A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit claiming President Trump incited violence at a 2016 campaign rally in Louisville, Ky. can proceed, the Huffington Post reported.
Judge David J. Hale on Friday rejected the free speech defense in the suit against Trump, his campaign and three of its supporters.
The incident in question came in March 2016, when then candidate Trump yelled “get ‘em out of here” at a campaign event filled with protesters in the crowd.
The protesters who brought the suit said Trump supporters attacked them at the rally.
“It is plausible that Trump’s direction to ‘get ’em out of here’ advocated the use of force. Unlike the statements at issue in the cases cited by the Trump Defendants, ‘get ’em out of here’ is stated in the imperative; it was an order, an instruction, a command,” the judge wrote.
Trump last year blamed violence at his rallies on “bad dudes,” who are “really dangerous.”
“We have some protesters who are bad dudes,” he said at the time.
“They have done bad things, and they are really dangerous and get in there and start hitting people, and we had a couple big, strong, powerful guys doing damage to people. … It’s usually the police, the municipal government, because I don’t have guards all over these stadiums. I mean, we fill up stadiums.”
A lawyer for Trump said the supporters in Kentucky were not acting on behalf of the Republican candidate.
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https://twitter.com/PriyaElan/status/848063358544863232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefault%26version%3D4aa09c5f8e7ed94c5680db6d0895ecf5%26f%3Dpragmaticobots%26t_i%3D58325%2520http%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252F%253Fp%253D58325%26t_u%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252Fmonday-afternoon-thread-billy-joel-week%252F%26t_e%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_d%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_t%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26s_o%3Ddefault%26l%3D
https://twitter.com/TheUndefeated/status/849033784599105536
Good Thread
https://twitter.com/ProPublica/status/849000820318371841
NBC has confirmed the accounts in the WaPo story! Bloop!
Blackwater founder Erik Prince represented Donald Trump at a secret overseas meeting convened by the United Arab Emirates in early January, two intelligence sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
The meeting was first reported by the Washington Post, which said that Prince met with an unnamed Russian emissary close to Vladimir Putin. The Post said the meeting was an effort to convince Russia to stop backing Iran.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/blackwater-founder-repped-trump-secret-meeting-overseas-sources-n742266
https://twitter.com/MattAsherS/status/845754247505465347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefault%26version%3D4aa09c5f8e7ed94c5680db6d0895ecf5%26f%3Dpragmaticobots%26t_i%3D58325%2520http%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252F%253Fp%253D58325%26t_u%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252Fmonday-afternoon-thread-billy-joel-week%252F%26t_e%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_d%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_t%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26s_o%3Ddefault%26l%3D
More than half of voters think Trump has weakened the U.S. on the world stage
April 3, 2017
He hasn’t even been in office three months but half of the nation’s voters already think President Donald Trump has weakened the United States’ role in the world, according to a new McClatchy-Marist poll.
Since he was sworn into office in January, Trump has been criticized for a series of what some call foreign policy missteps: authorizing a raid in Yemen that left a Navy seal dead, blasting a deal that calls for the U.S. to accept 1,250 refugees from Australia and insulting German Chancellor Angela Merkel by refusing to shake her hand when they met at the White House.
And in January, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto canceled a meeting with Trump after the U.S. president insisted Mexico pay for a wall along the U.S. southern border.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article142059439.html
A Former Trump Adviser Met With A Russian Spy
Carter Page told BuzzFeed News that he had been in contact with at least one Russian spy working undercover out of Moscow’s UN office in 2013.
NEW YORK — A former campaign adviser for Donald Trump met with and passed documents to a Russian intelligence operative in New York City in 2013.
The adviser, Carter Page, met with a Russian intelligence operative named Victor Podobnyy, who was later charged by the US government alongside two others for acting as unregistered agents of a foreign government. The charges, filed in January 2015, came after federal investigators busted a Russian spy ring that was seeking information on US sanctions as well as efforts to develop alternative energy. Page is an energy consultant.
A court filing by the US government contains a transcript of a recorded conversation in which Podobnyy speaks with one of the other men busted in the spy ring, Igor Sporyshev, about trying to recruit someone identified as “Male-1.” BuzzFeed News has confirmed that “Male-1” is Page.
The revelation of Page’s connection to Russian intelligence — which occurred more than three years before his association with Trump — is the most clearly documented contact to date between Russian intelligence and someone in Trump’s orbit. It comes as federal investigators probe whether Trump’s campaign-era associates — including Page — had any inappropriate contact with Russian officials or intelligence operatives during the court of the election. Page has volunteered to help Senate investigators in their inquiry
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alimwatkins/a-former-trump-adviser-met-with-a-russian-spy?utm_term=.qxYD0XGXRm#.fp1BoKMKGP
This is why there needs to be NO MORE STORIES about these people.
Trump’s budget would hit rural towns especially hard — but they’re willing to trust him
By Jenna Johnson April 2 at 7:43 PM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-budget-would-hit-rural-towns-especially-hard–but-theyre-willing-to-trust-him/2017/04/02/51a456d4-12e3-11e7-833c-503e1f6394c9_story.html?utm_term=.666fe26a4e51&wpisrc=nl_most-draw5&wpmm=1
The president’s proposed budget would disproportionately harm the rural areas and small towns that were key to his unexpected win. Many red states like Oklahoma — where every single county went for Trump — are more reliant on the federal funds that Trump wants to cut than states that voted for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Durant has already undergone years of state budget cuts, as Oklahoma has been unable to balance its increasing costs with declines in the oil industry, tax cuts and generous corporate tax credits. That has made federal funds even more vital to the city, especially for programs that serve the poor and working class.
“It’s very easy to look at a laundry list of things that exist and say, ‘Cut, cut, cut, cut,’ and say, ‘Well, this is wasteful spending’ without really understanding the true impact,” said Durant City Manager Tim Rundel, who grew up in poverty in northwest Arkansas. “The bottom line is a lot of our citizens depend on those programs.”
https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/849012446786273280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefault%26version%3D4aa09c5f8e7ed94c5680db6d0895ecf5%26f%3Dpragmaticobots%26t_i%3D58325%2520http%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252F%253Fp%253D58325%26t_u%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252Fmonday-afternoon-thread-billy-joel-week%252F%26t_e%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_d%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_t%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26s_o%3Ddefault%26l%3D
https://twitter.com/soulphoodie/status/848731318921945088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefault%26version%3D4aa09c5f8e7ed94c5680db6d0895ecf5%26f%3Dpragmaticobots%26t_i%3D58325%2520http%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252F%253Fp%253D58325%26t_u%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252Fmonday-afternoon-thread-billy-joel-week%252F%26t_e%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_d%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_t%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26s_o%3Ddefault%26l%3D
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/848590859117506563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdisqus.com%2Fembed%2Fcomments%2F%3Fbase%3Ddefault%26version%3D4aa09c5f8e7ed94c5680db6d0895ecf5%26f%3Dpragmaticobots%26t_i%3D58325%2520http%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252F%253Fp%253D58325%26t_u%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fpragmaticobotsunite.com%252Fmonday-afternoon-thread-billy-joel-week%252F%26t_e%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_d%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26t_t%3DMonday%2520Afternoon%2520Thread%253A%2520Billy%2520Joel%2520Week%26s_o%3Ddefault%26l%3D
insane. MYLAN are crooks & poisoners
They jacked up the price of those TAINTED EpiPens by 500%
We’re living in DANGEROUS times, folks.
One of many Joe Manchin entanglements..
https://twitter.com/thomasjwood/status/848644084432605184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.balloon-juice.com%2F2017%2F04%2F02%2Fopen-thread-his-constituents-are-moving-faster-than-steve-pigmuck-king%2F
Trump’s acrimony with U.S. intelligence agencies is far from over
04/03/17 12:56 PM—UPDATED 04/03/17 01:01 PM
By Steve Benen
There have been conflicts between presidents, presidential candidates, and U.S. intelligence agencies, but Americans have arguably never seen the kind of ongoing acrimony between Donald Trump and intelligence professionals.
There’s no real question as to who threw the first punch. As a candidate, Trump said he wouldn’t trust the information he receives from American intelligence officials. “I won’t use them because they’ve made such bad decisions,” the Republican said before the election. When agencies provided Trump with proof of Russian interference in the election, he not only rejected their findings; he publicly mocked the CIA.
The tensions continued for months, prompting the Washington Post’s Michael Gerson, a former George W. Bush speechwriter, to describe Trump’s criticisms as “an insanely dangerous antic that materially undermines American security.” Michael Hayden, a former director of the NSA and CIA, had a related piece, raising practical concerns about the deteriorating relationship between the amateur president and the intelligence community.
It didn’t help matters when the White House reportedly leaked sensitive information to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) last week, as part of a clumsy scheme to bolster one of Trump’s conspiracy theories.
The Associated Press reported over the weekend on one of Team Trump’s more provocative ideas, which would almost certainly make a bad situation worse.
It’s hard to overstate just how bad an idea this would be.
They Could Bury Us: Will Outrage Fatigue Allow Trump to Survive?
by D.R. Tucker April 2, 2017 3:00 PM
We cannot gainsay the possibility that the strategy could work.
To reconfigure a famous line from Senator Marco Rubio, we may have to dispel with the notion that Donald Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing when it comes to his efforts to change the subject and dampen public outrage about Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. He may know exactly what he’s doing.
…………………………………
Trump and his enablers know that public outrage can be fleeting. They understand that there is a non-negligible likelihood that many Americans will become comfortably numb to Trump’s antics, turn their attention away from politics entirely, and move on to the same bread and circuses they indulged in during the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush years. All they have to do is wait for enough Americans to get bored, and they can go right back to doing their (and Putin’s) dirty work.
It’s easy to mock the voters who are still pledging allegiance to Trump even as he screws them, the voters who think his Twitter tirades are terrific. It’s easy to regard these voters as folks who are, to use the Washington Post ’s famous line about members of the religious right, “largely poor, uneducated and easy to command.”
What about the rest of us?
Will the anti-Trump resistance grow or diminish as we head towards the summer? Eight years ago, the Tea Party gained momentum as the temperatures rose, sometimes to frightening levels. Will those opposed to Trump demonstrate similar resolve?
Complicity, enabling, selling out, greed and grifting will have probably done the job long before outrage fatigue ever sets in..
The Increasing Incompetence of Republican Presidents
by Nancy LeTourneau April 3, 2017 10:28 AM
One of the things that modern-day historians have done is rank U.S. presidents from best to worst. Wikipedia has an interesting collection of these dating back to 1948. To help provide a visual map, they’ve color-coded them by quartiles:
Blue – first quartile
Green – second quartile
Orange – third quartile
Red – fourth quartile
Some interesting patterns show up. For example, according to these historians, this country had a string of fairly competent presidents in its early years from Washington to Jackson. Then came a period of some of the worst, as the Whig Party was in the midst of its demise (primarily over the issue of slavery) – giving way to the formation of the Republican Party. The years following the Great Depression brought us another series of competent presidents – from FDR through Johnson – followed by our modern-day presidents who have gravitated to the second and third quartile.
MONDAY, APR 3, 2017 06:00 AM -0700
Bernie is wrong and Malcolm was right: What white liberals so often get wrong about racism and Donald Trump
CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
In the United States, white liberals and progressives have historically shown a serious inability to grapple with the realities of the color line and the enduring power of white supremacy. Many of them are either unable or unwilling to understand that fighting against class inequality does not necessarily remedy the specific harms done to African-Americans and other people of color by white racism.
For example, last Friday Sen. Bernie Sanders spoke in Boston at the Our Revolution Rally, where he said this:
“Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don’t agree, because I’ve been there.”
Given Sanders’ long history of fighting for human rights, his comments are profoundly disappointing. They also demonstrate the blind spot and willful myopia that too many white liberals and progressives have toward white racism in America.
…
Sanders is also committing another error in reasoning and inference, one that is common among white Americans in the post-civil rights era. Racism and white supremacy are not a function of what is in peoples’ hearts, what they tell you about their beliefs or the intentions behind their words or deeds. In reality, racism and white supremacy are a function of outcomes and structures. Moreover, the “nice people” that Sanders is talking about benefit from white privilege and the other unearned advantages that come from being white in America.
Sanders’ statement is also a reminder of the incorrect lessons that the Democratic Party is in danger of learning from its 2016 defeat.
Chasing the largely mythical “white working-class voters whose loyalties went from “Obama to Trump” will not win future elections. The white working-class voters they covet are solidly Republican.
Alienating people of color and women by embracing Trump’s base of human deplorables will not strengthen the Democratic Party. It will only drive away those voters who are the Democratic Party’s most reliable supporters.
Sanders has unintentionally exemplified the way that both white liberals and white conservatives are heavily influenced by the white racial frame. As such, both sides of the ideological divide are desperate to see the best in their fellow white Americans, despite the latter’s racist behavior.
This is why “white allies” are often viewed with great suspicion by people of color. Malcolm X discussed this point in 1963:
“In this deceitful American game of power politics, the Negroes (i.e., the race problem, the integration and civil rights issues) are nothing but tools, used by one group of whites called Liberals against another group of whites called Conservatives, either to get into power or to remain in power. Among whites here in America, the political teams are no longer divided into Democrats and Republicans. The whites who are now struggling for control of the American political throne are divided into “liberal” and “conservative” camps. The white liberals from both parties cross party lines to work together toward the same goal, and white conservatives from both parties do likewise.
The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative. Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.”
http://www.salon.com/2017/04/03/bernie-is-wrong-and-malcolm-was-right-what-white-liberals-so-often-get-wrong-about-racism-and-donald-trump/
I’m pretty sick and tired of Bernie Sanders. GO AWAY!
“…fighting against class inequality does not necessarily remedy the specific harms done to African-Americans and other people of color by white racism.”
Trayvon Martin. He dreamed of going to college and having a career in aviation. For him, a dream that was totally within his grasp. But one night he is literally catapulted into Emmett Till’s America and he does not survive. His murderer is set free by a jury and a nation hauntingly reminiscent of the time and the place and the people who allowed Emmett Till’s killers to go free.
This was not about class inequality, and it is obvious that taxing the wealthy, raising the minimum wage, recognizing healthcare as a right, etc…are not going to protect people against potentially lethal harm caused by white racism.
And then there’s police brutality, a very significant source of lethal harm.
How many candidates are willing to talk about police brutality? Something close to zero, I would think. Democrats won’t talk about police brutality because they are afraid of losing the support of white voters. They are afraid to say that the police can be anything other than heroes who put their lives on the line to protect others.
If we can’t even talk about this when we vote for candidates, then we’ll never be able to talk about how we “remedy the specific harms done to African-Americans and other people of color by white racism.” What is more harmful than death?
Well, I can see the problem but I sure as hell don’t know how it gets resolved. When I was a kid, I figured the racists would die off. I didn’t know back then how quickly they were being replaced.
*** How many candidates ***
I should say “presidential candidates”.
“…both white liberals and white conservatives are heavily influenced by the white racial frame. As such, both sides of the ideological divide are desperate to see the best in their fellow white Americans, despite the latter’s racist behavior.”
Candidates are punished for speaking out against “fellow white Americans”. Remember Hillary and the “basket of deplorables”?
“I know there are only 60 days left to make our case — and don’t get complacent, don’t see the latest outrageous, offensive, inappropriate comment and think, well, he’s done this time. We are living in a volatile political environment. You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic — you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” Hillary Clinton, Sept. 9, 2016.
It’s hard to know what people really think when they are essentially forbidden to say what they think. That’s where we are now.
It does really help – and doesn’t ring quite as hollow, if the messenger isn’t also somewhat guilty of some of the same stuff and didn’t previously employ some of the same tactics even if to a lesser extent..
That is God’s truth, Elihass. The last paragraph quoting Malcolm X in DeVega’s article describes the Clintons perfectly.
If we go back to PBO’s 2008 campaign, we’ve got his pastor Reverand Wright being quoted out of context. Who in mainstream media was interested in what he was really saying except Bill Moyers (who isn’t really mainstream) and that was after the right wing failed to derail Obama’s campaign.
So that was nine years ago and the only change I’ve observed is that a fat, vulgar, billionaire buffoon can hold Klan rallies, say absolutely anything no matter how false or how vile or how ridiculous, and still be elected president. Meanwhile, Democrats are held to a different standard and they are afraid to take what they perceive to be controversial positions with respect to race, or anything else for that matter.
This is why people like Sanders and Warren limit their outreach mostly to class issues. And I suspect the reasoning is that these issues are extremely important and we do what we can when we can. It’s about securing the power first because without power all we can do is march in the streets.
Well, it’s easy enough to see the problems here. Black folks are the most reliable Democratic voters, a Democrat cannot win a presidential election without their support, but race is NEVER front and center in elections.
So, do people not really understand the difference between class inequality and the “specific harms done to African-Americans and other people of color by white racism.” Well, there is willful ignorance and that accounts for much of the lack of understanding among certain whites. But I suspect that Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren understand it quite well, and if we were flies on the wall at meetings held outside of public access, that would most likely be verified.
And I think that takes us straight back to class inequality and the belief that if we could get everyone walking in taller cotton, we might not have to deal with race. People with full bellies and decent housing and electronic gadgets and a sense of security might be more tolerant of each other. That is an oversimplification, of course, but there is actually some truth in it. And it is worth noting that eradicating poverty would be a good thing. I am 100 percent behind Sanders and Warren on their class inequality issues. And the truth is, there is so much going wrong right now that a division of labor is highly appropriate. I’m okay with their having their turn at the mic.
What we are lacking in our country is honesty and truth. And that deficit pretty much accounts for everything. Revisionism goes way, way back and it is ingrained, and willful ignorance is encouraged. Trump’s presidency is, hopefully, the tipping point. I guess we’ll see.
Trump’s Populist Con Job On Trade
by Nancy LeTourneau April 3, 2017 12:32 PM
…………………….
Now, as people like Paul Krugman are beginning to document, we’re seeing that the president never bothered to think anything through beyond the con. His executive orders on trade last week were a total “nothingburger” and he only plans to make modest changes to NAFTA. Krugman explains why.
Just as Trump’s lies about bringing back coal jobs are based on a mythical understanding of the root of the problem, his castigation of trade agreements as the source of the problem for working class Americans is based on a lie.
Can and Should Mitch McConnell Go Nuclear?
by Martin Longman April 3, 2017 1:27 PM
Adam Jentleson, writing in the New York Times, makes a couple of useful points about the prospect that Mitch McConnell will break the rules to change the Senate rules and eliminate the filibuster for lifetime Supreme Court nominees.
The first worthwhile point Jentleson makes is about simple proportionality. He compares what led up to Harry Reid’s 2013 decision to eliminate the filibuster for lower court nominees and executive branch nominees to what McConnell has so far faced in the way of Democratic obstruction. In other words, has McConnell exhausted his alternatives to going nuclear?
The War on Women is Real
by Martin Longman April 3, 2017 2:41 PM
Here’s a helpful list compiled by Axios of the known allegations of sexual harassment against Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly, along with some of the settlement details. I think it’s useful to see it all in one place:
O’Reilly’s accusers
……………………..
Of course, this is just one very influential media organ. The more consequential War on Women is taking place right now in the Senate where Neil Gorsuch is being considered for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court.
This is just wrong! Tax the one percent instead.
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From TOD
CEB
April 3, 2017 at 11:31 am
In all of this reporting and speculation about why so many whites voted for the deplorable one is disingenuous. The only thing that people need to know is why 99% Black people and 67% brown people and others did not.
Sockpuppets, Secessionists, and Breitbart
How Russia May Have Orchestrated a Massive Social Media Influence Campaign
By Jonathon Morgan and Kris Shaffer, with support from C.E. Carey, Wendy Mak, and Alex Amend
While the FBI looks into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia and the role of far-right outlets in manipulating the media ecosystem, the Senate Intelligence Committee investigates Russia’s use of paid trolls and bots, and former high-ranking Trump administration officials offer testimony in exchange for immunity, new evidence points to a highly orchestrated, large-scale influence campaign that infiltrated Twitter, Facebook, and the comments section of Breitbart during the run up to the 2016 election. Tens of thousands of bots and hundreds of human-operated, fake accounts acted in concert to push a pro-Trump, nativist agenda across all three platforms in the spring of 2016. Many of these accounts have since been refocused to support US secessionist movements and far-right candidates in upcoming European election, all of which have strong ties to Moscow and suggest a coordinated Russian campaign.
Evidence of Infiltration
Between April 2016, just prior to Trump clinching his party’s nomination, and July of that year, just before Steve Bannon left Breitbart news to become the Trump campaign’s chief executive, the discussion in conservative Twitter communities, the Trump campaign’s Facebook page, and Breitbart’s comment section suddenly and simultaneously changed.
https://medium.com/data-for-democracy/sockpuppets-secessionists-and-breitbart-7171b1134cd5
https://medium.com/data-for-democracy/sockpuppets-secessionists-and-breitbart-7171b1134cd5
HHS Secretary Price’s stock-trading controversy grows more serious
04/03/17 11:20 AM
By Steve Benen
The fact that Tom Price was even confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services points to a deterioration of political norms.
As regular readers may recall, in late January, there were some striking reports published about the far-right Georgia Republican and his controversial investment record. The Wall Street Journal reported, for example, that Price “traded more than $300,000 in shares of health-related companies over the past four years while sponsoring and advocating legislation that potentially could affect those companies’ stocks.” Kaiser Health New added soon after that Price got “a sweetheart deal” on an investment opportunity from a foreign biotech firm. CNN then reported that the congressman bought stock in a medical company, introduced legislation that would benefit that company, and then received a campaign contribution from the company’s PAC.
We learned soon after that Price allegedly undervalued stocks he owns “in a pharmaceutical company both to the committee and in his financial disclosure forms,” and a separate Wall Street Journal piece added, “Three months after investing in four companies with manufacturing plants in Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary introduced legislation that would directly benefit those companies.”
USA Today, citing research from government ethics lawyers, noted on Feb. 8 that Price’s investments “warrant probes by both federal securities regulators and the House ethics committee.” Two days later, Senate Republicans, without exception, confirmed Price anyway.
The revelations, however, continue. ProPublica had this report on Friday afternoon:
Oh my.
Trump haunted by his record during Sexual Assault Prevention Month
04/03/17 10:40 AM
By Steve Benen
…………………..
Again, it’s a good thing when the White House recognizes National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, and there’s nothing problematic about the text of the proclamation.
The problem, however, is with the person who signed the proclamation.
As much of the world probably recalls, Donald Trump was recorded in 2005 boasting about his romantic exploits, which eventually led him to brag about committing sexual assaults. The Republican said, among other things, that he kisses women he considers beautiful – “I don’t even wait,” Trump claimed – which he said he can get away with because of his public profile.
“And when you’re a star, they let you do it,” Trump said on the recording. “You can do anything. Grab ‘em by the p—y.”
After Trump denied having done what he bragged about doing, 11 women came forward to accuse the Republican of sexual misconduct – one of whom is currently suing the president for defamation, stemming from the controversy.
This isn’t a dynamic that will simply go away. If Trump honors those with physical disabilities, we’ll be reminded of his mockery of Serge Kovaleski. If the president recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month, we’ll think of his racist attacks against a Latino judge. If he honors Gold Star parents, we’ll be reminded of his unfortunate remarks about the Khan family.
As long as the media help normalize and make it all go away…
The double standards playing out before us…
Bill Cosby prosecuted, Trump playing pretend in the People’s House…
Camille Cosby Phd, philanthropist, wife of 53years, publicly humiliated, accused and attacked as complicit…shunned and treated as a pariah…
Melania Trump – dubious, lying, immigrant-hating heartless immigrant…plagiarizing, gold-digging 3rd wife of buffoon older than her own father…recast as frightened, delicate, innocent damsel, caught up in a desperate situation she had no choice in…hapless victim crying to be understood, and needing to be rallied around, defended, protected and saved from distress..
https://twitter.com/APCentralRegion/status/848899282040213505
https://twitter.com/oregonvt/status/848914493048590337
OMG! They’re predators. Just shut the place down already!
https://twitter.com/gabrielsherman/status/848910208378302464
FILTHY, DIRTY, PREDATORS!
There! FIXED
Uh uh uh 😕😕😒😬😤
https://twitter.com/CAPAction/status/848908519118123010
https://twitter.com/meagnacarta/status/848679489148211201
So much love, respect and gratitude for her…no matter how she wears her hair…
https://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP/status/848906232329011200
I suspect they will incarcerate him at the supermax in Florence, CO.
He’ll never be heard of again until the day they execute him.
https://twitter.com/AJENews/status/848878077073657857
https://twitter.com/AP/status/848902584689713152
Putin-driven agenda. Don’t fall for this. Our AMERICAN media is being bombarded with Russian propaganda.
Precisely…elections coming up and little man wants to set up scenario where he’s the savior and only one who can keep them ‘safe’…
There was something rather odd about the footage I saw on BBC of the supposed scene…tight, narrow camera shots and all… and everyone calm and pretty much going about their business…unless folks are just so desensitized they don’t even run away from explosions, but stick around to calmly tour the active scene, smile and take pictures…
Here are just a few of the reasons why we oppose the confirmation of Neil #Gorsuch to the Supreme Court https://t.co/tklJsC0Xr2 pic.twitter.com/VwF3qNbcpc
— Legal Defense Fund (@NAACP_LDF) April 3, 2017
If you live in CO, DE, IN, CA, MO, MO, NJ, HI, MT, or VA, please ask your senator to #StopGorsuch. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 https://t.co/uPVDux0Rxz
— laura olin (@lauraolin) March 31, 2017
DA PHUQ?
Trump’s trust was secretly revised so he can draw money from his businesses whenever he wants, @ProPublica scoops https://t.co/OH3mXHXPu6
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 3, 2017
Three Democratic Senators Ignore the Threat of a Justice Neil Gorsuch
by D.R. Tucker April 3, 2017 5:00 AM
Don’t they realize that it would be like putting Donald Trump himself on the Supreme Court?
It’s impossible to grasp the logic of Senators Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), who have signaled that they will vote to confirm unqualified Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Kneeling in subservience to Trump and Gorsuch will not spare Donnelly, Heitkamp and Manchin the wrath of Republican voters in the 2018 midterm elections; those voters hate all things Democratic, and will probably not even remember how Donnelly, Heitkamp and Manchin voted on the Gorsuch nomination.
Will other Senate Democrats also vote to confirm Gorsuch? If so, and if Gorsuch makes it to the High Court, how will those Democrats respond when Justice Gorsuch is in the majority on decisions that reaffirm unequal justice under law in this country? What will those Democrats say? “Oops”? “My bad”?
Former Senator and Vice President Joe Biden famously declared that of all the votes he cast in the Senate, the one he most regretted was his vote to confirm the late Justice Antonin Scalia in 1986, “because [Scalia] was so effective” in advancing a right-wing agenda on the Court. It is a guarantee that if Gorsuch makes it to the Court, Donnelly, Heitkamp and Manchin will also be haunted by regret for the remainder of their lives. It’s as though they cannot hear the pleas of those concerned about Gorsuch’s radicalism.
It’s interesting that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell invoked the October 1991 confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas in his appearance on Fox News Sunday yesterday. Eleven Democratic Senators made the disastrous decision to confirm Thomas back then, and this country has been suffering the consequences ever since.
When in the blazing hell will these DINOs ever learn?
Trump’s latest secret plan: dealing with North Korea without China
04/03/17 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump assured voters he had a secret plan to defeat ISIS, which he’d only share after the election. It turned out to be a rather weak con: once in office, the president asked U.S. military leaders to come with a plan for him, and they came back with a strategy that looks an awful lot like Barack Obama’s plan.
But Trump’s affinity for secret plans hasn’t faded. The Republican president sat down with the Financial Times over the weekend, and the exchange on North Korea seemed especially noteworthy.
This is maddening because he doesn’t have a clue, just running off his big loud mouth.
When the president’s son-in-law gets too much power
04/03/17 09:22 AM
By Steve Benen
The most powerful man in the White House shouldn’t be the president’s son-in-law, and yet, Jared Kushner’s portfolio is quickly becoming the punch-line to a very strange joke.
Here, for example, was the news last night:
That NBC News report came the same day as the New York Times reported on Kushner’s central role in preparing for the Chinese president’s visit.
McConnell dissembles as Supreme Court fight enters the home stretch
04/03/17 08:40 AM—UPDATED 04/03/17 09:17 AM
By Steve Benen
……………..
In other words, either Gorsuch will be confirmed on an up-or-down vote, or Republicans will change the rules and then confirm Gorsuch on an up-or-down vote.
But McConnell didn’t stop there. He came armed with a series of talking points, each of which were based on obvious errors of fact and/or judgment:
1. Reflecting on the Merrick Garland nomination, and his party’s unprecedented blockade, McConnell said, “[T]he tradition had been not to confirm vacancies created in the middle of a presidential year…. We were right in the middle of a presidential election year.” First, Garland was nominated in March, which isn’t the middle of an election year, and second, no such tradition exists in reality.
2. McConnell, pointing to the election results, argued, “The American people decided they wanted Donald Trump to make the nomination, not Hillary Clinton.” In reality, Americans preferred Clinton to Trump by nearly 3 million votes. (Trump won by way of the electoral college, not “the American people.”)
3. McConnell added, “What’s before us now Chuck is not what happened last year.” That’s backwards: there’s a Supreme Court vacancy because of what happened last year. What’s before us now is the direct result of the events in 2016.
4. McConnell insisted, “There’s no rational basis, no principled reason for voting against Neil Gorsuch.” Given that McConnell imposed a year-long blockade on a qualified, compromise nominee in a raw display of maximalist partisanship, the GOP leader long ago forfeited the right to talk about “principles.”
5. Pointing to a rule that doesn’t exist, McConnell concluded, “You don’t fill Supreme Court vacancies in the middle of a presidential election. That’s what Joe Biden said back in 1992.” That’s not even close to what Joe Biden said back in 1992.
And while it’s problematic for the Senate Majority Leader to make untrue claims about a Supreme Court nomination fight, let’s also note how bizarre it is for McConnell to focus so heavily on process. A year ago, the Kentucky Republican imposed an unprecedented Supreme Court blockade, refusing to give a compromise nominee a hearing, a debate, or a vote.
rosierifka @rosierifka
Fascinating new poll: Women have made 86% of the activists anti-Trump calls to Congress. The resistance is female.
https://t.co/Mgt8tqZwO6
I’m not surprised but more men need to get on board.
Part 2 of the LATimes editorial on Dolt45
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-why-trump-lies/#nt=oft12aH-1gp2
Part 1
http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/
What do these women all have in common?
Hmmmmm
https://mobile.twitter.com/jbendery/status/847866932510547968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.balloon-juice.com%2F2017%2F04%2F03%2Fmonday-morning-open-thread-keep-resisting-2%2F
Good Morning, Everyone 😄 😄😄
Good Morning, Everyone.