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

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Report Says Sean Hannity Linked To Other Trump-Connected Attorneys, Besides Cohen

Speaking of Sean Hamhocks:

Hannity’s rising role in Trump’s world: ‘He basically has a desk in the place’

The phone calls between President Trump and Sean Hannity come early in the morning or late at night, after the Fox News host goes off the air. They discuss ideas for Hannity’s show, Trump’s frustration with the ongoing special counsel probe and even, at times, what the president should tweet, according to people familiar with the conversations. When he’s off the phone, Trump is known to cite Hannity when he talks with White House advisers.

The revelation this week that the two men share an attorney is just the latest sign of how Hannity is intertwined with Trump’s world — an increasingly powerful confidant who offers the *media-driven president a sympathetic ear and shared grievances. The conservative commentator is so close to Trump that some White House aides have dubbed him the unofficial chief of staff.

For a president who feels, intensely, that he is under siege, Hannity offers what he prizes: loyalty and a mass audience. And Trump, in turn, has directed his supporters to Hannity’s show — urging people on Twitter last week to watch the commentator attack special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who heads the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.

Their bond intensified during the 2016 campaign and has grown stronger during Trump’s time in office.

“The bottom line is, during the heat of the campaign when relationships are forged, he was always there, offering good advice, in person and on television,” former deputy Trump campaign manager David Bossie said of Hannity. “The president sees him as an incredibly smart and articulate spokesman for the agenda.”

Trump and Hannity usually speak several times a week, according to people familiar with their relationship. The Fox News host, whose show averages more than 3 million viewers daily, is one of the few people who gets patched immediately to Trump. The two men review news stories and aspects of Hannity’s show, and occasionally debate specifics about whatever the president is considering typing out on Twitter. There have also been times when Trump has assessed the merits of various White House aides with Hannity.

The frequency of Hannity’s contact with Trump means that “he basically has a desk in the place,” one presidential adviser said.

[Kal-El Summers]

Kay Ivey has one of the highest approval ratings of any Governor in the country.

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/201...al_rating.html

Unless it turns out she likes teenage boys, she is unlikely to be beaten by a Democrat in November.

I was talking about her possibly getting primaried, not the general election. Try to keep up, Mets.

[worstblogever]

It was three years ago that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” had a profile of Kim Lehman, a former Republican National Committee member who in 2010, called for Americans to rise up in armed revolt as courts began to uphold same sex marriages. She would later also start ranting on social media about how President Obama was secretly Muslim, and when Politico reported her claims, and debunked them, she accused the media of participating in a cover up of Obama’s true faith and allegiances. The Republican Party then tried forcing her to resign prior to their 2012 National Convention, but she refused, sticking around to help write the party platform, and then bragging to the media about how she personally had made sure it included mentions of the dreaded Agenda 21, thus confirming she was a nutty conspiracy theorist, in case there was still any doubt that she deserved to be shown the door.



In both 2016, and 2017, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented its original profile of the U.S. House Representative from Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, Tom Marino, of Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. During the Bush administration back in 2007, Marino was elevated to be the U.S. Attorney in Pennsylvania’s Middle District, but he resigned while under investigation for ethics violations. After that, Marino spent three years working as a six-figure lawyer at a private practice, and then like many of the chuckleheads that we’ve covered at CSGOPOTD he was elected in 2010, in the Tea Party Wave, and is now serving in his fourth term in Congress. Maybe someone should have paid attention to the fact that Tom Marino’s as dumb as a post when it comes to a great many things. For starters, geography. You see, back in his first 90 days in office, Marino decided to criticize the Obama administration’s strategy in Libya, asking, “Is there a plan? Is the mission to take Gadhafi out? Where does it stop? Do we go into Africa next?" which indicates he’s not aware that Libya is actually in Africa. What made that statement even more sad for our country was that Marino was placed by Republican House leadership on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which is a great place for a guy who doesn’t know where the foreign countries actually are. Where Tom Marino really stands out, however, is how much he loved, LOVED to talk about impeachment even though he doesn’t seem to understand how that works, or who can be impeached. In February of 2013, when he was talking about impeaching Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid… (Senators don’t get impeached. They can be expelled, however, by a 2/3 majority vote.) A few months later, in July 2013, after President Obama announced he wanted to delay the implementation of the Affordable Care Act , Marino again seemed to stumble with the concept of how impeachment worked, talking about indicting Obama for his decision, comparing it to Watergate. (Again, Rep. Marino is not just a lawyer, but a former U.S. Attorney, albeit a Bush administration appointee, who doesn’t seem to know that that’s in no way a crime, let alone an impeachable offense.) Marino called for the impeachment of both President Obama AND Attorney General Eric Holder in February of 2015, insisting that HE wasn’t talking about impeachment, he just kept hearing questions about it at town halls. He then proceeded to talk about how both men were “approaching impeachment” because they were not “enforcing the laws”. He gave no specific laws that he would make a case for impeachment hearings, of course. Mind you, Marino imagined a lot of wrongdoing by Obama and Holder, though, to be sure, like when in January of 2015, when he accused them of using the Justice Department to illegally fund “activist groups”, and of course, provided no evidence of that.

But, in our introduction to Tom Marino, we are proud to include his most partisan and cowardly moment in his three terms in office, from August of 2014. And as debate in the House over immigration reform and how to help migrant children from South America being detained was ongoing, Tom Marino took to the House floor, and laid the blame solely on… Nancy Pelosi? It seems that in the warped mind of Marino, it was not Republicans in the House and Senate voting against immigration reform at every opportunity who were responsible for the DREAM Act not passing, nor was it House Speaker John Boehner blocking later versions of the bill from coming up for a vote for almost two years. By not getting her entire caucus to work together to pass EVERYTHING they wanted, including that legislation, she was at fault. Well, unfortunately for Rep. Marino… Nancy Pelosi was in the room, and she went right after him for invoking her name in such a manner, yelling at him and calling him a liar, as he retreated from her up the aisle like a coward. After the incident, Pelosi’s aides reported she received an apology, Marino of course denied it, and said Pelosi is “a prime example of why we need term limits”.

When last we left Rep. Tom Marino, he was sucking up to the Trump administration, hoping for an appointment to be the drug czar for it, and combat the opioid crisis. There’s just one problem with that… he withdrew his name from the running in shame after an investigation by The Washington Post and "60 Minutes” detailed his years-long efforts to pass a law that critics say allowed the drug industry to profit off people addicted to opioids. Can you believe that? Donald Trump wanted to nominate someone to a post who was revealed to have a financial interest in not just failing to do the job, but a track record of profiting by working against the mission statement of that position? THE HELL YOU SAY. (Also, the latest ethical lapse from Marino).

• May 4th, 2017: Marino votes for the House GOP's healthcare plan, that would kick roughly 24 million people off their health insurance plans, allow up to 28,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, and would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions which would include such medical conditions as pregnancy (current or past), post-partum depression, or prior sexual assault. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Marino would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country. He and his Republican compatriots threw themselves a beer bash to celebrate taking away healthcare from millions and then gloated about it with Donald Trump at a White House press conference, as well.
• October 3rd, 2017: Marino votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
• December 19th, 2017: Tom Marino votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.

Tom Marino’s disastrous nomination to be the Trump administration’s drug czar is hardly the only mishap he’s had as a politician of late, as he was also a member of the Trump transition team (the one that was illegally communicating with Russians) and for whatever reason, he’s become quite the absentee Congressman, missing three times the number of votes that the average member of the House does. That’s certainly not winning him any friends back home, where his constituents are wanting him to… y’know, represent them. While Pennsylvania’s 10th District, where Tom Marino was serving was gerrymandered after the 2010 elections so that it safely Republican, the Supreme Court just decided that the gerrymander that was set up was utter bulls***, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court mandated a new map for the state. Thus, Tom Marino’s new District is Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, and the partisan lean has been slightly reduced in his favor, now only at a +11 Republican lean. Marino will be challenged in the general election by Marc Friedenberg, or Judy Herschel, the latter of whom is a drug and alcohol counselor who is already raking Marino over the coals for his failed bid to be drug czar, and his role in worsening the opioid crisis with legislation he’s passed.

Depending on the strength of the Blue Wave when it lands in 7 months, Tom Marino might be looking for a new job, which we can guess he’ll be fired from within the first year of holding it for some sort of ethics violation, based on his track record.

[Malvolio]

"Palliative care" is used here in the colonies too.

====================

Passengers Praise Southwest Airlines Pilot Who Landed Safely After Engine Explosion

Tammy Jo Shults, who was one of the first female fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy, safely landed the stricken Southwest Airlines flight on Tuesday.



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Nikki Haley Hits Back At White House: ‘I Don’t Get Confused’

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations did not mince words. Over/under on when she's fired: one week, and that's a generous estimate. Dolt45 doesn't tolerate disobedience from his minions and damn sure won't like a woman going off script. Meanwhile....

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Republicans Befuddled By Trump’s Abrupt Reversal On New Russia Sanctions

“That’s just not a good signal to Moscow or any of our adversaries or allies,” one senator said. But it was good for Trump who's trying to keep his relationship with Bad Vlad Putin from going completely down the toilet.

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Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens Refuses To Resign Despite Calls From His Own Party

Greitens has been embroiled in several scandals, including accusations of sexual misconduct. The GOP, the party of law and order.

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Fox News’ Judicial Analyst Absolutely Shreds Hannity’s Cohen Claim

“He can’t have it both ways,” says Andrew Napolitano. Sean Hamhocks earns millions from his TV show and can hire any lawyer he wants, yet he went with Trump's shyster. Things that make you go HMMMMMMMM!

So Judge Napolitano, FOX News' resident legal expert, says that Hannity can't have it both ways. Exactly. If you claim attorney/client privilege, then that means that you are a client of the attorney you're speaking to. If you're NOT his client, then he can blab to anyone about anything you spoke of. And something tells me that in this case, it was about more than "real estate advice."

[Mister Mets]

I was talking about her possibly getting primaried, not the general election. Try to keep up, Mets.

You were talking about November. The primary would be in June.

I am also unaware of any polling that indicates she is at serious risk of losing the primary.

[Tami]

Americans waste 150,000 tons of food each day – equal to a pound per person

Americans waste about a pound of food per person each day, with people who have healthier diets rich in fruit and vegetables the most wasteful, research has found.

About 150,000 tons of food is tossed out in US households each day, equivalent to about a third of the daily calories that each American consumes. Fruit and vegetables were the most likely to be thrown out, followed by dairy and then meat.

This waste has an environmental toll, with the volume of discarded food equivalent to the yearly use of 30m acres of land, 780m pounds of pesticide and 4.2tn gallons of irrigated water. Rotting food also clogs up landfills and releases methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture analysed eight years of food data, up to 2014, to see where food is wasted and also what members of the public say they do at mealtimes. The research has been published in Plos One.

The study found that the healthiest Americans are the most wasteful, because of their high consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are frequently thrown out. Fruit and vegetables require less land to grow than than other foods, such as meat, but require a large amount of water and pesticides.

Lisa Jahns, a nutritionist at USDA and co-author of the study, said: “We need a simultaneous effort to increase food quality as well as reduce food waste. We need to put both of those things out.”

Jahns’s study recommends educating consumers on fruit and vegetable storage in order to reduce food waste.

She said: “Consumers aren’t connecting the dots, [and] they don’t see the cost when they throw food in the trash. At the same time, we don’t want to undermine legitimate food safety concerns and we need to be aware it’s not just the cost of food that’s the issue. It’s the time and energy required to prepare and store food, which often isn’t a priority in a busy household.”

[PaulBullion]

Investigation finds that Jim Bridenstine, Trump’s pick to head NASA, led a small non-profit into big financial losses. Some of the losses involved the use of the non-profit’s resources to benefit a company Bridenstine co-owned and in which he’d invested.

I a shocked... SHOCKED! that there would be scandals where Trump's nominees are involved.

[PaulBullion]

Nothing to see here:

The Russian mafia ran U.S. operations out of a club partially owned by Trump's 'lawyer' Michael Cohen

[Michael Watkins]

Oh, and in talking with Chris Hayes on MSNBC, Formner A.G. Eric Holder admitted he's considering running for president in 2020.

I'm more okay with him trying for it than I am with either Biden or Sanders.

i hope that he doesn't. I don't want to hear any more about the fast and the furious operation.

[BeastieRunner]

Duckworth, Duckworth, Duckworth, Duckworth, Duckworth ... *deep breath* DUCKWORTH!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Investigation finds that Jim Bridenstine, Trump’s pick to head NASA, led a small non-profit into big financial losses. Some of the losses involved the use of the non-profit’s resources to benefit a company Bridenstine co-owned and in which he’d invested.

I a shocked... SHOCKED! that there would be scandals where Trump's nominees are involved.

But hey, Orange Foolius only hires the best dirtbags. Don’t you forget that!

Nothing to see here:

The Russian mafia ran U.S. operations out of a club partially owned by Trump's 'lawyer' Michael Cohen

Holy Borscht, Batman! That sounds like a plotline from The Sopranos. Once again, you can’t make up crazy **** like this.

[Mister Mets]

The twitter account Darth Putin captures the shifting Russia story on Syrian chemical attacks.

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/st...21573706715136

[ouroboros]

Just got an alert on my phone saying all Starbucks stores nationwide will be closed on May 29th so employees can undergo racial bias education. Oh, and the manager of that Philadelphia store where the incident with those two black guys went down was removed.

What a bunch of crap. Two creeps decide to make trouble and a manager loses her job because of it.

Shapiro's more informative and accurate take on it, which none of you will listen to, is at the end of this Youtube piece.

[ouroboros]

So stupid. Great I can’t get my coffee so a bunch of college students and vagabonds can sit in and not listen to an hr meeting. Great thanks.

So a couple of racist creeps can make trouble and then holler "racial injustice," you mean.

[ouroboros]

Hmm...I wonder if this PR stunt may or may not backfire. I think this sends perhaps an unintended message...that the CEO thinks racism is not just a problem with that particular manager or store, but that he thinks it might be a systematic problem through the company and the way the franchise does business.

It's not a "PR stunt;" it's a sacrifice to the insatiable gods of boycott.