Friday, February 26, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s Response to BLM May Have Cost Her The Election

There Goes the Firewall: Hillary Clinton’s Response to BLM May Have Cost Her The Election
By Walker Bragman  |  February 26, 2016  |  11:38am


“I’m not a superpredator!” Ashley Williams, a young Black Lives Matter protester told Democratic presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton—her confidence belied by a slight quiver in her voice.

Even when heckled by the mostly white crowd at a $500-per-plate campaign fundraiser dinner in conservative South Carolina, Williams held her ground. She faced down an evasive Clinton, demanding an explanation for racist remarks the former First Lady made in 1996, where she referred to inner-city, black youth as “super-predators” with “no conscience” and “no empathy.” “We need to bring them to heel” she explained.

At the time, Clinton was touting her husband’s “tough on crime” policies—specifically the Violent Crime Control Act of 1994—which imposed harsh punishments on a variety of nonviolent offenses, and is widely accepted as a driving force (though not the only force) behind the explosion of incarceration over the next decade. Black America was hit particularly hard.

After a tense confrontation, Clinton’s security detail physically removed the young woman who had paid $500 to deliver her message.

After she was gone, a visibly annoyed Clinton, seemingly unable to stop herself, turned to the crowd and said “Back to the issues…” not realizing she was on camera. She could not have made a more tone-deaf statement, especially given the name of movement she had just been confronted by.

Read more at: http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/02/there-goes-the-firewall-hillary-clintons-response.html

Hillary Clinton, AP Photo July 2015




NJ Gov Christie endorses Donald Trump for president

Everett Rosenfeld | @Ev_Rosenfeld
CNBC
2/26/2016

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorsed GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Friday, the latest sign that Republicans are beginning to accept the idea that the real estate magnate may win the party's nomination.

"I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States," Christie said at a news conference alongside the businessman, explaining that he has been friends with Trump for over a decade. "I absolutely appreciate him as a person and as a friend."
Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore
Gilmore: I'd back any GOP nominee, even Trump

But the endorsement extended beyond the personal, and Christie said he believed that "there is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs, both at home and around the world, than Donald Trump."

Among the field of GOP candidates — which also includes Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and retired doctor Ben Carson — Trump is "the clear standout, and the person who will do exactly what needs to be done to make America a leader around the world again," Christie said.

In fact, Christie said establishment favorite Rubio is "desperate" and that his attacks on Trump during Thursday's debate would not succeed: "Nobody is going to get inside this guy's head," Christie said of his presidential pick.

"Senator Rubio has shown himself over the course of time to be wholly unprepared to be president of the United States," Christie said — just as many pundits and GOP notables had begun to rally around the senator as Trump's primary competition.

Christie's endorsement of Trump — which follows consecutive wins in the Nevada caucus, and primaries in South Carolina and New Hampshire — may indicate Republican politicians are reconciling themselves to the fact that the businessman is in a strong position to become the party's standard-bearer.

Read more at: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/02/26/nj-governor-chris-christie-endorses-donald-trump-for-president.html


NJ Governor Chris Christie

Friday, February 19, 2016

Hillary Clinton just can’t win

H.A. Goodman
Friday, Feb 19, 2016 10:09 AM EST
Salon

Hillary Clinton just can’t win: Democrats need to accept that only Bernie Sanders can defeat the GOP

In one major poll, Bernie Sanders is now leading Hillary Clinton nationally. In most others, he’s not far behind from the former Secretary of State. Vermont’s Senator already has an “edge over Clinton in matchups with GOP opponents,” dispelling Clinton’s electability myth. In an average of national polls, Bernie Sanders is less  than eight points from Hillary Clinton, after being over 50 points behind in 2015. In addition, there’s only one person capable of challenging a Republican in 2016 without James Comey declaring national security was jeopardized by a private server.

Bernie Sanders is the only Democratic candidate capable of winning the White House in 2016. Please name the last person to win the presidency alongside an ongoing FBI investigation, negative favorability ratings, questions about character linked to continual flip-flops, a dubious money trail of donors, and the genuine contempt of the rival political party. In reality, Clinton is a liability to Democrats, and certainly not the person capable of ensuring liberal Supreme Court nominees and President Obama’s legacy.

The precious and all-knowing polls already show Bernie Sanders defeating Republicans in a general election and Robert Reich has already explained why Sanders can easily win the presidency. In a Huffington Post piece titled “6 Responses to Bernie Skeptic,” Reich debunks the trusted myth of Clinton supporters and Republicans:

    “He’d never beat Trump or Cruz in a general election.”

    Wrong. According to the latest polls, Bernie is the strongest Democratic candidate in the general election, defeating both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in hypothetical matchups. (The latest RealClear Politics averages of all polls shows Bernie beating Trump by a larger margin than Hillary beats Trump, and Bernie beating Cruz while Hillary loses to Cruz.)

    “America would never elect a socialist.”

    P-l-e-a-s-e. America’s most successful and beloved government programs are social insurance – Social Security and Medicare. A highway is a shared social expenditure, as is the military and public parks and schools. The problem is we now have excessive socialism for the rich (bailouts of Wall Street, subsidies for Big Ag and Big Pharma, monopolization by cable companies and giant health insurers, giant tax-deductible CEO pay packages) – all of which Bernie wants to end or prevent.

As Reich points out in his article, America is already a nation of Democratic-Socialists, but many of us (Democrats and Republicans) simply uphold “excessive socialism for the rich.”

Bernie Sanders, unlike Clinton, defeats Donald Trump in a landslide of  “epic proportions” in a general election and is the antithesis of a Republican. If you don’t believe me, then watch my friend Brian Hanley’s animated rap videos about Bernie Sanders demolishing Donald Trump.

Most importantly, and something the naysayers should learn, is that Bernie Sanders does better than Clinton against the GOP in a general election.

In addition, American voters don’t trust Hillary Clinton. At what point will critics of Bernie Sanders realize that American voters will never vote for a candidate they don’t trust and don’t like? In October of 2015, I explained in the following YouTube segment why Clinton is unelectable, and in another segment why Clinton must always evolve on key issues.

53.8% of all American voters have an “unfavorable” view of Hillary Clinton.

67% of American voters find Hillary Clinton “not honest and trustworthy,” compared with 59% for Donald Trump. Yes, more people trust Donald Trump.

After all, it’s difficult to trust a politician who completely fabricated a story about being fired upon by snipers. Like POLITIFACT states, “it’s hard to understand how she could err on something so significant as whether she did or didn’t dodge sniper bullets.”

71% of men and 64% of women find Clinton “not honest and trustworthy.”

74% of Independent voters find Clinton “not honest and trustworthy.”

35% of Democrats find Clinton “not honest and trustworthy.” Yes, even Democrats.

In contrast, Kathy Frankovic of YouGov.com states “Bernie Sanders is the most widely trusted presidential candidate of either party.”

Quinnipiac’s Feb. 18 report states “Sanders has the highest favorability rating of any candidate and the highest scores for honesty and integrity, for caring about voters’ needs and problems and for sharing voters’ values.” Sanders also ties Clinton on “having strong leadership qualities.”

In terms of Clinton’s leadership qualities, they haven’t translated to good judement. If the Clinton campaign expects to build upon President Obama’s accomplishments, then it should first discuss things with a former Obama intelligence official. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn explains his view of Hillary Clinton’s email scandal in a CNN article titled “Former Obama Intel Official: Hillary Clinton Should Drop Out”:

    President Barack Obama’s former top military intelligence official said Hillary Clinton should pull out of the presidential race while the FBI investigate her use of a private email server for official government communication while secretary of state.

    “If it were me, I would have been out the door and probably in jail,” said Flynn, who decried what he said was a “lack of accountability, frankly, in a person who should have been much more responsible in her actions as the secretary of state of the United States of America.”

    “This over-classification excuse is not an excuse,” Flynn said Friday. “If it’s classified, it’s classified.”

    Flynn, who headed the Defense Intelligence Agency from July 2012 to August 2014, told Tapper that Clinton “knew better…“

No, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn isn’t part of the GOP. He actually worked for President Obama. If you think the FBI, a former Obama intelligence official, the State Department’s own “internal watchdog,” and all the other elements of this expanded investigation make for a great presidency, then you’re certainly ready for Hillary in 2016.

Yes, a former Obama intelligence official suggests Clinton “drop out” of the presidential race. The FBI’s investigation of Clinton’s emails is “not letting up” and there is no end in sight. Good luck with nationally televised debates against a ruthless opponent like Trump (who will certainly make the email scandal a primary issue of every discussion), if you fear the loss of Supreme Court nominees and the future of our country. It’s doubtful any GOP challenger would gracefully declare, “Enough of the emails.”

Even if you believe Clinton would win a general election, remember that the FBI, or even the State Department, could uncover yet another group of “Top Secret” emails well into Clinton’s first term. The FBI could also urge the Justice Department to take action; even if Clinton wins the presidency. We’ve already seen one Clinton White House defend against scandal.

Read more at: http://www.salon.com/2016/02/19/hillary_clinton_just_cant_win_democrats_need_to_accept_that_only_bernie_sanders_can_defeat_the_gop/

Hillary Cllinton, Bernie Sanders Credit Reuters Brian Snyder Jim Young Photo montage by Salon 2016



Wednesday, February 17, 2016

China calls Ted Cruz bill a 'political farce'

by Nicole Gaouette, CNN
7:07 PM ET, Tue February 16, 2016
CNN Politics

Washington (CNN)Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz drew fire from a new quarter Tuesday, when the Chinese government tore into the Texas senator for a bill he pushed through the Senate last week.

The legislation would rename a part of the street across from China's embassy after a pro-democracy activist jailed by Beijing. It would effectively change the embassy's address to "1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza," after the Nobel Peace Prize winner serving an 11-year sentence in part for publishing an anti-Communist manifesto calling for political freedoms.

China's Foreign Ministry blasted Cruz's bill as a "political farce" and warned that it would have serious repercussions for its relationship with the U.S if it were to pass the House and become law. The measure cleared the Senate in a unanimous voice vote on Friday.

Victoria Coates, Cruz's national security advisor, told CNN that the candidate understands the U.S. has strong ties to China and that he doesn't want to be "overtly antagonistic."

But she said Cruz feels that human rights have been ignored "since the beginning of the Obama administration, since Secretary (of State Hillary) Clinton went to Beijing in February 2009 and said we were going to have a separate track for human rights. The Chinese said they interpreted that as human rights on the back burner."

The tiff comes as President Barack Obama meets in California with Southeast Asian leaders, in part to discuss increasingly assertive Chinese moves in the South China Sea and reassure China's neighbors that the U.S. is committed to protecting their interests in the region.

RELATED: Terrorism on agenda as Obama hosts Southeast Asian leaders

"If the relevant bill is passed into law, it will cause serious consequences," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement, which also called Cruz's bill "contrary to the basic norms" of international relations.

"We demand the U.S. Senate stop promoting the bill and hope the U.S. executive authorities put an end to this political farce," the spokesman said.

A White House official, speaking anonymously to discuss sensitive issues, dismissed Cruz's bill as a "stunt."

"While we continue to impress upon China the imperative of respecting human rights and releasing Liu Xiaobo, as well as other political prisoners, we do not believe Sen. Cruz's ploy to rename a street in Washington, D.C., is an effective way to achieve either goal," the official said. "In fact, legislative stunts such as this complicate our efforts."

Read more at: http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/16/politics/ted-cruz-china-embassy-dissident-street/

Ted Cruz Feb 2016   REUTERS-Rick Wilking


Friday, February 5, 2016

Firefighters Slam Ted Cruz For Claiming To Be Their Champion While Opposing 9/11 Health Bill

Amanda Terkel
Senior Political Reporter, The Huffington Post
02/03/2016 10:36 pm ET

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A powerful firefighters union went after Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Wednesday for claiming to be their defender and champion in his Iowa caucuses victory speech.

"What Ted Cruz did the other night in his Iowa victory speech is disgusting," said Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters. "He said he embraces fire fighters and the dangerous work they do, says he’s our friend and calls himself a great patriot. But when it came time to actually have the backs of fire fighters across the U.S., he was AWOL. Cruz is the worst kind of politician who will say or do anything to get elected."

That anger stems from Cruz invoking the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the work of the first responders in his remarks Monday night, when he said he would be different from President Barack Obama.

"To the police officers, and the firemen and the first responders, the heroes who rushed in to burning buildings instead of out of burning buildings -- the last seven years of having a president, having an attorney general that demonizes you, that vilifies you, that sides with the criminals and looters instead of the brave men and women of law enforcement -- that will end on Jan. 20, 2017," he said.

But what irks Schaitberger is that Cruz opposed reauthorizing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which provides health care for those same firefighters and first responders.

More than 72,000 people are monitored by the 9/11 health program, and 33,000 ailing responders rely on it for treatment.

"He left the 9/11 responders behind," Schaitberger said. "If those are Ted's values, we don't like them. He's the epitome of saying one thing to get votes, then doing another."

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-firefighters_us_56b2a2b1e4b08069c7a615c6

Chris Carlson AP Photo 2/3/2016
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) invoked firefighters and 9/11 in his Iowa victory speech Monday night.