McCain defends the free press

MoonHowler

NBCnews.com:

Sen. John McCain is taking a veiled swipe at President Donald Trump’s ongoing attack on the fourth estate, cautioning that “how dictators get started” is by shutting down the press.

The Republican Arizona senator, in an exclusive interview on Meet the Press airing Sunday, admitted that the relationship between the media and elected officials can sometimes be tense — highlighted by the Trump administration’s repeated sparring with reporters and the president calling news organizations “fake news.”

Half-jokingly, McCain said, “a fundamental part of that new world order was a free press. I hate the press. I hate you especially. But the fact is we need you.”

His defense of the media came in response to a Friday tweet from President Donald Trump in which he called certain news outlets “the enemy of the American People.”

What educated, informed people exist in an echo chamber, only hearing one side of an issue?  Perhaps that is the root of Trump’s problem–his problem with inaccuracy and ignorance.  He only listens to one side of an issue.   How can the media be “the enemy of the American people?”  This current time isn’t the only time in American history where the press brought down candidates, or elected officials.

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Establishment of Religion? Let the Reason Prevail….and stuff

MoonHowler

Potomaclocal.com:

MANASSAS, Va. — The Freedom From Religion Foundation erected a banner next to a nativity display at Nelson Park in Manassas.

The group posted this to our site:

A FFRF Winter Solstice banner has been placed by a local FFRF member next to the crèche scene in Nelson Park in Manassas, Va. FFRF received a permit from the city for its “Let Reason Prevail” banner to counter the religious exhibit. It will be displayed through Dec. 31.

FFRF’s 7½-by-3-foot banner states: “At this Season of the Winter Solstice, LET REASON PREVAIL. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth & superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

FFRF wishes that the time will come when it won’t have to put up its banners in this manner.

Nelson Park is located near the intersection of Sudley Road and Grant Avenue.

The group regularly posts a similar banner in the city each year, and the FFRF group obtained the proper permits from the city to erect the banner, said Manassas spokeswoman Patty Prince.

The city may only restrict time, place, and length of the display of banners through the permitting process. The city cannot control the content of a banner, other than to ban profanity on banners, added Prince.

Let’s see, which side do I chose…how about none?

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Don’t Americans have more to worry about that a football player?

MoonHowler

Telegraph.co.uk:

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick knelt with his arms folded during the performance of the US national anthem during a pre-season game in San Diego on Thursday, continuing his protest against racial injustice and police brutality.

Kaepernick, 28, has pledged to continue sitting during the performance of “The Star Spangled Banner” before National Football League games, a move that has been both criticised and cheered by commentators.

“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder”Colin Kaepernick

He was met by heavy boos from the crowd during pre-game warm-ups at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, which is home to US Navy and Marine bases.

A banner in the crowd read: “You’re an American. Act like one.”

Is this all that important?  The news is consumed with this story.

I don’t agree with the guy’s POV.  However, it’s his right to protest.  If his bosses fire him, they are on might shaky grounds constitutionally.

It seems to me that the people who are bellowing the loudest over his behavior are the very people who are flag-waving the hardest.  There seems to be some sort of disconnect between the right to protest and all that flag waving.

I actually don’t care what he does.  I don’t agree with him at all but I respect his right to protest and I respect him for standing up to all the guff he is taking.

Hats off to him for standing up for his beliefs.  It’s easy to wave an American flag in a field full of American flag wavers.  It’s not easy to take an unpopular position and stand up for that position (or in his case, kneel).

 

 

Disruptive protest: No place in a civilized society

MoonHowler

Towleroad.com:

Anti-LGBT Bible-bearing Christians entered Target stores in Tennessee, Illinois, and Oregon this week telling customers they need to repent for shopping there because of the transgender bathroom policy.

Says the man:

“Target this is your wake up call. The Bible says that from the beginning God made them male and female. He didn’t make them transvestites. He made them male and female…Target, this is your warning. You will be judged according to God’s standards. Not man’s, but God’s…You need to repent…You will be judged. And if there are Christians in here, supporting this abomination, shame on you! … But you justify this place. You have to stand by the bathrooms because perverts can go in there. Because transvestites allowed.”

The customers aren’t amused, many of them telling him to “shut up and leave.”

In Bradley, Illinois one of these “Christians” put a mall on lockdown and prompted a massive police response because store shoppers thought the man was an “active shooter”….

So is this what it has come to? This dude obviously doesn’t understand the difference in transgender and transvestite. I seriously doubt that I would be able to detect a transvestite in the bathroom.

It is obviously anyone’s own choice whether to shop at Target or not. If you dislike their policy, write them, tell them, and go elsewhere. No one has the right to go in a store and disrupt the shopping experience for others.

I might also add this is how I feel about political gatherings. No candidate should have to hop a fence to go speak. A rally is not the time to act out, throw objects at cops and disrupt society. We are a nation of laws and not thugs. We aren’t a banana republic.

What if you don’t like the candidate? Protest peacefully or stay home. Political rallies cost the taxpayer a fortune anyway. Let’s not pile on more because of disruptive, criminal behavior.

This “Operation Rescue” approach to politics and ideas we don’t like is just un-American.

 

NY mayor urges protests to stop until after funerals

MoonHowler


washingtonpost.com:

 

In an emotional speech at a sometimes heated news conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) declined to address the swirling controversy over whether his vocal efforts to reform the police department contributed to Saturday’s execution-style slaying of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. Instead, de Blasio appealed for calm, visited the officers’ family members and urged residents to “put aside political debates and protests” for now.

New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton met with the heads of the city’s police unions, including one who had accused de Blasio of having “blood” on his hands for allegedly inciting protests that have roiled the city and the nation over the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of police. “They are standing down in respect for our fallen members until after the funerals,” said Bratton, who also acknowledged that the mayor has “lost the trust of some officers.”

It was unclear whether the efforts to promote peace will succeed, even as New Yorkers busily prepared for the Christmas holidays. A coalition of protest groups released a statement blasting both Bratton and the police union, accusing them of trying to link the protests to the officers’ shootings as a way of silencing the demonstrations.

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Chris Christie: No retreat, no surrender?

MoonHowler

I am no Chris Christie fan. I neither like nor dislike him. However, this unseen woman is simply being a pain in the ass. Good for Chris Christie for coming back at her.

I am a Bruce Springsteen fan, as is the New Jersey governor. Christie is known for his support for New Jersey artists, in particular, The Boss.

How do you cut the mic on people who just want to be obnoxious pains in the ass like this woman apparently wants to be?

Supremes rule on prayer before government meetings

MoonHowler

I can’t think of a case I have disagreed with more than this one.  The court was divided along its usual ideological lines.

Washingtonpost.com:

A divided Supreme Court ruled Monday that legislative bodies such as city councils can begin their meetings with prayer, even if it plainly favors a specific religion.

The court ruled 5 to 4 that Christian prayers said before meetings of an Upstate New York town council did not violate the constitutional prohibition against government establishment of religion; the justices cited history and tradition.

“Ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this Nation was founded and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond the authority of government,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the court’s conservative majority.
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Maddow issues smack down to Koch Bros

MoonHowler


crooksandliars.com:

Here’s how this whole thing started. In late December, Rachel did a segment on how the Kochs buy their economic studies reinforcing conservative ideas. They do this by donating huge sums to universities and demanding the right to hire faculty who think like they do. That report is here.

Apparently the Kochs didn’t appreciate her reporting, because for some bizarre reason they don’t mind throwing billions around the political universe but shy away from receiving credit for it. So they had their lawyers send Rachel a letter, and boy was it a doozy, as you’ll see in the segment. It included a demand that she read a prepared script by the lawyers retracting her report and apologizing for it.

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Moe Davis cyber-stalked by the Washington Times

MoonHowler

Just when you think it is safe to tweet, Moe Davis gets cyber-stalked by the Washington Times.  Moe has some 8,000 followers on Twitter.

Washingtontimes.com:

A Howard University law professor and former chief prosecutor of the Guantanamo military commissions took to Twitter on Monday to blast the National Rifle Association amid the Washington Navy Yard shooting.

“Traffic in Capitol area snarled, Washington Navy Yard on lockdown as gunman enters & opens fire … or as we call it in Gun-merica, Monday,” former Air Force Col. Morris Davis tweeted to his nearly 8,000 followers only an hour after the shooting occurred.

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2A trumps 1A?

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

A gun rights supporter was hit with a stun gun on Tuesday after he heckled the father of a murdered gun violence victim at an anti-gun violence rally, Concord (N.H.) Patch reported.

John Cantin of Manchester, N.H., spoke at a Mayors Against Illegal Guns event in Concord, N.H., discussing his efforts to persuade Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) to change her April “no” vote on gun background checks, Patch reported. Cantin had dealt personally with gun violence, as his daughter, Melissa Charbonneau, was shot and killed by her husband in 2009, according to the Union Leader and the New Hampshire Department Of Justice.

Cantin’s remarks were interrupted by Daniel Musso of Brentwood, N.H. Musso was later charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and two counts of simple assault, police told the Union Leader. Patch added that Musso was held on $5,000 bond, with an arraignment set for June 19.

This crowd depicts mob mentality at its very worst.  I am amazed that these protesters don’t have more respect for free speech than what is shown here.  For heaven’s sake, the man’s daughter was murdered by her husband in 2009.  Where is the respect?  I am not sure that I want people behaving like this owning guns.

White Student Union roughs it up with May Day groups (WARNING! Bad Language!)

MoonHowler

Pardon our language.  Ordinarily I wouldn’t post something like this but I have made an exception.  After viewing the video, where do you think this violence too place?  California?  Europe?  Chechnya?  Old Miss?  Bad flash back from an acid trip in the 60s?

Nope.  It happened here in DC and the toad behind the confederate flag is the white supremacist dude from Towson State University.   Lots of things happen during DC protests.  However, given the age and the student status of some of these protesters, it stands to reason that it is only  a matter of time before these kinds of tensions end up on college campuses.

The toad reports that someone threw urine on him.  Ewwwww.  That is also unacceptable.  As offensive as the toad is, he has the right to free speech like anyone else.  throwing anything on him was a breach of something, not sure what.  It certainly pushed free speech over the line.  From my vantage point, it was an assault and battery.

I don’t think there are any good guys in this mix but there might be a few innocent by-standers. There was supposedly only 1 arrest. You have to be kidding me. That came close to becoming a melee.

More reading: Huffingtonpost.com

 

Clifton Republican women draw criticism because of Hijab lecture

MoonHowler

Laurie Jaghlit, Share the Quran project

Washingtonpost.com:

The notice in the Fairfax Station Patch on Tuesday was brief, but to Laurie Jaghlit it felt like a punch in the gut.

At the next meeting of Republican Women of Clifton, a guest speaker would discuss “the treatment of women in Islamic society and how she believes the Hijab is a catalyst for Islamic terrorism.” The Feb. 20 meeting would take place at Fairview Elementary School, five miles from Jaghlit’s house.

Jaghlit, a 52-year-old grandmother who raised nine children in Fairfax Station and Herndon, wears the hijab, or Islamic head covering. She had heard about talks like this in other parts of the country but had never confronted the issue so close to home.

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The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops reject latest compromise on contraception

MoonHowler

bewareofdogmabillboard_jdean

Politico.com:

Catholic bishops on Thursday rejected the White House’s latest attempt at  compromise on contraception, saying it did not adequately accommodate religious  organizations that object to covering free contraception in employee health  plans.

“Throughout the past year, we have been assured by the administration that we  will not have to refer, pay for, or negotiate for the mandated  coverage,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, president  of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement. “We remain  eager for the administration to fulfill that pledge.”

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Gun hobbyists attempt to deport Piers Morgan

MoonHowler

immigration

Huffingtonpost.com:

Piers Morgan’s outspokenness about gun control has brought about a petition seeking to deport him from the United States.

The petition, which has been submitted on a White House website, has received over 12,000 signatures. (It takes 25,000 before the White House is obligated to address the petition.) The petition was launched by writer Kurt Nimmo. The text reads:

British Citizen and CNN television host Piers Morgan is engaged in a hostile attack against the U.S. Constitution by targeting the Second Amendment. We demand that Mr. Morgan be deported immediately for his effort to undermine the Bill of Rights and for exploiting his position as a national network television host to stage attacks against the rights of American citizens.

Morgan has made several forceful attacks on pro-gun advocates in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook elementary.

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Violence: Peeling back the layers– Video games, music, and movies

MoonHowler

venn1

Most of us aren’t ready to stop talking about the mass murders of Newtown, Connecticut.  I have tried to stop and I can’t.  I keep thinking guns and mental illness and their life-threatening intersection.  Guns and mental illness become the common denominator for all of our mass murders.    However, there is a sub layer to all this violence that we also need to talk about.

Video games, movies and music are also a vital part society that is feeding the violence.   God only knows what kind of violence is on video games. I won’t look.  I pop bubbles and have frogs spit balls in my video games.  No one over the age of three likes my games.  However, I know they are out there.  Video games are very life-like.  The people look pretty much like people.  How many video kills do we have to do before we are just desensitized and indifferent?  At what point can we not come out of our game mode?  Where do we draw the line?

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