Political Randomness

[Exodor]

VP endorses praises Sanders, calls Clinton a noob:

If we wind up with Cruz v Clinton will this be the first election where the parties each actively dislike their nominee? The Republican establishment hates Cruz and Clinton seems to have burned a lot of bridges to get here.

[El Guapo]

VP endorses praises Sanders, calls Clinton a noob:

If we wind up with Cruz v Clinton will this be the first election where the parties each actively dislike their nominee? The Republican establishment hates Cruz and Clinton seems to have burned a lot of bridges to get here.

It's kind of a mirror image effect. The Republican establishment hates Cruz but the Republican base largely likes him (I read the other day that Cruz apparently has the best favorables in polls of GOP voters). Conversely, the Democratic establishment largely likes Clinton but the Democratic base dislikes her.

[Defiant]

VP endorses praises Sanders, calls Clinton a noob:

If we wind up with Cruz v Clinton will this be the first election where the parties each actively dislike their nominee? The Republican establishment hates Cruz and Clinton seems to have burned a lot of bridges to get here.

While they may hate Cruz, I don't think they hate him as much as Trump (while maybe one or two high profile Republicans have spoken out about Cruz, that's not as many that have spoken out on Trump).

And I don't think Clinton is disliked by the Democratic establishment (I don't think she's that disliked by Democrats either. Maybe more than the norm for a candidate, but not really that much more)

[Isgrimnur]

Tonya Couch out on bail:

Couch posted a bond on Monday after a judge reduced her bail to $75,000 from $1 million on the third-degree felony charge, which calls for up to 10 years in prison. Her lawyers had argued that the original amount was excessively high.

Judge Wayne Salvant on Monday also ordered Couch to stay with another of her sons, report weekly to authorities and have an electronic monitor.

"She will be monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days of the year," Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson said in a telephone interview. "She will be confined to her son's house except for visits to doctors and her attorney."
...
Tonya and Ethan Couch left Texas after a video surfaced on social media in early December showing him at an alcohol-fueled party, in likely violation of his probation deal.

A day after the video was seen on the Internet, she withdrew $30,000 from the bank and informed her estranged husband, who owns a metal works business, that he would never see his son again, an arrest affidavit said.

[Kraken]

While they may hate Cruz, I don't think they hate him as much as Trump (while maybe one or two high profile Republicans have spoken out about Cruz, that's not as many that have spoken out on Trump).

A Cruz candidacy (never mind presidency) would be more disastrous for the party down-ballot and long-term. Trump is a demagogue with no ideology and he's not a Republican at all, so the party can plausibly repudiate him. Cruz is an ideologue who will put the tea party agenda front and center and damage the party for years to come.

[Holman]

VP endorses praises Sanders, calls Clinton a noob:

If we wind up with Cruz v Clinton will this be the first election where the parties each actively dislike their nominee? The Republican establishment hates Cruz and Clinton seems to have burned a lot of bridges to get here.

While they may hate Cruz, I don't think they hate him as much as Trump (while maybe one or two high profile Republicans have spoken out about Cruz, that's not as many that have spoken out on Trump).

And I don't think Clinton is disliked by the Democratic establishment (I don't think she's that disliked by Democrats either. Maybe more than the norm for a candidate, but not really that much more)

Clinton basically is the Democratic establishment.

The best measure of establishment support is official endorsements (especially early ones) by governors, senators and representatives. Bush and Rubio are known to be the GOP establishment darlings because they have collected 46 and 43 such endorsements.

Clinton has collected 457.

[Pyperkub]

VP endorses praises Sanders, calls Clinton a noob:

If we wind up with Cruz v Clinton will this be the first election where the parties each actively dislike their nominee? The Republican establishment hates Cruz and Clinton seems to have burned a lot of bridges to get here.

While they may hate Cruz, I don't think they hate him as much as Trump (while maybe one or two high profile Republicans have spoken out about Cruz, that's not as many that have spoken out on Trump).

And I don't think Clinton is disliked by the Democratic establishment (I don't think she's that disliked by Democrats either. Maybe more than the norm for a candidate, but not really that much more)

Clinton basically is the Democratic establishment.

The best measure of establishment support is official endorsements (especially early ones) by governors, senators and representatives. Bush and Rubio are known to be the GOP establishment darlings because they have collected 46 and 43 such endorsements.

Clinton has collected 457.

Not even just the Democratic Establishment, IMHO. More simply just the Establishment candidate, now that Jeb has effectively screwed the pooch.

[Max Peck]

I'm guessing this is more political than not.

Iran detains 10 US sailors after vessels stopped in the Gulf

Iran has detained 10 US sailors after their vessels were stopped in the Gulf, a US official told the BBC. "We lost contact with two small US naval craft en route from Kuwait to Bahrain," the official said. He said that the Iranians informed the US that the sailors were safe and "will promptly be allowed to continue their journey".

The incident happened near Farsi Island after one of the ships encountered mechanical problems. After the incident, US Secretary of State John Kerry immediately called Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to begin negotiations. An unnamed official told the Associated Press that Mr Kerry "personally engaged with Zarif on this issue to try to get to this outcome". Mr Kerry and Mr Zarif developed a personal relationship throughout three years of negotiating a nuclear deal.

Iran's semi-official news agency FARS reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard detained the nine men and one woman, and that they had been "trespassing" in Iranian waters. It is not clear when the sailors will be released.

Pentagon says two Navy boats in Iranian custody

Two U.S. Navy boats were taken into Iranian custody on Tuesday but Iran has told the United States that the crews will be returned "promptly," U.S. officials said. "Earlier today, we lost contact with two small U.S. naval craft en route from Kuwait to Bahrain. We subsequently have been in communication with Iranian authorities, who have informed us of the safety and well-being of our personnel. We have received assurances the sailors will promptly be allowed to continue their journey," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif assured U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that the U.S. sailors would be allowed to continue their journey promptly, another U.S. official said. The two craft were manned by a total of 10 U.S. Navy sailors, defense officials said. The U.S. craft patrolling the Gulf were somehow disabled and drifted into Iranian territorial waters at which point they were detailed by Iranian Revolutionary Guards and taken to Farsi Island in the middle of the Gulf, Fox News reported.

[AWS260]

Released.

[Isgrimnur]

Virginia

A bill filed by a Virginia lawmaker this week would require schools to be certain that children are using the restroom corresponding to their “correct anatomical sex.”
...
“Local school boards shall develop and implement policies that require every school restroom, locker room, or shower room that is designated for use by a specific gender to solely be used by individuals whose anatomical sex matches such gender designation,” the measure states.

Under the bill, any student who violated the bathroom rules could be fined $50 by law enforcement. Schools would have the discretion of allowing students to use a “single stall restroom or shower” or to have “controlled” access to an otherwise unoccupied restroom.

Cole’s legislation would also allow law enforcement to fine anyone who knowingly used a public restroom that did not correspond to their “anatomical sex.”

Civil rights advocate Tim Peacock noted that “adults would be required to inspect children’s genitals before they use the bathroom” for the legislation to be enforceable.

[El Guapo]

I was thinking yesterday about this part of the SOTU:

It's one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.

Lincoln presided over a literal civil war where hundreds of thousands people died - seems like an odd person to cite as having legendary divide-bridging skills. Bridge conquering? Sure, definitely. But divide bridging? I mean, once he started trying to bridge the divide (once he had, you know, conquered), he got shot in the back of the head for it.

Honestly seems like Lincoln arguably had the worst bridge building record of any president.

[Moliere]

I was thinking yesterday about this part of the SOTU:

It's one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.

Lincoln presided over a literal civil war where hundreds of thousands people died - seems like an odd person to cite as having legendary bridge-dividing skills. Bridge conquering? Sure, definitely. But bridge dividing? I mean, once he started trying to bridge the divide (once he had, you know, conquered), he got shot in the back of the head for it.

Honestly seems like Lincoln arguably had the worst bridge building record of any president.

Which Roosevelt? Teddy divided his own party when they didn't do what he wanted. Frankie tried to expand the Supreme Court when they didn't do what he wanted.

[Smoove_B]

Honestly seems like Lincoln arguably had the worst bridge building record of any president.

I thought Lincoln was known for filling his cabinet with his political opponents and rivals?

[El Guapo]

I was thinking yesterday about this part of the SOTU:

It's one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.

Lincoln presided over a literal civil war where hundreds of thousands people died - seems like an odd person to cite as having legendary bridge-dividing skills. Bridge conquering? Sure, definitely. But bridge dividing? I mean, once he started trying to bridge the divide (once he had, you know, conquered), he got shot in the back of the head for it.

Honestly seems like Lincoln arguably had the worst bridge building record of any president.

Which Roosevelt? Teddy divided his own party when they didn't do what he wanted. Frankie tried to expand the Supreme Court when they didn't do what he wanted.

I don't think he specified, but he probably meant FDR and his response to the Great Depression.

[El Guapo]

Honestly seems like Lincoln arguably had the worst bridge building record of any president.

I thought Lincoln was known for filling his cabinet with his political opponents and rivals?

Right, and also for the whole Civil War thing where hundreds of thousands of people died over an attempt to literally divide the country.

Under President Whitmore's administration, millions of Americans were incinerated by space aliens!

[LawBeefaroni]

I was thinking yesterday about this part of the SOTU:

It's one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.

Lincoln presided over a literal civil war where hundreds of thousands people died - seems like an odd person to cite as having legendary bridge-dividing skills. Bridge conquering? Sure, definitely. But bridge dividing?

Divide-bridging. Bridge-dividing sounds like Christie.



But I agree, while the two are regarded as all-time greats, they aren't necessarily great examples of everything. More a name check than anything. And a way to say, "What d'ya want? I'm no fucking Lincoln or Roosevelt, OK? Is that better? Happy now?"

I don't think he's to blame for the poisonous political climate. It's the "news" entertainment media and social media that thrive on creating and maintaining divides.

[Rip]

Typical. You have to remember who we are talking about. He doesn't even know where he is at half of the time.

President Obama wrapped up a town hall in Baton Rouge, La., on Thursday by thanking "New Orleans."

"If you want to see change, you've got to make it happen," the president told those in attendance at McKinley Senior High School in Baton Rouge, the state's capital.

"When I ran for office in 2007, 2008, I did not say, 'Yes I can.' I said, 'Yes we can,'" Obama said in his closing remarks. "God bless you, love you. Thank you, New Orleans! God bless America."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... ew-orleans

[LawBeefaroni]

Typical. You have to remember who we are talking about. He doesn't even know where he is at half of the time.

President Obama wrapped up a town hall in Baton Rouge, La., on Thursday by thanking "New Orleans."

"If you want to see change, you've got to make it happen," the president told those in attendance at McKinley Senior High School in Baton Rouge, the state's capital.

"When I ran for office in 2007, 2008, I did not say, 'Yes I can.' I said, 'Yes we can,'" Obama said in his closing remarks. "God bless you, love you. Thank you, New Orleans! God bless America."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing- ... ew-orleans

He confused two whistle stops in the same state less than 100 miles apart? Clearly he's lost his mental faculties. Impeachment to begin tomorrow.

The big question, though, is who is more insulted? The Baton Rouges or the New Orleanians?

[hepcat]

Typical. You have to remember who we are talking about.

You mean Rip?

[hepcat]

The far right conservative coworker who friended me on facebook years ago is now posting about how happy he is that Al Jazeera America is shutting down. Apparently he believes that if it even sounds like it's from the Middle East, it's propaganda for terrorists.

I doubt he even watched one minute of it. Otherwise he would've realized otherwise.

...or not. The depth of self deception for some is bottomless.

[Rip]

I'm late to the show so when I saw this "therapy" session I spit milk all over my keyboard.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1U7MLr5eSU

[Isgrimnur]

Only with a passport!

Yasiin Bey, who was detained last week for attempting to leave South Africa with an unrecognised passport, has announced that his retirement from the music and film industries is “effective immediately” after the release of his final album later this year.
...
Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, moved to South Africa in 2013 on a visitor’s permit, which he overstayed. When he tried to leave the country via Cape Town last week, using a “world passport”, he was stopped. “People in the state have taken punitive action against me, unnecessarily,” he said, suggesting “political motivations” were behind his trouble. “I don’t live in America and I have a right to domicile wherever I please. Without fear, or without interference.”
...
The world passport was invented by an American man, Garry Davis, in the 1950s. In 1954, Davis set up the World Service Authority (WSA) to promote the idea of “world citizenship” – he had renounced his US citizenship in 1948 – and the world passport was intended to help stateless people and refugees. Davis himself used one, and was repeatedly arrested for doing so.

Bey was issued with a world passport a month ago, the WSA’s current head, David Gallup, told the Burlington Free Press, a paper based in Garry Davis’s hometown. “Like Garry, Yasiin Bey sees himself as a citizen of the world,” Gallip said. “His website is A Country Called Earth. But the airport officials made a big mistake. South Africa has recognised world passports many times previously. I’ve been in touch with his New York lawyer. The situation is still fluid.”

The WSA claims six countries – Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Mauritania, Tanzania, Togo and Zambia – recognise world passports, and that it has been accepted on a case-by-case basis in 150 countries. Julian Assange and Edward Snowden are among current holders.

State.gov (PDF)

Private Organizations: [The Bureau of Consular Affairs] is also aware of certain private organizations that issue documents identified as “passports”. One very well known private organization, "World Service Authority" (WSA), has been issuing a document called the World Passport since at least 1954, and represents that it is valid for international travel.

Justice

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Bernard Talbert, 37, a citizen of Belize, has been found guilty of attempted illegal re-entry into the United States after deportation, U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced today.

On Aug. 10, 2011, Talbert entered the primary pedestrian inspection lane at Veterans International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, and presented a World Passport issued by a private organization known as the World Service Authority in Washington D.C. He asked for a non-immigrant visa so he could travel to Washington DC. to speak with President Obama about what he considered to be genocide in Belize.

The presented document was not a valid entry document and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers was sent to the secondary inspection area for further investigation. At that time, it was discovered that he had previously been deported several times and had prior felony convictions for drug trafficking and immigration crimes.

At the bench trial held today, Talbert claimed he did not intend to break the law and enter the country illegally and that he traveled from Belize believing that the World Passport was a legitimate document for entry into the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen found him guilty at the conclusion of the trial today.

[Isgrimnur]

Walmart raises:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest private employer in the U.S., is raising the wages of more than 1.1 million employees next month as it works to retain employees and improve the quality of its stores.

Under the plan, which is broader than was previously announced, hourly employees on Feb. 20 will get either a raise to at least $10 an hour or at least a 2 percent pay boost, the company said Wednesday in a statement. The new minimum wage for top-level hourly employees will increase to $15 an hour from $13, while the base salary for assistant managers will also rise.
...
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company had announced a move to lift its base pay this year to $10, which would have affected about 500,000 workers. But that plan angered many long-time employees, who said it was unfair to senior workers who would receive no increase and would be making the same or close to what newer, less-experienced colleagues earned.

The company also said Wednesday it is giving all full-time hourly associates short-term disability pay at no cost and changing the way employees accrue time off so they don’t have to wait a year before they can use personal days. In addition to the 1.1. million Wal-Mart workers who will get raises, 100,000 Sam’s Club workers will also see an increase.

Labor activists weren’t placated by the announcement. Making Change at Wal-Mart, a group of current and former employees backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, raised concern that Wal-Mart may cut hours or other benefits to compensate for the higher pay. They said Wednesday in a statement that they’ve already seen the company reduce hours following the wage increase last year.

[LordMortis]

Walmart raises:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest private employer in the U.S., is raising the wages of more than 1.1 million employees next month as it works to retain employees and improve the quality of its stores.

Under the plan, which is broader than was previously announced, hourly employees on Feb. 20 will get either a raise to at least $10 an hour or at least a 2 percent pay boost, the company said Wednesday in a statement. The new minimum wage for top-level hourly employees will increase to $15 an hour from $13, while the base salary for assistant managers will also rise.
...
The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company had announced a move to lift its base pay this year to $10, which would have affected about 500,000 workers. But that plan angered many long-time employees, who said it was unfair to senior workers who would receive no increase and would be making the same or close to what newer, less-experienced colleagues earned.

The company also said Wednesday it is giving all full-time hourly associates short-term disability pay at no cost and changing the way employees accrue time off so they don’t have to wait a year before they can use personal days. In addition to the 1.1. million Wal-Mart workers who will get raises, 100,000 Sam’s Club workers will also see an increase.

Labor activists weren’t placated by the announcement. Making Change at Wal-Mart, a group of current and former employees backed by the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, raised concern that Wal-Mart may cut hours or other benefits to compensate for the higher pay. They said Wednesday in a statement that they’ve already seen the company reduce hours following the wage increase last year.

Is that splitting the difference?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/bus ... /78852898/

[Isgrimnur]

AbilityOne

CNN has learned government investigators have issued grand jury subpoenas as they investigate the huge taxpayer-funded program, known as AbilityOne, and specifically its managing agency, SourceAmerica.

Along with bid rigging and corruption, grand jury investigators are looking into allegations the program is operating numerous contracts illegally, and not hiring enough disabled people to fill contracts as required by law, as CNN detailed in earlier reports.

The AbilityOne and SourceAmerica program dole out hundreds of multimillion-dollar contracts to scores of organizations. To get a contract, 75% of a company's work must be performed by the severely disabled, people who cannot get work elsewhere.

Yet, numerous sources have told CNN that SourceAmerica awards contracts unfairly, giving lucrative deals to companies with inside connections. Some SourceAmerica board members have also worked at companies that are awarded big contracts.
...
The suit was filed by Ruben Lopez, owner of Bona Fide Conglomerates, a company that lost its contract cleaning the federal courthouse in Las Vegas. He alleged the contract was taken away and given to another company that had an official sitting on the board of directors at SourceAmerica.
...
Lopez became so disgusted with how corrupt the process was that he began working with federal investigators and secretly recorded conversations between himself and Robinson.

Those recordings, which CNN obtained independently, are now part of the federal investigation, having been requested under the grand jury subpoena.

The recordings are striking, among other reasons, because Robinson compared her company's leadership to the leadership of the mafia.

[Isgrimnur]

Ethan Couch back to the US.

The Texas teenager whose lawyers infamously invoked an "affluenza" defense while on trial for a fatal drunken-driving crash was on a plane Thursday back to the U.S., Mexican authorities told NBC News.

Ethan Couch was on a commercial flight and expected to land in Dallas sometime around noon, they said.

[Defiant]

Who runs the worldSenate?:

Something was a little different in the Senate on Tuesday morning. And Sen. Lisa Murkowski noticed it.

The Alaska Republican was one of only a few lawmakers in the Capitol building following the weekend blizzard, and it was her job to handle the formalities of delaying Senate business until her colleagues could get back to work. After finishing a bit of parliamentary business, she described what she saw in the ornate chamber.

“As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.”

Really, guys, not one of the 80 of you could make it through the snow?

[LordMortis]

I hate being related to bigots. Being polite in your denial of the world only makes them aggro. And I only fear I would cause a rift between myself and family members I care greatly about (who aren't generally bigots) if I call the ones to the mat that I want to call on.

Is possible to get yourself thrown out of only about 1/3 of your family?

[coopasonic]

I hate being related to bigots.

I think most of us are to some degree or another. It's mostly a generational thing, but with some it lingers more strongly than others.

[Holman]

Facebook has banned gun sales on its network. Apparently FB sales have become a popular way to circumvent background checks.

The inevitable right-wing boycott will solve about half of my problems with social media.

[Moliere]

Facebook has banned gun sales on its network. Apparently FB sales have become a popular way to circumvent background checks.

The inevitable right-wing boycott will solve about half of my problems with social media.

Why not unfollow or unfriend anyone with annoying posts?

[Holman]

Facebook has banned gun sales on its network. Apparently FB sales have become a popular way to circumvent background checks.

The inevitable right-wing boycott will solve about half of my problems with social media.

Why not unfollow or unfriend anyone with annoying posts?

It was a joke, actually.

I love my monstrous old pals too much to unfriend them. I just set it so their posts don't show up on my feed.

[LordMortis]

Is it all meaningful to point friends and family political spam to Snopes in social media?

[Isgrimnur]

It might get you removed from the spam list.

[Isgrimnur]

Ethan Couch off to big-boy-jail:

Ethan Couch has been moved from a juvenile detention facility to adult jail in downtown Fort Worth, records show.

The “affluenza” teen now shows up in Tarrant County jail records, which suggest that he remains in the custody of the Texas Juvenile Justice Department.

A bond amount has not been set for his release, however.
...
Juvenile court Judge Timothy Menikos ruled last Friday that Couch would remain locked up in a juvenile detention center in Fort Worth. It’s unclear why the judge decided to move the 18-year-old to adult jail, instead.

The judge is expected to hear arguments on Feb. 19 to move Couch’s case from juvenile court to adult court, where prosecutors said he would face harsh punishments if he violated his probation again.

[Isgrimnur]

NC

A federal judge on Friday ruled that North Carolina’s 1st and 12th congressional districts are racial gerrymanders and must be redrawn in a week.

An order, written by U.S. Circuit Judge Roger L. Gregory, also bars elections in the 1st and 12th congressional districts until new maps are approved, the News & Observer reports.

The ruling comes more than two years after a lawsuit was filed seeking an invalidation of the two districts.

North Carolina’s 1st congressional district is located mostly in the northeastern part of the state.

North Carolina’s 12th congressional district weaves along Interstate 85 from Charlotte up to Greensboro and also includes portions of Winston-Salem.

“A person traveling on Interstate 85 between the two cities would exit the district multiple times, as the district’s boundaries zig and zag to encircle African-American communities, ” the federal lawsuit contended, according to the News & Observer.

[Holman]

North Carolina’s 12th congressional district weaves along Interstate 85 from Charlotte up to Greensboro and also includes portions of Winston-Salem.

Maybe the district was established to represent Waffle House?

[Pyperkub]

Thought about putting this in one of the trainwreck threads, but Bette Midler posted this on Facebook and I laughed:

Trump called Ted Cruz a "pussy"? Well, Trump's a dick so maybe they should get together and fuck off!

[Pyperkub]

In which Erick Erickson's RedState defends the EPA:

Jeb Bush as governor was doing things for public interest. There is a notable environmental impact from disappearing wetlands, and does do harm to the state when it happens. The same goes when there is a crop disease that could wipe out a key staple of Florida farmers. That is public good. That is the type of thing the government has to do sometimes.

Wh? What?

Only Trump could have made them write that...

[El Guapo]

In which Erick Erickson's RedState defends the EPA:

Jeb Bush as governor was doing things for public interest. There is a notable environmental impact from disappearing wetlands, and does do harm to the state when it happens. The same goes when there is a crop disease that could wipe out a key staple of Florida farmers. That is public good. That is the type of thing the government has to do sometimes.

Wh? What?

Only Trump could have made them write that...

Am I missing something? Ericksson's not defending the EPA (which would be remarkable), he's defending Jeb Bush's public purchase of private wetlands when he was governor of Florida.