Decked out in full Renaissance Faire
regalia, a New York man has joined hundreds of 'patriots' who have
appointed themselves defenders of U.S. military recruitment centers.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Police Force Only Hired Cops Who Said They Wouldn’t Arrest Other Cops
'Christian' Pastor Ousted By His Cult For Standing Up For Women And Children
These Missouri 'christians' have a hard time allowing women to be considered equals and children learning reality.Deranged Couple Sets Homeless Man On Fire In Front Of Kids, Thought It Was ‘Okay’
Surveillance footage has led to the arrest of an Albuquerque couple
who set a homeless man on fire with fireworks on July 11. Joshua
Benavidez and Irene...Tuesday, July 28, 2015
The Daily Drift
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President Obama’s ‘Greatest Frustration’ Is Republican Obstruction Of Gun Safety Laws
Hours before a gunman opened fire in yet another mass-shooting, President Obama spoke about being “stymied” on gun safety.Democrats Drill Republicans By Hitting Them In The Koch With Supreme Court Ethics Bill
It is an affront to Americans, and frankly the rule of law, that
every judge is held to ethical standards except the 9 Supreme Court
Justices…
For the second time in as many years, Democratic
legislators in Congress are calling on the Supreme Court to finally, at
long last, adopt a code of ethics for Supreme Court Justices to rein in wingnut Justices working for wingnut, corporate, and religious cabals. The bill, “The Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2015″
that was recently reintroduced would to media silence, if passed by the
Koch brothers’ Congress, requires the Supreme Court to adopt a code of
the ethics within 180 days. There is little hope the Koch brothers will
allow Republicans to be for the legislation eliminating their
substantial influence over at least two, and likely three, of the High
Court’s wingnut Justices.
As it stands now, the nine Supreme Court justices
are so powerful that they are currently exempt from adhering to the code
of conduct all other U.S. judges are required to follow; an ethics code
to ensure there is a semblance of neutrality and transparency in the
nation’s federal courts. It is a requirement that the American people
support overwhelmingly, and if enacted may well lead the population to
believe that the highest court in the land is not working solely for the
rich and religious entities controlling the five conservatives on the
Court.
In the latest polling from Gallup, the American
people’s faith in the High Court as an independent, transparent, and
fair entity is a despicable 30 percent; likely because of a recent rash
of wingnut rulings based on the demands of powerful special
interest and religious cabals. The solution is a simple fix requiring
the Supreme Court justices to recuse themselves from cases where they
have a blatant, often monetary conflict of interest, and finally
restrict them from engaging in political activities to raise money and
awareness for wingnut causes; specifically corporate and religious
causes.
New legislation introduced by Representative Louise
Slaughter is a reiteration of a 2012 bill that has an updated title,
“the Supreme Court Ethics Act of 2015.” The new legislation, if by a
world-shaking miracle, was passed by the Koch Congress will be a huge
step toward ensuring that wingnut Justices start “ruling fairly and
start conducting themselves in ways that uphold the impartiality and
integrity of the judiciary.” Several rulings over the past five years by
the wingnut Court belie any belief that integrity and impartiality
exists in at least three of the Court’s wingnut puppets.
According to Senator Chris Murphy (D-CN) “there
is absolutely no reason why Supreme Court Justices shouldn’t be subject
to the same code of conduct as all other federal judges. The American
people deserve to know that our highest court is held to the highest
ethical standards, which is why we introduced the Supreme Court Ethics
Act of 2015.” All other Federal judges are held to high ethical standards due to requirements
in “The Code of Conduct for United States Judges.” Supreme Court
conservative Justices not only have no intent, much less obligation to
adhere to the Code of Conduct, it is fairly well known that some of them
refuse to even “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.”
This is not the first, or even the second, time
legislators have attempted to hold Supreme Court Justices to the same
standards as every other federal judge. A similar bill was introduced in
1973, and again
in 2013, and three years ago 212 legal scholars recognized the pressing
need for an code of ethics and appealed to Chief Justice John Roberts
in a letter “urging him to adopt a code of conduct for the Justices.”
Roberts has also received a petition signed by 130,000 Americans (so
far) begging him to adopt and enforce some kind of ethics code for the
High Court; likely because the public knows that wingnut Justices,
particularly Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, are closely tied to,
and committed to serve the Koch brothers, wingnut delusion tanks,
evangelicals, and corporations.
Democratic legislators say, and rightly so, that
Congress has the purview to create a Supreme Court Code of Conduct
because it legally determines how many Justices sit on the Court as well
as how much they are paid by the federal government, not the Koch
brothers or wingnut delusion tanks. In a press release, the bill’s
author, Representative Louise Slaughter (D-NY) said “The
questionable activities of some of our Supreme Court justices have been
well documented — participating in political functions, failing to
report family income from political groups, and attending political
fundraisers. It doesn’t make sense that members of the highest court in
the land are the only federal judges exempt from the code of conduct.”
Slaughter was referring to Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas Koch-funded attendance at a highly-secret Koch brother strategy meeting
and corporate fundraiser with Citizens United plaintiffs prior to
hearing and ruling that corporations are exempt from campaign finance
laws according to their 1st Amendment right of free speech. She also
noted that Clarence Thomas deliberately concealed
hundreds-of-thousands of dollars paid to his wife by the
“anti-Obamacare” wingnut Heritage Foundation to lobby against the
Affordable Care Act; even while the Supreme Court was taking up the
Constitutionality of the healthcare insurance reform law. Last year,
Justice Samuel Alito was the featured guest speaker
at a $25,000-a-head political fundraiser for a wingnut magazine cabal, American Spectator. There is no way of knowing whether or how
much Alito earned as a featured speaker because there is no Supreme
Court Code of Ethics. Regardless of whether he earned one penny, Alito
like Scalia, did use his status and position as a Supreme Court Justice
to raise money for wingnuts.
It is an affront to Americans, and frankly the rule
of law, that every judge in America is held to some kind of ethical
standards except the nine Supreme Court Justices with the power to
interpret the Constitutionality of any and every law in the nation. Over
the past five years, particularly, the American people have suffered
the consequences, including the selling of their democracy to the rich
and powerful, of a High Court without a code of judicial conduct.
It
is true there is no guarantee that a judicial “ethics or conduct code”
will ensure transparency and neutrality, especially among the Koch wingnuts on the Court. It may, however, serve as a reminder to
Justices that they are not above following basic judicial ethics
standards; something the Koch brothers will never allow “their”
Republican Congress to enact or enforce. If, by some Earth-shaking
miracle Congress did enact a Supreme Court Ethics Code, it is likely
that the 5 wingnuts on the High Court would rule it
unconstitutional.
John Kerry Tells Republicans To Stop Believing In Unicorns And Join The Real World On Iran
John Kerry dismissed Corker's fantasies about a world
where Iran's nuclear knowledge can be made to magically disappear.…
Right at the start of the Senate hearings on the nuclear deal with Iran
– at which US Secretary of State John Kerry, Energy Secretary Ernest
Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew will testify – in what can hardly
be called a surprise, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Corker (R-TN) found fault with an agreement which has been widely
praised everywhere but in Israel and Congress.
Corker began the meeting by telling
Secretary of State John Kerry, “Not unlike a hotel guest that leaves
only with a hotel bathrobe on his back, I believe that you’ve been
fleeced.”
According to Corker, the Obama administration has
shown “disdain” for US allies in the region (jargon for Israel),
claiming that “if we had dealt with dismantling their nuclear program
they wouldn’t be reacting as they did.” Corker forgets the U.S. has
other allies, and that our foreign policy does not revolve around – or
function for the sole benefit of – Israel.
According to Corker, far from curbing any potential
Iranian nuclear weapons program, the administration has actually made it
possible for “a state sponsor of terrorism” to create nuclear weapons.
On the contrary, pointed out Kerry, rejecting the
treaty would be giving Iran “a great big green light” to produce nuclear
weapons. After all, what measures would be in force to stop them short
of war?
Clearly, this meeting is more about Republican shrieking points than our shared world of facts, something about which
Kerry was quick to remind him:
Kerry told Corker that he apparently believed in
some “sort of unicorn arrangement involving Iran’s complete
capitulation.” In other words, Kerry dismissed Corker’s fantasies about a
world where Iran’s nuclear knowledge can be made to magically
disappear:
“The fact is that Iran now has extensive experience
with nuclear fuel cycle technology. We can’t bomb that knowledge away.
Nor can we sanction that knowledge away.”
This should hardly need be said, but these are Republicans we are talking about here. They’re not scientists, after all.
And Kerry made clear that “the result will be the
United States of America walking away from every one of the restrictions
we have achieved.”
“We will have squandered the best chance we have to solve this problem through peaceful means.”
Which is hardly a problem for chickenhawks, who are
always eager to send innocent young men and women to die for their
ideological causes and whatever war profiteering they can get out of
foreign adventurism.
It is clear that Republicans don’t want to deal with the real world, but rather with what they want to be, which is not something relate-able to other Americans, let alone the rest of the world.
Obama’s achievement in bringing together a coalition
to force Iran to the negotiating table cannot be understated, and the
resultant deal is too important to be destroyed by Republicans who have
no viable alternative to diplomacy save a war nobody wants to fight but
them.
Congress has 56 days to give and up or down vote on the deal, not that they can realistically hope to stop it.
Republicans Still Want Trump, But He Would Get Crushed By Clinton Or Sanders
Trump still leads the Republican cabal field, but he trails both Clinton and
Sanders by double digits, according to a poll released last Thursday.…
Trump continues to hold the lead in the Republican
field, even after making his controversial comments mocking John McCain
for being captured as a POW during the Vietnam War. While 50 percent of Republican voters disagreed with Trump’s comments, compared to only 22 percent who agreed, the fallout has not cost Trump his lead in the Republican race.
Republican voters want Trump as their nominee, but choosing him to represent their cabal would be akin to political suicide. Trump trails Hillary Clinton 50-37 percent
in a head to head match-up. He also trails Bernie Sanders 47-37
percent, making him by far the weakest Republican candidate surveyed,
when pitted against a Democratic opponent.
The PPP poll also found that if Republicans choose
not to nominate Trump, he could still inflict fatal damage on the cabal
if he decides to follow through on his threat to run as an Independent candidate
for pretender. For example, in a three-way race between Hillary
Clinton, Jeb and Trump, the Democrats would win in a
landslide. In that hypothetical match-up, Hillary Clinton polls 43 percent, followed by Jeb at 25 percent, and Trump at 23 percent.
Republican voters find Trump’s demagoguery
appealing. By a 49-36 percent margin they hold favorable views of the
bombastic billionaire. However, American voters in general view Trump
negatively, with just 29 percent seeing him favorably compared to 61
percent who dislike him.
Republican
voters can choose to nominate Trump to represent their cabal in
2016, or they can select another candidate and hope that Trump doesn’t
run as an Independent. Either way, the bottom line is that if
Trump’s name appears anywhere on the ballot in November 2016, the
Democrats will win their biggest landslide victory since LBJ crushed
Barry Goldwater in 1964.
Georgia Republican Hurls Racist Insults At Black Woman, Says She Should Apologize To Him
A Georgia Republican used vile racist language to insult an
African-American woman on Facebook, but he expects and is demanding that
she be the one who apologizes.
We Need To Phase Out Medicare, Says Jeb at Koch Brothers Sponsored Event
Jeb told an audience at a Koch brothers’
sponsored Americans for Prosperity event in New Hampshire, that we need
to phase out Medicare. Bush, the so-called “moderate” candidate in the
GOP field, is ready to scrap Medicare, stripping away a vital program
that helps cover medical costs for elderly and disabled Americans.
The moron made his intentions clear when he stated:
The left needs to join the conversation, but they haven’t. I mean, when [Rep. Paul Ryan] came up with, one of his proposals as it relates to Medicare, the first thing I saw was a TV ad of a guy that looked just like Paul Ryan … that was pushing an elderly person off the cliff in a wheelchair. That’s their response.And I think we need to be vigilant about this and persuade people that our, when your volunteers go door to door, and they talk to people, people understand this. They know, and I think a lot of people recognize that we need to make sure we fulfill the commitment to people that have already received the benefits, that are receiving the benefits.But then we need to figure out a way to phase out this program for others and move to a new system that allows them to have something – because they’re not going to have anything. And that argument I think is going to be a winning argument if we take it directly to the people.
What Jeb does not seem to understand is that what passes as a
winning argument in a room full of Koch brothers’ republican cabal lackeys and what
passes as a winning argument with the American people are two very
different things.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey
released on July 17, 2015, 89 percent of Americans want to leave
Medicare as it is, or they want to increase funding for Medicare. 77
percent of Americans say Medicare is “very important” to them, including
69 percent of Republicans. Only 4 percent of Republicans, 3 percent of
Independents and 1 percent of Democrats say Medicare is “not very
important” or “not at all important” to them.
Mitt Romney was widely regarded as out of touch in 2012, for
wanting to completely ignore 47 percent of the electorate. However, his
formula for victory at least was mathematically possible if he could
have somehow implausibly ran the table with the other 53 percent of
voters. Jeb, however, thinks its a winning argument to send people
door to door to push a policy that will have the support of just 4
percent of Republicans and less than 3 percent of Americans in general.
Apparently when a candidate spends all his time sucking up to
the Koch brothers, he loses sight of what constitutes sensible or
popular public policy. Jeb, by all means, go ahead and send your
paid staffers and your volunteers to knock on every door in America with
the message that you want to phase out Medicare. Oh, and good luck with
that.
Indiana County Clerk Files Lawsuit Claiming Persecution After Being Fired For Refusing To Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses
A county clerk in Indiana is throwing a temper tantrum over being
fired because she refused to obey the law and didn’t want to do her job
without the ability to discriminate against people.
Louisiana pastor arrested twice in three months for trying to molest teen boys
Dead Man With 1200 Guns Thought He Was An Alien With Special Powers
Seattle bus driver’s eyeglasses camera reveals deputies lied ...
Court Rules That Air Fresheners, Rosaries And Pro-Police Bumper Stickers Are Reasonable Suspicion
Could
you imagine if, instead of being Latino, the defendants were
anti-choice white 'christians' and the probable causes were anti-choice
and NRA
bumper stickers?Anti-Forfeiture Corruption Bill Gets Pushback From Guilty Prosecutors Stealing Seized Cash, Home
Here’s a story that lends a lot of credibility to that suspicion many
have that cops sometimes pocket your drugs, money and other property
for themselves...Monday, July 27, 2015
The Daily Drift
Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!
The Truth Be Told is read in 204 countries around the world.
Republicans are Soul Suckers ... !
Today is - Walk-On-Stilts Day
Don't forget to visit our sister blog Carolina Naturally
Some of our readers today have been in:
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Jon Stewart: Covering Donald Trump’s Campaign Feels Like Masturbation
Whether we like it or not, Donald Trump’s clown-show of a campaign is
getting coverage everywhere. You can’t go a day without The Donald
making...
Rachel Maddow Schools Santorum On His Appalling Lack Of Understanding Of Basic Civics
So this happened. Rachel Maddow finally got a Republican pretender
candidate on her show. Turns out that Rick Santorum had the cojones to
appear in
Jeb Wants You To Work Harder, But He Doesn’t Want You To Have ‘Benefits And Stuff’
He makes Mitt Romney look worker friendly.
Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro still whining that trans woman who wants to ‘spank’ him made him feel scared
Breitbart’s Ben Shapiro still whining that trans woman who wants to ‘spank’ him made him feel scared
Breitbart's moron Ben Shapiro is
apparently still reeling from his humiliating on-camera run-in with
transgender Inside Edition reporter Zoey Tur.
***
Ben Shapiro is a spineless wimp and got better than he deserved.
As militiamen 'stand guard', Army tells recruiters to treat all armed civilians as a threat
The military is responding to the waves of
civilians who have positioned themselves outside of recruitment centers
in the name of 'protecting' U.S. personnel.
Here’s how our criminal justice system is biased
![Rosemary Aquino arrested by sheriff's deputies in Martin County, Florida on Feb. 1, 2015 [YouTube]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tlWJtNF43JNSCfxIztXKfGQhRwU4xFCQQx4PrYP4VEQ1qHJ-IkziM9skbtIDpW6WE7oT805L8XGYNnUDmB7qWTYnRvOfiVn0uK_qaEMUeVgKhAFp8oYE-IJEXfggWh68Pop3bd0nznwa3W7AkSEFhe2ntodJ2tog=s0-d)
From start to finish, the system reflects the problems and biases of the humans who run it.
Oklahoma prosecutors seized assets from suspects to pay down their student debt and live rent-free
Law enforcement authorities argue that civil forfeiture is necessary to fight drug trafficking.
Deputy indicted for false info in search warrant for drug raid that left toddler maimed
A federal grand jury in Georgia has indicted
a former sheriff’s deputy involved in a drug raid that left a
19-month-old child severely burned from a flash bang grenade explosion.
Sunday, July 26, 2015
The Daily Drift
Hey, wingnuts, yeah we're talking to you ...!
The Truth Be Told is read in 204 countries around the world.
Republicans are BAD parents ... !
Today is - Parents Day
Don't forget to visit our sister blog Carolina Naturally
Some of our readers today have been in:
The Americas
Brazil - Canada - Chile - Colombia - Dominican Republic - Nicaragua - Puerto Rico - United States Uruguay - Venezuela
Europe
Bosnia/Herzegovina
- Bulgaria - England - Finland - France - Georgia - Germany - Greece -
Iceland Ireland - Isle of Mann - Italy - Luxembourg - Netherlands -
Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia
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Congressman Trolls Bill To Point Out Republican Hypocrisy
“Officials have an obligation to uphold rights for all Americans enshrined in the Constitution."
by Marina Fang
A Democratic congressman is using a Republican-sponsored bill that would withhold federal law enforcement funding to so-called sanctuary cities to draw attention to Republican cabal hypocrisy.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) on Wednesday added an amendment that calls for applying the same funding restrictions to states and municipalities refusing to abide by the Supreme Court ruling that legalizes gay marriage.
“Some state and local officials are showing an unwillingness to comply with a clear directive from the Supreme Court of the United States,” Pocan said in a statement. “Officials have an obligation to uphold rights for all Americans enshrined in the Constitution and we need to everything we can to make sure they adhere to the law of the land.”
Both Senate and House Republicans have called for eliminating Department of Justice funding to sanctuary cities, which have said they will not comply with federal immigration officials in tracking and reporting undocumented immigrants. The bills were introduced after a fatal shooting earlier this month in San Francisco, a sanctuary city. Charged in the killing is an undocumented man who had previously been deported five times.
Pocan said he believes that if Congress can restrict funding to state and local authorities based on immigration policies, it can do the same for localities that fail to respect gay marriage, which the Supreme Court has deemed a constitutionally protected right.
Earlier this month, Pocan wrote a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch asking federal officials to pursue all possible steps to punish states and municipalities holding out against gay marriage.
Though Pocan’s amendment is unlikely to get a vote when the House bill is considered later this week, he plans to introduce the measure in other bills as well, according to his office.
***
Editor's Note: The wingnuts in the Huse pushed through the bill to 'punish' Sanctuary Cities but the Veto Pen is waiting to be used to put this trash bill in the garbage can where it belongs.
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