September 6, 2015

Pope Tells Catholics To House Refugees

Source: TDB/NYT

Pope Francis called on all of Europe's Catholics Sunday to help house refugees fleeing in an ongoing crisis. He said the Vatican's parishes will be taking in two families. 80,000 asylum applicants are expected in Austria this year after their borders were opened to migrants Friday. Pope Francis said it was simply not enough to say "have courage, hang in there," to these people seeking better lives.

Read it at The New York Times

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Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2015/09/06/pope-tells-catholics-to-house-refugees.html

September 6, 2015

Duggar-opposed ordinance protecting LGBT rights drawing record voter turnout in Arkansas

Early voter turnout for a Fayetteville, Arkansas city ordinance protecting the civil rights of LGBT people was record breaking on Friday leading up to the general election scheduled for Tuesday, but official were prepared, 5News reports.

The special election for Ordinance 119 has drawn the attention of high profile anti-gay representatives, including Oregon bakers Aaron and Melissa Klein, who made national news and became a conservative cause celebre for refusing to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. The ordinance has been a source of deep local controversy, with Michelle Duggar last year recording robocalls encouraging voters to defeat it.

“We anticipated that turnout would be very similar to the way it was during the December election,” Election Coordinator Jennifer Price told 5News. “So we planned accordingly for early vote as well as election day.”

Poll workers have been seeing an average 900 people per day in the early voting period — similar to numbers that turn out for general elections.

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/duggar-opposed-ordinance-protecting-lgbt-rights-drawing-record-voter-turnout-in-arkansas/

September 6, 2015

‘Kim Davis for Rosa Parks Award': Iowa Republican ups the ante linking anti-gay clerk to civil right

‘Kim Davis for Rosa Parks Award': Iowa Republican ups the ante linking anti-gay clerk to civil rights hero

Conservatives have been on a campaign to draw a brazenly flawed line between an anti-gay Kentucky county clerk and civil rights heroes like Rosa Parks. But Iowa Rep. Steve King (R) took things to the next level by suggesting Saturday that Davis should receive a “Rosa Parks Award.”



Davis, the elected Rowan County clerk, was sent to jail in contempt of court on Thursday after openly defying multiple court orders to obey the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage in all U.S. states. Davis has maintained doing so is against her Christian beliefs.

This has prompted her attorneys and supporters to come up with some wildly fanciful comparisons.

Jesse Lee Peterson
?@JLPtalk

Kentucky County Clerk @Kimdavis917 is a modern day Rosa Parks, a hero! #KimDavis
#ReligiousLiberty #KentuckyClerk

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/kim-davis-for-rosa-parks-award-iowa-republican-ups-the-ante-linking-antigay-clerk-to-civil-rights-hero/

September 6, 2015

Clinton rallies around gender appeal

Rarely has Hillary Clinton campaigned on women’s issues so openly and unequivocally as she did on Saturday in New Hampshire.

By Annie Karni

09/05/15, 04:29 PM EDT

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- In a state with a history of electing women to its highest offices, and on the 20th anniversary of her famous speech in Beijing, where as First Lady she declared “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights,” Hillary Clinton defined the entire economic agenda of her 2016 campaign as a women's issue.

For the Democratic front-runner, the backdrop for her speech had special meaning -- this early-voting state is the one where Clinton herself shattered a glass ceiling in 2008 by becoming the first woman to win a presidential primary. But she has been struggling here this time, trailing Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in recent polls.

“I’m a proud lifelong fighter for women’s issues,” Clinton told a crowd of about 1,000 supporters that gathered outside Portsmouth Junior High School for the Labor Day weekend kick-off of “Women for Hillary.”

She shared the stage with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former governor and longtime supporter who officially endorsed Clinton’s campaign Saturday. “I firmly believe what’s good for women is good for America,” Clinton said.

Clinton has been embracing her gender since her kickoff rally on Roosevelt Island last June, but the Women for Hillary rally marked the first time she placed her entire domestic and economic agenda in terms of how it affects women’s lives.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/clinton-nh-women-213369#ixzz3kugQQb8d

September 5, 2015

#GodHatesAdultery: Westboro Baptist church turns on Kim Davis for causing ‘F*g marriage’

Proving that there is no limit to fundamentalist Christian extremism, the ultra-conservative Westboro Baptist church has launched a crusade against Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis despite all parties being against same-sex marriage.

While Davis is sitting in jail on contempt charges for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, members of the extremist Westboro Baptist church in Topeka are threatening to go to Kentucky to protest against Davis for being an adulteress –due to having been married four times — and for causing “F*g marriage” because of her sinfulness.

Davis, who converted to Christianity four years ago maintains that she cannot issue licenses to gay couples on religious grounds, calling it a “Heaven or Hell decision.” Despite that, members of the Topeka church have launched a Twitter jihad on Davis saying she is a “phony divorced/remarried traitor to God,” and “#NotChristian.”

Addressing Davis, who has been married four times –twice to the same man — and reportedly had twins out of wedlock, Westboro tweeted: “‘Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me.’ -The LORD”

more
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/godhatesadultery-westboro-baptist-church-turns-on-kim-davis-for-causing-fg-marriage/

September 5, 2015

200 supporters gather at jail for Kentucky clerk held in same-sex marriage dispute

Source: Reuters

Around 200 supporters gathered outside a Kentucky jail on Saturday to support a county clerk held there for defying a federal judge’s order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, 49, who refused the licenses due to her Christian belief that marriage can only be between a man and a woman, said she was prepared to remain in jail where she has been reading a Bible since her incarceration for contempt on Thursday, her lawyers said.

On Saturday, a white banner spray-painted with the black letters “Kim Davis POW” was placed near the jail entrance and a bagpipe and drum corps from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property played “You’re a Grand Old Flag” and marched to the detention center.

About 200 people gathered in a field across from the entrance to the Carter County Detention Center in Grayson, Kentucky where Mayor George Steele welcomed them “in the name of God”. “God is going to continue to bless Kim Davis,” Steele said before leading the group in prayer.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/200-supporters-gather-at-jail-for-kentucky-clerk-held-in-same-sex-marriage-dispute/

September 5, 2015

Labor Day Look at the 2016 General Election For President: Every Democrat Trails Trump,...

Source: SurveyUSA Election Poll

Labor Day Look at the 2016 General Election For President: Every Democrat Trails Trump, Though Narrowly:


In an election for President of the United States, today, Labor Day, business provocateur Donald Trump narrowly defeats Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Al Gore, in head-to-head matchups, according to nationwide polling conducted by SurveyUSA.

Today it's:

* Trump 45%, Clinton 40%. (There is a 20-point Gender Gap; Trump leads by 18 points among seniors.)
* Trump 44%, Sanders 40%. (Trump leads by 10 among independents and by 6 among moderates.)
* Trump 44%, Biden 42%. (Trump leads by 10 among the best educated; Biden leads by 17 among the least educated.)
* Trump 44%, Gore 41%. (Trump leads by 12 among men and by 18 among voters age 50+.)

Among a subset of registered voters who tell SurveyUSA that they pay "a lot" of attention to politics, the scale tilts to the right: Today it's:

* Trump 54%, Clinton 36%.
* Trump 53%, Sanders 39%.
* Trump 53%, Biden 37%.
* Trump 54%, Gore 36%.

Voters were asked whether they support for a given Democrat "enthusiastically," "with reservations," or, whether they are "holding their nose" voting for a particular candidate.

* 57% of Clinton voters say they are voting enthusiastically.
* 53% of Sanders voters say they are voting enthusiastically.
* 49% of Biden backers say they are voting enthusiastically.
* 45% of Gore voters say they are voting enthusiastically.

By contrast:

* 8% of Clinton supporters say they are holding their nose.
* 8% of Sanders voters say they are holding their nose.
* 9% of Biden voters say they are holding their nose.
* 12% of Gore voters say they are holding their nose.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=d950cadf-05ce-4148-a125-35c0cdab26c6

September 5, 2015

CNN Pathetically Fabricates Story Trying to Create Tension Between Hillary Clinton & Bernie Sanders

CNN Pathetically Fabricates Story Trying to Create Tension Between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders

September 5, 2015 By Allen Clifton

While things over on the Republican side of the presidential race have been an absolute circus, it’s been relatively calm for Democrats. Hillary Clinton has lost some support to Bernie Sanders over the past few weeks in some polls, but the two have been extremely respectful of one another. Both Clinton and Sanders have taken the high road when it comes to repeated attempts by the media to create some kind of negative back and forth between the two, especially trying to get Sanders to go negative on Clinton. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago he tore into a New York Times Magazine reporter for bizarrely asking him about Clinton’s hair. No, seriously – that happened.

Either way, at least so far, both campaigns have mostly focused on the issues rather than petty back and forth attacks.

Then I came across an article by CNN’s Dan Merica titled:

Naturally, it piqued my curiosity. I couldn’t help but wonder, did she finally take her first shot at Sanders?

The answer: No, she didn’t. Merica (or the CNN editorial team) basically just fabricated that bogus headline by cherry picking parts of Clinton’s interview with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell.

Here’s what Clinton was asked:

Mitchell: Looking at the campaign now, you see huge crowds for Bernie Sanders – and for Donald Trump – and people talking about Joe Biden having an opening if he decides to make a difficult choice on an emotional level. They talk about how authentic these candidates are. Does it hurt you when people say you’re too lawyerly. You parse your words. You’re not authentic. You’re not connecting.

Read more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/cnn-pathetically-fabricates-story-trying-create-tension-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/?

September 5, 2015

Bernie Sanders Rips Donald Trump While Calling Out The Bigoted Billionaire’s Racism

By: Jason Easley
Friday, September, 4th, 2015, 4:21 pm

Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) ripped Donald Trump at a Latino roundtable in Iowa. Sanders stood up to the Republican bully by calling out Trump’s racism.

Video of Sanders at Latino roundtable in Iowa:

According to the Sanders campaign:



more
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/04/bernie-sanders-rips-donald-trump-calling-racist-attacks-immigrants.html

September 5, 2015

New Book Accuses Hillary Clinton of Waging a War on Women

By: Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Friday, September, 4th, 2015, 8:00 am

Nothing has worked: book after book (e.g. Ed Klein’s “Blood Feud,” Daniel Halper’s “Clinton Inc.,” and Peter Schweizer’s “Clinton Cash”), invented scandal after invented scandal. Hillary Clinton’s popularity has bent but not broken.

So why not another book? And I’m sure there is time for another scandal before Election Day 2016. The book is more of a broadly-based attack on the whole family: “The Clintons’ War on Women,” is “the definitive exposé of Bill, Hillary, Chelsea, and their abuse of people,” says author Roger Stone.

You might have noticed – it is clear conservatives have or this book would not have been written – that the Clintons have become something along the lines of champions of people. Hillary herself is running in 2016 as a champion of women:

-snip-

They will have to change their tune now to “Hillary is attacking women’s issues as a way of deflecting attention from her own attack on women” or something similar. Stone himself dismisses Clinton as a women’s champion, saying “I think we can make a case that Hillary’s advocacy for women is phony, it’s bogus. It’s an adaption based on polls, not beliefs.”

We can probably make a better case that his book can be dismissed as more a product of unreasoning hatred and less of fact.

Roger Stone, used to work for Donald Trump and says he remains Trump’s “friend and supporter” even though Trump told Jeffrey Toobin at The New Yorker in 2008 that “Roger is a stone-cold loser” and “He always tries taking credit for things he never did.” According to Toobin, “Like Nixon, Stone is also a great hater—of, among others, the Clintons, Karl Rove, and Eliot Spitzer.”

-snip-

full article:
http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/04/book-accuses-hillary-clinton-waging-war-women.html