June 24, 2016

Texas secessionists inspired by Brexit: ‘If Trump fails #Texit seems to be our best remedy’

Thousands of social media users are jumping on board with a Brexit-style secession for Texas — which Twitter users are calling “Texit.”

The Texas Nationalist Movement has been trying to piggyback on Britain’s vote for leaving the European Union for several weeks, arguing the two movements are basically the same, reported Vocativ. “The vast majority of the laws, rules and regulations that affect the people of Texas are created by the political class or unelected bureaucrats in Washington,” said Daniel Miller, president of the TNM.

The Texas secession movement is nothing new, of course, but the “Texit” catchphrase exploded in use Friday, after Britain narrowly voted to break away from the EU.

Vocativ found more than 5,800 people tweeted the phrase — a five-fold increase from the day before — and 1,745 people tweeted about it between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. London time, when the results were announced.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/06/texas-secessionists-inspired-by-brexit-if-trump-fails-texit-seems-to-be-our-best-remedy/

June 24, 2016

American Conservatives Take A Victory Lap After Brexit Vote

The U.K. voted on Thursday to leave the European Union, favoring a campaign driven by a groundswell of nationalist, anti-immigrant sentiments that don't look so different from those powering Donald Trump's campaign.

While the vote sparked a global economic panic and drove Prime Minister David Cameron to announce he would step down, it was cause for major celebration among some American conservatives.

Here are just a few of their responses:


National Review editor Rich Lowry

Rich Lowry ✔
@RichLowry

I love the smell of #Brexit in the morning
12:02 AM - 24 Jun 2016

210 210 Retweets 438 438 likes

RedState founder Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson ✔
@EWErickson

How dare a sovereign nation decide to be a sovereign nation.
12:29 AM - 24 Jun 2016

630 630 Retweets 988 988 likes

-snip-

Heritage Foundation president Jim DeMint

Jim DeMint ✔
@JimDeMint

#Brexit will be cause to celebrate on both sides of the Atlantic since it rebuilds Britain as a true global power.

9:38 PM - 23 Jun 2016
231 231 Retweets 294 294 likes

more
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/american-conservatives-brexit-victory-lap

June 24, 2016

Exclusive: Trump Would Support Israeli Annexation of Parts of West Bank, Says Adviser

Source: Haaretz

In interview with Haaretz, David Friedman, candidate’s co-adviser on Israeli affairs, says Trump doesn't believe Palestinian state is 'an American imperative.' He's also not concerned over possibility of binational state: 'Nobody really knows how many Palestinians live there.'

If elected U.S. president in November, Donald Trump would support Israel’s annexing parts of the West Bank, a senior official in the Trump campaign told Haaretz in an interview this week.

Trump is not worried about the possibility of a binational state, said David Friedman, the candidate’s adviser on Israel. “Nobody really knows how many Palestinians live there,” he said.

As president, Trump would be unlikely to adopt the policies of President Barack Obama and his predecessor, George W. Bush, that a Palestinian state is a U.S. security interest, the adviser said. A 57-year-old lawyer specializing in real estate and bankruptcies, Friedman has worked with Trump as an attorney for 15 years.

A few months ago during the election campaign, Trump announced that Friedman, along with Trump Industries legal adviser Jason Greenblatt, would both serve as his advisers on Israeli affairs. The telephone interview on Tuesday evening took place as polls showed Trump sliding and his campaign seemed racked by crisis. Friedman predicted that despite criticism of Trump’s reaction to the Orlando attack, once the dust settled, his public support would grow.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.726779

June 24, 2016

FBI investigators say they have found no evidence that Orlando shooter had gay lovers

Source: Los Angeles Times

Since the shooting at an Orlando nightclub last week that left 49 people dead, reports have emerged that gunman Omar Mateen frequented the gay club, used gay dating apps and had gay lovers.

-snip-

On Tuesday, Univision aired a report in which “Miguel,” a man wearing a disguise to conceal his identity, alleged he had sex with Mateen after meeting him on the gay dating app, Grindr. He said Mateen had sex with other men too, including a threesome with a Puerto Rican who allegedly told Mateen, after having had unprotected sex with him, that he was HIV positive.

But investigators do not consider the man’s account credible, according to one senior law enforcement official with access to the investigation.

In seeking to verify the reports, federal agents have culled Mateen's electronic devices, including a laptop computer and cellphone, as well as electronic communications of those who made the claims, law enforcement officials said.

So far, they have found no photographs, no text messages, no smartphone apps, no gay pornography and no cell-tower location data to suggest that Mateen — who was twice married to women and had a young son — conducted a secret gay life, the officials said.

-snip-


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-orlando-gay-fbi-20160623-snap-story.html

June 23, 2016

Donald Trump Doesn't Remember Saying He Has the "Best" Memory

Donald Trump Doesn't Remember Saying He Has the "Best" Memory

Really.

MOTHER JONES WASHINGTON BUREAU JUN. 23, 2016 5:30 PM

It's as if Monty Python is now scripting the Donald Trump campaign:

Benjy Sarlin Verified account

?@BenjySarlin

In which Trump is asked in deposition about his boast to @KatyTurNBC that he has the "world's greatest memory"

[image][/image]

###

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/donald-trump-not-remember-best-memory

June 23, 2016

McConnell quashes Senate effort on guns

Source: The Hill

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday cut the legs out from a bipartisan effort to keep suspected terrorists from buying guns.

In doing so, McConnell, a master of the Senate’s arcane rules, provided cover for vulnerable Republicans who wanted to be seen as supporting the effort, but did not want to cross the National Rifle Association.

“The scenario that Sen. McConnell set up was textbook McConnell,” said Brian Darling, a former Senate Republican aide.

McConnell had promised a vote this week to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on her bipartisan measure barring people on two key terrorist watch lists from buying guns or explosives. But what he scheduled was not what she had in mind.

-snip-

Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/284711-mcconnell-quashes-senate-effort-on-guns

June 23, 2016

Bipartisan gun measure survives test vote

Source: The Hill

A compromise bill to block suspected terrorists from buying guns overcame a test vote Thursday.

Senators voted 46-52 against tabling the bipartisan proposal spearheaded by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). Tabling the proposal would have cast it aside.

“Let's not miss this opportunity to get something done,” Collins said from the Senate floor ahead of the vote. “This is common sense. It does not threaten to harm the Second Amendment rights of Americans.”

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/284662-bipartisan-gun-measure-survives-test-vote

June 23, 2016

Everyone calm down: The “no fly, no buy” bill was designed to embarrass Republicans, not to pass...

Everyone calm down: The “no fly, no buy” bill was designed to embarrass Republicans, not to pass — and it’s working

We must remember the "no fly, no buy" bill was written purely to maximize political damage to the GOP

AMANDA MARCOTTE

Wednesday night, the House Democrats, building on Sen. Chris Murphy’s headline-grabbing filibuster to force a Senate vote on gun control, held a highly dramatic sit-in, demanding the same thing in the House.

Led by Rep. John Lewis, whose history as a civil rights activist added moral weight to the event, the sit-in was a smashing bit of political theater. It threw a wrench into the Republican do-nothing strategy that, until now, had been employed to great effect after each mass shooting. It made it way more likely that gun control remains a major issue throughout the election season.

And, in a sign of the state of political discourse in the year 2016, it caused a wave of “uh, actually” reactions from liberal journalists.

At issue was a bill deemed the “no fly, no buy” bill. (There was also a bill, that barely got mention, expanding background checks.) This bill would ban anyone whose name is on the no-fly list from buying a gun. Many liberal journalists, most notably Alex Pareene at Gawker, protested because the no-fly list is already a terrible violation of civil liberties.

more
http://www.salon.com/2016/06/23/everyone_calm_down_the_no_fly_no_buy_bill_was_designed_to_embarrass_republicans_not_to_pass_and_its_working/

June 23, 2016

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): I'd Arrest Dems Who Held Sit-In On House Floor

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said Thursday that if it was up to him, the Democratic lawmakers who held a day-long sit-in on the House floor to push votes for gun control measures would be forcibly removed—and even arrested.

“The business of the House is more important than the antics that we see going on there, and if it were my chamber, it would be cleared and people would be arrested, if that's what's necessary to get us back to the task at hand,” the North Carolina lawmaker said on the Senate floor. The protest, which prompted House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to begin the body’s scheduled recess early, came to an end Thursday afternoon after 25 hours.

“Why people would use the pulpit of the House floor of the House chamber to advance their political agenda, to advance their fund-raising—go out to their political web sites and see how many of them have sent out an e-mail over the past week exploiting a political tragedy for their political purposes?” Tillis charged, shortly before the sit-in ended. “I think it is disgusting.”

The Republican senator said that the focus on tightening access to firearms was misguided and that Congress instead needed to focus on eradicating the threat of terrorist attacks.

-snip-

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/thom-tillis-arrest-house-democrats-sit-in

June 23, 2016

Clinton: SCOTUS Ruling On Obama Immigration Actions 'Unacceptable'

Source: Talking Points Memo

-snip-

Clinton called the Supreme Court's ruling "purely procedural" and railed against Senate Republicans for refusing to confirm Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court.

"Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is purely procedural and casts no doubt on the fact that DAPA and DACA are entirely within the President's legal authority," she said. "But in addition to throwing millions of families across our country into a state of uncertainty, this decision reminds us how much damage Senate Republicans are doing by refusing to consider President Obama’s nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Our families and our country need and deserve a full bench, and Senate Republicans need to stop playing political games with our democracy and give Judge Merrick Garland a fair hearing and vote."

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee also railed against Donald Trump's views on immigration.

"This decision is also a stark reminder of the harm Donald Trump would do to our families, our communities, and our country. Trump has pledged to repeal President Obama’s executive actions on his first day in office. He has called Mexican immigrants 'rapists' and 'murderers.' He has called for creating a deportation force” to tear 11 million people away from their families and their homes," Clinton said.

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/clinton-scotus-obama-immigration