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riversedge's JournalColumn: Amy Klobuchar offers a return to normalcy in the White House
Column: Amy Klobuchar offers a return to normalcy in the White House
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/steve-chapman/ct-column-klobuchar-trump-biden-chapman-20200103-5ggtq7hocnbstie6lmxjdz2blm-story.html
“My best judgment of America’s needs is to steady down, to get squarely on our feet, to make sure of the right path. ... Let us stop to consider that tranquility at home is more precious than peace abroad, and that both our good fortune and our eminence are dependent on the normal forward stride of all the American people.”
— Warren G. Harding, 1920
Remaining Time -0:11
In the presidential election that took place 100 years ago, the winning candidate ran on a slogan that might have been soporific: “Return to normalcy.” But for a country that had experienced the traumas of World War I, labor strife, a Red Scare and race riots, it promised a welcome respite. Harding got 60% of the popular vote.
Americans often gravitate to the opposite of what they have. Harding was nothing like his predecessor, Woodrow Wilson, whose visionary ambitions included remaking the entire world order. George W. Bush promised to “restore honor and dignity to the White House,” an allusion to Bill Clinton’s lechery. Barack Obama, a former law school professor with a gift for inspiring oratory, was a departure from the folksy, inarticulate scion of a famous Texas political family.
Donald Trump, a thin-skinned narcissist with the vocabulary and impulse control of a 10-year-old, could hardly be more different from Obama. If Americans are weary of the turmoil that Trump has made the organizing principle of his presidency, they may be looking for a president they can occasionally forget about.
In that case, Democratic voters would do well to take a long look at Amy Klobuchar, whose restrained policies and unflappable manner are dull only in the best sense of the word. The qualities that make it hard for her to stand out in a crowded debate might endear her to anyone suffering from a four-year spell of jangled nerves.
Klobuchar, 59, is in her third term as a senator, and as Democratic members go, she leans toward the center. The website GovTrack reports that in 2018, 33 of the 47 Democratic senators were more liberal than she is.
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https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1213861680108711936?s=20
Democratic presidential hopeful Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar on stage for the sixth Democratic primary debate of the 2020 presidential campaign season at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, 2019. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
Attack hits military base used by U.S. forces in Kenya
Source: nbc news
A pre-dawn attempt by al-Shabab forces to breach security at Manda Bay Airfield was repelled, U.S. Africa Command said. But it added the situation "is fluid."
Jan. 5, 2020, 1:44 AM CST / Updated Jan. 5, 2020, 7:39 AM CST
By Max Burman and Charlene Gubash
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A pre-dawn attempt by al-Shabab forces to breach security at Manda Bay Airfield was repelled, U.S. Africa Command said in a statement. But it added that "the security situation at Manda Bay is fluid."
It said initial reports reflected damage to infrastructure and equipment, while an assessment was underway to determine if any further damage was inflicted.
"Working alongside our Kenyan partners, the airfield is cleared and still in the process of being fully secured."
Al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda-linked group, claimed it had inflicted casualties and destroyed U.S. military equipment, including aircraft, in the raid on the military base near Kenya's border with Somalia.
NBC News has not verified the claims.
There was no report of U.S. or Kenyan deaths. .............................
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/attack-hits-base-serving-u-s-troops-kenya-n1110526
https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1213809903992745984?s=20
On this day in 2007, Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as the first female speaker of the House in U.S. hist
Replying to @SpeakerPelosi
Thank you Madam Speaker for protect us
Making History... For the childrens and for the womens, for everyone THANK YOU
On this day in 2007, Nancy Pelosi was sworn in as the first female speaker of the House in U.S. history.
https://twitter.com/Guadi_Pelosista/status/1213613772994158594?s=20
Reporter asked Trump about an exit strategy and Trump says " Not gonna need an exit strategy."...
Not gonna need an exit strategy.
https://twitter.com/CajunBlueAZ1/status/1213540168935690241?s=20
https://twitter.com/MsActiviss/status/1213543101912014849?s=20
https://twitter.com/KaraSnowflake/status/1213542573588930560?s=20
Listen to Trump babble away pretending he knows what he is talking about......
Donald Trump is escalating conflict with Iran as his brain function continues its downward trajectory.
(Of course Trump didn’t know who General Qasam Soleimani was in 2015.)
https://twitter.com/WordswithSteph/status/1213573928809062400?s=20
Tulsi Gabbard Breaks With Trump on Iran Strike
Give credit where credit is due.
https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1213147519376613376?s=20
Tulsi Gabbard Breaks With Trump on Iran Strike
‘ALOHA, INDEED’
Matt Wilstein Senior Writer
Published Jan. 03, 2020 12:07PM ET
Two weeks after she voted “present” during the impeachment vote in the House, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) appeared on Fox & Friends Monday morning to denounce President Donald Trump’s military action that killed Iranian military leader Qassem Soleimani. “This was very clearly an act of war by this president without any authorization or declaration of war from Congress, clearly violating the Constitution,” the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate said via satellite from New Hampshire. She warned that war with Iran would make the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “look like a picnic.”
Asked by host Ainsley Earhardt if the U.S. is “just supposed to stand by” when Iranian-backed militias attack American interests in Iraq, Gabbard acknowledged that there is “no question about how evil” Soleimani was, but went on to argue that the strike will ultimately imperil U.S. national security. “You know, Trump talked a lot in his campaign for the presidency—and even since he’s been in office—about how he wants to end forever wars,” she said, “but his actions tell a different story.”
Trump Considers Pardoning Blackwater Mercenary Convicted of Murder
Serious problems with Presidential pardons.
https://twitter.com/moonbreeze2/status/1213456692857516032?s=20
Trump Considers Pardoning Blackwater Mercenary Convicted of Murder
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-considers-pardoning-blackwater-mercenary-convicted-of-murder?via=twitter_page
BODY COUNT
An effort to clear a Blackwater merc doing life for murder in the infamous Nisour Square massacre may soon bear fruit, multiple sources tell The Daily Beast.
Updated Jan. 03, 2020 4:06AM ET / Published Jan. 02, 2020 7:59PM ET
AP Photo/Cliff Owen
Less than two months after granting clemency to three convicted or accused war criminals, Donald Trump is considering pardoning a man convicted of murder in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq war—someone who served under the command of an infamous for-profit army.
In recent weeks, the president has asked close advisers what they think of additional clemency, according to a source close to the president and a senior administration official. “He’s said he wants to do more,” said the administration official, who discussed this case, as well as others, with the president. “There are more warriors out there who he believes have been treated unfairly and whose [cases] need another look.”
Not all of those “warriors” are U.S. servicemembers, however.
The Daily Beast has learned that Trump is still quietly weighing pardoning at least one employee of the private army Blackwater, Nicholas Slatten. Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, Slatten, a former U.S. Army sniper, took part in the contractor’s infamous 2007 massacre at the Nisour Square traffic circle in Baghdad. Blackwater was founded by Trump ally Erik Prince, who has insisted for over a decade that the company was railroaded after Nisour Square by an American left gone insane.
The White House declined comment on this story on Thursday afternoon.
Should Trump go through with the Blackwater pardon, it would be a stunning denouement to a wrenching episode in which Iraqis watched 10 men, two women and two pre-teen boys die violently despite being unarmed commuters. Ever since, U.S. diplomats have counseled the Iraqis to trust in the American justice system–which turned Nisour Square into a prolonged legal fiasco. And any clemency for Slatten would happen in the aftermath of angry Iraqis storming the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, which has raised questions about the Iraqi government’s willingness to continue the U.S. military presence...............................
Trump's Biggest Fox News Boosters Suddenly Stop Railing Against 'Deep State' Intelligence
Source: dailybeast
GEE, WONDER WHY
Incessant Fox griping over the “deep state” has been replaced by sober pleas that the U.S. intelligence community’s findings should be taken seriously.
Updated Jan. 03, 2020 7:01PM ET / Published Jan. 03, 2020 6:41PM ET
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Since Trump’s election, an inescapably common refrain of the president and his biggest boosters in conservative media has been to rail against the “deep state.” The Russian election interference probe, they’ve repeatedly said, was nothing more than a coup or disinformation campaign perpetrated by the anti-Trump intelligence community.
Over the past 24 hours, however, incessant Fox griping over “deep state” suddenly went quiet, replaced by sober pleas that—when it comes to the info allegedly justifying Trump’s ordered airstrike killing Iran’s top general Qassem Soleimani—the U.S. intelligence community’s findings should be heeded and taken seriously as unimpeachably correct information.
Immediately after the Pentagon confirmed U.S. responsibility for the strike, claiming it “was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” Fox News host Sean Hannity—perhaps the most well-known “deep state” critic in media—heaped praise upon the intelligence community.
“The ability of the military, our intelligence community, the State Department, and the president making the call, very quickly, you know, understood that the Iranian forces on the ground bore a direct threat to the American people,” said Hannity, calling into his own show on Thursday night. “Once the intelligence was confirmed, once the understanding that they were there to sow the discord and discontent, the president acted as quickly as possible, taking out this top general.”
“But I will say the big headline is, this is a huge victory for American intelligence, a huge victory for our military, a huge victory for the State Department, and a huge victory and total leadership by the president,” the primetime host, who has spent more than two years and countless on-air segments railing against shadowy “deep state” intelligence, concluded.
By Friday morning, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo went even further than the Pentagon, saying that it was necessary to take out Soleimani as it disrupted an “imminent attack,” adding that “the risk doing nothing was enormous” and the “intelligence community made that assessment and President Trump acted decisively last night.”............................
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-biggest-fox-news-boosters-suddenly-stop-railing-against-deep-state-intelligence
https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/1213168162289651714?s=20
Mitch McConnell Impeachment Trial Scam Devastated By Ukraine Emails
I do not think these emails are going to change Republican Senators minds. nope.
Posted on Thu, Jan 2nd, 2020 by Jason Easley
Mitch McConnell Impeachment Trial Scam Devastated By Ukraine Emails
https://www.politicususa.com/2020/01/02/mitch-mcconnell-impeachment-trial-scam-devastated-by-ukraine-emails.html
Unredacted emails on Trump’s withholding of aid from Ukraine unless they launched an investigation into Joe Biden has blown up Mitch McConnell’s impeachment trial scam.
Just Security reviewed the unredacted emails and reported:
The documents reveal growing concern from Pentagon officials that the hold would violate the Impoundment Control Act, which requires the executive branch to spend money as appropriated by Congress, and that the necessary steps to avoid this result weren’t being taken. Those steps would include notifying Congress that the funding was being held or shifted elsewhere, a step that was never taken. The emails also show that no rationale was ever given for why the hold was put in place or why it was eventually lifted.
What is clear is that it all came down to the president and what he wanted; no one else appears to have supported his position. Although the pretext for the hold was that some sort of policy review was taking place, the emails make no mention of that actually happening. Instead, officials were anxiously waiting for the president to be convinced that the hold was a bad idea. And while the situation continued throughout the summer, senior defense officials were searching for legal guidance, worried they would be blamed should the hold be lifted too late to actually spend all of the money, which would violate the law.
Mitch McConnell’s entire justification for a quickie impeachment trial has been that there is no evidence and nothing that would merit calling witnesses to testify at Trump’s impeachment trial, but these emails tell a different tale.
https://twitter.com/nypapajoe/status/1213108840859877378?s=20
https://twitter.com/TimeToSayGood15/status/1213124279920922626?s=20
More people live in the red area than the purple. While LA County is represented by 2 Senators who v
great pic--says it all
More people live in the red area than the purple. While LA County is represented by 2 Senators who voted AGAINST the tax bill, the purple area was represented by 14 Senators who voted FOR the bill.
https://twitter.com/DaisyTom5/status/1146597026819276800?s=20
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