All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[BeastieRunner]

Even "No Indictment Barr" has said that witness tampering is reason to impeach.

Saying and doing are 2 separate things. I have zero faith in Trump nominees to do the right thing.

[Mister Mets]

So who do you think will primary Pence?

Putin will probably make Rand Paul run, unless he thinks Lindsey Graham has a better chance.

Jeff Flake

Chris Christie

Tulsi Gabbard

Joe Walsh

If Pence is President, he'll probably get some prominent foes in a primary.

Flake doesn't have a shot, and he doesn't have a purpose if anyone else is in the race.

Kasich's got a bit more stature, but doesn't have the best reputation.

Nikki Haley might look into whether the general election is winnable, or sit it out. She's a future top-tier contender.

Romney's independently wealthy, and has a network in place. It would probably be his last shot.

Rand Paul's last bid went terribly, so I don't see him running.

Ted Cruz just narrowly won reelection in Texas, so it's not a good time for him. I could see Rubio running, since he has name recognition and hasn't burned any bridges with anyone in the party.

[Kirby101]

Saying and doing are 2 separate things. I have zero faith in Trump nominees to do the right thing.

He won't do anything but cover for Trump. Fortunately Impeachment will be in the House. But Barr still said this, so he can't cover for Trump.

“Obviously, the President and any other official can commit obstruction in this classic sense of sabotaging a proceeding’s truth-finding function. Thus, for example, if a President knowingly destroys or alters evidence, suborns perjury, or induces a witness to change testimony, or commits any act deliberately impairing the integrity or availability of evidence, then he, like anyone else, commits the crime of obstruction.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Saying and doing are 2 separate things. I have zero faith in Trump nominees to do the right thing.

And even if by some miracle they did, the craven and cowardly Republicans in Congress would literally **** all over the Constitution to protect and enable Trump which has been the party’s mission statement fron the day he took office.

[PaulBullion]

If Pence is President, he'll probably get some prominent foes in a primary.

Flake doesn't have a shot, and he doesn't have a purpose if anyone else is in the race.

Kasich's got a bit more stature, but doesn't have the best reputation.

Nikki Haley might look into whether the general election is winnable, or sit it out. She's a future top-tier contender.

Romney's independently wealthy, and has a network in place. It would probably be his last shot.

Rand Paul's last bid went terribly, so I don't see him running.

Ted Cruz just narrowly won reelection in Texas, so it's not a good time for him. I could see Rubio running, since he has name recognition and hasn't burned any bridges with anyone in the party.

What about Paul Nehlen? He seems to represent the mainstream GOP well.

[Dragolord09]

Tell me, have you guys ever heard of these political and comic book sites before?

The Four Color Media Monitor
Douglas Ernst Blog
Shawn James, Black Freelance Writer
The Colossus of Rhodey
The Original Marvel Universe
The Fantastic Four: The Great American Novel
A conservative blog for peace

[Rob Allen]

Tell me, have you guys ever heard of these political and comic book sites before?

The Four Color Media Monitor
Douglas Ernst Blog
Shawn James, Black Freelance Writer
The Colossus of Rhodey
The Original Marvel Universe
The Fantastic Four: The Great American Novel
A conservative blog for peace

I know the owner of the Fantastic Four one. The others are new to me.

[Tazirai]

Why Was Beto O’Rourke A National Phenomenon While Stacey Abrams Wasn’t?
One candidate emerged from his 2018 loss as a potential 2020 presidential contender, while the other seems poised for another statewide run.


Sony Reportedly Drops R. Kelly As Former Intern Alleges Abuse
A woman who interned with Epic says the singer sexually abused her when she was just 16.

Pence condemns 'offensive' LGBT criticism of his wife's job

[Tazirai]

Elon Musk's Tesla to cut about 3,000 jobs as cars 'too expensive'

Why Some Journalists Have A Hard Time Saying The Word 'Racist'

Reading Rovere's report today, it's striking how unfussy he is about what was clearly under-girding Goldwater's appeal, particularly among the white Southerners. Rovere directly called the Goldwater campaign "a racist movement" and said that Goldwater was playing footsie with "the most brazen of racists." He wrote that the famously impolitic Goldwater — a curmudgeon who enjoyed trolling and antagonizing even his sympathetic audiences — evinced a "reluctance to say anything that would upset the racists" he was relying on to win the White House. If Goldwater was trafficking in winks and nods and innuendo, then it behooved Rovere to make the thing plain.

With Higher Stakes In The Abortion Debate, Activists March On Washington

[Tami]

BuzzFeed’s Cohen Story Suggests Trump Never Wanted to Be President

Donald Trump hungered for applause — the more frequent and louder, the better. He found that campaign rallies were a source of it like none that he had ever savored.

He thrilled to the appearance of his name not just in gold letters on tall buildings but also in newspaper headlines and on television screens. A presidential bid delivered those goods, too.

And he wanted ratings. Always, he wanted ratings. “The Apprentice” was a bygone badge. It was time for a bigger, brasher showcase. Running for president offered precisely that.

There are several profoundly unsettling takeaways from a breathlessly discussed report by BuzzFeed News that Trump continued to push for a Trump Tower in Moscow deep into his 2016 campaign and later instructed his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress about that.

That’s why he didn’t put business matters on hold or disentangle himself from glaring conflicts of interest. That’s why he refused to yoke himself to the sorts of rules that his predecessors had endeavored to follow.

That’s why he indulged in behavior that would come back to haunt him in the White House: He never planned on moving there. He wasn’t supposed to come under this kind of glare or have to lie this much (though lying comes easily to him). If victory had really been the point, he might not have left himself so exposed.

The BuzzFeed News report, published late Thursday, cites two unnamed law enforcement sources, and other news organizations have approached the scoop with varying degrees of caution. If the account holds up, it’s arguably the clearest evidence yet that Trump obstructed justice, recommending perjury in an effort to cloak his interests in Russia as Robert Mueller, the special counsel, investigated that very matter.

[Dragolord09]

I know the owner of the Fantastic Four one. The others are new to me.

All of them are real characters let me tell you. Of course, if you want to discuss any of them in either the politics or comic book boards that's fine with me.

[KOSLOX]

BuzzFeed’s Cohen Story Suggests Trump Never Wanted to Be President

No ****. This thing has come across as "The Producers" since day one.

[numberthirty]

While I just caught a bit of this on the news, it looks like a spokesperson for Mueller's office might have called "Bunk..." on that Buzzfeed piece. Hard to tell to what degree they are doing so.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/18/polit...eed/index.html

Mueller's office disputes BuzzFeed report that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress

Edit: From Ronan Farrow's Twitter account earlier this evening. It's interesting, to say the very least...

- https://twitter.com/RonanFarrow/stat...25618802241536

- https://twitter.com/RonanFarrow/stat...34635003895810

[Tazirai]

I Was Sexually Harassed on Bernie Sanders’s 2016 Campaign. I Will Not Be Weaponized or Dismissed.

LAST WEEK, MY experience, and that of some of my female co-workers, became the focus of a New York Times story on the sexual harassment and sexism that took place in the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign. I told my story to bring attention to the sexist environment that is unfortunately endemic to most workspaces, including political campaigns. However, I was disheartened to discover that the takeaway by many pundits was not that sexism and harassment is pervasive, but that Sanders was somehow uniquely culpable. I was also struck by some of the messages and tweets calling into question the character of the women who spoke out.

As was the case throughout the 2016 campaign season, my personal experiences as a woman of color were sublimated to serve an establishment media narrative that pretends the progressive movement is all white, all male, and runs counter to the interests of women and people of color.

But my story should not be taken to confirm the “Bernie bro” mythology.

It’s not as if the Sanders campaign alone is nursing the last vestiges of sexism and sexual harassment in the political sphere. Both were reportedly features of Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign. During her first run at the White House, Clinton’s campaign chose to retain a senior adviser who reportedly harassed a young woman repeatedly rather than fire him. And just last month, an aide for Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., resigned after it was reported that he settled a sexual harassment lawsuit for $400,000.

[Tazirai]

Sean Hannity: Even if Trump did order Cohen to lie to Congress, it doesn't matter because Democrats are hypocrites
Hannity: Even "if you assume for the moment that even BuzzFeed nailed this story down ... since when [have] Democrats started caring about obstruction"

Laura Ingraham mocks and imitates Rep. Ilhan Omar's accent, claims "she doesn't sound like Minnesota"
Ingraham: "She sounds like Rizzo on Grease, she doesn't sound like Minnesota, that accent" Yep, she's a racist