June 17, 2016

Why it's so unlikely that HRC will choose Warren as her running mate

Clinton can't afford to pick her. Literally.

I understand that Hillary supporters have no problem with her ties to Wall Street and corporate interests, and the various appearances of conflicts of interest that have been extensively covered, but there is no politician more despised by the Wall Street and the Corporate Interests who fund much of HRC's campaign, than Warren.

In addition, Warren is decidedly independent and outspoken. She is not exactly on the same page as Clinton on the issues she is most passionate about.


<snip>

Clinton could also be wary of pissing off financial sector donors, and it bears mentioning that rich people all over America hate Elizabeth Warren and regard her as a dangerous economically illiterate charlatan. "The prospect of a Warren vice presidency could well drive the 1 percent straight into Trump’s arms, help the billionaire solve his fundraising problems, and make for a closer race in the end," Prokop notes.

<snip>

http://www.vox.com/2016/6/16/11954878/hillary-clinton-vice-president-veepstakes

<snip>

My dear liberal friends, I can feel your excitement already. But while Warren will be a great anti-Trump surrogate for Clinton — maybe the best Clinton will have — she’s not going to be on the ticket. Sorry to deliver the bad news.

There are a few reasons for this. The first is that Clinton and Warren aren’t close or even particularly friendly, and personal rapport is a key part of an effective working relationship between the president and vice president, as Clinton surely understands. Warren would come to the office with her own agenda on economic affairs — an agenda more aggressively liberal than Clinton’s, particularly when it comes to how the government should deal with Wall Street. Warren would also bring her own constituency, which could make her an unwanted headache for Clinton, who like all presidents would want a vice president who has no goal other than advancing the president’s goals.

Second, picking Warren would make for a historic all-female ticket, and that could be a risk. To be clear, it’s ludicrous that there should be something troubling to anyone about having two women running together. After all, we’ve had over a hundred all-male tickets in our history, and only two with one man and one woman. But there could well be some number of voters — how many is difficult to tell — who would vote for Clinton with a male running mate, but would find Clinton with a female running mate just too much to handle. It’s sexist, but Clinton is going to need the votes of people who have some sexism somewhere in their hearts, just like Barack Obama needed the votes of people with some racism somewhere in their hearts.

And Hillary Clinton is nothing if not a risk-averse politician. She’s been blessed with Donald Trump as an opponent, and she isn’t going to take any big chances between now and November that might complicate things.

<snip>
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/13/sorry-liberals-elizabeth-warren-isnt-going-to-be-hillary-clintons-running-mate/

That she's being vetted doesn't mean much, and as of now, reports are that no potential vp on the various lists has been asked for the information that constitutes real vetting. The vetting that her campaign has been conducting is evidently information culled from public sources.

June 17, 2016

Wading back into the sewer of GD-P. How about this guy for VP?

(I'm so not interested in the slamming of Bernie or Hillary at this point. I want Bernie to concede and endorse and campaign for Hillary. And that's all I have left to say about that).

But I've just been reading about Seth Moulton and I know he's a long shot for VP, but I think he'd be a very interesting choice. Yes, He's a first term Congressman, but the guy did four tours of Iraq. He's got guts. He speaks well. He's young- 38. He's not a lawyer but has a double masters from Harvard in public administration and business. He's attacked Trump effectively. He's strongly pro-LGBT, and pro-Syrian refugees being admitted to the country.


Seth Wilbur Moulton was born on October 24, 1978, in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Lynn Alice (née Meader) and Wilbur Thomas Moulton, Jr.,[2][3] and grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, as the oldest of three siblings.[4] He graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1997[5] and attended Harvard University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in physics in 2001. He gave the Undergraduate English Oration at his commencement address, focusing on the importance of service.[6]

Moulton joined the Marine Corps after graduation, a few months before the September 11 attacks,[7] and attended the Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. After graduating in 2002 with the rank of second lieutenant, Moulton was among the first service members to enter Baghdad at the beginning of the Iraq War.[4][6]

Military career[edit]

During the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Moulton led of one of the first infantry platoons to enter Baghdad. He served a total of four tours of duty in Iraq from 2003 to 2008.[4] Moulton took part in the 2003 Battle of Nasiriyah, leading a platoon that cleared a hostile stronghold. In that action, he went to the aid of a Marine wounded by friendly fire, and for his actions he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for valor.[8] Moulton was active in combat against insurgent forces in Iraq, including the 2004 Battle of Najaf against the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr.[9] Over two days, he "fearlessly exposed himself to enemy fire" as his platoon was pinned down under heavy fire and then directed the supporting fire that repelled the attack. He received the Bronze Star Medal for his actions in this battle.[8] He told only his campaign manager, a former Marine, about these awards, keeping them secret even from his parents. When Boston Globe reporter Walter V. Robinson disclosed in October 2014 that Moulton had earned the Bronze Star and the Navy Commendation Medal, Moulton said that "There is a healthy disrespect among veterans who served on the front lines for people who walk around telling war stories". He said he was uncomfortable calling attention to his own awards out of respect to "many others who did heroic things and received no awards at all." He asked Robinson not to refer to him as a hero: "Look, we served our country, and we served the guys next to us. And it's not something to brag about." The Globe reported that "his voice choked with emotion" as he added: "The greatest honor of my life was to lead these men in my platoon, even though it was a war that I and they disagreed with."[8]

In 2008, General David Petraeus requested Moulton's assignment to work as a special liaison with tribal leaders in Southern Iraq during his fourth tour of duty in Iraq. Following that tour, Moulton left the Marine Corps with the rank of captain.[4][10][11]

Media contributions[edit]

In 2003, Moulton co-hosted a television program with his Iraqi interpreter, Mohammed Harba, called "Moulton and Mohammed," during which they discussed regional conditions in the period following the U.S. invasion before an audience of U.S. servicemen and Iraqi citizens.[12] The show ended after three months when Moulton's unit left the area.[4]

Between 2003 and 2008, Moulton was frequently interviewed about his experiences as an officer in Iraq by U.S. national media, including CNN, MSNBC, and NPR programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered.[4][13]


Moulton was also prominently featured in the Academy Award-nominated 2007 documentary No End in Sight. In the film, Moulton criticized the U.S. government's handling of the occupation of Iraq. UCLA anthropology professor Sherry Ortner wrote that Moulton's comments "sum[med] up the emotional tone of the film."[14]

<snip>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seth_Moulton

GQ interview with Moulton
By Jason Zengerle

GQ | June 16, 2016, 3:34 pm ET


Seth Moulton, Democrat from Massachusetts, is suddenly a big deal after he walked out of a congressional moment of silence for victims of the Orlando shooting as a protest against the lack of gun reform. Here he talks about prepping his soldiers for the brutality of war, whether genuine gun reform might actually succeed, and if he’s really in the running to be Hillary’s veep.

Seth Moulton is a 38-year-old freshman Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, but his youth and lack of seniority haven't prevented him from cutting a large profile on Capitol Hill. A Harvard grad who joined the Marines and served four tours in Iraq—and who refreshingly (and shockingly) has underplayed his military service, including the fact that he won a Bronze Star—Moulton has already become one of his party's top foreign policy thinkers. This week, after the attack in Orlando, he waded—plunged, really—into the gun-control debate, appearing on the front page of New York's Daily News with an op-ed calling for an assault-weapons ban. I recently spoke to Moulton about Orlando, ISIS, Trump, and whether he wants to be Hillary Clinton's running mate.

On Sunday, after the attack in Orlando, you posted a tweet offering your "thoughts and prayers," and then on Monday you walked off the House floor during the moment of silence for the victims of the shooting, later explaining that you won't attend another one ever again. What changed between that original tweet and your walking off the floor?

<snip>

http://www.gq.com/story/seth-moulton-republicans-scared-of-nra


More info:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/06/06/twitter-and-beyond-freshman-lawmaker-seth-moulton-draws-attention/qs7e55Npm4K2bjQYRP3VWN/story.html

http://swampscott.wickedlocal.com/news/20160609/moulton-blasts-trump-on-vets-issues

June 17, 2016

These Vulnerable Republican Senators Have All Endorsed Trump, And Voters Aren’t Happy

New polling released by Public Policy Polling provides perhaps the strongest evidence yet that embattled Republican senators’ reelection chances are being hurt by Donald Trump’s presence at the top of the ticket.

In five races where Republicans face tough reelection contests — Arizona (John McCain), New Hampshire (Kelly Ayotte), Wisconsin (Ron Johnson), Ohio (Rob Portman), and Pennsylvania (Pat Toomey) — the survey indicates incumbents have been hurt by their endorsement of Trump. In fact, in each state with the exception of Pennsylvania, more than twice as many voters said their senator’s support for Trump made them less likely to vote for their reelection as opposed to more likely. (In Pennsylvania, 40 percent of respondents said Toomey’s support for Trump made them less likely to vote for him, compared to 22 percent who said the opposite.)

Trump’s racist attacks on federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel didn’t help matters any. In all five states with the exception of Arizona, a plurality of voters responded affirmatively when asked if their senator should follow the lead of embattled Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), and un-endorse Trump in light of his comments about Curiel’s Mexican heritage. (In Arizona, 41 percent said McCain should unendorse Trump, compared to 42 who think he shouldn’t).

Polling was conducted on June 8-9. On June 7, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) called Trump’s comments about Curiel “sort of like the textbook definition of a racist comment.” Later in the day, Kirk became the first Republican member of Congress to rescind his endorsement of Trump, saying his Curiel comments “in context with past attacks on Hispanics, women and the disabled like me, make it certain that I cannot and will not support my party’s nominee for President regardless of the political impact on my candidacy or the Republican Party.”

<snip>

read:http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/06/13/3787810/trump-hurting-endangered-republican-senators/

Democrats are going to take back the Senate and make significant gains in the House.

June 17, 2016

Last year, this man specifically warned Disney about alligators after his son

was wading in a lagoon and he saw an alligator heading for the boy.


In April of 2015, San Diego lawyer David Hiden took his family to the theme park. His five-year-old son waded calf-deep into a lagoon behind their hotel.

"I saw something rapidly coming on like a submarine," Hiden told CBS News. "And I look and I went, 'Oh my god. That's an alligator.' And it was probably about six to seven feet."

Hiden grabbed his son to safety -- and spotted a second alligator lurking nearby.

The family was staying at Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort, which is three-and-a-half miles from the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, where two year-old Lane was killed.

But a year earlier, Hiden says he warned a hotel manager, and even showed her a photo he took of one of the gators.

"And the response, I couldn't believe it," Hiden said. "It was, 'Those are resident pets, and we've known about them for years. And they're harmless, they're not going to attack anybody."

<snip>

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lane-graves-disney-warned-about-alligator-attacks-before-boys-death/

June 17, 2016

I come to supporting robust federal gun control late.

I'm a Vermonter. We have fairly high gun ownership rates and the lowest rate per 100,000 residents of gun murders and the lowest rate of gun crimes. Fine. That's nice. But like too many Vermonters, my smug pride in the low rate of gun crime, and my knowledge of so many non-nut gun owners (and yeah, I know some real gun nuts, too), led me to a lackadaisical self-serving position on gun control: "leave it to the states".

That started to change after Newtown. I realized with some degree of discomfort, that guns sold in Vermont are easily transported to other states where they are used to commit violent crimes, and I know that Vermont has a high suicide by gun rate. I know it deeply and personally. Twice over the past decade I've been in the position of holding on to guns from people who were suicidal. Last year, my ex-brother-in-law, someone I never lost touch with and who was a sweet, gentle man, shot himself in the head and died. I think him every time I get in my car because it was his.

Admittedly, despite living here for many decades and knowing many people who have guns, I know little about them. But I don't understand why people own assault weapons- aside from that they enjoy shooting them. I've never known anyone who brought one to hunting camp. And hunting camp is a huge tradition here.

The percentage of Vermonters who own guns is 42%, making it 14th highest in the country. It's true Vermont has the laxest gun laws in the nation and always has.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States_by_state


But we can't continue to be so insular and so cavalier about it- not in the face of the numbing reality of mass shooting after mass shooting.

We need uniformity. We need federal gun control. We need to get assault weapons off the streets. And why people shouldn't be required to have a license for a gun is a mystery to me. I know I need to know more, research further, but I know that a nation awash in guns, leads to murderous tragedy after murderous tragedy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_weapon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Vermont

Vermont's Long Strange Trip to Gun-Rights Paradise

Why the Green Mountain State and its singular history are to thank for new laws that allow the concealed carry of guns without a permit.

Last January, the New Hampshire Senate Judiciary Committee held an open hearing to consider SB 116, a bill that would have repealed licensing requirements for carrying a concealed handgun and enshrined into law a principle that has come to be known by gun advocates as “constitutional carry.” Anticipating a crowd, the Judiciary Committee staged the hearing in the Statehouse’s Representatives Hall, where the five presiding senators patiently listened to a full afternoon of passionate and sometimes shrill testimony. In urging passage of the bill, some supporters described the vindictiveness of small-town police chiefs, framed uninhibited gun ownership as a way to prevent domestic violence and rape, and delivered history lessons on the gun-hating ways of Adolf Hitler. But many of the bill’s backers opted for a more reassuring form of persuasion. Permitless carry was nothing radical, they said, and to see how it could work, one only needed to do was look a scant 60 or so miles to the west.

“Vermont, for over 220 years, has never had permits, has never had registration, and has never had any serious gun control laws,” Ed Cutler, president of Gun Owners of Vermont, told the New Hampshire senators. “And for 220 years, Vermont has been the safest place in this nation and one of the safest places in the world.”

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read:https://www.thetrace.org/2015/07/vermont-gun-rights-constitutional-carry/

June 17, 2016

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA) walks out of moment of silence for Orlando victims

Seth Moulton, Democrat from Massachusetts, is suddenly a big deal after he walked out of a congressional moment of silence for victims of the Orlando shooting as a protest against the lack of gun reform. Here he talks about prepping his soldiers for the brutality of war, whether genuine gun reform might actually succeed, and if he’s really in the running to be Hillary’s veep.

Seth Moulton is a 38-year-old freshman Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, but his youth and lack of seniority haven't prevented him from cutting a large profile on Capitol Hill. A Harvard grad who joined the Marines and served four tours in Iraq—and who refreshingly (and shockingly) has underplayed his military service, including the fact that he won a Bronze Star—Moulton has already become one of his party's top foreign policy thinkers. This week, after the attack in Orlando, he waded—plunged, really—into the gun-control debate, appearing on the front page of New York's Daily News with an op-ed calling for an assault-weapons ban. I recently spoke to Moulton about Orlando, ISIS, Trump, and whether he wants to be Hillary Clinton's running mate.

On Sunday, after the attack in Orlando, you posted a tweet offering your "thoughts and prayers," and then on Monday you walked off the House floor during the moment of silence for the victims of the shooting, later explaining that you won't attend another one ever again. What changed between that original tweet and your walking off the floor?

I heard from Americans. I heard from constituents who said that thoughts and prayers aren't enough; thoughts and prayers aren't working; we need to take action. I understand I'm one of the few members of Congress who does his own Twitter account, so I saw it right away. Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut was, I think, the first to say, "You know what, I'm just not even going to attend these moments of silence." And I thought that was a good statement. Some people have said, "Well, that's disrespectful to the victims." I think what's disrespectful to the victims is refusing to even have a debate about passing reasonable reforms to prevent these mass shootings from happening.

<snip>

read:http://www.gq.com/story/seth-moulton-republicans-scared-of-nra

Op-Ed by Rep. Moulton:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/civilians-no-reason-owning-assault-weapons-article-1.2674107

June 17, 2016

Just get me the fuck out of here. Please, please get me out.

June 17, 2016

Two Marines investigated for picture of gun-toting soldier's picture threatening attack on gay clubs

Two California-based Marines are under investigation after one soldier seemed to threaten an Orlando-style attack on social media.

“Coming to a gay club near you!” an unidentified serviceman said, alongside a picture of himself biting his lip and holding a rifle.

The post was made to Camp MENdleton resale, a closed Facebook group of 25,000 members meant for those around the Marine Corps’ Camp Pendleton in San Diego County.

“Too soon?” the Marine who posted the hateful photo asked, presumably with at least some self-awareness that it came mere days after Omar Mateen’s attack on Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which left 49 people dead.

<snip>


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/marines-investigated-soldier-threatening-gay-clubs-article-1.2677153

June 17, 2016

Well, shit. Killer of MP, Jo Cox, had longstanding ties to U.S. neo-Nazi Group

The man detained by police in connection with the killing of a rising star of British politics had longstanding ties to a U.S.-based neo-Nazi organization and, in the past, had ordered a how-to guide for assembling a homemade gun, according to a watchdog group that tracks extremist behavior.

The revelation came as police on Friday continued to investigate the motive behind the killing of the British lawmaker, Jo Cox, who was stabbed and shot midday Thursday in an attack that stunned the nation and led to a suspension of the European Union referendum campaign just a week before the vote. Cox had been a strong advocate of an inclusive and multicultural Britain amid a wave of hostility toward immigrants that is helping to fuel the anti-E.U. campaign.

Cox’s suspected killer was not named by police but was identified in the British media as 52-year-old Tommy Mair, a local resident whom neighbors described as quiet and devoted to his mother. Family members said that Mair had never expressed strong political views, but that he had an obsessive personality. He was arrested shortly after the attack.

According to documents obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the U.S.-based organization that tracks extremist groups, Mair was a long-time supporter of the National Alliance, a once-prominent white supremacist group. In 1999, Mair bought a manual from the organization that included instructions on how to build a pistol, the center said.


<snip>

read:https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/suspected-killer-of-british-lawmaker-jo-cox-ties-neo-nazi-ties-group-says/2016/06/17/2067ea0a-33ef-11e6-ab9d-1da2b0f24f93_story.html

June 16, 2016

Gun Store Owner: We Alerted FBI to 'Suspicious' Customer Weeks Before Orlando Shooting

The owner of a Florida gun store said he tried to alert the FBI to a "very suspicious" man later identified as Orlando nightclub shooter Omar Mateen after Mateen tried to buy body armor and bulk ammunition from the store.

Robert Abell, a co-owner of Lotus Gunworks in Jensen Beach, Florida, told ABC News today that a man entered the store five or six weeks ago and asked specific questions about high-end body armor. When employees said the store didn't carry the body armor he wanted, Abell said, the man made a phone call in a foreign language, hung up and then asked about ammunition in bulk.

Abell said a member of his staff thought the questions were "odd" and made him uncomfortable, so he turned the man away.

Abell added that they thought the man was "very suspicious," so they called the local FBI office in West Palm Beach and reported the incident. But they didn't have the man's name, since no sale was made, and the only surveillance footage they had was grainy.

<snip>

read:http://abcnews.go.com/US/orlando-shooter-turned-gun-store-suspicious/story?id=39901107