To Whom do you Pledge Allegiance?

MoonHowler

Unfortunately, way too many people are confusing nationalism with patriotism. Nationalism is what led countries like Germany, Japan and Italy down that slippery slope–that slope that led to the slaughter of millions of people during WWII. The same misplaced nationalism had reared its ugly head prior to WWI. We all know how that worked out. The “War to End all Wars’ simply provided a petri dish for evil to germinate.

Are we on the cusp of this same destructive national phenomena? Did January 6, 2021 not show us clearly what was headed our way if calmer, wiser heads don’t prevail? I might not agree with much of anything that comes out of Liz Cheney’s mouth from a policy standpoint but I respect her for her tough stance on the truth and her efforts to preserve our democracy.

Virginia Republican Convention: WTF?

MoonHowler

corey2

Washingtonpost.com:

HARRISONBURG, Va. — Supporters of Ted Cruz dominated a slate of delegates that Virginia Republicans chose Saturday at their state convention, further demonstrating the Texas senator’s mastery of the delegate-selection process.

Of the 13 national delegates picked by party activists here, 10 are Cruz supporters and three support Donald Trump. The tally represents the biggest chunk up for grabs of the 49 total delegates who will represent the state at the national convention in Cleveland this summer.

Despite bruising primary ­losses around the country, Cruz is betting that Trump will not make it to the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the party’s nomination, and he is working to woo delegates who would be loyal to him at a brokered convention.

Cruz came in a distant third in Virginia in the March 1 primary but had enough supporters among the 2,610 party activists who filled an arena at James Madison University on Saturday to win critical delegates.

 

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CNN dust up on Super Tuesday night turns into a meltdown

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

On the night of a primary, CNN is known for its comprehensive coverage of who won what, flashy graphics, stalling for time, and open speculation about what the heck will happen next. Moments of passionate exchange are, perhaps, less common.

Yet, during CNN’s Super Tuesday coverage, such a moment came when former Obama staffer Van Jones took on former Reagan staffer and Donald Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord in a heated debate about race, the Democratic Party and the Ku Klux Klan.

The trouble began when fellow contributor S.E. Cupp, a conservative, accused Trump of “crazy, dog-whistle policy proposals” to curry favor with prejudiced voters.

“Donald Trump has tried to otherize every other candidate in this race,” Cupp said, “… to sort of scare this very small part of the electorate who thinks that all of their problems are the fault of people who don’t look like them.”

 

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Tell me again why we call it “Faux News”…

MoonHowler

 

Washingtonpost.com:

Wayne Simmons claimed to be something of an American James Bond, and if you watched TV or ran his name through Google, you’d have no reason to doubt him. In his public speaking engagements and frequent appearances on Fox News, the purported former CIA operative spoke authoritatively about terrorism and clandestine intelligence operations, which he claimed he helped run for nearly three decades.

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Good for Charles Koch: Sentencing Reform

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

August 15, 2015 1:53 PM EDT – Weldon Angelos was 25 when he was sentenced to 55 years in prison after selling marijuana to a police informant. His sons, now 16 and 18, look back on the childhood they missed without their father. But the boys and Weldon’s sister remain hopeful for an early release, as billionaire Charles Koch campaigns for clemency for Weldon.

It is totally absurd for anyone to spend 55 years in prison for selling marijuana.   It makes no sense.  Just the cost of incarceration makes this sentence stupid.   People just should not be spending their lives in jail for selling controlled substances.

I never thought I would be saying “Go Koch Brothers” but on this one, I sure am.  Sentencing reform needs to happen immediately.  In fact, sentencing reform should be a national issue for this upcoming presidential election.  We are wasting valuable resources when we send penny ante drug users to prison for decades.

 

 

 

The Cooch had better stick to oyster farming…

MoonHowler

Is anyone else horrified with this rhetoric? Family values is a dog whistle for something, I am just not sure what. I can’t even figure out these people’s hidden agenda. I think they think about sex or not-sex entirely too often.

Politicians who align themselves with these kinds of people will find themselves jobless in the public arena. Cuccinelli needs to stay with his oyster farming. He will get no where in politics if he associates with people like this.

Good grief, and to think people have been worried about Bill Ayers. Domestic terrorists or incestuous child molesters. What a choice.

Federal judge orders local judges to issue marriage licenses

MoonHowler

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newyorktimes.com:

MOBILE, Ala. — A federal judge here ruled on Thursday that the local probate judge cannot refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, potentially adding some clarity to a judicial quarrel that has roiled Alabama for most of a week.

The order by Judge Callie V. S. Granade of Federal District Court came after a brief hearing and prompted cheers and crying in the halls of the probate court here, where several couples obtained licenses and were married before the license office closed.

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Climate change: a new pro-life position?

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

 

A group of evangelical Christians is taking to the airwaves in Florida to urge Republican Gov. Rick Scott to take action on climate change, arguing that it, too, is a “pro-life” issue.

“I’m pro-life, and I’m pro-family,” says one female voice featured in the ad, sponsored by the Evangelical Environmental Network. “And I do believe we should do all we can to protect our environment. It was given to us by God.”

“Climate change is real. It endangers the health of our children, worsens poverty throughout the world, and threatens our economy,” says a male voiceover. “Call Governor Rick Scott and tell him as pro-life Christians we believe care for God’s creation is one of the greatest moral challenges of our time. Tell Governor Scott now is the time to act to curb climate change.”

Scott has been a target of a number of campaigns asking him to acknowledge the reality of climate change. Earlier this year, Scott avoided a question from a reporter about whether he believes climate change is happening, after previously saying he did not believe it was. A group of climate scientists recently organized a meeting with Scott to encourage him to take action on climate, and billionaire investor Tom Steyer’s group NextGen Climate Action recently launched an ark tour to call him out on the issue. Scott is currently up for reelection in the state, and is facing former Gov. Charlie Crist in a close race.

Evangelical Christians have also been working to convince Scott. The latest ad is running on Christian radio stations throughout the state.

If we are  directed to be stewards of the earth, what these Christians are saying makes a great deal of sense.   If climate change is real, and many folks believe it very much is,  then shouldn’t we all concern ourselves with making the earth as habitable as possible?

All too often, some of those on the right snicker and carry on over any suggestion that we do anything pro-environment.  They act like “tree hugging” is a nasty word and those who do want to conserve the Earth are a batch of sissies.  This mentality needs to be extinguished.

 

Uber-Cons seek to retake GOP

MoonHowler

ted_cruz6

Washingtonpost.com:

Although many Republicans are optimistic about their chances in this year’s elections, some of Washington’s leading conservatives gathered Thursday to privately vent frustrations about what kind of party they will be left with after November.

The group, alarmed by a resurgence of the GOP establishment in recent primaries and what activists view as a softened message, drafted demands to be shared with senior lawmakers calling on the party to “recommit” to bedrock principles.

Some of those principles laid out in the new document — strict opposition to illegal immigration, same-sex marriage and abortion — represent the hot-button positions that many Republican congressional candidates are trying to avoid as the party attempts to broaden its appeal.

 
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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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The War on Christmas? There isn’t one!

MoonHowler

As a member of the club, the Christian club, that is, I have never felt that I was being victimized or that I was at war.  I grew up in a small city that was about as Christian as it gets.  The Levys were the only non-Christians I ever knew.  Even the Unitarians had wreaths on their church that was about 2 blocks from my house.   People move around more nowadays and small southern cities just aren’t as isolated as they used to be.

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McDonnell: Virginia National Guard will provide benefits to same-sex married couples

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

RICHMOND — Virginia’s National Guard will provide health insurance and other benefits to same-sex couples, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell said Thursday, one day after a state delegate urged him to defy a new Pentagon directive to treat all marriages equally.

Anyone want to take a wild guess who that delegate crying for defiance is?  You got it!  Sideshow Bob.

In a letter to McDonnell this week, Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William) warned that providing the benefits would violate the state constitutional ban on gay marriage.

“As Commander of the Virginia National Guard[,] what will you do to secure that the spirit and letter of the [state] Constitution regarding marriage will be upheld?” Marshall wrote.

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Cuccinelli’s attempts to ban no fault divorce

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

A recent Washington Post story explored Cuccinelli’s relationship with the fathers’ rights movement, which seeks to influence state and federal laws to give men a better position in  divorce and custody cases. Many fathers’ rights groups have pushed to end or reform no-fault divorce laws, and Cuccinelli did the same during his time in the state Senate.

“2008. Ken Cuccinelli writes a bill to give Virginia among the most extreme divorce laws in America,” says the announcer in McAuliffe’s (D) new ad. “If Cuccinelli had it his way, a mom trying to get out of a bad marriage, over her husband’s objections, could only get divorced if she could prove adultery or physical abuse or her spouse had abandoned her or was sentenced to jail.  Why is Ken Cuccinelli interfering in our private lives? He’s focused on his own agenda. Not us.”

Cuccinelli spokeswoman Anna Nix said her boss was proud of his record.

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Has GOP fringe become party mainstream?

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost.com:

Since the 2012 election, Rachel Maddow has argued that conservative conspiracy theories that formerly existed on the fringe of the Republican Party have slowly made its way into mainstream GOP politics.

Previously, Maddow pointed to how politicians adopted narratives conceived and/or pushed out by conservatives including conspiracy theorist Alex Jones or talk radio host Rush Limbaugh. But on her Monday MSNBC show, Maddow tore into the GOP for allowing who she called “kooks” like Donald Trump and Rep. Steve King to tout such fringe views on mainstream television.

Are these people for real? These folks are tin foil hat wearers. When will the GOP shove these people back into the shadows? They are an embarrassment.  What has become of mainstream conservatives?  Why don’t they take their party back?

We only move forward as a country when people compromise on their ideas.