August 30, 2015

Alabama Confederate ‘flagger’ is ‘shocked’ when nobody shows up for her secession rally

A 5-hour secession rally at the Alabama Capitol building in Montgomery was called off after two hours on Saturday when only about 30 people showed up – far short of the 300 expected by the rally organizers, reports the Montgomery Advertiser.

“This is really shocking me that these people aren’t here,” said puzzled event organizer Freda Mincey-Burton.

The event, which had been promoted on the Alabama Flaggers Facebook page, was intended as a call to arms for Alabama citizens who are “tired of being walked on.”

“We are rallying for the secession from the United States of America. Brings [sic] your flags, bring your secession flags, bring your secession signs,” the Facebook post encouraged supporters, with over 300 promising to attend.

The reality was something else entirely with approximately 30 attendees showing up, including the event organizers who had moved the rally to Saturday from Friday in the hopes of attracting a larger crowd.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/alabama-confederate-flagger-is-shocked-when-nobody-shows-up-for-her-secession-rally/

August 30, 2015

Christie: Clinton Is 'A Disgrace' For Comparing GOPers To Terrorist Groups

Source: TPM

Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Sunday called Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton "a disgrace" for comments she made about Republicans Thursday.

Clinton compared Republicans to terrorist groups when it comes to women's rights during a campaign stop.

"Extreme views about women? We expect that from some of the terrorist groups. We expect that from people who don’t want to live in the modern world," Clinton said. "But it’s a little hard to take coming from Republicans who want to be the president of the United States."

Christie responded to her comments on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace. "Well, there's a uniter, isn't it? Comparing Republicans to terrorist groups. There's a real uniter. That's the woman you want sitting in the Oval Office to bring our country back together," Christie told Wallace. "That's a disgrace, and she's a disgrace. She's a disgrace for saying that, for comparing Republicans to terrorist groups. Don't let her go on that, Chris. That's awful."

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/chris-christie-hillary-clinton-terrorist-groups

August 30, 2015

Donald Trump: As president I will give more power to cops to ‘get rid of gangs’

Source: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES
30 AUG 2015 AT 09:41 ET

Trump Pledges To ‘Get Rid’ Of Gangs

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump Saturday pledged to give greater power to police officers to "get rid" of gangs. He also promised an announcement on whether he will run as an independent candidate will be made "very soon."

Speaking to the National Federation of Republican Assemblies, Trump said getting rid of gang members in cities like Baltimore and Chicago would be one of the first things he would do as president. "We’re going to get rid of those gang members so fast your head will spin," he told the audience.

Trump has previously received attention for some of his statements on crime. The Trump campaign's official position is that Mexico is "taking advantage of the United States by using illegal immigration to export the crime and poverty" from their Mexico to the United States. Trump has also said he would ask Mexico to pay for a wall on the southern U.S. border.

After the event, Trump told the press he would be making a decision soon on whether to run as an independent. The Washington Post reported Trump has to pledge by Sept. 30 not to run as an independent if he wants to appear on the South Carolina primary ballot. Local GOP rules state candidates have to sign a pledge they "intend to support the nominees and platform of the Republican Party in the Nov. 8, 2016, general election."





Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/donald-trump-as-president-i-will-give-more-power-to-cops-to-get-rid-of-gangs/

August 29, 2015

Ted Cruz instructs thousands of pastors to violate federal law by reading Sunday sermon he wrote

Ted Cruz instructs thousands of pastors to violate federal law by reading Sunday sermon he wrote

Aruggling to get some traction in a GOP primary season dominated by the upstart candidacy of Donald Trump, the campaign of Texas Senator Ted Cruz has distributed a sermon for preachers to use on Sunday urging the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

According to Ring of Fire, the Cruz sermon was sent to thousands of pastors urging them to read it during Sunday’s services despite the fact that it against the law for churches to engage in political speech.

Calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, Cruz writes, “When an individual or a nation stiff arms the character of God and embraces an abomination as the law of the land, it ends in disaster. When rebellious people disregard the compass of the most powerful, it is a very short step to dismembering the bodies of the most vulnerable. Like other nations, America has taken that step. It is time for a turnaround.”

The accusations of “dismembering” fetuses are related to the recent Planned Parenthood “sting” videos that have been debunked by both outside investigators and states that have reviewed their procedures.

Like the rest of the GOP field, Cruz wants to end government grants to the health clinics but he is the first to take his case directly inside the churches while promoting his candidacy at the same time which is illegal and can put the churches’ non-profit status at risk.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/ted-cruz-instructs-thousands-of-pastors-to-violate-federal-law-by-reading-sunday-sermon-he-wrote/

August 29, 2015

White House slams Cruz-Trump event as a 'big pro-war rally'

The White House on Friday blasted Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for planning a protest against the Iran deal on Capitol Hill, labeling it a “pro-war rally.”

“Senator Cruz and Donald Trump have announced they are going to hold a big pro-war rally on the steps of the United States Capitol,” press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.


The phrase is a familiar one for Earnest, who also used it to dismiss an anti-Iran deal event organized by Cruz in July.

The spokesman noted former Vice President Dick Cheney’s plan to slam the Iran deal in a speech next week.

“The same people making the same arguments against the Iran deal were the people who advocated for us getting into the war in Iraq in 2002 and 2003,” Earnest said. “The fault lines of this debate should be familiar to anybody who has been covering American politics for the past 12 or 13 years.”

Supporters and opponents of the Iran deal are ramping up lobbying efforts to sway lawmakers and the public ahead of a key congressional vote in mid-September.

more
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/252207-white-house-slams-cruz-trump-event-as-a-big-pro-war-rally

August 29, 2015

KENTUCKY: Trans Man Outs Himself As Having Been Granted Marriage License By Office Of County Clerk..

KENTUCKY: Trans Man Outs Himself As Having Been Granted Marriage License By Office Of County Clerk Kim Davis



LGBT activists and allies are once again outside the Rowan County courthouse this morning where local trans man Camryn Colen (third from left in photo) just outed himself to the press as having been issued a marriage license by the office of anti-LGBT county clerk Kim Davis. JMG reader Tom Morgan is on the scene and he tells us that while another county staffer was issuing the license, “Kim was right there answering questions and it was Kim that told Camryn that she didn’t need to see his birth certificate that BTW is… FEMALE!!” The license was issued in late February 2015. Left to right in the photo: Levi Wade, Tom Morgan, Camryn Colen, Lexi Colen. Mrs. Colen identifies as pansexual.

-snip-

UPDATE: Here’s the report from the Lexington Courier-Journal.

Camryn Colen, who is transgender, and his wife Alexis, who identifies as pan sexual, said Davis’ office provided the paperwork Feb. 26 without asking to see Camryn’s birth certificate, which still identifies him as female. “She saw just a straight couple in love, and she should see everybody like that,” Camryn said. “She shouldn’t just see straight couples like that.” The couple’s story was first reported by the Daily Independent in Ashland and The Trail Blazer, the student newspaper at Morehead State University. The Colens said they have wanted to step forward since Davis began refusing licenses for all couples in June, but were concerned about the safety of their 6-month old daughter. Camryn, 30, and Alexis, 21, have been together for two years. They moved to Morehead about a year ago and have tried to remain under the radar, Camryn said. But fighting for an equal world for his daughter is more important, he added. “Stuff has just escalated and gotten ridiculous, and we decided that we were going to come forward with it,” Alexis said. Camryn, an Iraq War veteran, said he decided to transition in 2010. Since stepping forward, the couple said they have received “massive” support from the community.

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http://www.joemygod.com/2015/08/29/kentucky-trans-man-outs-himself-as-having-been-granted-marriage-license-by-office-of-county-clerk-kim-davis/

August 29, 2015

Chris Christie: As president I would hire FedEx CEO to teach us how to track immigrants like package

Source: RawStory

Chris Christie: As president I would hire FedEx CEO to teach us how to track immigrants like packages

Appearing at a townhall in Laconia, New Hampshire, GOP presidential contender Chris Christie attempted to set his campaign apart from the pack with a unique suggestion for dealing with immigrants: get Federal Express to teach the government how to track them like they do with packages.

-snip-

When talk to turned to a favorite Republican hot button issue — undocumented immigrants — Christie tossed out the idea of enlisting FEDEX CEO Fred Smith to teach ICE how to track them. “Christie says, if elected, he’ll tap FedEx’s Fred Smith for a 3-month gig to teach how to track immigrants w same efficiency as packages, ” tweeted Elliott during Christie’s talk.

Claude Brodessser — a politics writer for the Star-Ledger — confirmed Christie’s comments while noting that Smith’s daughter works for the Christie campaign. Brodesser tweeted: “@GovChristie says he’d hire FedEx founder Fred Smith to track visa holders as immigration fix. Christie spox is Smith’s daughter, Samantha.”

Elliott’s tweet drew the attention of Lis Smith, a spokesperson for Democrat Martin O’Malley’s campaign, who tweeted: “Wow. Taking dehumanizing language to new lows.”

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/08/chris-christie-as-president-i-would-hire-fedex-ceo-to-teach-us-how-to-track-immigrants-like-packages/

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August 29, 2015

It can definitely happen here: Trump’s proto-fascist vision of America and Europe’s wrenching...

It can definitely happen here: Trump’s proto-fascist vision of America and Europe’s wrenching migrant crisis

Trump's Jorge Ramos comedy was darker than it looked -- and Europe's deepening crisis is closer than we think

ANDREW O'HEHIR

Two seemingly unrelated incidents this week, thousands of miles apart, showed us different aspects of a moral and political crisis that has paralyzed and divided the Western world. A charismatic TV personality got kicked out of a press conference and, halfway around the world, a gruesome discovery was made inside an abandoned poultry truck. One event played out as comedy while the other was a tragedy that mortified an entire continent, but the threads of meaning connecting them are stronger than they appear.

In the week’s single most Trumpian event – a high standard these days – Donald Trump ordered Jorge Ramos, the most prominent Spanish-language news anchor in the United States, ejected from an Iowa press conference, mockingly telling him, “Go back to Univision.” Nothing about Trump’s contemptuous and condescending manner was especially surprising or unusual, and anybody who still thinks those kinds of outbursts are likely to puncture the great gaseous blimp of his campaign has not been paying attention. If anything, Trump’s confrontation with Ramos, and the mainstream media’s horrified reaction, was likely to push his poll numbers still higher.

What happened outside the press conference was perhaps more instructive. You’ve probably seen this video clip, which went viral almost immediately, but it bears a little unpacking. A middle-aged man wearing a blazer adorned with a Trump button approaches Ramos, at first admonishing him for rudeness and then stepping up to incoherent and unprompted anger. Following Trump’s phrasing to its logical conclusion, the man twice tells Ramos, “Get out of my country.” With the affect of someone struggling to awaken from a puzzling dream, the silver-haired host of the daily news broadcast “Noticiero Univision” and the weekly English-language program “America with Jorge Ramos” quietly responds that he’s a United States citizen.

This appears to be puzzling information, or inadmissible evidence. “Well, whatever,” says Angry Blazer Man, perhaps realizing a split-second too late that his moment of patriotic glory has devolved into looking like an ignorant racist ass on everybody’s Facebook page. He concludes by waving his hands in front of him, in a sort of swimming-crab gesture of all-purpose denial: “No. Univision – no.” What I discerned in that moment was a confusion, and a rejection of reality, that is widely shared among the Trump demographic and can easily be found, expressed in the ugliest possible terms, in every comments section of every news article about the Trump-Ramos contretemps.

more
http://www.salon.com/2015/08/29/it_can_definitely_happen_here_trumps_proto_fascist_vision_of_america_and_europes_wrenching_migrant_crisis/

August 29, 2015

Hillary Clinton Really Is Coming For Your Guns

Jackie Kucinich

Some politicians talk about gun control once in a while. Clinton has been pushing to curb firearms for decades. No wonder the NRA has vowed to bring her down.

“Something is deeply wrong,” Hillary Clinton told the audience at the Democratic National Committee on Friday. Earlier in the week, a gunman killed two journalists in Roanoke, Virginia, on live television, just days before an unstable person with a gun murdered a highway state trooper in Louisiana. It all points to a national sickness, an impotence when it comes to curbing the spread of firearms to dangerous individuals, Clinton said. “I believe we can have common sense gun reform that keeps weapons out of the hands that should not have them—domestic abusers, the violently unstable—while respecting the rights of responsible gun owners.”

Hillary Clinton has long pushed to regulate access to guns. In her Friday speech, she pledged her presidency would be no different. “Now I know the politics are hard. I know that some would rather throw up their hands and give up the fight, but not me. I’m not going to sit by while more good people die across America,” she said.

Of course, it’s easy for candidates for president—especially Democratic candidates for president—to say they’re going to do something on guns. Actually accomplishing anything is much harder—like Labor-of-Hercules difficult. After the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting that killed 20 elementary school students and six of their teachers, President Obama made a massive push for relatively modest gun regulation. He got nothing.

But for Clinton, gun control has been a significant part of her political identity. She’s been working to regulate the firearms industry for decades, and had a front row seat the last time a president actually managed to pass any gun-control measure.

In other words: other candidates may say they’re coming for unregulated guns. Clinton really is.

more
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/08/29/hillary-clinton-really-is-coming-for-your-guns.html

August 29, 2015

Church Says Trump Not an Active Member

Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he attends a church in Manhattan, but the church released a statement to CNN saying the real estate developer is not an “active member.”

Trump told reporters he attends church “as often as I can, a lot” and attends different churches since he travels so much.

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http://politicalwire.com/2015/08/29/church-says-trump-not-an-active-member/