David Sanborn week continues. I know one thing, I definitely need music a healing force.
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Black Girls Rock!
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Potus Takes Oath of Office
Flotus & Daughters at Great Wall of China
My Brothers Keeper
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AFRO PUFFS
Most Adorable Shoe Stealer
Six Little Babies
Fatherhood
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Even though 3Chics Politico is written and curated by three women: Ametia, Rikyrah, and SouthernGirl2, I must nominate this as one of the most engaging blogs I've found. Devoted to politics and culture, these three shine a light on contemporary life with humor and spirit.
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Presidential hug
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https://twitter.com/FriendEden100/status/878033239109017600
Thanks for holding it down on Twitter, SG2!!!!!
Ditto. SG2 is a warrior.
ANOTHER COONNTASTIC IDIOT Like clock work the fake dems come out of the woodwork and do the GOP’ biddinng.
Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.) added a new subliminal wrinkle to this line of thinking when, in an interview with MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki, he explained Pelosi’s problem, while referring to her as “Miss Pelosi” about a zillion times:
FORD JR.: This is nothing personal against Miss Pelosi, Mr. Hoyer, or any of them. But the reality is what Tim Ryan said, Miss Pelosi is featured in all of these ads and many of these ads, of these Democrats are running in […]
KORNACKI: You are from Tennessee. You are from a red state. What does that communicate to voters when there’s Nancy Pelosi, and they say Nancy Pelosi and her values? What does that say?
FORD JR.: I’m not, I’m not smart enough — we could get into it. But one thing I know, it translates into a loss in a lot of ways. Now, to your point about her insulating herself: if all of that was resulting in victories and legislation being passed on infrastructure and taxes and health care and favor the things that we Democrats want, it’s hard to quarrel with. But when that’s not happening, I think you have to be willing to have the uncomfortable conversations that need to take place now. And the reality is, Miss Pelosi was as toxic among Republicans in Georgia in that district as Mr. Trump was amongst the Democrats. The difference is, more Republicans came out and voted against Jon Ossoff and presumably what Miss Pelosi represented.
Ford, as Kornacki noted earlier in the interview, lost the 2002 race for Democratic leader by a tally of 177-29. Maybe Nancy Pelosi ran a Nancy Pelosi ad against him.
Ford’s arguments, such as they are, don’t make a lot of sense. As Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) pointed out, the job of a House leader is to lead the House, not to avoid being placed in Republican attack ads. Forming a national electoral strategy isn’t Pelosi’s job; it’s the job of Democratic Party campaign organizations, which didn’t pull their weight in these special elections.
I suspect the real crux of Ford’s argument, though, is his concern about “values” and their relationship to competing in the areas he identifies. Unfortunately, he never got around to describing the Democratic values he thinks Pelosi represents poorly, and Kornacki didn’t ask. However, the conservative description of Pelosi as a “San Francisco liberal” isn’t all that hard to figure out. Neither is “Miss Pelosi.”
What this really is about is an attempt to shift Democrats away from the values of inclusion and equality that a San Francisco liberal and first woman speaker of the House represents. And hell, maybe Ford is right. Maybe without Pelosi around their necks, Democrats could have improved more than 20 points in these districts. I mean, look how badly this Nancy Pelosi ad hurt Harold Ford Jr. when he lost his Senate bid in 2006:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24rM3–lIv8
http://ijr.com/the-response/2017/06/904684-former-dem-rep-harold-ford-explains-miss-pelosi-needs-go/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
If any thinking Democrat ever listened to that slimy, corrupt, self-serving weasel Harold Ford jr., there’d be no Democratic Party…and no progressive gains made…And we’d all be wearing camouflage, kissing Bubba’s a*se…and saluting the confederate flag..
He should take his slimy, transparently deceptive, greedy, grasping, can White folks please, please validate and approve of my sorry mediocre b*tt, desperately manufactured formulaic-politico and disappear…
We were done with, and well-rid of him ages ago..Thank God!
http://media.salon.com/2012/07/ford_rect3-460×307.jpg
Ametia, SG, Rikyrah…can you please delete this ⬆️⬆️…It’s a duplicate…Didn’t realize it posted as I was still making edits..
THE COONTASTIC SENATOR TIM SCOTT
COON COON COON
Self-loathing, psycopathic, massa-pleaser, with a gaping hole in his soul…I bet many in his extended family and community, will be negatively impacted by the evil shenanigans he volunteers his blackface on behalf of, to absolve and provide cover for..
He really thinks he’s slick…
Notice the use of the narrow, weasel words ‘binary’…and ‘affirmed’…
When it comes to healthcare, citizens in the greatest, wealthiest country in the world should not be limited to a ‘binary’ choice between an originally well-intentioned but hobbled initiative that could be easily improved upon, and another that essentially destroys the good intention, and uses it as an opportunity to further short-change and destroy the sick and vulnerable, while sabotaging and bankrupting the original initiative to further enrich and enable profit-motivated Health Insurance companies to make-off with even more money, while screwing over the sick and providing even less coverage…and also more importantly, to give the wealthy even more tax breaks they absolutely don’t need..
And ‘affirming’ the need for pell grants, is not the same as actually budgeting for and actually making them available…And especially not when that ‘affirming’ is coming from a well-known liar and narcissistic racist buffoon for whom everyone is merely a prop to advance and elevate himself…
Where do the republicans find these soulless, self-loathing people of color like Tim Scott, Avik Roy, Ajit Pai etc..who will for money and a temporary position, tap and jig and do just about anything for massa…including gleefully collude with the very same massa who hates them and only exploits them and uses them to do in people who look like them..
Fuck Tim Scott with his “ACCESS” to healthcare BULLSHIT
Definition of access
1
a : permission, liberty, or ability to enter, approach, or pass to and from a place or to approach or communicate with a person or thing Investigators wanted to get access to his home. consultants who have easy access to the president
b : freedom or ability to obtain or make use of something paying for access to the Internet
c : a way or means of entering or approaching A canal provides access to the river. a building that provides wheelchair access [=a way for people in wheelchairs to enter]
d : the act or an instance of accessing something
We all have ACCESS to healthcare, but
Definition of affordable
: able to be afforded : having a cost that is not too high products sold at affordable prices an affordable purchase affordable housing [=housing that is not too expensive for people of limited means]
BUZZ WORDS, RAZZLE DAZZLE, HEAD-SPINNING FUCKERY OF GOP
King: “Alien child…”
They are all walking around without their hoods in broad daylight, and sitting in Congress, and in the People’s House, all greasy, arrogant, smarmy and emboldened…
And just like Cedric Richmond suggests, if something ever happens to grand wizard Steve King, folks will be told to be ‘outraged’ and to ‘pray for him’…
No one could be more violent & criminal than King, COPS & GOP
If he was at that game, that POS coward probably was hiding and pissing his pants.
Was Steve King at that baseball game with Scalise and them?
LOL, SG..
bwa ha ha ha ha ha ha
God forgive us…
Tips out…..
Political criminals, money laundering POS #45, GOP literally ROBBING MEDICARE to pay RICH 1%, cops killing BLACK AMERICANS, White racists rolling up in our churches and murdering us in cold blood, white bugged-eyed men hooting up movie theaters, schools, murdering rampages, RIGHT HERE IN AMERIKKKA
So POS KING, no other country can be as violent and criminal than WHITE America
We have the republicans cowardly and greedily concurring and brazenly rolling with… and very gleefully decimating hard-won protections, alongside its ridiculous leader, – a corrupt, treasonous, Putin-propelled buffoon perched in the people’s house – and at 37% approval …
But, the same media who won’t usually invite Democrats on to have a say, or to make a push and lay out the strong case for any number of policy issues that directly impact the electorate…in the way they give republicans a monopoly of airtime to shape, direct and dominate the conversation…
In the thick of heartless republicans – too weaselly, too unpatriotic and too greedy, to confront the brazen, treasonous shenanigans of their very own representative impostor in the people’s house…and all while brazenly and cruelly yanking basic health care and other basic human rights from much of the electorate, and only to cater to their rich benefactors…
This same media is now busy once again concerning themselves with what they shouldn’t be…not with the treasonous buffoon holding court over meatloaf with the nuclear codes in his hands…The media is eagerly doing the bidding of republicans by stoking unrest among Democrats…trying to distract elected Democrats from focusing on the most pressing matters on behalf of the constituents who out them in office…and providing the extra narcissists media opportunity to parade their various egos and ambitions..
There will be time to *privately* discuss ‘leadership’…and a smooth passing of the baton in a way that does not damage the party in the short and long-term …especially by disrespecting and alienating those with much-needed institutional knowledge… this time is not it…
There was an opportunity – missed – to effectively push back against vile political ads…You answer those swiftly with smart, well-done counter-ads reminding the republicans of the demons among – and controlling them…Money was available and plentiful enough to do both high-minded ads…and a couple of good old hard-hitting come-backs …
And at some point, if we are ever going to win another election, Democrats will need to stop personally scheming …with each plotting, and kneecapping and undermining each other to specifically advance their own ego and political ambition…to the detriment of the party…
And it’ll be useful also for elected Democrats to understand that preening and grandstanding at hearings may elicit cheers from easily impressed folks…but there are those of us who see through that and aren’t…
There’s a stark difference between just plain doing ones job well – and getting it done with actual, useful, tangible results that get us to the actual goal, all while organically capturing the attention of folks…and playing to the cameras to get ones name out there… auditioning, serving up little more than the same contrived, pre-packaged, self-aggrandizing, corny offerings…and gleefully riding another manufactured wave, courtesy of the same usual raucous ‘influencers’…eager to begin the process of force-feeding us once again, their hand-picked political flavor of the season…
Folks aren’t stupid…and just like it didn’t work last time, it won’t work again…
Sure, all politicians are narcissists, but it’s also still very easy to differentiate between manufactured politicians playing entirely to their ambitions…and those who are focused first and most importantly, on getting the job done – and done well and delivered with the desired results – period…and not simply because it gets them the attention they crave and angle for …and so push to score contrived brownie points that inorganically ‘propel’ them to the fore…and onto that manufactured ‘fast track’ to their desired ultimate destination, the Oval Office…with a manipulated electorate dragged forcibly along..
Well said. I’m mostly at a loss for words, just watching this horrifying train wreck in disbelief.
I hear you…It’s all just so exasperating..
It’s like, will we ever learn…
As a people…as the so-called ‘greatest’ country and democracy in the world…
It could have been.
LOL…@ it could have been..
It’s not quite over yet Liza…even if it often feels like it these days…especially when we look up and see a rambling, lying, ignorant, ridiculous orange blob being reverently addressed as ‘president’ on t.v and in print…
Hold on with the rest of us…and let’s hope against hope, that something gives…soon..
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/877952078865477634
But only because the bill is not wicked enough or devastating enough to the vulnerable…
Chances are that he will still turn and vote for it…He is after all, fellow Kentuckyian McConnell’s little b*tch now…he owes McConnell…and introducing Mrs McConnell – Elaine Chao at her confirmation hearing, was just the chaser..
GO directly to HELL rug head, ‘STATES’ RIGHTS Rand.
https://twitter.com/srl/status/877898826152943617
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/877951050451271680
Rug head Rand and the other 3 GOP-ers staged their announcement; it’s purely pre-meditated to cover their asses and pander to their STUPID BASE.
https://twitter.com/ColleenFlangan/status/877940968816857088
APPALLING
And this photograph can be used by any callous, oppressive despot in any 3rd world country, to clap back at the United States, next time we try to drone on and tsk tsk about human rights, dictatorships and ‘democracy’..
ROAD RAGE IN CALIFORNIA. WATCH CHAIN REACTION.
https://twitter.com/ABC/status/877947021616795648
That poor person in the white pick-up minding his business..
Doesn’t that give you chills? That could be anybody.
I only hope the red scooter guy is tracked down too…He and the guy in the sedan are equally liable for this awful incident..
My mother always said to never engage or take the bait from random folks/other drivers while in traffic..
She said to always just let them ‘win’…
It’s better to lose 3 minutes or 5, in traffic by allowing them cut in – no matter how rudely, or how annoying…than to lose so much more…She always said to think…’this could easily get out of hand’…and then, let the agitator ‘win’..
She always said it was God’s way of teaching us patience…And she also said, you never knew what the other driver was going through in their life…so just indulge them…let them ‘win’…
And then get home safely, even if 5 or 10 minutes later than you’d normally..but at least safe and sound…and with your car intact..
Your mother gave some really good advice. It’s always better to be safe.
Oh God! 😢
Police pulled her from the wheel chair….
https://twitter.com/mattmfm/status/877932005593300993
https://twitter.com/SocialLifeNY/status/877942819620388864
https://twitter.com/aefadul22/status/877943124127096836
fuck you too, Murkowski
https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/877851970626662402
https://twitter.com/PiCABOOSphotos/status/877943163712749569
McTurtle needs to be FORCIBLY REMOVED
He’s pure evil…of the soulless kind…
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/877939183507177473
I talked to a GOP member of Congress about what they think of angry constituent calls. Their answer was revealing. https://t.co/DEU58Z4vlM pic.twitter.com/Iu1b7Ym7Pu
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 22, 2017
READ THIS: it’s amazing. Medicaid could get decimated using waiver process. With incentives to.
You should be in shock. And then action. pic.twitter.com/ckn8yqNB3L
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) June 22, 2017
https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/877923923958038528
https://twitter.com/UppityWomanBlog/status/877928849228652545
Cruel beyond description. Police removing wheel chair bound people protesting Trump’s wicked healthcare bill. I feel like I watched something out of the Twilight Zone. This can’t be real?
Yes, it’s cruel!
https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/877912413068251137
http://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/652*367/mcconnellprotesters.jpg
Where is the compassion?
https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/877912697375006720
https://twitter.com/MKhan47/status/877913261479350273
As far as I’m concerned, comparisons between Mitch McConnell and Adolf Eichmann would not be exaggerated.
Hey @DNC here’s your talking points catchy phrase for the AHCA. It’s not a health care bill, it’s a #wealthcarebill. You’re welcome. https://t.co/ESNlBMuhd0
— Andrew C Laufer, Esq (@lauferlaw) June 22, 2017
Elderly people in wheelchairs outside McConnell office are being forcibly removed/arrested for protesting Republicans #HealthcareBill. #BCRA pic.twitter.com/sRImvvAkui
— The Baxter Bean (@TheBaxterBean) June 22, 2017
The Senate #HealthcareBill bill cuts BILLIONS from Medicaid, which 1.75 million #veterans use for coverage, to fund tax cuts for the rich. pic.twitter.com/QbDbQnBcVt
— VoteVets (@votevets) June 22, 2017
Schumer unloads on “heartless” Senate GOP health bill (via @MSNBC) https://t.co/H9HFQfMdZK
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 22, 2017
SCOTUS holds that naturalized citizen may not lose citizenship based on false statements that were immaterial to gaining citizenship
— SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 22, 2017
WHAT COUNTRY IS THIS? Removing wheel chair bound people objecting to a wicked healthcare bill? Make it stop!
https://twitter.com/Doorcow/status/877913499594366976
EVIL
No compassion, no empathy. Just a cruel disregard by the GOP for the healthcare needs of the disabled .
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/877912773811990528
ALERT! READ THIS THREAD. TRUMPCARE BILL
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/877901655316078597
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/877910389874343936
There has to be a succinct, easily understood and more effective way of sharing with everyone – especially the poor deluded MAGA fools, that this will – and how it negatively affects them..
Ben WiklerVerified account @ benwikler 3h3 hours ago
These Medicaid cuts are insidious. Designed to get bigger every year—so, outside window that CBO scores, they asphyxiate the program. 1/
Right now, Medicaid is a guarantee. if you’re on Medicaid, you wake up w crushing headache, docs find brain tumor, your care is covered. 2/
If there’s a spike in cancer—or say opioid addiction—in your state, federal funds will help cover it all. Trumpcare ends that. 3/
Under Trumpcare, states get a fixed, capped amount of $ per person (diff amt for kids, older adults, etc). If need grows, $ doesn’t. 4/
Medical costs have always grown faster than general rate of inflation. Under Senate Trumpcare, Medicaid caps lock to rate of inflation. 5/
Senate Trumpcare means a giant Medicaid cut—and one that gets more vicious every passing year. Even worse during health crises. 6/
State budgets will be crushed by a vise. As Federal Medicaid $ disappear, they’ll slash schools, roads, public safety to fill the hole 7/
Trumpcare won’t just devastate health care. Everything your state government does is in danger. 8/
Rural hospitals will literally close. Class sizes will rise. The only people who benefit: the wealthy who get a tax cut. 9/
Senate Trumpcare is worse than House Trumpcare. And House Trumpcare was horrible. 10/
THREAD ON HEALTHCARE BILL
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/877901655316078597
https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/877905183329701888
LEGISLATIVE EVIL
https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/877602036409348097
https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/877677529120870400
https://twitter.com/splcenter/status/877891379476570112
Democrats Should Do to McConnell What the GOP Does to Pelosi
by Nancy LeTourneau
June 22, 2017 8:00 AM
The three leaders of the Republican Party right now (Trump, McConnell and Ryan) pose very different threats. The threat Trump poses as president is on obvious display for everyone but his most ardent supporters. His lies are blatant and his attacks are vicious, but childish. In many ways Trump would be forgettable in any public office other than the one he now holds. As the executive in charge of the entire federal bureaucracy and the leader of America’s foreign policy, we’re seeing how dangerous it is to have someone as mentally unbalanced as Trump in that role.
Ryan is the only real ideologue of the group. His philosophy is rooted in the survival of the fittest as espoused by people like Ayn Rand. While that is a challenge, it is his youthful-looking sincerity as he obfuscates and lies that poses the real threat. That worked so well that most of the media even bought into the idea that he’s some kind of policy wonk with his power point nonsense.
Mitch McConnell is no ideologue. He rose to power in the Republican ranks by raising money and defending the right to do so by any means necessary. Jordan Weismann has a pretty good run-down on the way in which McConnell poses a threat.
…………………………………..
Given how we’ve seen the Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare unfold, I think it is safe to say that McConnell poses a bigger threat to our democracy than Ryan. With the latter, his ideologically-based approach appeals to those who already agree with him. When he lies and obfuscates, it is possible to call him out. As a result, the American public was pretty energized in fighting back when the AHCA was making its way through the House.
As Weismann suggests, McConnell’s approach relies on complicity from the public in order to be successful. Neither voters nor the media are willing to engage on the minutia of congressional processes to hold him accountable. That is what Mike Lofgren was on to way back in 2011. He walked through the strategy as well as why it works with both the public and the media.
……………………………………
The media is never going to tackle this threat because their only tools are to lay out the process in a technical way and readers just aren’t interested. Democrats tend to either craft ideological arguments against each position or critique the process is a technical way. Neither of those ever get the public engaged in the root of the problem.
In the wake of the special election in Georgia yesterday, there is some talk about how Karen Handel ran endless ads linking Jon Ossoff to Nancy Pelosi. As Kevin Drum pointed out so effectively, Handel wasn’t making a direct connection to the policy positions of Pelosi. What Republicans have done over the years is make the minority leader the symbol of the threat Democrats pose to conservative values.
That made me realize that McConnell poses a threat to “people who genuinely value the tenets of democracy, meaning no more than the passionate desire to settle differences by debate and argument, rather than by power and cruelty and clan.”
My suggestion is that Democrats should start making that argument against McConnell (which, unlike the attacks against Pelosi, has the benefit of being true). Then in 2018, every Democratic candidate for Senate could make the case that a vote for their opponent is a vote for McConnell and against our values in a democracy. This is one time when I don’t mind taking a page out of the Republican playbook.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/610AYfYLWaL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Excerpt from article linked below:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/20/books/review/richard-rothstein-color-of-law-forgotten-history.html?smid=tw-share
10 health insurers speak out against Medicaid cuts https://t.co/UZjnYyeNKp
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 22, 2017
Why Republicans don’t fear the consequences of passing a disastrous health care bill: https://t.co/zFQsAWyrIW pic.twitter.com/nvdJxQOrLC
— Slate (@Slate) June 22, 2017
6 swing states + Texas account for almost all of the gerrymandering—MI, NC, PA are consistently the most extreme. https://t.co/zNE2Z1IAfC pic.twitter.com/d4O4ci4aKd
— Brennan Center (@BrennanCenter) June 22, 2017
Looks like the Senate bill could effectively phase out Medicaid *entirely.* via @imillhiser https://t.co/o9uemxuB2b pic.twitter.com/gxEDIIaw1N
— Ned Resnikoff (@resnikoff) June 22, 2017
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/21/17
Pence not without options to pay legal defense bills
Rachel Maddow follows up on previous reporting on the possibility that Mike Pence would use PAC money to pay for his legal defense noting that absent that he could also use Trump/Pence campaign money.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/21/17
Concern spreads as GOP works in secret on health bill
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, talks with Rachel Maddow about the threat of the Republican health bill to American women’s health care.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/21/17
US piecing together Russia cyber attack strategy
Congressman Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, talks with Rachel Maddow about the effort to understand the extent and intent of the 2016 Russian election attack and preparing for what might come next.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 6/21/17
US election officials still assessing Russian 2016 cyber attack
Rachel Maddow looks at how the US voting system consists of thousands of individual precincts, making it harder to hack as a whole, but also more difficult to monitor and defend, making assessment of Russia’s 2016 hack tricky.
Dr. Lonnie Robert Bristow became the first Black president of the American Medical Association in 1995:
https://twitter.com/AuthorBlkCoffee/status/877837294304075776
https://youtu.be/KdSU8phCN2Y
From Mayhew over at BJ:
How to read the Senate Bill
by David Anderson
at 8:40 am on June 22, 2017
The Senate healthcare and tax cut bill is expected to drop in a few cups of coffee. There are a ton of rumors floating around. Here is a cheat sheet on how to read it.
1) Reconciliation places severe constraints on the bill
a) The Parliamentarian is most likely going to be stripping out significant non-germane to the budget items
b) $1 billion in savings must come from each of two committees (HELP and Finance)
c) Anything the Senate passes must meet or beat the $119 billion in budget window deficit reduction that the House AHCA was scored at.
2) Three major pots of money
a) Tax cuts
b) Individual market changes
c) Medicaid cuts to pay for tax cuts
3) Follow the money
Any extra dollar used to pay for a slower Medicaid termination has to come from either Medicaid on the back-end, fewer tax cuts or lower individual market changes. Anything used to up subsidies on the individual market has to come from itself, faster/steeper Medicaid cuts or fewer tax cuts. Anything that ups the tax cuts must come from the individual market or Medicaid…etc.
Trump White House is trying to get House GOP to water down the new Russia sanctions bill that passed the Senate 98-2 https://t.co/v9e5XeVEHe
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 22, 2017
Colbert: “GOP has set July 4 as deadline to gut Obamacare. So if you’re going to blow off your fingers with fireworks, do it on July 3.” pic.twitter.com/owMHHVH4ox
— Roger Simon (@politicoroger) June 22, 2017
Everything the GOP pretended to hate about Obamacare is WORSE in Trumpcare, except the real reason they hate Obamacare — it taxes the rich. https://t.co/FSCPGJRI4S
— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) June 22, 2017
@RepTimRyan focus pls; Dems have few days to save Obamacare; energy of ALL Dems is needed 2 pushback vs corrupt gop & devastating #Trumpcare
— Linda Kyambadde (@globalcitizenln) June 22, 2017
CNN: Intel chiefs Coats and Rogers tell investigators Trump suggested they publicly refute collusion with Russians.https://t.co/GRwtMUXIdL
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 22, 2017
Coats and Rogers described interactions with Trump about Russia “as odd and uncomfortable”, did not believe Trump ordered them to interfere. https://t.co/N4NVhCQszw
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 22, 2017
“Both men told Mueller’s team they were surprised the President would suggest that they publicly declare he was not involved in collusion.” https://t.co/N4NVhCQszw
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 22, 2017
“One source said that Trump wanted [Coats and Rogers] to say publicly…that he was not under investigation for collusion.” https://t.co/N4NVhCQszw
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 22, 2017
Trump loves to talk about his TIME covers—was reportedly annoyed when Bannon got one
New cover: Special Counsel Mueller: “The Lie Detector” pic.twitter.com/7JasZH7I15
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 22, 2017
LOL..
Of course he was..
40 seconds to death: The horrifying truth of Philando Castile’s killing
Dashcam video shows Officer Jeronimo Yanez took less than a minute to decide that Philando Castile had to die
D. WATKINS
The dashcam video of Philando Castile’s public execution was finally released, days after the acquittal of his killer, Jeronimo Yanez, a St. Anthony, Minnesota, police officer, on charges of felony manslaughter and reckless discharge of a weapon.
Castile was shot by Yanez almost a year ago, on July 6, 2016. Many remember the incident vividly because Diamond Reynolds, Castile’s girlfriend, live-streamed a huge part of the disturbing tragedy on Facebook.
The dashcam video shows Castile’s car pulling over and coming to a complete stop. Yanez exits his vehicle and approaches the driver’s side of Castile’s car. He tells Castile, who is calm and wearing a seat belt, that the car’s brake light is out, before asking for Castile’s license and insurance documentation. Castile reaches for his paperwork and properly informs Yanez that he has a weapon.
http://www.salon.com/2017/06/21/40-seconds-to-death-the-horrifying-truth-of-philando-castiles-killing/
WEDNESDAY, JUN 21, 2017 11:00 AM CDT
No regrets for Trump voters: The media needs to stop looking for buyer’s remorse
Psychological research shows people are too tribal and afraid to admit they were wrong to regret their votes
AMANDA MARCOTTE
What’s it going to take to get Donald Trump’s supporters to see the light? It’s a question on the minds of not only liberals but also anyone who still cherishes our democracy, and it grows more intense as evidence piles up of corruption and even suspicions of criminal activity by members of the Trump administration. Indeed, waiting and watching for signs of buyer’s remorse among Trump supporters has become a minor cottage industry within the mainstream media, with reporters and TV anchors displaying an almost pornographic interest in watching the mental hoops that Trump voters will go through so as to stand by their man.
“Trump voters want jobs. Not noise about Russia,” reads a May 16 headline from CNN. A June 7 Vox headline notes that Trump voters are “disappointed” but “still voting Republican.” After the congressional hearing with former FBI Director James Comey, CNN held an on-air focus group of Trump voters and correspondent Gary Tuchman could barely contain his surprise at how they had not budged one bit from believing Trump was a good guy.
When will these people see? Those of us who are not in the cult of Trump keep tuning in to find out. How many times does he have to admit to obstructing justice in public? How many angry, incoherent tweets about the investigation before his guilty-acting behavior gets to them? How long do we have to wait for Trump’s biggest fans to call their friends and apologize for their votes?
Well, folks are going to have to keep on waiting because the answer to the question of when Trump voters will come around is somewhere between “a long, long time from now” and more likely “never.” Don’t be fooled by news stories for which journalists have dug up the occasional person who was willing to say he or she was wrong to vote for Trump. Those people are the exceptions, not the rule. Don’t be fooled by polls that show his approval ratings slipping; he’s losing only people who didn’t like him that much to begin with. Meanwhile, that quarter to a third of Americans who love him now will likely stay with him to the bitter end.
And those who do change their minds about Trump? Most will never admit it but will move seamlessly into pretending they were never that into him in the first place.
Trump defends economic team: ‘I just don’t want a poor person’
06/22/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
After last fall’s presidential election, as Donald Trump’s team took shape, it was hard not to notice that the new administration would be led in part by several Wall Street billionaires. Last night, the Trump campaign hosted a rally in Iowa, where the president shed some light on his perspective.
As the Washington Post’s report added, in context, “those particular positions” referred to Trump’s secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross, whom he called a “the legendary Wall Street genius,” and Gary Cohn, his economic council director who was the president of Goldman Sachs – a title that Trump repeated four times.
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What’s more, note the underlying assumption behind the boasts: the president genuinely seems to believe that it’s just common sense to put Wall Street millionaires and billionaires “in charge of the economy” – because they’re Wall Street millionaires and billionaires.
Trump doesn’t “want a poor person” in a position of authority, because in his mind, a poor person must be incompetent. Otherwise, as the president sees it, he or she wouldn’t poor.
It was an unscripted peek into Trump-brand populism: rich people should be seen as smart, Wall Street insiders should be seen as capable, Goldman Sachs must be synonymous with expertise, and it’s best to be skeptical of poor people.
After tough talk, Trump is poised to deliver for the drug industry
06/21/17 12:51 PM—UPDATED 06/21/17 01:42 PM
By Steve Benen
One of the few key areas on which Donald Trump broke with Republican Party orthodoxy was lowering prices on prescription drugs. In fact, shortly before taking office, he complained bitterly about the pharmaceutical industry’s powerful lobbyists, and said drug companies are “getting away with murder.”
For some on the left, this offered at least some hope that the Trump administration would be progressive on the issue, though those hopes faded soon after the president took office. In late January, Trump reversed course, saying he no longer wanted to use the government’s buying power to lower costs, denouncing such a policy as “price fixing.”
Vox explained at the time that the White House’s approach appeared to amount to little more than “lowering taxes” and “getting rid of regulations.”
That turned out to be exactly right. Five months later, the New York Times reports on a draft of an executive order the president intends to sign on drug prices that “appears to give the pharmaceutical industry much of what it has asked for.”
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/after-tough-talk-trump-poised-deliver-the-drug-industry
The underappreciated detail about Nancy Pelosi’s public standing
06/21/17 04:03 PM
By Steve Benen
About a month ago, when Republicans were quite concerned about losing special elections in Montana and Georgia, the GOP leaders made no secret about their plan to prevail: they’d just keep complaining about Nancy Pelosi and count on conservative voters to have the conditioned, knee-jerk response.
“I think we’ll see if it works,” NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers (R-Ohio) said. “I believe it still works.”
And despite four congressional special elections in which Dems easily outpaced last year’s Democratic performance in red districts in red states, there’s apparently a growing consensus that the House Minority Leader has become a political problem for her party. NBC News wrote this morning, “Democrats have to admit they have a Pelosi problem.”
Politico reports today some on Capitol Hill are drawing the same conclusion
While I don’t know the degree to which that’s true, it’s plainly obvious that for much of the right, the House Democratic leader is effectively a culture-war totem. We don’t see multi-million-dollar ad campaigns attempting to tie various candidates to Chuck Schumer; we never really saw comparable attacks featuring Harry Reid; and we’re long past the point at which connecting Dems to Barack Obama would be effective; but Nancy Pelosi, for reasons that deserve quite a bit more scrutiny, remains the villain of choice for Republicans and their allies to bash with glee.
There’s just one salient detail that gets overlooked amid this discussion.
Less than a month ago, Quinnipiac released the results of a national poll, which included gauging public attitudes on congressional leaders. The results showed Nancy Pelosi with 30% favorable rating and a 50% unfavorable rating.
And while numbers like those won’t win any popularity contests, the same poll showed House Speaker Paul Ryan with a 27% favorable rating and a 54% unfavorable rating.
I have read the story, and it still makes no phucking sense to me.
You believe the man is SUSPECT – AND YOU CONTINUE HAVING BRIEFINGS WITH HIM?!??
THE PHUCK????
Michael Flynn was present for weeks of daily CIA briefings, despite concerns that he was vulnerable to blackmail https://t.co/CUo68E05tQ
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 21, 2017
Trump: I’m gonna intro legislation so new immigrants can’t get welfare for 5 years
(It’s been the law for 21 years) https://t.co/hGP9IaS3Oa
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 22, 2017
This has been the law since 1996. It was signed by Bill Clinton. https://t.co/hGP9IaS3Oa https://t.co/qKdLqOyL0y
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 22, 2017
For accuracy’s sake, let’s go a bit further. The ACA actually limits undocumented immigrants from receiving many of its benefits. https://t.co/95dbKHUFW2
— Craig Garthwaite (@C_Garthwaite) June 22, 2017
And to be clear: ACA doesn’t require providing care to undocumented immigrants. Some counties chose to do it anyway. https://t.co/6AZMN1ggT5
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) June 22, 2017
Some undocumented *do* get access and free care. But overall, they get much less than their counterparts. https://t.co/kzwUdBONtM pic.twitter.com/vcaGYj6ykd
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) June 22, 2017
Want to know what GOP’s Medicaid cuts would do to poor people?
This letter from insurers is really striking:https://t.co/syUoeimE0z pic.twitter.com/SEi1jhS8xB
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 22, 2017
Interesting how “repeal” has become “reshape.” cc @philipaklein https://t.co/yALZxuCzPM
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 22, 2017
AP sources: Senate GOP health bill would reshape Obama law (from @AP) https://t.co/gwFXMg4dSa
— DonnaCassataAP (@DonnaCassataAP) June 22, 2017
RESHAPE must be a Frank Luntz focus group approved word.
George Clooney’s Tequila Company Sold for Up to $1 Billion
By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED
JUNE 21, 2017
George Clooney is an award-winning actor, a new father and a world-class prankster.
Now he can add “start-up founder who hit the jackpot” to his résumé.
Casamigos, the tequila brand that Mr. Clooney founded with his friends Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman in 2013, said Wednesday that it had sold itself to the spirits giant Diageo. The deal values the company at up to $1 billion: $700 million in cash upfront and up to $300 million more if it hits sales targets over the next decade.
“If you asked us four years ago if we had a billion-dollar company, I don’t think we would have said yes,” Mr. Clooney said in a statement. “This reflects Diageo’s belief in our company and our belief in Diageo.”
The transaction makes Mr. Clooney one of the most successful celebrity investors around.
Vote is as soon as next week and the only people who have seen this garbage bill are the lobbyists.https://t.co/sucdeZYG8i pic.twitter.com/7WgxKlQtdW
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) June 21, 2017
Good Morning, Everyone 😐 😐😐
Good Morning, Rikyrah & Everyone.