BOLO Arizona

Yes, tell us what you think.














These comments are pretty much what I think of those misguided Christmas time stunts police use.



Uh-huh.

She has a plan for that

[Elizabeth Warren released a] sweeping trade agenda, posted on Medium ahead of a town hall in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday evening, [that] channels many of the critiques of American trade policy from the left over the past several decades, especially from environmental and labor groups.

[...]

Warren, a fierce opponent of TPP during the Obama administration, believes that the backlash to globalization is deep and cuts across both parties. As a result, she is advocating a trade policy that, while less tariff-centric, in many ways goes further than Trump.

[...]

[Candidate Bernie] Sanders has promoted his record on trade in campaign videos and pledged not to appoint trade representatives from the corporate sector. Kamala Harris’ views on trade are less clear but, earlier this year, advisers suggested she embrace free trade to contrast herself with Sanders and Warren, according to The New York Times. The only Democratic presidential candidate who so far has made past free trade agreements like the TPP a centerpiece of his agenda is longshot former Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.).

[...]

Warren’s plan, however, is the most detailed of any candidate's so far. [...] Warren focuses on using trade as a tool to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, offering a stark contrast to the Trump administration.

[...]

Warren focuses on using trade as a tool to tackle climate change and other environmental issues, offering a stark contrast to the Trump administration.Warren’s plans list nine separate criteria a country would have to meet before negotiating a trade deal with the U.S. Those standards include upholding and enforcing the labor rights laid out by the International Labour Organization, eliminating all domestic fossil fuel subsidies, fulfilling commitments from the Paris Climate Agreement, not running afoul of the State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights, and not being on the Treasury Department’s monitoring list for manipulative currency practices.

[...]

Warren would attempt to impose a “border carbon adjustment” — an additional fee on imports made with carbon-intensive processes.

[...]

Warren wrote that she would only seek expedited trade authority after unanimous approval from labor, consumer, rural and regional advisory committees and would let more congressional committees review such authority. These reforms would significantly slow the trade negotiation process but also bring in voices that Warren believes have been excluded from the process.

[...]

The requirements would apply not only to new trade deals but to existing treaties that Warren pledges to renegotiate.

[...]

She and her team think Trump has misdiagnosed the problem. Trump’s assertion that other countries are taking advantage of the U.S. means his solution revolves around hiring tough negotiators and punishment in the form of tariffs, Warren’s team says. She, by contrast, sees multinational corporations and their influence on trade negotiations as the main culprit.

  Politico

I think she's right.

The trade agenda is the third plan that Warren has released under her “economic patriotism” platform. The first two called for rebuilding American manufacturing with a focus on green jobs and rewriting rules governing Wall Street.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

It's looking safe to come out

Expect more Democrats to join the call for impeachment as it becomes more likely to happen.  It doesn't take so much courage then.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the No. 3 Senate Democrat, called for House Democrats to begin impeachment inquiries on Sunday.

"I agree with my fellow members of the Washington delegation that, as we have learned about the gravity of the potential threats to our democracy identified in special counsel Mueller's report, it has become clear that the House should begin proceedings to determine whether the president's action necessitate impeachment," Murray said in a statement.

[...]

Several Democratic members of Congress from the state of Washington, including Reps. Suzan DelBene, Denny Heck, Derek Kilmer and Kim Schrier, came out in support of impeachment proceedings Sunday, bringing the total to 103, according to The Hill's whip list.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted impeachment and has not changed her approach following Mueller's testimony.

  The Hill

UPDATE:

Backlash extending to state leaders in Kentucky

The campaign for Andy Beshear (D) announced Monday that it had secured the endorsement of state Sen. Dan Seum (R).

[...]

"This is about who is going to lead this state in the next four years," Seum said. "Today, we have a governor who has failed miserably in the pension issue and has spent the last year running around the state insulting everyone, including the four teachers in my family."

[...]

Seum opted against endorsing Gov. Matt Bevin (R), who was elected in 2015.

[...]

Several Kentucky public schools were closed last year as teachers went on strike to protest changes to their pension system made by the legislature. Bevin was at odds with the teachers and the union that represents them, criticizing the group publicly at times.

[...]

“If Senator Seum wants to support sanctuary cities and abortion up until the moment of birth, that’s his decision to make. Governor Bevin has been endorsed by President Trump, the NRA, and Kentucky Right to Life," Davis Payne, Bevin's campaign manager, told The Hill in a statement.

  The Hill

That's a hell of a recommendation.  Pretty much tells you all you need to know about Bevin.

Good on Dan Seum.  Now, Ditch Mitch.

UPDATE 11/14:

Damage control - for the umpteenth time

And then he'll go back and tweet another dig at Cummings and/or Sharpton.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

America is a banana republic

If we only grew bananas, and with global warming, that may be coming soon, too.

Slowly, inexorably, this essential truth has revealed itself, particularly since Donald Trump and Melania boarded the down escalator - figuratively and literally - to announce his candidacy for president on June 16, 2015.

[...]

Enabled by a stacked, ideologically amicable Supreme Court and surrounded by obsequious family and sycophants - all familiar staples of a banana republic - Trump sits on his leather throne in the Oval Office, content as a purring cat, sure of his impunity.

[...]

Trump [...] declared that Article 2 of the constitution affords him carte blanche to "do whatever" he wants as president, without any legal repercussions at any time, from any quarter. This is also, undeniably, the modus vivendi of the omnipotent leader of a banana republic.

[...]

[In his Congressional hearings about the Special Counsel report, Robert] Mueller insisted he hadn't "flinched". But he had - in not only failing to get Trump to testify under oath, but also in delivering the convoluted conclusion that while he had not exonerated Teflon Don, he was prevented by legal precedent from charging a sitting president with obstruction of justice.

Ah, there is always the prospect, Mueller agreed, that Trump might belatedly be charged when President Trump becomes citizen Trump.

That would happen in a real republic, not a banana republic, Mr Mueller.

[...]

Still, Mueller provided ample evidence of an executive branch compromised to the core. Trump's campaign welcomed Russia's help to leverage the outcome of the 2016 election in its favour. To achieve that goal, Russia, Mueller said, committed crimes and engineered an elaborate cyber-infrastructure to sway the vote Trump's way.

[...]

While candidate Trump was pursuing a potentially lucrative Trump Tower deal in Moscow, his former campaign manager turned convicted felon, Paul Manafort, was sharing campaign information and internal polling data with alleged Russian "intelligence operative", Konstantin Kilimnik, hoping to cash in - courtesy of Russian or Ukrainian oligarchs.

Not done, Mueller warned that Russia was engaged in a "sweeping" and "systematic" effort to impact the 2020 election. "They're doing it as we sit here," Mueller said.

Now, a mature, responsible "republic" that deems the integrity of presidential elections to be sacrosanct would try to stop that from happening again.

[...]

Trump's confederate, Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell - dubbed "Moscow Mitch" by US television personality and former Republican congressman, Joe Scarborough - blocked election security legislation only hours after Mueller's marathon testimony.

"He (McConnell) is aiding and abetting Vladimir Putin's ongoing attempts to subvert American democracy…and Moscow Mitch won't even let the Senate take a vote on it. That is un-American," Scarborough shouted, as American TV pundits are apt to do.

Well, Mr Scarborough, it is reflective of a banana republic, too.

[...]

When the appalling times and circumstances required it, rather than confronting Trump with the full, punitive measure of constitutional powers she and her caucus enjoy, [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi chose political expediency over principle.

With Mueller gone and Pelosi equivocating, a vengeful and vindictive Trump will become more emboldened to complete the transformation of America into his autocratic image during this or, odds are, a second, disfiguring term.

  Andrew Mitrovica

During his address at a Turning Point USA conference in Washington, D.C. earlier today, Trump declared to a crowd of young conservatives: "Then I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president."

[...]

It was not the first time the president has made the claim. In June, Trump told ABC News: "Article 2 allows me to do whatever I want. Article 2 would have allowed me to fire [Mueller]."

  Newsweek

In front of that wonderful doctored presidential seal.

Of course, Article II does not allow him to do whatever he wants, but it looks as if he's going to be allowed to go on trying.  I'm not sure why he is bringing attention to Article II, because that's the one that speaks to impeachment.

Although the loosely-defined "Article 2" is interpreted by some as granting the chief executive broad authority, the section also provides for a president's removal from office via "impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." The latter offers an explicit check on the president's authority and actions, which negates Trump's claims that he has the "right to do whatever" while in office.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Bully with threats

Human rights groups, activists and former officials in Guatemala have expressed fierce opposition to a controversial migration deal signed by the country's government and the United States.

The agreement was struck on Friday, days after US President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on the Central American country if it did not enter into a so-called "safe third country" agreement that would have required it to host more asylum seekers.

Opponents to the agreement decried the country's inability to address the needs of its citizens as a reason why Guatemala - a country that has seen thousands of its citizens attempt to reach the US fleeing poverty, violence and poor economic conditions - would be unable to take asylum seekers.

[...]

The agreement, however, must still be approved by Guatemala's Congress, which is currently in recess until August. It is unclear if it will receive the backing it requires.

[...]

While the US side has referred to the deal as a "third safe country" agreement, the government of Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales has refrained from calling it as such. The Morales administration issued a statement saying the deal would apply to citizens from Honduras and El Salvador.

[...]

As a result of insecurity and poverty, thousands of Guatemalans have attempted migrating to the US in recent years.

[...]

According to the Guatemalan Health Ministry, cases of malnutrition increased by 36 percent in 2019. Yet many cases go unreported, groups that work in the country say.

Poverty has also risen in recent years, with nearly 60 percent of the population living in poverty, according to World Bank figures.

[...]

Claudia Samayoa, the founder and director of Udefegua, a human rights group in Guatemala, called the agreement "illegal", saying Guatemala did not meet the conditions required for a "third safety country" under international law.

"The Guatemalan state cannot guarantee security, or economic security, or even social security for its citizens," she told Al Jazeera.

  alJazeera

I don't get it, myself. How can Guatemala take in asylum seekers when so many of its citizens are seeking asylum from there?

"Guatemala has very clear responsibility," said Enrique Degenhart, the Guatemalan interior minister who signed the agreement at the White House.

"It is clear that changes must be made and the way to do it is to work with our best ally."

Trump is threatening sanctions on a country already in dire straits simply for not doing his bidding.  If we are your best ally, you are in serious trouble, my friend.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Taking aim at another dark face

Can't say I'm an Al Sharpton fan, but Trump was. I like how His Lardship hedged his bets on this one by admitting that he went to some Al Sharpton events, but "seldom". That's because he knows there are many pictures online of the two of them together.  Of course, it was always Sharpton begging for favors.

Old Lardass is still getting blowback from far and wide for his racist screed about Elijah Cummings and Baltimore.





(FYI, AoDespair, David Simon, is producer and head writer of the hit show The Wire.)





Salute!

David Simon, the creator of "The Wire," an HBO series set in Baltimore, on Saturday denounced President Trump.

[...]

"If this empty-suit, race-hating fraud had to actually visit West Baltimore for five minutes and meet any of the American citizens who endure there, he’d wet himself," Simon said on Twitter moments after Trump targeted Cummings and his congressional district.

Simon added later that the "president is 'literally' a simplistic, racist moron."

"I am 'literally' the guy writing stuff about the last century of U.S. policy, about the drug war and mass incarceration, about Brown v. and white flight, about all of modern U.S. history to which your kind stays mute," he said in a tweet defending his criticism.

[...]

"The Wire" was a renowned HBO series that documented many issues facing the city of Baltimore, including drug abuse and police corruption. Simon served as the show's executive producer and head writer.

  The Hill

"Taintsniffing moron" is a pretty good one.

So, after all that, why is Trump nasty-tweeting about Al Sharpton this morning?  Apparently, Sharpton is scheduled to...

...hold a news conference in Baltimore to decry Trump’s derogatory weekend tweets directed at the city and an African American congressman.

Sharpton, a former Democratic presidential candidate and MSNBC talk-show host, is scheduled to appear in Baltimore alongside Michael Steele, who formerly chaired the Republican National Committee and served as Maryland’s lieutenant governor.

The two plan to address “Trump’s remarks and bipartisan outrage in the black community,” according to an advisory.

  WaPo

And to my point about His Lardship hedging his bets...

Sharpton responded Monday morning on Twitter by sharing a photograph of Trump attending a 2006 conference hosted by Sharpton’s organization, the National Action Network.

Trump is nothing if not transparent.

“Trump at NAN Convention 2006 telling James Brown and Jesse Jackson why he respects my work. Different tune now,” Sharpton wrote.

Trump soon responded on Twitter, saying that Sharpton would “always ask me to go to his events” as “a personal favor.”

[...]

Sharpton later continued the back-and-forth on Twitter, writing: “Trump says I’m a troublemaker & con man. I do make trouble for bigots. If he really thought I was a con man he would want me in his cabinet.”

[...]

Steele also spoke out about Trump over the weekend, raising a question in a tweet about “how much more of Trump’s incessant whining, tweeting, bullying, & racism are we willing to put up with.”

Later this morning, His Lardship is still at it, but trying again to hedge his bets.






Baltimore was once great and he wants it to be great again (in fact, he apparently can make it happen all by himself from the "beautiful oval shaped office"), but Elijah Cummings - a black man - can't do it.  As David Simon pointed out to some imbeciles on his Twitter account, Baltimore has a mayor, and Maryland has a governor - they're in direct line from the president.  The people's representative in Congress can only make his voice heard.

What "crew" is he talking about?  They'll all be black, you can bet on that.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Impeach the motherfucker

Amen, Susan.

Old Lardass liked what Ratcliffe did

Ratcliffe gets a reward.

Ratcliffe smirked and tried to land a blow against Mueller during the Judiciary Committee hearing.  Who else pleased Himself ?

President Donald Trump’s just-announced nominee to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence had already drawn national attention earlier this week, when he delivered an aggressive diatribe against former special counsel Robert Mueller.

Rep. John Ratcliffe, a Texas Republican and a member of the House Judiciary Committee, had zeroed in on one of the key lines from Mueller’s report on Russian election interference, possible coordination between Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin, and possible obstruction of justice by Trump himself.

[...]

During Mueller’s first hearing before the Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Ratcliffe said he agreed with Mueller’s conclusions that Russia’s efforts to meddle in the 2016 presidential election were “sweeping and systematic.”

But he tore into Mueller for including the asterisk in his report that explicitly said Trump was not exonerated.

“Can you give me an example other than Donald Trump where the Justice Department determined that an investigated person was not exonerated because their innocence was not conclusively determined?” Ratcliffe asked Mueller.

The former special counsel responded, “I cannot, but this is a unique situation.”

Ratcliffe shot back: “You can’t find it, because – I’ll tell you why – it doesn’t exist.”

[...]

“You managed to violate every principle and the most sacred of traditions about prosecutors not offering extra prosecutorial analysis.”

Trump shouldn’t be above the law, Ratcliffe added, “but he damn sure shouldn’t be below the law, which is where volume two of this report puts him.”

  CNBC

Just listen to his audition for the job:

 

Mueller didn’t get a chance to reply to Ratcliffe — instead the tightly controlled hearing shifted to another Democratic member’s line of questioning.

[...]

The director of national intelligence oversees the government’s intelligence agencies, coordinates the country’s global information-gathering operation and frequently briefs the president on threats each morning.

Coats stepped into the role in March 2017, but how long he would remain was a constant source of speculation because of his many differences with Trump over foreign policy. Coats has publicly broken with the president on several critical fronts, including during public testimony before the Senate on North Korea, Iran and Syria.

Earlier this year, Coats told a Senate panel that North Korea was not likely to give up its nuclear weapons, Iran was not yet seeking a nuclear weapon and the Islamic State terrorist group remained a forceful presence in Iraq and Syria.

  Politico

I'm sure Ratcliffe will assure us otherwise.

Ratcliffe met privately with Trump at the White House on July 19 to discuss his interest in the job, The New York Times reported, citing unidentified administration officials.

Five days before Mueller's testimony. He knew what he had to do.

In fact, Judiciary Committee Republicans gave Ratcliffe an early chance to question the former special counsel next after the panel’s ranking member by skipping over several more senior members.

Because they knew Trump wouldn't be able to sit through more than fifteen minutes?  The party of obvious whores.

UPDATE:



I didn't know the admin gave a shit about legally.  His Lardship, in particular, thinks Article II of the Constitution says he can do anything he wants.