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Sunday, November 15, 2015

The Daily Drift

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President Obama: Paris Shootings Are ‘An Attack on All of Humanity’

French TV SLAMS Wingnuts For Politicizing Paris Attacks: ‘Newt Gingrich, Shame On You

French TV SLAMS Conservatives For Politicizing Paris Attacks: ‘Newt Gingrich, Shame On You’ (VIDEO)
This French newscaster couldn’t believe how offensive American wingnuts were being in the wake of the terror attacks – so he called them out.
Yet more proof that the rest of the world is correct - The Republicans ARE the greatest threat to the US and the rest of the world

Today We Are All Parisians ...

The spire of One World Trade Center was lit in the French flag's colors Friday
It's the day after another horrible massacre, and we've now entered the "We know most of the basics" phase, while for many, the "let's make political hay out of this" phase got rolling within...

Racist Republicans Immediately Try To Exploit The Paris Terror Attacks For Political Gain

The wingnut War-gasms have begun ...
Ted Cruz CNN State Of The UnionRepublicans have hit a new low though trying to exploit the terrorist attacks in Paris for political gain.
Republican pretender candidate Cruz said:
We must now face the facts. Between the downing of the Russian jet over Egypt and this massive coordinated attack on Paris, we are seeing an unmistakable escalation of ISIL’s ambitions and the scale of their terrorist attacks outside Syria and Iraq. Even as chaos rages in Paris, we need to take immediate, commonsense steps to preserve our own safety. We need to consult closely with our NATO allies who may be targeted for additional attacks. We need to immediately declare a halt to any plans to bring refugees that may have been infiltrated by ISIL to the United States. We need to redouble our efforts to prevent ISIL agents from penetrating our nation by other means.
Such steps, however, are defensive reactions to an enemy that will continue to try to attack us until they succeed once again. We must immediately recognize that our enemy is not ‘violent extremism.’ It is the radical islamism that has declared jihad against the west. It will not be appeased by outreach or declarations of tolerance. It will not be deterred by targeted airstrikes with zero tolerance for civilian casualties when the terrorists have such utter disregard for innocent life. We must make it crystal clear that affiliation with ISIL and related terrorist groups brings with it the undying enmity of America—that it is, in effect, signing your own death warrant.
Duncan (R-SC), who is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee tweeted:
How's that Syrian refugee resettlement look now? How about that mass migration into Europe? Terrorism is alive & well in the world. #No
Meanwhile, the lunatic fringe’s bullhorn of racism, Coulter claimed that muslim immigration must not be allowed and that Trump just won the 2016 election:
Why does NO ONE say the obvious thing on TV?! It's insane. Don't want terrorism in US? Stop importing Muslims!
They can wait if they like until next November for the actual balloting, but Donald Trump was elected president tonight.
It is so very Republican to try to use fear and hate to divide the country while blaming the victims of terrorists. As many security experts have pointed out, refugees are fleeing because of ISIL. The refugees aren’t ISIL. There has not been a single documented incident of a refugee carrying out a terrorist attack. (Note: There has been a report that one of the attackers may have crossed into the EU via Greece as a refugee from Syria. This has not been officially confirmed.)
The reaction by some on the lunatic fringe is cynical, race-based politics at its worst. Sorry,  Coulter, but Trump didn’t “win” an election because of a terrorist attack in Paris. The far right’s reaction demonstrated why Trump has been so popular. Trump is not unique. What he has done is tap into vein of racist hate that has existed in the Republican cabal for decades.
Just when you think that Republicans can’t sink any lower, they try to blame refugees who running from terrorists for political gain.

Carlson And 'Guest' Blame Obama Administration For Paris Attacks

Self loathing anti-Islam Fox Pundit, Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, condemns the U.S. Government for not being tough enough on fanatical Islam, because this happened in Europe.

Most Despicable Wingnut Tweets in Response to Paris Massacre

Miller's Despicable 'Paris Attack' Tweet

Coulter Goes On Racist Bender Following Paris Attacks; Shills For Trump

Ann Coulter Goes On Racist Bender Following Paris Attacks; Shills For Trump (TWEETS)Coulter wins the contest for worst reaction to the Paris attacks with this pathetic rant.

Shoe

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In Panic Mode, Some Republican Cabal Bosses Float Idea of Another Romney Run

Senate Wingnuts Exposed By Their Flailing Effort To Look Tough On Obamacare

Bernie Sanders Unleashes a New Ad That Calls Out America’s Rigged Economy

Bernie Sanders
Democratic presidential candidate and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) new ad shows why he is so popular with liberals and why his campaign message is so important.
In his new ad, Sanders points out that his campaign is funded by over a million contributions, and that people want real change. People are sick of getting screwed over by an out of touch establishment, and he is taking on Wall Street and the political system that protects a rigged economy.
“People are sick and tired of establishment politics and they want real change.”
Bernie Sanders.
Husband. Father. Grandfather.
He’s taking on Wall Street and a corrupt political system that keeps in place a rigged economy.
Bernie’s campaign is funded by over a million contributions — people like you who see the middle class disappearing and want a future to believe in.
The message of the Sanders’ campaign is vital, and he’s helping to shine a spotlight on issues that in previous elections have been ignored. It’s not that other Democratic candidates haven’t spoken about these issues or even that their platforms are so different from Sanders’ platform. It’s that Sanders has presented himself as a Democratic socialist, and so he doesn’t need to try to appeal to the “middle”. (Never mind that Americans actually like Democratic socialist ideas so long as it isn’t called socialism.)
One of the thing that makes Bernie Sanders so charismatic is he is not watering down or meeting in the middle when he speaks about issues that impact everyday Americans. Sanders doesn’t apologize for being for the workers, he can rail on and on about Wall Street, and he doesn’t need to play nice with big money. He is free to say what he really thinks, and it’s compelling and needed.
Sanders is a needed voice for the 98%, and with each speech, interview, and ad he puts out, he mainstreams liberalism a little bit more.
Bernie Sanders will begin airing his new 30-second television ad on Saturday in Iowa and New Hampshire.

US expats in Europe threaten never to return if Trump wins

US expats in Europe 'feel the Bern' and threaten never to return if Trump wins

Democrats Lick Their Chops As Carson and Trump Humiliate Themselves On Foreign Policy

TrumpCarson.jpg
Republicans are terrified of their two 2016 pretender front-runners and for good reason.
In the last few days, Trump claimed he knows more about ISIL than the generals do and Carson claims he knows more about Syria than the White House. Neither of these two gentlemen have ever held public office.
Trump is starting to show the tattered edges of his grip on reality. Last night Trump went way off book (I hope) and instead treated his audience to a rant in which he claimed he knew more about ISIL than the generals do and compared Carson’s self labeled “pathology” to a child molester. From the Washington Post:
He scoffed at those who have accused him of not understanding foreign policy, saying he knows more about Islamic State terrorists “than the generals do.” He took credit for predicting the threat of Osama bin Laden and being right on the “anchor baby situation,” a position he says “these great geniuses from Harvard Law School” now back. He uttered the word “crap” at least three times, and promised to “bomb the s—” out of oil fields benefiting terrorists. He signed a book for a guy in the audience and then tossed it back at him with a flip: “Here you go, baby. I love you.”
Trump called Republican rival Fiorina “Carly whatever-the-hell-her-name-is,” accused Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton of playing the “woman’s card” and said Rubio (R-Fla.) is “weak like a baby.” He then devoted more than 10 minutes angrily attacking his chief rival, Carson, saying the retired doctor has a “pathological disease” with no cure, similar to being a child molester.
Then we have Carson showing just how delusional he is, claiming that he has better sources about Syria than the White House, doubling down on his belief that China is involved in the fighting in Syria. “I have several sources that I’ve got material from, I’m surprised my sources are better than theirs,” Carson said outside of a town hall in South Carolina on Friday.
Republicans must be shaking in their boots to think of either of these two debating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on foreign policy. Or really, anyone. Just speaking publicly is dangerous for these two. But pitted against Clinton’s vast experience and subsequent expertise, both Republicans would look like total buffoons.
It’s not that a person needs to have done a job to be right for the job; but that a person needs to be somewhat tethered to reality, to have an ego that isn’t so large that it creates a comforting veil of self-aggrandizement so opaque that reality hasn’t a chance, and to have the idea that maybe other people who have actually done the job know a thing or two. Neither of these two candidates has shown even the slightest respect for the job they seek or government in general.
America needs to be asking itself what it says about the Republican cabal that their two front-runners are legit delusional at the very best.
The Republican establishment is rumored to be keeping Mitt Romney in the wings in order to stop a down ticket bleed out in the event that one of these two colorful characters looks like they’re going to actually win the nomination. Not to worry, the Republicans have rigged their nomination process so there is little chance they won’t cheat to get their guy in at the last minute.
But the crazy it out there front and center, branding Republicans as know-nothing buffoons with huge, unjustified egos. Democrats must be beyond thrilled with the gifts that are Carson and Trump.

Liberals Roar As Senate Democrats Demand Unionization For Senate Workers

elizabeth warren bernie sanders hell no liberal caucus
Thirty-four members of the Senate Democratic caucus including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Sen. Al Franken (D-MI) sent a letter to the contractor that employs the Senate cafeteria workers calling on them to all the employees to organize into a union.
In a letter to Compass Group CEO Richard Cousins, the senators wrote, “Employees working full time in the U.S. Senate should not be living in poverty. Yet with the cost of living in the Washington metropolitan area among the highest in the United States, there have been numerous reports of Senate cafeteria workers forced to take a second job, rely on public assistance programs, and in at least one instance, into homelessness.”
The company has been trying to keep the union out by engaging in intimidation and discrimination. The tactics have continued even after the National Labor Relations Board upheld claims that the company was intimidating their workers.
“Although Restaurant Associates settled these charges by promising to end further unlawful intimidation, it has been reported that within weeks, Restaurant Associates’ President Ed Sirhal took advantage of the Senate recess to hold a meeting with workers to discourage their organizing campaign,” the senators wrote. “The time has come for the Compass Group to ensure Senate cafeteria workers have a model employer that addresses its workers’ legitimate concerns.”
Democrats aren’t not just interested in the idea of expanding the rights of workers; they are taking action to expand the rights of those who work in the food service industry in the Senate. The Democrats are committed to their values, and backing up their words with action.
Republicans are increasingly falling behind the times as polling has demonstrated that support for worker’s rights is growing. It has been generations since the American people have been as sensitive to economic inequality as they are right now. The Great Recession brought old issues of inequality and worker’s rights back into the public conscience.
Democrats aren’t just talking the talk. They are walking the walk.
Note: Here is the list of 34 senators who signed the letter:

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Richard Durbin (D-Mich.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

The Truth Hurts

Supreme Court Takes Up Major Test Of Anti-Choice Delusions' Strategy

by Miranda Blue
The Supreme Court announced today that it will hear Whole Women’s Health v. Cole next term. The case, which deals with abortion restrictions that Texas passed in 2013, represents a major test of the anti-choice movement’s long-term strategy of cutting off abortion access through incremental legislation rather than directly challenging the right to abortion. This comes after the court’s announcement last week that it will hear another challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s contraception coverage mandate, testing how far the Religious Right can stretch the meaning of religious liberty in attempting to cut off access to reproductive rights.
In the Huffington Post today, People For the American Way’s Elliot Mincberg explains what’s at stake in the Texas case:
The Texas case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Cole, concerns a law imposing restrictions on clinics so severe that they would reduce the number of clinics that perform abortions in the state from more than 40 a few years ago to just 10, including none at all in the 500 miles between San Antonio and the New Mexico border. The state has claimed that the limits, requiring extensive hospital-like equipment and doctors with hospital admitting privileges even for clinics that offer abortions only through oral medication, are important to protect women’s health. These claims are belied not only by the medical evidence, but also by Texas politicians’ statements, such as Governor Rick Perry’s vow to “pass laws to ensure” that abortions are “as rare as possible.”

That law clearly violates the 5-4 ruling of the Court in Casey, which upheld the basic right to choose of Roe v. Wade, and held that such laws must truly be important to protect women’s health and not impose an “undue burden” on that right. Will the Court uphold and correctly apply Casey and continue to protect reproductive rights? Given the stark divisions on the Court, the answer may well come down to the vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the last member of the five-person Casey majority who is still on the Court today.
This case represents the culmination of a decades-long strategy by the anti-choice movement — most notably the legal group Americans United for Life, which helped draft the Texas bill — to restrict abortion access to the point where the right to abortion exists in theory but not in practice. If the Supreme Court agrees to further weaken the protections of Roe v. Wade, it could open the door for many more onerous restrictions on abortion providers and women seeking abortions.

Constitution-loving Paul wants to kill the postal service — which is established in the Constitution

Every argument against automatic voter registration, debunked

Register, via ShutterstockEvery argument against automatic voter registration, debunked
There simply isn’t a good case to be made against the policy.

White House ignored months of warnings about 9/11 to avoid leaving ‘paper trail’ of culpability

The former CIA director during the shrub's junta claims his department informed White house officials over impending Al Qaeda attacks months before the infamous “Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.” presidential briefing.

Your Weekly Wingnut Roundup

Your Weekly Wingnut Roundup - November 14, 2015

Texas Law Restricting Abortion Access Faces Supreme Court Challenge

texas-women-abortion
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to Texas’ controversial abortion law, which impedes women’s access to abortion in the Lone Star State. Provisions in the Texas law, signed by former Governor Rick Perry (R) in 2013, have led to the state shutting down 23 of the 41 clinics that were performing abortions.
Eight more are likely to close soon, which would leave the state with just 10 clinics. Women living in the Texas panhandle and in West Texas would be hundreds of miles from the nearest in-state abortion provider.
If the Supreme Court follows judicial precedent they should find reason to reverse Texas’ anti-abortion legislation. A 1992 ruling in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey asserted that states cannot place undue burdens on the constitutional right to abortion before fetal viability.
The court defined those burdens as “unnecessary health regulations that have the purpose or effect of presenting a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion.” By that standard, the Texas law clearly appears to be unconstitutional.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) urged the Supreme Court not to hear the case. Using a boiler plate conservative argument against “judicial activism”, Paxton argued that the court should not choose to become “the country’s ex officio medical board with powers to approve or disapprove medical and operative practices and standards throughout the United States.”
The Supreme Court has not agreed to hear an abortion case in eight years, so the implications from their ruling on Texas’ abortion law could also have a significant impact on laws in other states that have tried to limit women’s access to abortion.
How the court will decide to rule is unclear. Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito are almost certain to side with the Texas law and Justice Roberts would probably be expected to as well. On the other side of the ideological divide, Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Kagan and Sotomayor would be likely to view Texas’ law as too restrictive. As is often the case, such a divide would leave the fate of Texas women in the hands of Justice Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote on the court. For the sake of Texas women, and women in other states as well, hopefully Kennedy will arrive at a sensible opinion that does not hinder women from having a choice.

The Truth Hurts

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Trump Goes On Epic Rant Slamming Republican Cabal Candidates, the American People

The End For Trump After 95 Minute Unhinged Rant Bored Supporters

Trump dug a hole too deep to climb out of after raging against Carson and "stupid" Iowa voters.…
trump-nbc Speaking before a crowd of about 1500 people at a community college theater in Fort Dodge, Iowa on Thursday night, Trump launched into a 95 minute tirade that could finally deliver a fatal blow to his 2016 pretender aspirations. Although Trump has built his entire campaign around bizarre rants, and hurling insults far and wide, Thursday night’s unhinged monologue might have been a bridge too far, even for Trump.
Some of Trump’s barbs, like calling Fiornia “Carly whatever the hell her name is,” and slamming Rubio as being “weak like a baby” were standard Trump fare, provocative but perhaps appealing to Trump voters who seem to crave his petty insults.
However, Trump waded into more dangerous territory when he decided to go after retired neurosurgeon Carson with deeply personal attacks, comparing Carson’s pathology with the pathology of being a child molester. Trump also mocked Carson’s redemption stabbing story, pantomiming a stabbing on stage.
Whether or not Trump’s bizarre diatribe will cost him political support remains to be seen. Throughout the campaign, Republican voters have gravitated to Trump for speaking his mind and being unencumbered by what they perceive as the stifling weight of “political correctness” that keeps other candidates from being as bold.
Thursday, however, Trump crossed a line, by attacking a candidate that Republican voters in Iowa like, and by implying that voters in Iowa were stupid for liking him. Attacking Carson was risky, because Carson is wildly popular with Iowa Republicans. A recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll found that 71 percent of Iowa Republicans have a favorable opinion of Carson, compared to just 11 percent who view him unfavorably.
In addition, Trump’s rhetorical question, “how stupid are the people of Iowa?” is about as boneheaded an error a candidate can make while speaking in Iowa. Its generally bad practice to call people idiots at the very moment you are trying to convince them to vote for you. Insults are part of Trump’s repertoire, but Republican voters probably want the candidate to stop short of insulting them personally.
What Trump said about Carson doesn’t even rank among the most absurd things he has said during his campaign. However, it may turn out to be the most politically damaging. Trump’s Thursday evening rant has the potential to become his “Dean scream” moment.
Howard Dean’s fateful 2004 “scream”, after his 3rd place finish in the Iowa Democratic presidential caucuses, doomed his candidacy. In fairness, Dean’s scream was not accompanied by any outrageous policy statements, it was merely a call to action for campaign workers and volunteers. Nevertheless, the optics were terrible and the scream came off as making the candidate appear unbalanced. While, that judgment was unusually harsh, it was one that pundits and voters held, and it killed Dean’s chances of winning his party’s nomination.
Republican voters in the 2016 race have been unusually forgiving to Trump, and to the other Republican cabal candidates, for horrendous lies, ridiculous policies, bizarre personal attacks against other candidates, and incomprehensible gaffes. For that reason, Trump may still survive his Thursday night rant. However, this is the beginning of the end for Mr. Trump’s 2016 chances. Trump aimed his ire at Carson and at the voters of Iowa, and in so doing, he finally dug a hole too deep to climb his way out of.

Schlafly: 'I Don’t Think Obama Ever' Loved America, Unlike Trump

As we noted earlier this week, Schlafly seems to have thrown her support behind Trump, saying that Trump “acts like he loves America.” In an interview with WingNutDaily today, Schlafly continued on the same theme, comparing Trump to Reagan, who “was a real... MORE

Trump Vows ‘Deportation Force’ Will ‘Humanely’ Enforce His Version of ‘Operation Wetback’

Top Republicans Admit That Carson and Trump Aren’t Fit To Be Commander In Chief

carson-trump
Privately, high-level Republicans are admitting that neither Carson nor Trump is fit to be commander in chief.
The Hill columnist Brent Budowsky wrote:
There is a growing panic behind the scenes throughout the upper echelons of the Republican cabal. There is an increasing fear that the candidacies of Trump and  Carson, whom most high-level Republicans privately believe are not fit to be pretender and commander in chief, will lead the Republican cabal to a defeat on the magnitude of President Lyndon Johnson’s landslide victory over Republican nominee Goldwater (R-Ariz.) in 1964.
There is no need to discuss at length the specific reasons for this growing panic among high-level Republicans inside and outside of Washington, though I would note that Trump’s recent support of an immigration program modeled after Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” — including the creation of some special police force to enforce Trump’s version of the program — sent shivers down the spine of key Republicans. Many Republicans are sickened that Trump’s immigration views have now brought the venal “w” word back to the center stage of Republican cabal politics and the Republican cabal brand.
If Republicans can’t find a candidate who is capable of beating Trump and Carson, they may return to Romney. The twist suggested by Budowsky is that they will pair Mitt with Rubio. Of course, this isn’t much of a twist at all. They tried the same strategy in 2012 when they paired Romney with Ryan. The problem that Republicans can’t get past is that voters don’t trust or like Romney, but what could be shaping is any port in a storm level desperation from the Republican cabal.
The real jaw dropper is that even Republicans are admitting that the two candidates who are leading in their polling aren’t fit to be pretender. If Trump or Carson were to win the Republican nomination, the Republican leadership could try to sandbag their candidate to prevent an unfit nominee from winning.
It isn’t just that Carson and Trump are totally unqualified to be pretender. It is that they have both demonstrate traits that hint at their unfitness for office. Both top Republicans don’t understand policy or how the government works. Trump thinks that the presidency is cutting deals and that he will just do stuff while Carson appears to wage a daily battle with reality and refuses to accept basic facts or even his own previous statements.
Republicans are worried that both of their top candidates are so unfit for office that they will be crushed in 2016. In other words, even the Republican cabal is admitting the current leaders of the Republican primary are crazy.

Is Carson Like A Child Molester?