July 6, 2018

"This Ought to Run in Campaign Ads Now Through Eternity"

Attention Optics Police: a crew of Republican senators spent the Fourth of July in...Moscow.

(Senator Ron Johnson) What does July 4th mean to me? Freedom. Every American should jealously guard their individual liberty and freedom. Happy #4thofJuly

Pretty standard holiday bunting-draped bunkum, no? That’s only if you ignore that:

a) when this entry was posted, Johnson was in Russia as part of a GOP-only delegation trying to make sure the road is smoothed for the president*’s annual performance review in Helsinki;

b) that it was posted while Johnson was in Russia not three days after the Senate Intelligence Committee joined with the entire U.S. intelligence community in concluding that Russia had ratfcked the 2016 election on behalf of the current president*;

c) that it was posted while Johnson was in Russia the same day in which two more Britons were felled by the same nerve agent that had nearly killed a Russian defector and his daughter;

and, finally, d) that it was posted while Johnson was in Russia on the Fourth of Freaking July, aka Independence Day.



https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a22063027/republican-senators-russia-4th-of-july/

June 30, 2018

Clip of Charlie Chaplin (1940) from the "Great Dictator". Just wow!

"To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people."

June 20, 2018

So GOP strategist Steve Schmidt has finally left the Repugs, about time....

Says he will now vote for the Democrats.

"Veteran GOP strategist Steve Schmidt renounced his Republican Party membership on Wednesday and pledged to vote for Democrats in an effort to preserve “what is right and decent” in the United States.

In a series of scathing tweets, Schmidt blasted the GOP as “corrupt, indecent and immoral” and “fully the party of Trump.”

“It is filled with feckless cowards who disgrace and dishonor the legacies of the party’s greatest leaders,” tweeted Schmidt, an MSNBC political analyst who has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump. “Today the GOP has become a danger to our democracy and our values.”

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-schmidt-renounces-gop_us_5b2a4ce8e4b05d6c16c96a05

June 20, 2018

Jacob Soboroff looks more and more shell-shocked every time I see him.

As I watch him speak to Craig Melvin about what he has witnessed, I can not help but think that many journalists there on the front lines are being traumatized by the horrors they see. While nothing compares to the trauma of the children & their parents, how awful to bear witness yet be unable to intervene.

May 31, 2018

Illinois ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment 36 years after deadline!

The Illinois House voted Wednesday night to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment more than 45 years after it was approved by Congress, putting it one state away from possible enshrinement in the U.S. Constitution amid potential legal questions.

The 72-45 vote by the House, following an April vote by the Senate, was just one more vote than needed for ratification. It does not need the approval of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has said he supports equal rights but was faulted by Democrats for not taking a position on the ERA.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-equal-rights-amendment-illinois-20180530-story.html

March 21, 2018

Faux News guy quits - calls it a propaganda machine

(Ralph Peters, Fox News contributor)
“Four decades ago, I took an oath as a newly commissioned officer. I swore to 'support and defend the Constitution,' and that oath did not expire when I took off my uniform. Today, I feel that Fox News is assaulting our constitutional order and the rule of law, while fostering corrosive and unjustified paranoia among viewers,” he said.

“In my view, Fox has degenerated from providing a legitimate and much-needed outlet for conservative voices to a mere propaganda machine for a destructive and ethically ruinous administration,” Peters continued."

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/379385-fox-news-contributor-quits-slams-network-as-propaganda-machine-for-trump

March 9, 2018

Betsy DeVos chooses to protect debt collectors over students with loans.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has stepped into a fight between student loan companies and state regulators — and she’s siding with the loan companies.

The National Consumer Law Center described it as a “plan to protect servicers and debt collectors that lie to borrowers.”

Wonderful! Let's just screw over the students Betsy, that's what you do best!

http://time.com/money/5193456/devos-student-loan-servicers-state-regulations/

March 9, 2018

Active shooter and hostage situation in Veteran's Home - California

YOUNTVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- Police have surrounded a veterans' home in Napa County where officials have confirmed an active shooting and hostage situation Friday morning.

The Veterans Home of California in Yountville confirmed that three hostages are being held and that the situation is active.

http://abc7news.com/yountville-officials-respond-to-report-of-active-shooting-situation-at-veterans-home/3194836/

March 6, 2018

Another promise broken? I am just not surprised anymore....

The U.S. government will allow hunters to import elephant trophies on a case-by-case basis, breaking the president’s pledge.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-administration-elephant-trophies_us_5a9e218ee4b0a0ba4ad7376b

February 28, 2018

Shots fired in Georgia school by teacher, kids are all okay.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/cops-teacher-in-custody-after-shots-fired-at-dalton-georgia-high-school

News is still unfolding....
Dalton Police Department Tweet:
New update:
UPDATE: The teacher involved in this morning’s incident is Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, social studies teacher. Also serves as play by play voice of the Dalton football team.

UPDATE: The subject is IN CUSTODY
UPDATE: Students are being taken to the Nw GA Trade and Convention Center. Parents should rendezvous with their students there.
Dalton Police officers are on scene at Dalton High School responding a report of shots fired. At the time, there is a barricaded subject in a classroom. Investigators believe it is a teacher. NO CHILDREN. HAVE BEEN INJURED. NO CHILDREN ARE IN DANGER. The area inside the school has been evacuated and there are no students believed to be in the school at this time. The school is locked down. DPD and Georgia State Patrol are responding.
PARENTS DO NOT COME TO DALTON HIGH. Students will be taken to the Northwest Georgia Trade Center. Parents should go there.