Two More Stories from Political Pollution

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"The company lit up its HQ, the 48-story Duke Energy Center tower, in the colours of the transgender flag for the International Day of Transgender Visibility last week.  The pink, white, and blue lighting was topped off with a giant pink triangle, which could be seen for miles across Charlotte."

m'eye thoughts:  They should leave this lighting up until NC repeals its right to hate law.

Read more at Pink News

--2--

Widdle Ricky got hims widdle feelings hurted.

"It's inevitable that prominent figures in public life, most notably politicians, are occasionally going to be confronted by critics.  There are, however different ways to handle hecklers...

...(But) since when do political operations tied to elected officials go after regular, private citizens?  Is there any precident at all for a sitting governor's PAC launching an attack ad against a constituent?

For that matter, just as an issue of tactical wisdom, it's hard to see the benefit of playing hardball like this.  Yes, when the governor faced coffee-shop heckling last week, it generated some attention.  But it was a one-day story on its way out--right up until Rick Scott's PAC decided to shine a light on the incident all over again."

Read more at MSNBC

G.O.Pocrisy

Three Stories and a Couple of Smiles from Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts:

A) Over the past 6 years, the Trump Foundation has raised just $75,000 for veterans.

B) During a snit with the media, Trump skipped a debate to hold a fundraiser for vets where he said he raised $6 million.

C) The Wall Street Journal reports that 19 of the 22 veterans organizations on Trump's list of recipients have received a grand total of $2.4 million. 

"As PoliticusUSA first reported in January 2016, the first clue that something wasn't right with the Trump vets fundraiser was that although Trump claimed that 100% of the money raised was going diretly to veterans groups, the money was actually going into Trump's foundation." 

D) SO WHERE'S THE REST OF THE MONEY, DONNYBOY?

Read more at Politicus USA

--2--

Thank you, Mr. Springsteen.

Read more at

BruceSpringsteen-dot-Net

--3--

Thanks to my friend David McCann for this.

--4--

Because sometimes you just need a good laugh.

--5--

Now that they're finally behind bars, suddenly the Bundys are victims.  Yeah, someone held ol' Cliven down and wouldn't let him mail those grazing rights checks for 26 years.  Poor ol' Cliven, and his poor sons who thought they'd got some of that free American land for themselves.  Kinda makes you want to weep for the injustice of it all, doesn't it?

Read more at Raw Story

Does Harry Reid Have a Way Around the GOP's SCOTUS Blockade?

Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada)

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid knows the rules, procedures, and tactics of the Senate like the back of his hand.  I'm convinced he could recite them back to you should you have the time to listen.  And...Senator Reid may have just found a way around the impasse over the nomination of Merrick Garland to the United States Supreme Court.

What does Reid have up his sleeve?  Well, it's known as a "discharge resolution," and it could well pave a road completely around Senate Republicans--including Majority Leader Mitch "Turtle" McConnell...

...A discharge resolution would function in this case as so:  A Democratic senator would make a motion of a resolution to "discharge" Garland's nomination from the Judiciary Committee.  What this means is the the nomination would be moved into an executive session, which completely overrides the 60-vote minimum needed to do so.

eye'm thynkin':  It could backfire by putting the 17 Republican Senators who favor a vote back on the wrong side of the fence; but oh, the fun of watching all those Republican heads explode if Senator Reid pulls this off.

Read more at Liberal America

Today's Political Pollution Posts

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m'eye thoughts:   The Republican Politician's Handbook, 2016 edition - When your popularity at home is taking a hit, it's always good to look for someone else to blame for your untenable position.  

Read more at Talking Point Memo

--2--

Sometimes it must hurt to be Cruz.

Read more at If You Only News

Today's Political Pollution Stories

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m'eye thoughts:  "Department of Environmental?!"

How do I just know that this man hasn't read a book since he finished school? Even the rodent living on his head is embarrassed.

Read more at Occupy Democrats

--2--

Another sex scandal exposed, another sex scandal denied, another sex scandal admitted, another sex scandal plea for forgiveness.

Or, as I call it, just another day in Republican-land.

Read more at Occupy Democrats

--3--

WTF?!  Is this supposed to make me feel better? Why are Republicans even talking about punishing women at all? Can no candidate think beyond Mr. Rich White Trash?  He says something stupid and/or offensive, and they all follow by jumping in with their own ideas on how whatever stupid and/or offensive thing he has said will work when they're in charge.

And, John, your I'm-Not-Really-a-Moderate roots are showing.

Read more at Think Progress

Saturday's Stories from Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts:  The American Democracy Legal Fund, apparently unaware of how super-duper special Mr. Rich White Trash is, has filed a complaint with the Department of Justice Criminal Division.

Read more at Addicting Info

--2--

"Yes, poor Mitch the sad turtle now is dealing with a real problem.  Over 25 percent of Senate Republicans are now prepared to have a hearing and vote on Obama's SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland.  He totally promised that this is the very thing that would not happen on his watch, and now here it comes raining down directly on him.  It's truly beautiful."

I do not feel bad.

Read more at Winning Democrats

--3--

The Maine Unemployment Insurance Commission had a vacancy.  Governor LePage voiced his preference for who he wanted to fill it.  The Labor, Commerce, Research and Economic Development Committee chose someone else.  So the Governor decided to act like the nasty, petty, infantile, spoiled brat he is and canceled the swearing in ceremony for newly-elected state senator, Susan Deschambault (D).  Mitch McConnell must be so-o-o-o-o jealous.

Read more at news.groopspeak

--4--

Oh, and I sent this to Donald (Stubby Fingers) Trump's Twitter account.  Petty and silly, I know; but it kinda made made my day.

Today's Stories from Political Pollution

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Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) says he will be going around speaking with constituents at more than a dozen events in his home state during the Senate's two-week spring recess.

But most of the public will have no idea how to find him, because his office is keeping the details of those events secret to avoid protesters.

my'eye thoughts: And that's how you listen to the voice of the people, Republican style.

Read more at MSNBC

--2--

Is it evil for me to want this whole Cruz-is-a-womanizing-cheating-lying-hypocrite stuff to be true?

Read more at Winning Democrats

Monday Stories from Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts: It's a start!

--2--

Oh grow up!  For days we've heard nothing but childish my-mommy-is-prettier-than-your-mommy taunts.  The two leading Republican candidates have the emotional maturity of 9-year-olds!  Where is the substance?  Where are the issues?  I want to know more than "It will be great,OK?" and "I love Jesus."

The world is watching.  We're supposed to be the leader of the free world.  We gained that position by earning the respect of our allies and our enemies alike, and now these two clowns are turning us into a global joke.

Read more at Raw Story

--3--

Nathan Deal, a Democrat until 1995 when he switched and joined the GOP.

Guess there's still a little Democrat left in him.

Read more at Raw Story

Today's Stories from my Political Pollution Facebook Page

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m'eye thoughts:  Alabama needs a new slogan.  I suggest "In Spite We Trust."

Read more at

The New Civil Rights Movement

--2--

Chris Wallace: "A final question, just to make it clear--you are saying no consideration of Judge Garland by this Congress even if Hillary Clinton wins the election?"

Mitch McConnell:  "Yeah, I cannot imagine that a Republican majority in the United States Senate would want to confirm in a lame duck session a nominee opposed by the National Rifle Association..."

Well, thanks for clearing up any lingering doubt about how deeply the GOP has sunk into the NRA's pocket.  But, here's a thought Mitch: Why not put the President's nominee up for a vote anyway and let the country see if your NRA-bought-and-paid-for imagination is as good as you think it is?  #DoYourJob

Read more at Occupy Democrats

#DoYourJob

Don't forget to send ol' Turtle Face a message at:

https://www.mcconnell.senate.gov/public/?p=ContactForm

Judge Says "No" to Cliven Bundy (Again)

   Cliven Bundy outside his Nevada ranch last year.
                                                         (George Frey/Getty Images)

A federal judge in Nevada refused rancher Cliven Bundy's latest request on Thursday to be freed from jail ahead of his trial on conspiracy and other felony charges for his role in a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents, a spokeswoman for prosecutors said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Carl Hoffman Jr. ruled at a hearing in Las Vegas that Bundy, 69, posed a danger to the public if released...

...After the feds walked away from the Nevada standoff that started all this in 2014, Bundy obviously assumed that his right wing privilege would continue to protect. him.  "Right Wing Privilege," if you don't already know, is the ability to break the law in ways that would normally provoke an immediate and extremely violent reaction from the authorities if anyone BUT a right winger were to do it.  For instance, if Occupy Wall Street had said they would shoot any cops that tried to arrest them, the police would have rolled a tank through Zucotti Park, guns a blazin'.  If a black person had been photographed training a sniper rifle on a federal agent, his life would be measured in minutes.  But as long as it's an angry right winger nut job, it'll take a few years, if ever (that sniper guy is still on the loose) to arrest them.

Cliven Bundy is quite aware that he will spend the rest of his until-now privileged life in jail.

eye'm thynkin':  This put a smile on my face today.  

I'm saving my full-on happy dance for the day I read that the federal government has confiscated Mr. Bundy's cattle and reclaimed my land.

Read more at Addicting Info

And from Fox...

...we hear that President Obama is sacrificing Judge Garland's career "simply for his own political benefit."  "It's exactly why people hate President Obama."

I assume when Ms. McCain made this comment she was referring to the potential for backlash against Merrick Garland from Republican voters, an opinion that completely ignores the fact that, if Senate Republicans would #DoYourJob, the president's nominee would be vetted and voted on and the entire manufactured Supreme Court crisis would be eliminated.

And that's why the American people hate Congress. 

A Story from My Facebook Political Pollution Page

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m'eye thoughts:  Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch of anarchists.

Read more at Gawker

Two Stories I Originally Posted at Political Pollution

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m'eye thoughts: This post includes a video of last weekend's entire Democratic debate. 

Maybe a Republican or two or three should watch and learn how it's done. Honestly, the only choice Republican voters have right now is which of their candidates hates "them" the most.

Read more at Addicting Info

--2--

Ms. Schlussel may claim to have admired Nancy Reagan's class and style, but she sure didn't learn anything from it.  Instead of respecting Mrs. Reagan's memory, she chose to submerge it in the cesspool of her own blind hate.  What a disgusting excuse for a human being.

Read more at Addicting Info

A Few Stories I Posted at Political Pollution Last Night

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m'eye thoughts:  "Imagine if you will that you are one of the dullards who frequents Donald Trump rallies.  Imagine that Donald /trump's rhetoric is actually exciting enough for you to become energized when he hits the stage. Now imagine that because you are of the low-information variety American voter, your favorite part of the show is the racism."

Read more at Addicting Info

--2--

Another Bundy boy, as well as the "base camp commander" at the 2014 Bundy ranch stand-off, and two snipers from the 2014 stand-off have been arrested.  It may have taken awhile, but it looks like the FBI intends to be thorough.

Read more at Daily Kos

--3--

Look!  An actual living, breathing conservative politician who has read the Bible and understood it!

"We do not have a belief--in my way of looking at religion--that says we have to discriminate against anybody.  If you were to apply those standards to the teaching of Jesus, I don't think they fit."

Read more at Raw Story

Al Franken: If Last-Year Presidents Can't Nominate, Maybe Last-Year Senators Shouldn't Vote on Bills or Head Committees

                                                                   YouTube screenshot

"The Constitution does not set a time limit on the President's ability to fulfill this duty.  Nor, by my reading, does the Constitution set a date after which the President is no longer able to fulfill his duties as Commander in Chief, or to exercise his authority to, say,  grant pardons or make treaties.  It merely states that the President shall hold office for a term of four years.  And by my count, there are in the neighborhood of 11 months left."

"If we were to truly subscribe to the Majority Leader's logic and extend it to the legislative branch, it would yield an absurd result.  Senators would become ineffective in the last year of their term.  The 28 senators who are now in the midst of their reelection campaigns and the 6 senators who are stepping down should be precluded from casting votes in committee or on the Senate floor."

"Ten committee chairs and 19 subcommittee chairs should pass the gavel to a colleague who is not currently running for reelection or preparing for retirement.  Bill introduction, and indeed the co-sponsorship of bills, should be limited to those senators who are not yet serving in the sixth year of their terms.  If the Majority Leader sincerely believes that the only way to ensure that the voice of the American people is heard is to lop off the last year of an elected official's term, I trust he will make these changes."

eye'm thynkin':  Senator Al Franken exposes the absurdity of the GOP and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's decision to deny President Obama his right to name a replacement for the late Justice Scalia to the the Supreme Court.  

Read more at Bipartisan Report (video)

Congressional Republicans: #DoYourJob

Three More Stories That Caught My Interest Today

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m'eye thoughts:  Just when you thought it was impossible for Republicans to be any more nasty and anti-woman, along comes the Illinois GOP dominated legislature to create a bill that would deny birth certificates to babies born to single mothers.

And, in typical Republican fashion, it's all about money.  Either name the father, so we can check if he can provide child support; or name another family member, who will provide support. Either way, the state is off the hook.  If the mother doesn't provide a name,, the state will not issue a birth certificate.  No birth certificate means no state aide.

It's a classic Catch-22 with the state coming out on top.  They want single mothers to prove they don't need aide, but if they prove they do, the state has given itself a way to deny it anyway.

Read more at Bipartisan Report

--2--

Well, wouldn't this put Mitch McConnell's Underoos in a twist?

Read more at MSNBC

--3--

Rep. Chris Collins, a mainstream Republican from Clarence, (New York) on Wednesday became the first sitting member of Congress to endorse bombastic billionaire Donald Trump for president.

"Donald Trump has clearly demonstrated that he has both the guts and the fortitude to return our nation's job's stolen by China..."

Trump's own line of clothing is MADE IN CHINA, you dolt!

This is an example of the type of Republican so desperate to cling to power that he would sacrifice the country to make it happen.

Read more at MSNBC

Senator Charles Grassley's Constituents Tell Him 'Do Your Job'

Senator Charles Grassley in Tipton, Iowa and February 17, 2016

Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) spent some time in his home state last week campaigning for his seventh term in the U.S. Senate.

Not surprisingly, his opinion in favor of leaving Justice Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court open until after the November election was questioned by some of the people at his events. Their comments did not sound like a ringing endorsement for Mr. Grassley or the rest of the GOP in Washington. 

Deborah VanderGaast:

"I think all of us can agree that we are so tired of the partisan politics, and this whole  thing with the Supreme Court nomination is partisan politics... If he makes a good nomination, then let's do the hearings and do it.  If it's a bad nomination fine--that's fair.  But doing it based on the fact that a Democratic president is making a nomination and we're hoping that we can get a Republican president in, so they can do a nomination, so that our party can maintain or control the balance in the Supreme Court, is not representing us.  It's representing your party.  And yes, I know the Democrats have done it in the past, and like I'll tell the 5-year-olds in my care, just because he did it first doesn't make it right."

what eye thynk:  It's "not representing us.  It's representing your party."  I have been arguing this phenomenon ever since I started this blog.  The Republican Party loves to say "the people have spoken" and to claim they are "the voice of the people," but when "the people" demonstrate support for an issue that is at odds with Republican Party mantra--any type of gun legislation for example--the Party chooses mantra over people every time.

Senator Grassley chairs the Senate's Judiciary Committee.  When Larry Hogden asked if Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could keep the nomination out of committee, Mr. Grassley admitted that no, he probably couldn't do that.  His committee could consider President Obama's nomination without McConnell's consent. 

Larry Hogden:

"That means that you have got even more power to control how this works out.  And I would hope that you would consider working with President Obama."

Mr. Grassley is 82 years old.  I'm surprised that opinion didn't kill the man.  

One final Republican constituent comment, and maybe my favorite--

Douglas Klein:

"I was wondering if you could enumerate which of the powers of the presidency the Constitution suspends during his final year in office."

If Senator Grassley was expecting wholehearted support for his no-Supreme-Court-appointment-under-this-president sentiment, he was sorely mistaken.

These comments shed a little sunshine on the shadow that has darkened the Republican Party ever since the country elected a black man to lead us.  It's not much, but looking at the Republican presidential primary race, I'll take what I can get, where I can find it.