Trump has a new labor advisor.

Trump has a new “labor” advisor. His name is James Sherk. His big issue is federal workers are paid too much and have too many job benefits. They also don’t work enough, according to Sherk. Trump has empowered him to fix the problem by cutting salaries and benefits for federal workers. In other words, James Sherk seems like a really nice guy.

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James is a 2003 graduate of Hillsdale College, the uber-ideological rightwing college in Michigan, which churns out far-right shock troops. (Hillsdale first became a rightwing cause celebre when it refused all federal aid so as to not come under federal regulations opposing racism. They’ve maintained the tradition. Just a few years ago the College’s President got in trouble for snarking that he guessed the school “violated the standards for diversity because we didn’t have enough dark ones, I guess, is what they meant.”) Then James did three years getting a Masters at the University of Rochester. From the time he left there until a few months ago he’s held various policy jobs at The Heritage Foundation.

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Sherk thinks that federal workers are fat and lazy and need to be kicked into shape. He has literally had no experience in the private sector, ever. He has had no experience working in government, ever. Given the nature of these jobs at Heritage (check out the link above) there’s a relatively legit (though perhaps ungenerous) argument that he’s never held a job job in his life. His entire professional life has been spent at Heritage.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/who-are-they-2

Trump hosted the NRA at the White House on the anniversary of Sandy Hook massacre

Not only did Donald Trump not tweet out messages of condolences for families who lost loved ones five years ago on Thursday at the Sand Hook gun massacre in Connecticut, and not only did White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on that day insist there’s simply nothing that can be done to battle American epidemic of gun violence, but Trump himself managed to insult the Sandy Hook families in another appalling way.

In a craven display of collective indifference, Trump hosted Wayne LaPierre, the controversial head of the NRA, at the White House on Thursday night, as families and friends of the elementary school gun massacre were remembering the victims of the horrific killing spree.

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Gun safety advocate Shannon Watts, who founded the group Moms Demand Action, noted on Twitter the contrast between how Trump and Obama deal with families of Sandy Hook, as well as the memories of the slain:

https://twitter.com/shannonrwatts/status/941714564575477760

https://shareblue.com/trump-hosted-the-nra-at-the-white-house-on-the-anniversary-of-sandy-hook-massacre/

Trump's America: Swastikas painted at synagogue in Woodland Hills

Swastikas and other graffiti were found on Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills earlier this week, and authorities are investigating the actions as a hate crime, it was reported Thursday.

The vandalism, which also included the writing of a gang name and a profane drawing, occurred between late Sunday evening and early Monday morning on a sign near the street and on a guard shack at the entrance of the synagogue, the Daily News reported.

“It's a symbol normally used for hate purposes placed on a Jewish temple,” LAPD Det. Nick Abbinanti told the newspaper. Authorities said they have no suspect information, but that they did find similar tagging in the area about three to four miles away, on an alley wall in the West Hills area.

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“We immediately contacted the LAPD ... and before parents and children could arrive for school, our security team inspected the synagogue grounds to ensure the safety of our children,” the statement said. “The offensive symbols and other taggings have already been removed.”

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-temple-vandalism-20171214-story.html

Alabama proves that appealing to Trump voters is a lost cause. The power is elsewhere

In 2012, a man who believed in what he called "legitimate rape" ran for senator of Missouri, the state where I live. Todd Akin, a Republican, was the front-runner until he said rape victims should be denied abortions because, "if it's legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut the whole thing down." It horrified both my state and my country. Republican women abandoned Mr. Akin in droves, and his opponent, Democrat Claire McCaskill, trounced him at the polls, 54.8 per cent to 39.1 per cent.

Today, Mr. Akin's remark would barely register on the public radar, as a man accused of sexual assault holds the presidency and rancid revelations of brutal misogyny among our elected officials emerge daily. This grotesque plunge in standards led many, including me, to expect Roy Moore to win the Alabama Senate seat. I was thrilled to be wrong.

Before Tuesday night, Mr. Moore seemed like the embodiment of a government that had forsaken everything decent and good. Mr. Moore is an accused serial child molester who believes America was greatest when it had slavery, a disgraced lawyer who wanted to eliminate every amendment after the 10th and a hypocrite who wrapped his hatred of black, Muslim and LGBTQ citizens in a cloak of cynical piety. He was abetted by the enthusiastic support of Donald Trump and Stephen Bannon, as well as the cowardice of Republican officials, most of whom refused to forthrightly condemn him.

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What the Alabama race demonstrates to Democrats is that attempting to pry away white Trump voters is a bad strategy, both morally and politically. The priority of any representative should be protecting the rights of the most vulnerable – particularly their right to vote, without which all other rights are threatened. The job of an elected official is to serve the entire body politic, something Mr. Moore showed no desire to do. He sought instead to punish certain Alabamians for their mere existence – for things no one can change, such as race or sexual orientation, or for having progressive beliefs to which they are legally entitled. Like the President, Mr. Moore ran on the politics of subjugation, and those who voted for him could do so only because they knew they would not be among the subjugated.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/alabama-proves-that-appealing-to-trump-voters-is-a-lost-cause-the-power-is-elsewhere/article37313990

Fox News reacts to Ed Lee's Death

Condi Rice heard blast that killed girls in 1963. Won't endorse man who brought killers to justice.

Condoleezza Rice heard the blast at 16th St. Baptist Church in Sept. 1963. She was friends with Denise McNair. She won't endorse the man who prosecuted the killers of those four little girls? I'm sad for her.

Sanders: Congress shouldnt jump the gun on Trump impeachment

Of course not...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday warned against “jumping the gun” in pursuing impeachment charges against President Donald Trump and maintained that any potential proceedings should not be partisan.

“I think there is a process that has to be followed,” the Vermont independent said on NBC's “Meet the Press,” urging Democrats to wait for special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation on Russian attempts to interfere in the 2016 election to play out before starting any kind of formal impeachment process.

Play Impeach the President? Bernie Sanders says 'I don't think we're there right now' Facebook Twitter Embed
Impeach the President? Bernie Sanders says 'I don't think we're there right now'

“I think Mr. Mueller is doing a very good job on his investigation,” Sanders said. “If Mueller brings forth the clear evidence that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, I think you have grounds for impeachment.”

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“I think jumping the gun does nobody any good,” he said. “You have to bring the American people onto this issue. You don’t want to make it into a partisan issue. If we’re going to go forward with impeachment, I want the American people clearly to understand why that is the case, why it makes sense, why it’s the right thing to do. I don’t think we’re there right now. That’s what the Mueller investigation is all about.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sanders-congress-shouldn-t-jump-gun-trump-impeachment-n828156

Tina Dupuy mocks fan at Sexy Liberal meet and great

Trump comments on wind power...

The Democrats' sacrifice of Al Franken was cynical and ridiculous

For Roy Moore, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and their ilk? Keep those disclosures coming. But Al Franken’s party assassination for a rehearsal kiss, a stupid photograph and some mostly anonymous butt-grabbing is ripped by false equivalencies.

Hearing his peers urge him out of the Senate, I wanted to yell, “What the hell is wrong with you people?”

I know more about sexual abuses than politics. On the former, I speak from intimate knowledge. Here’s a very edited list of my own #metoo moments.

I was 14 years of age when a man who later turned out to be a serial killer, Rodney Alcala, rushed at me with an erection. At 17, the family doctor, age 70, molested me. That was sexual assault.

As a college student, my comparative literature professor lunged me with a gaping mouth. (He hadn’t put his teeth in that day.) Unsure how to deal with it, I never went to class again. He gave me a D. That was abuse of power.

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Unlike Trump, who admitted his crimes yet remains on the throne and supports pedophiles seeking office, Franken has accepted responsibility for actions that might be offensive and inappropriate but denied any kind sexual or impropriety.

Even if he were guilty of crimes charged, all violations are not equal. Moore’s preying on jailbait is a real #metoo. A guy who greets you naked or masturbates in front of you. #metoo. Sexual intimidation? #metoo.

But the jerk who couldn’t lift his eyes from your breasts, the guy who didn’t call you after, even the one who grinded you on the dance floor, are all greater offenders than the politician whose hand fell south from a woman’s waist during her photo request or the comic who got manic and staged a photograph that wasn’t funny.

Tweeden and the others are not victims. Period.

The #metoo movement has been co-opted for Franken’s political sabotage and the Democrats stepped right into it, offering the senator up as its lamb.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/democrats-sacrifice-al-franken-cynical-ridiculous-article-1.3685757