tenderfoot
tenderfoot's JournalFresno Bee editorial board goes to town on Devin Nunes
The Fresno Bee, the newspaper of the largest city in Rep. Devin Nunes’s California district, ripped the Republican lawmaker in a scathing editorial this week.
In the piece, the Bee’s editorial board refers to Nunes as President Trump’s “stooge” and criticizes him for prompting GOP attacks on the FBI with a classified memo that Republicans have latched onto as potential proof of political bias in the FBI.
“[Nunes] certainly isn’t representing his Central Valley constituents or Californians, who care much more about health care, jobs and, yes, protecting Dreamers than about the latest conspiracy theory,” the editorial board wrote. “Instead, he’s doing dirty work for House Republican leaders trying to protect President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation.”
Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, drafted the memo, which purports to detail surveillance abuses by the Obama administration as well as political bias in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the presidential election. House Republicans have been clamoring for it to be released.
Democratic members of the committee who have seen the memo claim it is full of “inaccuracies” and uncorroborated information. The #ReleaseTheMemo campaign on Twitter was found to be pushed by large numbers of Russia-linked bots.
The Department of Justice warned Nunes not to release the memo, saying it would be “extraordinarily reckless” to do so without having it reviewed by FBI and Justice Department officials given the classified information.
The Bee’s editorial calls Nunes’s performance as House Intelligence Committee chairman “nothing short of embarrassing” and accuses him of colluding with the White House to protect Trump rather than taking Russian interference in the 2016 election seriously.
The Bee also expresses intense skepticism about the memo, and writes that it is “ironic” that the GOP is working to “undermine” trust in the FBI. The memo has been criticized as a distraction from Mueller’s investigation.
“Now we’re supposed to believe some Republicans that there’s some kind of anti-Trump ‘secret society’ within the FBI? It’s ridiculous,” the newspaper's editorial board wrote.
“Everyone — Republicans, Democrats, advocacy groups on all sides and the media — should do our democracy a favor: Stop with the hyperventilating and let Mueller finish his investigation and get to the truth.”
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article196633904.html
Ben Shapiro: "A poor person in the US today is living better than a rich person in the 1920s."
https://twitter.com/yaf/status/956338407084580864You can barely tell the difference:
St. Peters Company Sells Holocaust-Style Yellow Star for 'Gun Owners'
?cb=1516651135
Update: Tactical Shit has said it will no longer sell the patch. See our latest update for the reasons why
The persecution of gun owners in America has an "uncanny" similarity to the abuses Jews suffered under Nazi rule — at least, that's true according to a remarkable item description for a "morale patch" shaped like a yellow Star of David that's currently being sold by a St. Peters gun store.
The store, called Tactical Shit, maintains a massive social media following through its Facebook group, and its inventory intentionally courts the tastes of right-wing meme lords and firearm aficionados who despise political correctness.
The store makes no secret of its desire to push the boundaries of good taste. That yellow star patch? You can find that under the dedicated tab for "offensive." At only $8, it's an absolute steal.
The full item description reads (emphasis added):
We do not invoke this historical symbol lightly. The similarities of the current attitude of the legislative environment and the systematic persecution that this star represents are uncanny. There's no difference.
The "Pieces of Flair" patch is a strong reminder of how quickly an unarmed society can be toppled by a dictatorship. How have we reached this point? How has the persecution of a single group of people become so socially acceptable? Well, to us, its not. Its time to remind these people of history. Line in the sand: drawn. This patch will fray nicely at the edges with usage (intentionally).
Principled! Defiant! TOTALLY not taking this historical symbol lightly. Still, the logical justification for borrowing an operative symbol of genocide seems to fray at the edges if you just ... well, put really any thought into it at all.
https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/01/22/st-peters-company-sells-holocaust-style-yellow-star-for-gun-owners
============
For a ruling party, they sure have a victimhood complex.
observations from a gun show in Richmond VA
https://twitter.com/EmilyGorcenski/status/955147255748710401https://twitter.com/EmilyGorcenski/status/955147686948335617
https://twitter.com/EmilyGorcenski/status/955148002804621312
https://twitter.com/EmilyGorcenski/status/955148408284643329
https://twitter.com/EmilyGorcenski/status/955148633187536897
WTF NHL? NHL announcement of Kid Rock as All-Star Game entertainer gets icy reaction
The NHL proudly announced Tuesday its headlining entertainer for the league’s All-Star Game, to be played in Tampa on Jan. 28. Apparently, more than a few fans felt that “Only God Knows Why” the league went with Kid Rock.
In other words, plenty of folks were willing to give the NHL “All Summer Long” to come up with a more relevant, less polarizing act. Those have been references to Kid Rock’s hit songs, by the way. “Bawitdaba,” anyone?
One way to measure the reception the announcement received is via the “ratio” earned by a pair of tweets the NHL posted. In both cases, the number of comments far outweighed the number of retweets, which is bad, and not in an “American Bad Ass” way.
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/953418084991238144
Kid Rock alluded to some of the backlash he has experienced for his expression of conservative political views, including support for President Trump, opposition to Colin Kaepernick’s protests during the national anthem and a penchant for displaying the Confederate flag during concerts after he switched to more of a country-rock music style. Last year, the Detroit-area native, who has also been accused of homophobia, teased the possibility of running for a U.S. Senate seat against Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) before acknowledging it was a publicity stunt to promote a new album and concert tour.
“I haven’t done TV in quite some time — no pun intended, but it’s been kind of a turnoff, with all the politics that go into it, what you can and can’t do, and blah, blah, blah,” Kid Rock told NBCSN, which will televise his show during the second intermission of the All-Star Game. He praised the network for “really trying to make this a musical moment inside of a great weekend and a great event.”
Not everyone was of the opinion that adding Kid Rock to the all-star festivities was such a great idea. Here is a sampling of some of the negative reactions online:
https://twitter.com/YahooSportsNHL/status/953420264578088960
https://twitter.com/tonyposnanski/status/953436412443021313
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/01/17/nhl-announcement-of-kid-rock-as-all-star-game-entertainer-gets-icy-reaction/?utm_term=.1872a366312a
Personally, I think this the NHL's way of rubbing Trump's hatred, misogyny, racism, anti-semitism, and homophobia into the face of North American hockey fans. Never in my life have I appreciated Justin Bieber's existence than I do now. WTF is the NHL thinking?
This about courage...
https://twitter.com/GeorgeLakoff/status/953318761792073729https://twitter.com/GeorgeLakoff/status/953318763889176576
https://twitter.com/GeorgeLakoff/status/953318765797634048
Facebook post from a friend in Hawaii (Oahu) during yesterday's false alarm...
This morning we woke up to a loud alarm on our phones with a message saying that there was a ballistic missile coming to Hawaii and that we needed to seek shelter immediately. However, there was nothing we could do besides praying and waiting the approximately 15 minutes that would take a missile to reach Hawaii from North Korea.
I had a feeling we would survive but I wasn’t ready for all the lives that would be lost and the caos of a third world war that would be started this morning if that threat wasn’t a FALSE ALARM! Seriously!? How does that happen!?
Apparently they were testing the emergency communication system in Hawaii and they were supposed to send a TEST message. Who even drafts a message that says “THIS IS NOT A DRILL!” when planning on sending a TEST message!?
Someone is getting fired today... It took them almost 40 minutes to send a second message saying that it was a mistake. How long does it take to write a message saying “Oops, just kitting guys, no missile coming, enjoy the beach. Aloha!”
I must say, I’m glad to be alive and that nothing happened, but it’s sad to think that this is the world we live today and that tomorrow this same message can show up on our phones again, but it probably won’t a false alarm again...
The White House office tackling the opioid epidemic is run by a 24-year-old with a penchant for...
...embellishing his resume. This story is unreal.
Meet the 24-year-old Trump campaign worker appointed to help lead the government’s drug policy office
In May 2016, Taylor Weyeneth was an undergraduate at St. John’s University in New York, a legal studies student and fraternity member who organized a golf tournament and other events to raise money for veterans and their families.
Less than a year later, at 23, Weyeneth, was a political appointee and rising star at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the White House office responsible for coordinating the federal government’s multibillion dollar anti-drug initiatives and supporting President Trump’s efforts to curb the opioid epidemic. Weyeneth would soon become deputy chief of staff.
His brief biography offers few clues that he would so quickly assume a leading role in the drug policy office, a job recently occupied by a lawyer and a veteran government official. Weyeneth’s only professional experience after college and before becoming an appointee was working on Trump’s presidential campaign.
<snip>
Weyeneth attended St. John’s University in Queens, according to his résumés. He joined a fraternity, worked part time in various jobs and volunteered at the Passionist Monastery in Queens. He enrolled in a master’s program at Fordham University in the Bronx.
All three résumés say “MA Political Science” at Fordham’s Center for Electoral Politics and Democracy. The first résumé he submitted to the government provides no dates for his graduate studies, and the other two say he did his course work from 2016 to June 2017.
Fordham University spokesman Bob Howe told The Post that “a student named Taylor Weyeneth is enrolled in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham, in a Master’s program for electoral and campaign management. He has not completed his degree yet.”
In the first résumé, Weyeneth said he volunteered for more than 275 hours at the monastery between 2012 and 2016. The second résumé he submitted to the government said it was more than 150 hours. The résumé provided by the White House does not mention volunteer work at the monastery.
Two monastery rectors, one current and one former, contacted by The Post did not dispute that Weyeneth volunteered there but said they had no memory of him and no paperwork related to his volunteer work.
The administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity acknowledged that the first résumé contained errors. He said in later résumés Weyeneth included dates referring to a master’s degree as projections of when he expected to receive it.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/meet-the-24-year-old-trump-campaign-worker-appointed-to-help-lead-the-governments-drug-policy-office/2018/01/13/abdada34-f64e-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html
US Ambassador To Panama Resigns Over Trumps Racist Comments, First In US Diplomatic Corp To Do So
The US ambassador to Panama has resigned from his post on principle, writing in a resignation letter to the State Department that he can no longer serve the Trump administration, according to Reuters.
<snip>
"As a junior foreign service officer, I signed an oath to serve faithfully the President and his administration in an apolitical fashion, even when I might not agree with certain policies.
"My instructors made clear that if I believed I could not do that, I would be honour-bound to resign. That time has come," Mr Feeley said.
According to local media, his decision was taken before the Washington Post reported Donald Trump had referred to "s***hole countries" in a meeting about immigration.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-ambassador-panama-resigns-donald-trump-john-feeley-not-work-president-a8156116.html
Sheriff Joe Arpaio learns his presidential pardon was actually an admission of guilt:
This encapsulates "constitutional conservatism" perfectly. For all their love of symbols of the law, especially force, conservatives have very little understanding of the actual ideas behind the laws.
https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/951687736196501505
http://www.msnbc.com/the-beat-with-ari-melber/watch/watch-joe-arpaio-learn-his-pardon-was-an-admission-of-guilt-1135157315748?cid=sm_npd_ms_tw_ma
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