All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[TheInvisibleMan]

does the orange idiot also know that the President can't just authorize wiretaps?

[Tami]

The White House Now Has Three Options on Russia

Russia is back in the news, and the White House has three options

Well, that didn't take long. Twenty-four hours after President Trump's address to Congress, the Russia story roared back into the news last night in the form of three different stories, two of which involve Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

One, he agrees to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee to clean up what he said during his confirmation hearing, and to answer any and all questions about Russia. Two, Sessions bites the bullet and appoints a special prosecutor — to save himself from a committee grilling and delay the resignation calls. Or three, he digs in. But if Team Trump choose Door No. 2 and the special prosecutor, it needs to do so ASAP. Why? Because if the administration is truly clean here, it gives them time and space to be vindicated.

[jeanvaljean]

does the orange idiot also know that the President can't just authorize wiretaps?

Well, he goes by what he would do:

Sources: Donald Trump Listened In On Phone Lines At Mar-A-Lago

Trump had a phone console near his bed that could connect to every phone in the estate.
Several workers said Trump used the equipment to secretly listen in on phone calls in the mid-2000s.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/aramroston/...G3#.noo4g1JJqm

They're denying it, but we have seen how quickly Team Trump's denials fall apart under scrutiny.

[jeanvaljean]

More questions arising concerning special snow flake Sebastian Gorka.
Evidently, he doesn't have the security clearance he'd need to handle the kind of information Trump has him analyze.

[Malvolio]

does the orange idiot also know that the President can't just authorize wiretaps?

He does now. Or at least, he should.

[Kirby101]

Remember when people were trying to convince us that Trump was a fiscal conservative but a social liberal. How's that turning out?

[Tami]

Trump had convinced himself that being President = being god. Like Putin, he thought he could just waltz in and do whatever he wants.

He's going to find out soon just how very wrong he is, if he doesn't already know.

[Shining Trapezohedron]

‘You live in Trump country now!’: Drunk Trump supporter arrested for attacking gay couple

Among other things, Davis started yelling anti-gay slurs at the couple and informed them that they “live in Trump country now.” The two men threatened to call the police on Davis, who yelled back that he would “cut you up” if they did so.

At one point, Davis’s scooter hit the back of Seymour’s bicycle, throwing him to the ground.

The couple went to a nearby scooter rental agency, where they were successfully able to identify and track down Davis as their assailant. He was arrested by North Carolina police this week on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon with evidence of prejudice.

http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/you-...ng-gay-couple/

[Iron Maiden]

This is such a tired meme. Maher is a comedian, not a Liberal Icon, and Harris has little sway for Democrats or progressives. So, more bullshit.

Islamophobia does not have it's roots in the left, period, end of story, bye bye.

I watch Maher every week and though I don't agree with everything he says I think Maher is the attack dog we need against your more benign Trump surrogates like Jeffrey Lord ( see Handsome post) and Bill o'Reilly, who's also appeared a number of times.
I do think he was unprepared for Milo and had admitted he didn't know much about him when he had him on the show. But he did introduce the guy by saying "I think you’re colossally wrong on a number of things. But if I banned everyone from my show who I thought was colossally wrong, I would be talking to myself.” He's always had controversial guests on his show, Anne Coulter being one of the more frequent ones in the old days. She's not been on as much lately. But the conversation is no holds barred and I respect that. Maher is an atheist and pretty much bashes all religions.

I give props to any conservative who appears on his show and is willing to engage in discussions about the issue. In spite of what the cited article says, Maher also had a number of moderate Muslims on his show. And I do agree that there are some ugly truths associated with Islam when practiced in certain countries. In some countries, they've indoctrinated women to accept the fact that they must go out in public not with just the head covered but every thing except the eyes so that they won't incite lust in men. Would you call that normal in this day and age? This is the part that does draw some fire on his show...that he talks about these parts of Islam that persists in many countries. These are the kind of things that should have been left behind in the Middle Ages. Like beheading heretics or hanging gay people from telephone poles. Look that one up on the internet.

Here is a link to a letter in a Pakistani newspaper by a female author and she's referring to the time when Ben Affleck and Maher sparred over his views on Islam.

Noble liberals like yourself always stand up for the misrepresented Muslims and stand against the Islamophobes, which is great but who stands in my corner and for the others who feel oppressed by the religion? Every time we raise our voices, one of us is killed or threatened. I am a blogger and illustrator, no threat to anyone, Ben, except for those afraid of words and drawings. I want the freedom to express myself without the very real fear that I might be killed for it. Is that too much to ask?

When I wrote a children’s book that carried a message of diversity and inclusivity for everyone, my life changed. My book, ‘My Chacha (uncle) is Gay’ has the innocent anti-homophobia message, ‘Love belongs to everyone’. This was not palatable to many of my Muslim brothers and sisters.

Since that project I have been declared an ‘enemy of God’ and deemed worthy of death. All because I want to help create a world where South Asian children too can have their stories told, so they too can know that love comes in all forms, and that that’s okay. My Muslim brothers and sisters were hit hard by this work because it addresses the issue of homophobia within our own community. It is not something they can pass off as ‘Western’ immorality. Just like they deny that any issues exist within the doctrine of Islam, many deny that homosexuality exists amongst good, ‘moral’ Muslims. Just like that, millions of people’s existence is denied. Please do not defend people who think this way, and let me tell you Ben, many ‘good’ Muslims do think this way.

[JCAll]

The White House Now Has Three Options on Russia

You forgot "D: Blame Obama".
Because why stop now.

[Gray Lensman]

You forgot "D: Blame Obama".
Because why stop now.

I think that's covered under C: Dig In.

[Tami]

What we know about the GOP's healthcare bill

House Republicans are plowing ahead with their plan to repeal and replace ObamaCare, with committee votes likely next week.

While final legislation has yet to be unveiled, an outline and a leaked draft from last month give a general idea of where House Republicans are headed.

Their bill would dismantle the central elements of ObamaCare, including its subsidies to help people afford coverage, its expansion of Medicaid, and its mandates and taxes.

Democrats warn the bill would jeopardize coverage for the 20 million people who have gained it from ObamaCare, while Republicans argue the health law has failed and needs to be replaced with a less intrusive system.

More people would lose insurance, especially for low income people and give the States control over the details.

[TheInvisibleMan]

say goodbye to pre-existing condition coverage

[Tendrin]

Oh boy. More Islam hating nonsense from WBE's Crazy/Stupid alum John Bennet:

Republican state Rep. John Bennett's office distributed the questionnaire on Thursday as the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized its annual Muslim Day at the Capitol. The lawmaker's office gave the list of questions to three Islamic school students who came to his office and asked to speak with him.
"(The prophet) Mohammed was a killer of pagans, Christians and Jews that did not agree with him," read one of 18 questions on the form. "Do you agree with his example?"
The questions asked Muslims whether they would denounce terror groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and whether they believed former Muslims should be punished for leaving Islam. One question asked Muslims if they agreed that Islamic law, known as Sharia, should rule over non-Muslims.
The questionnaire drew a swift rebuke from civil rights groups and Oklahoma's CAIR chapter, which represents about 40,000 Oklahoma residents who are Muslims.
"Nobody should be vetted with stupid, Islamophobic, hateful, bigoted questions before they can meet with their representative," said Adam Soltani, the executive director of CAIR-Oklahoma.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/oklahoma-...-politics.html

[JCAll]

say goodbye to pre-existing condition coverage

I think that was a given. Half of the reason for the crusade against the ACA was that it was cutting into insurance companies' profits.