Here is a little exercise for you. Compare and contrast how Cory Booker responded to a “gotcha” question by a Breitbart reporter with what Trump said in a tweet and what Trump’s press secretary said in an interview. You can find a video of Booker's response here. Booker was brilliant. Trump—well, I may be a little biased about Trump, so you be the judge of how he did. First the Booker video.
Trump’s giving the green light to Turkey to massacre our allies the Kurds is both evil and hurts our national security. ISIS may rise again because of this, and who will be our allies on the ground to help us beat them back? No one, because no one will trust us to have their back in the future. Retired Four-Star General and head of CentCom, Joseph Votel, and terrorism expert Elizabeth Dent wrote this about the danger of abandoning our partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces. consisting mainly of the Kurds.
Over four years, the SDF freed tens of thousands of square miles and millions of people from the grip of ISIS. Throughout the fight, it sustained nearly 11,000 casualties. By comparison, six U.S. service members, as well as two civilians, have been killed in the anti-ISIS campaign. Key to this effective relationship was mutual trust, constant communication, and clear expectations. The partnership was not without its difficulties. That included working through the December 2018 announcement of our sudden departure and our subsequent agreement with Turkey to pursue a security mechanism for the border areas. But each time, the strong mutual trust built on the ground between our military members and the SDF preserved our momentum. The sudden policy change this week breaks that trust at the most crucial juncture and leaves our partners with very limited options. . . .
The U.S. Justice Department's guidelines (and they are only guidelines--not law) prevent the Justice Department from prosecuting a sitting President-- These guidelines are not binding on charges leveled by state or local prosecutors. Rachel Maddow has made a very strong case that these guidelines are on shaky grounds, but so long as Trump is President no one will challenge those guidelines.
IMPORTANT: MAKE SURE YOU READ THE UPDATE AT THE END OF THIS ARTICLE. THIS ARTICLE'S CLAIM THAT THE HOUSE CAN IMPEACH A SENATOR IS OPEN TO QUESTION
The following is an open letter to Congresman Tom Reed in response to Donald Trump's racist tweets attacking Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.
So interesting to see “Progressive” Democrat Congresswomen, who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe, the worst, most corrupt and inept anywhere in the world (if they even have a functioning government at all), now loudly......
Note: This is a slightly revised version of the second part of an article that I had posted on January 15. The first part of the article, which discusses the legitimacy and effectiveness of Brian Kolfage's GoFundMe campaign to build the Wall, is posted here.
Let's put reservations about the legitimacy of Brian Kolfage's campaign and its effectiveness in raising money from conservatives who want the Wall aside. Let's assume that the campaign will be able to prove its legitimacy and that it will become a fund-raising juggernaut among conservatives who want the Wall. The biggest obstacle preventing Kolfage's campaign from being as effective as it could be is that its appeal is limited to the roughly 1/3 of the population who see the wall as a priority. They will contribute to the wall while liberals will contribute nothing while enjoying the benefits of the Wall (such as they are). FEAR NOT, CONSERVATIVES--there IS a way to get liberals to not only contribute to the Wall, but to contribute willingly and eagerly. How? Imagine this.
Note: This article is a revised version of the first part of an article that I had posted on January 15. The second part of this article is posted here.
Triple Amputee Iraqi War veteran Brian Kolfage was sick and tired of waiting for the government to provide funds to build Trump's Wall along the Southern border, so he took matters into his own hands by starting a GoFundMe campaign to fund the Wall. The campaign's goal is ambitious--Kolfage wants to raise $1 Billion of the $5 billion that Trump says he wants to start the Wall. Kolfage's campaign relies on the voluntary contributions of those who want the Wall to pay for it. As such, it has zero chance of receiving significant money from the one half to two thirds of the population who either oppose to the Wall or who do not see it as a priority.
Tom Reed's campaign and his supporters are making a big stink about some very ill-considered remarks posted by one of Tracy Mitrano's staffers on her Instagram account. Reed has posted this photo from the Instagram post, along with the caption "WARNING: Explicit Language – Extreme Ithaca Liberal Post" on his Extreme Ithaca Liberal site.
I have made many less than warm remarks about my Congressman, Tom Reed. Now it is time for me to say something nice about him.
It is hard for me to find just one thing to admire about Tom Reed. I actually can't choose between his bravery and his loyalty. Tom Reed showed true bravery in last year while some of his fellow Republicans were running away from angry constituents who were furious that their Representatives were jeopardizing their lives by trying to kill the Affordable Health Care Act and replace it with a plan that did not guarantee coverage of pre-existing conditions. Witness Colorado Congressman Mike Coffman who snuck out a side door before a community meeting even began January 2017 when he saw that over 150 angry constituents showed up. Or California Congressman Tom McClintock who scurried away from his constituents in February 2017. Only 13 Republicans held Town Halls during June 2017 because the rest were avoiding their constituents, yet Reed held four.
And through it all Tom Reed stood tall at town hall meetings and bravely "agreed to disagree" with those who thought his recklessness would drive them into bankruptcy or prevent them from getting the health care needed for their children. It takes true guts to take a feces fajita and try to palm it off as a filet mignon.
