June 10, 2016

I never could stomach Roseanne Barr. Now she's endorsed Trump

Roseanne Barr isn't being funny about her support for Donald Trump.

The comedian and former presidential hopeful is barring herself from endorsing Hillary Clinton and believes Americans "would be so lucky" if bombastic Republican candidate Donald Trump became the next President.

"Because then it wouldn't be Hillary," she explained to the Hollywood Reporter.

The 63-year-old bashed Clinton for being friends "with everybody that gives her any goddamn money.


http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/roseanne-barr-lucky-donald-trump-won-article-1.2667933

June 10, 2016

Next week, Bernie will drop out and strongly endorse HRC. There is nothing hypocritical

about his doing so.

He's said all along that she's infinitely preferable to Trump. He believes that wholeheartedly. He'll campaign with her and go where he's asked to go to campaign for her.

And no, his revolution is not over. I prefer to call it a movement. Before his candidacy it was inchoate. He coalesced and harnessed it; giving it direction and goals. Where will it go? Will Bernie continue to be seen as its leader? I don't know the answer to those questions, but this is a movement that is not going away when Bernie drops out and endorses Hillary.

I know Bernie. He's represented me for over 25 years. I've met with him privately in DC while lobbying for the PAIMI program which provides support for the disabled. I've gone to potluck town meetings where he's present. The palaver that some Bernie haters spew about how he might run as an independent is simply people talking out of their asses. And those Bernie supporters who think he'd be hypocritical to endorse and campaign for Hillary, don't seem to have much of a clue as to who he is.

Bernie may be stubborn, but he's not petty and he recognizes the dangers that Trump poses.

June 10, 2016

Sure I'd like to see HRC choose Warren- or Brown, for that matter. BUT

I'd hate to see either replaced by a republican. As I understand it there are loopholes, such as Warren writing a letter of resignation 160 days or so prior to inauguration, which means she'd have to do it within the next few weeks. In that case, evidently, Baker would have to hold an election almost immediately after the inauguration. I'm not sure whether the same loophole holds true in Ohio where Kasich is Governor.

But aside from all that, I don't think that Clinton choosing Warren would indicate anything about the direction of her policies or commitment to financial reform. The vice presidency is one of the most ceremonial and least substantive political post that there is. And it demands complete fealty to the President. You don't openly oppose or publicly utter a word of disagreement with the President you serve under. Period.

We stand little chance of winning back the House, but we stand a pretty damn good chance of taking back the Senate. I'd much prefer a democratic senate with a strong progressive wing than a republican senate.

June 10, 2016

Now that Hillary is the presumptive nominee, it's time

for Bill and Chelsea to step away from the Clinton Foundation. Now look, maybe those of you who see both Hillary and Bill as paragons of virtue who could never be corrupted, are right. That is irrelevant. The appearance of conflicts of interest are serious, and they have, sometimes with good reason, dinged the both of them. Anyone remember Marc Rich?

We don't need to be put in the position of defending Hillary and Bill because he insists on remaining involved in the Foundation business.

And it goes without saying that Bill should make no more paid speeches. I think it's been some months since he has made a speech for personal profit. But he did make several after she announced she was running. That cannot be repeated.

Again, they may be the purer than the driven snow, but the broad perception of the voting public holds a different view. They can't afford to feed that perception.

June 9, 2016

Trump Florida golf club suit heads to court in August

A lawsuit over a Donald Trump-owned golf course in south Florida will head to trial in August, involving the Republican party's presumptive nominee in yet another high-profile legal battle just as his campaign gears up for a general election sprint.

U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Marra set the first possible trial day for August 15, according to a Palm Beach Post report. The case involves dozens of members of the former Ritz Carlton Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida who are accusing Trump of breaching their contract when he bought the club back in 2012 and turned it into the Trump National Golf Club, Jupiter.

More:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-suit-over-jupiter-golf-club-heads-to-trial-in-august/

June 8, 2016

Hillary is the Democratic Nominee. Congratulations

to (most of) her supporters here..

She wasn't my choice, but I felt a moment of real pride that a woman is the nominee. And yeah, I think she can beat the Trumpus. Of course, I also think he's going to implode messily.

And her foreign policy take down of him was excellent. Keep hitting him on temperament.

I have serious concerns about Clinton, but they sure as hell pale in comparisons to my concerns about the Trumpus.

June 8, 2016

Let's clear up a couple of things about Vermont politics

it's plain as day that most people here haven't a clue. Vermont Politics are different. They really are. Where else would you have a subsistence farmer with an eighth grade education beating the crap out of a well funded (carpetbagger) for the nomination for the the Republican U.S. Senate, and then promptly turning around and endorsing the democrat, who just happened to be Pat Leahy? In what other state would the three democratic candidates for governor, 2 of whom endorsed him, go hats in hand to the recent Vermont Progressive Party Convention and not only ask for the VPP endorsement, but each offr to run as hybrid D/VPP?

The Vermont Democratic Party is now the party of Bernie. That is no exaggeration. They unanimously supported him for President at the convention 2 weeks ago. And Bernie supporters won the the seats on the DNC.

I haven't a clue if Bernie will run in 2018. My guess is he won't. But that is no guarantee that a democrat or anyone less iconoclastic than Bernie, will win. Odds are that if Bernie doesn't run, a Bernie Dem, VPP member or hybrid D/VPP candidate will replace him. I can assure you, it won't be our current governor, Peter Shumlin. He couldn't get elected dog catcher anywhere in the state.

I'd be fine with Bernie not running. He'll be 77. He's done yeoman's work for decades. Honestly, I would have preferred if Pat had chosen not to to run this year. 43 years in the Senate is a long run.

We grow good very progressive politicians here.

You want to throw money to defeat our progressive politicians running for congress, go for it. Nothing could be more assured of failure.

We'll just laugh our asses off as your petty malice and utter cluelessness.

June 3, 2016

This Bernie supporter liked Hillary's full throated attack on Trump

My only criticism is that I think she crammed too much into it. I particularly liked her attack on his temperament. No attack on him should omit that. I'd like to see her go at him about his attacking the integrity of our judiciary and justice system- which demonstrates his temperamental unfairness.


By the way, since I've been attacked by Hillary supporters for being sexist and disgusting for using that well known phrase "full throated":


http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/full-throated

June 2, 2016

The Citadel rejected her hijab, but another military school embraces Muslim student’s request

Norwich University, a nearly 200-year-old private military college in Vermont, has granted an accepted student’s request to wear hijab in keeping with her Muslim faith, a decision that was welcomed by some but also provoked outrage for some alumni and cadets.

The same student requested a similar exception to the required uniform from The Citadel, touching off a highly charged debate at the public military college in South Carolina where loyalty to the corps is a fundamental value and individual preferences are set aside to encourage unity. The idea that the first exception might be for a Muslim student was particularly polarizing, given the national discussion and starkly divergent views about the role of Islam in U.S. culture.


The Citadel denied her request.


It was the first formal request for a religious accommodation to the uniform at Norwich, spokeswoman Daphne Larkin said, so they reached out to peer institutions “and came to the conclusion that it makes sense for Norwich to continue to be dynamic in how we serve our students.”

“Regardless of their spiritual or religious affiliation, all students and employees should feel welcome and comfortable at Norwich University,” Norwich President Richard Schneider wrote in announcing the exception to the required Corps of Cadets uniform. “Norwich University is a learning community that is American in character yet global in perspective.”


<snip>


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/05/26/the-citadel-rejected-her-hijab-but-another-military-school-embraces-muslim-students-request/

June 2, 2016

Dallas Highway Sign Accuses Donald Trump of Being a Lizard Person