July 2, 2016

Miss. AG rips state GOP: They ‘duped’ pastors into backing anti-gay ‘religious freedom’ bill

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood (D) criticized Republican lawmakers after a federal judge blocked a law allowing businesses to refuse to serve LGBT customers because of their religious beliefs, WLBT-TV reported.

“I can’t pick my clients, but I can speak for myself as a named defendant in this lawsuit. The fact is that the churchgoing public was duped into believing that HB1523 protected religious freedoms,” Hood said in a statement. “Our state leaders attempted to mislead pastors into believing that if this bill were not passed, they would have to preside over gay wedding ceremonies. No court case has ever said a pastor did not have discretion to refuse to marry any couple for any reason. I hate to see politicians continue to prey on people who pray, go to church, follow the law and help their fellow man.”

As Reuters reported, District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the law “does not honor that tradition of religion freedom, nor does it respect the equal dignity of all of Mississippi’s citizens” and issued an injunction stopping it from taking effect on Friday.

Hood called Reeves’ ruling “straightforward and clear” and said his office was considering whether to appeal the entire decision or parts of it. He also made reference to North Carolina’s decision to allocate $500,000 to defend its own anti-LGBT legislation, saying he needed to “think long and hard” about whether to use taxpayer money to pursue the case.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/miss-ag-rips-state-gop-they-duped-pastors-into-backing-anti-gay-religious-freedom-bill/

July 2, 2016

North Carolina lawmakers adjourn for the year leaving anti-transgender law unchanged

Source: Reuters


02 JUL 2016 AT 08:28 ET

North Carolina lawmakers adjourned for the year on Friday night after leaving mostly intact a law restricting transgender bathroom access that has drawn condemnation and jeopardized the state’s efforts to host the NBA All-Star Game, officials said.

The law passed in March made North Carolina the first U.S. state to require transgender people to use restrooms in public buildings and schools that match the sex on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.

The National Basketball Association has said it could move its All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and has cited concerns over the law’s effects on principles of inclusion and equal protection that league officials say they uphold. A spokesman for the NBA could not immediately be reached for comment.

North Carolina state Representative Chris Sgro, a Democrat who opposes the law, which is known as House Bill 2, said he had hoped lawmakers would vote on Friday on whether to repeal it. But they adjourned for the year without holding that vote, he said.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/north-carolina-lawmakers-adjourn-for-the-year-leaving-anti-transgender-law-unchanged/

July 2, 2016

WaPo Editorial: It’s time to wind down the Clinton email investigation

By Editorial Board July 1 at 8:21 PM
NO DOUBT it’s difficult to refuse a visit with a former president of the United States. Still, Attorney General Loretta Lynch should have found a polite way to excuse herself when Bill Clinton dropped by her airplane, parked next to his at a Phoenix airport Monday. Given that Ms. Lynch has ultimate responsibility for the federal investigation related to Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct official business while secretary of state, even an impromptu chat between the attorney general and the candidate’s husband was bound to create questionable appearances — even if its actual content was purely social, as Ms. Lynch maintains and as we believe.

To her credit, Ms. Lynch acknowledged her misstep Friday in an interview with The Post’s Jonathan Capehart at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. She described the cloud it created over the Justice Department’s objectivity as inaccurate but nevertheless “painful.” Equally appropriately, she said she expected to follow the lead of career prosecutors at the department in deciding what, if any, legal consequences Ms. Clinton should face due to the transmission of classified information via the unsecured server.

Our view of the matter, stated in previous editorials and supported by a fair reading of the law and publicly available evidence, is that Ms. Clinton committed a grave error in judgment, compounded by a willful violation of internal State Department rules designed to ensure records were properly preserved with maximum protection against cybersecurity risks. She has been less than clear and forthright about all of this in her public statements. However, her conduct does not seem to rise to the level of indictable crime, because she did not set up and use the server with the legally requisite criminal intent or even with “gross negligence,” as it has been defined in relevant case law.

The main point now, however, is that the Justice Department needs to get on with telling the public what it has concluded about Ms. Clinton’s culpability. Ms. Lynch’s faux pas is but a relatively minor example of the sort of political accidents that are still waiting to happen as long as this matter remains up in the air. Of far greater moment is the fact that Ms. Clinton is a candidate for president and, indeed, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee. She and, more importantly, the voters who would ultimately judge her deserve some clarity about her legal liability — one way or the other. It appears that a direct interview with the former secretary is one of the last pieces that the Federal Bureau of Investigation needs to finish this puzzle. Both Ms. Clinton and the FBI should make it happen as soon as possible, and then the latter should publish its findings with all deliberate speed.

###

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/its-time-to-wind-down-the-clinton-email-investigation/2016/07/01/7924bfe0-3fb3-11e6-84e8-1580c7db5275_story.html

July 1, 2016

They’re perfect for him: Newt and Christie’s scandalous past make them ideal Trump VP’s

Nothing to lose: Gingrich and Christie make the most sense because they've already bottomed out as politicians

SEAN ILLING

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Republican convention this year is the mystery surrounding the VP nomination. Republicans are reluctantly supporting Trump, but they know he’s radioactive and don’t want to be anywhere near him if possible. We know this because the list of Republicans either not attending the convention or refusing a speaking slot is long and growing. There’s also the fact that Trump’s campaign is a dumpster fire, with no campaign infrastructure, no material plan for the general election, no fundraising operation, and a barely competent skeletal staff in key battleground states. So it makes sense that Trump’s options for VP are narrower than we’ve come to expect.

Nevertheless, the Donald’s vetting process is underway and Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich are the early leaders, according to a report in The Washington Post. The authors write that “with little more than two weeks before the start of the Republican National Convention, Gingrich and Christie have been asked to submit documents and are being cast as favorites for the post inside the campaign.” Trump confidants like Ben Carson, they add, are particularly enthralled by Gingrich, whose gaseous but silver-tongued style might help the ticket.

Trump has said he wants a seasoned running mate, someone who can work with the establishment. In a normal year, that would open the field to a number of veteran Republicans, safe picks who would add gravitas to the campaign. But this isn’t a normal year, and no politician with dignity or something to lose wants to run alongside Donald Trump.

That leaves us with Gingrich and Christie.

Gingrich is a good fit for Trump. He’s as shameless as the Republican nominee but considerably sharper. Gingrich has a gift for sounding smart without actually saying anything intelligent. He discovered in the 1990s that if you stick the words “profound” and “fundamentally” in a sentence, people assume you said something important. While he hasn’t served in office since 1999, he’s still active and clearly itching to be relevant again. Trump is the perfect vehicle.

more
http://www.salon.com/2016/07/01/theyre_perfect_for_him_newt_and_christies_scandalous_past_make_them_ideal_trump_vps/

July 1, 2016

Trump’s campaign of paranoia reaches new levels: At New Hampshire rally, Trump suggests Mexico sent

Trump’s campaign of paranoia reaches new levels: At New Hampshire rally, Trump suggests Mexico sent an airplane to attack him


“That could be a Mexican plane up there.” Trump then pointed upwards and added, “They’re getting ready to attack”

SOPHIA TESFAYE

Donald Trump’s got bluster down pat. Demagoguery, although a more recent tone for him, appears to now be second-nature. Humour, however, is one department where he could use a little work.

After spending months of railing against undocumented Mexican immigrants and their government, he argues, that is too feckless to prevent the migration, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee appeared to drop his usual bluster and bravado in favor of an odd foray into humor while campaigning on Thursday.

Touting his plans to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, Trump oddly elevated the Mexican government he so often rails against — in a manner not unlike what he displayed when he descended from the golden escalator in Trump Tower more than one year ago.

“I respect Mexico, and I respect their leaders,” Trump told supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire, taking the opportunity to jab the Obama administration. “What they’ve done to us is incredible. Their leaders are so much smarter, so much sharper, and it’s incredible,” Trump told the crowd.

Then, as a plane flew overhead, Trump said, “That could be a Mexican plane up there — they’re getting ready to attack!”

Video @ link

###

http://www.salon.com/2016/07/01/trumps_campaign_of_paranoia_reaches_new_levels_at_new_hampshire_rally_trump_suggests_mexico_sent_an_airplane_to_attack_him/

July 1, 2016

Limbaugh Predicts 'Levels Of Violence We Have Not Seen' If Trump Wins

If Republican Donald Trump wins the White House in November, conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh said he expects unprecedented “levels of violence” from upset liberals.

On his Thursday radio show, Limbaugh asked listeners to imagine the fallout from the political left immediately after a possible Trump win.

“I want you to think: What’s going to happen that night? What’s going to happen the next day? What’s going to happen every day thereafter?” he said. “What’s going to happen the day Trump gets inaugurated? What is the left going to do? They’re not going to just sit idly by and accept this."

“They’re going to do everything they can to undermine it, and I think we’re going to see levels of violence that we have not seen,” Limbaugh continued. He went on to suggest anti-Trump forces would “intimidate” people into “reversing” a Trump win and doing “everything they can to see it that Trump never does get inaugurated.”

###

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rush-limbaugh-violence-trump-liberals

July 1, 2016

Website Boasts Nigel Farage’s Hilarious Leaked ‘Plan’ For Leaving The EU

July 1, 2016 12:59 pm

When Nigel Farage said his Brexit campaign had made a “mistake” in promising that Britain’s National Health Service would have £350 million more every week if the “Leave” campaign won, British voters seemed to know almost immediately that they had been duped.

That morning, the pound plummeted to its lowest point in 35 years. #Regrexit campaigns emerged across the UK, calling for a second vote. In the week since, hate crimes have spiked. Boris Johnson exited stage see-you-never-again.

Now, one website claims to have gotten ahold of Nigel Farage’s plan to make everything right again in Britain. It’s a bit hard to read, though. See if you can figure it out: http://thebrexitplan.com/

###

http://www.nationalmemo.com/website-boasts-nigel-farages-hilarious-leaked-plan-leaving-eu/

July 1, 2016

Trump Taps Consultant Accused Of Defrauding PAC To Lead Colorado Campaign

July 1, 2016 11:24 am

Donald Trump’s choice to run his campaign in Colorado, a key battleground state, is a veteran political consultant who was accused in the last election cycle of defrauding a top conservative super PAC.

During the 2014 midterm election, Patrick Davis was brought on to help run Vote2ReduceDebt — a cash-flush group launched by an elderly Texas oil tycoon who had no experience in politics but wanted to help elect fiscally conservative lawmakers.

The group quickly collapsed amid allegations of faked campaign events, destroyed records, fabricated expenses and contracts routed to friends, ProPublica reported last year.

The group’s director questioned whether events organized by Davis were all they claimed to be. At an Iowa phone bank, the director alleged a caller admitted they were just “pretending to make phone calls” for the benefit of the campaign’s video cameras.

Davis denied all allegations of wrongdoing, saying he was trying to clean up a troubled PAC. But according to records and interviews, Davis pushed for much of the group’s nearly $3 million to go to organizations run by him or his close associates. He secured payments of about $410,000 from Vote2ReduceDebt to a PAC he founded and helped direct contracts and cash to a company run by a friend.

-snip-

http://www.nationalmemo.com/trump-taps-consultant-accused-defrauding-pac-lead-colorado-campaign/

July 1, 2016

Pro-Clinton PAC returns banned donations

Source: The Hill

A super-PAC supporting Hillary Clinton has refunded $200,000 in contributions from a company that The Hill discovered had contracts with the federal government.

In a statement, Suffolk Construction said Priorities USA had returned the donation. “Based on our internal accounting, the contract appeared to be completed as the project was over four years ago," Dan Antonellis of the Boston-based company said in a statement to The Hill. "We notified the Committee of this ambiguity and they decided to return their contribution.”

-snip-

Companies that hold contracts with the federal government are banned from making political contributions. The ban on contributions from federal contractors is a longstanding law meant to prevent pay-to-play deals between companies receiving taxpayer money and public officials. But the prohibition is often ignored by contractors and campaign committees because the Federal Election Commission is plagued by partisan gridlock and unlikely to take action against infractions.

The Hill found that ignoring the ban has become a common practice, with super-PACs for Republicans also taking money from companies with federal contracts.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/286259-pro-clinton-pac-returns-banned-donations

July 1, 2016

White House releases its count of civilian deaths in counterterrorism operations under Obama

Source: The Washington Post

By Karen DeYoung and Greg Miller July 1 at 1:47 PM
The United States has inadvertently killed between 64 and 116 non-combatant civilians in drone and other lethal attacks against terrorism suspects in places not considered active war zones, the Obama administration said Friday.

The unintentional deaths came in a total of 473 CIA and military counterterrorism strikes up to the end of 2015 that the administration said have taken between 2372 and 2581 militants permanently off the battlefield in countries where the United States is not at war, which would include Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and Libya.

The release was accompanied by an executive order, signed by President Obama, designed to give added weight to existing administration standards and procedures governing the use of lethal force and for limiting civilian casualties.

The long-awaited casualty disclosures are part of an attempt to live up to Obama’s repeated promises of greater transparency about his administration’s extraordinary reliance on armed drones in the targeted killings of terrorism suspects.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/white-house-releases-its-count-of-civilian-deaths-in-counterterrorism-operations-under-obama/2016/07/01/3196aa1e-3fa2-11e6-80bc-d06711fd2125_story.html?wpisrc=al_alert-COMBO-world%252Bnation