October 26, 2018

Time for some good , old NYT victim blaming

https://twitter.com/TopherSpiro/status/1055961611364679680


What is this? Is the New York Times blaming the victims?

They Were Sent Pipe Bombs. Here’s What They’ve Said About Trump.
A look at the contentious words between the president and some of his most outspoken critics.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/nyregion/who-received-pipe-bombs-explosives.html

October 24, 2018

Russia and China are listening to Trump's cell phone calls

https://twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1055222237668802566






US intelligence agencies have warned Trump that Russia and China are listening to his cell phone calls. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/24/us/politics/trump-phone-security.html …

October 9, 2018

Tea Party Protests: 'Ni**er,' 'Fa**ot' Shouted At Members Of Congress

05/20/2010 05:12 am ET Updated May 25, 2011
Tea Party Protests: ‘Ni**er,’ ‘Fa**ot’ Shouted At Members Of Congress
Abusive, derogatory and even racist behavior directed at House Democrats by Tea Party protesters on Saturday left several lawmakers in shock.

Preceding the president’s speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.

A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a ‘ni—er.’ And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a “faggot,” as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president’s speech, shrugged off the incident.But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.

“It was absolutely shocking to me,” Clyburn said, in response to a question from the Huffington Post. “Last Monday, this past Monday, I stayed home to meet on the campus of Claflin University where fifty years ago as of last Monday... I led the first demonstrations in South Carolina, the sit ins... And quite frankly I heard some things today I have not heard since that day. I heard people saying things that I have not heard since March 15, 1960 when I was marching to try and get off the back of the bus.”


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/20/tea-party-protests-nier-f_n_507116.html




I posted this article from 2010 to illustrate the gOP's well-known hypocrisy. And we're supposed to be the "angry mob"?

October 7, 2018

Norm Ornstein jumped on Kasie Hunt for "both sides are the sameism" this morning

https://twitter.com/NormOrnstein/status/1048952155862958080

Kasie Hunt repeats the casual and false equivalence of Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell on filibusters. To reiterate for the upteenth time, Reid changed the rule only because McConnell refused to confirm ANY DC Circuit nominees, no matter how moderate, qualified. Both sides again!

https://twitter.com/kasie/status/1048957017417797638

@kasie The idea that Harry Reid didn't contribute to the Senate's descent into bitter hyperpartisanship is simply ludicrous.


@NormOrnstein
Replying to @kasie
I know the desire to show you are balanced. But truth is not always balance. And by entirely equating Reid— who was no angel— with McConnell, who blew up more norms and practices in the Senate than all other leaders before him combined— is just wrong.

@kasie
Replying to @NormOrnstein
My comments this morning were meant to illustrate the slide toward where we are — not to equate McConnell and Reid. You are correct in that McConnell has a singular focus — judges — and he’s willing to sacrifice basically every norm on that alter. In that way yes you’re correct


@NormOrnstein

Replying to @kasie
I understand the intent, and I respect you as a terrific reporter. But you have to understand that import of the comment, which fits conventional journalistic wisdom, puts equal blame on both sides. And that lets the miscreants get off without any consequences. They all do it!


@kasie
Replying to @NormOrnstein
Understood. Thanks for your kind words as well as your tough ones — I have been an admirer since being assigned your books in college — I am humbled by this whole thing!

October 6, 2018

WaPo journalist Jamal Kashoggi concluded killed in Saudi embassy in Turkey

ISTANBUL — Turkey has concluded that Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent journalist from Saudi Arabia, was killed in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul earlier this week by a Saudi team sent “specifically for the murder,” two people with knowledge of the probe said Saturday.

Turkish investigators believe a 15-member team “came from Saudi Arabia. It was a preplanned murder,” said one of the people. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

They offered no specific evidence to back up the account. But earlier Saturday, Turkey’s Anadolu news agency said the Istanbul public prosecutor’s office had opened a probe into Khashoggi’s disappearance.Saudi Arabia had vehemently denied that Khashoggi was detained after he entered the consulate.

In an interview with Bloomberg last week, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Khashoggi had left the consulate shortly after he arrived on Tuesday. Saudi officials have yet to provide any evidence for that assertion.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-concludes-saudi-journalist-khashoggi-killed-by-murder-team-sources-say/2018/10/06/31ee4f86-c8d9-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_story.html?utm_term=.f1338b6ec9b2


By Editorial Board October 4
JAMAL KHASHOGGI, a journalist who has turned a trenchant and questioning eye on the leadership of his country, Saudi Arabia, entered the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul on Tuesday to take care of what should have been routine paperwork. Saudi Arabia says he then left. His fiancee, waiting for him, says he did not, and he cannot be found. Turkey says it has seen no sign that he left the building. Mr. Khashoggi, a contributor to The Post’s Global Opinions section, appears to have disappeared, and we are worried.

Mr. Khashoggi is not just any commentator. Over a long career, he has had close contact with Saudi royalty and knows more than most about how they think and function. His criticism, voiced over the past year, most surely rankles Mohammed bin Salman, who was elevated to crown prince last year and has carried out a wide-ranging campaign to silence dissent while trying to modernize the kingdom. Among those in his prisons for political speech are clerics, bloggers, journalists and activists. He imprisoned women who agitated for the right to drive, a right that was granted even as they were punished.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/where-is-jamal-khashoggi/2018/10/04/2681e000-c7f7-11e8-9b1c-a90f1daae309_story.html?utm_term=.4f50dc0e5838

October 5, 2018

Lawsuits point to large trove of unreleased Kavanaugh White House documents

New details have emerged about potentially thousands of Brett Kavanaugh’s White House emails and other records related to the Senate hacking scandal from early in the George W. Bush administration and other controversial subjects that have not been disclosed to the Senate, according Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee.

The undisclosed documents, which date from Kavanaugh’s time in the Bush White House, are set to be produced in coming weeks as a result of two Freedom of Information Act lawsuits, one pursued by Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee and another by an outside privacy group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). Release of the documents is still subject to White House approval and other consultations.

The Senate hacking scandal involved a Republican judiciary committee aide, Manny Miranda, who, according to an official investigation, infiltrated the electronic files of Democrats on the committee with the help of a co-conspirator, James Lundell, and passed the intelligence on to other senators, the White House, and friendly opinion columnists over a period of years. The pilfered material contained, among other things, Democrats’ research and prepared questions for judicial nominees.

“This highlights how little we know about Judge Kavanaugh’s record,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a statement. “More than 90 percent of his White House records remain hidden. The fact that he appears to have had so many conversations about a topic that he denied having involvement with, under oath, raises even more questions,” Leahy continued, referring to the Senate hacking scandal.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawsuits-point-large-trove-unreleased-kavanaugh-white-house-documents-202543065.html

October 5, 2018

Manchin just announced he's a yes on Kavanaugh

per Ali Velshi

October 5, 2018

Did McConnell write Collins' speech?

https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/1048289287404441600


Susan Collins castigating everyone for opposing the nominee before he was even named, which is, of course what McConnell did immediately after Scalia’s death.

October 4, 2018

'Just like Trump': Bolsonaro leads Brazil's presidential race with right-wing populist pitch

SAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil for years reveled in its image as a post-racial, left-leaning society. Now Jair Bolsonaro — a far-right outsider who says he “loves” President Trump — has surged to the front of the pack in Sunday’s presidential elections, sharply dividing Latin America’s largest nation.

To tackle runaway crime, Bolsonaro says, police should gun down more criminals. “A gay son is the result of a lack of beatings,” he once quipped, and insists that homosexuality should not be discussed in elementary schools.

He once said that women — because they get pregnant — deserve less pay than men. He has called some minorities fat and lazy.

Like Trump, he embraces social media to reach legions of loyal followers. His rallies have become outlets for white men rattled by social and economic change. He has vowed to drain the swamp in the capital and make Brazil “great.”“It’s going to be beautiful,” the front-runner’s 34-year-old son, Eduardo Bolsonaro, said while envisioning his father’s presidency at a rally last week. “It will be just like Trump in the United States.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/just-like-trump-bolsonaro-leads-brazils-presidential-race-with-right-wing-populist-pitch/2018/10/04/c4ba3728-c65c-11e8-9c0f-2ffaf6d422aa_story.html?utm_term=.fbeb8a7bced8

October 4, 2018

Heitkamp's brother, Joel ,said that last time Heidi ran

she was behind 10 points a week before the election, so to ignore the polls. He said he drives all around North Dakota and Heidi has a lot of support. ND farmers are upset with Trump because of tariffs, the price of soybeans and Heidi has a lot of support among them.

Joel Heitkamp was just on MSNBC talking to Katy Tur.