhetoric, Omar has indeed drawn attention to Middle Eastern issues we Americans have been determinedly ignorant of since 1948.  Don't like what she's saying?  Tough shit.  Wake up.  Things are not, and have not been, as they appear to be.  Not for decades.  Release of top secret government data by hackers is certainly indicative of this.

"Democrats have rushed to Omar's defense after Trump tweeted out a video Friday evening sequencing a clip of Omar speaking about 9/11 during a CAIR speech last month with disturbing footage from the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. “CAIR was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something, and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties,” Omar said in the speech. Republicans have criticized the seemingly passive reference to the terrorists who carried out the attacks, while Omar's defenders have countered that the remarks were largely taken out of context and have been seized on in order to stoke anti-Islamic sentiment against the Muslim congresswoman."

That's right.  Raw nazism perpetrated by the outrageously gutless nazi element in the Republican Party.  -- A GOP that is growing increasingly desperate under its fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  Readers are reminded the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented.  The State Department failed to do full background checks on the terrorists.  Worse, failed to act after the flight schools informed the government the terrorists wished to learn only how to fly straight and level, not take off and land.  Wake up.  This government has failed us.  Both major political parties responsible.  For totally different reasons.

“Since the President’s tweet Friday evening, I have experienced an increase in direct threats on my life—many directly referencing or replying to the President’s video," Omar said in a statement Sunday evening. "I thank the Capitol Police, the FBI, the House Sergeant at Arms, and the Speaker of the House for their attention to these threats."

She has a First Amendment right to free speech.  Don't like what she has to say and/or how she says it?  Tough shit.  Grow up.  Act as Americans, not gullible, out to lunch sheep.

"Pelosi said Sunday she personally spoke with the House Sergeant-at-Arms in order to ensure the safety of Omar, as well as her family and staff. “The President’s words weigh a ton, and his hateful and inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger," Pelosi said. "President Trump must take down his disrespectful and dangerous video.”

The nazi remains too clueless, determinedly ignorant.

In another article, ABC News reports:

"White House press secretary Sarah Sanders defended President Donald Trump's criticism of Rep. Ilhan Omar Sunday , saying he "should be calling out" the freshman congresswoman for her "absolutely abhorrent" comments."

What is 'abhorrent' is the raw nazism perpetrated by you and the Trump nazi, Ms. Sanders.

"Sanders also said even though Omar's comments were "unbefitting for a member of Congress," Trump wasn't wishing her any harm with his criticism."

Disingenuous bullshit.  Just like you, the Trump nazi knows precisely what he's doing.  Highly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler, circa 1933, when the fascist bastard became Chancellor of Nazi Germany.  Worst, yet to come.

"Certainly the president is wishing no ill will, and certainly not violence towards anyone," Sanders said in an interview on "This Week."

Posting of the video screams otherwise, you disingenuous fool.  Achingly, clueless.

"But the president is absolutely and should be calling out the congresswoman for her not only one time but history of anti-Semitic comments."

You and your fuhrer are delusional, Ms. Sanders.  Criticism of the Israeli aggressor is not one and the same with anti-Semitism.  Such rhetoric coming from the bigoted Trump nazi and his henchmen is the height of hypocrisy.  Forget?  Your achingly clueless fuhrer has repeatedly demonstrated his bigotry against Moslems and many,many others.  Wake up.

"It's absolutely abhorrent, the comments she continues to make and has made and (Democrats) look the other way," Sanders told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos. "I find ... her comments to be absolutely disgraceful and unbefitting of a member of Congress and I think that it's a good thing that the president is calling her out for those comments. And the big question is, why aren't Democrats doing it as well?"

-- Because it's self-serving GOP horse shit, Ms. Sanders.  Your determined, concerted ignorance, and that of your fuhrer, is quite striking.  Achingly, laughable.  Transparent, unlike your failed regime.

"On Saturday, Omar vowed her "unwavering love" for America. "I did not run for Congress to be silent. No one person – no matter how corrupt, inept, or vicious – can threaten my unwavering love for America," she wrote, without naming Trump directly. "Thank you for standing with me – against an administration that ran on banning Muslims from this country – to fight for the America we all deserve."

"No one person – no matter how corrupt, inept, or vicious – can threaten my unwavering love for America. I stand undeterred to continue fighting for equal opportunity in our pursuit of happiness for all Americans.

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 13, 2019"

The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump said he has no regrets about sharing an incendiary video of Rep. Ilhan Omar and called her “extremely unpatriotic and extremely disrespectful to our country,” as the freshman lawmaker claimed an uptick in threats to her life."

Can't the same criticism be made of you, Mr. 'President?'  Think your treasonous embrace of national socialism becoming of a U.S. president?

"Trump made his comments on Monday to local television station KSTP during a trip to Minnesota for an event focused on taxes. He was asked if he had any regrets about a Friday tweet that included video of Omar (D-Minn.) spliced with images of the twin towers falling on Sept. 11, 2001, in the aftermath of terrorist attacks."

Jesus Christ.  Think it proper for a U.S. president to deliberately place a congresswoman in danger, Mr. 'President?'  For speaking the truth?  Have you forgotten, sir, free speech is guarantied by the First Amendment?

“No, not at all,” Trump said. “Look, she’s been very disrespectful to this country. She’s been very disrespectful, frankly, to Israel. She is somebody that doesn’t really understand, I think life, real life, what it’s all about. It’s unfortunate. She’s got a way about her that’s very, very bad I think for our country. I think she’s extremely unpatriotic and extremely disrespectful to our country.”

She hasn't been disrespectful to this country, or unpatriotic.  She's spoken the truth.  Most unlike you, sir.  Moreover, she's rightfully challenged the Israeli aggressor and all the damage it's done to the Palestinians since 1948.  Conveniently forget?  The UN, the United States, and the Europeans bequeathed Palestine to survivors of the Nazi Holocaust in 1948.  (Land the Israelites had lost generations ago due to their excesses.)

-- Callously bequeathed Palestine without first consulting the Palestinians.  Precisely, why there has been war after war in the Middle East since.  The Israeli aggressor has continued to wantonly kill Palestinians and continues to steal additional territory.  Your continued support of the Israeli aggressor is un-American.  Egregiously short-sighted.  Inexcusable.  Right Wing nazi.

Worse?  You have stupidly in effect granted carte blanche to the Israeli aggressor to do as it pleases.  Refused to force the Israeli aggressor to accede to a two-state solution to the conflict.  That's aggressive stupidity at its very worst, Mr. 'President.'  Ensures there will be no peace in the region.  Is that what you want, Mr. Trump?  Your short-sightedness is unbecoming a U.S. president.

"On Monday, Pelosi said Trump’s tweet was “beneath the dignity of the Oval Office.” But that hasn’t stemmed the vitriol directed at Omar. Even a Trump official mocked the death threats to Omar, which only incited more threats. As first reported by Mother Jones, Lynne Patton, the highest-ranking black woman in the Trump administration, who serves as a regional administrator at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, on Saturday shared on her personal Instagram account an image that read: “Ilhan Omar is crying she’s receiving death threats. They’re not death threats. Just some people saying something.”

Your achingly cold-blooded, most callous ignorance, Ms. Patton, would indeed be laughable had it not put Rep. Omar in further danger.

"One cybersecurity expert took it upon himself to monitor all the threats made against Omar on Twitter. He found hundreds since Saturday."

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.

4-19-19

Facebook is a problem.  Consider the following.  NBC News reports:

"Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg oversaw plans to consolidate the social network’s power and control competitors by treating its users’ data as a bargaining chip, while publicly proclaiming to be protecting that data, according to about 4,000 pages of leaked company documents largely spanning 2011 to 2015 and obtained by NBC News. The documents, which include emails, webchats, presentations, spreadsheets and meeting summaries, show how Zuckerberg, along with his board and management team, found ways to tap Facebook’s trove of user data — including information about friends, relationships and photos — as leverage over companies it partnered with. In some cases, Facebook would reward favored companies by giving them access to the data of its users. In other cases, it would deny user-data access to rival companies or apps."

Tip of the iceberg.  Report goes on and on in extraordinary detail.  Wake up.  On Facebook?  You haven't a clue.

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.

4-19-19

Our fuhrer, the Trump nazi has spoken.  Has no regard for innocent civilians being murdered in Yemen.  War crimes our nazi fuhrer is an active participant in.  Terrorism at its very worst.  ABC News reports:

"President Donald Trump has vetoed a resolution to stop U.S. military assistance to the Saudi- and Emirati-led campaign in Yemen. In issuing the veto, Trump said, "This resolution is an unnecessary, dangerous attempt to weaken my constitutional authorities."

Abject bullshit promulgated by a national socialist dictator, a Hitler 'wannabe.'  The Constitution is quite clear.  Only Congress gets to declare war.  Why has it ceded that responsibility to the Executive Branch?  Done so since December 7, 1941.

"Earlier this month, Congress passed the War Powers Resolution to stop U.S. involvement in the foreign conflict, with several Republicans joining Democrats in large part to send a message about the Trump administration's unwavering support for the Saudis. The House approved the resolution on April 4, and the Senate passed the measure on March 13."

If both major political parties had the guts to stand tall on principle, override of the veto would be unanimous.  Not possible in Nazi America, a de facto fascist police-state since 9/11, quickly  transitioning 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.

4-19-19

Continued attack on abortion rights.  ABC News reports:

"Abortion rights advocates have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to summarily strike down a controversial Louisiana law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital. The court in February, by a 5-4 vote, temporarily put the law on hold – hours before it was set to take effect -- pending an expected appeal from the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing a Louisiana abortion clinic and two physicians. The organization is challenging a decision by the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upholding the Louisiana law. “The stakes in this case are high for the rule of law, and the real world consequences for women in Louisiana could be dire,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “Abortion access in the state is already hanging by a thread. The number of clinics has already fallen from 11 in 2001 to just 3 today.”

Who the hell is the nazi element in our formerly great country to force their perverse ideological and religious views on the rest of us?  Here are the consequences:

"Kathaleen Pittman, clinic administrator at one Louisiana abortion provider, said health care workers are already seeing an uptick in cases of attempted “self-abortions” because of shrinking options for women. “We do anticipate a rise in self-abortions. We’ve seen it reported to us, especially from women coming to us from Texas, of trying alternative means,” Pittman said. “Women are going to have abortions, the question is: will they be illegal and unsafe, or legal and safe?” Louisiana authorities have 30 days to file a response with the Supreme Court. While it is possible the justices could grant their petition this term, it’s more likely they do so during the October term, the parties said."

4-19-19

The redacted version of the Mueller Report will be released by U.S. Attorney General Barr far too late for coverage in this edition.  Patience.  Will certainly take time to analyze.  Since it will be redacted, the controversy will rage on indefinitely no matter what.

4-12-19

What could Motel 6 possibly been thinking?  NPR reports:

"The hotel chain Motel 6 has agreed to pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Washington after several locations gave information on thousands of guests to Immigration and Customs Enforcement without warrants."

No one criminally prosecuted at Motel 6 for doing so?  No one?

"Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday that Motel 6 shared the information of about 80,000 guests in the state from 2015 to 2017. That led to targeted investigations of guests with Latino-sounding names, according to Ferguson. He said many guests faced questioning from ICE, detainment or deportation as a result of the disclosures. It's the second settlement over the company's practice in recent months. Motel 6 also has signed a legally binding commitment to no longer share guest information without a warrant at any of its locations nationwide, a practice the chain says it has already ended. "Motel 6's actions tore families apart and violated the privacy rights of tens of thousands of Washingtonians," Ferguson said in a statement. "Our resolution holds Motel 6 accountable for illegally handing over guests' private information without a warrant." The company told NPR in an emailed statement that, as part of the agreement, it would "continue to enforce its guest privacy policy, which prohibits the sharing of guest information except in cases where a judicially enforceable warrant or subpoena is present, or local law requires this information." "The company has also implemented a system of additional controls to ensure corporate oversight and compliance in cases where law enforcement requests are made."

For you Republican national socialists, fascists, bona fide nazis out there who falsely claim to be Christians, does the substance of the following quote sound Christian to you?  Are you indeed anything more than hypocritical fascist bastards?  Not that Democrats are any better.  All talk, no action.  Good at rhetoric, little more.  Get this:

"The statement from Ferguson about Thursday's settlement detailed several cases of guests whose names were provided to ICE, including one Seattle man who stayed at a Motel 6 near Sea-Tac for one night, wrapping Christmas presents for his children. "ICE agents approached him in the hotel's parking lot, detained him and deported him some days later," the statement reads. "The man was the sole provider for the household, and his wife is currently struggling to support their toddler and four other children."

Do you goddamned GOP fascists out there understand your taxes will wind up supporting this woman and her children?  Nothing quite like aggressive stupidity, is there?

"Motel 6 has agreed to also train its employees not to release guest information improperly and maintain a 24-hour hotline to help employees when they receive requests for information. The company will also be required to create a tool on its website for guests to report possible violations. The state says more than $10 million of the settlement fund will be paid out to affected guests — including those who did not have any contact with ICE after their information was disclosed. In November, Motel 6 settled a separate lawsuit filed in Arizona by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. That lawsuit identified eight Latino plaintiffs who were detained, including one who was deported."

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.

4-12-19

Quite obviously, the Trump nazi eats well.  Too well.  LOL.  Gross understatement.  LOL.  Yet he's more than willing to deny the underprivileged nutritious school lunches.  How about that?  NPR reports:

"A lawsuit filed by attorneys general from six states and the District of Columbia says the weakened federal nutrition standards for school meals are putting kids at greater risk of health problems linked to diet. A coalition of state attorneys general is suing the Trump administration for weakening the federal nutrition standards for school meals that are fed to about 30 million children across the country. "Over a million children in New York — especially those in low-income communities and communities of color — depend on the meals served daily by their schools to be healthy, nutritious, and prepare them for learning," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. Joining James in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and Vermont.

"But public health advocates have cried foul. "The 'flexibilities' the administration is offering [schools] are both unnecessary and undermining," Laura MacCleery, policy director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said. Her group has also filed a lawsuit in federal court in Maryland. The suit argues that the U.S. Department of Agriculture violated the National School Lunch Act. The group argues that the weakened standards put millions of children at greater risk of health problems associated with a diet that's high in sodium and low in whole grains. "When I think about what policies are available to move the needle on the health of kids, this is the big one," MacCleery says. "The Trump administration is blowing it." Letitia James echoes this: "The Trump Administration has undermined key health benefits for our children — standards for salt and whole grains in school meals — with deliberate disregard for science, expert opinion, and the law," she wrote in a statement announcing the lawsuit."

NPR reports:

"Lawmakers told Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson Wednesday that there's little chance Congress will accept the Trump administration's plan to make deep cuts in housing and development programs. The president's 2020 budget calls for eliminating the Community Development Block Grant program, the public housing capital fund and the HOME grant program for more affordable housing, for a one-year savings of more than $7 billion. But these programs are popular among lawmakers, especially local officials who say they desperately need money to help their low-income communities. House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey of New York noted that the administration's new housing budget echoed last year's proposal, which was rejected by Congress on a bipartisan basis. "This year, your proposal contains even deeper cuts and would greatly reduce public housing and end most community development block grants. It would lead to more people struggling to find affordable housing and more people falling into homelessness," she said."

Fascinating, isn't it, that this is indeed a bipartisan issue?

"The ranking Republican on the HUD appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, warned Carson, "Just like last year, we're unlikely to agree on a lot of the things you've put forward." Maine Republican Susan Collins, who chairs the Senate panel that oversees HUD spending, told Carson later in the day that she was "deeply troubled" by many of the administration's proposals. "Low-income households face an affordable housing shortage across the country, and in many locations that shortage is reaching crisis levels," she said."

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.

4-12-19

U.S. Attorney General Barr is certainly doing his fuhrer's bidding.  The Washington Post reports:

"Revelations that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s still-confidential report may contain damaging information about President Trump ignited a fresh round of political fighting on Thursday, ushering in a new phase of the nearly two-year-old battle over the Russia probe. Members of Mueller’s team have told associates they are frustrated with the limited information that Attorney General William P. Barr has provided about their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether Trump sought to obstruct justice, according to multiple people familiar with the matter."

Barr is doing precisely what he was hired to do.  -- Protect his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

"While Barr concluded the special counsel’s evidence was not sufficient to prove that the president obstructed justice, some of Mueller’s investigators have said their findings on obstruction were alarming and significant, one person with knowledge of their thinking said."

Precisely, why the public is entitled to read the entire Mueller Report including support documentation.

"Some on the special counsel’s team were also frustrated that summaries they had prepared for different sections of the report — with the view that they could be made public fairly quickly — were not released by Barr, two people familiar with the matter said."

Comes as no surprise, does it?  Forget?  The nazi element is doing all it can to protect its fuhrer.

"The developments put additional pressure on Barr to publicly release Mueller’s 400-page report in its entirety and prompted objections from Trump and his allies that Democrats are attempting to politicize what the president believes has been a 22-month “witch hunt.”

The 'president' is demonstrably a congenital liar.  The public is entitled to this report.  The government works for the people, not the other way around.  Certainly, in a democratic republic.  Then again, we now live in a de facto fascist police-state.

"Barr has pledged as much transparency as the law and Justice Department policies allow, but House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) cited “troubling press reports” in a Thursday letter calling for Barr to “immediately release to the public any ‘summaries’ contained in the report that may have been prepared by the Special Counsel.” Nadler also asked Barr to turn over to the committee “all communications” between the Justice Department and Mueller’s office related to the report."

The very least these corrupt and abusive bastards should do.

"A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on the Nadler letter."

What the f--k could they say?  They're stonewalling.

"Trump, meanwhile, took to social media to press his attacks on the Mueller report, part of a shift in tone from his earlier praise for portions of the probe’s findings that he viewed as favorable to him."

So what else is new?  Self-serving nazi.  Forget?

"The political debate over the minimal information released so far about Mueller’s lengthy report seems to have led to cracks in the special counsel’s disciplined and tight-lipped team. The displeasure among some who worked on the closely held inquiry has begun to surface in the days since Barr released a four-page letter to Congress on March 24 describing what he said were the principal conclusions of Mueller’s report."

Barr is, and has been, a Trump shill.  Democrats were well aware of this.  Failed to walk out the Senate in protest before the vote.  While Democrats are good at rhetoric, fail miserably when it comes to action.

"In his letter, Barr said the special counsel did not establish a criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. And he said that Mueller did not reach a conclusion “one way or the other” as to whether Trump’s conduct in office constituted obstruction of justice. “It was much more acute than Barr suggested,” said one person, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity."

Precisely, the problem.  No guts.  This individual should have had the courage to stand up, identify himself or herself, then speak the truth.  Hell with the consequences.  The public is entitled to the truth.

"Trump immediately seized on Barr’s letter to declare on Twitter, “No Collusion, No Obstruction, Complete and Total EXONERATION.” Though Trump’s assertion was incorrect — Mueller pointedly did not reach any conclusion on obstruction, for example — he and his allies began wielding Barr’s summary as a political cudgel to dismiss not just Mueller’s work but any future investigations into the president’s conduct. However, the news that Mueller’s full report could contain unflattering revelations about the president and his behavior has created a potential political problem for the White House and Trump’s reelection campaign."

Tough shit.  The public is entitled to the truth.

"After initially calling for the full report to be released, Trump seemed to temper his enthusiasm this week, writing on Twitter that “there is no amount of testimony or document production that can satisfy Jerry Nadler or Shifty Adam Schiff” — a reference to Nadler and Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Referring to the Democrats more generally, he also tweeted, “NOTHING WILL EVER SATISFY THEM!”

The Trump nazi is figuratively shitting in his pants.  Not only are congressional investigations proceeding, so are full investigations by state and federal prosecutors in New York.

"Against this backdrop, grumbles from Mueller’s team have broken into public view. Some members of his office were particularly disappointed that Barr did not release summary information the special counsel team had prepared, according to three people familiar with their reactions. “There was immediate displeasure from the team when they saw how the attorney general had characterized their work instead,” according to one U.S. official briefed on the matter. Two officials familiar with the matter added that the summaries the Mueller team had prepared were intended to be ready for public consumption in a timely manner, because the redactions could have been done fairly quickly. Justice Department officials disputed that characterization, saying the summaries contained sensitive information that will probably require redaction."

Protecting their fuhrer.

"While the White House has publicly given Barr wide leeway to handle the Mueller report as he sees fit, congressional Democrats have been increasingly critical of his role, questioning whether he is trying to protect the president through his public letters and statements while he continues to review and redact portions of the Mueller report."

Certainly, seems the case.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday revived her demand that Barr release Mueller’s report and tied it in spirit to a Democratic request to the Treasury Department for six years of Trump’s tax returns. “Show us the Mueller report. Show us the tax returns,” Pelosi said at a news conference, appearing to momentarily address the president. “We’re not walking away because you said ‘no’ the first time around.”

You're all talk, Madam Speaker.  No action.

"With each passing day the report remains secret, the pressure on Barr increases, driven in part by congressional demands for transparency and by anonymous officials’ characterizations of the attorney general’s work."

Certainly, a positive development.  ... If it goes anywhere.  -- And is not just empty rhetoric.

"During nearly two years of work, Mueller’s team — which included 19 lawyers and roughly 40 FBI agents, analysts and other professional staff — worked in near silence, speaking only rarely through public documents filed in court. The fact that some have been confiding in recent days to associates is a sign of the level of their distress. Some members of Mueller’s team appear caught off guard by how thoroughly the president has used Barr’s letter to claim total victory, as the limited information about their work has been weaponized in the country’s highly polarized political environment, according to people familiar with their responses."

What did they expect would happen?

NBC News reports:

"Some members of special counsel Robert Mueller's team have expressed frustration that Attorney General William Barr cleared President Donald Trump of obstruction of justice, and they believe the evidence that Trump sought to impede the investigation is stronger than Barr suggested in his March letter summarizing Mueller's findings, a U.S. official who has spoken with the members tells NBC News. Justice Department officials say Barr had no choice but to render a judgment, because the special counsel regulations say that he is ultimately in charge of the investigation. If Mueller believed Trump was guilty of obstruction, he could have said so, the officials argue — but he didn't do that in his report. Three government officials have told NBC News that a dispute within the special counsel's office on the facts and the law was one factor behind Mueller's decision not to make a call on the obstruction question. The lawyers and FBI agents on Mueller's team could not reach an agreement about whether Trump's conduct amounted to a corrupt — and therefore illegal — effort to impede the probe, the three officials said. As a result, Barr, after consulting with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, stepped in to clear the president, saying the evidence did not amount to a prosecutable case of obstruction of justice. The feelings of some members of Mueller's team do not change the attorney general's legal conclusions — which cleared Trump on both obstruction and conspiracy with Russia. But the political impact could be huge, as Democrats seek more information on Mueller's findings."

The Washington Post reports:

"Members of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s team have told associates they are frustrated with the limited information Attorney General William P. Barr has provided about their nearly two-year investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether President Trump sought to obstruct justice, according to people familiar with the matter. The displeasure among some who worked on the closely held inquiry has quietly begun to surface in the days since Barr released a four-page letter to Congress on March 24 describing what he said were the principal conclusions of Mueller’s still-confidential, 400-page report. In his letter, Barr said that the special counsel did not establish a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. And he said that Mueller did not reach a conclusion “one way or the other” as to whether Trump’s conduct in office constituted obstruction of justice. Absent that, Barr told lawmakers that he concluded the evidence was not sufficient to prove that the president obstructed justice. But members of Mueller’s team have complained to close associates that the evidence they gathered on obstruction was alarming and significant. “It was much more acute than Barr suggested,” said one person, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity. Some members of the office were particularly disappointed that Barr did not release summary information the special counsel team had prepared, according to two people familiar with their reactions. “There was immediate displeasure from the team when they saw how the attorney general had characterized their work instead,” according to one U.S. official briefed on the matter. Summaries were prepared for different sections of the report, with a view that they could be made public, the official said."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Why all the game playing?  Founders?  Likely spinning in their graves.  Wouldn't recognize the democratic republic they founded.

"The report was prepared “so that the front matter from each section could have been released immediately — or very quickly,” the official said. “It was done in a way that minimum redactions, if any, would have been necessary, and the work would have spoken for itself.” Mueller’s team assumed the information was going to be made available to the public, the official said, “and so they prepared their summaries to be shared in their own words — and not in the attorney general’s summary of their work, as turned out to be the case.” Another person familiar with the matter disputed that characterization, saying the summaries contained sensitive information that will likely require redaction."

Interesting, isn't it? What the hell ever happened to transparency?

"Barr said the special counsel’s report is divided into two parts. The first pertains to the Russian effort to influence the 2016 election and documents crimes committed by Russians in that regard. The second addresses a number of actions by the president as potentially raising concerns about obstruction of justice, Barr said. He said that the special counsel’s decision not to reach a legal conclusion on obstruction left it to him to determine whether Trump’s conduct as described constituted a crime. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein “and I have concluded that the evidence developed ... is not sufficient to establish” that the president committed obstruction of justice, he wrote in his letter to Congress. Democrats have questioned Barr’s conclusion, noting that he wrote a 2018 memo that criticized Mueller’s obstruction inquiry and argued that the president cannot be accused of obstruction for exercising his broad constitutional powers."

Barr is bought and paid for.  Shill of the Trump 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.

4-12-19

Finally, the Democrats are doing more than engaging in empty rhetoric.  NPR reports:

"Democrats have long called for President Trump to release his tax returns, and now a key congressman has put in a formal request with the IRS."

About time.  What took so long?

"Massachusetts Democrat Richard Neal, chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, is requesting six years of Trump's personal tax returns and the returns for some of his businesses for the years 2013-2018. Neal argues that Congress, and his committee in particular, need to conduct oversight of the IRS, including its policy of auditing the tax returns of sitting presidents. "We have completed the necessary groundwork for a request of this magnitude and I am certain we are within our legitimate legislative, legal, and oversight rights," he said in a statement about the request. Neal said the action was about "policy, not politics."

Think so?  LOL.

"My actions reflect an abiding reverence for our democracy and our institutions, and are in no way based on emotion of the moment or partisanship," he said."

Think so?  LOL.  Despite the obvious bullshit, it is a legitimate function of Congress to provide oversight.  No matter the incumbent or party affiliation.

"In his letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, Neal asked for the information by April 10."

If not, then issue a subpoena.  Hold the bastard's feet proverbially to the fire.

The Washington Post reports:

"The White House could attempt to block the release of President Trump’s tax returns to Democrats, senior officials signaled on Thursday, an unprecedented step that might lead to a constitutional challenge and catapult the issue into federal court."

So be it.  Oversight is a legitimate function of Congress.

"In an indication of how the standoff might escalate, Trump himself suggested that the Justice Department could become involved — even though Democrats directed their request to the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service. “They’ll speak to my lawyers and they’ll speak to the attorney general,” Trump said during an unrelated event in the Oval Office when asked about the Democrats’ request for six years of his personal and business tax returns. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump would not release his tax returns because they were under audit, a disputed claim that the White House has not allowed to be independently verified."

Surprised?  Why?  Forget?  Trump is a congenital liar.

“While his taxes continue to be under audit, he doesn’t anticipate that changing at any point anytime soon, and therefore doesn’t have any intention to release those returns,” Sanders said on Fox News."

Let's see what the courts say.

"House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) on Wednesday formally requested that the Internal Revenue Service turn over six years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns, invoking a 1924 law that gives the IRS little wiggle room. “The six-year decision was reached because the IRS advises you should retain six years of your tax records,” Neal said Thursday. “And we thought if this were to end up in court we didn’t want an issue, for example if you were requesting eight years, where it would be thrown out based on a technicality.” Neal also disputed the claim that an audit would prevent Trump from releasing his returns. Independent experts have also said Trump could release his returns if he wanted to, even if he were being audited — something that all previous presidents dating back to Richard M. Nixon have done voluntarily."

Begs the question what does Trump have to hide?

“The professional staff and the attorneys say that you can still submit your tax forms even if you’re under audit,” Neal said. The 1924 law that gives Neal the authority to compel the records amended the Internal Revenue Code. It says the treasury secretary “shall furnish ... any return or return information specified” in a request from the head of the House or Senate tax-writing committees. The law does not appear to give the treasury secretary any legal mechanism to deny the request. Neal said in his letter to the IRS that his committee was considering legislative proposals about — and conducting oversight of — “the extent to which the IRS audits and enforces the Federal tax laws against a president.” A president’s individual tax returns are subject to mandatory IRS examination, but that is IRS practice, not federal law, according to Neal. He said access to the president’s tax records — along with records of IRS treatment of them — was necessary to determine the scope of any IRS examination of Trump’s returns."

Sad, isn't it, Trump apparently has something to hide?  Otherwise, he would have voluntarily released his taxes as his predecessors have dating back to Richard Nixon.

Think the following doesn't complicate matters?  Get this:

"Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who served as Trump’s finance chairman during the 2016 campaign, has not commented publicly since Neal sent the request to the IRS on Wednesday. In the past, Mnuchin has said he would consult with his legal advisers and follow the law. The IRS also has not said anything about Neal’s request."

Hopefully, the law provides no wiggle room for the nazi in the Oval Office:

"The 1924 law does not appear to give the White House any input into whether the IRS furnishes an individual’s tax returns. In fact, the law was written in part to give Congress the ability to scrutinize the tax returns of executive branch officials to investigate conflicts of interest or other potential improprieties because of the Teapot Dome scandal in the early 1920s."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Gets better.  Get this:

"Trump and Sanders in recent days have asserted that because the tax returns are under audit, they will not be released. But Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen told a congressional committee earlier this year that Trump’s taxes were never under audit and that he simply didn’t want any scrutiny over his financial dealings. “What he didn’t want is to have an entire group of think tanks that are tax experts run through his tax return and start ripping it to pieces, and then he’ll end up in an audit, and he’ll ultimately have taxable consequences, penalties and so on,” Cohen said, adding, “I presume that he is not under audit.”

"Democrats believe that Trump’s tax returns could shed light on any number of issues, including whether the president improperly inflated his assets, had questionable dealings with foreign countries, or benefited personally from the 2017 tax law."

-- To say nothing of what state and federal prosecutors are investigating in New York.

CBS News reports:

"The attorney representing President Trump in the battle over his tax returns says the IRS shouldn't divulge anything to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal until Justice Department lawyers issue a formal legal opinion on the constitutionality of the matter."

Think there won't be one hell of a court fight?  Forget?  Under the bought and paid for Barr nazi, the 'Justice' Department will likely march in goose step with the fuhrer.

"Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, asked the IRS on Wednesday to give over six years' worth of Mr. Trump's tax returns to the committee. But in a letter to Treasury Department General Counsel Brent McIntosh on Friday, Trump attorney Will Consovoy said he doubted the constitutionality of Neal's request, and warned about the "dangerous precedent" it could set."

What's that?  ... The truth?

"But perhaps the most significant lines come in the final paragraph of the four-page letter, when Consovoy asked the IRS to let the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel get involved. "Finally, given the unprecedented nature of Chairman Neal's request, the IRS should refrain from divulging the requested information until it receives a formal legal opinion from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel," Consovoy wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CBS News. Consovoy argues in his letter that Neal's request "flouts" the "fundamental constitutional constraints" protecting privacy and First Amendment rights. "While the committee has jurisdiction over taxes, it has no power to conduct its own examination of individual taxpayers," Consovoy wrote. "Even if Ways and Means had a legitimate committee purpose for requesting the president's tax return and return information, that purpose is not driving Chairman Neal's request. His request is a transparent effort by one political party to harass an official from the other party because they dislike his politics and speech," Consovoy added. Consovoy expressed further concerns about how granting such a request could pave the way for more such requests. "As Secretary Mnuchin recently told Congress, he is 'not aware that there has ever been a request for an elected official's tax returns.' For good reason. It would be a gross abuse of power for the majority party to use tax returns as a weapon to attack, harass, and intimidate their political opponents. Once this Pandora's box is opened, the ensuing tit-for-tat will do lasting damage to our nation."

This achingly clueless shyster bastard seems to have conveniently forgotten it is indeed the constitutional duty of Congress to provide oversight of the Executive Branch, -- including the president.

"Cosovoy is also representing Mr. Trump in a separate emoluments case involving allegations that Mr. Trump is personally and illegally profiting from foreign entities."

Certainly, lining his pockets.  No question.  Mar-a-Lago case in point.

The Washington Post reports:

"Treasury Department lawyers consulted with the White House general counsel’s office about the potential release of President Trump’s tax returns before House Democrats formally requested the records, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday. Mnuchin had not previously revealed that the White House was playing any official role in the Treasury Department’s decision on releasing Trump’s tax returns. Democrats are asking for six years of Trump’s returns, using a federal law that says the treasury secretary “shall follow” the request of House or Senate chairmen in releasing tax return information. The process is designed to be walled off from White House interference, in part because of corruption that took place during the Teapot Dome scandal in the 1920s. Mnuchin revealed the discussions during a congressional hearing. He said he had not personally spoken with anyone from the White House about the tax returns, but he said that members of his team had done so. “I believe that the communication between our legal department and the White House general counsel was informational,” Mnuchin told a House appropriations subcommittee. “We had obviously read in the press that we were expecting this. I personally wasn’t involved in those conversations.” Mnuchin added that he was never briefed on the content of the discussions."

Believe it?  Think he's telling the truth?

"Congress, in 1924, updated the tax code to give the chairmen of the House and Senate tax-writing committees the ability to obtain anyone’s tax returns even if the request was opposed by the White House. That’s because of the Teapot Dome scandal in the early 1920s. In the Warren Harding administration, Interior Secretary Albert Fall had improperly leased Navy petroleum reserves to private companies without allowing competitive bids. He would eventually go to jail for accepting bribes as part of the scheme, and lawmakers decided after the scandal that they needed access to more information about the economic interests of top White House officials."

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.

4-12-19

Trump behaves like a petulant 2-year-old.  NPR reports:

"President Trump said Thursday that he was giving Mexico one year to stem the flow of migrants and drugs coming across the Southern border, or else the U.S. would impose auto tariffs or close the border. President Trump is backing down from his threat to shut down the U.S. Southern border as soon as this week. Trump had issued the warning in a bid to curtail surging border crossings by asylum seekers from Central America. Instead, Trump is now giving Mexico "a one-year warning" to address his concerns about its handling of immigrants traveling through the country on the way to the United States. He also demanded that Mexico tamp down on the flow of drugs."

Big of him, no?  LOL.  Closing the border or imposing tariffs would cripple the economy.  -- Certainly, had Republicans in a tizzy.  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.

4-12-19

The following is one big problem across all branches of government.  One reason why nothing ever truly changes.  ABC News reports:

"In a rare public appearance this week, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas quashed speculation that he could be contemplating retirement, while a Republican is in the White House. Thomas, instead, implied he intends to be on the high court bench until he dies."

Jesus Christ.  Serious problem across the entire political spectrum, -- Left, Right, Center.

"I'm not retiring," Thomas said in response to a hypothetical question raised during an event at Pepperdine University School of Law. The 70-year-old justice -- famously silent during public sessions of the court – has long been rumored to be considering an exit from the bench."

Why would anyone think that?  LOL.

"Let's fast forward to 20 years from now. Twenty years from now at your retirement party," said University President-elect James A. Gash. "I'm not -- What retirement?" Thomas interjected. "I'm not retiring." "20 years?" Gash asked, trying to continue. "No," said Thomas. "30 years?" Gash pressed further. "No," said Thomas. In 30 years, Thomas would be 100 years old. "Let's fast forward to the time when you will go home," Gash tried a third time. "Now, I won't have any say about that," Thomas replied."

LOL.  Don't you love it?  What a crock of shit.

"He is currently the third oldest justice on the Supreme Court. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is 86; Justice Stephen Breyer is 80."

No question, a problem across the entire political spectrum.  :)

-- One reason why nothing ever truly changes.  No fresh thinking.  None.

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.

4-12-19

Trump loses yet another one in court.  NPR reports:

"The Trump administration's plans to add a hotly contested citizenship question to the 2020 census have suffered another major blow in the courts. The question asks, "Is this person a citizen of the United States?" A third federal judge has found the decision to include it on forms for the national headcount to be unlawful."

How about that?  Who'd 'a 'thunk' it, no?  LOL.  Forget?  Without question, Trump believes he's the law.

"In a 119-page opinion, U.S. District Judge George Hazel in Maryland concluded that the decision by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who oversees the census, to add the question violated administrative law. Federal judges in New York and California came to the same conclusion. Similar to the earlier ruling in California, the judge also found including the question would be unconstitutional because, at a time of increased immigration enforcement and anti-immigrant rhetoric, it hinders the government's ability to count every person living in the U.S. once a decade as the Constitution requires. Hazel ruled that the plaintiffs did not provide enough evidence to prove two additional claims — that adding the question was intended to discriminate against Latinos, Asian-Americans and immigrants; and that it was part of a conspiracy within the Trump administration to violate the constitutional rights of noncitizens and people of color. This latest district court ruling in this almost yearlong legal battle is likely to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court. A Supreme Court hearing about whether including the question is constitutional and the New York ruling, which has already blocked the citizenship question, is scheduled to be held on April 23, and the justices are expected to rule by June on whether the 2020 census will ultimately include the question."

Trump loses yet again in court.  NPR reports:

"A federal judge in California blocked the Trump administration from requiring asylum-seekers to return to Mexico as they await court hearings in the U.S. But the judge delayed implementing his ruling to give the government time to appeal. U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco wrote in a 27-page ruling that current U.S. law does not authorize the Department of Homeland Security to enact the Migrant Protection Protocols, first announced in a December 2018 memo by outgoing Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen. Seeborg also wrote that the MPP lacked sufficient safeguards for ensuring that people who want to apply for asylum are not returned "to places where they face undue risk to their lives or freedom." The ruling came in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups on behalf of 11 asylum-seekers from Central America. It argued that requiring the migrants to wait in Mexico violated humanitarian protections offered under U.S. and international law. "The court strongly rejected the Trump administration's unprecedented and illegal policy of forcing asylum seekers to return to Mexico without hearing their claims," said deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, Judy Rabinovitz in a statement. "Try as it may, the Trump administration cannot simply ignore our laws in order to accomplish its goal of preventing people from seeking asylum in the United States." The ruling, even if its implementation is delayed, is a setback for the Trump administration which says its hardline immigration policies are an appropriate response to a crisis at the border. The administration had hoped that the asylum protocols, dubbed by some officials as Remain in Mexico, would discourage migrants from seeking refuge in the U.S."

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.

4-12-19

House Republicans stand up for Second Amendment.  ABC News reports:

"When the House of Representatives voted this week to reauthorize a 25-year old bill that helps fund programs for survivors of domestic and sexual abuse known as the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), it turned into a debate over gun rights and the political influence of the National Rifle Association. One-hundred fifty-seven Republicans opposed the bill on Thursday, many objecting to a provision that restricts those convicted of domestic abuse, assault or stalking from buying or owning a firearm, saying it infringes on Second Amendment rights. Current law already prohibits spouses or former spouses convicted of abuse from purchasing a firearms, but a new amendment to the bill would close the so-called "boyfriend loophole," adding unmarried partners to the language."

Democrats have their heads securely in the sand on gun control.  Seem to have intentionally forgotten two salient facts of life in the United States.  First, law-abiding citizens willingly tolerate their Second Amendment rights being infringed.  Will certainly comply.  Second, the criminal element, conversely, continues to break the law since they have no respect for the rule of law, -- and guns are, and will continue to be, ubiquitous on the streets no matter the law.  No more complicated than that.

"The NRA mounted a campaign against the act, urging lawmakers to vote against it. "The gun control lobby and anti-gun politicians are intentionally politicizing the Violence Against Women Act as a smoke screen to push their gun control agenda," NRA spokesperson Jennifer Baker told the Associated Press. Baker insisted the group opposes domestic violence and all violent crime, and told the AP the group annually spends millions to teach Americans how to safely use firearms in self-defense."

The NRA is quite correct.  Democrats seem to have forgotten a well-armed citizenry is indeed the best ultimate defense against corrupt, abusive, murderous government.  Yet, some Democrats still don't get it no matter what:

“I am deeply disappointed that some Republican Members of this House are using the NRA as cover to vote against this reauthorization, which has been overwhelmingly in a bipartisan fashion reauthorized over and over again," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D.-Md. "These are commonsense protections that prevent domestic abusers from obtaining the guns that have sadly been used so frequently to harm or kill their partners.”

'Commonsense' to a clueless jackass.  Abusers will get their guns no matter the law.  Always have, always will.  Guns on the streets are a problem law enforcement cannot solve.

"Rep. Doug Collins, R- Ga., ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, said he supports reauthorization of VAWA, but that Democrats "have sought at every turn to make this bill into a political weapon, rather than a critical resource for victims and tools to support law enforcement."

Great truth to that.  Hard to believe Republicans have finally gotten something right.  LOL.

"I cannot and will not support a bill that undermines and jeopardizes due process; that curtails prosecutorial discretion; that makes it more difficult for victims in rural areas to find housing; that could weaken programs for female victims; that could re-victimize abused women; and that undercuts Second Amendment rights," Collins said in a statement. Despite the NRA's efforts, the bill passed easily in the Democratic-held House."

Likely won't in the Senate.  Shouldn't.  Certainly, not as written.

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.

4-12-19

Migrant desperation exacerbated.  Remains unabated.  NBC News reports:

"Maria Gloria, a migrant from Honduras, and her two young sons still bear the emotional scars of their forced separation under the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy last year, she said. They had come to the U.S. border in May and were seeking asylum after the family faced repeated death threats in their home country. Maria, 32, said her sons, 11-year-old Franklin and 8-year-old Byron, still wake up afraid in the middle of the night, especially her youngest. The little boy wakes up crying, sometimes saying things like “let me go” in his sleep, she said. When she asks Byron what his nightmares are about, he has said “I don’t want us to be separated again, we don’t want to be alone without you,” she told NBC News. The little boy has also said “he has dreamed many times” that those threatening their lives in Honduras “have killed me,” she said. Even after their reunion in July, Maria Gloria fell into a deep depression, barely slept and lost a significant amount of weight because of the separation, she said."

You Republican nazis, who falsely profess to be Christians, continue to cluelessly believe separation the Christian thing to do?

"A year after President Donald Trump’s policy of separating children from their parents at the border was announced, leading to an intense backlash across the political spectrum, the administration says it is struggling against a growing “humanitarian and security crisis” at the southern border."

-- A crisis the Trump nazi has no ability to effectively manage, -- and, worse, far worse, has stupidly, concertedly, determinedly managed to exacerbate.

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.

4-12-19

The Trump nazi continues to ignore the law.  NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump has for months urged his administration to reinstate large-scale separation of migrant families crossing the border, according to three U.S. officials with knowledge of meetings at the White House. Trump's outgoing Homeland Security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, resisted — setting her at odds with the president."

Apparently, Nielsen, while publicly supporting her nazi fuhrer, privately was resisting the fascist son of a bitch.

"According to two of the sources, Nielsen told Trump that federal court orders prohibited the Department of Homeland Security from reinstating the policy, and that he would be reversing his own executive order from June that ended family separations. Three U.S. officials said that Kevin McAleenan, the head of Customs and Border Patrol who is expected to take over as acting DHS secretary, has not ruled out family separation as an option."

Court orders say otherwise.

"The policy McAleenan would consider, according to the officials, is known as “binary choice” and would give migrant parents the option between being separated from their children or bringing their children with them into long term detention. Trump has been pushing this policy since January, the sources said, when the numbers of undocumented immigrants crossing the border began to rise. A senior administration official said it seems Trump is convinced that family separation has been the most effective policy at deterring large numbers of asylum-seekers."

The court orders need to be enforced.

The Washington Post reports:

"The 30-minute sit-down in the White House residence at 5 p.m. on Sunday wasn’t like the end of an episode of “The Apprentice.” It wasn’t televised in prime time, for one, and he didn’t dramatically say “You’re fired” at the end. But it had the same effect. Just like the partial government shutdown he forced earlier this year in a futile effort to get money for a wall, Trump telegraphed to his base that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to secure the southern border and conveyed that he intends to make this issue a centerpiece of his reelection campaign."

What nazi fuhrer wouldn't?

“Two senior administration officials said that Nielsen had no intention of quitting when she went to the meeting Sunday with the president and that she was forced to step down,” Nick Miroff, Josh Dawsey, Seung Min Kim and Maria Sacchetti report. “Trump told aides last fall that he wanted to fire Nielsen … She appeared to regain her footing after U.S. Border Patrol agents used tear gas to repel a large crowd attempting to break through a border fence — the kind of ‘tough’ action Trump said he wanted … The president grew frustrated with Nielsen again early this year as the number of migrants rose and as she raised legal concerns about some of Trump’s more severe impulses, particularly when his demands clashed with U.S. immigration laws and federal court orders.” This is a central theme in all the news accounts of why Trump turned on her."

No one is above the law in the United States.  Not even our fascist fuhrer, the Trump nazi.

“The president called Ms. Nielsen at home early in the mornings to demand that she take action to stop migrants from entering the country, including doing things that were clearly illegal, such as blocking all migrants from seeking asylum,” the New York Times reports. “She repeatedly noted the limitations imposed on her department by federal laws, court settlements and international obligations. Those responses only infuriated Mr. Trump further.”

Surprised?  Why?

"It’s part of a pattern. Trump has repeatedly shown disdain for the rule of law. The president declared a national emergency on Feb. 15 so he could divert money from the military to build his wall, even though his own lawyers at the White House and Justice Department advised him against doing so. Trump alone cannot fix it, but he’s still learning the limits of the presidency and the added constraints that come with divided government."

The problem is he's not.  He's doing precisely as he pleases.  Exactly, why none of this is going to end well.

"The law needs to change to accomplish most of what Trump wants at the southern border, and this is very unlikely to happen now that Democrats control the House. The president ran promising that he alone can fix it, and he appears to still be learning that this is not how republican government works."

A dictator is incapable of understanding the limits of power.

"Nielsen “believed the situation was becoming untenable” because Trump was “becoming increasingly unhinged about the border crisis and making unreasonable and even impossible requests,” a senior administration official told CNN."

Certainly, appears to be the case.  Trump is achingly delusional.  Unfit for office. Not that the next two in line are:  Pence, then Pelosi.

"The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial board describes her termination as “a ritual sacrifice”: “Ms. Nielsen wasn’t responsible for the surge of Central American migrants arriving at the border to claim political asylum, but Donald Trump and Democrats in Congress both needed a fall guy.”

"Trump prefers to surround himself with yes men. This is a major reason that the administration has experienced historically high turnover."

No question.  Certainly, appears to be the case.

“Nielsen's ouster fits with a pattern of Trump forcing out officials who have pushed back against his more radical instincts or been unable to carry them out, or who have earned his ire for being unwilling to match his defiance for governing practice and convention,” CNN’s Stephen Collinson notes. “They include former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, ex-Attorney General Jeff Sessions, former national security adviser H.R. McMaster and former chief of staff John Kelly.”

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, James Hohmann.

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.

4-12-19

Think Trump's not a space cadet?  NPR reports:

"President Trump vowed in January to "detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States anywhere, anytime, anyplace." Doing so would likely mean basing defenses in space. Earlier this year, President Trump laid out an ambitious plan for U.S. missile defenses. "Our goal is simple," Trump said during a speech in January. "To ensure that we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States, anywhere, anytime, anyplace." To reach that goal, the administration's proposed new defense budget calls for hundreds of millions of dollars to study the use of lasers and particle beams in space. "It's new technology," the president said. Except it isn't."

That's right.  It's not.

"The defenses outlined by Trump look almost exactly like a decade-old program known as the Strategic Defense Initiative. That plan was laid out by President Ronald Reagan in a 1983 speech. Reagan's program, dubbed "Star Wars," imagined an impenetrable shield that would include orbiting lasers and particle beams to zap then-Soviet missiles before they could hit their targets."

Not doable decades ago despite tens of billions expended.  Not doable now.  Regardless, we have far greater problems that desperately need attention.

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.

4-12-19

Democrats continue to flex some muscle.  CBS News reports:

"As President Trump has vowed that the Republican party will be the "party of health care,"  five Democratic committee chairmen are demanding that administration officials turn over documents and information related to the Justice Department's decision to stop defending the entirety of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in Court. In letters obtained by CBS News, Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA), Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY)  are asking for any documents related to the court filing. They have issued a deadline of April 22 for turning over the information."

Think Trump and his henchmen will comply?

"The lawmakers say that all agencies, including the White House, owe "Congress and the public an explanation as to why it refuses to enforce the law." The Democrats have also requested that certain individuals be made available for congressional questioning on the issue at hand. The push for documents comes after the Justice Department submitted its filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans last month, which has an appeal pending challenging the law's constitutionality. A federal judge in Texas ruled back in December that Obamacare is unconstitutional because of the change in federal tax law passed by Republicans in Congress in 2017. "The Department of Justice has determined that the district court's judgment should be affirmed," the Justice Department wrote in a recent memo. The Democrats argue, however, that if the legal position prevails in court and the entire ACA is struck down, "there would be catastrophic implications" for millions of Americans and the U.S. health care system, with 21 million Americans at risk of losing their coverage."

Clearly, Republicans couldn't care less.  For well over two years they've failed to produce a plan of their own.  Imagine 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.

4-12-19

Trump continues to wage war on the Department of Homeland 'Security.'  -- Clearly, not jackbooted nazi enough for our fuhrer.  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump continued to dismantle the leadership of the nation’s top domestic security agency Monday, as the White House announced the imminent removal of U.S. Secret Service Director Randolph D. “Tex” Alles, the latest in a series of head-spinning departures from the Department of Homeland Security. A day after Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was forced to step aside following a White House meeting with Trump, senior DHS officials remained in a fog about the fate of their agency’s leaders, expecting more firings as part of a widening purge. “They are decapitating the entire department,” said one DHS official, noting that the White House had given no cause for Alles’s removal. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was a loyal soldier for President Trump and often repeated his falsehoods, but it wasn’t enough to save her job. (JM Rieger/The Washington Post) The instability extends to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, whose director, William “Brock” Long, left DHS in February after supervising emergency and recovery efforts for several massive natural disasters. L. Francis Cissna, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and DHS General Counsel John Mitnick could be the next to go, DHS officials said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly of their frustrations with the White House."

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.

4-12-19

A word to the wise.  Despite the fact it's legal and an issue of personal liberty, it's stupid for a woman to send a topless selfie.  Especially, if you're a professional.  Consequences could be dire.  Forget?  Self-righteous, achingly hypocritical, hopelessly phony 'Christians' have indeed commandeered government and many, many other institutions in our formerly great country.  They certainly have a problem with personal liberty.  To say nothing of having a double standard for men and women.  Incredibly sad, achingly short-sighted.  ABC News reports:

"The New York teacher who says she was fired after a topless selfie from 2016 circulated around the school where she taught can't believe she lost everything she "worked so hard for over a selfie," she told ABC News in her first sit-down interview since the incident. Lauren Miranda, 25, a former math teacher at Bellport Middle School on Long Island, said she took the "old" photo one morning when she was getting ready in her bedroom and sent it "to the person she was seeing at the time." She never expected it to go public, she said. "I think when anybody sends a picture they only expect it to be received by the person that they sent it to and nobody else," Miranda said."

That's stupid.  Cluelessly, so.

"The photo then resurfaced three years later, she said, adding that she found out from a colleague who texted her on Jan. 11, saying, "The kids...are saying they have a naked photo of you." The Monday after that, she was placed on home assignment without the opportunity to prepare her students for their quarterly exams. "I literally was told to stay home, to lay low, to not talk to anybody — anyone at the school obviously," she said. Miranda has no idea how the students got a hold of the photo, she said. "How it got out is still the million-dollar question," Miranda said."

Jesus Christ.  What did you expect?

"After an internal investigation, the school informed Miranda that they have "enough proof" to say that she "did nothing wrong or illegal," she said. It is legal in the state of New York to appear topless in public."

How about that?  Didn't matter, however:

"But on March 27, Miranda received a message from a union representative telling her that the school board had voted to terminate her, she said. She was in her fourth year working there. In a press conference on Tuesday, her attorney, John Ray, said the school district fired her because she could no longer act as a role model to her students."

Jesus Christ.  What goddamned hypocrisy.  -- For you allegedly Christian, achingly clueless fascists out there, why so ashamed of the human body?  What are you so afraid of?  Ever been to a clothing-optional beach?  Bodies come in all shapes and sizes.  What's the problem?  Insecurity?  Hypocrisy?  Both?  Forget?  You came into the world bare assed naked.  ... If the Head Honcho of your religion had a problem with nudity, think you would have been born that way?  Wake up.  Equally to the point, most mammals are covered with fur.  Ever wonder why we aren't?  You're insecure prudes.  Grow up.  Your ignorance?  Pitiful.  Pathetic.

"A representative for the school district told ABC News that it would not comment on the case because it is active litigation. Miranda said her termination sends the wrong messages to the very girls she teaches and that she is trying to be a role model for young women. "This happens all the time; girls have their photos AirDropped," she said. "In the high school, I can think of three separate instances in my four years alone that a girl has had her, you know, naked picture, whatever it might be, sent all amongst her peers." Miranda continued, "So we expect this girl to go back to school, to go about her life, to continue doing, you know, her routines and whatever."

Get this:

"ABC News could not request comment from the man who Miranda was seeing at the time since she did not provide his name. However, she says he also works at the school and that he was the only person to whom she sent the photo."

If he is indeed the source, a piece of shit.  If so, they fired the wrong person.

"Miranda is planning to sue the school district for $3 million for gender discrimination if it does not re-hire her. A review Miranda provided to ABC New York station WABC from last year states that she is a "highly effective teacher." "Ms. Miranda demonstrated in this lesson to be an outstanding Math instructor, knowledgeable of her content area, but most of all genuinely dedicated to the academic progress of her students," the review stated, according to WABC. Miranda would have been eligible for tenure in June, according to WABC."

The following is certainly true:

"Any time a man has ever exposed his chest, no one has ever commented or had any problem with it whatsoever," Ray said during Tuesday's news conference. "But, when a woman displays her chest, as happened here, she gets fired from her job."

What's so incredibly sad?  Get this:

"Miranda said she has "never wanted to be anything else" other than a teacher. "My favorite part of my job is the kids," she said. "They come in every day with something fresh to talk about, whether it be something that happened outside of school, or in a different class, or that they saw online."

Sue the bastards for all you can get.  What ever happened to liberty in this 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.

4-12-19

The following is well beyond appalling.  It's horrendous.  NPR reports:

"According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry. Most assaults come from patients and patients' families. Across the U.S., many doctors, nurses and other health care workers have remained silent about what is being called an epidemic of violence against them. The violent outbursts come from patients and patients' families. And for years, it's been considered part of the job.

"Many health care workers say the physical and verbal abuse comes primarily from patients, some of whom are disoriented because of illness or from medication. Sometimes nurses and doctors are abused by family members who are on edge because their loved one is so ill. Cleveland Clinic also has introduced other safety measures — such as wireless panic buttons incorporated into ID badges and more safety cameras and plainclothes officers in ERs. But these incidents aren't limited to emergency rooms.

"Allysha Shin works as a registered nurse in neuroscience intensive care at the University of Southern California's Keck Hospital in Los Angeles. One of the most violent incidents she's experienced happened when she was caring for a patient who was bleeding inside her brain. The woman had already lashed out at other staff, so she'd been tied to the bed, Shin said. The woman broke free of the restraints and then kicked and punched Shin in the chest — before throwing a punch at her face. "There was this one point where she swung, and she had just glanced off the side of my chin. If I hadn't dodged that punch, she could have knocked me out," Shin says. "And she very well could have killed me." The encounter left Shin shaken and anxious when she returned to work days later. She still has flashbacks. She used to be afraid to speak about these types of attacks, she says, because of what she calls a culture of accepting violence in most hospitals. "It is expected that you are going to get beat up from time to time," Shin says."

Outrageous.  Unsustainable.

"According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, incidents of serious workplace violence are four times more common in health care than in private industry. And a poll conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians in 2018 found nearly half of emergency physician respondents reported being physically assaulted. More than 60 percent of them said the assault occurred within the previous year. Groups representing doctors and nurses say while the voluntary safety improvements that some hospitals have enacted are a good first step, more needs to be done. There is still a code of silence in healthcare, says Michelle Mahon, a representative of the labor group National Nurses United."

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.

4-12-19

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu barely won re-election this week.  Interestingly, may or may not face corruption charges, shortly.

WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange has been arrested in Britain.  Will likely face extradition to the United States.  Be interesting to see if he receives a fair trial in what has become a de facto fascist police-state.

More on both developments as it becomes available.

4-5-19

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.

Extremely important to know your rights.  NBC News reports:

"A member of a group that urges immigrants to know their rights used some of that training to keep immigration officers from arresting two people who were in the car with him."

It's extremely important for all of us to know our constitutional rights.  Best defense against outrageously corrupt and abusive law enforcement.

"Bryan MacCormack, 30, executive director of the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement in upstate New York, was captured on video refusing to open his car door March 5 to what an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer insisted was a “warrant of arrest of alien.” MacCormack had just accompanied two immigrants without legal status to the courthouse to deal with minor traffic citations. They were in their car about 20 seconds when they were pulled over by ICE agents, he told NBC News. Before the agent got to the car, MacCormack told one of his passengers to start recording video and reminded them of the rights. The passengers had been told they might get pulled over and were prepared for the possibility, he said. The video begins as MacCormack is telling an ICE officer at his car window that the papers he has handed him are not warrants for arrest. “Yes they are, sir, warrant of arrest of alien,” the unidentified officer says to MacCormack as he points to a line on the papers he is holding. The officer's face can't be seen in the video. “Yeah, warrant of arrest of ... alien, not signed by a judge. It’s not a judicial warrant. I have no obligation to oblige by that warrant,” MacCormack responds."

A warrant must be signed by a judge.

"MacCormack had called the group's attorney and put the call on speakerphone. During the exchange, the attorney can be heard telling him to tell the officer the lawyer was on his way. Despite MacCormack's protests, the officer at the car repeated that what he had in his hand was a lawful warrant under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act signed by "an official with that designated authority." But MacCormack responded that the warrant was not an official warrant under the U.S. Constitution, but rather a Department of Homeland Security order. He told the officer he’s undergoing Department of Justice-accredited training and has copies of the paperwork the agent was showing him and of a "real" warrant in the car “just so people know not to listen to that.”

Got to be extremely careful:

"The officer then asked MacCormack whether he is familiar with laws governing transporting and harboring of “illegal aliens” in the United States. "I was nervous and felt fear for the safety of myself and the community members inside of my vehicle. But I was also inherently indignant at ICE’s tactics and their relentless pursuit and practice of detention, deportation and family separation," MacCormack said in a phone interview. A spokeswoman for ICE emailed a statement to NBC News saying that on March 5, ICE officers were seeking two people not lawfully present in the United States and "an individual interfered with the enforcement action, causing officers to instead depart the scene to avoid further disruption." The statement included a warning that people who impede ICE officers "expose themselves to potential criminal violations, and run the risk of harming the very people they purport to support." The statement cited a section of the law governing assaulting, impeding or resisting federal officers or employees."

Must not be forgotten we do live in a de facto fascist police-state where nearly anything goes.  That is, law enforcement routinely ignores the law, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"Gloria Martinez, a co-founder of Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, said a lot of the work the group does involves responding to arrests similar to the one attempted with MacCormack. Often the group gets calls from people who have a family member who was taken by ICE off the street, outside the court or on their way to work, she said. The group has worked to inform people of their rights and teach them how to demand to be shown a warrant signed by a judge. MacCormack said ICE officers had warrants signed by judges in only about two of 12 cases involving people arrested at court. Martinez said fear in the community often prevents people from asserting their rights even when they've been trained. ICE officers wear vests that say “police” and that often confuses people too, she said. “Everyone sees ICE as very powerful and feel they have to do what they say, that they can’t ask questions and they tend to comply,” she said."

The same is true throughout all law enforcement.  The legal community needs to step up and do far more to educate the community as a public service.

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.

4-5-19

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.

More of the same old Aryan arrogance demonstrated by the jackbooted nazi bastards in ICE.  ABC News reports:

"Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is demanding that federal authorities recognize pardons issued by his state after a woman whose criminal record was erased was detained for deportation. The Democratic governor said Friday that he sent a letter with the demand to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whose department oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE arrested Hartford resident Wayzaro Walton on Tuesday and is detaining her for deportation to England, citing convictions for felony shoplifting and several misdemeanors. Connecticut's Board of Pardons and Paroles approved a pardon for her in January, but it didn't take effect until Wednesday. Walton's lawyer Erin O'Neil-Baker says federal officials indicated they are not recognizing the pardon because it wasn't issued by the governor, who has no pardon authority."

Jesus Christ.  Nazi justice.  Fascist police-state.  Democratic republic in name only.  ... Right, Sheriff?  Madam County Attorney?  "Sonny Boy?"

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.

4-5-19

What do you think of the following?  CBS News reports:

"In a case that stirred racial tensions across the country, a self-avowed white supremacist pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal hate crime charges in a deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia, admitting that he intentionally plowed his speeding car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, killing a woman and injuring dozens. James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, pleaded guilty to 29 of 30 federal charges stemming from the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, 2017. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal and civil rights activist, was killed, and nearly three dozen others were injured. Under a plea agreement, federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against Fields and will dismiss the one count that carried death as a possible punishment. The charges he pleaded guilty to call for life in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

"Under a "statement of facts," Fields admitted that he "expressed and promoted" white supremacist ideology through his social media accounts and engaged in white supremacist chants during the rally in Charlottesville. He also admitted driving his car into the ethnically diverse crowd of anti-racism protesters because of their race, color, religion or national origin. Urbanski scheduled sentencing for July 3.

"Fields, 21, was convicted in December in a Virginia court of first-degree murder and other state charges.

"The rally drew hundreds of white nationalists to Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Hundreds of counterprotesters demonstrated against the white nationalists. President Trump sparked a national uproar when he blamed the violence at the rally on "both sides," a statement critics saw as a refusal to condemn racism."

Think the victims of this crime will find closure?

"After Tuesday's hearing, U.S. Attorney Thomas Cullen said he hoped the plea agreement would help the victims move on with their lives. "The defendant's hate-inspired act of domestic terrorism not only devastated Heather Heyer's wonderful family and the 28 peaceful protesters ... but it also left an indelible mark on the city of Charlottesville, our state and our country," Cullen said. Cullen said prosecutors had been in talks with Fields' lawyers for months about a potential plea agreement, but did not seek to finalize a deal until U.S. Attorney General William Barr last week authorized him not to seek the death penalty if Fields agreed to plead to 29 counts."

Fields clearly wished to avoid execution.  His victim wasn't so lucky.

"During his state trial, prosecutors said Fields — who described himself on social media as an admirer of Adolf Hitler — drove his car into the crowd because he was angry after witnessing earlier clashes between the white nationalists and the counterprotesters. The jury rejected a claim by Fields' lawyers that he acted in self-defense because he feared for his life after witnessing the earlier violence. During the plea hearing Wednesday, Fields — responding to questions from the judge — said he has been treated for mental health issues since he was 6. He said he is currently on medication for bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, schizoid disorder, explosive onset disorder and ADHD."

Think that excuses his criminal behavior?

"More than 30 people were hurt in the car attack. Some who received life-altering injuries described them in anguished detail during the state trial. Jurors in Fields' state trial recommended a life sentence plus 419 years, although a judge still has to decide on the punishment. Sentencing is scheduled for July 15.

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.

4-5-19

In an opinion piece, NBC News reports:

"The highest criminal justice priority of the current Supreme Court majority is apparently to make the state’s machinery of death work as efficiently as possible — and if this means some major rights violations along the way, they seemed to say on Monday, so be it. That was made evident when a bare majority of the court held that the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishment” does not forbid the state of Missouri from executing a prisoner in a way that would effectively torture him to death. If that outcome seems perverse to you, you’re right. But the Roberts Court is committed to allowing states to execute people in any barbaric manner, no matter how difficult such executions are to square with the text of the Constitution. The current issue is thus: The state of Missouri has had to adjust its lethal injection protocols because drug suppliers are increasingly unwilling — as is their prerogative — to participate in a practice that is considered contrary to basic principles of human rights by most democratic nations. Missouri’s proposed solution to the lack of availability of its preferred execution drugs is a method of lethal injection would be particularly cruel to Russell Bucklew, who was convicted of murder and other crimes 22 years ago. As Justice Breyer described it in his dissent, Bucklew presented evidence that “executing him by lethal injection will cause the tumors that grow in his throat to rupture during his execution, causing him to sputter, choke and suffocate on his own blood for up to several minutes before he dies.”

Raw nazism.  Worthy of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy.  Not the United States.  Yet, here we are.  Clearly, the five Republican nazis on the Court are highly reminiscent of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.  ... Raising the question, -- who really won the Second World War European Theater?

"Bucklew, then, was not arguing that the death penalty is categorically unconstitutional, or even that the method of lethal injection used by Missouri was always unconstitutional, but that the method applied in his particular case would be “cruel and unusual” because of his particular medical condition."

Reason, logic no longer matter in a de facto fascist police-state masquerading as a democratic republic.

"The majority opinion, written by Trump nominee Neil Gorsuch and joined by the other four Republican nominees, nonetheless dismissed Bucklew’s argument. According to Gorsuch, “the Eighth Amendment does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death — something that, of course, isn’t guaranteed to many people, including most victims of capital crimes.” Inflicting even excruciating pain on a prisoner in the course of executing him, therefore, does not necessarily violate the Eighth Amendment in the view of the Roberts Court."

Makes one 'proud' to be an American, doesn't it?  Where have we lost ourselves?  Where?  Raw nazism.  Those who gutlessly remain silent in the presence of great evil are not Americans.  They're cowards.

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Scott Lemieux, Department of Political Science at the University of Washington.

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.

4-5-19

Fallout continues.  NBC News reports:

"All nine Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee have signed a letter calling for its chairman, Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff, to step down, citing his claims that there was evidence that President Donald Trump's campaign colluded with the Russians during the 2016 race. Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, introduced the scathing letter during a public committee hearing Thursday and then read it aloud. "Your willingness to continue to promote a demonstrably false narrative is alarming," Conaway said. "The findings of the special counsel conclusively refute your past and present exertions, and have exposed you of having abused your position to knowingly promote false information." "Your actions both past and present are incompatible with your duty as chairman of this committee," Conaway added. "As such, we have no faith in your ability to discharge your duties in a manner consistent with your constitutional responsibility, and urge your immediate resignation as chairman of the committee."

The Chairman came out swinging:

"Schiff then defended himself, listing off a series of events investigated by Mueller that he deemed inappropriate, including when the president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., set up a meeting at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-linked lawyer and her Russian entourage after they offered unspecified Russian government "dirt" on Democratic president candidate Hillary Clinton. "My colleagues may think it is OK that the Russians offered dirt on a Democratic candidate for president as part of what was described as the Russian government's attempt to help the Trump campaign. You might think that's OK," Schiff said. "My colleagues might think it's OK that when it was offered to the son of the president, who had a pivotal role in the campaign, that the president's son did not call the FBI, he did not adamantly refuse that foreign help. No, instead that son said that he would love the help of the Russian."

Certainly, true.  Stunning, isn't it, Republicans conveniently ignored this and far, far more?  Clearly, have no honor, no principles.  -- Other than lining their pockets, imposing their brand of national socialism, fascism.  ... To say nothing of dictating to a woman what she can and cannot do with HER uterus.

"Referring to former White House national security adviser Michael Flynn, who admitted to lying to the FBI about the substance of his conversations with the then-Russian ambassador, Schiff continued: "You might think it's OK that the national security adviser-designate secretly conferred with Russian ambassador about undermining sanctions, and you might think it's OK he lied about it to the FBI. You might say that's all OK." "But I don't think its OK. I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical, and I think it is unpatriotic," Schiff said. "And yes, I think it is corrupt. And evidence of collusion." "Now, I have always said whether this amounts to proof of conspiracy is another matter. Whether the special counsel could prove beyond a reasonable doubt the proof of that crime would be up to the special counsel, and I would accept his decision and I do," the California lawmaker added."

The problem remains the same.  The public has not, and will not, likely ever see the full unredacted Mueller Report and its support documents.  Until that happens, there is no way the public will accept the word of the Attorney General who was, and is, in the pocket of the Trump nazi.  Precisely, why the nazi in the Oval Office nominated him for the job.

Fortunately, Democrats who now hold the House intend to conduct an investigation of the Trump nazi that will be nowhere near as restricted as was the Mueller investigation.  Not only that, federal and state prosecutors in New York are conducting full blown investigations of their own.  All of this is far from over.  -- Despite the fact the Trump nazi continues to take victory laps.

The Washington Post reports:

"Senior House Democrats, frustrated by the Trump administration’s unwillingness to comply with multiple congressional investigations, are seriously considering withholding money from key administration priorities until their document requests are met. Democrats argue that the White House, which has dismissed many of their probes into President Trump and the administration as overreach, is preventing Congress from conducting oversight. The appropriations process, they say, is one of their strongest forms of leverage to pressure Cabinet officials or agency chiefs who have been uncooperative. “One of the most important tools that Congress has to hold the executive branch accountable is the power of the purse,” said House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) in a statement. “As we write appropriations bills, we will exercise that power to ensure that the Trump administration respects the critical oversight role of the legislative branch.”

Oversight is indeed a legitimate function of Congress.

"The possibility of depriving federal agencies of money for certain priorities or management offices could escalate the standoff between the executive and legislative branches — or, Democrats hope, speed along their investigations. It’s still unclear which departments could feel the squeeze. But in the coming weeks, as House Democratic appropriators write bills funding agencies and departments across the federal government, they will be working with chairmen to find what one official called “pressure points” to force compliance, according to multiple senior House Democrats familiar with the strategy."

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.

4-5-19

Not all in Republican circles are on board with the Trump nazi.  The Washington Post reports:

"Mick Mulvaney is trying to achieve as acting White House chief of staff what he never could as a conservative firebrand in Congress. Mulvaney this week helped persuade President Trump to get behind a legal effort aimed at striking down the Affordable Care Act over the objections of some in the administration and Republican leadership on Capitol Hill. His pitch came during scheduled “policy time” with Trump on Monday and spanned several meetings throughout the day. It was met with resistance from some on the president’s legal team and his Justice Department, as well as with skepticism from Vice President Pence, who favors overturning President Barack Obama’s namesake health-care law but only if Republicans are ready with an alternative, according to White House officials familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private talks. But Trump — fresh off a victory lap following the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation — agreed with Mulvaney and was eager to forge ahead into dismantling his predecessor’s health law. “The Republican Party will soon be known as the party of health care,” the president enthused while walking into a lunch of Republican senators Tuesday. He seemed to try to justify his administration’s unexpected decision, telling reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that “if the Supreme Court rules that Obamacare is out, we’ll have a plan that is far better than Obamacare.”

Haven't to date.  Despite having over two years to do so.

"Mulvaney and his allies have told Trump that joining a lawsuit to overturn the ACA will help him fulfill a campaign promise and could help lead to his reelection, but congressional Republicans worry he’s sent the president on a suicide mission. While Republicans are united in their opposition to Obama’s signature health-care law, they remain divided on how to replace it, and Democrats are eager to exploit this tension while making health care a centerpiece of the 2020 campaign."

Trump is extremely shortsighted.  Thinks only in the moment.  The here and now.  Fails to consider long-term consequences.

The New York Times reports:

"The Trump administration’s surprise decision to press for a court-ordered demolition of the Affordable Care Act came after a heated meeting in the Oval Office on Monday, where the president’s acting chief of staff and others convinced him that he could do through the courts what he could not do through Congress: repeal his predecessor’s signature achievement. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff and former South Carolina congressman, had spent years in the House saying that the health law should be repealed, and his handpicked head of the Domestic Policy Council, Joe Grogan, supported the idea of joining a Republican attorneys general lawsuit to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act. That suit, and the Justice Department, initially pressed to nullify only the part of the law that forces insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions as well as a suite of health benefits deemed “essential,” such as pregnancy and maternal health, mental health and prescription drugs. But a district judge in Texas ruled that the entire law was rendered unconstitutional when President Trump’s tax law brought the tax penalty for not having health insurance to zero, and the administration faced a choice: stick with its more limited intervention or back the judge’s decision."

The judge's decision is under fire throughout the legal community.  Be interesting to see if it stands.  Trump chose to back the judge.

"Among those with concerns was Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, who shared that the new attorney general, William P. Barr, opposed such a move. Vice President Mike Pence was worried about the political ramifications of moving ahead without a strategy or a plan to handle the millions who could be left suddenly uninsured if the suit succeeded. The health and human services secretary, Alex M. Azar II, was on speakerphone during the meeting and also voiced concern about the move, people familiar with the call said. And Marc Short, Mr. Pence’s chief of staff, suggested that it was risky for Mr. Trump’s administration to be at odds with so many Republican attorneys general on such a key issue. But Mr. Trump had been sold, and on Monday night, the Justice Department issued a letter saying it supported the Texas judge’s decision."

There certainly were consequences:

"The blowback has been severe. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House Republican leader, who is close with Mr. Trump, had privately warned the president not to interrupt the “victory lap” he should be taking after the delivery of the report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. Mr. Mueller, according to a letter by Mr. Barr, found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government."

What victory lap?  The investigations in the House, to say nothing of federal and state prosecutors in New York are far from over.

"The reaction was even more intense in the Senate. Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, had planned to use the week to publicize his floor vote to force Democrats to take a stand on progressives’ Green New Deal — an important party-building exercise for Republicans after Mr. Trump’s decision to declare an emergency at the border sparked an insurrection in their ranks this month. Members of Mr. McConnell’s leadership team were incensed at Mr. Mulvaney and allies like the acting White House budget director, Russell Vought, for rekindling a fight that served Democrats so well in 2018 and could harm vulnerable incumbents in 2020, according to two senior aides with direct knowledge of the situation. The maneuver may make it much less likely that Mr. Vought, the chief of staff’s handpicked successor to head the Office of Management and Budget, will be confirmed by the Senate, the aides said."

The Washington Post reports:

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has signaled that he does not plan to play a leading role in developing a new health-care bill and will instead wait to see what President Trump can craft that might pass in the Democratic-led House. “I look forward to seeing what the president is proposing and what he can work out with the speaker,” McConnell said in a brief interview with Politico on Thursday. His comments come as Trump is urging Republicans to be “the party of healthcare” and produce a replacement for the Affordable Care Act in advance of the 2020 elections."

Fascinating, isn't it?

The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump signaled Monday night that he will not press for a vote on a bill to replace the Affordable Care Act until after next year’s elections, apparently heeding warnings from fellow Republicans about the perils of such a fight during campaign season. In a series of late-night tweets, Trump continued to bash President Barack Obama’s signature health-care law but said a vote on a replacement would not occur until after the elections — suggesting that he believes he would still be in the White House and that Republicans would control both chambers of Congress at that point. “Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans hold the Senate & win back the House,” Trump wrote. “It will be truly great HealthCare that will work for 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.

4-5-19

Trump certainly nominates people as ethically-challenged as himself.  NPR reports:

"During a testy confirmation hearing on Thursday, President Donald Trump's pick to be the nation's largest land steward told senators that he would take steps to prevent conflicts of interest and to improve ethics guidelines at the Interior Department. A former lobbyist who represented oil and gas interests, David Bernhardt has been dogged by questions about his own ethics during his short run as the Acting Interior Secretary. Democrats and environmental groups have accused the former Deputy Interior Secretary of making policy decisions that favor former clients."

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.

4-5-19

Think Trump has his act together?  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump said Thursday he wants the federal government to continue funding the Special Olympics, an abrupt reversal from his own budget proposal that eliminated federal money for the charity and sparked bipartisan condemnation. His statement on the South Lawn of the White House came after his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, spent three days defending the proposal, most recently at a contentious Senate hearing Thursday morning. “The Special Olympics will be funded, I just told my people,” Trump told reporters. The funding was never in any real jeopardy, with key Republicans vowing to maintain the allocation. But the matter was quickly becoming a political problem for the president. Special Olympics, which gives people with intellectual disabilities the chance to compete in athletics on a world stage, has long enjoyed robust and bipartisan support. For the third year, the Trump budget had proposed to end federal support for the organization. The issue received scant attention in years past, as lawmakers ignored the Trump proposal and instead increased the charity’s funding, which stands at $17.6 million this year."

No question, Trump's an idiot.  Aren't we 'lucky?'

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.

4-5-19

The following is beyond appalling.  It's atrocious.  NPR reports:

"President Trump's pick to serve as third in command at the Justice Department, overseeing health care and immigration cases, withdrew her name from consideration Thursday evening amid backlash from conservative lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee. Jessie Liu leads more than 300 prosecutors as the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., the nation's largest such office. As an Asian-American woman, she would have added a measure of diversity to the Justice Department's senior ranks — as well as serious prosecution chops. The Justice Department said Liu will remain in her current post and advise Attorney General William Barr as the head of a committee of other top federal prosecutors. Two sources told NPR that the attorney general got into a "shouting match" with Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a key figure in opposing Liu's bid. A spokeswoman for Barr declined comment on the heated conversation with a lawmaker from his own political party. For his part, Barr issued a statement filled with praise for Liu and insisting, "We will all benefit from her universally-regarded expertise and dedication to public service" in her role as an adviser to him.

"Four lawyers familiar with the matter said the stumbling block for Liu was a broader concern about her conservatism — specifically, her stance on women's reproductive rights. Interest groups had begun drafting letters to senators about their fears that Liu would not support restrictions on abortion. Another key factor: Earlier in her career, Liu had an affiliation with the National Association of Women Lawyers, which sent a letter opposing the nomination of Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court."

Can't have that, can we?  LOL.  Especially, in light of the following:

"Philip Alito, a son of the justice, works for the antitrust subcommittee in the Senate, a subcommittee that is chaired by Lee."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"But Liu's friends and former colleagues point out that she had actually signed a separate letter along with fellow Yale Law School alumni throwing her support behind Alito.  "The department and the administration were incredibly fortunate to have a person of Jessie's ability to serve in that capacity," a former Justice Department official told NPR. "She was incredibly qualified for this position, and it's a real shame that they are not going to have the benefit of her leadership." Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Lee, said the senator opposed Liu "due to questions about her record on life issues." Carroll said that Philip Alito "took diligent care to recuse himself from all staff conversations about Mrs. Liu with the senator." And Carroll added that he was "unaware" of any tension between his boss and Barr."

Bottom line?  Clearly, only bona fide Republican nazis on the Extreme Right need be third in command at the 'Justice' Department.  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.

4-5-19

Trump loses again in court. The Washington Post reports:

"A federal judge in Alaska declared late Friday that President Trump’s order revoking a sweeping ban on oil and gas drilling in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans is illegal, putting 128 million acres of federal waters off limits to energy exploration."

Doesn't your heart bleed?  Time for a massive Manhattan Project-style effort to free the nation from fossil fuels in favor of solar and wind.

"The decision by U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason is the third legal setback this week to Trump’s energy and environmental policies. The judge, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama in 2012, also blocked on Friday a land swap the Interior Department arranged that would pave the way for constructing a road through wilderness in a major National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Lewis T. Babcock, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, ruled that Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service illegally approved two gas drilling plans in western Colorado. The judge said officials did not adequately analyze wildlife and climate impacts in their plans — which were challenged by a coalition of environmental groups — to drill 171 wells in North Fork Valley, which provides key habitat for elk and mule deer."

Readers are reminded the judge is a Reagan appointee.  Interesting, isn't it?

"Trump’s rollbacks of Obama-era conservation policies have suffered nearly two dozen setbacks in federal court, largely on procedural grounds. While the administration is appealing many of these decisions and holds an advantage if the cases reach the Supreme Court, the rulings have slowed the president’s drive to expand fossil fuel production in the United States."

Forget?  The Trump nazi owns the Supreme Court.  How?  Five bona fide Republican nazis secure the national socialist, achingly fascist majority on the Court.  They'll likely ultimately enforce the Trump nazi's will.

Regarding judicial impediments to the Trump nazi:

"Earlier this month, for example, a federal judge halted drilling on more than 300,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Wyoming. Friday’s decision on offshore drilling could affect a five-year leasing plan the administration plans to issue in the summer, as well as block the six offshore lease sales it proposed to schedule in the Arctic Ocean starting as early as this year. "President Trump’s lawlessness is catching up with him,” Erik Grafe, the lead attorney from the environmental law organization Earthjustice who argued to reinstate Obama’s leasing withdrawals in the Arctic and Atlantic, said in a statement Friday. “The judge’s ruling today shows that the president can not just trample on the constitution to do the bidding of his cronies in the fossil fuel industry at the expense of our oceans, wildlife, and climate.”

We'll see.

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.

4-5-19

Think Trump and most of his henchmen truly give a crap about national security?  At least, one advisor and staff do.  The Washington Post reports:

"A White House whistleblower told lawmakers that more than two dozen denials for security clearances have been overturned during the Trump administration, calling Congress her “last hope” for addressing what she considers improper conduct that has left the nation’s secrets exposed."

Hat's off, madam.  At least one adviser and staff are decent, honorable, scrupulous.

"Tricia Newbold, a longtime White House security adviser, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that she and her colleagues issued “dozens” of denials for security clearance applications that were later approved despite their concerns about blackmail, foreign influence or other red flags, according to panel documents released Monday."

Surprised?  Why?  Forget?  Our nazi fuhrer in the Oval Office does as he pleases.

"Newbold, an 18-year veteran of the security clearance process who has served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, said she warned her superiors that clearances “were not always adjudicated in the best interest of national security” — and was retaliated against for doing so."

Takes great courage to stand up against outrageous corruption.

“I would not be doing a service to myself, my country, or my children if I sat back knowing that the issues that we have could impact national security,” Newbold told the committee, according to a panel document summarizing her allegations."

Imagine that.  Exceptionally rare honor still to be found in the halls of government.  Can we stand it?

"Newbold added: “I feel that right now this is my last hope to really bring the integrity back into our office.”

Have you spoken to media?

"The allegation comes during an escalating fight over the issue between House Democrats and the White House. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), the committee chairman, said in a letter to the White House Counsel’s Office that his panel would vote on Tuesday to subpoena at least one individual who overruled Newbold — the committee’s first compulsory move aimed at the White House."

What took so long?  What are you waiting for?

"Cummings vowed more subpoenas would follow if the White House didn’t cooperate with his panel’s investigation."

Excellent.  Make sure you follow through.  Enough hot air.  Time for action.

"White House officials whose security clearances are being scrutinized by the House Oversight Committee include the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner and national security adviser John Bolton, according to the panel’s letter. The White House declined immediate comment on Monday, and an attorney for Kushner and Ivanka Trump referred questions to the White House."

... Can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit?

"In a statement, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, accused Cummings of politicizing an issue that should be bipartisan. “Chairman Cummings’ investigation is not about restoring integrity to the security clearance process, it is an excuse to go fishing through the personal files of dedicated public servants,” Jordan said. “The process by which this matter has so far progressed has been anything but fair.”"

Your quest for bipartisanship is disingenuous bullshit, Congressman.  All you GOP national socialists in the House did during the first two years of the Trump regime was protect and coddle the nazi.  Fairness?  Jesus Christ.  Give me a break.  Democrats have held the House for approximately three months.  Dragged their feet.  Done shit squat.  Especially, in light of the Trump nazi stonewalling the last two years:

"The Trump administration has refused to comply with numerous document requests and inquiries Cummings has made on the topic over the past two years. Cummings identified the security clearance process as one of his top priorities after Democrats took the majority in the House in the fall, but his panel has not received a single document from the White House on the issue."

Ask your fuhrer why, Rep. Jordan?  What the f--k is he hiding, sir?

“The Committee has given the White House every possible opportunity to cooperate with this investigation, but you have declined,” Cummings wrote in the Monday letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone. “Your actions are now preventing the committee from obtaining the information it needs to fulfill its constitutional responsibilities.”

You're all talk, Rep. Cummings.  Issue the subpoenas.  Get on with it.  The nation is waiting.

"Cummings later argued: “In light of the grave reports from this whistleblower — and the ongoing refusal of the White House to provide the information we need to conduct our investigation — the committee now plans to proceed with compulsory process and begin authorizing subpoenas, starting at tomorrow’s business meeting.”

You're dragging your feet.  The bastards have had more than enough time to comply with information requests.  Issue the goddamned subpoenas.

"The controversy, Democrats argue, strikes at the heart of their investigations into President Trump. They believe Trump has abused his power and bent the rules to accommodate himself, his children and his allies. And the security clearance issue, they argue, is an example of how he has put his own desires before the interests of the nation."

Seems to be the case.  Certainly, worthy of investigation.

"Multiple newspapers, including The Washington Post, reported that Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials."

Readers will recall that was covered here and elsewhere at the time.

"Newbold expressed fear in coming forward, telling the panel, “I’m terrified of going back. I know that this will not be perceived in favor of my intentions, which is to bring back the integrity of the office.”

Why would it be?  How could it be?  This government has been hopelessly corrupt, abusive quite some time.  Trump and his henchmen merely exponentially increased an already existent problem.

"She said she has already faced retaliation for declining to issue security clearances and challenging her superiors as they sought to implement clearance-process changes she disagreed with during the Trump administration. Newbold said she was suspended without pay for 14 days in late January despite “no prior formal disciplinary action” in her nearly two-decade tenure. And when she returned, she was removed from her position as a “second level adjudicator” on security clearances and is no longer a direct supervisor."

Why haven't you found a lawyer and sued the living shit out of the bastards?  What are you waiting for?  You'll likely wind up getting fired anyway for standing up to them.

This lady has certainly heroically done her homework to lay the groundwork of such a case:

"In her interview with the committee, which was conducted over a weekend, Newbold told the panel that she began keeping a list of employees whose applications were denied but were later given clearances despite concerns about their ties to foreign influence, conflicts of interests, questionable or criminal conduct, financial problems or drug abuse. That tally now reaches 25, she said, “including two current senior White House officials, as well as contractors and individuals throughout different components of the Executive Office of the President,” the letter says. Newbold named several superiors she took her concerns to, including: Director of Personnel Security Carl Kline; his immediate supervisor, Chief Operations Officer Samuel Price; White House Counsel’s Office; the assistant to the president Marcia Kelly; and Chief Security Officer Crede Bailey. Newbold told the panel that she knew her denials of security clearances could be overruled. But she was initially concerned about a lack of documentation that went into those decisions and said those were made “without memorializing the risks they were accepting.”

Fascinating, isn't it?  Not surprising since, again, we have a nazi fuhrer in the Oval Office.  -- Who does precisely as he pleases.  Forget?

"In the case of one top White House official, merely described as “Official 1” in committee documents, Newbold said Kline overruled her and another employee’s denial of an application amid concerns about foreign influence. But Kline, she said, “failed to address all of the disqualifying concerns listed by Ms. Newbold and the first-line adjudicator,” according to a committee summary of her response. Newbold said another agency contacted her and demanded to know “how we rendered a favorable adjudication,” expressing concern about the clearance issued to “Official 1.” Newbold also accused Kline of telling her to, in effect, stand down on concerns about another senior White House official, called “Official 2” by the panel. She said one of her colleagues wrote a 14-page summary of why they were planning to deny the application. But when she told Kline of her plan to agree with her colleague on the matter, Kline “instructed Ms. Newbold, ‘do not touch’ the case.” Kline later approved the security clearance, she said."

Apparently, this exceptionally courageous woman has not been fired because these outrageously corrupt bastards know there is a problem, -- and, more importantly, she has carefully documented it.

"Democrats have already identified Kline as one of the people they want to interview. In his letter to the White House, Cummings said the panel’s first subpoena would be to depose Kline, who now works for the Department of Defense."

Report goes on and on.  Clearly, this issue is not going away any time soon.

NPR reports:

"The chairman of the oversight panel, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., plans to subpoena Kline to force him to testify before the committee. In a letter to White House counsel Pat Cipollone, Cummings said the subpoena is necessary because "The Committee has given the White House every possible opportunity to cooperate with this investigation, but you have declined. Your actions are now preventing the Committee from obtaining the information it needs to fulfill its Constitutional responsibilities." But on Monday evening Kline's attorney sent a letter to the committee indicating that Kline was willing to appear voluntarily for a deposition, but indicated the scope of his testimony would be limited. He also asked Cummings to postpone taking action on a subpoena. "Serving a Committee subpoena on a heretofore anonymous nonpolitical government employee, who is willing to work with all parties to see if appropriate resolution to a constitutional and legal dispute can be resolved by agreement, is both an extreme and unnecessary step," wrote Kline's lawyer, Robert Driscoll. The White House has not responded to repeated requests for comment."

The Washington Post reports:

"A House panel voted Tuesday to subpoena a former White House official accused of overturning denials for security clearances after a whistleblower complained that the Trump administration had put the nation’s most guarded secrets in jeopardy. The Oversight and Reform Committee voted 22 to 15, along party lines, to force Carl Kline, the former White House personnel security director, to answer questions as part of its ongoing investigation into the security clearance process. The move represents one of the committee’s first compulsory measures aimed at the administration and follows whistleblower Tricia Newbold’s allegation that Trump’s White House has behaved recklessly with national security."

Hopefully, first subpoena of many as the House continues to investigate the Trump regime.

NPR reports:

"As the Justice Department prepares a redacted version of the Mueller report for release later this month, the House Judiciary Committee authorized subpoenas for the full report and its underlying investigative evidence. The committee also authorized subpoenas for figures in the Trump orbit, including former White House counsel Don McGahn; McGahn's former chief of staff Ann Donaldson; former adviser Steve Bannon; former spokesperson Hope Hicks; and former chief of staff Reince Priebus. "We are dealing now, not with the President's private affairs, but with a sustained attack on the integrity of the republic by the President and his closest advisors," said Democratic Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York. "This Committee requires the full report and the underlying materials because it is our job, not the Attorney General's, to determine whether or not President Trump has abused his office." The panel split along partisan lines, resulting in a vote tally of 24-17 to back the subpoenas."

NBC News reports:

"The White House security specialist who told Congress that at least 25 officials received security clearances despite opposition from career staffers says she felt humiliated by what she considers an act of retaliation from her boss. In an exclusive interview with NBC News, Tricia Newbold said her supervisor moved files to a shelf beyond her reach after she complained about the decision to grant security clearances over the objections of senior staffers. "It was definitely humiliating," said Newbold, a manager in the White House’s Personnel Security Office, who has a rare form of dwarfism. "... But it didn’t stop me from doing what was right."

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.

4-5-19

Why are we selling U.S. weaponry in the Middle East?  Certainly, lines the pockets of war-profiteers.  Placates former enemies of the Israeli aggressor such as Egypt.  Consider the following.  It's appalling.  CBS News reports:

"An American woman who survived a mistaken attack by Egypt's military on her tour group is urging President Trump to confront Egypt's president and make him take responsibility. Helicopters built in the U.S. were used in a 2015 attack that killed April Corley's boyfriend. Some members of Congress are pointing to that incident as they try to block a deal to sell 10 more American-made Apache helicopters to Egypt. CBS News' Errol Barnett spoke with Corley about the attack and how the injuries she suffered changed her life. Corley is a Hollywood stuntwoman and dancer who has appeared in movies and commercials and even choreographed moves for Madonna. "My life was really about glitter and rhinestones and roller skates and I was living my dream," Corley said. But while on a vacation to Egypt in 2015 with her boyfriend, Rafael, Corley and her tour group were attacked in the desert.

"The Egyptian government offered each survivor $140,000, but Corley is asking the Egyptian government to pay more than $14 million, for scars she bears on her body and others she says you can't see. "I went to the beach recently to meet some of my girlfriends, and a helicopter came over, and I ran in fear for my life," she said. The State Department told CBS News it has raised Corley's case with the Egyptian government. Both she and Vermont Senator Leahy said they hope President Trump will bring this up with Egypt's president when they meet next week at the White House."

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.

4-5-19

Republicans are doing some soul searching.  Couldn't be, could it?  ... Not for the right reasons of course.  LOL.  Then again, the same criticism can be made of Democrats.  Both parties remain out to lunch.  Hopelessly, deluded.  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump boasted this week that the Republican Party will soon be known as “the party of great health care.”

Think so?  Been trying last two years, -- to absolutely no avail.  Doesn't stop Trump from continuing to talk out the ass.

"But a growing number of Republicans fear that it risks being tagged as the party of the 1 percent instead — handing Democrats a potent political message as the GOP pushes to gut former president Barack Obama’s health-care law and other popular federal programs, including those that help the poor and people with disabilities."

Already common knowledge quite some time to Democrats and many, many Independents.

"A spate of policy moves in recent weeks by Republican lawmakers and Trump administration officials has driven the party’s agenda hard to the right, giving new fodder to Democratic presidential candidates eager to shift the national debate to such issues as health care and jobs ahead of the 2020 election. The administration’s budget released this month, for example, includes massive rollbacks of programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Disability Insurance, as well as cuts to the Special Olympics, Meals on Wheels, and programs related to autism and other developmental disabilities."

One of the few things the Trump nazi is honest about is his determination to f--k the bottom and middle class.  LOL.  Line his pockets and those at the top of the food chain.  Been a problem for Republicans for decades.  Now, coming to a head.  As an unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms for a number of different reasons.  ... Hear the rumble?

"Trump signaled his misgivings about some of those cuts in recent days — rescinding a proposal to zero out Special Olympics funding, which had sparked a bipartisan backlash, and promising to protect a cleanup program for the Great Lakes in states that could be crucial to his reelection. Democrats said the broad efforts by Trump and Republicans to attack programs that aid lower-income and working-class Americans could help blunt the president’s populist appeal and provide voters with more reasons to consider supporting Democratic candidates. The debate bears echoes of Obama’s successful reelection effort in 2012, when Democrats attacked now-Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) as an out-of-touch GOP nominee beholden to the wealthiest Americans."

Democrats are no better.  Engage in empty rhetoric.  Make promises they know they can't, won't keep.  Certainly, one of the reasons why an unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looms.

"The policy blitz reflects the deeply conservative agenda at the core of Trump’s administration. It is led by many influential aides and appointees who are unflinching ideologues, even as Trump prefers to call himself a “nationalist” or a businessman with “common sense.”

It's not a 'conservative' agenda.  Far from it.  It's national socialism, fascism, nazism. Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion.  'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.

"Coupled with fallout from the 35-day government shutdown that ended in January and a GOP tax plan that delivered major benefits to the wealthy, Republicans once again find themselves on the defensive — fending off Democrats who say they’re not just the party of Trump but also of the rich and powerful."

Nothing new.  Always been the case.  Recent tax breaks, which mainly benefited the top of the food chain, are about to balloon the deficit to a trillion dollars a year.  Unsustainable.  The shit will hit the fan.  Only a matter of time.  When that happens, guess who will be held accountable?

"And they face growing questions of empathy on issues including the crush of asylum-seeking families at the southern border and disaster aid to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which Trump complained about in a private lunch Tuesday with Senate Republicans. “We’re diving into a wood chipper,” said Trump critic and longtime Republican strategist Mike Murphy. “I guess that’s the plan — being on the wrong side of issues, on top of the head winds we’re facing, with the House Freedom Caucus and Trump’s ego providing our political compass.”

No kidding.  Truer words never spoken.  Especially, coming from a Republican.  Breath of fresh air.  Dose of reality.

Report goes on and on.  Democrats are jubilant.  Shouldn't be.  Offer nothing but more of the same old tired bullshit.  Certainly, no viable solutions.

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.

4-5-19

Nothing quite like 'consistency,' is there?  The Washington Post reports:

"It’s difficult to say with certainty why the Supreme Court on Thursday night stopped the execution of a Buddhist inmate in Texas because he was not allowed a spiritual adviser by his side, when last month it approved the execution of a Muslim inmate in Alabama under the almost exact circumstances. But the obvious place to start is new Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, who seemed to have a change of heart."

Change of heart?  ... Or, demonstrable bigotry against Muslims?  You decide.

"Kavanaugh on Thursday was the only justice to spell out his reasoning: Texas could not execute Patrick Murphy without his Buddhist adviser in the room because it allows Christian and Muslim inmates to have religious leaders by their sides. “In my view, the Constitution prohibits such denominational discrimination,” Kavanaugh wrote. But Kavanaugh was on the other side last month when Justice Elena Kagan and three other justices declared “profoundly wrong” Alabama’s decision to turn down Muslim Domineque Ray’s request for an imam to be at his execution, making available only a Christian chaplain. “That treatment goes against the Establishment Clause’s core principle of denominational neutrality,” Kagan wrote then."

Certainly, does.

"Kavanaugh and the court’s other conservatives did not address Kagan’s argument, saying only that Ray had brought his challenge too late."

How could it ever be too late to bring a challenge, -- other than if the petitioner had already been executed?  Apparently, the five Republican nazis on the Court were conveniently looking for an excuse to indulge their bigotry.  If so, raw nazism.

"Kavanaugh said in a footnote Thursday he was satisfied with the timing of Murphy’s litigation. But there was little difference in when Ray and Murphy brought their requests; if anything, it appears Ray was quicker than Murphy."

Jesus Christ.  If that's the case, yet another indication there is no justice.

"Some critics of the court wondered if the difference was one of race and religion. Murphy is white and turned to Buddhism in prison. Ray, who was executed within hours of the court’s decision Feb. 7, was black."

Had to be.  What else could it have been?  Raw nazism.

"But the court in just the last few years has ruled for Muslim petitioners who claimed discrimination: an inmate who was not allowed to grow a short beard because of prison policies, and a woman who was denied a job at Abercrombie & Fitch because of her hijab."

Again, nothing quite like 'consistency', is there?  The five GOP nazis on the Court clearly, figuratively have their heads securely lodged up their collective ass.  ... Certainly, at the very least, when it comes to all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"Ilya Somin, a law professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University and a sharp critic of the court’s decision in Dunn v. Ray, said the most logical explanation is the court was stung by the barrage of criticism it received from the left and the right. The justices “belatedly realized they had made a mistake; and not just any mistake, but one that inflicted real damage on their and the court’s reputations,” Somin wrote on the Volokh Conspiracy blog."

Hard to believe the Aryan arrogant nazi element on the Court gives a crap about how their rulings are perceived.  Forget?  The nazi element in our formerly great country, nonetheless, marches in goose step with them.  Usually, no matter what.

“Presented with a chance to ‘correct’ their error and signal that they will not tolerate religious discrimination in death penalty administration, they were willing to bend over backwards to seize the opportunity, and not let it slip away.”

Think so?  Extremely hard to believe.  Especially, since the Court seldom reverses itself.  Nearly, never.  LOL.

"Deepak Gupta, a Washington lawyer who argues before the court and called the Ray decision “indefensible,” tweeted: “This is how the Supreme Court tries to erase a very recent and obvious moral error without admitting error. Is the Alabama case materially different? They don’t say.”

So what else is new?  LOL.  Forget?  Usually, nothing ever changes.  Precisely, why our formerly great country is in the shape it's in.

"It is not clear from the ruling what role Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who were in the majority in the Ray case, played in the Murphy case. They did not join Kavanaugh’s opinion, nor did they note, as Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil M. Gorsuch did, that they would have allowed the execution to proceed."

Fascinating, isn't it?  The determined, concerted lack of transparency is par for the course.  Not only for the judiciary, but both other branches of government as well.

"Somin said he is “fairly confident Alito and Roberts switched” because they did not record themselves as objecting, as Thomas and Gorsuch did. “In a high-profile case like this, it would be strange for some justices to clearly indicate their dissent, while others who agreed with that stance kept silent and thereby created the impression they agree with the majority,” Somin said in an email. But that is not always the case, and Kavanaugh plus the dissenters in the Ray case would have been enough to force the outcome in the Murphy case."

Lack of transparency certainly presents a dire threat to a democratic republic.  -- One of many reasons we remain a democratic republic in name only.

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.

4-5-19

Things are not going well at Wells Fargo.  Doesn't your heart bleed?  The Washington Post reports:

"Wells Fargo announced Thursday that its CEO Tim Sloan will step down immediately as the bank struggles to address years of scandals related to its alleged abuse of customers."

Alleged?

"Sloan will be temporarily replaced by C. Allen Parker, who has served as Wells Fargo’s general counsel."

Think he'll do any better?  LOL.

"Wells Fargo is still weathering a sustained backlash from its admission two years ago that it opened millions of sham accounts customers did not want and more recent revelations that it mistakenly foreclosed on hundreds of customers and improperly repossessed thousands of cars."

The problem runs far deeper than that as detailed in this publication over the years.

"Sloan, a 31-year veteran of the company, has spent years apologizing for the bank’s bad behavior and attempting to rebuild its reputation with customers, regulators and lawmakers. He told the House Financial Services Committee earlier this month that the bank had revamped its board, significantly increased its charitable giving and no longer emphasizes sales goals, which were blamed for many of the company’s problems. However, it did little to quiet criticism of the bank."

The bank has failed to clean up its act.  ... Right, Amanda?  To say nothing of just restitution.

Moreover and ferociously pointedly?  Who the hell has been prosecuted?  ... Right, Amanda?

“It has become apparent to me that our ability to successfully move Wells Fargo forward from here will benefit from a new CEO and fresh perspectives,” Sloan said in a statement. “For this reason, I have decided it is best for the Company that I step aside and devote my efforts to supporting an effective transition.”

Coup de grace?  Get this:

"Sloan’s position was made more tenuous recently. A day after facing harsh questions from lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Wells Fargo announced that it was increasing Sloan’s total compensation to $18.4 million. Of that, $2 million is an “annual incentive award” — in other words, a bonus."

Jesus Christ.  Give me a break.  LOL.  ... Delusionally believe all this sustainable, 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.

4-5-19

Certainly, a step backwards.  CBS News reports:

"New Islamic criminal laws took effect in Brunei on Wednesday that make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning offenders to death. The laws have triggered an outcry from countries, rights groups and celebrities far beyond the tiny Southeast Asian nation's shores. The penalties were provided for under new sections of Brunei's Shariah Penal Code. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah instituted the code in 2014 to bolster the influence of Islam in the oil-rich monarchy of around 430,000 people, two-thirds of whom are Muslim. Even before 2014, homosexuality was already punishable in Brunei by a jail term of up to 10 years. But under the new laws - which apply to children and foreigners, even if they are not Muslim - those found guilty of gay sex can be stoned to death or whipped. Adulterers risk death by stoning too, while thieves face amputation of a right hand on their first offense and a left foot on their second."

Barbarians.

"On Tuesday, the United States joined the United Kingdom, Germany and France in urging Brunei to halt its plans. "The United States strongly opposes violence, criminalization and discrimination targeting vulnerable groups, including women at risk of violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons," State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement. Celebrities including George Clooney, Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres have voiced opposition to the new laws, and have rallied a boycott of nine hotels in the U.S. and Europe with ties to Hassanal, who is still sultan. "Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?" Clooney wrote Thursday on Deadline Hollywood. Clooney said that while you can't shame "murderous regimes," you can shame "the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them." Michelle Bachelet, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Brunei's government to "stop the entry into force of this Draconian new penal code." Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, called on the sultan to "immediately suspend amputations, stoning, and all other rights-abusing provisions and punishments." Brunei's Southeast Asian neighbors, some of whom also have laws banning sex between men, have remained silent, however."

Barbarians.

"According to the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association's 2019 roundup, consensual same-sex sex acts are still officially or unofficially criminalized in 70 U.N. member nations. The same report said the death penalty could be implemented for consensual same-sex sexual acts in at least 10 nations. That did not include Brunei, as the law has not yet come into effect. In neighboring Indonesia, Shariah law is officially implemented in the predominantly Muslim Aceh province, but not nationally. People have been caned for homosexual acts, and even attempted acts, in Aceh. Under increasing pressure from Amnesty International and other rights groups, Aceh decided last year to move the canings out of the public eye and conduct them behind closed doors. For years large crowds had gathered in public to witness the spectacle."

Barbarians.

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.

3-29-19

The Trump nazi has again egregiously disgraced himself and our formerly great nation.  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump on Wednesday escalated his unrelenting attacks on the late senator from Arizona and former GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who even in death has remained one of Trump’s top targets for abuse as fellow Republicans have repeatedly begged him to stop. In a five-minute diatribe during an appearance at a General Dynamics tank factory in Lima, Ohio, Trump argued that McCain, a lifelong Pentagon booster and former prisoner of war in Vietnam, “didn’t get the job done” for veterans while also grousing that he did not receive proper gratitude for McCain’s funeral last September. “I gave him the kind of funeral he wanted, which as president I had to approve,” Trump said inaccurately, an apparent reference to allowing the use of military transport to carry McCain’s body to Washington. “I don’t care about this, I didn’t get a thank-you, that’s okay. We sent him on the way. But I wasn’t a fan of John McCain.” He added, “I have to be honest, I never liked him much. Hasn’t been for me. I’ve really, probably, never will.”

Think this man fit for office?

"The full-throated repudiation of a deceased and revered member of his party was remarkable even for a president constantly at war with his rivals, and it came amid an outpouring of statements in recent days praising McCain in the face of Trump’s attacks. “It’s deplorable what he said,” Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in an interview with Atlanta-based Georgia Public Broadcasting earlier Wednesday, referring to previous Trump attacks on McCain. “It will be deplorable seven months from now, if he says it again, and I will continue to speak out. ... We should never reduce the service that people give to this country, including the offering of their own life.”

NPR reports:

"At a speech in Lima, Ohio, on Wednesday, President Trump went off script into a five minute, ad-libbed attack on the late Sen. John McCain, a celebrated Vietnam War veteran and a former prisoner of war. Lost amid the unusual verbal attack on a deceased war hero by a sitting president was an inaccurate claim about veterans' issues. President Trump slammed McCain for failing to pass a bill to expand VA services — a bill which in fact was originally sponsored by Sen. McCain."

The nazi in the Oval Office can't, won't be confused with the truth.

"It's not the first time the president has picked a fight with John McCain. It was the first major fight, though, since John McCain died of brain cancer seven months ago. Trump called the dead senator ungrateful and claimed, falsely, to have approved McCain's funeral at the National Cathedral. "I gave him the kind of funeral that he wanted — which, as President, I had to approve. I don't care about this. I didn't get 'thank you.' That's okay. We sent him on the way. But I wasn't a fan of John McCain," Trump said in Ohio."

Trump lied:

"It is actually Congress that approved most of the funeral arrangements, though the White House did allow government transport of McCain's body."

Trump can't, won't be confused by the truth.

"At the Ohio speech, Trump also criticized McCain's support for wars in the Middle East, and the Arizona senator's decisive vote in 2017 against repealing Obamacare. And he also repeated a false claim about McCain's role in failing to pass a bill that would have expanded VA services. "McCain didn't get the job done for our great vets and the VA, and they knew it," Trump said, "That's why, when I had my dispute with him, I had such incredible support from the vets and from the military. The vets were on my side because I got the job done. I got Choice and I got accountability. Accountability meaning, if somebody mistreats our vets — for 45 years they were trying."

Again, Trump was not truthful:

"The president did get strong support at the ballot box from the military community. And he did sign, last year, a major Veterans Affairs bill. But the law was not 45 years in the making, and is named the "John S. McCain III, Daniel K. Akaka, and Samuel R. Johnson VA Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Integrated Outside Networks Act of 2018," in honor of McCain and two other veterans who served in Congress. This was an expansion of the original Veterans Choice law, to increase access to private care, which was co-sponsored by McCain five years ago, not 45 years ago.

"I fear that some [veterans] may be asking themselves, if John McCain's service has come into question, does that mean that the president doesn't appreciate their service and some of the sacrifices that they've made for this country?

Lindsay Rodman, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America"

CBS News reports:

"In an interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo, Mr. Trump defended his ongoing tirades against the dead lawmaker, appearing to blame the media for bringing it up in the first place. "No, I don't talk about it. People ask me the question, I didn't bring this up. You just brought it up, you asked the question," Mr. Trump said when asked why he continued to attack McCain.  He added, "When they ask me the question, I answer the question. But you people bring it up, I don't bring it up. I'm not a fan. He was horrible what he did with repeal and replace. What he did to the Republican party and to the nation, and to sick people that could have had great health care was not good. So I'm not a fan of John McCain and that's fine." He later admonished Bartiromo for asking the question, suggesting that she wasn't "supposed to bring it up" in their wide-ranging discussion and referred to the issue as "fake news." Despite his public lashings against a notable political figure, Mr. Trump contends that he's "bringing the nation together." "I can tell you that a big portion of this nation is united like it's never been united before.  You look at our economy.  You look at jobs.  You look at African American -- the lowest in the history of our country, unemployment numbers, the best numbers they've ever had," said Mr. Trump. Much of the political world is in fact uniting together, with both Republicans and Democrats rejecting the president's attacks on  McCain. Several of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates called out the president in the wake of his comments, including Iraq war veteran Pete Buttigieg, who said Mr. Trump was doing it "for attention."

Quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Emily Tillett.

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.

3-29-19

Delusionally believe the Nazi Right isn't insane?  NPR reports:

"A Florida man accused of mailing pipe bombs to a number of prominent Democrats and Trump critics, as well as CNN, has pleaded guilty before a federal judge in New York. Cesar Altieri Sayoc, 57, was arrested in late October and was scheduled to go on trial in July on charges related to using weapons of mass destruction and transporting explosives. None of the devices exploded. He has been held without bail since his arrest. "I knew these actions were wrong. I'm extremely sorry," Sayoc said, as quoted by The Washington Post. He told U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff that he did not intend for the devices to explode but was aware of the risk that they might."

Believe it?

"Sayoc faces a possible life sentence in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 12 on 65 criminal counts, according to a statement by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. "For five days in October 2018, Cesar Sayoc rained terror across the country, sending high-ranking officials and former elected leaders explosive packages through the mail," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said in the statement. "Thankfully no one was hurt by these dangerous devices, but his actions left an air of fear and divisiveness in their wake. Sayoc has taken responsibility for his crimes, and will soon be sentenced to significant time in prison."

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.

3-29-19

Trump nazi backs Israeli aggressor.  NPR reports:

"The Trump administration has backed Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The move comes weeks before Israeli general elections and reverses the position U.S. administrations have held for decades. President Trump made the announcement via tweet Thursday. "After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!" the president wrote.

"After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2019"

Trump is insane.  Aggressively stupid.  Guaranties war and terror will continue unabated in the region.

"Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war and annexed the territory, a move not recognized by the U.S. or the international community. For years, the U.S. has tried to broker a regional agreement that would involve Israel exchanging captured territory for peace."

The United States has never been an honest broker of peace in the Middle East.  Readers are reminded the United States, the United Nations, and Europe in 1948 bequeathed Palestine to survivors of the Holocaust, -- without first consulting the Palestinians.  Leading to decades of war and terror in the region.

"Under the Trump administration, the U.S. has repeatedly endorsed controversial Israeli positions. In early March the U.S. closed its Jerusalem Consulate, which has been the lead diplomatic mission to the Palestinians, NPR's Daniel Estrin reported. It folded that job into the U.S. embassy to Israel. Last year the U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and backed Israel's assertion that the city is its capital. Palestinians claim part of the city as the capital of their future state. Previously, the U.S. held that the status of the city would be determined in peace talks. After the U.S. moved the embassy, Palestinian leaders cut contacts with the Trump administration."

Why wouldn't they?  Trump and his henchmen are clearly in the pocket of the Israeli aggressor.  Israeli Prime Minister 'Bebe' Netanyahu has certainly swept the Trump nazi off his feet.

"Washington has also shut off most funding to the Palestinians, leaving unfinished school and sewage projects in the West Bank."

All the above guarantee terror will continue unabated in the region.  Trump is not only insane, but stupid.

"Trump's Golan Heights announcement came as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Jerusalem. Pompeo said the move was "truly historic."

How did you ever graduate West Point, Mr. Secretary?

"President Trump made a bold decision to recognize that, an important decision to the people of Israel," Pompeo said."

Further evidence of your aggressive stupidity, Mr. Pompeo.  This only guaranties continued war and terror in the region.  ... That, how you and your fuhrer get your cookies off, sir?

"Pompeo was hosted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who praised the decision to recognize the Golan as a "miracle" during the week Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Purim."

The Prime Minister continues to disgrace himself and his country.

"Netanyahu faces reelection in April, and he contends with corruption allegations and a rival who has tapped into the public's fatigue with a decade under the same leader."

The Prime Minister remains an impediment to peace in the region.

"U.S. policy as it relates to the Golan Heights has been probably been one of the most consistent and long-standing positions we've had on any Arab-Israeli issue," said Scott Lasensky, former advisor to the U.S. ambassador to Israel under the Obama administration.  Lasensky said Trump's move seemed to be "totally devoid of strategic imperative" and possibly aimed at helping Netanyahu win the vote. The Israeli leader visits Washington, D.C. next week."

Certainly, seems Trump and his henchmen are backing a country that has become the aggressor in the region.

"Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat panned the Golan announcement and said U.S. policy would bring "bloodshed in our region".

"Yesterday president Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s https://t.co/A8nWFdMkyz for regional stability he wants to make sure that the occupied Syrian Golan Heights be under Israel’s sovereignty. What shall tomorrow bring? Certain destabilization and bloodshed in our region.

— Dr. Saeb Erakat (@ErakatSaeb) March 21, 2019"

Sadly, so.  Shortsighted of the Trump nazi and his henchmen.  Aggressive stupidity at its very worst.

"U.S. secretaries of state have usually met Palestinian leaders while visiting the region, the Associated Press reports, but Pompeo had no visits with Palestinian dignitaries planned."

Incredibly shortsighted and stupid.

CBS News reports:

"Asked why he isn't attending the annual AIPAC conference this year, the president on the White House South Lawn responded by attacking Democrats. The president claimed Democrats have proven to be anti-Israel, going so far as to call them anti-Jewish, repeating similar comments he has made in recent days. Republicans and many Democrats have heavily criticized Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, for comments perceived as anti-Semitic. "The Democrats have very much proven to be anti-Israel there's no question about that, and it's a disgrace," Mr. Trump told reporters Friday. "I don't know what's happened to them but they are totally anti-Israel, Frankly I think they're anti-Jewish."

That's nuts.  You've lost your mind, Mr. 'President.'  You're anti-Palestinian despite the injustice perpetrated against them by the United States, the United Nations, and Europe in 1948.  No support of the Israeli aggressor perpetrated by you and your henchmen ameliorates your embrace of white supremacy, national socialism, fascism, nazism.  Wake up.  You've disgraced yourself and our formerly great country.

CBS News reports:

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday that President Trump's move on the Golan Heights does not amount to a double standard. He made the remarks when asked about the U.S. stance on the Syrian territory that Israel officially seized in 1981 compared to U.S. policy on Russia regarding its annexation of Crimea. "You imposed sanctions on Russia for annexing Crimea," Hiba Nasr of Sky News said to Pompeo Saturday at the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. "Now you are going to recognize the sovereign -- the Israeli sovereignty over these territories. Isn't this a double-standard policy?" "No, not at all," Pompeo said. "What the president did with the Golan Heights is recognize the reality on the ground and the security situation necessary for the protection of the Israeli state. It's that - it's that simple."

No it's not.  Only to a narrow-minded national socialist, fascist, nazi who remains achingly deluded, hopelessly simple-minded.  What this does is ensure there will be no peace, more war, endless terrorism in the region.  Aggressive stupidity at its very worst.  Proof positive the United States is not, has not been, an honest broker of peace in the Middle East.  Quite the opposite.  Remains in the pocket of the Israeli aggressor.

"He denied that Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, saying "the decision the president made will increase the opportunity for there to be stability throughout the region."

Jesus Christ.  This fascist son of a bitch is hopelessly deluded.  Achingly, ill-informed.  Israel's enemies have already made it quite clear there will be more violence.

"Israel's annexation of the area is not recognized internationally. Several countries and the European Union have affirmed that they do not recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights since Mr. Trump's announcement."

Certainly, have.

"The U.S. has strongly condemned Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea in the Ukraine, and issued sanctions against Russia in response."

Nothing quite like hypocrisy, is there?

"Pompeo also said in his interview Saturday that Lebanese leadership supported the American position that Lebanon should not "succumb" to the influence of Iran and the terrorist group Hezbollah. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has significant political influence in Lebanon. Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil denied that Hezbollah was a terrorist group on Friday, and said that it "enjoys a wide popular base," according to Al Jazeera. Nonetheless, Pompeo said in his interview with Sky News that it was "false" and "wrong" to say that Lebanese leadership disagreed with him about Hezbollah. "They understand -- President [Michel] Aoun, the foreign minister -- they both understand the need for Lebanese freedom, democracy, independence, sovereignty," Pompeo said."

Clearly, Pompeo remains as hopelessly delusional as his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  Sad, isn't it?  Day is night, night is day, and shit smells perversely sweet in the world of the Republican nazi.

Netanyahu has his say.  NBC News reports:

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back Tuesday against comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., suggesting that the reason Israel is solidly supported by the U.S. government is because of money. "From this Benjamin, it's not about the Benjamins!" Netanyahu told the AIPAC conference in Washington, speaking by satellite hookup from Israel. "The reason Americans love Israel," he added, "is not because they want our money, it's because they share our values. It's because America and Israel share a love of freedom and democracy."

No longer true, Mr. Prime Minister.  Not in your country.  Not in mine.  Think not?  Wake up.

The United States has been a de facto fascist police-state since 9/11.  -- Gutless imposition by both major political parties of the USA 'Patriot' Act, Homeland 'Security' Act, 'Real' ID Act, etc..  ... Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.  Our fuhrer, the Trump nazi, prima facie evidence.

Equally to the point and ferociously, how is your country a democratic state when you continue to brutally subjugate the Palestinians after stealing their land in 1948 with the blessing of the United States, the United Nations, and Europe?  When Palestinians who happen to be citizens of Israel and live within the borders of your country are not treated the same as Jewish Israelis?  -- Land that was lost due to excesses of the Israelites generations ago.

"Netanyahu's remarks were in response to a February tweet by Omar, who is Muslim, that American support for Israel was "all about the Benjamins baby." Weeks later, she said pro-Israel activists pushed for "allegiance to a foreign country." Both comments triggered accusations from some lawmakers and prominent Jewish groups of anti-Semitism and playing on toxic anti-Jewish stereotypes."

Any excuse at all to excuse and justify subjugation of the Palestinians by the Israeli aggressor.

"In response, the House of Representatives approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred though the measure did not single her out. Omar has apologized for suggesting that the United States' connection to Israel is driven by money from AIPAC. On Tuesday, however, she took a shot at Netanyahu, as well as President Donald Trump, telling NBC News that "the Prime Minister of Israel is the one that is aligning with right-wing leaders, somebody who is currently facing possible indictments for bribery and corruption, and he is meeting with a president that we know might be charged, or might face indictments for obstruction of justice."

She's right.  That might very well happen.  Criminal investigation of the Trump nazi is far from over.  Not clear, either, whether or not Netanyahu will be prosecuted.

"Netanyahu met with Trump at the White House on Monday. Moments after Netanyahu spokes at AIPAC — he had been scheduled to speak to the conference in person but returned to Israel early after rockets were launched from Gaza — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., also addressed Omar's comments, saying that "for many years, such slurs and tropes were limited to the fringes."

What's the matter, Mitch?  Can't handle the truth?  The injustice perpetrated by the Israeli aggressor?

"Sadly, they've recently received new prominence, having been repeated and retweeted by a sitting member of Congress," he said, not mentioning Omar by name. "My friends, your advocacy is not a conspiracy. Your passion is nothing to apologize for. It is the essence of our democracy."

That's nonsense, Mitch.  This is no longer a democratic republic.  In name only.  We've gone backwards last 65 years or so.  Culminating in imposition of what is in effect a fascist police-state after 9/11.  Both major political parties are gutlessly responsible for this ongoing fiasco.

"McConnell also attacked the several Democratic presidential candidates who skipped the conference after a prominent progressive group called on them to boycott the event."

Wake up, Mitch. It's the embrace of nazism, Senator.  Don't flatter yourself, you fascist son of a bitch.

"I'm troubled that many of the declared Democratic presidential candidates seem to be avoiding this very gathering," McConnell said. "Apparently, because political partisans who have leveled scurrilous charges against this organization have warned they will be keeping watch, and they will be taking names."

What are you so afraid of, Senator?  The truth?  You're out to lunch.  Hopelessly, clueless.  What national socialist isn't?

"Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Kamala Harris, D-Calif., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas, as well as others, did not attend the event. Meanwhile, speaker after speaker at the three-day AIPAC conference referred to Omar before an audience of 18,000 who packed the Washington Convention Center, watching the proceedings from a dozen giant screens flanking the sage."

Forget?  Politically correct thing to do.  ... While ignoring atrocities perpetrated by the Israeli aggressor on the Palestinians since 1948.  Then again, the nazi element can't, won't be confused by the truth.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., addressing the group on Tuesday, however, touted the anti-hate resolution she recently shepherded through Congress in response to the Omar controversy and condemned the "myth of dual loyalty" and the BDS movement (boycott, divestment, sanctions) as "bigotry masquerading as policy." "I simply declare to be anti-Semitic is to be anti-American. It has no place in our country," Pelosi said to applause."

You're right, Madam Speaker.  Neither does national socialism, fascism, nazism embraced by the Republican Party.  Why aren't you courageously calling out the GOP for what it has gutlessly become?

"Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for his part, pledged support for Israel and also condemned Omar’s comments — but pushed back aggressively at GOP attempts to drive a wedge between Jewish voters and the Democratic Party."

Clearly, has become the agenda of the Republican Party as it continues to ironically nazify at the very same time it embraces the Israeli aggressor.  Years ago, would have been thought impossible, unthinkable.  No longer.  Inconsistency?  Rule of the day.

"I can['t] stay silent when the entire Democratic Party is castigated as Jew-haters when what we really need is leadership in a movement that unites this nation and the world against the rise of anti-Semitism, hatred and white supremacy and across the globe," Menendez said to applause. "This isn't about playing politics with anti-Semitism."

How is that possible when our fuhrer in the Oval Office remains supportive of white supremacy, embraces the principles of national socialism, fascism?

“So, yes, when you imply that money is the only driving factor behind a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, you are fanning those flames,” Menendez continued, before taking a thinly veiled shot at Trump. "And just the same, when you accuse Jews of funding caravans of asylum-seekers at our southern border or fail to condemn the full variety of white supremacy at home and abroad, you are fanning those flames."

Indeed.  The hypocrisy, unsustainable.

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.

3-29-19

Once again, the United States forces its perverse ideological and religious views on the world community.  Pompeo nazi leads the charge.  CBS News reports:

"Secretary of State of Mike Pompeo announced refinements to the administration's Mexico City policy, a ban on federal funding for organizations that provide abortion services, in order to "protect the least amongst us." While the State Department will continue to refuse to provide assistance to foreign non-governmental organizations (NGO's) that "perform or actively promote abortion as a method of family planning," Pompeo said Tuesday that the State Department is also making clear "we will refuse to provide assistance to foreign NGOs that give to other foreign groups in the global abortion industry." "American taxpayer dollars will not be used to underwrite abortions," Pompeo urged."

Direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  This government has no business promulgating religious views, perverse or otherwise.  On anyone.  Here or abroad.

"Under the Bush administration, this rule did not apply to funding for HIV/AIDS programs. Now it does, and the policy will now also apply to programs that provide tuberculosis, malaria and nutrition services. Asked if he this new policy risked cutting care for the nearly a million people who died from HIV/AIDS last year, Pompeo said the U.S. provides more funding for that than any country in the world and "one need not perform abortions in order to protect people from HIV."

Disingenuous bullshit, -- and the Secretary of State knows it.  People will die as a result.  ... How did you ever graduate West Point, Mikey?

"Pompeo added, "This administration has shown that we can continue to meet our global health goals while refusing to subsidize the killing of unborn babies."

Not your call, Mikey.  Neither is it the call of our national socialist, fascist, nazi government, -- which is certainly no longer a democratic republic.

"The State Department has also moved to defund an arm of the Organization of American States (OAS) that has allowed for abortion lobbying, both for and against. "The institutions of the OAS should be focused on the crisis in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, not advancing the pro-abortion cause," Pompeo admonished."

How about focusing on the national socialist, fascist, nazi police-state we now live in since 9/11 in our formerly great country, Mikey?  You and your nazi fuhrer have egregiously abrogated your oaths of office to uphold the United States Constitution.

"Abortion rights groups have long opposed the policy, and presidents have rescinded and restored it, depending on their political leanings, since 1984. Then-President Bill Clinton revoked it in January 1993 upon taking office because "these excessively broad anti-abortion conditions are unwarranted," he wrote in his memorandum, adding that the policy had "undermined efforts to promote safe and efficacious family planning programs in foreign nations." Eight years later, George W. Bush reinstated it when he took office. Barack Obama later rescinded it once again in 2009, making the same argument as Clinton had. Pompeo said on Tuesday that Mr. Trump "boldly" expanded the policy "which now protects every human life impacted by the nearly $9 billion dollars of foreign aid we spend on global health programs each year, and in turn, protects more unborn babies than ever before." "This is decent, this is right and I'm proud to serve in an administration that protects the least amongst us," Pompeo added."

The hell it does, Mikey.  You and your fuhrer line your pockets off the bottom and middle class.  If you and the nazi in the Oval Office truly cared about the 'least among us,' you wouldn't be shamelessly ripping them off to line your bottomless pockets.  Didn't they teach you that in church, you achingly clueless, fascist piece of crap?

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.

3-29-19

Nothing quite like religious bigotry.  The Washington Post reports:

"State Rep. Stephanie Borowicz was on the ninth “Jesus” of her opening prayer in the Pennsylvania statehouse when other lawmakers started to look uncomfortable. Speaker Mike Turzai, a fellow Republican, glanced up — but Borowicz carried on, delivering a 100-second ceremonial invocation that some of her colleagues decried as an offensive, divisive and Islamophobic display shortly before the legislature swore in its first Muslim woman. “God forgive us — Jesus — we’ve lost sight of you, we’ve forgotten you, God, in our country, and we’re asking you to forgive us,” Borowicz said, followed by a quote from the Bible’s second book of Chronicles that implores God’s followers to “turn from their wicked ways.” Then she praised President Trump for his unequivocal support of Israel."

Jesus Christ.  -- No pun intended.  Give me a break.  ... How insecure could this woman possibly be?

Gets worse:

“I claim all these things in the powerful, mighty name of Jesus, the one who, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, Jesus, that you are Lord, in Jesus’ name,” Borowicz said. By the time she said “Amen,” Borowicz had invoked Jesus 13 times, deploying the name between prayerful clauses as though it were a comma. She mentioned “Lord” and “God” another six times each and referenced “The Great I Am” and “the one who’s coming back again, the one who came, died and rose again on the third day.”

Just when one would think it couldn't get worse, it did:

"As the prayer reached a crescendo, at least one member shouted objections. Turzai, standing behind her, looked up again and nudged her elbow, prompting her to quickly conclude the address. Afterward, the protests only grew louder. “It blatantly represented the Islamophobia that exists among some leaders — leaders that are supposed to represent the people,” Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, the newly sworn-in Democrat who is Muslim, told the Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Monday. “I came to the Capitol to help build bipartisanship and collaborations regardless of race or religion to enhance the quality of life for everyone in the Commonwealth.”

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.

3-29-19

'Don't do as I do, do as I say.'  Incredible hypocrisy.  NPR reports:

"Senior adviser to the President Jared Kushner used private email and a messaging app to conduct official business, the House oversight committee says. Kushner's lawyer has pushed back on some of the committee's assertions. Jared Kushner's attorney told the House Committee on Oversight and Reform that Kushner uses private messaging applications and personal email to communicate about official White House matters, the committee wrote in a letter to White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on Thursday. The oversight panel said that Kushner, the president's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser, had been using WhatsApp as part of his official duties — an apparent violation of a law governing White House records. The committee said that it learned about the use of private email and WhatsApp from a December 2018 conversation from Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who also represents the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump. Meanwhile, the committee said that Trump had been receiving official emails on her personal account and has not been forwarding them to her official White House account as required by law. Her lawyer confirmed this as well, according to the committee. Lowell contended in a letter to Cummings Thursday afternoon that some of the information the committee states is incorrect, including that Lowell confirmed Kushner used a messaging app to communicate "with foreign 'leaders' or 'officials.' " He said he told the committee that Kushner follows White House protocols and referred questions to the White House counsel.

"Aside from the Kushners, the House committee said other officials such as the former deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland and former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon used their personal email accounts to discuss the "transfer of sensitive U.S. nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia." The panel produced a report last month alleging that the Trump administration sought to rush the transfer of American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in potential violation of the law. The House oversight committee first launched its investigation into use of personal email "in violation of the Presidential Records Act and White House policy" back in 2017, Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., wrote in Thursday's letter. But Cummings said that the White House has failed to produce many documents that he and his panel have demanded."

Readers will recall the Trump nazi's campaign chant vis a vis Hillary Clinton and her use of a personal email server:  "Lock her up!"

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.

3-29-19

Does policy even matter to candidates running for president?  Carefully consider the following.  NPR reports:

"In the crowded field of Democratic presidential candidates, Sen. Bernie Sanders might have the biggest army of supporters, Sen. Kamala Harris might come from a bigger state, and former Rep. Beto O'Rourke might have his skateboard, but Sen. Elizabeth Warren is the policy candidate. By the admittedly imperfect metrics of early fundraising and polling, it's not clear Warren's mastery of policy is an asset for Democratic voters. The Massachusetts senator says she's a committed capitalist, but that "markets without rules are theft."

No question, certainly true.  Quite apparent for quite some time in our formerly great country.

"She says Washington is in league with big business and the super-rich at the expense of working Americans. So, as president, Warren says she would launch an ambitious reform of American capitalism. "We need to make systemic change in this country," Warren declared in January at her first presidential rally in New Hampshire. She's backing up that call with a slew of detailed policy proposals, which she began rolling out well before she announced she was running for president. For example, in August she introduced an anti-corruption bill, which among other things, would impose lifetime lobbying bans on presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, federal judges and cabinet secretaries. It would also require presidential candidates to make their tax returns public — something President Trump has never done."

One thing for sure, unlike Trump, to say nothing of her fellow Democratic contenders for president, Warren is a policy wonk.  Has offered specifics.  Not talked in generalities.  Not a socialist since she plans to reform capitalism not replace it.  Whether her proposals fly or not in the current political atmosphere is the unanswered question.  Highly unlikely.  Not with Republican national socialists, fascists, nazis presently owning the Senate and Oval Office.

"The problem is in the structure — it's how money influences this place, and how the wealthy and the well-connected get their way over and over, while everybody else gets left behind," she told WBUR last year. Beyond that, Warren has proposed policies to break up Facebook and other tech giants; to require that corporations include workers on their boards to make them more responsive to the common good and not just to shareholders. She has also called for universal pre-K and child care — a big, expensive program. But she says an annual wealth tax on fortunes greater than $50 million would easily pay for it. "And, still have $2 trillion left over," Warren explained recently on The New York Times podcast The Argument. "Think about what we could do on students loans, or the work we need to do on infrastructure."

Think so?  Believe it's viable?

"According to polls, voters overwhelmingly approve of Warren's policies, including a wealth tax and universal pre-K. But that doesn't seem to be translating into high voter interest in Warren's campaign."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"You hear from people that [Warren] sort of reminds them of Hillary [Clinton], which they mean in a purely stylistic sense," Michelle Goldberg, a liberal columnist for the Times, said on The Argument. "It leads me to wonder: What is the salience of policy in a Democratic primary — or in our politics at all?" In other words, when running for president, does policy even matter? That's a deep question that leads to an answer that pains Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and someone who appreciates policy. "It's a painful truth to recognize that policy is less important than we like to think it is," Reeves said. "We are increasingly seeing that political brands matter more than policy platforms." Following the 2016 election, Reeves published an essay for Brookings, "The real loser of the 2016 campaign is policy," in which he argued that Trump "offered the most vivid example of the sundering of policy from politics." "What Donald Trump did during the campaign was to paint in a very broad brush," Reeves said. "Rather than having a debate about immigration policy in the round, [Trump asked], 'Are you for or against the wall? Are you for or against the Muslim ban?'" Reeves gives Warren credit for her deep work on policy. But he says there is a lot of evidence that voters often decide first who they like before they consider which policies they support. For Warren, that means a big challenge could come from someone like O'Rourke, the former Texas congressman, whose policy positions remain vague and unformed, but who is able to ride (literally) his brand."

Article goes on and on.  Something to think about.  One thing seems for sure, however, politics has devolved into 'symbolism over substance.'  Literally.  Both parties.

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Anthony Brooks.

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.

3-29-19

Mueller is finished.  NPR reports:

"Attorney General William Barr received a report on Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller about the findings from Mueller's investigation into the Russian attack on the 2016 presidential election. Barr notified congressional leaders in a letter that said he is "reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the special counsel's principal conclusions as soon as this weekend." Mueller is not recommending any more indictments, a senior Justice Department official told reporters. The investigations by Congress and other federal and state authorities into other aspects of Trump's 2016 campaign and business will continue. So it isn't clear whether they may lead to criminal charges separate from the work by Mueller that has ended. As to Friday's report, Barr wrote to congressional leaders that he intends to consult with Mueller and with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein "to determine what other information from the report can be released to Congress and the public consistent with the law." A message from Mueller was delivered early in the afternoon to Rosenstein and given "within minutes" to Barr, a Justice Department spokeswoman said. Officials would not characterize the length of Mueller's report but would say it is "comprehensive."

NPR reports:

"Attorney General William Barr is being urged by both Democrats and Republicans to make special counsel Robert Mueller's final report public. After nearly two years of waiting, special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russia's attack on the 2016 presidential election is finally done. And there's growing bipartisan pressure on Attorney General William Barr to make it public.  Barr, who received Mueller's findings on Friday evening, told congressional leaders in a letter that he was "reviewing the report and anticipate that I may be in a position to advise you of the Special Counsel's principal conclusions as soon as this weekend." But to Democrats, that step isn't enough. They have long been pushing Barr, who was confirmed to lead the Justice Department last month, to make Mueller's report public as a further glimpse into what the Trump 2016 campaign's Russian ties and contacts were. Last week in a sweeping bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives also said the report should be released; however, that vote is not legally binding. The Democratic chairmen of six major House committees issued a statement Friday demanding that Barr release the report to the public "without delay given the profound public interest in the full disclosure of information learned by the Special Counsel."

Should the bastard stonewall on behalf of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi, there are ways for the House to get around this.

"Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., the vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, said Congress should get full access to the report. He also wants all documents related to Mueller's investigation to be preserved and made available to the appropriate committees on Capitol Hill. Finally, Warner said, the public should also have some access to Mueller's final work product after nearly two years of investigating."

"Some access?"  Give me a break.  Congress works for us, not the other way around.  Wake up.

"Congress and the American people deserve to judge the facts for themselves," Warner said. "The special counsel's report must be provided to Congress immediately, and the attorney general should swiftly prepare a declassified version of the report for the public. Nothing short of that will suffice."

Wake up.

"Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told NPR's All Things Considered that the full report, not simply Mueller's conclusions, should be made public."

Goddamned right.

"No one should be satisfied with what we see unless it is full disclosure of the facts and evidence, not just the conclusions but all of the findings that went into those conclusions," Blumenthal said. "No scrubbing for executive privilege, no involvement by the White House in censoring or reviewing and no claims of executive privilege."

That's right.  No question.  Nothing less will do.  You bastards don't work for yourselves.  You work for us.  'We, The People.'

"House intelligence committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told All Things Considered that he "will subpoena people as necessary" based on information in the report. "We are determined that we protect the public and that we make this as transparent as possible."

Hopefully, you and your colleagues will do precisely that.  Otherwise, you can, and will, be replaced at the polls.

NPR reports:

"The investigations into President Trump, his campaign and his associates do not end with the release of the Mueller report. Robert Mueller may have completed his report, but other investigations into President Trump are expected to carry on for months. There are, broadly, two kinds: those being undertaken from within the executive branch and those being run by members of Congress — mostly Democrats in control of major committees in the House.

"The completion of Mueller's work doesn't mean the broader Russia imbroglio is over, however — and investigators are also looking into a number of other topics beyond Russian election interference. At least eight federal criminal cases are ongoing. In Congress, the Senate intelligence committee has yet to complete its 2016 election interference investigation and issue a report, and multiple committees in the House have launched wide-ranging inquiries on multiple topics beyond the Russian interference issue. The Justice Department is undertaking several cases related to Trump that are likely to continue: Prosecutors have charged GOP political consultant Roger Stone with obstruction, witness tampering and lying to Congress in connection with his work in 2016 on behalf of Trump's campaign. Stone has pleaded not guilty, and that case could go to trial later this year. The case against the Russian company Concord Management and Consulting, which has been linked to Russia's social media disinformation campaign, continues in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors are charging former business partners of Trump's ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn in a case in the Eastern District of Virginia.

"Another important outstanding case is that of Rick Gates, a business associate of onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Gates also has been cooperating with investigators since pleading guilty last year to conspiracy and making false statements. Justice Department officials have said in court documents that he has given so much good information they want his sentence to be delayed so their work can continue. Prosecutors in Washington secured a guilty plea from a Russian woman, Maria Butina, who admitted to conspiring to serve as a Russian agent inside the U.S."

Report goes on and on.  Trump and his henchmen will likely be tap dancing quite some time.  ... Doing the 'old soft shoe.'

Think not?  The Washington Post reports:

"The conclusion of the investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign hardly spells the end of President Trump’s legal woes. Nearly every organization Trump has run over the last decade remains under investigation by state or federal authorities, and he is mired in a variety of civil litigation, including a lawsuit filed in New York state by a former contestant on his reality television show that could force him to answer questions under oath later this year about his treatment of women."

Tough, isn't it?  Only himself to blame.

"Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in August to breaking campaign finance law by arranging pre-election payments to two women who said they had extramarital affairs with Trump. Cohen told a federal judge that his actions were intended to silence the women to help Trump win the election. Cohen said he had been directed by Trump, who was referred to in court documents drawn up by federal prosecutors in Manhattan as “individual one.”

"The status of the investigation is a bit murky.

"But Cohen told Congress recently that a number of other Trump Organization officials were aware of the hush-money arrangement, including longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg, who was granted immunity by federal prosecutors to provide information in the Cohen case, has not commented. Cohen, in his public testimony, also fueled additional speculation when he said he was aware of other potentially illegal behavior by Trump that he could not discuss because he believed it remained the subject of ongoing investigation by New York prosecutors."

That's not all:

"Summer Zervos, a former “Apprentice” contestant, was one of about a dozen women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct before the 2016 election. She filed suit against Trump in New York in 2017, arguing that Trump defamed her when he called his accusers “liars.” A New York appellate court earlier this month denied a request by Trump to dismiss the suit, allowing it to move forward. Trump’s lawyers had argued that presidents are immune from lawsuits filed in state court while they are in office, and their defeat in the Zervos case has broad implications for other lawsuits that might be filed against him. Trump’s lawyers have said they plan to appeal, but if the ruling stands, it means Trump would likely have to sit for a deposition in the matter in coming months. He would face questions about Zervos’s allegations — she has said that Trump groped her and kissed her without consent during a 2007 encounter in a Los Angeles hotel room that she had believed was supposed to be a business meeting. Her lawyers would probably seek to ask the president questions about his treatment of other women. Trump could face serious consequences if he were to lie in the deposition. The impeachment of President Bill Clinton began after he was accused of lying in a deposition in a civil sexual harassment suit filed by Paula Jones."

How can a congenital liar not lie like hell under oath?  LOL.

Of course, there is the emoluments issue:

"Trump is facing two federal lawsuits alleging that he has violated the Constitution because his private company continues to do business with foreign governments. Trump’s D.C. hotel, down the street from the White House, has already hosted parties put on by the Kuwaiti, Azerbaijani and Philippine embassies, and it rented more than 500 rooms to lobbyists for the Saudi government starting just after the 2016 election. Trump’s hotel in Chicago has also hosted a national day celebration by the Romanian consulate. The Trump Organization has said it made $191,000 in profit from foreign governments last year and donated that amount to the U.S. Treasury. But it has not specified who its foreign customers are and how much they paid in total. The Constitution prohibits presidents from taking “emoluments” from foreign states, or the government of individual U.S. states."

Then, there is the issue of the inauguration fiasco:

"Federal prosecutors in Manhattan sent a subpoena in February to the presidential inaugural committee, the entity that organized Trump’s $107 million festivities when he took office in January 2017. The request sought a broad range of records covering nearly every aspect of the committee’s activities, including documents related to its record-setting fundraising, vendor payments, perks for donors and other communications. It also requested all records related to one specific donor, a California-based venture capital firm run by a major Democratic donor who switched sides after Trump’s victory and gave $900,000 to the Trump inaugural. That man, Imaad Zuberi, has denied any wrongdoing. In addition, the committee has also received subpoenas from state attorneys general offices in New Jersey and D.C., which are each investigating whether the not-for-profit committee’s spending fulfilled its charitable aims."

Think the noose isn't figuratively tightening?  Then, there are the state investigations:

"Trump and his company are facing a battery of investigations from state authorities in New York, where the Trump Organization is headquartered. New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) is suing Trump in state court because of what the state called “persistently illegal conduct” at Trump’s 30-year-old charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation. The suit says that Trump used the charity’s money to buy paintings of himself, to pay off legal settlements for his for-profit businesses, and to give his own presidential campaign a boost during the 2016 Republican primaries. “The evidence shows that the Foundation’s charitable assets were repeatedly used for the personal benefit of Mr. Trump,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a recent filing. Trump and his children Ivanka, Don Jr. and Eric have also been sued; they were all technically members of a charity “board” that hadn’t met since 1999, the attorney general’s office says. In that case, Trump has agreed to shutter the foundation, but the case is still pending. The attorney general is seeking millions in penalties and restitutions, and seeking to ban Trump from serving on the board of any New York charity for 10 years. In addition, Trump’s company appears to be the focus of two new state inquiries that followed the congressional testimony by Cohen. Cohen told a House committee in February that Trump had submitted inflated summaries of his assets to both insurers and would-be lenders, seeking to mislead them about the state of his net worth. After that, state authorities sent subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and another bank that loaned money to Trump, and to Aon, Trump’s longtime insurance broker. One person familiar with the subpoena to Aon said that Cohen’s account — and the “statements of financial condition” that he said Trump used to inflate his assets — were “a key component” of the state’s inquiry."

Never ends.  Then, there is the issue of undocumented immigrants:

"State investigators in both New York and New Jersey have spoken to an attorney for undocumented immigrants who worked for years at Trump’s golf clubs, according to the attorney. In January, the company fired at least 18 workers — many of them longtime employees — after an audit found that their immigration documents were fraudulent. Neither the New York nor the New Jersey attorney general has commented on these cases or confirm that they had opened a formal investigation."

Then, there is the issue of Roger Stone:

"Trump’s longtime friend and former political strategist Roger Stone is set to go to trial in November for allegedly lying to Congress about his efforts to find out what material WikiLeaks held before the 2016 election. The anti-secrecy site upended the campaign in by publishing emails from the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta, that prosecutors have said were stolen by Russian operatives. Stone was charged jointly by Mueller’s office and prosecutors in Washington. The special counsel has made no announcements about how his case will be handled now that his investigation has concluded, but the D.C. U.S. attorney’s office is expected to take the lead. Stone has pleaded not guilty and said he intends to fight the charges. The trial will showcase evidence of the Trump campaign’s eagerness to leverage WikiLeaks’ stolen documents for political benefit. Prosecutors have said that Stone communicated campaign officials including adviser Stephen K. Bannon, about WikiLeaks."

Clearly, Trump and his henchmen will have their hands full quite some time.

Above quotes courtesy of two most gifted, insightful reporters: David A. Fahrenthold and Rosalind S. Helderman.

NPR reports:

"Special counsel Robert Mueller did not find evidence that President Trump's campaign conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election, according to a summary of findings submitted to Congress by Attorney General William Barr.  "The Special Counsel's investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election," Barr wrote in a letter to leaders of the House and Senate judiciary committees on Sunday afternoon. That was despite "multiple offers from Russian-affiliated individuals to assist the Trump campaign," he wrote. However, Mueller's investigation did not take a position on whether Trump obstructed justice by trying to frustrate the ongoing investigation. "[W]hile this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him," Barr quotes from Mueller's report."

Fascinating, isn't it?  Yet, the Trump nazi and his henchmen claim complete vindication.

"The attorney general wrote that he and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein had concluded that the findings of the special counsel were "not sufficient to establish that the president committed an obstruction-of-justice offense."

That right?  Think so?  Others in the legal community claim otherwise.  ... Patience.  Will get to that shortly.

"The Justice Department leaders reached that conclusion, Barr wrote, without regard to the "constitutional considerations" that surround whether the department can seek an indictment of a sitting president."

Think anyone in a democratic republic is above the law?  Including a sitting president?

"Trump talked with reporters as he prepared to return from Florida to the White House, calling the investigation "an illegal take-down that failed." "It was just announced there was no collusion with Russia, the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. There was no obstruction, and it was a complete and total exoneration," Trump said before boarding Air Force One."

That's not what the Attorney General said in his letter summarizing the Mueller Report as reported several paragraphs above.

"It's a shame our country had to go through this, and to be honest, it's a shame your president had to go through this." Trump also said: "Hopefully someone's going to look at the other side," seeming to revive suggestions that he wanted an investigation into his 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, which he has called for several times. At Trump's rallies, there are frequent chants of "Lock her up!" FBI Director James Comey announced in 2016 that Clinton would not be charged. Trump's outside attorneys, including Rudy Giuliani and Jay Sekulow, released a statement on Sunday hailing what they said was "a complete and total vindication of the president." Top Republicans also seized on the news, arguing that Trump has now been absolved."

Simply, not true as reported above vis a vis the Attorney General's letter.

The Washington Post reports:

"A big question hanging over William P. Barr’s nomination to be attorney general this year was whether, once he got the job, he would do President Trump’s bidding. Barr had made statements critical of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, and he even wrote a long memo rejecting the need for the obstruction of justice portion of Mueller’s inquiry. Trump also repeatedly made clear his desire for a loyalist to oversee the investigation. On Sunday, Barr made a big decision in Trump’s favor. And he did so in a way legal experts say is very questionable. In his four-page letter describing the report’s major findings, Barr noted that Mueller didn’t conclude that Trump committed obstruction of justice but that Mueller also said, pointedly, that he wasn’t exonerating Trump either. Then Barr stepped forward to offer his own exoneration. “After reviewing the Special Counsel’s final report on these issues; consulting with Department officials, including the Office of Legal Counsel; and applying the principles of federal prosecution that guide our charging decisions,” Barr wrote, “Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein and I have concluded that the evidence developed during the Special Counsel’s investigation is not sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-justice offense.”

Certainly, did the bidding of his fuhrer, the Trump nazi.  Precisely, why the 'president' nominated him.

"He further explained. “In making this determination, we noted that the Special Counsel recognized that ‘the evidence does not establish that the President was involved in an underlying crime related to Russian election interference,’ and that, while not determinative, the absence of such evidence bears upon the President’s intent with respect to obstruction.” There are a few reasons this conclusion is problematic. The first is Barr’s rationale. Legal experts say it’s odd that he emphasized the lack of an underlying, proven crime, given that’s not necessary for obstruction of justice. “I think this is the weakest part of Attorney General Barr’s conclusions,” said Jessica Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “You do not need to prove an underlying crime to prove obstruction of justice. Martha Stewart is quite aware of this fact.” “For example,” added former federal prosecutor David Alan Sklansky, now of Stanford University, “if the President wrongfully tried to block the investigation into Russian interference in the election because he wanted to protect the Russians, or because he didn’t want people to know that a foreign government had tried to hack the election in his favor, that would constitute obstruction.” Gene Rossi, another former federal prosecutor, said the lack of an underlying crime does matter. “However, the existence of an underlying crime is not an essential element of the crime of obstruction. End of story,” he said. “To the extent the attorney general suggests such an element, he is dead wrong.” It’s important to note that Barr doesn’t quite say this means there can’t be obstruction of justice, but it is a point of emphasis."

Argument goes on and on, but here's the salient conclusion:

“You don’t need to be guilty of an underlying crime to obstruct an investigation — especially one that might, and in fact did, implicate a number of close associates and aides,” said Jens David Ohlin, a law professor at Cornell University. And the last point is that this is not a determination Barr necessarily needed to make. Justice Department guidelines say that a sitting president can’t be indicted, so as attorney general, Barr’s conclusions about Mueller’s report weren’t really needed. Congress is the ultimate arbiter here, through potential impeachment proceedings. The fact that Mueller opted not to make a specific recommendation on obstruction of justice may have convinced Barr to weigh in, but he could have just left it at Mueller opting not to accuse Trump of a crime. Instead, Barr made a determination based on reviewing Mueller’s report for less than 48 hours. In doing so, he invited Democrats to accuse him of going above and beyond for the man who appointed him — and who had, for months and months before then, very publicly resented the fact that his previous attorney general, Jeff Sessions, had recused himself from the investigation. Ultimately, Congress will make its own determinations, and Democrats have signaled that they are not going to let this lie. But Barr’s statement is an important one when it comes to whether Republicans would ever go along with impeaching or removing Trump — and whether voters might support Trump in 2020. This is what Barr’s critics feared when the Senate voted to confirm him two months ago. It’s why they urged him to recuse himself from the Russia investigation. And it’s going to be a significant point of contention in the hours and days ahead."

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Aaron Blake.

NBC News reports:

"Attorney General William Barr’s four-page summary of the “principal conclusions” of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’ still-secret report, released on Sunday, engages in sleight-of-hand when finding that President Donald Trump did not engage in criminal obstruction of justice. Mueller made no such conclusion. Rather, Trump’s hand-picked attorney general, William Barr, in consultation with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, decided that the evidence found by Mueller was insufficient to convict Trump beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal trial. Mueller apparently adhered to the principle of seeking “just the facts.” And facts matter: Neither Congress nor the public know the facts found by Mueller regarding obstruction of justice. A White House that famously promulgated a theory of “alternative facts” will find that the actual facts found by Mueller’s investigation matter. Mueller report's release to AG Barr is the end of the beginning for Trump, not the beginning of the end. Indeed, Barr’s letter acknowledges that Mueller “describe[d] the facts of his obstruction investigation without reaching any conclusion.” Thus, the validity of Barr’s conclusion that Trump should not be indicted for obstruction of justice can only be tested if the full Mueller report is made public. The House of Representatives could well reach a different conclusion based upon those facts in deciding whether Trump should be impeached for obstruction of justice."

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Michael Conway, Counsel, U.S. House Judiciary Committee, Impeachment inquiry of President Richard M. Nixon in 1974.

One thing for sure, pressure will be enormous on the Attorney General to release the Mueller Report and supporting documents.  If he doesn't, there will be hearings in the House and subpoenas.  No question, Barr's letter summarizing the Report is far from the last word on this ongoing fiasco.  Not only will there be ongoing congressional hearings for quite some time, there are ongoing criminal investigations.  The following should send a chill up the spine of our nazi fuhrer:

NBC News reports:

"With a staff of about 220 assistant U.S. attorneys, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is one of the largest in the country. But that prosecutorial firepower isn't the only reason why it has become among the most sought-after assignments for aspiring federal prosecutors. The office, which handles some of the highest-profile cases in the country, has developed such an independent streak that within the Justice Department, it's earned the nickname "the Sovereign District of New York." That's why any mention of a witness cooperating with the office — as ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen said publicly in testimony on Capitol Hill last month — should inspire fear in potential subjects of that assistance, former federal prosecutors say."

Consider the following coming from a well-known Republican lawyer and politician:

"Cohen's cooperation "would send a chill up my spine" if he worked at the White House, former New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie, who also was a federal prosecutor, told ABC News during the hearing, referring to the ex-Trump fixer's statement to lawmakers that he was helping prosecutors in their Trump-related investigations. What's more, prosecutors in Manhattan's Southern District aren't saddled with a limited mandate like special counsel Robert Mueller in his Russia probe; they can follow the trail wherever it leads."

Quite an advantage since the Trump nazi has conveniently afforded them so very many avenues to pursue.

"The office has "historically been very independent, with very little oversight by DOJ, especially in the financial crimes space," said Lynn Neils, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District and in New Jersey. That's the sphere where the office "has made its name," she added. Many of its alumni have too. Two past Supreme Court justices, Felix Frankfurter and John Marshall Harlan, former FBI Director Louis Freeh and New York Gov. Thomas Dewey, the 1948 Republican presidential nominee, and past Secretaries of State Henry Stimson and Elihu Root all worked at SDNY earlier in their careers.

"The office's distinguished history gives it "a kind of street credit in the prosecution world that does give them some sense of independence from the Department of Justice," said Roland Riopelle, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the office. In addition to its prosecution of Cohen for a litany of crimes — including a pair of campaign-finance violations for hush payments he says he made to two women at Trump's direction shortly before the 2016 election to keep them from talking about alleged affairs with the then-presidential candidate that Trump has denied — the office is probing the Trump Organization and Trump's inaugural committee."

Trump is a New Yorker.  Knows quite well how this office operates.

"Mimi Rocah, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the office and a legal analyst for MSNBC and NBC News, said that compared to other U.S. attorney's offices, Manhattan's Southern District bristles at substantial involvement from the Justice Department. "Southern District has this deep bench of experience in so many areas, so we think 'we know how to do this better than anybody, so we don't need that type of oversight,'" she said, adding that the office will still follow standard Justice Department policies in any Trump investigations no matter its level of independence. That includes the Office of Legal Counsel memo stating that a sitting president cannot be indicted. "They are not going to just buck that on their own," Rocah said. "Will they push against it? Maybe. If the facts are warranted, and I don't know right now if they are, but you could imagine a world where they had facts that were."

Interesting times ahead for the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and the rest of the nation.  Stay tuned.

Above quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Allan Smith.

Clearly, the Democrats have no intention of letting this go.  The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump, emboldened by the special counsel’s determination he was not part of a criminal conspiracy to sway the 2016 election, has an early target as he seeks recompense from his critics: Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), who maintains he’s seen evidence Trump colluded with Russia. Over the past two years, Schiff, who now chairs the House Intelligence Committee, has emerged as a public foil to Trump and his supporters. He has delivered scathing takedowns of Trump for calling Robert S. Mueller III’s probe a “witch hunt,” and he offered similar criticism of Trump’s congressional allies now leading a charge to depose Schiff as chairman on the grounds that his bias against the president makes him unfit to lead. Yet even as House Democrats make a clear pivot away from the collusion question, they continue to rally around Schiff — who refuses to let the matter go until lawmakers can assess the investigative materials that informed Mueller’s findings. “Undoubtedly there is collusion,” Schiff said in an interview this week, after Attorney General William P. Barr submitted a four-page letter to Congress summarizing key aspects of Mueller’s report. “We will continue to investigate the counterintelligence issues. That is, is the president or people around him compromised in any way by a hostile foreign power? ... It doesn’t appear that was any part of Mueller’s report.” A Justice Department official said Tuesday it will take weeks to make the Mueller report public. House Democrats on Monday gave Barr an April 2 deadline to provide Congress with a copy."

"Though Barr’s summary has cast doubt on the premise of the Intelligence Committee’s Russia probe, at least among Republicans, Democrats maintain that Schiff is not wrong in saying there was evidence of collusion even if Mueller determined that the matter did not rise to a level that warranted prosecution. “It doesn’t mean there wasn’t an enormous amount of smoke there,” said Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Intelligence Committee. “This was a fine legal distinction Mr. Mueller had to make.” Still, Schiff has taken steps to put the panel’s investigation on hold, pending the release of Mueller’s findings. On Monday, he announced that the committee had indefinitely postponed a planned hearing with Felix Sater, a former business associate of the president’s who was involved with the pursuit to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Schiff said the pause is temporary, adding that the intelligence panel might still uncover “deeply compromising” evidence in its counterintelligence investigation that falls outside the scope of Mueller’s criminal probe. He pledged that his panel, in partnership with the House Financial Services Committee, would continue to explore allegations of money laundering involving Trump’s properties and loans his business sought through Deutsche Bank."

NBC News reports:

"Robert Mueller's federal grand jury is continuing its work even though the special counsel has submitted his final report to Attorney General William Barr, a government prosecutor said Wednesday. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Goodhand made the admission during a court hearing in Washington about unsealing new details in a mysterious case involving an unidentified foreign company swept up in Mueller's probe. U.S. District Chief Judge Beryl Howell asked Goodhand if the grand jury had concluded their investigation, given the fact that Mueller has completed his inquiry. “No,” Goodhand said in response. “I can say it’s continuing robustly.”

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.

3-29-19

The insanity never ends.  Get this.  The Washington Post reports:

"Selene Saavedra Roman was nervous about going to work. She’s been a “dreamer” since 2012, when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program first started. Born in Peru, she has lived in the United States for 25 years, since she was 3. But her immigration status has been in the back of her mind. Which is why, when she got a job as a flight attendant, she decided to work for a regional company, Mesa Airlines, that wouldn’t ask her to travel around the world. And it’s why she told the company she was a DACA recipient and didn’t want to fly internationally."

For damned good reason.

"Yet, in February, Mesa scheduled her to fly to Mexico, Saavedra Roman’s attorney said. And when she told them her concerns, the company assured her that she wouldn’t have trouble reentering the United States."

Think so?

"But on Feb. 12, customs officials detained Saavedra Roman shortly after she landed in Houston on her return flight. She would remain in custody for another six weeks. She was released Friday evening, but advocates are pointing to her case as an example of how the Trump administration’s attempts to end DACA — and the tug-of-war with the courts that followed — have confused recipients, their families, government agencies and private employers, muddling an already complex web of immigration policies. "They’ve been lost in legal limbo, and it’s getting quite ridiculous,” Saavedra Roman’s attorney, Belinda Arroyo, said in an interview before her client was freed. “Her case is basically the poster child for what happens when you leave these people in legal limbo.”

Precisely, what the Trump nazi and his henchmen want and expect.  Otherwise, this shit wouldn't be going on.

"Arroyo acknowledged that Saavedra Roman made a mistake by leaving without seeking the government’s permission — permission that would’ve been denied, as Trump’s DACA order also ended the exemption that allowed recipients to leave and reenter the country. But, Arroyo said, Saavedra Roman didn’t know any of that: She relied on Mesa Airlines to determine whether she was able to leave and come back, and company officials made a mistake. They could have consulted an immigration lawyer or recommended that Saavedra Roman do so. In a statement, the airliner’s chairman, Jonathan Ornstein, apologized and said he was asking authorities to drop any charges that stemmed from Saavedra Roman’s detention. ”It is patently unfair for someone to be detained for six weeks over something that is nothing more than an administrative error and a misunderstanding,” Ornstein said."

Forget?  Fairness or lack thereof are of no consequence in a fascist police-state.

"Saavedra Roman is married to an American citizen, a man she met while they were both in college at Texas A&M. She graduated in 2014, and the couple has been working to get her permanent residency. After her arrest, officials tried to revoke her DACA status, Arroyo said. They considered her an “arriving alien,” which gave her fewer rights than if she had been apprehended before leaving the country. And, paradoxically, because she has DACA status, it prevented authorities from deporting her and was one of the reasons she was initially taken into custody, Arroyo said. A U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokesman, Steve Blando, said the agency doesn’t comment on specific cases but reiterated the Trump-era policy shift that prevents DACA recipients from getting permission to leave the country. In a statement, Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Tim Oberle acknowledged officers released Saavedra Roman on Friday, “pending adjudication of her immigration proceedings,” though it wasn’t immediately clear why she was released Friday and not six weeks ago. The agency says it makes its custody decisions on “a case-by-case basis.” David Watkins, Saavedra Roman’s husband, found out in a text message: “I’m being detained, please call the lawyer.” “I called, I texted, I screamed to the sky,” he said. “I dropped to my knees and screamed as loud as I could.”

Nazi America.  A goddamned fascist police-state.  Dream?  Dead.  Makes one 'proud' to be an American, doesn't it?  ... Right, Sheriff?  Madam County Attorney?  "Sonny Boy?"

CBS News reports:

"A "social media storm" sparked the release of DACA recipient Selene Saavedra Roman, the flight attendant whose detainment caused outrage on Friday after it was highlighted by popular travel website "The Points Guy," said Belinda Arroyo, the immigration attorney representing Roman. Up until Friday, Roman had been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody since February 13 after she flew to Mexico as a flight attendant for Phoenix, Arizona-based Mesa Airlines. Her story went viral Friday morning, even gaining the attention of former presidential candidate and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. An online petition demanding Roman's release amassed more than 17,000 signatures. By the afternoon, Roman called her husband to tell him she had been released, Arroyo told CBS News on Friday evening. "The social media around this was definitely what got her released," Arroyo said. "We had no luck before now, then the story hit." Arroyo noted that ICE had not confirmed to her that Roman had been released yet, and said the agency "hasn't been forthcoming" with details and information surrounding Roman's detainment."

Surprised?  That's how nazis in government operate in a fascist police-state.

"The next step for Roman will be an April 4 immigration court date where she'll face potential deportation charges, her attorney said."

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.

3-29-19

Amazing how the high and mighty fall.  The Washington Post reports:

"Michael Avenatti, the high-profile attorney and critic of President Trump, was arrested Monday and charged by federal prosecutors with trying to extort Nike by threatening to level damaging allegations against the athletic apparel company unless it paid him and his client millions. Simultaneously, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles filed separate charges accusing Avenatti of wire fraud and bank fraud, saying for allegedly taking a client’s settlement money and using it to pay expenses for Avenatti’s coffee business. Avenatti allegedly concealed from the client what he had done with the money. Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, said Avenatti dressed up his alleged extortionate demands as legal negotiations, but that doing so violated the law. “A suit and tie doesn’t mask the fact that, at its core, this was an old-fashioned shakedown,” said Berman. “When lawyers use their law licenses as weapons, as a guise to extort payments for themselves, they are no longer acting as attorneys, they are acting as criminals.” FBI officials said Avenatti was arrested in Manhattan on Monday as he arrived at an expected meeting with lawyers for Nike."

Amazing, isn't it?

"Authorities charge Avenatti threatened to hold a news conference on the eve of the NCAA college basketball tournament to reveal damaging allegations against Nike unless it paid his client $1.5 million and agreed to hire Avenatti and another lawyer for $15 million to $25 million to conduct an “internal investigation” into the purported allegations. Authorities did not disclose the identities of Avenatti’s client or the other lawyer cited in the charging documents. A representative for Nike did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The charging document said that Avenatti proposed another alternative to hiring him to conduct an investigation — “a total payment of $22.5 million from Nike to resolve any claims (the client) might have and additionally to buy Avenatti’s silence.”

CBS News reports:

"Attorney Michael Avenatti, who came to national prominence as the lawyer for adult film star Stormy Daniels, was arrested on federal charges in two separate cases in California and New York, federal prosecutors said Monday. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York charged Avenatti for allegedly trying to extort Nike for about $20 million. Prosecutors said he and another attorney threatened to release damaging information about the company if it did not meet his demands. The U.S. attorney in Los Angeles separately announced Avenatti faces bank and wire fraud charges for allegedly embezzling money from a client and defrauding a bank through fake tax returns.

"Avenatti allegedly threatened to hold a press conference detailing the allegations to coincide with the beginning of the NCAA basketball tournament and Nike's quarterly earnings call. The complaint says Avenatti offered to scrap the press conference if Nike paid his client $1.5 million and hired Avenatti to conduct an internal investigation of the company.  After the meeting later that afternoon, Nike's attorneys contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office to report the alleged extortion attempt. On March 20, the next day, two of the Nike attorneys held a phone call with Avenatti that was recorded by law enforcement. Avenatti allegedly reiterated his demands for payment for him and his client. "I'm not f---ing around with this, and I'm not continuing to play games," Avenatti was recorded as saying. "You guys know enough now to know you've got a serious problem. And it's worth more in exposure to me to just blow the lid on this thing. A few million dollars doesn't move the needle for me. I'm just being really frank with you." "I'll go and I'll go take $10 billion off your client's market cap. But I'm not f---ing around," he said."

Brazen, isn't it?

"On March 21 — the day of the Nike earnings call and the first day of the NCAA tournament — the group met again in New York, with the Nike attorneys recording the meeting. The Nike attorneys asked whether they could arrange to make a payment without an internal investigation. "If [Nike] wants to have one confidential settlement and we're done, they can buy that for $22.5 million and we're done," Avenatti is quoted as saying. "Full confidentiality, we ride off into the sunset." Avenatti set a deadline of Monday, March 25, to reach an agreement and arranged another meeting. Early Monday afternoon, Avenatti tweeted: "Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered." He was arrested when he showed up for the meeting in New York, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said at a press conference."

To think this guy had considered running for president.  -- 'Pot calling the kettle black.'

"Avenatti came to prominence for his representation of Daniels, the adult film star who alleged she had an affair with President Trump and was paid for her silence in the weeks before the 2016 election. On Monday, Daniels said she cut ties with Avenatti more than a month ago "after discovering that he had dealt with me extremely dishonestly."

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.

3-29-19

Egregious infringement of abortion rights.  Raw nazism.  CBS News reports:

"Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Thursday signed one of the strictest abortion laws in the nation — a measure that bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, about six weeks into pregnancy. The New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights called the measure "cruel and clearly unconstitutional" and said it would sue Mississippi to try to block the law from taking effect on July 1. Bryant's action came despite a federal judge's decision last year striking down a less-restrictive law limiting abortions in the state. After a bill signing ceremony at the state Capitol, Bryant told reporters that he's not worried about lawsuits. "They don't have to sue us. It's up to them," Bryant said. "If they do not believe in the sanctity of life, these that are in organizations like Planned Parenthood, we will have to fight that fight. But it is worth it."

Governor, you have egregiously failed to uphold your oath of office to protect and defend the United States Constitution.  Particularly, the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.

"Mississippi is one of the states across the country that has a so-called "trigger law" in place if Roe v. Wade is overturned. In 2007, the state enacted a law that would ban abortion if the Supreme Court hands down such a ruling except in the event that the mother's life is at risk and in cases of rape if criminal charges have been filed. A federal judge in 2018 struck down a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, saying it is unconstitutional. "Lawmakers didn't get the message," Hillary Schneller, staff attorney for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement Thursday. "They are determined to rob Mississippians of the right to abortion, and they are doing it at the expense of women's health and taxpayer money. This ban — just like the 15-week ban the governor signed a year ago — is cruel and clearly unconstitutional."

Doesn't matter to a national socialist, fascist, clearly nazi Governor.

NPR reports:

"A law making it harder for women in North Carolina to get an abortion after 20 weeks is unconstitutional, a federal judge has declared. The law, which had been on the books since 1973, banned abortion after 20 weeks with only certain exceptions to protect the life of the mother. A 2015 amendment tightened those exceptions, criminalizing abortion unless the woman's life or a "major bodily function" were at immediate risk. Pro-abortion rights groups challenged the law, and on Monday U.S. District Judge William Osteen sided with them. The Supreme Court has rejected laws that tie abortion rights to a specific week in a woman's pregnancy, but this is the first time a judge has struck down the 1973 law. "The Supreme Court has clearly advised that a state legislature may never fix viability at a specific week but must instead leave this determination to doctors," Osteen wrote. The ruling simply reaffirms the current law banning abortion restrictions tied to certain weeks, ACLU attorney Andrew Beck, one of the lawyers challenging the dated law, told The Washington Post. But it also gives abortion rights groups hope that courts will restrain some of the Republican-led state laws that have imposed new restrictions on abortion in recent months and years. "Given that there is so much anticipation that the [Supreme Court] will undermine or overturn Roe v. Wade, it is reassuring to see the North Carolina 20-week abortion ban struck down," Elizabeth Nash, a state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, told The Post. The ruling will go into effect in 60 days, giving the state time to appeal or propose different legislation. A spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office said it was reviewing the decision."

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.

3-29-19

No justice.  No protection of the most vulnerable.  NBC News reports:

"A former Roman Catholic priest who was defrocked and convicted of molesting two boys in New Jersey has found a new vocation in a new location — teaching children English at a private school in this resort town. The former priest, Hadmels DeFrias, 47, told the NBC News reporter who tracked him down that he is no longer a threat to minors and also claimed to be a bishop in the "progressive Celtic church." "I don't see the children with those eyes anymore," DeFrias said in an extensive interview outside the Colegio del Caribe school in Punta Cana, where he watched over dozens of young boys and girls while shielding himself from the sun with an umbrella. “For me they are children and they need to be treated like children because that is what they are,” he said. “I don’t feel the attraction. I am not telling you that maybe someday it won’t be there, because I can’t predict the future.”

Jesus Christ.  Unbelievable.

"As a priest, DeFrias, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, was assigned to the St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when he was accused of fondling two brothers, both under 14, in 2001 and 2002 while the brothers were working in the church rectory, according to court records and published reports. Charged with criminal sexual contact, DeFrias pleaded guilty in August 2004 and was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show. As part of his sentencing agreement, he was barred indefinitely from any future contact with children under 18 in the state of New Jersey."

Not good enough.  Nowhere near.

"After being contacted by NBC News, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office in New Jersey issued a statement disapproving of DeFrias' position working with children. “It is deeply concerning to hear that a defendant prosecuted, convicted and sentenced here for criminal sexual contact with children has resurfaced overseas, apparently with supervisory capacity over children,” the office said. “We would urge anyone in any jurisdiction to be vigilant and immediately report allegations of such conduct to local authorities.” NBC News has reached out to both the Dominican Republic educational officials and the school where DeFrias is employed to find out if they were aware of his criminal past. So far, neither has responded."

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.

3-29-19

LGBTQ community catches a break.  NPR reports:

"Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, pictured earlier this month, has settled a lawsuit by same-sex couples who argued their rights were violated by faith-based adoption agencies that don't want to work with gays and lesbians. Faith-based adoption agencies in Michigan that benefit from taxpayer funding will no longer be allowed to legally turn away same-sex couples or LGBTQ individuals based on religious objection, under the terms of a settlement in a lawsuit alleging the practice constituted discrimination. Attorney General Dana Nessel reached the settlement with the ACLU on Friday, recognizing that a 2015 law that permitted state-contracted child welfare agencies to refuse to provide foster care or adoption services that conflicted with their religious beliefs violates federal anti-discrimination laws."

Not only that, it is clear violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.

"Discrimination in the provision of foster care case management and adoption services is illegal, no matter the rationale," Nessel said in a statement. "Limiting the opportunity for a child to be adopted or fostered by a loving home not only goes against the state's goal of finding a home for every child, it is a direct violation of the contract every child placing agency enters into with the state."

"The state of Michigan will require all state-contracted child welfare agencies to accept ALL qualified families. This is a win for children in foster care and for all families, including same-sex couples, who want to adopt.
https://t.co/p12VgF53qs pic.twitter.com/hkg54Sdx54

— ACLU of Michigan (@ACLUofMichigan) March 22, 2019"

What took so long?

"Under the agreement, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is obligated to abide by federally mandated nondiscriminatory provisions in its foster care and adoption agency contracts. It is also required to terminate contracts with agencies that fail to comply. The ACLU sued the state in 2017 on behalf of two lesbian couples who claimed they had been rejected as adoptive parents by St. Vincent Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services because they are gay. "This is a victory for our clients, other same-sex couples in Michigan, and most importantly, the children in Michigan's child welfare system, who will now have access to more loving and qualified families," the ACLU said in a statement following the announcement. The organization estimates there are 13,000 children in the state welfare system. Since 2015 Catholic Charities and Bethany Christian Services have been responsible for about 12 percent of the state's foster care adoptions, the Associated Press reported."

Amazing how the Nazi Right can bastardize the truth, to say nothing of reality:

"Lori Windham, senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented  St.Vincent Catholic Charities, said the settlement violates the state law protecting religious adoption agencies."

That law is unconstitutional.  Violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause.

"The Michigan Attorney General and the ACLU are trying to stop the state from working with faith-based adoption agencies," Windham said in a statement. "The result of that will be tragic. Thousands of children will be kept from finding the loving homes they deserve."

Your client is directly responsible for this by discriminating against the LGBTQ community.  In an effort to impose its perverse ideological and religious views on the LGBTQ community and others.

"This harms children and families waiting for forever homes and limits access for couples who chose to partner with those agencies," she added."

Again, it's your client that is directly responsible for this by insisting on imposing its perverse ideological and religious views on the LGBTQ community and others.

"The state law says "to the fullest extent permitted by state and federal law," an agency should not be required to work with prospective parents if it violates the agency's religious beliefs."

Again, that law is egregiously unconstitutional.  Violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  Ferociously pointedly, providing adoption services is not a right, it's a privilege.

"The Michigan Catholic Conference, an advocacy group representing the Catholic Church in Michigan, reacted to the settlement in a tweet, saying, "It is highly unlikely this is the last chapter of the story."

How is it Christian to discriminate against the LGBTQ community?  How?  Who the hell is the Catholic community to discriminate against anyone?

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.

3-22-19

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 American Civil Liberties Union stands tall.  NBC News reports:

"The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday [3-14-19] called on law enforcement organizations to stop sharing license plate tracking data with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The organization released more than 1,800 pages of documents that it said showed ICE had accessed such data from more than 80 local law enforcement groups in more than a dozen states that used automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, which have drawn criticism from privacy advocates for being an invasive way of tracking people’s movements."

We live in a goddamned fascist police-state where the criminal jackbooted bastards in blue do as they please.  ... Right, Sheriff?  Madam County Attorney?  "Sonny Boy?"

"The findings are the result of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit from the ACLU of Northern California. The suit sought documents related to a contract between ICE and media and technology company Thomson Reuters, which provided access to a massive automated license plate reader database maintained by Vigilant Solutions, a company that provides ALPR data and analysis to law enforcement."

An out of control fascist police-state.  No probable cause justifying mass warrantless surveillance.  None of the goddamned government's business.  Raw nazism.  The dream is dead.  Has been quite some time.  As the Founders spin in their graves.

"One Vigilant document released by the ACLU showed a long list of police departments that had provided such data to ICE through Vigilant. “The information that they collect nominally to protect residents is being used by ICE to destroy communities,” Vasudha Talla, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Northern California, told NBC News. A spokesperson for ICE said that the agency “is not seeking to build a license plate reader database, and will not collect nor contribute any data to a national public or private database through this contract.” The spokesperson did not respond to follow-up questions about its use of Vigilant’s system."

Like the Trump nazi and his henchmen, law enforcement has turned into little more than congenital liars.  ... Right, Sheriff?  Madam County Attorney?  "Sonny Boy?"

"ALPRs are specialized cameras that can quickly scan license plates and are commonly used by law enforcement nationwide. A 2012 document published by the Department of Justice showed that the devices can read plates at rates of up to 1,800 per minute, or 30 plates per second."

Jackbooted motherf--kers.  These fascist bastards present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Our formerly great country remains a democratic republic in name only.  In reality, we live in a goddamned fascist police-state.  ... Right, Sheriff?  Madam County Attorney?  "Sonny Boy?"

"Vigilant Solutions did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters declined to comment."

What the f--k could these sons of bitches say?  It's how they line their pockets.  At your expense.  Wake up.

Carefully, consider the following:

"The Dallas Police Department, one of the departments listed in the document, confirmed that it shares data with ICE and hundreds of other law enforcement organizations nationwide. A spokesperson for the department said it has 46 ALPR devices. Two other California police agencies, including one named by the ACLU in its press release, disputed their inclusion on Vigilant’s list. Union City Police Department spokesman Lt. Steve Mendez said that the agency does not have any license plate readers, citing their high cost. He said that the department is a Vigilant client but that it only uses the company’s information and does not contribute its own. “We do subscribe to Vigilant Solutions as a ‘read only,’ client, we cannot input info,” he said in an email. “We use the information from that source for our own local investigations. We do not share that information with ICE. If we should get [ALPRs] in the future, we would not share information we gather with ICE.” The Vigilant document also listed the Ventura Police Department in California as another entity that shares license plate data with Vigilant, and in turn, with ICE. Ventura PD spokesman Cmdr. Tom Higgins said that his department does not have ALPRs. While the department does occasionally receive data from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, which maintains 34 ALPRs mounted on patrol cars, the county agency says it does not provide data to federal authorities. “We don’t have any [memorandum of understanding] with ICE or any other federal agency,” Capt. Eric Hatlee, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said."

Think the above could be indicative of the possibility the jackbooted bastards in blue are sharing information their commanders are not aware of?  Hard to believe, though a possibility, no?

"The ACLU's Talla said the denials raise more questions for the departments including whether information could be taken without their knowledge or if officers could be sharing information informally. "They have a duty to their residents to find out exactly what's going on here," she said in a email. The apparent contradiction highlights the opaque world of data collection and sharing between law enforcement and private contractors that provide extensive databases of information collected from a variety of sources, including commercially. Brian Hofer, the head of the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission in California, said the documents released by the ACLU showed the dangers of “mass surveillance.” “What I hope a story like this impresses upon people is — how much of their data is out there, how much of it is being collected every single day by private and public entities, and the ubiquitous nature of these mass surveillance devices being used against people,” he said. Law enforcement agencies often deploy their own ALPR gear, then create and maintain their own databases. Some may even take an extra step and share the data with Vigilant Solutions, which compiles the data for use by its clients. Under its contract with Vigilant, ICE has access to commercial license plate reader data. The documents released by the ACLU show records from ICE training agents on how they can accept or share data from law enforcement agencies."

The reports goes on and on.  Clearly, no foreign power, no terrorist group, not even the criminal element presents a greater threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties than law enforcement, prosecutors, and the courts.  Time to wake up.  You've been bamboozled by these criminal bastards in power who abuse authority, rip off and murder the innocent.

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.

3-22-19

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.

Delusionally believe the following is not a direct threat to our democratic republic?  NBC News reports:

"At least one journalist and four American immigration attorneys have been stopped and questioned at border stations in Arizona and Texas in recent months, according to their interviews with NBC News. These are in addition to 59 others whose names were on a list to be pulled aside by border agents in San Diego."

Raw nazism.  A de facto fascist police-state.

"NBC News and NBC's San Diego station, KNSD-TV, were first to report about the list, titled "Migrant Caravan FY-2019 Suspected Organizers, Coordinators, Instigators, and Media," which included pictures and biographic information on the individuals, most of whom are American. A spokesman for Customs and Border Protection told NBC News that the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general was investigating the practice, which he said was specific to San Diego."

Reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.  Wake up.  No greater threat to a democratic republic than the lunatic national socialist, fascist, nazi currently occupying the Oval Office and his henchmen.

Extremely dangerous to our formerly great country which sadly remains a democratic republic in name only?  Get this:

"But Taylor Levy and Hector Ruiz, whose names were not included on the San Diego list, were stopped 700 miles to the east in El Paso, Texas. Levy and Ruiz both provide legal assistance to asylum-seekers on the U.S. and Mexican sides of the border. Ruiz, a staff attorney with the Santa Fe Dreamers Project, says he was stopped one night in mid-December, after returning on foot from dinner with friends in Juarez, Mexico. Several agents who he says told him they specialize in criminal and terrorism cases asked him specific questions about his job and his political beliefs. "They asked me what my opinion was on the administration, just generally. And how we are doing economically," Ruiz said."

Should have courageously told the jackbooted bastards to go f--k themselves.

"I was treated like a criminal, people were shouting at me," he added. After four hours at the station, he says he finally agreed to unlock his phone and watched as they scrolled through his contacts. He worries about the information they might have gleaned about the clients he works with."

Is that how it went down?  If so, you're a goddamned gutless coward.  Not fit to be an attorney.

"According to Ruiz, the agents told him it was their job to keep the country safe, a line similar to what Levy says she heard a few weeks later, when she was stopped at another crossing into El Paso on Jan. 3. Levy is a legal coordinator for Annunciation House, a Catholic charity that provides shelter to immigrants on both sides of the southern border."

If so, the agents are liars.  Gutlessly, betrayed their oaths of office to uphold the United States Constitution.

"When she approached the border crossing in her car at 10:30 p.m., she says she could tell something was different and believes she had been flagged in advance. She says four agents escorted her into the station, where, after waiting two hours, another agent dressed in plain clothes came to question her. He told her they had to wake him up at home to come in to question her. According to Levy, the agent told her she was not being detained, but she was being "inspected" and would be arrested if she refused to answer his questions. He also told her she had no right to an attorney."

You are a goddamned attorney, madam.  You know better.

"She says she asked to call her teenage daughter, to let her know she would be home late. The agent refused, and instead called her daughter himself. "He also repeatedly asked me about my clients and what my clients tell me," Levy said."

You are gutless, madam.  Unfit to be an attorney.

"After 45 minutes, she says, she refused to answer any more questions. The agent left the room, saying he was going to call someone to come arrest her. Instead, he came back and told her she would not be arrested, but she needed to unlock her phone. She refused again. "And at that point I said: 'No, I'm not going to unlock my phone. I've told you I'm a legal professional and it has confidential client information on it,'" Levy said. Then, Levy said, the agent decided to let her go. As she left, he told her that she might be questioned every time she crossed the border. And Levy has not crossed the border since."

Gutless.  Abject cowardice.  Courage is not the absence of fear.  It is acting despite and in spite of fear.  You are unfit to be an attorney.  Being a lawyer is not a right.  It's a privilege.

"In addition to Levy and Ruiz, two other legal workers with the Santa Fe Dreamers Project said they were stopped in Nogales, Arizona, and a documentary journalist from Durham, North Carolina, said he was stopped in El Paso. In a statement, a CBP spokesperson said: "CBP has received the allegations, is reviewing them, and requests additional information from NBC News so we can conduct a thorough review of the facts. … If misconduct is substantiated, appropriate corrective action will be initiated. CBP is fully committed to earning the public trust through accountability and transparency within the law."

Goddamned f--king liars.  This government cannot be trusted.  Founders?  Spinning in their graves.

"DHS did not respond to a request for comment. The DHS Office of Inspector General declined to say whether it would expand its probe to other parts of the border beyond El Paso. DHS officials have said there is no policy that targets lawyers and journalists, but they do have broad authority in who they choose to stop for screening."

Anyone stopped has the right to remain silent, -- and access to legal counsel.  The United States Constitution guaranties it.  Wake up.

"The border environment is a very complicated environment," said John Sandweg, former acting general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration. "One thing this case is highlighting is the limited rights that individuals have in the border environment. That said, trying to dig into individuals' political views is wildly inappropriate and would absolutely violate the Constitution, especially for United States citizens."

Nazi government is out of control.  Wake up.  Sadly, without question, our formerly great country remains a democratic republic in name only.

"Esha Bhandari, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said Americans’ rights should not be restricted just because of their profession or their proximity to the southern border. "The government cannot use the pretext of the border to target and punish activists critical of its policies, lawyers providing legal representation, or journalists simply doing their jobs. Whether near the border or not, it’s a First Amendment violation and there’s nothing complicated about that," Bhandari said."

That's right.  Wake up.  Figuratively speaking, grow a pair.

"The House Homeland Security Committee has also sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, asking for a copy of the list and the reason for its existence. Aides for the committee have said they will not hesitate to widen the probe beyond San Diego if there is evidence that the practice is occurring border-wide."

While the Democrats remain asleep at the wheel, had it not been for them retaking the House, national socialists, fascists, nazis in the Republican Party would have been goose stepping along with their nazi fuhrer and his henchmen in law enforcement vis a vis this issue.  Founders?  Spinning in their graves.

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.

3-22-19

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.

No question.  We now live in a de facto fascist police state.  The following is beyond appalling, it's egregiously unconstitutional.  NPR reports:

"The U.S. Supreme Court, narrowly divided along ideological lines, ruled Tuesday that the government may detain — without a hearing — legal immigrants long after they have served the sentences for crimes they committed."

Jesus Christ.  This is raw nazism.  The dream is dead.

"The 5-4 decision, which reverses a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, is widely viewed as a victory for the Trump administration and its hardline immigration policies. It, like the Obama administration, had argued that the government has the authority to pick up and detain immigrants for deportation at any time, and is not required to act only immediately after a prison or jail sentence has been served. Writing for the conservative majority, Justice Samuel Alito, said immigration law mandates the detention of "deportable criminal aliens" even if it is years later."

Jesus Christ.  Raw nazism.  Alito and his henchmen have disgraced themselves.  Goddamned f--king nazis.  National socialists.  Unabashed fascists.

"Alito wrote that it is "especially hard to swallow" the notion that "the alien must be arrested on the day he walks out of jail." "As we have held time and again, an official's duties are better carried out late than never," he wrote."

A raucous boot clicking, goose stepping, treasonous, treacherous, traitorous Sieg Heil!, Mr. Alito?

"Writing for the court's dissenting liberal wing, Justice Stephen Breyer warned that the ruling gives the government too much power. The law is clear, he wrote, that the government cannot hold an immigrant without a bail hearing unless the individual is detained when released from criminal custody. To underscore his dissent, Breyer read aloud part of his opinion. "In deciphering the intent of the Congress that wrote this statute, we must decide — in the face of what is, at worst, linguistic ambiguity — whether Congress intended that persons who have long since paid their debt to society would be deprived of their liberty for months or years without the possibility of bail," Breyer wrote. "We cannot decide that question without bearing in mind basic American legal values: the Government's duty not to deprive any 'person' of 'liberty' without 'due process of law,' " he added."

Clearly, no longer true.  Not in a fascist police-state.  What we have here is raw nazism.

"The American Civil Liberties Union represented both plaintiffs. The ACLU's Deputy Legal Director Cecilia Wang said Tuesday's ruling follows another decision last year that limited the rights of immigrants to bond hearings. "For two years in a row now, the Supreme Court has endorsed the most extreme interpretation of immigration detention statutes, allowing mass incarceration of people without any hearing, simply because they are defending themselves against a deportation charge," said Wang in a statement. "We will continue to fight the gross overuse of detention in the immigration system."

The revolution doomsday clock strikes ever closer to midnight.  ... Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.  As the traitorous assholes who delusionally believe they run and own our formerly great country 'fiddle while Rome burns.'

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.

3-22-19

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.

Fox now guarding the chicken coop.  Never changes.  NBC News reports:

"A former senior U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official who testified before Congress on the government's efforts to stop the opioid epidemic is now paid to advise one of the largest opioid manufacturers in the country, Purdue Pharma, according to people familiar with the matter."

Cozy, isn't it?

"Demetra Ashley, the former acting assistant administrator of the DEA who told a Senate committee in 2017 about the need for a "robust regulatory program" to stop diversion of opioids and other controlled prescription drugs, left the DEA last spring and started a consulting firm called Dashley Consulting, LLC, according to her LinkedIn page."

Has to get hers, doesn't she?

"Purdue Pharma, the maker of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, is one of the opioid companies being sued by more than 1600 cities and counties for "grossly" misrepresenting "the risks of long-term use of those drugs for persons with chronic pain," according to court documents. The lawsuits have been consolidated into one case in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio. Purdue vigorously denies allegations that they deceptively marketed OxyContin. Ashley spent three decades at the DEA, specializing in preventing the diversion of prescription drugs like OxyContin. Reached by NBC News on her cellphone in Chicago, Ashley said, "I have been consulting for members of the industry and I began my consulting business in June 2018 after I retired." Ashley said she could not confirm or deny who her clients are unless "they say it's OK."

Bought and paid for.

"Purdue declined comment to NBC News on its consultants."

What could they possibly say?

"Ashley confirmed she has been subpoenaed to be deposed in the consolidated opioid lawsuit to discuss her role at the DEA as part of the law enforcement agency's effort to stem the opioid crisis. Purdue has reportedly made more than $35 billion from the sale of OxyContin, a figure the company has not denied. "This should not be allowed," said Dr. Andrew Kolodny, the co-director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University. "Former DEA and FDA officials should not be allowed to take money from companies they regulated." Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University and an expert in government ethics, said situations like Ashley's "raise a question in the mind of the public — whether the prospect of a payday after leaving government tainted the actions of the regulator while still in government. Did this person act differently in government because they anticipated or wanted to get the payday from these very powerful economic actors who have huge amounts at stake?" There is no indication that Ashley's consulting arrangement with Purdue is illegal."

How about that?  Called laissez faire capitalism, that is, poorly-regulated and/or unregulated capitalism.

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.

3-22-19

Justice?  NBC News reports:

"Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday warned President Donald Trump against pardoning his former campaign chairman — a sentiment that at least one top Republican agrees with."

Couldn't be, could it?

"Shortly after Paul Manafort was sentenced to another 43 months behind bars on conspiracy charges, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell that any presidential pardon "would be an obstruction of justice."

No question.

"Pardoning Paul Manafort would in effect send a message that you can break the law, defy the justice system and then get rewarded by the president of the United States," Blumenthal said."

Not only that, both judges who sentenced him to date were out to lunch.  Failed to serve the best interests of justice.

"A top Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also chimed in against the idea."

-- Stunning in view of the fact Graham has been equally out to lunch quite some time.  ... Think there may in fact be some hope for this achingly clueless partisan son of a bitch?  Nah.  No way.  Get this:

“Pardoning Manafort would be seen as a political disaster for the president," Graham told reporters. "There may come a day down the road, after the politics have changed, that you’d want to consider an application of him like everybody else. But now would be a disaster."

Wake up, Lindsey.  Been in office way too long.  Lost yourself somewhere along the way.  Wouldn't know justice if it figuratively bit you hard on the ass.  Too goddamned ignorantly partisan.

"Trump told reporters after the sentencing that he feels "very badly" for his former campaign chief, but that he had not given a possible pardon "a thought as of this moment."

Disingenuous, congenital liar.  No credibility.

"Speculation about a presidential pardon has swirled given Trump's numerous sympathetic comments and tweets about Manafort throughout the longtime political operative's legal ordeal — which continues in New York with the Manhattan district attorney's announcement Wednesday of a 16-count indictment against him."

Most welcome announcement.  Forget?  Should Trump pardon the bastard on federal convictions, would have absolutely no effect on state ones.

"Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted Wednesday in response, "Another sentencing, another statement by Manafort's lawyer repeating Trump's mantra of 'no collusion,' and another barely concealed appeal for a pardon." "It shouldn’t fall to the Manhattan DA to deter a presidential pardon," Schiff wrote. "Congress should take action to protect the rule of law." Other Democrats on Wednesday suggested there would never be a good time to pardon Manafort. "There can be no explanation for a pardon, other than the president's rewarding Paul Manafort for his defying a legitimate and important effort to get at the truth," Blumenthal said. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, further warned: "Manafort is going to prison because he committed serious crimes at home while advancing the interests of Russia and other foreign countries abroad. Any attempt to pardon him would be a gross abuse of power requiring immediate action by Congress."

"A pardon would not help Manafort if he's convicted in the New York case — the president can't pardon state criminal convictions. Tweeted Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y.: "Even if the president pardons #Manafort, New York will ensure he is held accountable."

That's right.  Sad, isn't it, Trump defends the indefensible?

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.

3-22-19

A dozen Republicans stood tall.  Who'd 'a 'thunk' it?  The Washington Post reports:

"The Senate passed a resolution Thursday [3-14-19] to overturn President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border, with 12 Republicans joining all Democrats to deliver a bipartisan rebuke to the president."

About time Republicans in the Senate showed some spine.

"The disapproval resolution passed the House last month, so the 59-41 Senate vote will send the measure to Trump’s desk. Trump has promised to use the first veto of his presidency to strike it down, and Congress does not have the votes to override the veto."

So what?  There are many other ways Republicans can show their displeasure with the Trump nazi.  Can certainly make sure other legislation he wishes passed doesn't.  Time to play hardball with the fascist son of a bitch.  Across the board.

"But the Senate vote stood as a rare instance of Republicans breaking with Trump in significant numbers on an issue central to his presidency — the construction of a wall along the southern border. For weeks Trump had sought to frame the debate in terms of immigration, arguing that Republican senators who supported border security should back him up on the emergency declaration. But for many GOP lawmakers, it was about a bigger issue: The Constitution itself, which grants Congress — not the president -- control over government spending."

Exactly right.  The Founders had good reason.  Not the least of which is the fact it is best to have 535 people make that decision rather than just one.

"By declaring a national emergency in order to bypass Congress to get money for his wall, Trump was violating the separation of powers and setting a potentially dangerous precedent, these senators argued."

They're right.  ... Think Democrats wouldn't do precisely the same should that precedent have been set?

The Washington Post reports:

"There is probably no better way to demonstrate one’s manly strength and control than firing off a tweet in capital letters. So it is that, when a dozen GOP senators defied President Trump’s orders and voted to terminate his declaration of a national emergency, his powerful Twitter thumbs sprang into action: “VETO!” The thrilling message to his supporters: Trump’s got this. He’s totally in command of the situation. But we are now learning new details about just how personally involved Trump was in trying to prevent defections among GOP senators. It turns out Trump aggressively sought to make this vote all about himself — frequently warning that he would unleash the cult-like wrath of his voters if the Senate didn’t do his bidding — and raged as that effort failed. What makes this so odd is that even though the Senate and House have now voted to terminate Trump’s national emergency, he actually can veto the measure, and his emergency will proceed. So why the histrionics? One possible answer is that, for Trump, even this interim loss represented an unacceptable display of weakness — with ominous portents for the future."

LOL.  Above quote is courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Greg Sargent.

NPR reports:

"President Trump used his veto pen for the first time Friday [3-15-19], after Congress tried to reverse his national emergency declaration and rein in spending on a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Congressional critics do not appear to have the votes to override Trump's veto. So, as a practical matter, the administration can continue to spend billions of dollars more on border barriers than lawmakers authorized, unless and until the courts intervene."

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.

3-22-19

Republicans again stand tall.  Amazing, isn't it?  NPR reports:

"In an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives called Thursday [3-14-19] for special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election to be made public when it is completed. The vote is not legally binding, but it represents the growing pressure from both sides of the aisle on the Justice Department to disclose as much of the report as possible.

"I rise in support of this resolution because I want the whole truth and nothing but the truth to come to light in this matter," said Rep. Will Hurd, R-Texas, on the House floor before the vote. "Full transparency is the only way to prevent future speculation." The final vote tally was 420 members voting in favor, no members voting against, and four members (Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., Thomas Massie, R-Ky. and Paul Gosar, R- Ariz.) voting "present." The vote comes amid more signs that Mueller's team is winding its investigation down. One of the team's most prominent attorneys, Andrew Weissman, will soon leave the Justice Department to teach and pursue public service projects, as first reported by NPR. The House resolution will now be sent sent to the Senate, although it's unclear whether Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will bring it to a vote."

The Washington Post reports:

"On Thursday, [3-14-19] the House passed a bill urging the public disclosure of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report. It did so nearly unanimously — the vote was 420-0. The four members who didn’t vote for it instead voted “present.” But almost immediately, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) blocked the Senate from even taking it up. The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman demanded that Democrats also vote on appointing a special counsel to look into alleged "Department of Justice misconduct” in the investigations into President Trump and Hillary Clinton. Democrats are refusing."

Graham has lost his mind.  Head remains securely lodged, figuratively speaking, up his clueless ass.  Proof positive 'can fix ignorant, can't fix 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.

3-22-19

Trump and his henchmen are bound and determined to force their outrageously perverse ideological and religious views worldwide.  The Washington Post reports:

"Valerie Huber, a top Health and Human Services Department official, was the special guest at a New York City event Tuesday that included representatives of dozens of nations in town for a key women’s rights conference. The gathering featured a screening of the film “Strings Attached,” which takes aim at the West’s “ideological colonization” of Africa through interviews with women who experienced side effects from contraception or who regretted having abortions, according to two attendees. Huber used her spotlight to emphasize the Trump administration’s commitment to “protecting life” in global health assistance."

Crock of shit.  Especially, considering Trump's egregious ignorance of human rights.  Both here and abroad.

"Huber’s appearance at the event — sponsored by C-Fam, a think tank with Catholic ties whose mission is “to defend life and family at international institutions,” and Nigeria, which generally supports comprehensive family planning — is part of a bold new effort by the Trump administration to build an international coalition to restrict access to abortion and promote traditional values about the family."

Trump, his henchmen, and the Nazi Right determinedly ignore the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  Why are taxpayers forced to pay for this?  Get this:

"Over the past few months, Huber and other U.S. officials have traveled the world inviting other nations to join the cause. In meetings, according to people privy to the discussions who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, Huber, who previously founded an abstinence-only sex education group, has explained that “health and rights mean different things to different people.” The first test of the coalition comes this week as U.S. negotiators seek to excise references to “universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights” — which they argue promotes abortion and normalizes sexual activity among youth — in an annual document about empowering women by the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women. They also want to replace “gender-responsive” with “family-centered” in calls for more-inclusive public services. And they’re pushing to add a section recognizing that “women’s contribution to the home, including through unpaid care and domestic work, which is not adequately recognized, generates human and social capital.”

Who the hell is the nazi element in our formerly great country to force its perverse ideological and religious views not only domestically, but internationally?

"Civil society groups focused on women’s rights expressed dismay at the efforts. They accused the United States of putting unfair pressure on poor countries that depend on U.S. foreign aid, and also of aligning with countries with poor human rights records. Serra Sippel, president of the Center for Health and Gender Equity, a Washington-based advocacy group, said the U.S. plan amounts to “bullying.” Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, vice president of programs for PAI, which works on universal access to reproductive health care globally, said such a coalition would allow countries “with more draconian laws about women’s rights or sexual minorities to skirt their obligations under international mechanisms.” “The U.S. stance this time enables other bad actors at the U.N. negotiation table,” Dunn-Georgiou said.HHS spokeswoman Caitlin Oakley said that the United States under President Trump “unequivocally supports the empowerment of women and girls, including health promotion for women and girls across the life course.” However, she said the meaning of sexual and reproductive health “has unfortunately evolved in the multilateral setting to include abortion.”

Tough shit.  It's none of your goddamned business.  You have no right to force your outrageously perverse ideological and religious views on anyone, domestically or overseas.

"As a pro-life administration, the Trump administration does not support abortion,” Oakley said."

This is direct violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause, church-state separation, that is, freedom from religion.  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.

3-22-19

Delusionally believe the Trump nazi and his henchmen are not lining the pockets of the corporate management suite?  At your expense and that of your loved ones. Wake up.  NPR reports:

"Federal records show that the average fine for a health or safety infraction by a nursing home dropped to $28,405 under the Trump administration, down from $41,260 in 2016, President Obama's final year in office. The Trump administration's decision to alter the way it punishes nursing homes has resulted in lower fines against many facilities found to have endangered or injured residents. Federal records show that the average fine dropped to $28,405 under the current administration, down from $41,260 in 2016, President Obama's final year in office."

You and your loved ones are paying for this.  No end to corporate greed.

"The decrease in fines is one of the starkest examples of how, in response to industry prodding, the Trump administration is rolling back Obama's aggressive regulation of health care services. Encouraged by the nursing home industry, the Trump administration switched from fining nursing homes for each day they were out of compliance — as the Obama administration typically did — to issuing a single fine for two-thirds of infractions, the records show."

Precisely, why care is poor, cost the highest it's ever been, and rising.  Unbridled greed.  Never get enough.

"Since President Trump took office, the administration has heeded complaints from the nursing home industry about zealous oversight. It granted facilities an 18-month moratorium from being penalized for violating eight new health and safety rules. It also revoked an Obama-era rule barring the facilities from pre-emptively requiring residents to submit to arbitration to settle disputes rather than go to court."

Understand what that means.  Under arbitration, the provider skates.

"But consumer advocates say penalties have reverted to levels too low to be effective. "Fines need to be large enough to change facility behavior," says Robyn Grant, director of public policy and advocacy at the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. "When that's not the case and the fine is inconsequential, care generally doesn't improve."

Exactly, how providers want it.  Forget?  Nothing comes before the bottom line.

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.

3-22-19

Sadly, white nationalism is alive and well.  The solution to this curse, however, is not what the Prime Minister of New Zealand has in mind.  NPR reports:

"New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she would seek a change in her country's gun laws after at least one man opened fire during afternoon prayers Friday and killed at least 49 people at two mosques in Christchurch. "Our gun laws will change," Ardern declared in a news conference Saturday morning local time. The violent attack struck at the very heart of New Zealand, a country that prides itself on being both peaceful and diverse. More than 40 people were treated for injuries sustained in the attacks in Christchurch, police said."

Under such short-sighted thinking, the law-abiding always wind up either losing the right to own firearms or having that right infringed.  Conversely, the criminal and/or terrorist element have no respect for law.  Always find a way to skirt such laws.  For Americans, the massacre in New Zealand raises a far more ferociously pointed question.  The killer expressed affinity for the Trump nazi as a fellow white nationalist. The question is 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.

3-22-19

Consider the following from Congressman Mike Conaway.  The quote is from the Conaway Chronicle:

"This week, President Trump released his proposed budget for fiscal year 2020. I commend President Trump for proposing a budget that prioritizes our military and the safety of our nation after devastating cuts under the Obama Administration."

The Congressman is pointedly reminded the United States reportedly spends more on the military than the next five nations combined.  How much is enough?  Contrary to assertions of the Trump nazi, our country is not threatened by those fleeing oppression and seeking asylum in our formerly great country.  Conversely, life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties are threatened by the Trump nazi and his henchmen.

"It's critical that we provide our servicemembers with the resources and support they need to successfully execute their missions, and the president's budget does just that."

The Congressman is pointedly reminded that happens no matter the incumbent in the Oval Office.  For him to imply otherwise remains unadulterated horse shit.  A lie.

"In his budget, the president honors the commitments we have made to our veterans and delivers on his promise to secure our nation's borders while also allowing hard-working Americans to keep more of what they earn by requiring our nation to tighten its belt."

The Congressman is again pointedly reminded commitments to the military are honored no matter the incumbent in the White House.  Ferociously pointedly, the Congressman is again reminded tax breaks under the Trump nazi mainly benefit the high and mighty, particularly the rich and corporate management suite. Not the middle class and/or bottom of the food chain.

Tax breaks for those who clearly did not need them came at the cost of an exponentially increasing deficit that will top a trillion dollars shortly.  Despite that fact, the Congressman and his fuhrer, the Trump nazi, intend to force the bottom of the food chain and middle class to tighten their belts. Not the government itself.  In fact, quite the opposite.  The Congressman, like Trump, is a congenital liar.

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.

3-22-19

For a law and order Republican national socialist, fascist, bona fide, achingly hypocritical nazi son of a bitch, isn't it amazing Sen. Ted "Screws Loose" Cruz can't keep his campaign financing within the law?  CBS News reports:

"The Federal Election Commission fined Sen. Ted Cruz's Senate campaign $35,000 on Friday for failing to adequately disclose $1 million in bank loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank during his 2012 Senate campaign. The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the FEC in 2016 about the loans, arguing that the failure to properly disclose them caused "informational injury" to voters. The Cruz campaign didn't immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment but said in a statement to The Hill, "As has repeatedly been reported, the loans were public at the time and fully disclosed on Senate ethics disclosures, but they weren't reported correctly on the FEC forms." "This agreed settlement resolves that filing mistake once and for all," the statement said."

Amazing hypocrisy, phony excuses made by politicians.  -- Who self-righteously demand the head of someone on the bottom and/or middle class who f--ks up.  Yet, readily make these excuses when tables turn and they happen to find themselves in the docket.

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.

3-22-19

Trump remains out to lunch.  NBC News reports:

"The recent mass shooting of Muslim worshippers in New Zealand was a devastating and tragic symptom of the growing threat posed by violent white supremacy in the U.S. and across the world, experts say. The death toll from the attack rose to 50 on Sunday. A 28-year-old Australian described by officials as a "right-wing extremist terrorist" has been charged with murder. Brenton Harrison Tarrant appeared to post — and email —a lengthy manifesto before the attack detailing his white-supremacist worldview and claiming inspiration from Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof to Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. The manifesto also makes a brief reference to President Donald Trump. “Were/are you a supporter of Donald Trump?” was one of the questions he posed to himself. His answer: “As a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose? Sure. As a policy maker and leader? Dear god no.”

How about that? Wake up.  If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, guess what?  It's a duck.

"The White House immediately denounced the connection and Trump was among the many world leaders to condemn the shooting, but he faced criticism for downplaying the broader threat posed by white supremacists. “I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems,” Trump said Friday when asked whether he thought it was a rising issue."

You're one of them, Mr. 'President.'  In denial?  ... Or, too delusional to embrace reality?

"Trump's statement contradicts the warnings of his own administration. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned in a 2017 intelligence bulletin that white supremacist groups had carried out more attacks in the U.S. than any other domestic extremist group over the past 16 years. And officials believe they are likely to carry out more. The bulletin’s findings appear to correspond with independent data. In January, for example, the New York-based Anti-Defamation League said domestic extremists killed at least 50 people in the U.S. in 2018, up from 37 in 2017. “White supremacists were responsible for the great majority of the killings, which is typically the case," the group wrote."

So what else is new? Wake up.

"Between 2008 and 2016, far-right plots and attacks outnumbered Islamist incidents inspired by groups such as ISIS by almost 2 to 1, according to an independent database compiled by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute. The number of hate groups operating across America also rose to a record high of 1,020 in 2018, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The vast majority of those groups adhere to some form of white supremacist ideology, the center said, though they also include anti-LGBTQ and black nationalist groups, among others. Since 2016, America has seen 11 people shot dead in a Pittsburgh synagogue; a protester mowed down by a white nationalist in Charlottesville, Virginia, and a coast guard officer prosecutors say was arrested before his violent white nationalist beliefs could lead him "to murder innocent civilians on a scale rarely seen in this country."

Yet, the nazi in the Oval Office can't, won't be confused with the truth.  Neither will his henchmen and supporters.

"On Friday, it was reported that Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man charged with sending more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent critics of the president, is expected to plead guilty next week. In a testimony submitted to Senate hearing on homeland security last year, FBI director Christopher Wray said of the 1,000 active investigations into domestic terrorism, the agency "is most concerned about lone offender attacks, primarily shootings, as they have served as the dominant mode for lethal domestic extremist violence." "We anticipate law enforcement, racial minorities, and the U.S. Government will continue to be significant targets for many domestic extremist movements,” he added."

This is a serious problem since lone-wolf attacks are much harder to prevent.

Consider the following:

"Friday was not the first time Trump has equivocated in the face of white nationalism. After the violence in Charlottesville he said there were “very fine people on both sides.” His travel ban against people from several mostly Muslim-majority countries has also drawn widespread criticism. On Sunday the president tweeted his support for Fox News host Judge Jeanine Pirro, whose show did not air Saturday night after she questioned the loyalty of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., because of her Muslim beliefs and headscarf."

Amazingly, Fox did the right thing.  Nearly unheard of since the network became de facto mouthpiece for the Trump nazi in the last two years.

"Bring back @JudgeJeanine Pirro. The Radical Left Democrats, working closely with their beloved partner, the Fake News Media, is using every trick in the book to SILENCE a majority of our Country. They have all out campaigns against @FoxNews hosts who are doing too well. Fox .....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019
....must stay strong and fight back with vigor. Stop working soooo hard on being politically correct, which will only bring you down, and continue to fight for our Country. The losers all want what you have, don’t give it to them. Be strong & prosper, be weak & die! Stay true....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 17, 2019"

The majority of our formerly great country has not embraced the Trump nazi, his henchmen, and their brand of national socialism, fascism, nazism.  Trump remains out to lunch, delusional, a direct threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  Fascism, nazism, national socialism defined as the pernicious blend of government, business, and religion. 'Justified' by perversion and bastardization of the latter.

The following is, and remains unadulterated horse shit.  Simply, not true:

"The president is not a white supremacist. I'm not sure how many times we have to say that," acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on "Fox News Sunday."

Saying it doesn't make it so.

"But the rise of white supremacy is not exclusive to the United States and experts say it has been allowed to grow, thanks to a much broader culture. "I think it’s connected to how emboldened they've become and how much legitimization and affirmation they get from the mainstream media, social media and far-right politicians," Aaron Winter, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of East London, told NBC News. There had been a period in the U.S. and other Western countries when the popular notion was that racism was a thing of the past only held on to by fringe individuals, Winter said. But since 2009, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant perspectives and policies have widely increased, in part as a response to the election of President Barack Obama, the global financial crisis and a string of international conflicts. The public acceptance of these views can in turn rouse people who are inclined to take extreme action, Winter said. Winter pointed to Trump's election campaign, the U.K.'s Brexit campaign and Australian politics as notable examples. "We — and that includes policymakers and the law enforcement community, in particular — must begin to view what we call 'domestic terrorism' through a global lens, just as we do the threat of groups like ISIS," said the SPLC's president Richard Cohen on Saturday. "Because the growing white supremacist movement represents a clear and present threat to democracies across the world."

No more than resurrection of the national socialist ideology of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini.

In a second article, NBC News reports:

"A Fox News spokesperson declined to comment to NBC News about why Pirro's show did not air, saying “We’re not commenting on internal scheduling matters.” The spokesperson also did not comment on Trump's tweets. Pirro is one of Trump's staunchest cable news defenders. The president's tweets come just days after an avowed neo-Nazi allegedly killed 50 at two New Zealand mosques, which the president condemned. Asked Friday if he felt there was a growing threat of white nationalism across the globe, with this massacre following a white nationalist killing spree at a Pittsburgh synagogue late last year, Trump responded, "I don’t really," adding, "I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems." Trump's mention of Fox News host Tucker Carlson is in reference to the recent unearthing of comments he made on shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge's radio show between 2006 and 2011, causing companies to pull advertising from Carlson's show. The liberal activist group Media Matters for America released recordings of Carlson's remarks, in which he said Iraq is populated by "semi-literate primitive monkeys," that women are "extremely primitive," and that a Democratic presidential candidate would cruise to election in 2008 if they promised to kill as many "lunatic Muslims" as possible. Carlson, who joined the network in 2009, did not apologize for the comments, saying, "If you want to know what I think, you can watch" his weeknight program. "Anyone who disagrees with my views is welcome to come on and explain why," he continued."

What's so inexplicable and incongruous compared to the Pirro fiasco?  Get this:

"Fox News said in a statement that it stands by Carlson. "We cannot and will not allow voices like Tucker Carlson to be censored by agenda-driven intimidation efforts from the likes of Moveon.org, Media Matters and Sleeping Giants,” the company said in an emailed statement."

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.

3-22-19

Trump keeps losing in court.  Wonder why?  The Washington Post reports:

"Federal judges have ruled against the Trump administration at least 63 times over the past two years, an extraordinary record of legal defeat that has stymied large parts of the president’s agenda on the environment, immigration and other matters."

Doesn't your heart bleed?

"In case after case, judges have rebuked Trump officials for failing to follow the most basic rules of governance for shifting policy, including providing legitimate explanations supported by facts and, where required, public input. Many of the cases are in early stages and subject to reversal. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted a version of President Trump’s ban on travelers from certain predominantly Muslim nations to take effect after lower-court judges blocked the travel ban as discriminatory. But whether or not the administration ultimately prevails, the rulings so far paint a remarkable portrait of a government rushing to implement sweeping changes in policy without regard for long-standing rules against arbitrary and capricious behavior."

Called national socialism, fascism, nazism.  Wake up.

“What they have consistently been doing is short-circuiting the process,” said Georgetown Law School’s William W. Buzbee, an expert on administrative law who has studied Trump’s record. In the regulatory cases, Buzbee said, “They don’t even come close” to explaining their actions, “making it very easy for the courts to reject them because they’re not doing their homework.” Two-thirds of the cases accuse the Trump administration of violating the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), a nearly 73-year-old law that forms the primary bulwark against arbitrary rule. The normal “win rate” for the government in such cases is about 70 percent, according to analysts and studies. But as of mid-January, a database maintained by the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law shows Trump’s win rate at about 6 percent."

Piss-poor performance.  Then, again, what else can be expected from a national socialist?

“I’ve spent 30 years in the private sector complaining about the excesses of environmental regulation,” Jaffe said, but “this administration has given regulatory reform a bad name.” Some errors are so basic that Jaffe said he has to wonder whether agency officials are more interested in announcing policy shifts than in actually implementing them. “It’s not just that they’re losing. But they’re being so nuts about it,” he said, adding that the losses in court have “set regulatory reform back for a period of time.” Contributing to the losing record has been Trump himself. His reported comments about “shithole countries,” for example, helped convince U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen in San Francisco that the administration’s decision to end “temporary protected status” for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Central America, Haiti and Sudan was motivated by racial and ethnic bias."

So what else is new?  Par for the course.

"At least a dozen decisions have involved Trump’s tweets or comments."

Surprised?

"The Justice Department, which defends federal agencies in court, declined to comment. The White House also declined to comment."

What could they say?  When confronted with the truth, they're speechless.

"Matthew Collette, who served as the deputy director of the Justice Department’s Civil Division appellate staff until his departure in October, said that in his 30 years at the department, he had not seen so many losses for a presidential administration in such a short time. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” he said. Trump has blamed his losses on “Obama judges” in the West Coast states that make up the 9th Circuit. While 29 setbacks have come from 9th Circuit judges, the trend is national, with 34 originating elsewhere, particularly in the District of Columbia Circuit, according to a count by The Washington Post. Democratic appointees, many of them tapped by Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, are responsible for 45 decisions. Republican appointees dating back to President Ronald Reagan issued the other rulings. Magistrate judges, who are not appointed by presidents, made three of the decisions. On major issues on which multiple judges have ruled, there has been little disagreement among them, no matter where the judges are located or who appointed them."

Surprised?  Why?

"Four judges, for instance, have rejected the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has protected from deportation nearly 700,000 people brought to the United States as children. All four judges said essentially the same thing: that the government’s stated reason for ending DACA — that it was unlawful — was “virtually unexplained,” as U.S. District Judge John D. Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush in Washington, said in an April opinion. A second explanation — that DACA creates a “litigation risk” — was derided by U.S. District Judge William Alsup in California as mere “spin.” Three judges have invalidated the attempt to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 Census, the latest being U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco on March 6. All rejected as unbelievable Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s explanation that the move was intended to improve enforcement of the Voting Rights Act. The matter is now pending before the Supreme Court. The Commerce Department declined to comment."

Report goes on and on.  Sad, isn't it?

NBC News reports:

"A federal judge on Tuesday contradicted the Trump administration's "incorrect" claim that no legal blocks remain for it to enforce a contentious policy to restrict many transgender individuals from the U.S. armed forces starting on April 12. In a three-page notice, U.S. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said an injunction that she issued against the policy in 2017 remains in place. "Defendants were incorrect in claiming that there was no longer an impediment to the military's implementation" of the transgender policy, the judge wrote. A spokeswoman for Pentagon said it was consulting with the U.S. Justice Department, which declined to comment."

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.

3-22-19

Nothing quite like lining your pockets while securely planted on the taxpayer tit.  Consider the following.  It's beyond appalling.  NBC News reports:

"Ben Carson's daily schedule from 2017 shows a HUD secretary who held senior staff meetings once a week, lunched with the author of "Chicken Soup for the Soul" and the founder of My Pillow, and left work before 2 p.m. on some Fridays to fly to his Florida mansion."

No problem with that?  Believe the fascist bastard entitled?

"A list of appointments for a 31-week period shows that for about half of the Fridays Carson worked a traditional eight or nine-hour day. For five of the Fridays he was off or had no appointments. For five more Fridays he left before 2 p.m. to get to the airport to fly to South Florida, where he owns a house valued at $4.3 million. For the remaining six, he had no scheduled appointments past 3 p.m. In all, he made a dozen weekend trips to South Florida during the 31 weeks. The calendar also indicates that in 2017, HUD's senior staff huddled just once a week. Calendars previously posted by three other federal departments — Transportation, Treasury, and Labor — during the Trump administration show daily senior team meetings or multiple meetings a week. Three different 2017 calendars from Carson's office were obtained by the government watchdog group American Oversight through a federal lawsuit and provided to NBC News. NBC News recreated his schedule for the period covering April 7, 2017, to Nov. 1, 2017, using listings from the three calendars — one of them Carson's, the others from two of his assistants. American Oversight filed its first Freedom of Information Act request for Carson's calendar in November 2017. When the group's request was denied, it sued HUD for the documents in March 2018."

The public is entitled to this information.  Why should the press be forced to sue?  What is this national socialist, fascist bastard so determined to hide, keep from public view?

"HUD then provided the three different calendars to American Oversight with months of appointments out of sequence. An example of what American Oversight Executive Director Austin Evers called a "jumble" is below: A page from one of the three calendars for HUD Secretary Ben Carson provided to the watchdog group American Oversight as the result of a federal lawsuit. HUD Freedom of Information Office . "While I can't say whether the jumbled calendar was the result of innocent processing system or an effort to obscure information, the net result was that this is some of the most challenging transparency we have encountered," said Evers."

Fascinating, isn't it?

"In a statement, Carson said, "While the role of a Cabinet Secretary is to advise the President and run their agency, the role of NBC seems to be spinning incomplete information and misinforming the public. Looks like we are both doing our jobs."

Think so?  Or, is the former doctor a congenital liar like his fuhrer, the Trump nazi?

"According to his calendar, on Friday, July 7, Carson had a 2:20 p.m. flight to West Palm Beach. On Friday, May 5, he left for the airport at 1:30 p.m. On Aug. 10, his schedule shows he left late on Thursday night for Florida and had no official appointments in his calendar documents for the following day. On Friday, May 26, his schedule reads "leave office" at 1 p.m. A week later, Carson's last meeting is listed at 1:30 p.m. On Friday, June 23, his last appointment ended before 2 p.m., according to the documents. The calendars show Carson frequently flew commercially at his own expense to South Florida. His schedule shows at least 12 such weekend trips from April 7 to Nov. 1, 2017, according to the documents. HUD defended the secretary's work schedule. "Almost every day the Secretary arrives at HUD by 7:30 a.m. to read over briefing material and prepare for meetings and travel. In 2017, the Secretary traveled to over 27 communities and met with more than 40 elected officials in their communities to discuss HUD business. In 2018, his travel and meetings increased and he visited more than 45 communities and met with over 60 elected officials in their communities." The calendars provided to American Oversight do not give insight into when Carson arrives, but the first appointments listed are generally at 9 or 10 a.m."

Convenient, no?

"NBC News has previously reported that a dozen current and former HUD officials — both political appointees and career staff — describe a lack of urgency at the agency under Ben Carson."

Couldn't be, could it?  LOL.

"NBC News has also previously reported that Carson's signature initiative "EnVision Centers," which was intended to provide one-stop shops for social services at locations around the country, has yet to open any locations despite a program launch last June."

Couldn't be Carson and his people lied, could it?

Coup de grace?  Get this:

"Last week, President Donald Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2020 showed Carson has proposed 18 percent cuts for his agency and again calls for tripling rents on those who live in public housing — a request that failed last year. Carson is also seeking to cut funding for public housing repairs, though each year 10,000 units of public housing are lost to decay, according to HUD. Carbon monoxide is killing public housing residents, but HUD doesn't require detectors."

Sad, isn't it?

Equally troubling, Carson doesn't appear to be management  material.  Surprised?  Get this:

"The calendars obtained by American Oversight also highlight the rapid turnover in Carson's top team. Carson's number two, Deputy Secretary Pam Patenaude, resigned in December. The former acting general counsel, Beth Zorc, is now lobbying for Wells Fargo, according to Senate records. Carson's former chief of staff Sheila Greenwood is now at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Michael Bright, who ran Ginnie Mae, which guarantees mortgages, left in January. That leaves HUD official Brian Montgomery doing double duty as both the agency's No. 2 and the commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration."

Ferociously sarcastically, two of their destinations should suit them just fine, however.  LOL.

"Trump cabinet secretaries vary widely when it comes to sharing their calendars. Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's team fought fiercely to keep his calendar under wraps. Once obtained by The Washington Post, the calendar was an immediate window into his work. And when questions were raised about his living arrangements, it was his calendar that confirmed his meetings with lobbyists connected to his landlord."

... Can't have that, can we?  LOL.

"The Interior Department began posting a regular calendar for then-Secretary Ryan Zinke, but watchdogs have noted large gaps where meetings were labeled "external" with no attendees listed. The calendar for David Bernhardt, the current Interior secretary, has been posted through mid-February. One of the most transparent offices has been Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, whose office posts his calendar every month on the agency's website."

See.  They're not all the same.  LOL.

"Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's calendar is posted online, but it's almost a year behind schedule, with the last public calendar from June 2018.

... Then again, a jackass is a jackass.  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.

3-22-19

Imagine being a fly on the wall in the Conway household.  NBC News reports:

"President Donald Trump on Tuesday blasted George Conway, the husband of top White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, as "a total loser" following the conservative attorney's tweets suggesting that the president is not mentally fit to serve."

Jesus Christ.  He's not.  LOL.  ... What part of egregiously, hopelessly f--ked up doesn't the Trump nazi, and his supporters, understand?

"A total loser!" Trump tweeted in response to a tweet from his 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale. Parscale wrote that Trump "turned down Mr. Kellyanne Conway for a job he desperately wanted." "He barely worked @TheJusticeDept and was either fired/quit, didn’t want the scrutiny?" Parscale continued. "Now he hurts his wife because he is jealous of her success. POTUS doesn’t even know him!"

Not credible.  Worse, not true.  A lie.  ... Never a dull moment.  LOL.

"The Washington Post reported last year that in fact, George Conway introduced his wife to Trump back in the early 2000s. Kellyanne Conway, after serving as Trump's campaign manager in 2016, was named counselor to the president later that year. George Conway was also reportedly under consideration for a job within Trump's Department of Justice but said in a June 2017 statement that he was withdrawing himself from consideration. He's of counsel in the litigation department of the New York firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz."

-- Wouldn't want to confuse anyone with the truth, would we?  LOL.

"Over the past few days, George, a prominent critic of Trump's actions and policies, questioned the president's mental health. On Sunday night, Conway tweeted: "His condition is getting worse."

No shit.  LOL. Give me a break.  LOL.

"Congratulations!" George said Tuesday in response to Trump's tweet. "You just guaranteed that millions of more people are going to learn about narcissistic personality disorder and malignant narcissism! Great job!"

Truer words never spoken.  LOL.  ... Can you imagine pillow talk between George and his wife?  Got to be something else.  LOL.

"On Monday, George highlighted pages from the American Psychiatric Association’s “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" that included the criteria for “narcissistic personality disorder” and “antisocial personality disorder.”

Let it rip.  -- Nothing quite like a little comic relief based on reality.  LOL.

"Those tweets followed a weekend where Trump tweeted or retweeted others a total of 50 times. Trump blasted deceased GOP Sen. John McCain, made demands of General Motors and Fox News and complained about a "Saturday Night Live" rerun, among other topics. Asked Monday about her husband's criticisms and concerns about the president, Kellyanne told reporters she did not share them. Speaking to The Post last year, Kellyanne said her husband's anti-Trump tweets "disrespects his wife." "It is disrespectful, it's a violation of basic decency, certainly, if not marital vows," she said, then asking to have that quote attributed to "a person familiar with their relationship." The Post did not grant her request."

LOL.  Great material.  Gets no better than the above.  Quotes courtesy of a most gifted, insightful writer, Allan Smith.

The boys weren't done.  LOL.  NBC News reports:

"On Wednesday, Trump again targeted George, calling him a "husband from hell!"

"George Conway, often referred to as Mr. Kellyanne Conway by those who know him, is VERY jealous of his wife’s success & angry that I, with her help, didn’t give him the job he so desperately wanted. I barely know him but just take a look, a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 20, 2019
Conway responded: "You. Are. Nuts."

You. Are. Nuts. https://t.co/ZSpb3UXVPC

— George Conway (@gtconway3d) March 20, 2019"

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.

3-15-19

No end to aggressive stupidity in the Trump regime.  ... Or, bottomless corporate greed.  The Washington Post reports:

"A hearing on the threat seismic testing poses to North Atlantic right whales was plodding along Thursday when, seemingly out of nowhere, Rep. Joe Cunningham (D-S.C.) pulled out an air horn and politely asked if he could blast it."

LOL.  Go for it.

"Before that moment at a Natural Resources subcommittee hearing, Cunningham had listened to a Trump administration official testify, over and over, that firing commercial air guns under water every 10 seconds in search of oil and gas deposits over a period of months would have next to no effect on the endangered animals, which use echolocation to communicate, feed, mate and keep track of their babies. It’s why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gave five companies permission to conduct tests that could harm the whales last year, said the official, Chris Oliver, an assistant administrator for fisheries."

Nothing quite like aggressive stupidity, is there?  To say nothing of bottomless corporate greed.  As life, we are all ultimately interdependent on one another (fellow species) for survival.  Ever take a biology class?

"As committee members engaged in a predictable debate along typical party lines — Republicans in support of testing and President Trump’s energy agenda, Democrats against it — Cunningham reached for the air horn, put his finger on the button and turned to Oliver. “It’s fair to say seismic air gun blasting is extremely loud and disruptive ... is that correct?” the congressman asked. “I don’t know exactly how loud it is. I actually never experienced it myself,” Oliver replied."

Then, how the f--k do you know whether or not its damaging the whales?  You're too goddamned stupid, hopelessly ignorant to be an assistant administrator for fisheries.  ... Or, worse, you're bought and paid for.  A turd of the not-so-highest order.

Gets more instructive:

"So Cunningham gave Oliver a taste of the 120-decibel horn. An earsplitting sound filled the small committee room. An audience of about 50 gasped and murmured.  “Was that disruptive?” Cunningham asked."

LOL.

“It was irritating, but I didn’t find it too disruptive,” Oliver said."

Jesus Christ.  Proof positive 'can fix ignorant, can't fix stupid.'

"It seemed disruptive to at least one person in the room. Subcommittee Chairman Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) broke into the debate to say an aide, who is pregnant, informed him that when the air horn sounded, her baby kicked."

Can't confuse a jackass with the truth.

"Cunningham, who represents Charleston and other coastal cities, pressed on. What if it happened every 10 seconds for days, weeks and months, he said. He asked Oliver to guess how much louder commercial air guns are than his store-bought air horn. When Oliver didn’t bite, he told him the sound from air guns is 16,000 times that of his air horn."

Further proof positive Republicans couldn't care less about the environment.  Only corporate profits.

"Five companies are awaiting final permits from the Interior Department to begin testing between New Jersey and Florida. An estimated 400 North Atlantic right whales, hunted to the brink of extinction, survive. A birth among the 100 mating pairs is so rare that seven calves spotted recently were celebrated as a tiny glimmer of hope."

Doesn't matter to most Republicans, -- or their corporate masters.

"Every governor from Massachusetts to Florida, Republicans and Democrats, stands in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposal to offer federal offshore leases along the Atlantic coast, where beach tourism thrives. The governors are backed by state attorneys general and legislators."

How about that?  Proof positive, as well, not all Republicans are jackasses, -- or aggressively stupid.  Comforted?  LOL.

"Although Cunningham’s stunt was the highlight of an ordinary hearing, Democrats could not shake the administration’s argument that there is no evidence showing that seismic testing has ever killed or significantly hurt a right whale in the Gulf of Mexico or Pacific Ocean, where testing has happened recently."

Proof positive, as well, Republicans can't, won't be confused by the truth when that truth interferes with corporate profits.  ... Got it?  LOL.

"Oliver said right whales are more commonly killed by boat strikes and getting entangled in fishing nets, and that NOAA Fisheries is focused on stopping that. He emphasized that studies have shown some adverse impacts from seismic testing but that those “are sublethal.”

How does he know?  His corporate masters instruct him so?

Wake up.  Here's the truth:

"But that testimony was followed by testimony from whale experts who described what sublethal means. Scott Kraus, a vice president and senior science adviser for the New England Aquarium, said the tests will stress out an animal that’s already struggling from lack of disease resistance. “Many right whales now have poor body scores that are just above the threshold of reproductive success, suggesting that any additional stressors ... will push them below any ability to reproduce," Kraus said. Christopher Clark, a senior scientist and research professor at Cornell University, said there is nowhere for animals to hide from seismic noise. It travels efficiently underwater, radiating for thousands of miles from where it starts. The bowhead whale, a close relative of right whales, reacts to extremely low levels of seismic noise from far away. “It continues reacting until it totally stops communicating,” Clark said. “For right whales, such changes will increase the likelihood of mother-calf separations.” It’s not physical harm to a single individual, he said, but “this is the cost to a marginally surviving population as a result of chronic noise from seismic air gun surveys.”

Can't confuse a Republican national socialist, fascist, nazi with the truth.  Forget?  Corporate profits come first.

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.

3-15-19

Once in awhile, Sen. Warren gets something right.  LOL.  NBC News reports:

"Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts on Friday called for the government to break up Facebook, Google and Amazon, offering a plan to re-categorize the companies and reverse some major tech acquisitions. Warren, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, has been a part of a growing faction within the party that has called for greater regulation and antitrust enforcement of major tech companies."

She's right about that.  Major tech companies remain out of control.  Present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.

"Twenty-five years ago, Facebook, Google, and Amazon didn’t exist. Now they are among the most valuable and well-known companies in the world," Warren wrote in a post on the blogging platform Medium. "It’s a great story—but also one that highlights why the government must break up monopolies and promote competitive markets."

Indeed.  No question.  Not going to happen, however, with a Senate and Oval Office owned by Republican national socialists, fascists, bona fide nazis hell bent on forcing their perverse ideological and religious views on all.

"Warren's call also comes as Democrats have begun to plan for increased oversight of tech companies after taking control of the House. On Wednesday, House and Senate Democrats introduced legislation to establish strong net neutrality protections that would look to prevent major service providers from using their power to manipulate how users experience the internet."

Good luck.  Too little, much too late.

"Few Democrats, however, have actively called to break up tech companies, as Warren did on Friday."

Too gutless.  Too afraid of Republican national socialists who remain intent on lining the pockets of their corporate masters.

"Warren said in her post that the consumer experience of most internet users is dominated by Facebook, Google and Amazon, which can then "use the Internet to squash small businesses and innovation, and substitute their own financial interests for the broader interests of the American people."

Indeed, she's right about that.  Precisely, why this writer does not do Facebook, Google and others.  -- Have bought on Amazon but through a friend who is not concerned with privacy.

"Warren's plan calls for legislation that would feature a new business category for companies with more than $25 billion of global revenue that also "offer to the public an online marketplace, an exchange, or a platform for connecting third parties." These companies would be called "platform utilities" and be prevented from owning the platform and any of its participants, as well as be required to "meet a standard of fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory dealing with users." They would also not be allowed to share data with other companies."

Can't have that, can we?  Forget?  Corporate management suite has sold us out.  How they line their pockets.

"Warren pointed to Amazon's operation of its marketplace and its sale of Amazon "Basics" as an example of a violation of the proposed legislation. She also said that Google's various businesses would need to be separated, including its ad exchange and its search engine. Warren also said that she would be looking to federal regulators to undo some recent mergers, including Amazon's ownership of the grocer Whole Foods and e-commerce website Zappos, Facebook's ownership of WhatsApp and Instagram, and Google's ownership of the navigation app Waze and home device company Nest. "Unwinding these mergers will promote healthy competition in the market — which will put pressure on big tech companies to be more responsive to user concerns, including about privacy," she wrote."

Good luck.  Think they won't fight back with everything they've got?

"Facebook declined to comment on Warren's plan. Amazon and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment."

What the f--k could they say?

"Luther Lowe, senior vice president of government relations at Yelp, which has repeatedly claimed that Google uses its search engine to scuttle competitors, said Warren's plan was "refreshing and ambitious." "I think Senator Warren really understands how these markets work, and I think this type of proposal would inject some much needed oxygen into the consumer internet markets, which today are calcifying as a result of dominant firms like Google stifling innovation," Lowe said."

No question.  Certainly, true.  Google has grown old and stale.

"Warren is not entirely alone in proposing serious changes to how tech companies are regulated. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who heads the House antitrust subcommittee, recently suggested in an interview with the Financial Times a similar idea in which tech companies would be forced to split up their platform from their customer data business."

All talk.  No action.  Not easy to do, regardless.  These firms have nearly unlimited resources.  Can easily fight back.  We, the people, have allowed this.  Only ourselves to blame.

"Dipayan Ghosh, a fellow at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, said that while Warren's proposal is in the "right direction," Cicilline's plan targets the heart of the power of big tech companies to use consumer data in conjunction with their platforms to control their markets. "The reason I like Cicilline's argument is that one really does get to the meat of the way that these companies have been constructed," he said."

Need to have a multi-pronged approach.  Makes far greater sense.  If one approach slacks off, another could take up the slack.

"Ghosh, who previously worked at Facebook as a privacy and public policy adviser, said big tech companies have already been preparing for regulation efforts. He pointed to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's announcement on Wednesday that the company would be moving to make it so users can communicate across its various apps. Ghosh said these kinds of efforts will make it hard to break up tech companies. He predicted that this is the start of a cat-and-mouse game between tech companies and regulators that will go on for years. "I think what these companies are trying to do. especially Facebook, is figure out ways to really unsettle the competition policy arguments that are taking shape by doing strategic things with their companies," Ghosh said."

Have only ourselves to blame.  Allowed this to happen.  Will take gifted lawmakers to come up with creative legislative solutions to solve this problem.  If not, hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming, as our bought and paid for lawmakers 'fiddle while Rome burns.'

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.

3-15-19

No justice.  Not in a fascist police-state, -- masquerading as a democratic republic. The Washington Post reports:

"The sentencing of Paul Manafort, former chairman of President Trump’s campaign, was highly anticipated, capping a significant chapter in Robert S. Mueller III’s special counsel investigation. But it was an unlikely candidate to become the latest example of a conflict that has vexed legal professionals and activists for decades: systemic inequality in the criminal justice system. Yet, as a federal judge handed down his sentence in jam-packed Alexandria, Va., courtroom Thursday, and observers digested the judge’s decision — 47 months — Manafort’s case was immediately perceived as a high-profile instance of the justice system working one way for a wealthy, well-connected man, while working in another, harsher, way for indigent defendants facing lesser crimes."

... Hear the rumble?  An unwanted dreaded second American revolution catastrophically looming.

“Paul Manafort’s lenient 4-year sentence — far below the recommended 20 years despite extensive felonies and post-conviction obstruction — is a reminder of the blatant inequities in our justice system that we all know about, because they reoccur every week in courts across America,” said Ari Melber, a legal analyst for NBC News, in a Thursday-night tweet."

This continues? Revolution will become all but inevitable.  There is no justice.  How revolutions spawn.

"Under federal sentencing guidelines, Manafort faced up to 24 years in prison for bank fraud and for cheating on his taxes, yet U.S. District Court Judge T.S. Ellis said that calculation was “excessive.” Manafort’s crime’s were “very serious,” Ellis said, but they didn’t warrant a punishment that could keep the 69-year-old imprisoned into his 90s."

Horse shit.  Had he been 69 and robbed a bank, delusionally believe he would not have spent the rest of his life in prison?  Two systems of justice.  One for the top of the food chain, the other for the rest of us.  Again, how revolutions spawn.

"Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor and expert in financial crimes, said Manafort’s sentence was very light “by any stretch of the imagination.” Manafort, who once agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors but then was found to have lied to them, got a sentence that resembled someone’s who did not renege on their cooperation agreement, Levin said. “His crimes went on for an extremely long time, at the very highest levels of our government and deeply affected our democracy,” Levin told The Washington Post. “To get away with it for such a short sentence is something that is absolutely mind-boggling.”

It's how business is conducted in a fascist police-state.  Two systems of justice.  The judge clearly sympathized with the thieving bastard in front of him.  Saw himself in Manafort.  ... There but for the grace of God go I.  Wake up.  No equal justice.

"However, he said, federal judges are not required to adhere to sentencing guidelines, which serve only as recommendations to judges. Ultimately, they are free to depart from the guidelines and come up with any number they see as appropriate. "It seems pretty light to me, and to a lot of people,” Levin said. “But that is squarely in the purview of the judge to do.”

The 'judge' must have seen himself in Manafort.  LOL.

"The sentencing inspired a flood of lawyers to dig through news clips and their own recent cases. What they found was dozens of examples of defendants who, in their view, were nowhere near as fortunate as Manafort."

Precisely, how revolutions spawn:

"Scott Hechinger, a senior staff attorney at Brooklyn Defender Services, an organization that provides legal representation to defendants who cannot afford it, used one of his recent clients, who was just offered a 36-to-72-month sentence, as an example. The crime? Stealing $100 worth of quarters from a residential laundry room. Hechinger’s client may wind up doing more time than Manafort, a man who defrauded the Internal Revenue Service out of $6 million."

Nazi justice.  No justice at all.  We've lost our country.  Have only ourselves to blame.  Should have been resolved by Baby Boomers fifty years ago.  Instead, most of us gutlessly caved in.

"For context on Manafort’s 47 months in prison, my client yesterday was offered 36-72 months in prison for stealing $100 worth of quarters from a residential laundry room.

— Scott Hechinger (@ScottHech) March 8, 2019"

That does not, however, justify or excuse stealing a hundred bucks worth of quarters.  Has to be a price paid for the crime, but needs to be proportional.  The Manafort nazi effectively got a free ride.  No problem with that?

"Hechinger listed a half dozen more examples. Among them were a Brooklyn teenager who got a 19-years-to-life sentence for burning a mattress in the hallway of his apartment building, resulting in the smoke-inhalation death of an officer who responded to the scene. He also cited the case of Crystal Mason, an ex-felon who was sent back to prison for five years after voting in the 2016 presidential election while on probation — an act she says she didn’t know was illegal."

How about that?  Nazi justice.  Without question, unless you're Paul Manafort and at the top of the food chain, the dream is clearly dead.

"Other lawyers argued that Manafort’s sentence underscores “a broader problem: white collar crimes (e.g. fraud, money laundering) just aren’t taken seriously,” wrote Louis Laverone, an international financial crimes attorney."

That's right.  Precisely, why if this does not change, our formerly great country will not survive.

"Laverone cited the case of one Turkish banker who was charged with participating in a multibillion-dollar scheme, violating U.S. economic sanctions. In that case, guidelines called for a possible 105-year sentence. The banker got 32 months."

How about that?

"Judge Ellis is a Reagan appointee, known as tough and no-nonsense. But, in recent years, he has publicly complained about laws that impose cumbersome sentences, as Politico illustrated in a 2018 profile. In one striking example from that report, Ellis sentenced a 37-year-old to a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison for dealing methamphetamine. “This situation presents me with something I have no discretion to change and the only thing I can do is express my displeasure,” the judge said. “I chafe a bit at that, but I follow the law. If I thought it was blatantly immoral, I’d have to resign. It’s wrong, but not immoral.”

Jesus Christ.  Your head remains securely lodged up your sorry ass, 'Judge.'

"In that man’s case, the crime’s mandatory minimum sentence forced Ellis’s hand. But for Manafort, Levin said, there was no such requirement, no mandatory minimum."

Nazi justice.

Insult to injury?  Get this:

"Because Manafort has already spent nine months in jail, his sentence could end in fewer than three years. But he still faces sentencing next week for a conspiracy charged in D.C. federal court, which could result in up to an additional 10 years."

Needs to spend the rest of his life in prison.

"In a tweet, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a former prosecutor and presidential candidate, also denounced what she characterized as a lenient sentence. “Crimes committed in an office building should be treated as seriously as crimes committed on a street corner,” she said. “Can’t have two systems of justice!”

Exactly, what we have.  De facto fascist police-state since 9/11.

NBC News reports:

"Paul Manafort getting such little jail time for such serious crimes lays out for the world how it’s almost impossible for rich people to go to jail for the same amount of time as someone who is lower income.

In our current broken system, “justice” isn’t blind. It’s bought. https://t.co/1UgBXmR8bl

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 8, 2019"

She's right.  Nazi justice.

Insult to injury?  Get this.  NBC News reports:

"Both the Judge and the lawyer in the Paul Manafort case stated loudly and for the world to hear that there was NO COLLUSION with Russia. But the Witch Hunt Hoax continues as you now add these statements to House & Senate Intelligence & Senator Burr. So bad for our Country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2019

"But that's not what the judge overseeing the case said. Before announcing Manafort's sentence Thursday, Judge T.S. Ellis reminded the court that the longtime political operative's crimes were not related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s chief mandate — Russian election interference and whether Trump campaign officials colluded with the Kremlin."

NPR reports:

"Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort received a total sentence of about 7 1/2 years in federal prison on Wednesday following the guilty plea in his Washington, D.C., conspiracy case. Judge Amy Berman Jackson effectively added about 3 1/2 years in prison to the sentence Manafort received last week from a different judge in the Eastern District of Virginia. Jackson said Manafort could serve some of the prison sentence at the same time he was serving in prison for his other case. But the judge in Washington ultimately increased the total amount of prison time. A federal judge in Virginia had sentenced Manafort to just under four years in federal prison and ordered that he pay $24.8 million in restitution and a $50,000 fine. Separately on Wednesday, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance announced that a grand jury in New York City had returned an indictment of its own against Manafort. Vance's statement described "a yearlong residential mortgage fraud scheme through which Manafort and others falsified business records to illegally obtain millions of dollars."

No justice.  Nowhere near.  Special treatment for the top of 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.

3-15-19

Chelsea Manning stands on principle.  NBC News reports:

"Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning was jailed on Friday after refusing to answer questions from a federal grand jury in Virginia looking into the release of documents to WikiLeaks. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton told Manning that she would remain in federal custody “until she purges or the end of the life of the grand jury” a statement from her representatives said. Earlier in the day, Manning told reporters that she was prepared to go to jail following the closed contempt hearing for her resistance to provide testimony because she doesn't believe in the grand jury process. On Wednesday, Manning appeared before the same grand jury, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, but refused to answer any questions. "I responded to each question with the following statement: ‘I object to the question and refuse to answer on the grounds that the question is in violation of my First, Fourth, and Sixth Amendment, and other statutory rights," Manning said in a statement. "All of the substantive questions pertained to my disclosures of information to the public in 2010 — answers I provided in extensive testimony, during my court-martial in 2013," the statement said.

"Manning's support committee, Chelsea Resists!, called the grand jury system "dangerous and undemocratic." "Grand juries operate in secret, allowing the government to retaliate against activists and dissidents behind closed doors," said a statement from the committee released by Manning's lawyers. “Donald Trump and his administration have publicly declared their disdain for Chelsea, and for President Obama’s decision to commute her sentence," the Chelsea Resists! statement said. "Chelsea has stood by the testimony from her 2013 court-martial, and this subpoena serves no legitimate purpose. It is a punitive effort to reverse Obama’s legacy, exposing Chelsea to legal hardship and possible imprisonment."

Got to give her credit for standing on principle.  Be interesting to see how long she resists.  Liberty is far, far more than having the 'right' to do what you're told.

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.

3-15-19

Apples and oranges.  Never ends.  Hypocrisy rules.  Forget?  From the Conaway Chronicle, Rep. Mike Conaway opines:

"Anti-Semitism, racism, white supremacy, and hateful speech have no place in the House of Representatives."

Since when?  Wake up, Congressman.  No more than disingenuous bullshit.

"When a Member of Congress violates these principles, appropriate action must be taken. As recently as January, that included a resolution unequivocally condemning the Member of Congress and his comments and removal from all committees."

Forget?  He was tolerated quite some time.  Not equivalent to the Congresswoman you now criticize for totally different reasons.

"Now, we have a Member of Congress who continually chooses to use anti-Semitic rhetoric, and House Democrat leadership refuses to directly acknowledge the problem. Instead of strict condemnation, they have hemmed and hawed over the intent of the statements made. Democrats have handed out allowances for inexperience and youth, adding insult to injury for millions of Jewish Americans. Worse yet, Nancy Pelosi has allowed this Member of Congress to remain on the House Foreign Affairs Committee."

More disingenuous horse shit.  Don't you Republican national socialists, fascists, bona fide nazis understand the difference between criticism of the Israeli national socialist, fascists currently running the Israeli government and anti-Semitism? They're not one and the same.  You don't know that?  Too hopelessly ignorant to understand?

"This week's watered-down resolution included the Democrats' kitchen sink, but did not lend support to Christians, Mormons, and many other groups that face regular discrimination in this country and abroad."

Disingenuous bullshit.  ... Can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, Mike, baffle 'em with bullshit?  Give me a break.  The Israeli aggressor has been out of control for decades.  What is happening to the Palestinians since 1948  is unconscionable.  Who the hell were the United States, the United Nations, and Europe to bequeath Palestine to survivors of the Holocaust at that time?  Without first consulting the Palestinians.

Forget?  The Israelites had lost that land generations ago due to their excesses.  The Israeli aggressor has been emulating its German Nazi oppressors circa 1933 at the very beginning of the Third Reich.  Too clueless to understand?  That ignorant of history?  Ignorance of history is precisely why that region has suffered war after war since 1948.  Why it clearly became the hotbed of modern terrorism.  You Republican nazis too stupid, too ill-informed to understand this?

"House Democrats must take bigotry of all kinds seriously, not just instances that fit their progressive liberal agenda."

'Kettle calling the pot black,' Congressman.  You Republican national socialists, fascists are no better than the Democrats.  Just at the opposite political extreme.  Both parties present an exigent threat to life, liberty, all civil and constitutional rights and liberties.  For totally different 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.

3-15-19

Judiciary again sticks it to the Trump nazi.  The Washington Post reports:

"In a legal blow to the Trump administration, a federal judge ruled Friday that all migrant families separated during the government’s border crackdown should be included in a class-action lawsuit. But he stopped short of immediately ordering the Justice Department to track them all down."

Why not?  Had it been his kid a different story?  No equal justice?

"U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in California said the universe of separated families should extend beyond the 2,700-plus children taken from their parents last spring, and include families forced apart as early as July 1, 2017, and the months afterward, when the Trump administration was denying that it had a policy of separating families."

Trump and his henchmen are congenital liars.  So what else is new?

"Sabraw said a government watchdog report in January that potentially thousands more families were separated than the Trump administration had admitted publicly compelled the court to look into the matter."

No kidding.  Function of judiciary to serve as check and balance against the executive.  To date, did a piss poor job of doing so.

“The hallmark of a civilized society is measured by how it treats its people and those within its borders,” he wrote in a 14-page ruling. “That Defendants may have to change course and undertake additional effort to address these issues does not render modification of the class definition unfair; it only serves to underscore the unquestionable importance of the effort and why it is necessary (and worthwhile).”

Need to do far more, Judge.

"The ruling dramatically expands the scope of the class-action lawsuit that compelled the Trump administration to reunite the separated families and prolongs a political tangle for the president that had been nearing its end."

Better than nothing, but nowhere near good enough.

"Sabraw said he would hear arguments later this month to decide whether to require the Trump administration to locate the rest of the families. But he said “the Court has an obligation to resolve that question,” especially for parents who may have been deported without their children, and although it “may be burdensome, it clearly can be done.”

Too much talk, not enough action, Judge.

"Otherwise, he wrote, parents may have been deported without their children, creating the “very real possibility of a permanently orphaned child” because of the “questionable” actions of government officials."

You think?  Again, too much talk, Judge.  Not enough action.

"The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the parents in the lawsuit, cheered the decision and said it would ask Sabraw to order the Trump administration to provide the names and contact information of all the separated families, as it did for the ones split up last spring. “The court powerfully stated that there’s a lot at stake here and that it was not prepared to let the government escape responsibility simply because it might be burdensome to track the families down,” said Lee Gelernt, lead attorney in the family separation lawsuit and deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project."

Imagine that.

"More than 2,700 migrant children were separated from their parents from May 5 to June 20 in a controversial attempt to deter rising numbers of illegal border crossings, particularly of families, most of whom were released in the United States because of what the Trump administration called legal “loopholes.”

Trump and his henchmen need to be held accountable.  Not given a free ride.

"Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions opted to criminally prosecute all adults who crossed the border illegally, even if they were with children. Adults were detained, and their children were shuttled to shelters across the country. Trump rescinded the crackdown on June 20 amid widespread protests, including from Republicans, that the separations were harming children. Days later, Sabraw ordered the administration to put the families back together, which required combing through handwritten and electronic files to find children as young as babies and nearly 500 parents who had been deported without them."

How does something like that happen?  Why hasn't Trump been held personally responsible?

"Almost all the families had been reunited when the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services issued the report in January that surprised Sabraw and the ACLU. The report estimated that “thousands” of other children may have been taken from their parents, including from July 1, 2017, to November 2017, during a trial run of the crackdown in west Texas and New Mexico. Until then, the ACLU had heard of only a few such cases. At a hearing last month, Justice Department lawyers said most of those children were probably with a parent or a close relative who had been vetted by the government, and expressed concern that contacting the families could traumatize the children. They suggested having parents file individual lawsuits to get their children back. Sabraw, a Republican appointee in the Southern District of California, said in his ruling that such a requirement would make it “virtually impossible” for deported parents to get their children back."

Up to you, Judge, to force the issue.

"The ACLU has noted that many parents hail from remote villages in Guatemala and other Central American nations and would face severe difficulties in finding their children. In his ruling, Sabraw noted that lawmakers and government inspectors have been looking into the family separations, but he said that did not diminish the court’s obligations in the case. “Clearly,” the judge wrote, “the matter of determining the ‘number and status of separated children’ who have entered [government] care at any point in time because of the Administration’s family separation policy is not going away.”

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.

3-15-19

Trump has lost his mind. The Washington Post reports:

"President Trump is releasing a $4.7 trillion budget plan Monday that stands as a sharp challenge to Congress and the Democrats trying to unseat him, the first act in a multi-front struggle that could consume Washington for the next 18 months. The budget proposal dramatically raises the possibility of another government shutdown in October, and Trump used the budget to notify Congress he is seeking an additional $8.6 billion to build sections of a wall along the U. S.-Mexico border."

That's insane.  Won't get it.  Certainly, not in the House.

"The budget also calls on increased military spending, another in a string of proposals that prompted Democrats to label the budget a non-starter that will not win congressional support. If lawmakers and Trump don’t reach a spending agreement by the end of September, many government operations will ground to a halt."