RandySF
RandySF's JournalProsecutor: SF Sheriff kept his wife ‘isolated’
Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, who has been charged with misdemeanor domestic violence, kept his wife “isolated” in their home for 18 hours to prevent her from talking to police after he allegedly abused her physically, the prosecution asserts in a new motion filed today with the court.
Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Aguilar Tarchi hopes to convince the court to allow video footage in which Mirkarimi’s wife, Eliana Lopez, reportedly tells a neighbor about the New Year’s Eve incident in which she is said to tearfully recount how her husband “pushed, pulled and grabbed” her during a fight in front of their 2-year-old son on New Year’s Eve that left her with a big, dark-purple bruise on her right bicep, according to the motion.
Lopez has not cooperated with authorities, and has made repeated public statements that her husband did not abuse her. Mirkarimi also has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty. The trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 24.
The video footage is a key piece of evidence that the prosecution hopes to use in its case against Mirkarimi, who faces three charges: domestic violence battery, child endangerment and dissuading a witness. The prosecution also may call as witnesses Ivory Madison, the neighbor who took the video, and another neighbor who said she, too, spoke to Lopez about the alleged battering.
http://blog.sfgate.com/cityinsider/2012/01/30/prosecutor-mirkarimi-kept-his-wife-isolated/?tsp=1
WI recall petition signers threatened with violence.
"The Facebook page I Will Be Getting Your Info Off the Recall Petition is reminiscent of the testosterone laced adolescent circle jerks behind Operation Burn Notice.
We are shown a burning house, and we are told that they know where we live, and that there will be retaliation at both the home front and the job site.
While we can roll our eyes at the incendiary fantasies of adolescent asshats, the GAB has indeed put us into a new territory. It would be very difficult to go through more than a hundred thousand pages to find your co-worker or neighbor's signature. It is very easy once a database is created. Witness a nasty convergence of conditions: 1) a highly polarized political climate in which the rightwing supporters of Walker have been systematically encouraged to act out aggressions and hostility, 2) the capacity through online communities for crowd sourcing tedious and overwhelming tasks, and 3) endless search-ability of various data-bases that will never disappear!
I've gotten so used to rightwing zombie spew that I am not surprised by any level of ugliness. Just two weekends ago, I was walking to my car, minding my own business after our little counter-rally to the Support Walker event in Wauwatosa, hometown of Walker and a near suburb of Milwaukee. I live a few blocks from the park where it was held."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/30/1060037/-UPDATE:-Walkers-Goons-and-Facebook-Threats:-You-Signed-a-Petition,-So-We-Know-Where-You-Live!?via=siderec
PPP: Good numbers for Obama in Ohio.
Really good numbers for Obama in Ohio. Second poll in a row we've found that to be the case for him there.
http://twitter.com/#!/ppppolls
PPP: Minnesota trending deep blue. Dems set to retake legislature.
President Obama is not whalloping Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in Minnesota like he was when PPP last polled the state last May, a few weeks after Osama Bin Laden was killed. That was the high point of Obama’s standing last year. But in PPP’s latest survey of the Gopher State, the president still looks like he is set to win the state by a similar margin as in 2008, when he defeated John McCain by 10 points here.
In fact, Obama leads Romney by that same spread now (51-41), down five points from eight months ago (51-36). But no one else does any better. Gingrich lags by 15 (54-39), versus 18 (54-36). Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were not tested last time, and they trail by respective 12- (52-40) and 13-point margins (51-38).
Wednesday’s results showed the former speaker winning the caucus race by a 2:1 margin over Romney. But he finds the most disfavor among voters in the general election, with the worst favorability rating and the biggest deficit to Obama. Only 27% of Minnesotans see him positively, and 60% negatively. The others are all also very disliked personally, but not to the same extent. Santorum is the most popular, at 30-50, followed by Paul (29-53) and Romney (29-56). The president’s approval rating stands at 49-45, down a tick from 51-44 last May.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/gingrich-romney-down-by-double-digits-in-minnesota.html
Mark Dayton's numbers have improved since PPP last polled Minnesota in May and he's one of the most popular Governors in the country. 53% of voters approve of the job he's doing to 34% who disapprove. That +19 spread is up 6 points from May when he was at +13 (51/38). Dayton has near unanimous approval from Democrats (85/5), is very strong with independents (51/33), and even has a decent amount of support from Republicans (19%). Dayton's 53% approval ties him for the 8th highest out of more than 40 sitting Governors PPP has polled on.
Dayton may get himself an easier legislature to work with next year. Democrats lead the generic legislative ballot in the state by a 48-39 margin. If that holds through November they should win back a whole lot of the seats they lost in 2010. It's not that legislative Democrats are popular- only 31% of voters have a favorable opinion of them to 49% with a negative one. But legislative Republicans have horrible numbers. Their favorability rating is 23% with 62% of voters viewing them negatively. That honeymoon wore off real fast.
Minnesota's constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is headed for a close vote. 48% of voters say they support it while 44% are opposed. It's very much a generational issue- voters under 65 oppose the amendment but seniors support it 58/32 and that's making the difference right now. 23% of Democrats intend to vote for it, more than the 19% of Republicans who are opposed. 71% of voters in the state do support either gay marriage or civil unions.
59% of Minnesota voters are opposed to the public paying any part of the cost for a new Vikings stadium, while just 33% are supportive. But they change their minds if a publicly funded stadium is the only way to keep the team in the state- 46% say they'd support tax money for a stadium if that's what it took to keep the Vikings while only 39% say they'd prefer the team just moving.
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/dayton-sees-strong-approval-in-minnesota.html
Electoral College Prediction for as of January, 2012.
Every month I will be making electoral college predictions based on where I think the presidential race is going and on the assumption Mitt Romney is the Republican nominee. As of the end of January, 2012, I predict that Barack Obama would win with 317 electoral votes to 221 for Mittens. I think that Romney will take IN, NC, NH and FL away from Obama. However, Obama would pick up AZ.
http://theelectoralvote.com/
Four Sun journalists arrested in investigation into police bribery
The role of the former Sun editor Rebekah Brooks is expected to come under fresh scrutiny after four of the paper's current and former journalists were arrested on Saturday in connection with an investigation into corrupt payments to police.
Detectives with Operation Elveden, the Metropolitan Police's investigation into illegal payments to officers, raided the Sun's offices in Wapping, east London, morning after receiving information from News Corp, the parent company of News International, which owns the paper. A serving police officer in the Met's Territorial Policing command was also arrested at his place of work and questioned at a police station.
In a statement, News Corp said: "Metropolitan Police Service officers from Operation Elveden arrested four current and former employees from the Sun newspaper. Searches have also taken place at the homes and offices of those arrested. News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated."
It is understood that staff and management at the Sun had no warning of the operation. The four Sun journalists arrested were Mike Sullivan, the paper's crime editor; the former managing editor, Graham Dudman; an executive editor, Fergus Shanahan; and Chris Pharo, a news desk executive. They all worked under Brooks, who edited the Sun from January 2003 to September 2009, when she became chief executive of News International.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jan/28/sun-arrests-rebekah-brooks
RNC Chair Compares Obama To Italian Cruise Ship Captain
On Face the Nation, RNC chair Reince Priebus compared President Obama to Captain Schettino, who crashed the Costa Concordia cruise liner off the coast of Italy and then fled the ship where at least 17 passengers died.
“In a few months, this is all going to be ancient history and we’re going to talk about our own little Captain Schettino, which is President Obama who’s abandoning the ship here in the United States and is more interested in campaigning than doing his job as president,” Priebus said.
Host Bob Schieffer, surprised, followed-up on the comment. Priebus likes his new nickname for the President and pushed back. Priebus replied:
“I called him Captain Schettino, you know the captain that fled the ship in Italy. That’s our own president who’s fleeing the American people and not doing his job and running around the country and campaigning.”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4838
Did Romney know whether his donations to the LDS would fund the Prop 8 campaign?
I would love for someone to ask that question to his face.
Palin compares the Romney campaign to Stalin, Alinsky.
"What we saw with this ridiculous opposition dump on Newt was nothing short of Stalin-esque rewriting of history. It was Alinsky tactics at their worst."
-- Sarah Palin, writing on Facebook, defending Newt Gingrich against attacks made by Mitt Romney.
http://politicalwire.com/archives/2012/01/28/quote_of_the_day.html
NBC Asks Romney To Remove Brokaw From Florida Ad
Betsy Fischer, executive producer of Meet The Press and NBC News said in a tweet that the “NBC Legal Dept has written a letter to (Romney) camp asking for the removal of all NBC News material from their campaign ads.”
The ad, which is running in Florida, uses a news report by Tom Brokaw reporting on Newt Gingrich’s ethics violations back when he was House Speaker. “I am extremely uncomfortable with the extended use of my personal image in this political ad,” Brokaw said in a statement Saturday. “I do not want my role as a journalist compromised for political gain by any campaign.”
Jon Ward from Huffington Post reports in a tweet: “Romney campaign official tells me: ‘We haven’t heard anything from NBC, nothing to comment on until then.’”
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/updates/4818
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