Orrin Hatch: Will talk to the women when they “grow up”

MoonHowler

 

Washingtonpost.com:

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) raised the ire of protesters on Thursday after telling a group of mostly women who confronted him in one of the Senate buildings that he would talk to them when they “grow up.”

Video of the incident ricocheted around social media Thursday night, the latest in a string of confrontations reflecting the heated emotions coursing through the Capitol amid the fight over Brett M. Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.

In the video, a group of protesters confronts Hatch, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been front and center in the confirmation process, as he gets into an elevator in the Hart building. The video starts mid-confrontation, with the voice of a woman asking Hatch over a wall of staffers why he isn’t “brave enough” to talk to her and her group. Hatch waves his hand in midair.

“Don’t you wave your hand at me,” the woman says.

Hatch looks at her and says, “When you grow up, I’ll be glad to” talk to you. The comment incenses some of the protesters.

“How dare you talk to women that way?” one says.

Hatch waves at the group from the elevator as they continue yelling at him.

Kathy Beynette, the protester whose voice is the one predominantly heard in the video, said in an interview that she was deeply offended by Hatch’s remarks.

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Donald Trump: profile in cowardice

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — President Trump mocked the account of a woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh of assault and told a Mississippi crowd that the #MeToo movement was unfairly hurting men.

Trump, in a riff that has been dreaded by White House and Senate aides, attacked the story of Christine Blasey Ford at length — drawing laughs from the crowd. The remarks were his strongest attacks yet of her testimony.

“ ‘I don’t know. I don’t know.’ ‘Upstairs? Downstairs? Where was it?’ ‘I don’t know. But I had one beer. That’s the only thing I remember,’ ” Trump said of Ford, as he impersonated her on stage.

“I don’t remember,” he said repeatedly, apparently mocking her testimony.

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An anonymous source tells all regarding Trump

MoonHowler

From the New York Times:

The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure. We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers. We invite you to submit a question about the essay or our vetting process here.

I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

I would know. I am one of them.

To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.

But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.

That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.

 

 

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Corey Stewart announces the “most vicious, ruthless campaign” against Tim Kaine for the Senate

MoonHowler

Bristowbeat.com:

Corey Stewart announced his run for senate, July 13, at his Prince William home, saying “I’m going to run the most vicious, ruthless campaign against Tim Kaine.”

Corey Stewart, Chairman At-large for the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, who just recently completed a fairly successful run to be the Republican candidate for Virginia Governor, used fighting words to announce his run for the U.S. Senate, challenging Democrat Tim Kaine.

Stewart proposed he would not be “holding back any punches” and said he was “disgusted” when George H. W. Bush had promised “a kinder, gentler nation.”

Corey does not disappoint.   Emboldened by a near-successful primary bid for the governorship, Corey will continue with his mini-me Trump-like behavior as the Trump administration circles the drain daily.  As more and more is uncovered in the various Russia-gate capers,  the Trump administration appears to be headed for a crash-and-burn scenario that will ultimately end in impeachment and removal from office.

Stewart is a seasoned local politician who could overcome the set-backs, on a local level, that a politically naive Trump will have trouble extricating himself from.  Unfortunately for Stewart, he now plans on swimming in shark-infested political waters that might just be a little more than he bargained for.

I can’t see Corey driving “old Dixie down” this go-round.  The primary is over.  Corey won’t be running for governor.  Corey will run for the Senate.

Will Corey seriously run on keeping Robert E. Lee while waving the Battle Flag of Northern Virginia?   On a national level, that stuff just won’t fly.  There has to be substance about issues most Virginians care about like jobs, health care, threats from foreign invaders. etc.    Those who turn out for a primary simply aren’t the same folks who turn out for a general election. v

No high road for Ted Nugent

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Musician Ted Nugent is known for speaking his mind about the Second Amendment and hunting, but especially on politicians. He once said then-Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama should “suck my machine gun.” When President Obama was running for reelection in 2012, the rocker said during the National Rifle Association convention that, “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, again, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year.” The statement attracted the attention of the Secret Service.

But after Wednesday’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice, Nugent has decided to be “more selective with my rants and in my words.”

“At the tender age of 69, my wife has convinced me I just can’t use those harsh terms,” he said on the 77 WABC radio program Thursday. “I cannot and will not and I encourage even my friends, slash, enemies on the left, in the Democrat and liberal world, that we have got to be civil to each other.”

“I’m not going to engage in that kind of hateful rhetoric anymore.”

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McCarthy speaks what no one else has the guts to say

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

KIEV, Ukraine — A month before Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, one of his closest allies in Congress — House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“There’s two people I think Putin pays: Rohrabacher and Trump,” McCarthy (R-Calif.) said, according to a recording of the June 15, 2016, exchange, which was listened to and verified by The Washington Post. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is a Californian Republican known in Congress as a fervent defender of Putin and Russia.

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KellyAnne Conway: lies and more lies

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

Kellyanne Conway has taken “alternative facts” to a new level.

During a Thursday interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews, the counselor to the president defended President Trump’s travel ban related to seven majority-Muslim countries. At one point, Conway made a reference to two Iraqi refugees whom she described as the masterminds behind “the Bowling Green massacre.”

“Most people don’t know that because it didn’t get covered,” Conway said.

The Bowling Green massacre didn’t get covered because it didn’t happen. There has never been a terrorist attack in Bowling Green, Ky., carried out by Iraqi refugees or anyone else.

At what point is KellyAnne Conway going to stop lying?  I knew Trump was a serial liar but it seems that KellyAnne is now proving that he has surrounded himself with people of the lie.

There was never a Bowling Green Massacre.  Conway, Spicer and others who speak for the president just seem to continually spew crap to justify their boss’s incompetence and screw ups.

Is Bannon the Wizard of Oz?  Is he the Rasputin behind the man who knows nothing?

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First Press Briefing: the press gets taken to the woodshed

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

President Trump used his first full day in office to wage war on the media, accusing news organizations of lying about the size of his inauguration crowd as Saturday’s huge protests served notice that a vocal and resolute opposition would be a hallmark of his presidency.

With Americans taking to the streets in red and blue states alike to emphatically decry a president they consider reprehensible and, even, illegitimate, Trump visited the Central Intelligence Agency for a stream-of-consciousness airing of grievances — including against journalists, whom he called “the most dishonest human beings on Earth.”

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Does McCarthy gaffe make him “untrustable” to Republicans?

MoonHowler


Realclearpolitics.com:

Democrats have seized on House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s comments tying Hillary Clinton’s declining poll numbers to the Benghazi investigation as evidence that the congressional panel’s examination is a veiled political attack on the Democratic candidate for president.

McCarthy, widely viewed as the frontrunner to succeed retiring Speaker John Boehner when House leadership elections are held Oct. 8, said in an interview Tuesday on Fox News that Clinton was “untrustable” in a large part because of the committee’s work.

“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she’s untrustable,” McCarthy said in reference to Clinton’s role in events surrounding the 2012 terrorist attack. “No one would have known any of what happened had we not fought and made that happen.”

Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon blasted the remark as “a damning display of honesty.”
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What are the Republican Senators thinking??!!

MoonHowler

Washingtonpost.com:

An already heated battle between the White House and Republicans over negotiations to curtail Iran’s nuclear program grew more tense Monday when 47 Republican senators sent a letter to Iran designed to kill any potential deal.

The White House responded by accusing the Republicans of conspiring with Iranian hard-liners, who oppose the delicate negotiations, and suggesting that their goal was to push the United States into a military conflict.

“I think it’s somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hard-liners in Iran,” President Obama said a few hours after the letter was made public. “It’s an unusual coalition.”

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McDonnell to remain free pending appeal

MoonHowler

Richmond Times Dispatch:

 

Former Gov. Bob McDonnell will not be reporting to prison next month, thanks to a brief order from the Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday that grants him bond pending his appeal.

The court noted that McDonnell is not a danger to society or a flight risk, that his appeal is not a delay tactic, and that there is a substantial question of law or fact that could lead to a reversal or new trial.

“I am grateful for today’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit allowing me to remain free on bond pending my appeal,” McDonnell said in a statement.

Virginia’s 71st governor said, “I plan to spend time with my new granddaughter who was born this month, attend my sons’ graduation ceremonies, and embrace family time with my daughters.”

I am pleased he won his appeal.  McDonnell made some bad choices.  He didn’t take a bribe, cheat anyone, steal, or embezzle.  He broke no Virginia laws.  However, the federal government swooped in and basically overruled Virginia.

I resent that and I also don’t think McDonnell is a bad person.  I think he should have been allowed to do community service.  Let’s cast our partisan politics aside.   McDonnell was stupid.  Being stupid isn’t illegal.

Disclosure:  I am no fan of McDonnell.  I disdain his politics.

Anti-abortion bill includes tax hike on small businesses

MoonHowler

Huffingtonpost,com:

WASHINGTON — After a botched effort to pass legislation imposing a 20-week ban on abortions, House Republicans are moving forward Thursday with what’s being dubbed a less controversial bill that codifies a ban on federal funding for abortions.

The bill would do a number of things — including block federal funds for abortion for women who are in the military, who live in Washington, D.C., and who are poor — but one aspect of the legislation that hasn’t received much attention is the fact that it would raise taxes on the vast majority of small businesses.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act would deny small businesses a tax credit they currently receive through what’s known as the SHOP exchange, a part of the Affordable Care Act, if they include abortion care in their health plans. Roughly 87 percent of private plans include abortion services as part of comprehensive coverage, meaning the bulk of small businesses would be hit with a tax hike if the bill were to become law.

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Mark Warner squeaks by Ed Gillespie

MoonHowler

 

As of 12:30 am, incumbent Senator Mark Warner seemed to be the apparent winner of the senate election.  No one really expected this election to be so close.   Prince William County, included cities, and Fairfax seemed to save the day for Warner.  Northern Virginia prevailed, once again.  Albemarle, Charlottesville and Nelson County also helped pull off a Warner win, as did some of the southside counties.  At last glimpse, Warner was ahead by about 18,000 votes.

The Republicans will take over the Senate. That fact changes the dynamics of the country a great deal, although it isn’t really apparent how it will change things.  The different factions in the Republican party may decide to battle each other rather than to continue sparring with the President.  Who knows.  They also probably will not have a super majority so bills wont just go sailing through.  then there is also the presidential veto.  I feel certain that President Obama will enjoy using that presidential option quite a bit.  I know I sure would.

This is the first time that the Republicans have controlled the Senate in 8 years.  Will we move forward or will we revisit all the social issues?  That’s what the Republicans seem to concentrate on most of the time these days.  Abortion, personhood, same sex marriage, Planned Parenthood funding, school prayer…the list goes on.

What do you predict?

 

Blackwater Guards found Guilty

MoonHowler

Newyorktimes:

WASHINGTON — Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards were convicted and immediately jailed Wednesday for their roles in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad’s Nisour Square that marked a bloody nadir in America’s war in Iraq.

A jury in Federal District Court found that the deaths of 17 Iraqis in the shooting, which began when a convoy of the guards suddenly began firing in a crowded intersection, was not a battlefield tragedy, but the result of a criminal act.

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The Roosevelts: stark reminder of better times?

MoonHowler

Excerpt from Ken Burns’ ‘The Roosevelts’ Reveals Everything Wrong With Our Current Political Class’  by Joseph Palermo

huffingtonpost.com:

Ken Burns’ seven-part PBS series on the lives of Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt, The Roosevelts: An Intimate History, is a remarkable achievement. Burns sheds a poignant new light on the personal and public lives of three monumental figures in 20th Century American history. And in doing so, he illustrates the relative rottenness of the hacks, partisans, and plutocrats who make up the political class that rules America today.

By exploring the lives and times of TR, FDR, and ER Burns shows that in our not-so-distant past the governing institutions of this country were actually responsive to the needs and desires of working-class Americans. This superb and moving portrait is a perfect fit for our times. The utter failure of our current “leaders” is glaring by comparison.

Yes, TR was a warmonger, and FDR signed the order that imprisoned innocent Japanese Americans. There are long lists of both presidents’ failures. But we shouldn’t let those flaws bury the fact that both TR and FDR were not afraid to stand up to big corporations and Wall Street if they viewed their actions as damaging to the country. That alone is probably the biggest difference between those leaders of the early decades of the 20th Century and today.

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